999's Most Controversial Character
I just submitted a defense of Akane Kurashiki to this comm's tumblr counterpart, fyeahcontroversialcharacters, and it occurred to me that Akane hasn't been defended here yet. So I'm posting her as well. This entire defense is spoilerific, so if you haven't played 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors OR Virtue's Last Reward and don't want to be spoiled, you should turn back.
Akane has been a controversial character since the beginning. Now, I suppose it's time I defended her.
A lot of folks actually take issue with Akane's character from the very beginning. They complain about the fact that she's a generic "childhood friend love interest" who keeps getting sick and is completely useless. At times, Akane's distressed damsel thing seems... rather over the top.
In retrospect, that was probably a big clue that it was an act.
But surely those "fans" would shut their mouths after reaching the True Ending, where it turns out that Akane is the mastermind behind the Nonary Game (at least this time around), Zero, right?
WRONG.
Many of those same fans love to bitch and moan about her putting other people at risk to save her own life, one that wouldn't even need saving had she not gone back to get the doll she'd gotten from Junpei. And you know what? You can take issue with that all you want. I'll admit that it was wrong of her and brother to kidnap people who weren't even involved or were merely indirectly involved, but I also understand that she did it to avoid being horribly burned to death. And in Virtue's Last Reward, she's arranged another Nonary Game to combat the evil cult that started the whole mess in the first place and is on the verge of wiping out most of humanity. Surely you'll at least give her that, right?
NOPE.
Some other fans are actually stupid enough to claim that she did all that just so she could be with Junpei. Yes, that's why at the end of 999, she stays with Junpei and the two of them raise a family and grow old together, right? OH WAIT, THAT'S NOT WHAT HAPPENED AT ALL. She fled with her brother and the next time she and Junpei meet, it's when they're both in their late sixties and as much as they'd have both liked to have been together, neither of them is all that interested in rekindling any old romance. Seriously, did you guys fall asleep during the parts where they talked about Free The Soul!?
I just don't understand this fandom sometimes. They bitched about Akane being a flat character that was only there to be Junpei's love interest, but when they got to the end and it became very clear that no, Akane is actually a very complex and morally ambiguous character, they bash her and insist that that's all she is. There's just no pleasing them.
Akane has been a controversial character since the beginning. Now, I suppose it's time I defended her.
A lot of folks actually take issue with Akane's character from the very beginning. They complain about the fact that she's a generic "childhood friend love interest" who keeps getting sick and is completely useless. At times, Akane's distressed damsel thing seems... rather over the top.
In retrospect, that was probably a big clue that it was an act.
But surely those "fans" would shut their mouths after reaching the True Ending, where it turns out that Akane is the mastermind behind the Nonary Game (at least this time around), Zero, right?
WRONG.
Many of those same fans love to bitch and moan about her putting other people at risk to save her own life, one that wouldn't even need saving had she not gone back to get the doll she'd gotten from Junpei. And you know what? You can take issue with that all you want. I'll admit that it was wrong of her and brother to kidnap people who weren't even involved or were merely indirectly involved, but I also understand that she did it to avoid being horribly burned to death. And in Virtue's Last Reward, she's arranged another Nonary Game to combat the evil cult that started the whole mess in the first place and is on the verge of wiping out most of humanity. Surely you'll at least give her that, right?
NOPE.
Some other fans are actually stupid enough to claim that she did all that just so she could be with Junpei. Yes, that's why at the end of 999, she stays with Junpei and the two of them raise a family and grow old together, right? OH WAIT, THAT'S NOT WHAT HAPPENED AT ALL. She fled with her brother and the next time she and Junpei meet, it's when they're both in their late sixties and as much as they'd have both liked to have been together, neither of them is all that interested in rekindling any old romance. Seriously, did you guys fall asleep during the parts where they talked about Free The Soul!?
I just don't understand this fandom sometimes. They bitched about Akane being a flat character that was only there to be Junpei's love interest, but when they got to the end and it became very clear that no, Akane is actually a very complex and morally ambiguous character, they bash her and insist that that's all she is. There's just no pleasing them.