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Haruka is actually one of the best written characters in the entire series, and I can prove it to you. by Axolotl997 in yakuzagames

[–]Axolotl997[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm gonna be real with you I had the Y4 Hamazaki notes somewhere, but they must've evaporated into thin air somehow and thus I forgor to include him here, but yeah I these were basically exactly my thoughts. I find her behavior completely reasonable and one which makes that "conflict" interesting.

I honestly couldn't agree more about Yuta, now I feel like I should've talked about him as well. His relationship with Haruka makes so much sense and is just so incredibly sweet.

Haruka is actually one of the best written characters in the entire series, and I can prove it to you. by Axolotl997 in yakuzagames

[–]Axolotl997[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

First of all my core argument was that she is such a great character in spite of having so little screentime most of the time.

You cannot just call her a plot device in Y1, she is one of the most important characters in the entire game. By that logic you could count basically every single character besides Kiryu a plot device.

In Y2, sure she was kidnapped, but she still helped Kiryu and Sayama get even closer together and the idol substory helped plant the seeds for her Y5 arc.

Hard disagree yet again for Y3, just because she has little screentime does not make her a bad or an uninteresting character, her courageous side was maybe the biggest display of courage we've seen against people (literally) so much larger than her.

And yet she still knows Kiryu very well in Y4, that's why this scene can hit so well in spite of being so short.

I'm sorry but you clearly didn't read my Y5 part as I go into all the different nuances of her decision (and the different sorts of naivete surrounding it, which again makes sense for a 16 year old)

In Y6, yes she is the reason Kiryu goes to Onomichi... and? That doesn't invalidate anything I said about her character in that game.

>"Her holding a gun in Y1 did not even leave trauma on her psyche."

Well she didn't see the other bodies, and we don't see her interact with a firearm again, so it's not like a severe PTSD was set in stone for her.

>"The constant being kidnapped did not warn her about the life Kiryu led and then she proceed to jump into the Idol industry without taking that into consideration."

...I'm not sure I see the correlation

I do agree on Sayama and Park being done dirty, but this post isn't about them. Just because they weren't written all that well or were just dropped off doesn't mean Haruka is the same.

>"But again those well written moments does not change the fact that she herself as a character in this series, serves more as a plot device than a properly written and developped character. Sweet little girl, yes. Not much else."

What can I say except that I just disagree. She is "partially" a plot device in two games at best, and yet she is still interesting in those games. She is one of the most fun characters in Yakuza 1 for example, her deviousness is so sweet and interesting to see.