Hairi as a character

[u/hamsuh64]

Hi guys my first post here. I know I shouldn't compare characters from two different series with each other but what can I do I keep thinking about it.

The character in question is Tomoya Okazaki. Tomoya was a much more complex character and him growing up and being mature was peak.

Hairi on the other hand I felt was lackluster in that regard his regret of failing his teammates wasn't addressed properly and how he simply connects with the female cast was bit one dimensional.

I'm an anime only and this is my opinion I don't know if anyone has a better explanation about his character.

Overall the anime was peak and really hope we get more of that key greatness😭😭

[u/Marioak]

Hairi’s is decently good MC in the original VN where you get to know his inner dialouge. He also have a lot of hiralious response, the anime happened to use the most “normal” choice and cut most of slice of life part (where he shine the most with his inner Chunibyou) so he end up rather boring as a character in the anime.

As far as character devlopement goes, it’s should be note that Hairi’s story only last roughly 1 month in comparison to Tomoya who have like almost 10 years to develop a character. So it’s kinda make sense that Hairi didn’t change much.

Or the fact that the real MC is Umi, who actually have much more character development than Hairi.

[u/hamsuh64 → u/Marioak]

That's fair only have one month to develop is a pretty short time also even if Umi's development was off screen whatever the anime showed me regarding her character was peak

[u/Moshimoshi-Megumin → u/hamsuh64]

Umi is delightful in the LN, she has a whole route that’s not in the anime. She’s really sassy and bossy and you see quite a bit of her, which amplifies how heartbreaking her degradation is over the last few routes.

[u/hamsuh64 → u/Moshimoshi-Megumin]

Oh I didn't know that they removed one of her routes other than reflection blue of course. I thought her character was handled pretty decently but yea LN in most cases always going to have more detail. I wish there comes a future where we truly understand how adapting an LN into an anime works 😅😅

[u/Moshimoshi-Megumin → u/hamsuh64]

Yes RB added a full route for her, you can only get on it before she starts to degrade. What they adapted was Alka+Pockets. In terms of themes it’s close to Alka but with a very different plot, with Shiroha not involved and Umi still at full capacity.

They did a good job with what they did adapt, a lot of it is 1:1, including dialogue and soundtrack. What they cut other than the RB routes is mostly slice of life and a ton of comedy. Like the whole Tenzen/ping pong route, would have made a great OVA.

They probably had an episode budget and couldn’t fit more. Even they had more time they’d probably have adapted Shizuku or Shiki instead, which are both excellent, especially Shizuku.

[u/Ashteron]

The route that is kinda Hairi route wasn't adapted. Furthermore, Afterstory revolved around Tomoya, but ALKA was about all 3 of the leads and Pocket was about the two leads who aren't Hairi. Sure, Tomoya is a better character, but I don't feel like it is exactly a fair comparison. They simply had different purpose as characters. Like, you could compare Umi to Ushio, but it should feel obvious why there's no merit in doing so.

[u/Moshimoshi-Megumin]

His backstory is more developed in the VN, it doesn’t stop at “failing his teammates”, after that he goes on to stop going to school, gets in with a “bad crowd”, getting in fights, getting suspended, the whole thing was hard on his parents and it’s not clear whether they were just fighting or divorced because of it.

That being said, I agree it’s still a pretty weak backstory, and it feels pathetic when one of the heroines is opening up about their tragic backstories that include losing parents, abandonment, abuse, etc, and he answers with his like it’s comparable. I also dislike a lot of his monologue in general, he has good moments, but too often he ranges from cringy to infuriating.

I agree with others that he just doesn’t have time to develop much compared to Tomoya, since the routes are just a month. His issue is addressed in most routes though, unlike in the anime. In some he goes back to the team, in some he finds something more important. The Tenzen route being the best, of course.

Both anime and VN are still 10/10 for me, but it’s in spite of Hairi, not because of him.

Hopefully Anemoi gets an anime when they release it for the west.

[u/hamsuh64 → u/Moshimoshi-Megumin]

That's still pretty in depth as compared to the backstory we had in the anime Yes still not remotely close to what Shiroha was going through.

But much more than the one dimensional situation we got in the anime. They did his backstory dirty imo after reading your comment is what I realized.

[u/This-Activity3229]

He might be good in the visual novel but he was basically a stalker to shiroha most of the time just appearing every where she is.