Who is your favourite Key character and why?

[Arete]

Some of my favorites:

Kanade

I’m really a sucker for just about every aspect of Kanade’s character design. I love long straight hair, silver hair, golden eyes, this style of winter school uniforms, and am quite fond of Kuuderes. I honestly don’t have much of an excuse or anything really critical or well thought out to put here, I just really like Kanade’s character design.

Kyousuke

Because apparently Kyousuke is everyone’s favorite character. God damn if Kyousuke isn’t just the coolest Key character. He’s likable from the beginning of Little Busters! because he is designed to be the charismatic center of the group who thinks of fun, outlandish things to do. And then you get to see throughout refrain that Kyousuke isn’t quite as flawless as he was made out to be in the rest of the VN. His plan to strengthen Rin failed spectacularly, and his actions emotionally abused Kengo and Masato. If anything, Kyousuke is an antagonist for most of Refrain. This imperfection really deepens his character and then you get his farewell to Riki and the floodgates open.

Akio

How Akio acts for the entire second half of Nagisa’s route is amazing. It clashes with how we’ve seen him up until then, which has been mostly playful and sarcastic, but it still feels natural. In Akio’s route (AS and Nagisa spoilers) we really get to see that helping people is as natural to him as breathing, but he’s still capable of acting selfishly. When Nagisa was young him following his dream almost cost her life. Even during the play, the reason he wanted Nagisa to succeed was because he decided that her happiness was far more important to him than his own dream. He wanted her to succeed in part because any father would want to see their daughter accomplish their dreams, but also as… atonement I guess? Like after what he did to Nagisa she deserves happiness.

[Kawaii-is-Justice]

Favourite Female character: Akane (Rewrite)
I just love her witch and dark aura and she’s pretty good at her role I mean, acting as the vilain (Chihaya, Shizuru and her OWN route). And I love these moments when she harrasses Kotarou and makes fun of him. And her route was my favourite too. And what made me like her even more was (Terra) herself as a child… She was just sooo cute <3. And there are many many other reasons.
Second to her would be Kurugaya and then, of course, Shizuru <3 .

Favourite Male Character: Sakuya (Rewrite)
Do I need to explain? Sakuya is just an AMAZING character. He’s badass and so tough and he’s just… GREAT. At first, I hate to admit it but, Ididn’t really like him and then I read his route… Erm, I mean Chihaya’s route, and then he just became my favourite Key male character. And his appearance in Moon tho, I was so happy to see him!
Second to him would be Masato and then probably Kotarou.

[soggysadboi]

Mine’d probably have to be Masato, from Little Busters!, if I absolutely had to choose.

Even though he is a kinniku head and a lovable idiot, he shows his strength does not stop at his muscles. Despite knowing everything going on in the world, Masato still manages to make everyone laugh and be the big oaf everyone adores. He never shed a tear in a non-comedic scenario, to my memory. He even kept it together when he said goodbye, and thanked Riki with that pure smile before disappearing. Just everything about that absolutely got to me. His character just stood out to me. I do have a soft spot for funny characters being put into serious roles.

In the series I’ve seen/read, (I’ll include one for male and female, if there’s a decent size male cast) it’s:

Kanon: Mai
AIR: Misuzu
Clannad: Kotomi, Sunohara
planetarian: (there’s really only one answer to this one)
Little Busters!: Masato, Haruka
Angel Beats!: T.K, Shiina
Rewrite: Yoshino, Shizuru
Charlotte: Nao

[ripeforthepicking]

Well, let’s try to write something meaningful here.

First of all, focusing on VNs, I use three criteria to identify if I like a character or not. This is neither rigid nor weighed…
-How the character behaves by itself. I usually tend to prefer believable (considering that it’s fiction and almost all the situations can’t be translated to real life) characters, who behave coherently, and usually if they can’t be categorized as a trope and can take different “roles”.
-How the character interacts with the rest of the story (other characters and other routes). Again, we’re reading stories, so for me, being able to make meaningful contributions to other sections of the story is a plus.
-Subjective criteria: this is a mixed bag. Several things can show up here. For example, when something that affects to the character reminds me of something in my own life, or if the seiyuu is particularly good, or if I like the design…

Considering these criteria, there are quite a lot of Key characters that could be ranked very high in my hypothetical list. Yukito and Hijiri in Air; Nayuki in Kanon (maybe her mom, Shiori and Mai too); Kotomi, Tomoyo and Sunohara in Clannad (plus several others); Riki, Rin, Kyosuke, Yuiko and Mio in LB! (I absolutely loved these 5); Shizuru, Yoshino, Nishikujou and Esaka in Rewrite (to be fair, almost the entire casting), but my favourite isn’t here. My favourite Key character (and, under my point of view, the best character that they’ve ever done, their pinnacle) is…

Hint: look at the pic

Senri Akane

Subjectivity is a heavy factor here, so every opinion is arguable, but I can’t find a better Key character than her. I know she’s a well liked Key character, probably the one with most fans in Rewrite, but not typically considered more than that. She’s not a main character, her role is large but not so important in some sections of the story, maybe she doesn’t show up in some of the absolutely memorable moments which caused that a lot of people loved other characters in different Key works, as Misuzu, Kyosuke, Nagisa…, but she may be the best all-around Key character. Based on the former set of criteria, the reasons for my opinion. This last part won’t be so long, I promise.

-Character by itself: she has a solid background story, is well written and has a defined personality, much more multifaceted than usual in this kind of works. She’s not just a trope, she has a quite complex personality, developed quite logically from her background. Along the story we see her as a comic relief, a “puppet” of a larger being, mysterious, pessimistic, pragmatic, depressed, maniac, and even slightly romantic.
-Interactions: she’s an important part of the whole story and the different routes, and the way she interacts can vary drastically. When she shows up, she makes herself the most important element of the scene (for example, Chihaya and Shizuru endings)
-Subjecticity: most important criterion. Her “personality” clicks me. With her strange humour, cynicism and geekiness, she’s the kind of person that I end up befriending or liking in real life. She improves the interactions with the rest of the cast. Last but not least, in fact it might be very important. Her seiyuu is just amazing! It’s a voice that can sound, for the same character, as a sexy young woman, a cynical rich girl, a pessimistic but powerful woman and a deeply broken and depressed misfit. That’s not easy at all! I still remember, during Chihaya’s route, the way she sounded when Kagari showed her the “dark past” of the world, the way she broke. Goosebumps. That’s ridiculous, what an impressive VA!

Wow, sorry for writing so much. Rereading Rewrite makes you notice even more the amazing character that Akane is.