I can agree with you on this, and I am not trying to criticize the people actually analyzing the character per se. Obviously people are going to prefer what they prefer, and more power to them. What I am trying to criticize is people who just post "Snek girl gonna strike" or various other things. It just comes off as cringy "I want her to destroy me" kind of attitude. The "I don't want a normal girl i want someone who will kill me" kind of cringe mentality.
Also everyone who can't say good things about another character without putting another down for honestly no good reason.
Ofc we all know the outcome, but downplaying one character because they haven't "Been developed" so far when we are clearly just getting to the point where said character is going to get developed. It just comes off as only wanting to go against the grain simply because you want this story to "break the meta", and not because the character is actually a good match, or a character that actually resonates with them.
Most of the people commenting don't seem to actually have input, and just seem to want to stir the pot for attention.
I'm of a mind with you on
Most of the people commenting don't seem to actually have input, and just seem to want to stir the pot for attention
...but in the sense that it's just something that isn't exclusive to this thread here, that represents a not-insignificant amount of online "discourse" across all platforms and topics.
A lot of those comments--those you highlighted here, but really any of that sort of low-effort "vacuous" one-liner left on MangaDex, Reddit, Instagram, and so on--just read as "I was here" statements that contribute nothing to whatever's being discussed; taking them seriously or at face value, wherever you find them, is taking Noise and treating it as a Signal.
Taking this manga's forum posts as a specific example - chapter after chapter, you see people doing the same thing in favor of Otobe or in favor of Kusunoki, as well - but because Hebikawa is far-and-away the most
divisive character, any comments in favor of her, or against her, will stand out more because people (I would argue understandably) get more "invested" in defending or deriding her place and portrayal within the narrative.
As far as the rest of your reply - we don't disagree, insofar as pointing out the disconnect between actual literary analysis versus more surface-level engagement with the story and the characters therein.
But again - focusing on Hebikawa will skew just how much of that same vacuous engagement in favor of Otobe and Kusunoki, because there's been a significant amount of "not-meaningful" interaction involving them, as well. You're right in that Hebikawa,
at present, would be a bad match for Keisuke. But we've already been shown that she's more nuanced of a character than some people even now seem willing to admit (seemingly out of pure bias against her character), and I would honestly be surprised if she wasn't allowed the kind of character progression that sees her turn the corner on her manipulative behavior and misguided "character goal", and come out a better person.
That's not to say that she
should get with Keisuke, but at the same time you can criticize those pushing against Kusunoki as "not allowing for character development", the very same could be said for those who have wished actual harm on Hebikawa (a fictional character) simply because she's the antagonist of the story, acting like she is incapable or
unworthy of any sort of redemption arc by virtue of growing within the story and becoming a better person.
So really - it cuts both ways. And that doesn't absolve all the people leaving low-effort/no-effort comments that do nothing but "stir the pot" or otherwise contribute nothing of meaning or value, but there are valid criticisms to be made against any of the characters in this story.
It's a matter of separating out the stuff worthy of note from each chapter thread. focusing on the noise over the signal, or
only calling out the noise that goes "against the wrong character", is going to only further muddy the waters when it comes to trying to meaningfully engage with the story and with the community seeking to seriously discuss it.
