1. Kaede Akamatsu - I really liked her character in the game but I detest her treatment post-game (and maybe post-death itself). I liked her optimism (which I feel was much better done than Makoto) and her somewhat no-nonsense attitude. Though she may have be more interesting if she lived and got character development I liked her reasons for attempting the mastermind and how it tied in with her optimism. Whilst I really like the FTE's she has with other people (it was a great use of filler), hers are goddamn awful as she is basically the romantic interest and that's it (we know less about her past than Shuichi, and he has only 2 FTE's compared to her 5) – especially compared to Chiaki’s FTE’s which had somewhat of a romantic angle to it but it focused on her limitations and lack of understanding in the world - compared. I didn't mind the reveal that she wasn't the killer as I don't think they tried to portray her as 'innocent' and 'pure person who did nothing wrong' (this is somewhat a problem the game series has in total - especially DR3). Instead of trying to portray everyone as innocent characters should be liked for the things they do including the bad rather than 'they did nothing wrong', whilst the Shuichi did show hatred to the mastermind and view Kaede as innocent it wasn’t terrible. I did like Shuichi but I feel his personality was only used well in Class Trials (where it excelled) and his development (his personality was kinda bland - though unique in his 'timidness' compared to other protagonists). Compared to him Kaede is more entertaining/interesting which can be seen in the FTE's she has with others and her dynamics with them (though this might have been hindered if she was the actual protagonist as she had the luxury of being 'unnecessary'/filler so their personalities could shine rather than it being a backstory reveal). This is in comparison to Shuichi whose FTE reactions are standard phrases/reactions along with timidness (and a bit of 'oomph/resistance' - can't think of a better word for this), they certainly don’t showcase his personality very well other than being somewhat weak with only an occasional backbone.

I feel that having two protagonists showcases Kodaka’s flaw in writing protagonists (and how it differs from writing non-player characters) which can be shown in Kaede. The two main points are pro-activity/reactivity and romance. I think was intended was that Kaede was pro-active compared to the weak willed reactive Shuichi who would getter ‘stronger’/more pro-active as the game went on. However Shuichi is shown to be more proactive in Chapter 1, as he created and implements the mastermind trap outside of Kaede’s sabotage, Kaede was just following him. I feel like it could be improved with some changes in strategy such as Kaede encourage him to reveal that he knows the hidden door to her (by him implying that he knows something but is reluctant to reveal it) and her suggesting to create a plan to catch the mastermind whilst he created the logistics. The other change is romance, whilst playing as Kaede it seems like she is only kinda interested in Shuichi (the classroom/Shuichi’s backstory reveal scene) whilst Shuichi is shown to be quite in love with her. In comparison with this is her FTE’s/Love Hotel/Talent Development scenes, where Shuichi is only somewhat interested in her but Kaede is absolutely in love with him. This was kinda of a tangent but I’ve always wanted to mention it and it links with my issue of her being a romantic interest/waifu character and that’s it. Man this shows how much I remember DRV3 compared to the others.

1. Chiaki Namani - I kinda like her, but not as much as the other characters and I'm especially not a fan of her 'waifu' tendencies - IIRC Kodaka said she was his envisionment of a wife (big boobs, gamer etc.) or something which I disliked. I’ve never been a huge fan of romance but I did like her FTE’s for the most part as I mentioned in Kaede’s point.

I haven't seen the series other than DRV3 (especially DR2 and DR:AE) in a while so my memory of events may not be the best.

I kind off wish there was a community aspect this such as we get equal standing to one of the rankers (via a vote) but I can understand that it may be too complex.

Man doing this makes me sympathise more with the rankers themselves (and people who spend one sentence or less on why they like a character) – I spent 2-3 hours/2000 words on this.