I think one of the best example of character writing is in Patlabor with its extraordinary restraint in going in depth with characters' past, especially with the television series where there are so many chances to do so (yes I love Patlabor on TV how'd you know). It's so easy to want give the characters their own solo time to explore and elaborate more on their past and how they came to be. In fact, I think the most we ever got of the cast pre-SV2 was Nagumo in Patlabor 2 (or that one time where Kanuka'a and Noa's job history was read aloud on the tv series idk) and even then it was no deep dive either. Patlabor treated its characters like real people and was so confident with its writing that it doesn't feel the need to explain its characters at all and it succeeded.
Gotou, for example, is shrouded in mysteries. His past pre-SV2 is completely unexplored outside of some implication in the movie universe OVAs, his reputation with colleagues are dubious at best. We as viewers don't even know if he can operate a Labor despite being a captain (and we know Nagumo can). It would be so easy to provide some answers to him, to explain some of his personalities, maybe even a brief flashback somewhere. Yet Patlabor did not wavered, Gotou remained the mysterious cunning man without losing any of his charm.
This could be applied to other characters too. Asuma's brother could have been elaborated on more, or maybe Kanuka's NYPD career, or even the general history of SV2 before Noa and the Ingrams. But Patlabor's characters are expressed in the present time, by their present actions.
It could be argued that this kind of present-focused writing can resulted in the underdevelopment of characters, and unfortunately it does harm certain characters. Kumagami in the TV series is a prime example of this, she was unfortunately the least interesting member of SV2. Coming in as a permanent replacement for Kanuka, her character already found itself in massive disadvantages missing most of the developement of the SV2 crew and having a generally unimpressive character. She's only really meant to provide stability in opposite of Ota's chaos similiar to Kanuka, but unfortunately lacking Kanuka's own quirkiness. Her only saving grace was her relationship with the main antagonist, which a quick delve into the past would have built a lot more character and interest from the audience. But Patlabor's confidence in its writing meant her past will not be elaborated on. Kumagami still gets to have her own moments but this is a situation where her past could have been used to build and strengthen her character more.
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