#she obviously gets (understandably) overshadowed a lot by how perfect chigusa is!!!!!!! and she has kinda become one of my top favs

[ikuhara]

i know even the guidebook for Utena Sega game refers to the main player character as a sort of blank slate self-insert style protagonist, but i still struggle to agree with that assessment ??? if that was really the intention, it didn't really read that way for me

i still really do think that the completed portrait of her that gets painted across every route created a shockingly engaging, flawed and well-rounded character. maybe my perception got too colored by going into the game with such low expectations of her having any characterization.

and i mean ofc it's a VN so choices/the ending are determined by the player, but everything still felt like it existed within the framework of who the protagonist is as a character. all the choices you can make (and choices you don't get to make) felt more defining of her, rather than fully servicing the whims of the player. if that makes any sense.

i just have soooooo many thoughts about her. she's really fascinating and compelling (like every character in the series really is and needs to be) i find myself coming back to her and her lore so much.