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I love Hatori's character so much because I can feel glimpses of myself in her. She challenges the convention of standard shoujo main characters, while going through the same motions as them (insecure/lost in love), and even tries to reconcile those typical characteristics. She's a very modern girl, with a sense of individuality and pride. She's true to herself, but she also struggles to be a better person (a great example of this is when she's in the bathroom and she tries to hold back on talking bad about Adachi, but ends up saying it anyways). It's pretty meta in the way that she struggles with herself: she clearly knows what it takes to be a "main character", but she can't seem to be able to truthfully take on those qualities. It's almost like her character is the viewpoint of the reader (at least in my case, it seems this way) — she knows very well what a "main character" girl is like, and tries to become one, but the impossible nature of the shoujo heroine character archetype proves to be overwhelming. I enjoy reading shoujo manga, but usually the heroines are so unrealistically selfless, kind, humble, and courageous at the right times that most shoujo stories end up feeling more like fairy tales.
Hatori is a breath of fresh air. She manages to capture the frustration of an impossible expectation (the heroine's standard), but also follows the conditions of a shoujo heroine (because she is in love and mostly sticks to it through thick and thin, and also, almost satirically, is the actual main character of this series).
The story, in itself, is pretty much typical shoujo — I don't think that it's groundbreaking in any way, and it's a pretty standard set up with the childhood friend thing. But Hatori is what makes this manga a shoulder above heads. She questions the thoughts and logic of shoujo manga (ex. when Adachi was talking to her about how she was concerned for her, and that Kaki-P guy or whatever his name is tells her she's being hypocritical — talk about stealing the words right out of my mouth!), but she can't do anything about it because she knows that she doesn't measure up. Some people might be put off by her personality, but I enjoy it because its multi-faceted, she's often torn when it comes to decisions, and its that insecurity that makes her a limited, but a much more interesting character. The more and more I think about it, it just feels so much more like Heroine Shikkaku is about a real, normal girl dropped into a manga. Her character makes this manga feel more like an illustrated satirical novel, with all the references and the different points of view.
Sorry this was really long, but I really wanted to get this off my chest. I am totally in love with Hatori, and I really hope that her character will keep going strong as the story goes on. I'm also really interested in how this series ends! What do you guys think about Hatori's character?
Edited by sharks, 13 July 2012 - 04:30 AM.
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