Hello, everyone. It's been a while since I've written anything related to Date A Live, so I decided to express my opinion about something very important the story of Date A Live, which you can see by the title of this post.
A few days ago, a fellow user of the Date A Live Fandom website asked if he could understand the story of Date A Live by simply watching the TV seasons and ditching the movies. The following was my response:
"Yeah, you can, but I don't really recommend it. Date A Live is character-driven, not plot-driven, and for the most part, what you would call the "main story" of Date A Live doesn't really begin till the last few episodes of season 2.
Personally, I recommend that you do watch the movies because the story is heavy on character development and most of the story is just the characters having fun and having dates."
Over the course of my years as a consumer of fiction and entertainment, I've come to believe that characterization, character writing and character consistency are the most important things in a story. Good characters can and ultimately will make or break a story. You can make the most intriguing story ever, with shocking twists, smart commentary and thrilling action; but if the characters are bland, one-note cardboard cut-outs, nobody will care about the story.
Yes, in theory, a work of fiction should have a healthy balance between good character writing and good story progression, but if I had a choice, I'd pick characters over plot any day. Characters are the reason why we, the viewers, are emotionally invested in fiction. In fact, some of the best works of fiction out there emphasize characters over plot.
Ghostbusters (the original movie, not the 2016 reboot) doesn't really focus on its main story till the last third of the movie. For the first 2 thirds, the movie is about the main characters' wacky encounters with the supernatural. Similar statements can be made for Men in Black and Iron Man. Spice & Wolf should be the most boring anime series ever because every episode focuses on economic systems that went extinct by the Age of the Enlightenment, but the two protagonists have such great chemistry with one another that the show earned a respectable fanbase. The Hobbit is literally just about Bilbo Baggins walking from one place to another and all the stuff that happens along the way, yet because Bilbo and the people around him are so well-realized, it's considered a classic of the fantasy genre. Waiting for Godot is a 2-scene play about a couple of tramps biding their time and waiting for the story to begin, yet what they do as they wait is endlessly entertaining.
Characters mean a lot to me, and suffice to say, the characters of Date A Live mean so much to me because they're so well-realized I can relate to them on an emotional level. Date A Live has some of the best characters I've ever had the pleasure of watching in an anime and, no, I'm not trying to put this show on a pedestal; I'm just explaining an aspect of a show I love so much and why this particular aspect helps me enjoy Date A Live on a personal level.
The characters of Date A Live are filled to the brim with agency, the characters' ability to make decisions and affect the story. The story happens because of them, not to them. They're proactive, not reactive. Shido, our protagonist, has personal motivations beyond saving the Spirits. He wants to have a normal life and share that life with the friends he has made throughout his journey. He is more proactive than reactive and over the course of the story he proves himself to be a true agent of volition. He pushes on the story more than the story pushes on him. Even better, Date A Live, as we know it, wouldn't happen if Shido wasn't around.
To prove my point, let's change Shido's place in the story with Westcott's. Would Date A Live work the exact way it has for the past 10 years if, suddenly, Westcott became the protagonist and Shido became the antagonist? Would they still do the exact same things? While the wider plot might stay the same (Ratatoskr would attempt to protect the Spirits from the D.E.M.) the individual methods should vary, and the interactions between the characters will be different. Date A Live takes the time to make viewers care about the characters beyond whatever the main story makes them do. For example, you get to learn about their origins, their personal struggles, their dreams, and most importantly, the development of their relationships with one another.
Characterization is what ultimately strengthens Date A Live and the best part of that characterization is watching the characters interact with each other thanks to the aforementioned relationships. It's fun watching Tohka and Origami develop a rivalry, just as we grow to care more about Yoshino and Natsumi because of their friendship. Hell, we even grow to care about Kurumi once we learn what her life used to be like before she became a Spirit. Remember, at the end of the day, even when people forget about your story, they will always remember your characters.
In closing here, Date A Live, at its core, is a story about a guy dating superpowered girls in order to save the world. Sounds wacky and not interesting at all, right? Well, you would be right, if it wasn't for the fact that the characters are so well-written and well-acted that you don't care how bonkers the story is because you have grown to care about the characters. Characters are and will always be the lifeblood of a story.
Well, that's all I have for you this time. Now, it's your turn to tell me what do you think about all of time. Once again, I'd like to remind all of you that what I've said here is just my opinion and posting my opinions on this website doesn't make my opinions any greater and more valid than yours. At the end of the day, I'm just glad to have both the privilege and the honor to share my opinions with you, which is why I always invite you to have polite and respectful conversations both with each other and with me. We're all Date A Live fans here, we just see things differently. So leave a comment below, thanks for your time and stay safe out there!