Talk:Junta Nakao/@comment-5534769-20140726211548/@comment-397235-20140728031419

Basically, here's what I did for the characters:

Izumi, Tomohiko, Yumi, and Takako all four survive. Thought I'd get that out of the way right there.

Takeru is a much more major character. I've not decided if killing him is a good idea or not. He's jealous of the relationship between Kouichi and Sanae, and is the one who suggests Izumi start ignoring Kouichi in revenge. Later, he becomes convinced Kouichi is the extra, as people he gets close to (Yukari, Sanae, and Aya, who he had a thing for) keep dying.

Izumi's such a hard case because the previous year her brother, in an effort to end the curse, brought a gun to school and started killing his classmates, including Reiko, along with the extra student and himself. Matsunaga is the one who let slip about how to stop the calamity, which is why he's so guilty. Izumi, meanwhile, is trying to atone for he brother's actions. She doesn't think Mei's the extra, but hates her because she feels Mei did everything in her power to ensure the countermeasures wouldn't work, as well as having been present when Kazuma killed himself (an even Izumi cannot remember herself at first, much to her confusion). She met Kouichi at Reiko's funeral, too ashamed to actually enter the church it was being held at.

Tomohiko doesn't believe in the curse, but signs on to help Izumi and Takako with the countermeasures because he figures he can help things go smoothly. Then Yukari dies, and he's forced to reevaluate his opinion. Izumi dispatches him to keep an eye on Kouichi after the class stops ignoring them, but Tomohiko realizes they're on the right track and stops helping Izumi. This leads to Izumi bringing in Takeru and Junta, which results in the latter getting killed, much to Tomohiko's guilt. Tomohiko is motivated to protect his younger sister.

Yumi is especially more developed. My interpretation of her is a composite of her character in the anime and Takako in the manga/film continuity. She was originally chosen to be the extra, but couldn't handle it, so Mei took her place. Yumi never forgets this, and is the first student to welcome Kouichi and Mei back after the shunning ends. She and Mei are fairly close, especially after Aya and Atsushi are killed. I figured it was odd Mei had no girl friends.

Kouichi is English (as in England, though he was born in the States). He's back because of a lung issue which prevented him from going into the field with his dad, who is an archeologist; instead he's staying with his mother's family.

Takako is his neighbor, and to her irritation, sits near him in class. When the class is ignoring everyone, Kouichi makes it a point of being hard on her just to try and make her crack, such as holding the door for her when they get to school. Her mental instability comes from seeing Kazuma gun down Aya's older sister in front of her the previous year, though it isn't improved when she discovers Junta's body and stops taking her meds. She also knew Misaki, as is revealed in flashbacks.

Yuuya is deeply affected by his best friend Ikuo's death, and draws strength from his deceases friend's courage. Most of his episode would revolve around his relationship with Ikuo.

Naoya is...pretty much unchanged. The only thing he doesn't do is push Tomohiko out the window, as Yumi yells at both boys for being stupid before this can happen. He protects Izumi from the Numatas, but is blown out of the building with her in the process. His near death is the first time Tomohiko really loses his cool as he tries to resuscitate his friend.

Aya is caught in between Izumi and Mei, and can't handle the strain. She saw her sister murdered the previous year, and this doesn't imrpove matters. Her family leaves the city in an attempt to keep form losing both daughters to the curse. She has a crush on Naoya, which he doesn't seriously return.

What say you?