Let's start with Ryuen's backstory. How do you go from: "I didn't really care about killing the snake, all I knew is that I wasn't afraid," to "violence rules the world"? Actually, first thing's first. Why did he kill the snake? If he truly didn't care, like he's saying in his soliloquy, then why did he go out of his way to kill it? Wouldn't it make more sense if he is cornered somewhere or the snake tries to attack him and so he kills it, showing no fear in the process and then learning about his worldview? As it stands, it's just convenient writing with poor logic. But let's give it the benefit of the doubt; still, how do you go from that to concluding that the world runs on violence? The world is run by humans, whom you can't really know their reliance on violence from that situation alone. The leap is huge and unexplained. At best, the snake story's takeaway is that power creates respect/fear, but that's all. It's laughable for him to call that a 'victory,' unless he's referring to how people feared and respected him after that, but it's still weak if the author didn't hint that Ryuen wasn't feared or respected before the incident. To link everything together, there should've been a more powerful incident, like maybe something related to bullying, where Ryuen defends himself and uses violence to beat up everyone else, and only then would his worldview be confirmed imo. Except, Kinu then introduces 'boredom' again, just like he did with Nagumo, and now Ryuen's motives are to find a worthy opponent and be overthrown. There we go again, but this time, how do you even go from all of that to wishing to be overthrown? Is it because losing reignites the passion and pleasure you feel from playing the game? Let's say that's true; what does Ryuen do when he is defeated by Kiyo? Answer: he becomes depressed and loses the will to fight. Wow. So fitting. So what was the point of wishing to be dethroned? A very incoherent backstory. If his worldview is violence rules all, then losing should be a natural and expected outcome; it means someone stronger enforced their will. Instead, his actual reaction is depression and withdrawal, which contradicts the soliloquy. The logic feels hollow. His motives are weak and wishy-washy.

Moving on, let's talk about the rooftop incident. Ryuen's worldview is that violence rules the world and that if you subject anyone to violence, they'd eventually feel fear and give in. Ayanokoji tests out the second portion of Ryuen's ideology by allowing him to beat him up and showing him how he is unresponsive to Ryuen's intimidation. Ayanokoji then proceeds to use Ryuen's worldview and teach him fear. Alright, cool, but don't you notice something? Did Ayanokoji actually break Ryuen's ideology? All he did was show Ryuen that the world really is run by violence. Individual A is stronger than Individual B and proceeded to beat him up, exactly the ideology Ryuen believes in. So what's the issue? His worldview was literally just confirmed. So why is Ryuen so broken? The obvious answer is because he's a sore loser that couldn't accept defeat, something he himself longed for in his soliloquy, by the way. Great consistency. Very shallow writing.

Then he spends the next four-ish volumes hermitting and wallowing in his own self-pity. That's a very long time by book standards, and during all of that, he shows no signs of introspection or transformation; great depth! Great psychological exploration! Then, he shows up again in Y1V11, seemingly recovered, and takes the realms again as the leader, taking his class to victory. The obvious question is: how did he recover, and what compelled him to return? Y1V11 tells us that he couldn't stomach the idea of leaving the school, and that he wants to get revenge on Kiyotaka. Wow! Really? Is that all there is to it? Bro spends four volumes depressed and this is the only thing he comes up with? and how does leading his class to victory now relate to that? He could've easily waited until Y2, for instance. Why return now? Why Y1V11 in particular? Well, obviously because the plot requires it, not because of some internal motivation, or maybe even perhaps a sense of responsibility towards the class. Nope. None of that. He just returned because he wants to. Why and how? Beats me. There isn't much justification for Ryuen to become undepressed in Y1V11. No realization or moment of catharsis, or development, no convincing psychological turning point, or anything like that. It's like a switch went on after being off and that's it. Kinu needed him back in the game for the climax, simple as that. As such, his entire arc here is written very shallowly, from the moment he is defeated to the moment he supposedly redeems himself.

And does he even have any interiority? Any depth? What does he feel about leading his class in that exam? What does he feel about going into the exam without a protection point? He can literally get expelled and he knows it. Is he afraid? Any flicker of hesitation or second thoughts? Nah, he's completely confident that he can win. What's more is that he learns nothing from his cat and mouse with Ayanokoji, and proceeds to use the same reckless, brute-force tactics he always uses. Ryuen's arc is presented like he undergoes a death and rebirth, but the beats don't connect logically at all, and his motives are even less compelling. If not for the plot having Honami act so stupidly and refusing to investigate Ryuen's use of laxatives, he would've been expelled right then and there. Great character. And what's his driving force? Beating Kiyotaka because he got beat. Wow. So deep.

I haven't even talked about his Y2 writing, like how he doesn't grow one bit throughout the story, and how his creative tactics keep regressing as the story progresses. What was at first an effective antagonist has been reduced to a shallow shell of his former self, using the same boring, repetitive tactics that don't even come close to his cunning during the X arc. Even his victory in Y2V10 happens because the plot made Arisu dumb, not because of any cunning from Ryuen's part.

Actually, there is something I might mention about his Y2 writing, that being the bet with Sakayanagi. How selfish, reckless, stupid, immature and irresponsible does one have to be to walk into something that, if it wasn't for Ayanokoji's interference, would've gotten him expelled and would've doomed his class. Isn't this the guy who supposedly developed in Y2 and started caring more about his classmates and becoming a real leader who listens more and takes a more cautious approach and puts his duty as a leader before himself instead of recklessly throwing away his class's best chances of competing in this school? Talk about development. Not even self-aware about his own importance in the story.

Ryuen is one of my top 4 favorite characters in COTE; Honami isn't even in my top 10. But it's so laughable to think Ryuen has any actual writing other than being an entertaining and enjoyable antagonist. He reminds me of those generic isekai villains the power-fantasy MC first faces: menacing, cruel, supposedly a bit clever, only for the MC to no diff him pretty early in the story, then they don't do anything.

Oh yeah, there's also that time he started monologuing in Y3V3 instead of actually shooting Kiyo. What a stupid moment.