Ijimerareteru Osananajimi no Hanashi - Ch. 1

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You think so? I can't help but feel that's not actually the case. If it really was about him being unable to write sympathetic characters, then his characters would not be engaging as they are.
Whenever I read Hamita what keeps me interested isn't just that the characters are weird, is that they are always wrong in just the right way to be unsettling. I actually think Hamita has the gift of storytelling exactly because of how weird his characters are. Their weirdness is what makes them compelling.
I have absolutely read mangas (and even books or movies) where characters don't feel real at all, despite them following tropes and largely acting how you'd expect them to.
Hamita is doing the exact opposite. He always makes them quirky, yet you find yourself caring for them and wanting to understand them. What he's doing is actually a lot harder than making a normal person sympathetic. He is making the alien understandable.
Reading the alien girl at first you really find yourself believing she might just be a little weird, but at the core has our same beliefs. She feels alive despite being utterly alien. And the more messed up stuff she does, the more you find yourself divided between disgust and hope she actually does have something going on for her. Even more telling might be the childhood friend in love with the main character. She was perfectly normal, there was nothing weird about her and she (just like the other friend in love with the gyaru) were very relatable as the only normal people in that manga. But then when she's remade she is utterly wrong. To write that radical change and make it feel so visceral you need to understand people very well and have a real gift for storytelling.
I'm not saying he always hits the mark, and sometimes things do feel weird for weirdness' sake, but I don't think that's because he lacks a gift for storytelling, it's because he's stretching it as far as it can go in creating sympathetic yet truly alien (in the general meaning) characters.
Hamita always writes characters who SHOULD be sympathetic and engaging. Much the way a person who is polite and generous SHOULD be more popular than someone rude and stingy. But appeal is based on a 'chemistry' that people aren't able to rationalize. It's why Frank Herbert said "Charismatic leaders ought to come with a warning on their forehead: 'May be hazardous to health'." Same goes for fictional characters - a lot of the ones with big fanbases are pretty uninteresting, while characters viewed as lame may be quite the opposite. Luffy and Naruto are pretty much interchangeable (if anything, Naruto is the more complex of the two), but Luffy is far more beloved. Rudeus Greyrat is an OP unscrupulous horndog who can temporarily be shamed into behaving. About the same as a lot of Isekai characters. Usopp is in a constant state of conflict between his insecurities and loyalties, trying to survive and prove his worth with just the strength of a regular person, wits and good aim in a world of largely fearless superhumans. On paper Usopp SHOULD be considered more unique and compelling. Personally, I lost interest in Mushoku Tensei partway through Season 2 and while Usopp is usually insufferable I considered Luffy vs. Usopp far and away the best clash in that series, but these are minority opinions (disclaimer- haven't been as interested in One Piece since time skip).
 

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