As characters I like each cast member for typical reasons Nanami for the comic relief, Juri's HOT anti-heroism, Touga's rocky path to enlightenment, humanizing Saionji and so on and so forth but as people...

Gee I wouldn't approach any of the student council honestly. I think the only one that wouldn't unwittingly suffer my burning cynicism (that a word?) might be Miki. Though sneaking into the rose garden to just hang out with Anthy feels like something I would do in a "strange ones" stick together sort of way. I guess it would vary with who my peers are. Extrapilating(I'm making up words again...) from Nanami's recent birthday thread I'd be in 8th grade series-wise.  I would be one of Utena's fangirls though I wouldn't admit it freely. I do think she's cool for the apparent rebellion against gender roles. If I ran into Shiori like Utena did I'd probably hang out with her after all she seemed nice enough. Had a minor crush on a cheerful girl like Wakaba during school so I'd say I like her as a person at least though the thing for Saionji would exasperate me.Though if I ever met Nanami's trio while they're in intimidation mode one word repeatedly. FIGHT!FIGHT!FIGHT!!! Yeah as people they can rot as far as I care. Akio's too big a ball of issues as far as I'm concerned I'd lump him in with the student council.

I think that's really true for a lot of people and their favourite characters. Mostly, I think it is because in the series, you get to see things from the character's point of view, and get inside them. (No, not that way!) You get to learn what makes them do the things they do. If you met someone like the character in person, though, you would just get an outsider's point of view.

Let's see.. Anthy is my favourite, but if I met her in person..? She would probably creep me out, or annoy me, depending on how clueless I am of her passive-aggressiveness. Utena, I could probably get along with, but she's easy to get along with. Kozue... I'd probably be intimidated by her but think that she's hot. Nanami would annoy the hell out of me. Ruka would too, for being such a smug bastard.

I think I'd get a completely platonic kick out of Touga.  For all his promiscuity and manipulation, he does seem to be the most well-adjusted of the council.  I imagine good conversation, easy-going and enjoyable.

I think Shiori is one of the best examples of the duality of characterization and personality.  The peek inside her head we get, and the "lens of Juri" that we see her through, paints her quite unfavorably.  By contrast, though, seeing her with other friends, or in her interactions with Utena, shows a much more likable girl.  Putting them together presents us with, really, a very average sixteen-year-old.  As long as her inferiority complex didn't interfere with things, I think I would be friends with her as well.  She's very perceptive (if not a little too perceptive, leading to misunderstandings and manipulation), and would probably have surprisingly interesting things to say.

Utena would make me roll my eyes.  She's so transparent that it's almost embarrassing.

I strongly dislike both Kozue the character and Kozue the person.

Shiori: I've had to ask myself a while ago whether or not I really would get along well with Shiori in real life, and I think that I would. Basically, for reasons along the lines of what Archambeau said. From what we see of her, it's really easy to assume that every relationship Shiori has will end with her hurting her best friends, but it actually seems rather far-fetched to assume that all of her friendships would end that way.

Her screwed up friendship with Juri aside, from what we can tell, Shiori does seem to get along well with people, and supposedly has a pretty good personality. When she first meets Anthy and Utena, they quickly become friends. By the end of the episode, she's got three more friends. Half-way through episode 28? More friends. I wouldn't say that this implies that she has a great personality, but just that she doesn't have a bad personality, or a tendency to be sadistic to every person she comes in contact with. I think that the two of us would get along well, assuming that she doesn't develop feelings of jealousy or an inferiority complex towards me, and I can't imagine something like that happening.

Kozue: I like Kozue, but the two of us almost definitely would not get along well together. My first reaction of characters that I disliked were generally the ones I felt I would not get along with in real life, which is probably why Kozue was so far up the list.

Juri: I might be able to get along with Juri well when she was in middle school, (before the three years of angst kicked in,) but I would probably just end up hating her as much as Shiori did.

Stormcrow wrote:

Hmm...I think I'd cheerfully strangle most of the characters if I met them in real life. But then, I sometimes feel like strangling my friends in real life too.

Saionji and Kozue are two of my favorite characters (Yeesh, how's that for a pairing? She'd tear that poor bastard apart!)...I try to picture hanging out with one of them...it could be fun. Well, only the later Saionji, obviously. But the fact is, I get along with most people. I'm just not that demanding.

Woah, buddy!


But seriously, this is a very good question. Of course, my answer is going to be based upon what I've seen. After we've conquered the series, who knows.

While I don't really like Utena as a character, I have a feeling we'd be good enough pals in person. She seems like someone not inclined to adopt too many rules and boundaries to be constantly observed, though unlike, say, Anthy, she also seems to have a soul, and I trust she wouldn't be one of those people who just tag along and are fine with pretty much everything. She might be a nice fall-back peep to hang out with, anyway.

My favourite characters in the series are Saionji, Nanami and Mikage/Nemuro -- all because they develop and change and are completely fucking insane. In real life? I would avoid Saionji like the plague, Nanami would be one of those bitchy spoiled brats I'd roll my eyes at and never speak to, and Mikage would probably mindfuck me into lifelong counselling. On the other hand, I would likely put Nemuro into longterm counselling with my stalking and quantum mechanics queries and general weirdassery. Heh.

I think I could get along well with Kanae Ohtori and if I'm clever enough, get pictures of Akio either fucking Anthy or her mother so I can show her the truth and maybe she will DUMP THAT CHUMP

Archambeau wrote:

Tamago wrote:

I think I could get along well with Kanae Ohtori and if I'm clever enough, get pictures of Akio either fucking Anthy or her mother so I can show her the truth and maybe she will DUMP THAT CHUMP

I doubt you could outwit Akio, champ.

Sad but most likely true!   If only I could use Anthy's curry on Akio and Mikage...

So, aside from Naji, I'm probably the only one who'd be friends with Anthy. Works for me.

I could be good friends with Utena too, but I feel like I'd be explaining a lot to her on a daily basis...much like Anthy does for most of the series.

I'd mostly likely hang out with Kozue too. Torturing Miki provides hours of entertainment. Besides, everyone needs a slutty friend, right?

Juri, I'm not sure about.  There are things that make me want to like her, and things that make me want to strangle her.

However, as much as I like Nanami as a character, I wouldn't touch her with a ten-foot pole as a person. I doubt I'd be too social with Saionji either, with him slapping around Anthy and stuff. I'm not sure about Touga, but I'd most likely avoid him just so I don't have to be around Nanami.

BioKraze wrote:

Anthy? I'd be trying to befriend her, then go off and break a brick wall down with a toothpick because it's easier than trying to be a friend to Miss Himemiya.

Why, really, this is really quoted for the truth!

Oddly, this isn't the kind of question I tend to think very much about.  I tend to react to the SKU cast as people first and characters second, if at all, so my favorites tend to be the people I think I'd get along with -- Utena, Wakaba, Tatsuya.  I can appreciate Nanami and Shiori and the rest as characters, and on that level I'm able to sympathize with them and even root for them, but all the exposition and analysis in the world won't change my gut-level reaction to them, which is that I want to tie them up and launch them into the sun.