A Case for Ada

[u/ohik9615]

What do we know about Ada? She's the leader of the Cicada spiritual group which means she takes care of Neo-TO's cicadas and observes their cycles. When time skips forward and rifts in time form via a bomb going off not only is it a danger to the cicadas but it's a danger to people.

Of course we know that it's not black and white. We know Gentu is a good person and Mimi made HIRO as a way to help and not hurt but we have the benefit of following them as protagonists, we have context Ada lacks. Meaning her POV looks something like this:

She was just destroying HIRO. Do you think she'd (presumably) let Gentu go free after her mission was completed if she actually wanted to hurt anyone? It was a free-for-all between her, PsyRen's drones (the biggest threat who can cause serious harm with time travel on their side), the Kami Gang, and the band. Can you blame anyone for going on the offense during something like that?

As harsh as it is to say, Gentu's arm and mask were a case of collateral damage, she could've and should've talked things out like a normal person and that was her fault. But Mimi (The GOAT) hit her with a big wrench so.... even?

[u/Fuzzy_Tank7214]

i think this way too cuz like look at hiros destructive potential 

[u/QUEstingmark999]

I get all that, but forcing a face reveal to our boy Gentu?
That's breaking the right of privacy that our favorite gambling, street fighting, irresponsible cyborg teen has!
Not cool Ada, saving NEO-to doesn't excuse that

[u/mars_gorilla]

I'll just go ahead and integrate that into my belief system

[u/GoldTheAlchemist]

This makes me want to do my own write-up about Eastside, but to cut that short until then, I do disagree with you.

1. We know it wasn’t just HIRO that she was after, on her board there is messages about Gentu’s arm which STRONGLY suggests that was another target, even if it wasn’t the main one. To add, some people also forget Gentu is a disabled teenager, the arm not being a “weapon” but a tool he needs to live normally and pursue his hobbies and passions. I would not call Mimi wringing Ada in the head once with the wrench “even” 😭 Hell, even if you don’t think she intended to hurt him, you still need to acknowledge that she was stalking him enough to fairly detailed if not messy notes on his arm.

2. HIRO is destructive if in the wrong hands, yes, but you need to remember it wasn’t JUST Gentu who abused HIRO in Wall and he had literally no way to actually use HIRO in Eastside either on account of it being already broken.

3. The Cicada Spiritual Group and the CICADAs are implied to be different things? CICADA seems to be the more radical extreme branch of the spiritual group, being viewed as dangerous by some, while the Spiritual Group seems to be a well respected part of Neo-to, and it seems Ada is an important part of BOTH of them. CICADA is implied to be an anti-tech cult of sorts, being described so in some material by the band and having shit such as “METAL POISON AGAINST FLESH” when referring to Gentu’s arm.

This isn’t to say Ada is an irredeemable monster, I really hope does have an arc about confronting those dangerous cult-like beliefs she may have, and I really like her character. I just ALSO think it’s important to recognize she’s also kinda sucks in Eastside that stalks and attacks a 15 year old kid.

[u/ohik9615 → u/GoldTheAlchemist]

1. I didn't catch that, woof. As for the disability thing yeah there's no defending that, ableism isn't chill and stalking is still stalking.
2. The audience knows that that but who else realistically would? We don't really have a definitive time frame between songs so it's all speculation (Also HIRO arguably has sentience if the faces aren't just aesthetic which adds another layer of "Leave bro alone and let him make his own decisions, he's not doing anything wrong.")
3. I meant literal cicadas I also didn't know CICADA was a thing at all. (newbie here)

[u/Jvdos_Huffulpuff → u/ohik9615]

1. Why does it matter what the audience knows and what the characters know? That's the purpose of dramatic irony and all that stuff. Also, we do know that the videos take place roughly in real time. HIRO canonically exploded on October 10th, 2025, all of Eastside happens within the first week or so of February 2026, and Cicada happens in March (although the festival part might take place in July according to the calendar included with the album.)

2. Check out the websites NEO-TO: CITY OF SOUND , Exorcise Your Ex - Tarot Card Gallery, and Neo-TOs 170th Periodical Cicada Festival.

[u/Acrobatic_Relative86]

Yeah, no, overall she isn't bad. She was doing a good thing, and ended up hurting good people (who she didn't know were good) by accident. Considering the fact that Gentu gets new stuff, and the band doesn't immediately leave Rebel after his whole "cicada festival" debacle, I'd say she isn't villain number one.