General Discussion over character decisions

Riptos said:
I'll post a wall on this when I have the time.

I don't mind rationally deconstructing the characters, however all I can say is my views differ a bit from yours but that will become clear when I write my wall.

realfireis said:
I think that some of you are being way too soft on the characters.

The characters in School days have absolutely no morals and I'm not saying this because they have sex ,It's because of the fact that the characters don't care about anyone's feelings and all they do is stab each other in the back and trample on their feelings .They have no consideration to anyone and feel no remorse at all .

Sekai and Kotonaho are the only likable characters on the show .

TheDouble0s said:
Hi all, new member here. Just got into School Days about a week ago, though I haven't seen the anime. My interest primarily comes from the visual novel, which I have completed 37% of. Even with what little I've seen, it's been an interesting roller coaster of emotions as well as super hyped nights with dwindling sleep.

I probably won't ever watch the anime, knowing how screwed up the ending is. I personally prefer happy endings and wonder why the gruesome bad endings get so much attention. I particularly am shocked at the fact that I almost ran into two of the bad endings already, thinking they were elsewhere on the route map. Crazy, huh? So personally I've seen three of Kotonoha's endings, and two of Sekai's.

I find it very disturbing that during a clean run of Sekai's story lies the possibility for, to me, the worst possible ending. And there I was trying to get it, thinking it was a good ending! I'm happy my efforts were unsuccessful.

Now, to actually contribute to the thread, well there's a limit to how much I can actually do that, cause this focuses on the anime primarily, which I haven't seen. It's better to see the VN anyway, since the ending you get is due to your own decisions. So while in the anime, Makoto seems like an all around jerk, it's not always like that in the VN. I've been browsing some threads here and I just thought I'd add my 2 cents to this one since it's more recent.

Riptos said:
Finally have time off work so I might as well write this up as I intended.

School Days has always been one of my favourite anime to discuss as there is generally alot more depth to the plot and characters than is widely recognised. It's something I've always had a hard time dealing with is how narrow minded alot of people are on here with regards to any anime breaking the mould but I digress...

Anyway onto my take on the characters, I will add in some VN stuff on here as it pads out some of the lesser characters really well I think.

Makoto: The main plot point for discussion is the general divide of people whom believe that Makoto deserved what he got in the end versus the people who didn't. Myself personally I am in the latter category. In my eyes, Makoto is simply your standard teenage boy with the "carrot on a stick" dangled in front of him. I would absolutely guarantee that at least 4 out of 5 of us in the same situation would probably have done the same as him and more in the situation but simply can't accept that we never had that sort of opportunity presented to us at that age. Yes I believe he SHOULD have broken things off with Kotonoha when he started seeing Sekai on the side but once again I don't blame him for it. I understand the feeling of rejection, I believe that Makoto simply wanted a fallback if things went south with Sekai. It's a horrible thing to do yes but you can see the reasoning in it surely? As for him jumping ship to Sekai, I believe it was the right thing to do. I've harped on and on about how I don't think he had any form of connection with Kotonoha for the whole series. You can see how stiff the interaction between them is from episode 1.
This of course is to be expected on a relationship that has been built purely from fleeting glances across a train. This brings me to my second point. Makoto has a much more natural connection with Sekai as you can see from how they act together. They are able to put on the lovey dovey act much to the chagrin of the other girls with no real effort at all as the chemistry is much more natural.
This is where Makoto should have stopped, or at least made a conscious effort but teenage hormones being what they are, you don't turn down free poon at that age of no responsibility even if you are seeing someone. Your body won't let you, you would at least be seriously tempted.

Do I blame Makoto? ...no, all characters share a semblance of the blame for the outcome of this series.

Kotonoha: Ah Kotonoha, she also has a divide of fans and haters. I don't like how she was portrayed at all through the show. It's like she was purely put there to make you feel sorry for her. Her redeeming features...? Well unless you count a large rack, I don't really believe she has anything noteworthy. Her personality was exceptionally flat to me. It's not surprising that Makoto got bored of her as she generally couldn't spark a conversation with him owing to her sheltered lifestyle. This along with her being a doormat to all the other girls in her class was just cringeworthy. If she had developed a spine and stood up to Otome and her friends at least once, things would have got along alot better for her in general. I refuse to believe that she didn't have proper suspicions early on Makoto and simply break up with him herself. It distressed me no end to see a character wander around so completely clueless to pretty much everything going on around her. She is partially to blame for Makoto's descent as it was her own prudishness that forced him away in the first place. In Makoto's position, if I couldn't even get a hug from someone who claimed to be my girlfriend I think I would be a bit unsatisfied myself. As for the ending and her lapse of sanity, I feel it was done more for shock value than anything as I felt it extremely unrealistic that anyone would go that far before simply cutting all ties with the person in question.

In the end I simply have no real sympathy for Kotonoha, she could have made things alot different for herself instead of playing the damsel in distress.

