#eva thllda

now just the ladies this time!

takumi: i love the way that all that stuff he does- good and bad- still stems from his desire to protect the people he cares about. he's one of the most compelling protags i've ever seen.

takemaru: he shines as a supporter of his fellow teammates, making them the best they can be, and i really like how he is Lawful Good to such hilarious faults.

hiruko: her desire to save everyone is so palpable through each failed attempt in the time loop and goes beautifully with her crushing guilt and self flagellation for her actions in slasher route.

eito: i really love how, despite everything, eito at his core still deeply yearns for connection and being understood, even with the people he hates so much.

darumi: not only do i adore how her class clown facade contrasts with her inner self sacrificing kindness, but i also feel like she was written as a love letter to kodaka's fans- he really appreciates us and it shows so strongly through her.

tsubasa: i love how well she pulls off being a "normal girl" and the way that that coincides with her fear of ostracization bc of her disability and inability to connect with her peers back in the TRC. especially with how she's now valued by her SDU teammates because of the passionate interest in machines that isolated her.

gaku: the way he engages so heavily in toxic masculinity to compensate for his place in the world is really compelling to me, and because growing up the way he did made him so maladjusted to making friends, his anxieties about how others see him become self-fulfilling prophecies. everything he does is rooted in that raw, deeply human desire to love and be loved while fumbling at every turn, and i could never hate him for that.

ima: speaking of older brothers who sacrifice so much for their siblings, i love ima. the way he sacrificed his childhood, his body, even his personhood all for kako's sake is so tragic and well done. even in his efforts to shield her from all the evil he's experienced, it still affects her through him, and that's so compelling to me.

kako: i love her so much. she wants to grow out of the cocoon ima has kept her safely tucked inside so badly, but she, too, loves ima and wants to protect him as well, despite everything. it feels more nuanced and honest than the approach i thought kodaka was gonna take with these two, and it's such a breath of fresh air.

shouma: im a big fan of how his compassion is so strong when he frankly has every reason to resent the world around him. it especially shines in cases where they learn the truth and shouma is the character who is most invested in learning more about the futuran people and making peace with them.

nozomi: i love how much she embodies carrying the wills of the people who she loses- all too often bearing burdens without sparing a thought for herself. she thinks she always needs to work extra hard to make up for her shortcomings to be useful and finish what her mother started, and i find that messy self destruction so compelling.

kurara: i love how she is always displaying a tough and mean act to hide someone who is so hurt and vulnerable underneath, because she knows from experience that people will find any display of weakness as something to be exploited. but my favorite part of when she's maskless is how she's not weak at all- she's just being open and honest, letting bottled up emotions spill out.

kyoshika: she is so fucking funny, man. but also, i always think about how it must feel, growing up in total isolation while reading stories that go on and on about the power of friendship. it makes me glad she has the 2LDA.

yugamu: shoutout to all my sensitive perverts out there!!! love yall! what i especially love about yugamu is how he, at his core, never wants to hurt another person again, but he still does it so much because, more often than not, he feels he has to.

moko: i adore the way she not only exudes physical strength, but mental and emotional strength as well. her strength shines in the way her positive energy is a contagious thing that can lift up the other SDU members around her in an instant.

eva: her title as the paragon of nature contrasted with the way she is constantly mistreated as a prisoner of war is really compelling and makes it clear what the game is trying to tell us. also, out of all the bond events in the game, her final ones are my favorite because they genuinely had me tearing up.

sirei: he encapsulates the themes of this game so well, making for a fantastic mascot character. also i love his english voice performance.

nigou: i like the subtler representation of negligence and incompetence as a shield for genuinely horrendous acts of war. nigou works so well in his good cop/bad cop dynamic with sirei, because at the end of the day, they're both working towards the same goal.

anyway sorry for the long wall of text. i just love these guys a lot.

Shouma - He'd either love or hate the animal/dino shaped nuggets

Takemaru - Likes the triangle and star shaped ones

Tsubasa - Likes the circle ones, looks like wheels

Takumi - Likes the star and heart shaped ones, basic picks no one can go wrong with

Kako - Likes 'em with chocolate, likes star the most but likes them all

Ima - "It's just chicken nuggets nothing special" or "tastes best with soy sauce, likes the triangle or the star"

Kazuichi - Doesn't care about shape, just likes the taste of them

Gaku - Doesn't care about the shape, just quickly cooks them for his siblings or chicken nugget supremacist and likes the ovals and circles the most

Hiruko - Doesn't give a shit or likes the triangle if she had to say which one was her favorite

Darumi - Splatters ketchup all over 'em

Moko - Eats little to no chicken nuggets to maintain a balanced diet

Nozomi - Hasn't thought about it before and decides she likes the heart the most

Kyoshika - "Dino nuggets lie supreme!"

Yugamu - Hasn't eaten before, likes to pretend to disect the nugget

Kurara - Doesn't eat commoner food

Nigou - Doesn't eat food

Sirei - Doesn't eat food

Eva - Hasn't eaten before, loves chicken nuggets and demolishes (eats) them

Vehxness - Demolishes (eat or destroy? Who knows) chicken nuggets and makes a mess or does not give a shit and blows everyone up

Nyewgank - DOESN'T DESERVE CHICKEN NUGGETS FOR MAKING BATTLES SO PAINFUL HE DOES NOT GET ANY NOT A SINGLE ONE

Please argue against my takes or share any of yours!!!!

—🟥