[Ricky Controversy]

Originally Posted by Knightrunner

I would say she is Down-to-earth because she gives this relaxing aura, you can hang out with her, and she doesn't look down upon others.

"Down-to-earth" really speaks more to the idea that someone is well-grounded in reality, which Haruka is not. She is very fanciful, which has the positive effect that she's not bound by social norms, but also means she doesn't really think about consequences much.

What is She has no sense of proportion when it comes to cute things? Puppies are cute. Miya is cute. I can't argue about Haruka's taste and I don't see how it is hout of proportion. I can't remember an incident that would get her in trouble for liking cuteness.

"Out of proportion" meaning that she overreacts. Again, she's fanciful, and she doesn't keep her wits about her, she just lets whatever happens to float on by completely absorb her attention, which results in her being rather flighty. That is what we call an 'unstable' person.

Moe is acceptable in most anime

Never said it wasn't. I said it was 'all well and good'. What I did say, however, is that it's not the sort of thing that can offset her negative personality traits.

The outcomes matter more. Since Jun doesn't mind and actually goes along with this approach it is okay. Besides how many people are truely honest with themselves. I wonder how many people hid there true motives. Not to many people can speak there heart either. I can't really think of how many teenage boys and girls speak out there hearts. In the end, haruka was able to express her feelings to Jun and that is what matters. She even spent time with him in a hotel swimming. They had a good time is what I'm emphasizing.

And this is why I say that people who like Haruka are taking the 'tonal' approach, because you are taking Haruka the way the narrative insists you should. Yes, they get a 'good ending', but why is it good? It's good because they suggest it's good.

Keep in mind though, I'm a writer, and I will always think of stories the way a writer does. A general rule in writing is that whatever dramatic ending or moral lesson or happy turn of events you include needs to be earned by convincingly building up to it. The story we're actually shown is about a flighty, manipulative young girl who plays mindgames with a boy who has had a crush on her for a while, and ultimately gets him to submit to her completely.

But their intention was obviously that everything that happened was supposed to be good, so Haruka's behavior is never called into question. The happy ending is consistent with the creators' desires, but nowhere in Haruka's arc did I see a healthy relationship forming.

In the other arcs Jun has his strong points and he took the intiative to be with Haruka. I can't say Jun is an emotional fragile young guy when he showed determination and not breaking down.

You are certainly free to see it that way, but I don't see Junichi taking the initiative at all. Haruka is in control of the situation the whole way and sets the pace, dragging Junichi along for the ride, testing his willingness to entertain her whims, and only opening up to him when he proves completely willing to let her do whatever in exchange for her affection. That is what the hotel scene looks like when really subjecting it to scrutiny.

Nor do I see Junichi as showing determination throughout the arc. I see it as desperation. A boy who went emo for two years after one rejection has been pinning his romantic hopes on the school idol and now that he has her attention, even if she's leading him around by the nose, he can't let go.

How is Haruka considered unstable? I consider unstable as a negative and crazy state that flip-flops back and forth and I don't see haruka fitting in these catagories.

She's flighty and manipulative. We've been shown that she gets entirely derailed by whatever catches her fancy at a given moment, she's willing to lie to get her way, she only grows closer to Junichi as he proves he's more and more willing to submit to her, and she can only force herself to express emotions when she's in complete control of the situation. In a crisis, how would she react? If Junichi started to act independently, how would she react? Somehow, I just don't see the 'ten years later' thing possibly happening unless Junichi just completely gave up his own will.

I have to agree with you there. I ment before women usually fall for the guy that has the cool cloths, cool hair, with the cool attitude even though there personalities are not that great. Haruka points out and got closer to him as soon as she knows he is nice and witness the event in where he was nice.

She takes notice of him because he's nice, yes, but then what? She only gets closer to him afterward as she realizes how caught up in her he is, which he proves by mindlessly entertaining her every whim and never questioning things like her jealous behavior.

Her line of questioning gets rid of all assumptions. If she didn't pursue those questions Jun wouldn't really think about how he felt.

It's established that Junichi has had a crush on Haruka for a while now. How he feels is not in question, nor is Haruka's inquiry meant to make him think, because if it were, she'd have given him space to come to his own conclusion. Instead, she shuts him down immediately, meaning that she asserted that point to take control of and disarm the situation. She didn't even give him the room to confess on his own and risk him saying or doing something that would take her control away.

In the end, both characters are happy so everything played in line. If Jun was in misery and in pain everytime Haruka plays a game then we should see it in a pessimistic light but since Jun was having a good time too then we can see it in a positive light. Besides Haruka went along Jun's game during that lunch scene so it isn't all of Haruka games becasuse she participates too. One thing is for sure it looks like they had a good time.

This is exactly what I'm describing, though. We are being TOLD it is good, and that's why people go along with it, but if you subject the whole thing to analysis, it doesn't stand up. The happy ending was not 'earned'. What Grandchaos said comes to mind.

Well Amagami characters are mostly one-dimensional since their stories last for only 4 episodes. That's why they have a designated stereotype so the writers wouldn't have to go great lengths just to present them to the audience. I totally understand your interpretation but what I'm saying is...sometimes its best not to over analyze a 1-dimensional character.

It is, perhaps, unreasonable of me to expect much from any of these characters, since four episodes for each story is certainly a far tighter limitation than, say, twenty-four. And I have indeed acknowledged that if you buy Haruka the way the creators are insisting on, then undoubtedly I am in the wrong, not to mention that her kind of troubles are fairly typical of High School girls anyway.

What causes me to actually analyze the characters, though, is the fact that we have two girls who were developed with some decent texture despite the four-episode limit. Neither Kaoru nor Ai can really be reduced to one dimension without losing a lot of their positive traits, in contrast to Haruka and Sae, who benefit from a single-minded focus on their intended moe points. As a result, I feel it would be inconsistent to let anyone else off the hook if they've proven they CAN actually give some okay characterization. Does that make sense?