Sekai: Sekai seems to have more haters than fans which is something I will never understand. She is by far the most realistic of the girls and reacts much more believably than any of the characters. I believe it was her fear of rejection that caused her to initially push Makoto towards Kotonoha at the start. I can't help but feel she was expecting Kotonoha to reject him as she had no doubt heard how unapproachable she was. I think Sekai was hoping to be the rock for Makoto when that happened and she could have made her move then. That being the case, you can understand her reasoning.
However, a miscalculation was made and she inadvertently pushed her crush into the arms of someone else. But in her defence though, aside from the kiss at the end of the first episode which I believe was nothing more than closure, she didn't do anything harmful. At least while Kotonoha and Makoto "seemed" to be doing okay. It was when they looked like they were beginning to drift apart that she saw her chance which is something I don't blame her for. It's high school after all, she was only pursuing her own happiness which she certainly had for a brief period with Makoto.
As I said, they have really good chemistry and it's the pairing that for all intents and purposes should have been the one that worked out. Even throughout most of the series, Sekai is the one TELLING Makoto to break up with Kotonoha and tell her about them. It's Makoto and his need for a fallback that stopped that.
The one thing I do fault her for is actually killing Makoto, there was no need for it. I'm sure she could have had a long heated argument with many slaps that would have got the point across much better than how it wound up. Especially if she was pregnant as she claimed. That would have been something to tell her child; that she had stabbed their father before they were born.

All in, except for the final decisions, I don't fault Sekai. I never have.

Minor Characters
Walls should be a bit shorter from here I promise lol.

Setsuna: My own personal favourite character, at least from the anime. Her game route isn't bad either. She was a really good friend to Sekai and essentially I viewed her as the rock that kept Sekai on the level. She was always there to be confided in when things weren't going right.
I have the belief that if she hadn't had to leave for France then the ending would have been averted as I'm absolutely positive that Sekai would have been asking for advice over everything. She had her own reasons for liking Makoto and they were perfectly reasonable (if not a bit Shoujo-manga-esque). I'm pretty sure if Sekai hadn't told her she liked Makoto, Setsuna could easily have been the choice instead. They seemed to get on well enough. However the anime doesn't really elaborate too much on it which is a shame.

Otome: My favourite character from the game. The anime portrays her horribly. She is simply a bully to Kotonoha and Makoto's childhood friend. I have alot of respect for her though. She is about the only character who doesn't actively pursue Makoto's wang by the end of the series. She is a much stronger character than all of the others to be honest. Her route in the game though challenging to get to is totally worth the effort. Makoto and Otome are a really happy pairing in my opinion as she is strict enough to keep him in check.

I'd write more but my fingers are getting a bit sore now so it will have to do for now.

Nice to get the chance to write some thoughts though which people will surely disagree with. (I feel like I'm in the minority for how I feel about the characters lol)

DiviMike said:
I might just try out the VN soon where I might find that attempt at redemption that I seek, little as it may be.

TheDouble0s said:


Yeah, I much recommend the VN over the anime. I'm about 40% done with it myself. Much more satisfying endings no matter which character you like.

I also feel the urge to respond to what thoughts were shared concerning Kotonoha. I myself admire her type of personality, if only for the fact that those kinds of people can blossom into a wonderful person, given the right circumstances and peers. I choose to look at both sides of the coin. Most people that play the "damsel in distress", as was mentioned, usually become cynical, colder people who blame others for their troubles. Kotonoha doesn't do that, she just takes the abuse and bottles it all up inside, and from what I've seen about discussion of the anime, keeps everything all pent up until she just loses it. This is where I'm happy the VN exists. Each character has their chances at happiness depending on what choices are made. There's not one, but 20 different endings.

For me, Kotonoha represents what I was at her age, and I can definitely sympathize with her. I can sympathize with what I once was, and I've grown from that. I really like her a lot. I've liked her since before I knew who she was, and was even more satisfied when I explored her character more.

Inb4 all the Kotonoha haters come out of the woodwork, lol

Riptos said:
Finally have time off work so I might as well write this up as I intended.

School Days has always been one of my favourite anime to discuss as there is generally alot more depth to the plot and characters than is widely recognised. It's something I've always had a hard time dealing with is how narrow minded alot of people are on here with regards to any anime breaking the mould but I digress...

Anyway onto my take on the characters, I will add in some VN stuff on here as it pads out some of the lesser characters really well I think.

