#core memory. have been playing the game ever since (also i'm really good at lying and slight of hand)

[oumakokichi]

I'm not sure if you already got this ask from me or not But I was wondering what you thought of tenko and what her relationships with other characters was like, not just himiko. I still love ten I ko just was just wondering on her other relationships cause those are never talked about.

I think Tumblr probably ate the other ask because I couldn’tfind it in my inbox! But I’m always happy to answer this kind of question.

Tenko is wonderful and I really, honestly adore her. Idefinitely agree that although her relationship with Himiko is very central tothe plot and to her character, it’s a shame that it’s kind of the only thingthat gets touched on when talking about her. She’s such a team player and suchan essential protector figure to the whole group that I really don’t think theother characters would have been the same without her. Even after her death, sheleaves an influence on not only Himiko but the others as well, and it’s reallynice to see.

The instinct to sort out her relationships is, of course, tosort them between guys and girls. It’s certainly true of course that Tenko iswary of the guys around her. She considers them the less trustworthy part ofthe group, the people most likely to provide a threat—and to some degree, she’snot wrong, considering the aspects of “masculine” or “male” behavior that shedislikes the most are often aggressiveness, hostility, anger, etc. Ouma andMomota both often get a big seal of disapproval from her, because between Ouma’smanipulative behavior and Momota’s reckless tendency to rely on violence, sheclearly views them as bad influences at times.

She much prefers the company of the other girls, preferringto give them the benefit of the doubt and also trusting most of them enough, especiallyearly on in her first FTEs with Kaede, that she goes so far as to think thekilling game itself wouldn’t provide a threat at all if there were only girlsat Saishuu Academy. Tenko is so much more comfortable around other girls thanaround guys that she very much believes Neo Aikido is a necessary form ofself-defense which can help provide that sort of safe space which she’sinterested in. And of course, she’s the self-sacrificing type, so she constantlyoffers to protect or stand in for the other girls as much as possible.

Still though, this is all mostly from a surface level. Tenkois undeniably wary of and uncomfortable about men with good reason, but she’shardly mean or dismissive of any of them. Her relationship with Saihara isexcellent proof of that. In Chapter 2 when Saihara first begins trying totackle his hesitancy and anxiety about exposing the truth, he puts aside hishat and comes down to meet everyone at the cafeteria. Tenko is one of thenicest and most supportive members of the group of his decision, and from thispoint on she has quite a few really genuinely nice interactions with him.

Having looked up to and admired Kaede herself, she’sextremely understanding of why Saihara liked her so much and why he misses her.Kaede’s absence is felt strongly by the whole group following Chapter 1, but Ithink it’s felt perhaps the most strongly by figures who admired her drive toend the killing game and her urge to protect everyone. Tenko certainly fits thebill for this: regardless of her distrust for the guys in their group, it’s anundeniable fact that she wants to protect each and every single one of themfrom actual harm.

She’s still wary of Saihara and even of the other lessaggressive or hostile boys in the group, of course, but it’s always to thepoint of confirming that she and the other girls are safe, that there’s no onewho would harass them or peek in on them or do anything obscene oruntrustworthy. When it comes to their actual feelings or troubles, she’s alwaysfairly understanding and generous with her time.

In Chapter 3 when her SHSL research lab opens up, sheactually wants to help both Himiko andSaihara confront their personal weaknesses. With Himiko, her biggest flaw isher laziness, but with Saihara, she wants him to tackle his insecurity, and she(hilariously) uses her aikido throws in order to help set them on this path.This “training” to confront one’s own weak points is something that sticksaround even after her death, as Himiko, Gonta, and Saihara in Chapter 4 verymuch honor Tenko’s memory by continuing to practice in her research lab inorder to get stronger.

Tenko is certainly someone who values the lives of the grouparound her, despite the misconception the fandom had at first that she would besomeone extremely cruel or uncaring to the boys. But I think it’s prettyevident from her horrified reactions to Amami and Ryouma’s deaths that she undeniablycared quite a lot about keeping everyone safe.

