I said this on twt but no I actually wanna go into it a bit more where people can actually see it

what really hit me seeing Ren's background in ch2 of the manga adaptation (aside from the personal attack that it was) was how strikingly similar his feelings are to Nayuta's. they were both in a situation where they wanted to go further with their singing than the environment allowed them to and got frustrated because of it. it's just how they dealt with it that was different - Nayuta basically said screw you I'm gonna make my own band without anyone holding me back, while Ren said okay fine I'll sing on my own then.

they're polar opposites in terms of personality, but their feelings toward the stage are the same ... I knew that, but this one really drove it home. it's why they make for such excellent rivals. in a way, they want the same thing, but the way they go about it is vastly different. and they resonate with each other because of that ... they hold the same amount of passion and they understand that much, which is why Nayuta can acknowledge Ren over anyone else and Ren can see Nayuta as the ideal he wants to catch up to.

like, how obviously important it was to Nayuta that Ren (& argnv) would perform at DesFes instead of just giving up is a really good showcase of this. he knows Ren won't be satisfied with things as they are because he wouldn't be satisfied. and now that he's found someone he can actually consider his equal (consciously or not), he's not gonna just let him sit there, he's way too selfish for that, lol. and if he's gotta force him to perform then so be it. because while they may hold the same feelings, they still function very differently wrt their personality.

this isn't supposed to be a shippy post, I just find it rly interesting from a writing perspective. both of them are characters that at their core are pretty simple, but there's something about them that makes them special, and I think it's probably that passion, huh. it's not just "you're better than me so I wanna beat you" or "you're in a position that I want to be in", but "you and I are the same" without ever needing anyone to lampshade that. once again, argnv is excellent at subtle character writing like that. we don't need it spelled out, it's right there for us to see, but in a way where it's not super obvious. if you don't rly think about it and just passively follow the story, it still makes sense and still clicks. I like that a lot

BanDori/argnv character writing is absolute goals for me and this is rly just another "look how well they handle this" post which I could make a lot of. this one's just something I've been thinking about ever since reading that chapter, and now listening to the Day 3 audio drama again, specifically that last part.