Makoto: The main plot point for discussion is the general divide of people whom believe that Makoto deserved what he got in the end versus the people who didn't. Myself personally I am in the latter category. In my eyes, Makoto is simply your standard teenage boy with the "carrot on a stick" dangled in front of him. I would absolutely guarantee that at least 4 out of 5 of us in the same situation would probably have done the same as him and more in the situation but simply can't accept that we never had that sort of opportunity presented to us at that age. Yes I believe he SHOULD have broken things off with Kotonoha when he started seeing Sekai on the side but once again I don't blame him for it. I understand the feeling of rejection, I believe that Makoto simply wanted a fallback if things went south with Sekai. It's a horrible thing to do yes but you can see the reasoning in it surely? As for him jumping ship to Sekai, I believe it was the right thing to do. I've harped on and on about how I don't think he had any form of connection with Kotonoha for the whole series. You can see how stiff the interaction between them is from episode 1.
This of course is to be expected on a relationship that has been built purely from fleeting glances across a train. This brings me to my second point. Makoto has a much more natural connection with Sekai as you can see from how they act together. They are able to put on the lovey dovey act much to the chagrin of the other girls with no real effort at all as the chemistry is much more natural.
This is where Makoto should have stopped, or at least made a conscious effort but teenage hormones being what they are, you don't turn down free poon at that age of no responsibility even if you are seeing someone. Your body won't let you, you would at least be seriously tempted.

Do I blame Makoto? ...no, all characters share a semblance of the blame for the outcome of this series.

Kotonoha: Ah Kotonoha, she also has a divide of fans and haters. I don't like how she was portrayed at all through the show. It's like she was purely put there to make you feel sorry for her. Her redeeming features...? Well unless you count a large rack, I don't really believe she has anything noteworthy. Her personality was exceptionally flat to me. It's not surprising that Makoto got bored of her as she generally couldn't spark a conversation with him owing to her sheltered lifestyle. This along with her being a doormat to all the other girls in her class was just cringeworthy. If she had developed a spine and stood up to Otome and her friends at least once, things would have got along alot better for her in general. I refuse to believe that she didn't have proper suspicions early on Makoto and simply break up with him herself. It distressed me no end to see a character wander around so completely clueless to pretty much everything going on around her. She is partially to blame for Makoto's descent as it was her own prudishness that forced him away in the first place. In Makoto's position, if I couldn't even get a hug from someone who claimed to be my girlfriend I think I would be a bit unsatisfied myself. As for the ending and her lapse of sanity, I feel it was done more for shock value than anything as I felt it extremely unrealistic that anyone would go that far before simply cutting all ties with the person in question.

In the end I simply have no real sympathy for Kotonoha, she could have made things alot different for herself instead of playing the damsel in distress.

Sekai: Sekai seems to have more haters than fans which is something I will never understand. She is by far the most realistic of the girls and reacts much more believably than any of the characters. I believe it was her fear of rejection that caused her to initially push Makoto towards Kotonoha at the start. I can't help but feel she was expecting Kotonoha to reject him as she had no doubt heard how unapproachable she was. I think Sekai was hoping to be the rock for Makoto when that happened and she could have made her move then. That being the case, you can understand her reasoning.
However, a miscalculation was made and she inadvertently pushed her crush into the arms of someone else. But in her defence though, aside from the kiss at the end of the first episode which I believe was nothing more than closure, she didn't do anything harmful. At least while Kotonoha and Makoto "seemed" to be doing okay. It was when they looked like they were beginning to drift apart that she saw her chance which is something I don't blame her for. It's high school after all, she was only pursuing her own happiness which she certainly had for a brief period with Makoto.
As I said, they have really good chemistry and it's the pairing that for all intents and purposes should have been the one that worked out. Even throughout most of the series, Sekai is the one TELLING Makoto to break up with Kotonoha and tell her about them. It's Makoto and his need for a fallback that stopped that.
The one thing I do fault her for is actually killing Makoto, there was no need for it. I'm sure she could have had a long heated argument with many slaps that would have got the point across much better than how it wound up. Especially if she was pregnant as she claimed. That would have been something to tell her child; that she had stabbed their father before they were born.

All in, except for the final decisions, I don't fault Sekai. I never have.

Minor Characters
Walls should be a bit shorter from here I promise lol.

Setsuna: My own personal favourite character, at least from the anime. Her game route isn't bad either. She was a really good friend to Sekai and essentially I viewed her as the rock that kept Sekai on the level. She was always there to be confided in when things weren't going right.
I have the belief that if she hadn't had to leave for France then the ending would have been averted as I'm absolutely positive that Sekai would have been asking for advice over everything. She had her own reasons for liking Makoto and they were perfectly reasonable (if not a bit Shoujo-manga-esque). I'm pretty sure if Sekai hadn't told her she liked Makoto, Setsuna could easily have been the choice instead. They seemed to get on well enough. However the anime doesn't really elaborate too much on it which is a shame.

Otome: My favourite character from the game. The anime portrays her horribly. She is simply a bully to Kotonoha and Makoto's childhood friend. I have alot of respect for her though. She is about the only character who doesn't actively pursue Makoto's wang by the end of the series. She is a much stronger character than all of the others to be honest. Her route in the game though challenging to get to is totally worth the effort. Makoto and Otome are a really happy pairing in my opinion as she is strict enough to keep him in check.

I'd write more but my fingers are getting a bit sore now so it will have to do for now.

Nice to get the chance to write some thoughts though which people will surely disagree with. (I feel like I'm in the minority for how I feel about the characters lol)