Death, pain, and suffering were things she was extremelyaverse to no matter who they were affecting—which would sound like an obviouscomment that could apply to anyone, except there’s so much in ndrv3 about manyof the characters not valuing human lives the way they should unless itbenefits them. The fact that Tenko was so open and honest and wore her feelingsabout these kinds of things on her sleeve is actually quite refreshing incomparison to how many characters claim to be open and honest but actually hadquite a few secrets they were hiding or things they were lying to themselves orthe rest of the group about.

Also, just as Tenko’s interactions with characters likeSaihara and even Kiibo are interesting, because she clearly views them aspotential friends and acquaintances despite not letting her guard downentirely, her interactions with Angie are extremely interesting from the girls’side of things. Tenko begins the game with an inclination to believe the bestof all her fellow girls, but I think her conflict with Angie did open her eyesin a lot of ways.

She still clearly cares about Angie as an individual anddoesn’t believe the worst of her even when it becomes clear that Angie is goingon a pretty strong power trip in Chapter 3. Angie’s death upsets her just asany of the other deaths do, and even in the midst of the whole ReligiousStudent Council conflict, Tenko recognizes that Angie’s not doing bad thingsintentionally per se—she’s actually quite frightening because she’s a genuine,true believer in her religion and her fanaticism is extremely risky in the effectsit might have on Himiko or the other student council members.

But seeing Angie’s willingness to throw other people (namelyHimiko) under the bus firsthand in Chapter 2 was quite a shock for someone likeTenko, who’s so loyal to the core and would never do anything of the sort.After having envied Angie’s ability to become friends with Himiko so easily,the idea that Angie would just toss aside that friendship in order to saveherself and act as though it played no part in the trial or meant nothing toher was something that went against her entire core beliefs.

Like Momota, Kaede, and Gonta, Tenko is someone who admiresbelief in other people above all else. Even when things get hard, even when allthe evidence says otherwise, she’s very much the kind of person who wants tobelieve in the people she admires, trusts, and respects no matter what happens.And unlike those three, Tenko is particularly interesting because to somedegree, she actually does recognize that blind faith isn’t necessarily alwaysthe best course of action. It’s not a smart decision or a very practical one.

But still, she wants to believe according to what she wants. To a slight extent, she doesdo the “doubting others in order to get to know them first”—because she can acknowledgethat trusting wholeheartedly isn’t perhaps the smartest choice of action but it’sstill something she consciously made the decision to do.

Angie’s self-serving nature and tendency to jump ship assoon as the situation isn’t serving her purposes was something Tenko really didnot like, and it showed. She joined Angie’s student council in Chapter 3 onlyto keep an eye on Himiko and make sure that a similar situation to Chapter 2couldn’t happen again, but the two of them continued to butt heads quite a lot.Angie’s decision to “resurrect” Amami as per the motive the Monokumerz gavethem, her refusal to listen to any arguments against this, and the fact thatshe just put herself in charge without really needing or requiring anyone else’sapproval meant that Tenko argued with her quite a lot—something that I thinkactually bothered Himiko a lot more than it bothered Angie.

To summarize, Tenko’s relationships with the group oftencenter around her trying to put herself as a sort of protector figure. Many ofthem are interesting because for the most part, she is someone who is willingto reevaluate her opinion of people if proof of their trustworthiness (oruntrustworthiness) presents itself. And in spite of her seemingly extreme orexaggerated reactions, she’s actually incredibly fair and objective when pushgets to shove.

Her wariness of the boys in the group is extremelyunderstandable given her aversion to any physical contact with men and the factthat she’s so fixated on self-defense—and her blind trust in many of the girlsin her group is actually addressed with characters like Angie, where even Tenkocan’t help but revise her opinion when she feels that Angie is clearly justusing Himiko for her own purposes.

I love Tenko a lot, so thank you so much for asking me abouther! She’s great and I’m still so glad that she’s been much better received bythe fandom ever since the game launched. I still wish she hadn’t died at all,but I’m glad that at least her death had a very real and lasting impact onHimiko and even the other characters throughout the rest of the game. Again,thank you for asking!