Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-122.175.142.238-20130821205009/@comment-72.1.25.251-20140705180849

Wow, some people have lots of extra time to hate on characters. And when I say some, I basically mean one person.

So I read this thread from beginning to end, and at first I was completely livid for the judgement being shoved down people's throat about Nagisa, then that turned to a bit of amusement, and now I'm rather indifferent, because while there's not straight-up hating going on, there is some negativity in regards to some characters.

I personally love all the characters. They're all so different, they all have different personalities, and they all bring a different thing to the table. But they're all bound together by a mutual love of swimming.

We have Haru. On tumblr, he's practically idolized. He's such a cool and collected character who just wants to swim and eat mackerel. He's so indifferent to the world around him, but when he gets the chance to swim, there's that unmistakeable glimmer in his eyes. He's not competitive; he just wants to be free. He's an exception to commonly-used protagonist mold; he's athletic, but he's not energetic; he values his friends, but he doesn't overly-express it; he's passionate about something, but he doesn't gush about it. It's as though they used a side-character mold for a protagonist, and it worked.

Makoto. He's such a gentle spirit who only wishes the best for his friends. He's so sweet and caring (and has a soft spot for kitties~), and he looks out for everyone, even though he scares easy and he's weak-hearted. Despite his fear of the ocean, he goes out in a storm to rescue Rei. He goes to Haru's every morning to make sure he's on time, since Haru's parents aren't around. He's been with Haru since kindergarden and understands him so well he can practically read his mind, and at times, he even speaks for him, since he knows Haru won't speak out.

Then there's Nagisa. He's the instigator of practically all of the swimming club's plans. When he enrolled at Iwatobi, he's the one that took to action upon everyone's mutual desire to have a swimming club. He doesn't think; he acts. He's a constant bundle of energy; always smiling, always trying to look for the fun in the situation. He lives for close contact with his friends; he glomps and head-nuzzles and strives to find ways to spend time with them. He schemes and shenanigans.

And Rei. Rei didn't even have any interest in the swim club at first; he was a polevaulter for track. In fact at first he didn't even know how to swim. But when he started to learn, he thought what it'd take was learning all of the different techniques; he memorized and he relied them too much, rather than letting his instincts lead him. He's a great character to contrast Nagisa, who acts before thinking. He's an exception to the rule he was based off of; he first appears as this stern, level-headed megane character, when inside he's really just a big, loveable dork. He's a very uncomplaining character who only wants to succeed to catch up to his teammates because he's afraid he's holding him back.

Rin is basically the anti-hero in the series. He's not bad enough to be an antagonist, but aside from Nagisa, he's basically the one that gets the plot moving. He provides motivation for Haru to swim, and in exchange, he is motivated by Haru to swim even more. He's so emotional, even though he tries to hide it. He's haunted by his memories and his father's dream, and he continually acts to try to push them away. He's conflicted the entire course of the first season, and probably the one that gets the most character development of them all, because his ideals concerning swimming go back and forth constantly, and in the end, he realizes all he wants is to swim with his team.

Annnd I would talk about the rest of the characters, but, eh, bored now. I honestly wasn't fond of some of the characters until I analyzed them in prepping for writing a fanfic, but now I really love all of them. Nagisa is my all-time favorite.

It's okay to have your own opinions and to dislike characters, but they're all really important to the series as a whole, and they are who they are. All of them are invaluable to this beautiful show; if you take one of them out, who knows what would happen to the storyline of the anime?