A few weeks ago someone posted in a group that I was in that Eren from Attack on Titan was one of the best written characters in manga/anime this century. While the initial claim shocked me, what confused me even more was when someone else immediately said that Eren was definitely one of the top 3 best written characters this century. So then I started to question if I just read a different version of AoT than they did or if I just have no idea what I'm talking about, but after thinking it through I think that I'm on the right side of history for this one.
Now don't get me wrong, it's not like Eren was a badly written character, just not good enough to be called one of the best. He starts off very flat, with a single motivation to kill titans, gets like two pieces of development and disappears for half the story, then comes back with some contrived powers and is important again. Not too bad for shounen but that's all I can give it. So then this got me thinking: who is a good character and what makes them good? And I think I have come to a few early conclusions.
Two very well written characters I want to talk about are Rei Kiriyama from March Comes in Like a Lion and Rin Kokonoe from Kodomo no Jikan. Both of these characters come from dramas, which I think is pretty telling about what type of stories I tend to see good character writing in. I want to say that it's pretty hard to find good character writing in very plot driven stories as opposed to character driven ones, mostly due to the difference in focus. In actions and thrillers we don't need to see the characters growing all that much as long as the overall plot is moving forward. That's why most characters in shounen can be reduced to one goal, one tragic backstory and a combo of being either really nice, really strong, never giving up, fights for friends and is really dumb at first. Again, that being said, it doesn't mean that these series have bad characters. They all do their job fine and are likable, and would fit into their story better than some super fleshed out character. I just think you can't put them in the same tier as characters in stories that are focused solely on the growth of characters. I also tend to not find characters in romance manga to be all that interesting either, as they usually follow a similar set of growth patterns and backstory.
Now, onto Rei and Rin. The reason why I find these two characters to be particularly well written is because they are multifaceted, have different, evolving needs as the story progresses, act reasonably because of the history that they've had, and also learn and grow and the story goes on. In other words, they act like real people.
-------Spoilers for March Comes in Like a Lion and Kodomo no Jikan--------
Let's start off with Rei. For a basic background, he is a high school aged professional shogi player that went pro in middle school. His family was killed in a car accident when he was young, and he was subsequently taken in by a shogi player. There, he outclassed the family's children and caused a rift in the family causing him to move out and live on his own. While living on his own, he runs into the Kawamoto family and builds a strong relationship with the sisters of that household. That's a pretty general summary of Rei's past and present. So initially we see him coming off with a few problems due to his upbringing: the loneliness that comes from not having a real family, the need to live off of his earnings which is primarily done by doing well in shogi, and reconciling the problems that he has with the family that adopted him. And these are the first few problems that he does face in the story. But as he was facing all these problems, life obviously did not stop for him and piled new ones on as well: learning how he fits in with the Kawamoto sisters that takes care of him, trying to figure out if he actually enjoys playing shogi and trying to find friends in school. None of his problems are ever just outright solved, but he goes on a process, learning more and more each day and coming closer and closer to a solution, much like how people act in real life. Things aren't easily solved and time doesn't wait for anyone. We just have to march along and figure it out as we go. In that sense, Rei feels so real and fleshed out.
Another great thing that we get to see is how he interacts with groups of people. There are four primary groups that he is in contact with: pro shogi players, the Kawamoto sisters, his adopted family and those he sees at school. In each case, we can see that he shows a lot of similarities when he interacts with them: he's awkward and doesn't really know if he belongs. Yet despite that we see nuance in how he behaves. He is different when he's with shogi players than with school friends. With one group he puts on the air of a competitor, learning and fighting alongside them, but with others he puts on the air of an awkward, lonely boy, a cuckoo bird that doesn't belong, or a visitor to a loving family. In each he is the same, yet different, again much like people. We act differently in different circles, but we can say that all of it is 'us' at its core.
Going further, we see the goals that Rei has and how it evolves. If we just look at his shogi career for instance, he starts it by merely wanting to prove himself to his adoptive father, but then sees it as his way of taking care of himself, which becomes a sort of trap he can't escape, and eventually all the way to a means of provision for the one he loves. In his relationship with the Kawamoto sisters, he first sees them as a family that has helped him out to a place where he feels at home to a place that he wants to protect. His views, aspirations and goals evolve and change as the story moves on, and all of it in a logical way.
If we look at Rin, we see very similar things. For her backstory, her father left her mother before she was born because it would have ended up causing a lot of complications for her mother, so Rin ended up growing up in a fatherless household. Her mother ended up taking her cousin in, only to end up in an intimate and sexual relationship with him. Her mother was the only person to show her love, and after her death, Rin's cousin takes on that job. However, he does it in a more twisted way, essentially grooming Rin to become a copy of her mother that he can then love when she gets older. In school, she was at first closed off until a teacher came by and got her out of her shell with the help of a few new friends. Keeping in mind the fact that she starts off in 3rd grade, most of her actions in the story are very reasonable. She grows immediately attached to the new teacher because of her previous interactions with a teacher she felt could help her. She shows her affection in highly sexualized ways because that was the only form of love she knew after her mother died. She is rowdy and rambunctious because there was no one at home to teach her not to be. Even though she realizes her cousin isn't the best influence on her, she doesn't speak up because she knows he loves both her and her mother. There is a sharp contrast between the way she acts with her cousin, friends and teacher based on the levels of trust and understanding built between them that change throughout the story.
Another interesting that Rin has going for her is the fact that she is a growing child that is constantly learning, discovering new things and asking questions. These all add to the believably of the character. Most of what I said earlier about Rei apply to Rin so I won't go over any more specific details.
Now I think that there is an important issue to bring up here: just because a character is believable and feels real doesn't make them a good character, nor does a well written character have to be one that you enjoy. Rin and Rei are cases where they happen to feel real and I happen to enjoy their characters as well. The main character of Kanojo, Okarishimasu is very believable: he doesn't have the guts to admit he doesn't have a girlfriend, but has too much pride to let that stand, so he has to face the repercussions of an ever growing lie. It makes sense that he can't admit the fact that he doesn't have a girlfriend, and it makes sense that he would lie and never learn anything, but I absolutely despise the character. He isn't well written because he never learns, He is believable but is flat as a brick, and unlikable to boot. On the other hand, Bojack Horseman is a great example of very realistic characters that I do not enjoy. The majority of characters are fairly well written, with each more or less acting solely based on their own desires and messing up in the end. I'll give them credit for being realistic and well written, but I would not really want to watch it all again.
So then, at the end of the day, what makes a well written character? I think the main part of being well written is being believable and real: having goals and desires, a history and past, relationships they pursue and change, and evolving and growing with the story. Characters that are flat and static will never feel like a good character in the long run. But with that being said, a good character is one that fits the story, one that the audience enjoys and wants to see more of, one that builds and adds on to the world and other characters. They don't have to be the most well written, but when they are, it becomes truly something beautiful to behold
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