[HirouKeimou]

Originally Posted by SleepingTerror

I totally forgot about the many times she saved Freyja

Messar had a similar role of saving Hayate, Mirage, and Chuck in his episodes prior to dying, and he's a side character who developed a bit in his small time frame.

For Frontier, Micheal is the first character who comes to mind who is a side character whose role is basically comic relief until his bigger issues are hit upon later on (his sister issue, childhood crush on Klan); he dies later on in the series, though, so he basically served as a moral compass for Alto who didn't know where his heart laid beyond loving the sky.

Originally Posted by SleepingTerror

My reasoning behind her not having much growth is because of Herman's comment on her flying in one of the later episodes (when they were tried by the Windermere court). He basically told her that she still wasn't flying well, and that was a "wtf" moment for me.

I agree.
And Thess said it, too, on said episode discussion thread.

Their rivalry is written in last minute.
The rivalry for Keith and Hayate is also problematic because it's introduced in episode 13 and is brushed aside for a majority of the series. There isn't even a real dogfight for Keith and Hayate beyond the little tidbit of one in episode 13, and nothing close to his dogfight with Messar.

Originally Posted by SleepingTerror

As for growth as a character and not a pilot, really, all it seems to me is she's not angry all the time as she was portrayed in the first episode. And they could have done a much better job allowing her to recover from feelings of inferiority. It bothered me how easily she accepted her place under Hayate. Similar to how it bothered me how Kaname accepted her place under Mikumo.

She held onto this anger for four episodes, remember. She gradually grew into accepting him into her class, chased him all over when he avoided her instructions, and scolded him for flying off course in episode 4. Of course, she calmed down because of episode 6: Hayate killed a person for her, in order to save her (however, he did not kill him, Hermann saves him in the nick of time). Once Messar dies, Mirage grabs his role and is bombarded by responsibility she did not have prior, and is more confident in admitting she is not special or has abilities like Hayate (or Freyja) to accomplish her dreams like he did.

The growth is there in how she notices those around her developing. As I said, Hayate and Freyja chasing their dreams full-throttle inspired Mirage into realizing how she loves flying because he is with her and she has Freyja singing to help her along, too. It's less about Mirage growing as an individual, it's about her learning she's not alone in her adventure, she's got others here who are willing to help compensate for her faults.

@Father_Hentai: Good post.
I agree with it; it's a different explanation of her character than I could express; however, it's true.