okay fam today we're gonna talk about tomoe. but not just any kind of talk, this is gonna be... serious bushido dad talk. i hope ur ready for a transition in typing style ...
Hello. 😉 I feel like my voice is suddenly deeper or something when I type like this, like I'm speaking through a voice editing software.
Now that I have this newly found deep and contemplative voice, let's talk about Tomoe. It's been about two months or so since my last character analysis, which was on Himari. Part of what took me so long had to do with the nature of Tomoe herself, as a character.
She's difficult to write about, because everything about her is already there from the beginning. She can't be unraveled, so to speak. Tomoe isn't a very deep character compared to Kokoro or Sayo in my opinion, but that's not a bad thing. In fact, when I first got into this game, Tomoe was actually my very first favorite character, even before Ran. I didn't know why back then, but I certainly do now.
Tomoe is simplicity done with excellence. In order for a great group dynamic to be established, it's very important to have at least one character who is a standard by which to gauge the atmosphere of that group. How is the group feeling? If there's conflict, where is it headed? Will it be resolved? To be able to ask questions like these and have reliable answers does wonders for our ability to actually relate with and care about these fictional characters; Tomoe presents herself as the reliable answer for Afterglow.
The chapter one band story for the group really nails Tomoe's role into a solid state. She's the enforcer, the impenetrable wall of the group, the character with which all drama must inevitably clash with and try to prevail against. She doesn't necessarily start any problems, as that role was left to Ran and Tsugumi. However, she's not "removed" in a sense from the drama either, as was the case for Moca and Himari.
Once Tomoe was aware of each problem in this band story, she enforced herself as the reliable answer. Tsugumi fell unconscious from exhaustion? Tomoe immediately calls for an ambulance. Ran is creating friction by pushing the group away? Tomoe immediately calls her out, forcing Ran to be confronted with the reality of her behavior. She strikes me very strongly as the "constant" in this group, the person that hardly changes and is extremely necessary for effective drama.
After all, to have such a rock-solid foundation as her--it really allows the writers to present conflict as a big deal. The implication of a question like "What would happen if Ran started pushing everyone away?" is that, at some point, there's going to be a responding force, and a strong one at that. If everyone is just passively concerned (as Moca and Himari were), Ran's problem is already not as big of a deal to us. Instead, we get Tomoe enforcing the stability of Afterglow at full force, and it makes the entire situation seem incredibly tense and worth being sucked into.
However, Tomoe is not just any old enforcer, considering the danger with these kinds of characters is that they become stale or unremarkable. They always respond, always campaigning for things to remain in their normal state. As a result, their other defining qualities may get put to the side in order for them to fight against conflict.
For Tomoe, it's two things that make her a great example as this type of character; the first thing is that the resolution of conflict does not fall strictly on her shoulders. It doesn't fall on any one character's shoulders, and this is part of what gives Afterglow such a profound dynamic. As for the second thing, it's that Tomoe is a genuinely, and very visibly, flawed character.
Consider it: How do you actually make the person, who's chiefly responsible for confronting conflict (or the flaws in other characters), interesting? One way is to make them confront conflict in an imperfect manner, which is what Tomoe does. Her presence pushes the group towards a "normal" state of functionality, but her actions and words have the potential to cause imbalance at the same time.
When she attempted to enforce stability with Ran, she heightened the tension by yelling and forcibly bringing up Ran's home issues. Instead of just confronting her, Tomoe ended up causing an even greater sense of friction within the group. Granted, Ran realized her errors, but the reunion of the group was incredibly awkward and tensions escalated again momentarily. When Tsugumi fell unconscious, it was actually Himari as a leader figure which allowed Tomoe to properly respond to the situation, not Tomoe being levelheaded herself.
That's what's so unique about Tomoe as a character who pushes for balance; she's ridiculously hotblooded for someone who's supposed to be addressing conflict. Were Tomoe able to slow down for a second and think strategically as Himari does, she would've realized that yelling at Ran was not the best approach.
Tomoe enforces group structure by responding swiftly and powerfully, which is not always the way to deal with people. Sometimes it works, but that's dependent on Tomoe herself remaining calm, which her excitable nature doesn't guarantee.
At best, Tomoe's relaxed but passionate disposition allows her quickly address most things effectively. At worst, her own emotions mix with good decisions to simultaneously push for stability and stir the pot due to her own human nature.
She's a character who's responsible for keeping Afterglow at its most stable condition, but she'll never fully be able to do that, and definitely not permanently. Tomoe's indefinite goal concerning her character role allows her not to be bound to the perpetual state of keeping things as they should be. She's allowed to have a full character apart from this role, and there's even room for subtle development, as seen in the Nurse event with Ako.
Afterglow at its core is always unstable, because there's five people who are all imperfect, bringing their varying views and opinions to one table. Conflict will never be perfectly dealt with or stopped.
For me however, I'll always be interested when it happens, because I'm keen on observing Tomoe's response in particular. When drama rears its ugly head, how will our imperfect enforcer fight to keep things normal, and what mistakes will she make along the way? At the end of the day, we know this game's writing. No one is going to die, and there's not going to be any permanently fractured relationships.
Nonetheless, Tomoe still manages to be a crucial character who, on her way to restoring balance during conflict, presents the possibility for surprises and unexpected additional drama. Even if she knows the best way to confront trouble, there's no guaranteeing that she'll do it right.
Really, that's what makes Tomoe such a strong character, despite her simple personality and inflexible role. As I said at the beginning, she's simplicity done right, and she'll continue to be... as always.
