Talk:Ritsuko Sakakibara/@comment-5534769-20141011091032/@comment-397235-20141012202049

Kouichi does let death bother him. He's extremely upset about Sanae's death in the manga, he breaks down and cries for Reiko in most adaptions, he's horrified by Yukari's death (it was terrible enough for his lung to collapse and he didn't even see her die). He's not a sociopath who's checked his compassion at the door.

Contrast that with Ikuo and Sanae, who aren't especially afraid of the Calamity but are killed anyway.

For that matter, I don't know what's wrong with trying to protect your friends from something like this. Death is natural; the Calamity is not. So I have a hard time faulting the class for doing something they think will protect themselves and their families from horrible deaths. I mean, dying of disease is one thing, getting killed by a broken-down elevator or run over by a boat is something else entirely.

As for Mei, her apathy isn't exactly a good character trait. Everyone else has someone to be worried about. Mei lost her sister and really and truly doesn't care about anyone now, with the possible exception of Kouichi for most of the series. Yeah, "it's sad when someone dies" but oh well...That's why she doesn't even try to protect herself let alone her "friends." She doesn't care if she lives or dies. Everyone else is afraid of death, but Mei doesn't care one way or the other.

As for her breaking the Countermeasures, as I've said before, that's selfish. Sure, in hindsight they didn't matter, but she does it knowing how jumpy her class is and furthermore they'll probably blame both of them for anyone else who dies. That's sort of like inviting over to have dinner without mentioning she lives in a leper colony...especially since it means they're both going to be blamed.