#also haruka doesnt have a character arc bc well he is a SIDE CHARACTER!!!! lmaoooo

[mekatrio]

to add on to these two posts; basically mca's "good ending" is more of a pseudo "good" ending bc theres just too many character arcs that it either entirely omits (seto and kido) or does not resolve with appropriate emotional depth (hibihiyo, ene, etc), so for my self reference, this is a list of what i believe every character arc needs to 'achieve' in order to be considered "resolved", and how 'resolved' they are in different endings (and sometimes ill explain how the resolution of these character arcs lends itself to the overall resolution of achieving STR):

kido -> she needs to stop using concealing eyes on her traumatic memories so she will be able to remember that mary is capable of summoning the kagerou daze at will, which is crucial in achieving STR (bc mca showed us that STR is achieved by mary swallowing her surviving friends into the kagerou daze). this is 'resolved' in the novel route (meaning her character arc is fully resolved in the novels, but only the 'telling mary she can summon the kagerou daze' part and not the 'summoning kagerou daze to achieve STR part'), but is entirely omitted in other routes (since its a rather late development, novel 7 was released in 2016)

SETO -> the resolution of his character arc is never touched on or explored in ANY media routes so i rly dont have anything to base his resolved character arc off, but i would imagine that itll have to do with seto telling his friends what he had known about for a long time, and also seto using his powers to their greatest capacity, both of which are things we never see him doing in any media routes.

kano -> his character arc is resolved when he no longer submits to the abuse being afflicted onto him by saeru via kenjirou, and he trusts others with the truths that he had been abused into covering up with lies. sounds familiar? basically kano's arc is resolved by doing what he couldnt bring himself to do back when he lived with his abusive birth mom, which is asking other people to save him from abuse. his arc is entirely resolved in the novels, and partially resolved in mca (seto 'learns the truth' from kano in novels and mca, but other members learning abt it is kinda glossed over in mca iirc)

mary -> mary's arc is resolved by her becoming at peace with the part of her that is a 'monster', and realizing that rather than this monstrous side of her being what inevitably dooms all her friends to their deaths, is instead what is capable of saving all of her friends from a destiny of bloodshed. and this is achieved when she successfully attains STR ending! (song route and anime) and of course, she is only capable of attaining STR when all of her friends resolve their own arcs, and more specifically, when she works with them and believes in them in order to keep herself from resetting time once again.

momo -> momo has 2 main arcs in need of resolution; the first one being her mastering her powers in the form of 'attaining meaningful attention she has long coveted for', aka making good friends (and this is resolved in the opening of every single media route). and her second arc is using these cherished bonds she just forged to help someone else (hibiya) to master their own powers, aka her otsukimi recital arc. this arc is resolved in the novels and anime, but not the manga. momo's mastery of captivating eyes + her fostering the mastery of focusing eyes plays a big role in achieving STR, bc captivating eyes is used as a diversion (as seen in the novels and the anime), and focusing eyes plays a major role in banishing clearing eyes into the kagerou daze (as seen in mr2, novel route, and the anime)

ene -> takane's character is very similar to shintaro's, in which they are both characters who would rather turn away from the heart-wrenching truth (that they lost friends who were very dear to them) than face their reality. we see her turning away in the song route (artificial enemy lyrics are crazy) and we see traces of this in mr2, where she states that she didnt want to get involved with the unfolding present day plot. takane meets her downfall in these two routes where she turns away from the truth. for her arc to be resolved, she has to stop being this person who turns away from the truth, and instead proactively go after it. she does so in the novels (and mca i think), which leads to kano returning her back to her body, and this control over her physical body + virtual body is what materially helps the mkd to defeat clearing eyes. (also, what sets her arc apart from shintaro is that ene is not just wary of the truth bc of the emotional anguish it gives her, but also bc the circumstances of her existence as ene has made her doubt the reality of the overall world. and so the resolution of her character arc does not just symbolize her moving on from her grief, but also finding security in the reality of the world.)

shintaro -> like ive said in ene's section, shintaro is a character who would rather turn away from truth than face it, and his character grows past from being this type of person every time he decides to face the truth of his reality instead of drowning in his regrets. bc of the unique nature of retaining eyes, shintaro's arc is 'being resolved' with every subsequent route, with every action in which he doesnt turn away from the truth being a culmination of many routes in the making. nevertheless, his arc is fully resolved when he realizes that he has the power of retaining eyes, and uses retaining eyes with ayano's favoring eyes to make mary remember the previous routes, which then achieves STR.

hibihiyo -> hibihiyo's arcs are resolved by 1.) mastering their powers, and 2.) reuniting with one another. hibiya masters his powers with the aid of momo in the novels, songs, and anime, while hiyori is implied to have mastered her powers with ayano's aid in the manga. their powers are attained thru the wish of wanting to see one another again, and so their character arcs are resolved when they achieve an STR where they are both together (mca ending). and like ive stated in momo's section, them mastering focusing eyes is crucial in attaining an STR ending.

konoha -> konoha's arc is resolved by granting haruka's wish to spend more time with his friends (which results in konoha disappearing), and by saving either hibiya or hiyori from the kagerou daze (which also. results in konoha disappearing. basically konoha will never ever survive STR </3) konoha's arc of granting haruka's wish is resolved in the songs and anime, but only the anime resolves his arc of wanting to save hibihiyo.

ayano -> ayano's arc is resolved when she stops trying to do everything on her own and lets herself rely on others. her resolution comes in the form of her using favoring eye in conjunction with shintaro's retaining eyes, and together they are able to make mary remember the former timelines, which is The Thing that achieves STR. this is obviously achieved in the anime. and of course her arc is also not just about her trying to save everyone at the expense of herself, but letting herself be saved as well.