Hey look
It's him Random guy. What's he doing? Trying to accept apples as part of life? Short musing under cut
Why is he even here? You came here for this guy. Legendary redpill troll.
You want to untangle his endless vagueposting, separate mania from actual events of the game and determine just how many fake aliases and titles can one eternal adolescent have, not exactly stop to follow his boring younger sibling in ever-going discovery of optimal dating strategies. Well, you may be wrong there. Because this guy has virtually nothing to offer without that other guy.
Samekichi is just a guy. He is also a real protagonist of the game and our story guideline, by silly chance and maybe his own doing. Samekichi glues and reinforces themes together while casually fumbling his confession. "Remain who you are" wouldn't be as impactful if we didn't see it mirror in our protagonist-antagonist. He establishes main narrative drive, that of everyone's betrayal of each other, as early as being compared to Old. "I'm so different from you" is the only defining trait of main villain. What are your motives for ruining entire world, pal? Being different then Samekichi? Yeah? How different? Who is Samekichi? Why is Samekichi? Samekichi's story starts by loitering around, aimlessly. He is found by main star of the kingdom, and proceeds to be exceptionally static in most of his interactions with pretty much anyone. He is always brash, aloof, always new to the world and always an outsider. (actually funny contrast to bad twin who is always polite, friendly, always all-knowing and always "insider"). From the moment he is awkwardly introduced as ex-familiar and a traitor, we are awfully aware that ain't right. Someone so clumsy and shy, a traitor? Tatsumiya gives you valid concerns but at that point, she is more suspicious then him. Nah. What's his deal, just being a bully in order to not admit his feelings, or for the pure love of the game, like a highschooler? Sure looks the part, dressed in pure Squall. I'm sure nothing of import....
He will and can do absolutely anything to keep ones he loves safe. It may be just one person but. He is that guy. He will miraculously teleport at places just on time. He will miraculously survive hell (TE) and not be corrupted in NE1. You're not that guy. Your lv100 Wada is not that guy. He is that guy.
And. How much. Villains. Hate to see it. Or just a villain, to be honest. He is that guy so much, that Sal will define entire world's wrongness on his likeness. Samekichi is the epitome of the whole world and what is wrong with it. He is the enemy #1 of the entire existence. He must be stopped at all costs. In fact, he becomes sort of a central figure in NE1 despite being absent, too. Is it the girl? He got the girl they both like? The girl villain vaguely likes-hates? Yes, in fact. But not exactly. Samekichi living with Wada is manifestation of world needing correction. Because Samekichi living with Wada is epitome of change and growth and accepting things as they come. Samekichi is harbinger of change, while opposing forces are carriers of stagnation, stacked against him. First thing he does is completely subvert Old despite looking, acting and playing very much the same role. Just like everyone else, yet even more so, he is tied to Aounabara and greater narrative he says he doesn't care about. No character stands in mirror match against king in same way. No other character is so firmly grounded on exact opposite side, proving him wrong and undoing his curse. Majority of the cast belongs to the virtuous side, yet he is the part of trio of the only truly selfless characters, right beside Wada and (maybe) Meikai, whom we don't really know much about. Unlike them, however, he constantly rejects to fall prey and participate in power play, folly of a virtue, and being someone else's undoing. Everyone can be corrupted, but him. He stays true to his simple convictions, as simple as protecting those you love, yet too complicated for the great wizards and kings to follow. His convictions aren't unwarranted or without flaw, making him more compelling as a character. He falls in exact same way Sal does, in NE1 and 2 giving us better glimpse of a cast as a whole. And mentioning their dual dynamic - both of them have exact same starting point, yet Samekichi never stops developing. He is persistently naive, disoriented and sometimes childish but that's exactly what brought him on a good path. He doesn't dwell in a moment, he wants to live and experience. When he is not ready to learn, he will not, but when he is, he really transforms. Quite literally, in fact. There is a great deal of things he hates, and among them are apples and the entire world itself, but he is never beyond trying them out. Great deal of new experiences come from Wada, and it is only possible because he has an open heart and wears his emotions on a sleeve. He is rude and introverted, but he is never apologetic nor coy about. He tells it as he sees it, and he embraces what he loves, be it shy, reluctantly and awkwardly. That is why he cannot be corrupted.
He loved his mother too and forgetting her face did not mean he never felt the same way the rest of the family did. He was caught up in grief same way anyone would be, and it left great impact on him, from struggling to let others in, to maturing consistently, to delaying confrontations until he is ready, which can take century or two. Or millennia. But in the end, he forgot her face because he ultimately focused on what is in front of him, tangible, feeling and worth protecting. She is long gone yet there his son and wife and her (and his) friends and family are. And that's why he's that guy. Being so different then Samekichi means exiting the narrative before you even start it, just throwing the towel from get go and forever sitting on a bench of life, while he continues to learn new ways in which he can seize the day, despite and because of all odds. And that's how he changes everything.
