#I hope you guys don’t think I have some vendetta against Leo/Need specifically

[walmart-sekai]

heyo, as a resident leo/needer on tumblr, I was scrolling through the leo/need tag and I found your thoughts!

so like. I'm kinda just gonna respond to your dislikes as I kinda am a leo/need oshi (I apologize if this ask annoys you I am so very sorry if it does)

ok ok so we start with the realism thing. yeah that's just a personal taste thing each to their own etc etc .

conflict wise, I think the best way to phrase it was not that they fell out, but they fell apart. like they didn't hate each other, it was more of a "the social pressure got to me and now my sense of self worth is garbage and as long as the others are happy without me it's fine" situation (read that day the sky was far away we love you hinomori shiho). and generally, I would say in middle school, it wasn't the conflict but the absence of conflict that hurts the most.

and my main point of contention is about Ichika as POV character. um. yeah read event stories. I get your point bc I thought about that too but ultimately, it makes sense because it was mainly ichika's inaction that led to this. ichika also did not tell saki about the friend group slowly falling apart so. ultimately this is kind of an ichika mess

anyways sorry if this ask bothered you have a nice day

No need for apologies! I put my thoughts out there, you sent yours back. Now imma send mine back.

Okey dokey, so:

I do fully admit that most of my gripes with Leo/Need are just a personal preference thing. I think “they fell apart, not fell out,” is a very good way to describe the conflict; but again, my issue is that that’s not really much of a conflict at all. It’s not suspenseful for me as a reader. (Again, this is a personal preference. I’m just not a huge fan of the specific type of YA fiction Leo/Need draws on)

As for your disagreement about the Ichika thing: I’m sure Ichika is great in event stories, and that they elaborate very well on her role in the main story. But that doesn’t change my opinion that she was not utilized well as a POV character in the main story. The event stories are a whole other ball game, and no matter how great they are, they don’t absolve the main story from any and all criticism.

I understand her inaction is a big factor in their friend group falling apart, but that happens before the main story. By the time we the reader tune in, all of that is over, and we only view it through the occasional flashback. She takes on more of an active protagonist role in the second half, but for the first like 4 or 5 episodes, Saki is absolutely the one driving the plot forward. Ichika’s just kind of along for the ride (this is not a dunk on Ichika by the way, I would also be along for the ride)

Honestly I think Leo/Need would’ve really benefited from more alternating POV. If I were writing it I probably would’ve done a lot of switching between Saki and Ichika throughout, with a main focus on Ichika near the end. Because I think Ichika’s a great choice of POV for the final few episodes, her development there is one of the reasons I love the ending.

I’m absolutely still going to read the event and side stories for Leo/Need, and overall, I did like the main story. I really did love the ending, it made me very exited to see how they take things moving forward! Especially with Shiho, I think there’s a lot of potential there.

Anyway, thanks for your thoughts on my thoughts! Hope you enjoyed my thoughts on your thoughts on my thoughts. (That sentence got away from me.)