Extremely Early Character Anaylsis of Eito Aotsuki

I’m not going to directly say anything about or describe any events that happen in the game since this is about Eito only.

Hundred line last defense academy is nothing more than a short demo as I write this but that is not stopping me from having thoughts.

I played the demo for Hundred Line with my friend the day it came out and we had a ton of fun. The cast so far hasn’t really won my heart over or anything, but I am very intrigued by one character at the very least.

Eito Aotsuki is one of the ten main characters introduced, and one of the few that gets some individual attention. His official alias on Hundred line’s website is the ‘Voice of reason’ and he is described as ‘Takumi's (protagonist) most trusted ally. Eito cares very deeply for his friends and isn't shy about expressing those feelings, corny as they may sound. He's been weak and sickly since he was little, but his impressive intellect might be just what the team needs to guide them through the war safely.’ Near the end of the demo, he is one of the characters you play as in battle!

It seems like him being sick and being in a hospital bed for most of his life has led him to develop extreme social anxiety. Listening to him talk, it doesn’t seem like social interactions are easy for him. He had planned in advance topics and questions to ask the protagonist and doesn’t immediately realize that he’s overwhelming him by asking them all at once. He also got a bit confused when the rest of the cast didn’t agree with him on trying to escape the academy, since he had assumed they all had the same or at least similar values when it came to wanting to leave. When he was proven wrong, he had to take a step back from everyone and go be alone to reevaluate the way he was thinking of everyone. Him being extremely logical makes it seem like he’d be the type of character that tries to act so rational to a point of not caring for others, but he actually does care a lot about the rest of the cast despite just meeting them. And even after everyone unanimously agreed that he was wrong, he didn’t take it to heart and instead took it as a sign he doesn’t understand everyone as well as he thought. Still he did end up going through with his plan of trying to escape the academy on his own, and almost getting killed for it. After being saved, he voices his feelings shortly after.

‘Don’t get me wrong. I’m not here because I suddenly believe everything Sirei told us. But... something you said got through to me, Takumi. Even if we disagree on some matters, we’re still friends. I can’t begin to tell you how happy I was to hear that. It’s been a long time since anybody thought of me as a friend.”

The very last scene of the demo is Eito telling Takumi how grateful he is for him having saved him, and that he’s aware that he’s stubborn but Takumi and the others made him realize that even if it feels like it, he’s not alone.

I think it can be inferred that he has an anxiety disorder or some other disorder adjacent to that, but I feel like that won’t be explored much in canon just knowing that the game is sort of a spiritual successor to Danganronpa, which is not known for treating mental disorders with respect or writing them with accuracy. I’m unfamiliar with Zero Escape (the creator of the game is partnering with the creator of Danganronpa to make this game) so I don’t know how that game’s writing style is but so far the writing is still extremely similar to Danganronpa. Maybe the influence of Zero Escape will bleed in and maybe that game has a bit more realistic writing so Eito could be more explored in this way! I don’t know, we’ll see. I am expecting any character development he has to be centered around him making friends with everyone else and becoming less socially inept. It also seems that he is going to be set up to be some sort of love interest for the protagonist, Takumi, but I’m not taking the bait. Takumi is the most bland basic protagonist any game could ever have. Eito deserves better. Until/unless Takumi actually develops a personality, I’m vehemently rejecting this concept!

Eito really speaks to me because as someone with extreme anxiety that has often made living my day to day life very hard, I see a lot of myself in him. I know a lot of it is just me projecting and interpreting things in a specific way but it's not changing how I feel. He’s smart and analytical, but also tender and extremely caring. He’s not a heartless monster despite his nature being one that often very evil or unstable characters take on. I think he has the potential to be very interesting and I hope we get to learn more about him in the full version!

Written on 3/10/25.