Talk:Darkness/Relationships/@comment-49.151.220.154-20181112090125/@comment-5345402-20190103163956

‘She also seems to have somewhat less depth than Megumin... outside of her protector ness, she’s really only got the masochistic stuff, in a way.’ Not saying this to start a fight, it’s a serious question: how does she have ‘less depth’ than Megumin? I’m only talking about the main series, BTW. I haven’t read the Megumin spin-offs, which definitely give us more info about her. You said aside from the ‘good team mate’ traits, Darkness is just a masochist, but we could say the same for Megumin, no? Aside from being a good team mate... she’s chuuni, boisterous and loves showing off. Within the main series, Megumin’s character development revolves around explosions, Kazuma, Yunyun and her family. Her interaction with Yunyun is just comic relief, it doesn’t reveal anything except for her competitive streak. But all Crimson Demons are hyper-competitive. Her family situation reveals that she had it tough, and she’s strong in her own way, but we don’t get much more beyond that. As for Kazuma... well, we already knew she cared about him.

On the other hand, of all the characters aside from Kazuma, I feel Darkness was given the most character development. She’s the only one whose inner thoughts we get to hear (in Vol 7, before her wedding), so we know how she thinks and what she thinks about. Darkness doesn’t just care about her team mates, she sacrifices herself for them over and over, not just physically for masochistic fun, but also mentally and emotionally (look at her confession in Vol 12). Also, different aspects of Darkness keep unfolding. At first, she was just the masochistic crusader. Then we find out she’s religious. Then we find out she might like Kazuma (thanks, Vanir). Then we discover her relationship with her father and a bit of her childhood, and how she made herself collateral so the townspeople could rebuild their homes. Then we see how she acts as a governor in her father’s place. Then we find out she used to train and play with Princess Iris when she was little. Then we find out she was a foster mum for her cousin Sylphina, and she set up a school for poor kids. She also pours her heart out to Kazuma about how much she likes him. We’ve seen all these aspects of her and what’s she’s done: she’s tough, masochistic, shy, sensitive, dreamy, awkward, caring, self-sacrificing and spends lots of time with kids... She’s a crusader, a masochist, a noble lady, a governor, a royal playmate, and even a foster mother. And that’s ignoring her role as part of Kazuma’s party and as someone in love with Kazuma. How does she have less depth than Megumin? If not for the Megumin spin-offs, I’d argue Megumin wouldn’t even come close to her in depth.

Megumin has always been chuuni, show-offy, cute, funny, and crazy. Her life is explosions, explosions and more explosions, plus some care for her team mates, lots of love for her sister, and a big headache handling her parents. We don’t get to see who she is beyond that. No inner thoughts, nothing, aside from her confession to Kazuma and the time she made amulets for her party. Even as recently as Vol 14, she spent most of the story in jail for causing trouble with explosions, as chuuni as ever. We don’t get to see her personality.

I understand why people like Megumin: she’s cute, and she’s fun. She brings so much life to the story, unlike grouchy (but hilarious) Aqua and super serious Darkness with her weird fantasies, and I’m fine if Kazuma ends up with her in the end. But so far, I feel Megumin is winning by default. We know a lot about Darkness, and she tries very hard to make Kazuma like her. Also, it’s not just her clumsiness: her naïveté makes her easy to bully, but it’s this naïveté that makes her act so earnestly and idealistically. She dresses up for Kazuma, says she’s always dreamt of going on a date, believes whatever her team mates tell her until she realises they’re lying... and that’s adorable. Megumin though... we still don’t know enough about who she really is. Even Kazuma keeps trying to guess what she’s thinking, and he’s almost her official boyfriend. Also, coz she doesn’t really try to attract Kazuma much anymore (offering to help with his ‘little friend’ aside), she’s just feels like a jealous girlfriend right now. IMO, if this ship is gonna sail, it needs more wind: show us who Megumin really is, esp as a potential girlfriend.