Crowd’s opinion on Chiaki. A.k.a. The difference between liking a character as a person (or AI), but not liking them as a character (that is supposed to be human).
Alternate title: I hope tumblr doesn’t kill me for this…
Now, I should start with pointing out that I do like Chiaki. She’s adorable and obviously a very caring person/character/AI.
BUT! I do have to admit that I very much prefer her as an AI/computer program ONLY and not as a human.
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i love this post! i hope you dont mind if i add on
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Thanks! And by all means, add to your hearts content. I love to see other peoples takes on things like this. =)
Answering some points under cut.
i dont necessarily consider her being an ai as a flaw, because her real flaw is her aversion to social interaction.
Oops, I didn't mean to imply that her being an AI was a flaw (this is why I should not post things in the middle of the night… ^^U), but rather that her being an AI does explains her lack of negative flaws (I would say that there's different kinds of flaws. "Good" flaws and "bad flaws"... I think TV tropes have a page about the same subject?). And the problem with her supposed aversion to social interaction is that... well... Oh… wait, are we talking about the AI or real Chiaki here? @_@ *got confused*
She’s scared of making “bad choices” when interacting with people, and not being able to tell what will happen as a result.
she’s said it herself in sdr2 that while she’s good at games that require logic, dealing with emotions or friendship is more difficult for her.
If we’re talking about AI Chiaki; then her worries about social interaction and trouble with games that relies on emotions is most likely because she is, when it comes down to it, a computer program. She doesn't posses "feelings" in the same way humans does, but her computer-brain would, however, have an easier time with problem that requires logic. As much as I love Chiaki and alter ego, and as much as the games likes ro paint them as "people", it doesn't change the fact that their "emotions" are built on an evolving program. So while it possible for them to predict humans actions based on their emotions to a certain degree, they are still limited on the fact that they cannot actually feel said emotions, only imitations of them. (and gosh I sound so negative here... o_____o I want to believe that they are able to rise above their programing... but facts and logic dictates that their "emotions" are simply a result of their evolving programing...)
she loves her talent, loves video games with a passion, but feels trapped and lonely. episode 2 was about her trying to break out of that pigeonhole and make friends when she thought that she would never be able to. however, the show rushed it. had it been dragged out and alluded to over several episode? would have been much better. i’d rather see her struggling to make friends and gradually making progress than to see her entire character arc crammed into one episode.
If we’re talking about Real!Chiaki; then… it ends up not being an actual flaw at all. You bring up a lot of good points (the pacing issue will be adressed further down). But the main-problem is that just a few words from Chisa and Chiaki suddenly manage to get over her insecurities and bring the whole class together… AND become loved by said class... without simingly any effort. The same thing apply to her interactions with Hajime. Noting indicates that she's shy or worried about interacting with him when they first meet, if anything she initially seem more apathetic about it (until Hajime mentions her game… and after that she’s DEFINITELY not being shy or insecure). And later on, after she has interacted with him a couple of times, she doesn't seem to have any sort of troubles with it at all. BUT! You make a very good argument that it might be the fault of the anime’s pacing rather than her "supposed flaw" not being an actual flaw. And to be fair, I think my biggest issue is that if you have trouble with interactions based on a worry of how others are going to interpret what you say... it doesn't go away that easily. It's a problem that I can personally relate to, so I might be a bit too biased on that issue to view it properly… >>U
the anime also put too little focus on why she thinks hinata, who has no talent, has more freedom than her.
Yes, it would have been nice to see that part developed some more... Regarding her feeling of being trapped by a title... that's a very valid thought and argument. My biggest problem here is the fact that it's coming from Chiaki. Someone who IS comfortable with her title since she DOES love games (even if she’s initially worried about how she can use it to make friends). Leon Kuwata from the first game is an actual (and excellent) example where his title (Ultimate Baseball Star) actually DOES interfere with his actual interest (music). So while her point is very much valid, it's still gets a bit undermined by WHO says it.
i almost forgot. the fact that she even exists as a human totally contradicts sdr2′s message that someone or something that isnt real could still have an impact on real people and the real world. i dont know how to feel about that, maybe future episodes will fix that?
THIS! Thank you! This is definitely part of my issue as well, I just couldn't put it into words. There really wasn't any actual indications that AI!Chiaki was based on a real human, was there?
thats pretty much my beef with how her character is handled in the anime. right away, nanami is too good at making friends and seems to have an incredible presence for all of the students (hinata included) when we barely got to see her struggling for and building those relationships. in the end, that can be chalked up to the bad pacing in despair arc. she could have been a totally believable human, but the central struggle of her as a character was wrapped up with a neat little bow in episode 2.
Yeah, as you mentioned before, the pacing is definitely an issue that’s partly to blame... Had the despair arc been the sequel to DR2 it seemed to be ment to be at the beginning, then they might have been able to handle it with the respect it deserves. But since it focuses just as much on the future-arc-characters... the character-developments are cut short for a LOT of characters (the whole twilight syndrome, for example, was a wreck...). But even if the pacing is a huge problem... it doesn't change the way these things did end up portrayed... that's now the cannon we have to deal with... regardless of how we feel about it. So what could have been a shy girl coming out of her shell got turned into a girl with a "supposed flaw" that turned out not to be a flaw at all.
ps - i feel like nanami would get mad if komaeda ever found out that she was friends with hinata and tried to insist that he was worthless and she shouldnt waste her time. i was hoping for that in the anime, but i dont think its going to happen. also yes! i would really love to see the series adress the problem with never getting mad
Oh I would have LOVED to see her handle that sort of confrontation! *w* The only problem is that her anger wouldn't be any different from that of when she defended Hiyoko Saionji... The show would definitely paint her as being in the right (which she would be, don't get me wrong) while defending Hinata. If anything, I have a feeling they might even have her not getting properly mad about it, but instead try to calmly explain to Komaeda exactly WHY she believes his line of thinking is wrong… rather than chewing him out... -___-U Although… to be fair... Komaeda being Komaeda, she might not actually get through to him. o.o! Not THAT would actually have been interesting to see her handle. A problem she cannot actually talk or "kind" herself out of.
But I do agree with a lot of what you're saying. Thanks a lot for taking the time to give your point of view on the subject! =) (And I hope my answer is coherent enough... I rewrote a few times, so I might have messed up some sentence of accidentally made the same argument twice and missed it... X_X Sorry in that case!)
