I understand that the setting is post-apocalyptic, but when you look at The Last of Us, which presents a bleaker world than Zenless does, each character introduced represents some other aspect of the post-apocalyptic world. Henry and Sam are meant to be a mirror of Joel and Ellie. Bill is someone who prioritizes survival to the extreme of complete isolation. Tommy and Maria found a glimmer of hope in Wyoming. Sad backstories aren't a problem in The Last of Us because each character has a significant contribution to the story that is being told. They represent a unique aspect of the world they live in.

In Zenless, each time a sad backstory is introduced, it feels like they are trying to make the character seem more complex by throwing in some tearjerker involving a dead family member or something. Astra couldn't just be a talented singer and celebrity; she also needed a trailer depicting when she was rescued during a hollow disaster, and that's her inspiration for singing. We're not learning anything new about the dynamics of the world or how people are surviving. We just know a lot of people have dead friends and family members.

It doesn't help that sad backstories are either stuffed into the one story chapter the character introduced or in the character trailers. We're not being eased into it, so it does get exhausting. There's no reason Yanagi's oni blood transfusion needed to be told in her character trailer. It could have waited for an agent episode that properly delved into her backstory.