Welp, Hinata is a choice now.
GO HINATA
I feel it’s between Tomoya and Kotarou. Tomoya is a very powerful protagonist, he is a very big reason to Clannad being as amazing of a piece that it is.
However, Kotarou is a pretty unique protagonist. I’ve seen countless pessimistic, introverted, serious protagonists. I’ve even seen pessimistic, introverted, dorky protagonists. But Kotarou is like a million miles off from that. He’s a dorky, over the top, flamboyant, ambivert. Seeing that, in this kind of format is basically super duper rad.
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This is all a matter of which I prefer more. If I am going by enjoyability, then I say Koutarou is the best protagonist. If I am going by how well-constructed the protagonist was, then I can say Riki is my favorite Key protagonist.
Refrain Spoilers below:
Riki starts out as a kid who stands as the weakest of a small group of friends, but is perfectly cool with his lifestyle. Kyousuke decides to jog things up with some baseball, which forces Riki to meet people outside his usual comfort zone. After the baseball game, he progresses by helping his new friends solve their lingering regrets, which helps Riki learns some valuable lessons about how harsh, but bearable, reality is. By Refrain, however, things have been shattered beyond Kyousuke’s expectations due to his and Riki’s mistakes in Rin 2, which again forces Riki to do things outside his comfort zone in order to restore his group of friends back to the way it was. He, along with Rin, grow to understand why they needed to become stronger. Riki could have given up after that and lived with Rin for the rest of his life, but Riki, above all, values his friends, because they are the only family he has left.
The main problem I have with Riki is that, as a Key protagonist, he feels a bit empty compared to other protagonists. He doesn’t have preferences, he isn’t terribly witty, and he’s a bit of an opportunist when it comes to the opposite sex. To me, he’s a good character, but he also feels like another empty eroge protagonist for the player to fill in.
Koutarou, on the other hand, has a clearly-defined and semi-likeable personality (slight Terra spoilers) which changes into something more opinionated and realistic, almost too much so for his age, in my opinion. If it weren’t for that, he would most likely be my absolute favorite Key protagonist. Like most people, Koutarou puts on several faces when he talks to people. To Yoshino, he’s an omni-positive jokester who wants to be friends. To Kotori, he’s a casual friend who doesn’t know how to think of her romantically. To Lucia, he’s a weak little speck of dirt who likes flipping up women’s skirts in his spare time. To Shizuru, he’s an admirable, agreeable and helpful role model who takes every opportunity to help his poor underclassmen. To Akane, he’s Haruhi-lite. To Chihaya… 
In reality, however, as we see in Moon and the beginning of Terra, Koutarou is terribly insecure and starved of acceptance. He is the only sane man in a world that only believes in either protecting what’s in front of them or destroying themselves for the good of the planet. He believes that there may be a middleground, but no one believes him until Kagari shows up. His research on alien life is an outlet for him to prove that what he believes in exists and can happen, but because he has heavy opinions on the subject and no one believes him, he is forced to rethink how to approach people who do not believe in the same things as him. When it turns out that people are hiding the harsh truth from him, he intends to do something about it so that no one has to compromise or fight each other.
Koutarou is a deep character, perhaps unrealistically deep. He’s definitely a fleshed-out and enjoyable character, but I feel that Riki’s development is more realistic in that he only grows naturally, taking on new ideals and working them into his doormat personality without completely changing how he thinks and acts. In the end, it’s all a matter of preference.
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I don’t feel that strongly about any of the protagonists. Yuichi is funny, so I’ll go with him, but there’s much better out there. I feel like I’ll like Yuu because he’s pretty cute, so maybe I’ll change my vote when Charlotte wraps up.
every single character in Key’s works is well made.
but I think putting Kotarou there (though he is my favorite) is unfair o.o
because he had more than one roll and he had a longer chance of gameplay to love him more.
and in the other hand, putting Angel beats characters is unfair too XD
13 episodes are not enough to fully know the characters. we should wait till the game is public worldwide and all the members could play it.
other than kotarou and otonashi, I guess Yukito is the my favorite
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Well, unfair or not, other protags are still getting a decent amount of love, so I’d say why the hell not 
Our favourites aren’t only determined by the amount of immersion they had in a story, after all
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@Pepe
I get that, lol I know it’s just a personal opinion.
