Talk:Mei Misaki/@comment-397235-20140821031317/@comment-397235-20140822003803

But a lot of that's superficial. If you look at some of the things she says, especially about her mom, or why she thinks Kirika picked Mei over Misaki (it can't have just been their names, but Mei has an exceptionally low opinion of her anyway so that's the explanation she goes for).

There's also the kind of jaded way she handles things in "Makeup." She's not particularly concerned by what her classmates are trying to do to her (she was upset when Izumi decided to cash in all her saved up bitch chips, but actual murder wasn't apparently as troubling). She's mildly horrified when Yumi dies, and after Takako's death her reaction is more or less "Hm...that was exciting." She doesn't really care at that point.

There's also, like I said, her line about all of us, at the end of the day, being alone. In some ways, that line comes across to me as her resenting Kouichi's optimism; she's basically telling him he's wrong and he needs to grow up and face reality...albeit in Mei's usual extremely childlike way.

Don't take that as me saying I dislike her; I don't dislike Mei (see what I did there?). She's a really interesting and complex character (I would love to be able to write someone as multifaceted as she is). The bitterness isn't something I dislike about her character, especially since it shrinks as the series progresses: this, children, is called a "character arc" and is what is necessary for most fiction to be successful.