Let's get the obvious thing out of the way first: Natsuki's introduction has her introduce herself as "Natsume". If that's not intentional, you
might want to change that, or at the very least acknowledge that she got her own name wrong.
And since someone else did analysis by character, I will too! Along with an extra bonus: The Idolmaster character I'm secretly comparing them to!
SasamiComparing her to:
Uzuki ShimamuraYes, she's the "good girl" archetype. We all know that. But I think most people don't really see past the surface there and realize that her issue is essentially what happens when you have the "good girl" find out that the industry is one that, while claiming that good girls are ideal, actively punishes them for acting as such and are pushing them to throw away their morals if they want to succeed. Yes, she insists that everything will turn out okay if they just follow the producer, but that's just as much a mantra more to herself than anyone else. "Things will be okay", "there's still good here", "I don't have to throw away my morals to succeed". Heck, one can even argue that the reason why she called the producer to meet Julie there is a test to make sure he really is someone she can trust. Right now, she's the binding agent of the team, when it comes down to it. I'm looking forward to how things explode around her and continue to make her struggle to maintain her optimism and trust even as things fall apart.
AkiComparing her to:
Iori MinaseAh, the duplicitous idol. An old favorite of mine. We know how this type goes: Maintaining a cutesy front for the public to see, even while they tend towards being cynicism when the cameras aren't rolling. This one even showed up in Love Live! There's always something enjoyable about the two-facedness of these types, where they can quickly switch between "work" mode and their normal mode. Of course, Aki kind of lost her duplicity pretty quickly, which is a bit of a shame, really. That being said, her drive is great. It's nice to have an idol whose basic approach to team relations is being a bulldozer and seeing how everyone reacts to that.
JulieComparing her to:
Miki Hoshii...I honestly can't explain why I find myself comparing these two though, as Julie is a... very different kind of character overall? Maybe it's the fact that her solution to dealing with the producer is going on the attack. ...Though the tsundere aspect honestly felt kind of forced to me. You seemed like the upfront and assertive type, Julie, why is it that suddenly you're tsundere about your feelings once you have them? Is it because you're blonde and blondes are tsundere?
Why is that little bit of racism is the first thing that comes to mind?MariyaComparing her to:
Nana AbeNana is too old for this shit. Mariya is too old for this shit. A perfect comparison! ...Okay, jokes aside, the burnt out idol is definitely a new experience for me. Speaking frankly, I don't like her as a person because she's honestly kind of terrible, but I love it when she goes into her "don't look down on idols" mode. Honestly, she's probably the character whose character growth I'm most looking forward too, since she has so much potential. Can she clean up her act? Will she end up drowning in her own vomit after a show? It's anyone's guess!
MikaComparing her to:
Ranko KanzakiYes, the most obvious of all comparisons! But let's be real, Chuuni as a shield is always really fun overall. Mika is a very
fun character. More than anyone else, she made me smile whenever she was around. Even when she was having her mental breakdown, it was making me smile. I can understand why she's popular. There's not actually much to say here in terms of analysis though, since it's basically otaku NEET issues and if I were to actually analyze those we would be here forever as people have written entire essays about those issues.
NatsukiComparing her to:
Yayoi TakatsukiThis is another comparison where I'm just kind of going "...I'm not sure why I'm making this comparison, it just feels right somehow". Comparisons aside, though... It's the energetic character! Oh boy, you sure know what you're getting here! ...Honestly, she's the character I have the least investment in. I've never been fond of her type, though her brutal honesty is helping me keep things in check. Still, it kind of feels like there's... not much to talk about here? She... exists. It feels like she's primarily here for the purpose of comedy relief.
NemuComparing her to:
Syoko Hoshi"But surely the
sweet, innocent, and perfect girl who is secretly yandere is a better comparison", I'm sure some people are thinking. But nope, I'm honestly unsure if Nemu actually classes as yandere. I'm currently classing it as some sort of... Yan Tourette's. Perfectly sane most of the time, but in moments of high stress she starts acting like a yan. ...Speaking frankly, I think it's funnier if it turns out she really
isn't yandere. Honestly, her condition cracks me up, which is odd since I normally hate yandere characters. Keep on being you, Nemunemu.
With that done, my personal character ranking:
#1: Sasami
#2: Mika
#3: Aki
#4: Nemu
#5: Julie
#6: Mariya
#7: Natsuki