I said earlier, I love every single character in Key. XD
I have to say that Kotarou is by far the best. Here, I’m choosing him as the best character, not that he’s the one who appeals the most to me. It’s just, he’s by far the most human, the best made. He just feels real.
But overall, since I’ve not watched all Key anime (like, Air and Kanon and (what the hell is Harmonia?!?) are still on my list), I’d probably go for Tomoya. Angel Beats main characters aren’t my type and the other characters doesn’t have enough development. Charlotte’s main character gets on my nerve because of his narcissism. Riki is just weak and Little Busters itself was just weird.
As for Planetarian, I’m still reading it, so I can’t say.
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Well. My vote was gonna go for Kotarou. He’s already winning so I’ll just go for Hinata. But, seriously. HOW IN THE WORLD DID REI GET VOTES ?! Harmonia didn’t even come out yet.
Her design looks cute? (I don’t know. I didn’t vote for her. XP )
http://kazamatsuri.org/harmonia/
[quote=“Psychocrysma, post:28, topic:1480”]
Riki is just weak
[/quote]Wow… do we really have to go over this again… (LitBus spoilers)[Riki is not weak!] (Little Busters! - Riki Naoe Character Discussion)
[quote=“Psychocrysma, post:28, topic:1480”]
Little Busters itself was just weird.
[/quote]Ummm… not really sure even what to say to that… almost everyone here would disagree with you. Have you only watched the anime, perhaps? The VN is infinitely better.
[quote=“Kotarou, post:29, topic:1480”]
He’s already winning so I’ll just go for Hinata.
[/quote] Good choice (b^_^)b
[quote=“EisenKoubu, post:30, topic:1480”]
Her design looks cute? (I don’t know. I didn’t vote for her. XP )
[/quote]…
…
Rei is a guy…
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I just noticed, that I voted, but never write anything here. Tomoya is my choice here. No one comes even close to him for me, not even when I consider Yuu, who is kinda cool too. It’s hard to explain for me why I like Tomoya, so I wont, because it would get to personal.
It was a tough choice between Riki and Tomoya, but I had to go with Tomoya.
Riki’s character development is great, I really love how he changes through the game, going from unconfidant follower to being worthy to lead the Little Busters.
Tomoya on the other hand has enough character to be interesting (with his relationship with his dad, and his delinquent way in general) but for the most part, he is just an ordinary caring dude.
Riki is a great character, but I feel like he becomes to strong to be my favorite character, where as Tomoya learns to deal with his weakness. Instead of overcoming his past, he chooses not to let it drag him down, and that is why Tomoya is my favorite character.
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My mistake. I’ve only ever seen that blonde girl from the concept art, so I half-assumed she was the protagonist, which would have been a welcome change. I’d love a Key game with a female protagonist one of these days. 
I don’t think Jun Maeda would be willing to do one where the girl is the protagonist. And, I don’t mind it either, having the girl not be the protagonist, I mean, I don’t wanna be sexist or anything, but I like Key’s harem style writing. It makes it feel nice, knowing that you get more choices than 1, and also, the main female lead is also superior to my eyes. If they changed the gender, I don’t think it would feel the same. But if they ever do make a swapped visual novel, I honestly hope Itaru draws the guys. Not really a fan of Na-Ga’s drawings for guys. Also, is someone going to release a “Favorite female lead” ? I’d vote for Kagari honestly.
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b-but… muh Kyousuke ;_; MUH HINATA ;_;
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I’m with Yukito, I love his carefree personality and dry sense of humor, but when things get serious he becomes extremely caring and proactive.
Kotarou is probably the most interesting in my eyes, but I never really it attached to him as a character.
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Eh, I only like the character designs for Hinata, Ooyama, Yuzuru, and Yu, if we’re talking about the guys.
That’s, like, one less than all of the male characters that Hinoue has designed o_O
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Hmm ? But CLANNAD had lots of guys, Kanon and Rewrite too. I assume you’re talking about the protagonist though. But it wouldn’t make sense since Ooyama isn’t the protagonist.
