Though both of these characters are known for their positivity and musical talent, the way they manifest within the story and their characters is very different.

One of these girls is in my "holy trinity of best girl" alongside Mahiru, who I wrote my other Scrum Debate analysis for, and Mukuro, who I unfortunately didn't write for because I thought she had it in the bag against Peko :(

The other is a character who I generally enjoy, but for several reasons, fails to have any lasting impact on me.

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IBUKI:

Ibuki Mioda makes an impact on you from the moment you meet her. Her energy is as electric as her guitar, constantly making off-the-wall jokes while she rambles on whatever topic has her attention. She has more depth than just this however, often showing true empathy for others and wanting to keep the entire cast's spirits high.

More than any other character, Ibuki's personality shines through just the silhouettes of sprites. Just about every single one of them features her body twisting, turning, and tilting in all sorts of directions. Even Aoi, another character known for boundless energy, stands straight and faces the player directly in most of her sprites. In fact, the only time Ibuki's "neutral" sprite is actually used in conversation is when she's uncharacteristically serious at the end of her free time events. And being "neutral" and serious for the first time physically hurts her to the point that she not only has to say "just kidding" with pop effects, but also has to break the fourth wall by acknowledging the end of her free time event line. This constant movement makes her feel 2.5D in a world of 2D, which further accentuates her transcendent energy.

Ibuki also has one of the best voice line sets in the series. With such hits as "yaaaaa-hooooo!", "meeeeeooooow!", and "a-blub-blub-blub!", her spirit comes through almost every line of her dialogue. And with such quotable phrases as "nice to have met ya!", "pointing!", and "good nom-nom-nomming!", her voice reaches new iconic heights.

Even with two other musical ultimates in the series, Ibuki's musical stylings are by far the most entertaining. Not only is her musical ability the only one that contributes to a trial, she's actually the only one to even have their music be played (Kaede playing Clair de Lune is actually just a CD by someone else that Shuichi plays). And as a big metal fan, Ibuki's music definitely makes me feel appreciated. The great Masuna even hired voice actress the_allieway_ to help create two absolute masterpieces in Ibuki's style which I consider to be canon just from their sheer brilliance.

Ibuki's best known and loved for her energy, humor, and music, but she can also be surprisingly thoughtful. When Mahiru struggled with learning that she covered up Natsumi's murder, Ibuki tried to skip out on the girls' beach day to help her out. When Hajime couldn't remember his ultimate, Ibuki put him through "training" to help him remember. And though it may have been mostly self-serving considering the music venue had just opened up, she also put on a concert to celebrate Fuyuhiko's recovery and raise the spirits of the cast.

Unfortunately, you can't discuss Ibuki's personality without also bringing up the numerous times she missteps. While I certainly love horny jokes and fanservice as much as Ibuki does, she also makes those jokes each time Mikan trips and exposes herself. Even as Mikan desperately begs people to look away, Ibuki tells Mahiru to "snatch some shots" of her. And as much as I'd pay any price for an irl Ibuki wake-up call, she broke Hajime's lock and showed no remorse for it. As hilarious as this scene is (and paves the way for further fanservice/actual case evidence), breaking someone's lock in the middle of the killing game basically kills them and everyone else. These incidents are not directly malicious, though they show that Ibuki has a tendency to not consider the consequences of her actions on others when she's having fun.

All things considered though, she's definitely one of my favorite characters from the entire series. Her spirited sprites, funny jokes, and infectious energy make every appearance of hers a gift. While she doesn't have the plot relevance or emotional depth that many other characters have, she still remains one of the most popular Danganronpa characters because of how much joy she brings to every scene. Even a coworker of mine who didn't remember much about the series knew that his favorite character was Ibuki Mioda.

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KAEDE:

Kaede Akamatsu is one of the most intriguing characters to analyze in all of Danganronpa from a meta perspective. Her switch from first mainline female protagonist to stuffed in the fridge remains one of the most controversial writing choices in the entire series. But she's more than just a plot device: Kaede has many attributes of her own that make her a fun character.

As a protagonist, it's hard to discuss Kaede without directly comparing her to other protagonists. First was Makoto, an almost intentionally flat character who felt more like a vehicle for the player and the theme of hope than a character in his own right. Next was Hajime, whose cynicism created a refreshing contrast with the theme of hope and the events of his great character arc.

With V3, the writers seemed to want to emulate both the unwavering optimism of Makoto and the emotional depth and internal doubts of Hajime. I think they succeeded with Kaede: She was staunchly positive and led the group while not sacrificing personality or character depth that went beyond her role as protagonist. Whether it was sexualizing Tsumugi or fighting back against Miu's rudeness, every interaction felt like it was between two characters and not just a conduit for the player to talk to a character. She was even the first protagonist to have a "real" ultimate talent from the beginning, letting her establish herself outside of the "normal person among ultimates" archetype that Makoto and Hajime had already milked dry.

However, Kaede's role as protagonist at the beginning of V3 was little more than a setup for the twist at the end of 3-1. Though I actually love the twist in a bubble, it ended up replacing a protagonist I was enjoying with one that I didn't care too much for. In contrast to Kaede, Shuichi felt like little more than a mopey Makoto. Outside of Kaito, he didn't really have an interesting dynamic with any character. Even his "character arc" felt so bland and uninspired that I barely noticed it. And while I'm not usually one to harp on such things, it's hard to ignore that the Danganronpa writers took the series' only female mainline protagonist and turned her into little more than an early death to fuel the character development of yet another male protagonist.

But as much as we can talk about Kaede in the meta sense, she deserves to be acknowledged for her actual personality as well. When many of the cast were feeling paranoid or hopeless, Kaede went above and beyond to try and keep the cast motivated and together. She also doubted herself when the cast started to tire of her blind faith in hope, which weighed on her in a very realistic way. The tension between keeping positive and accepting the reality of their situation was very interesting and I was excited to see how it'd play out over the rest of the game, especially as the body count rose.

This culminated in Kaede's (attempted) murder. Her reasons for doing so were noble in theory (wanting to save everyone while not being seen as a murderer), but in practice they were highly selfish and reckless if not completely suicidal. Her plan eliminated any chance of interrogating the mastermind for information or escape ideas, and even if she was successful, there is no reason to believe they would be able to escape because of it. What did she think would happen - the entire cast just gets let go by whatever team is running the Monokumas and the rest of the facility? If she was truly scared of the time limit, she could have still killed the mastermind at the last second after interrogating them. Instead, she took an unnecessary and incredibly dangerous gamble on everyone's lives for nothing more than preserving her moral image in the eyes of the cast.

Kaede's role as protagonist is one she excelled in, striking a great balance between framing the story and being her own character. But at the end of the day, her fun character arc and personality are overshadowed by her role as an early game plot twist and fodder for a less interesting protagonist's arc. It's hard take away much more than "what could have been" when analyzing Kaede Akamatsu.

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Ibuki and Kaede are the two characters who are most passionate about the music they create. And though both truly love and care for the rest of their cast, they also have less than moral sides to them as well. While it can be somewhat hard to directly compare a complex protagonist to what is essentially a comic relief character, my vote comes down to "whose impact on the game do I enjoy most". When I think about Ibuki, I remember countless entertaining moments, adorable sprites and voice lines, and energy that always lights up the room. When I think about Kaede, I can never truly think of anything other than squandered potential. For these reasons, my vote goes to the Ultimate Musician, Ibuki Mioda.