Talk:Characters/@comment-25580417-20150205123632/@comment-397235-20150207064547

It's like everything else; it has its pros and cons.

I think honestly the anime is my favorite right up until the end. The novel focuses more on Mei and Kouichi than anything else, mainly because it's all from Kouichi's perspective, but it also pretty concretely suggests they have mutual attraction (for one thing, it heavily implies Mei was asking Kouichi to come visit her after dinner so she could thank him for standing up for her); that said, nobody else really gets any development at all, so my opinion of characters I already disliked (such as Chibiki and Yuuya) wasn't improved because they're pretty much nonexistent themselves.

None of the other characters are especially likable:

Yuuya's a creepy little git and it's implied he has a crush on his half-sister, which is very, very wrong.

Naoya is just annoying.

Tomohiko is specifically stated to be a coward; he actually tries to back out of going on the class trip before Naoya guilts him into tagging along.

Manabu and Yumi, of the least important support characters, come across as the most decent; Manabu and Kouichi seem fairly friendly, and Yumi never does anything.

Kouichi has a strong disliking toward Izumi for most of the novel, but there's not much justification given because she doesn't do hardly anything.

Oddly, he seems to agree with Takako for the most part; he just finds her attachment to Izumi irritating and pitiful.

Junta is mentioned precisely once in one of the interludes as pathetic as well; I think he's referred to as hanging around Izumi with most of the class, and again when he dies. The other boy who dies, Shigeki Yonemura, isn't ever mentioned until the epilogue.

Mikami never comes across as being especially competent; she seems very unsure of herself most of the time.

I'd say, to be completely uncharitable, Chibiki is a Marty Stu. He has no real flaws, shows up precisely whenever he's needed, wears all black, and on top of that knows some form of martial arts. If he's not a Sue, then he's at least a giant plot convenience.

Kouichi and Mei themselves aren't always so wonderful:

Mei's habit of saying Kouichi's name slowly in the novel is actually her rubbing his connection to the notorious child murderer in his face; she also pretty much implies the class is pretending to be his friend.

Kouichi, while looking for Mei, abandons several other students to Keiko Numata. At first I though Yunemura had been mortally wounded and dragged himself to safety; however, Kouichi specifically mentions hearing the sounds of other people being attacked and isn't especially concerned; he left them to die. It's also suggested he heard either Takako or Junta's deaths when he was looking for Tomohiko with Mei and Naoya, but again, didn't try to help them.

I dunno...I enjoyed the novel, and I like Ayatsuji's writing style, and I'll probably read it again, but...it isn't perfect.