Nurse contributes plenty to the proceedings, indirectly. The game's setting is a school for disabled people and such a place would logically employ a medic. Not having one would make the setting less detailed and thus less believable, which would damage the story's ability to immerse the player. It's the same reason Yuuko and Mutou are around, despite being unnecessary. Without a detailed setting, we've got nowhere for the proceedings to even begin. And if they threw away the antique guy, Hanako wouldn't get any presents.Helbereth wrote:I kinda see the characters that contribute little to the story as being the ones I don't like seeing.
Misha is grating, but she actually carries a lot of weight in the tale (and no that's not a fat joke, she's pleasantly curvy).
Yuuko has her moments of zen in the story, and she serves as great comic relief during tense moments - much like Kenji.
Nomiya, thankfully, is only seen in Rin's route, but he contributes heavily to the outcome of the story - indirectly and directly. Sae is similarly cast, but she does have her moments.
Jigoro and Hideaki actually help describe a lot of Shizune's thought process, indirectly, and while they're both jarring, they aren't acting out of character. Jigoro's berating of Hisao is easily fatherly concern masquerading as belligerent antagonism, and Hideaki's oddities set up some of the more telling moments where Shizune is concerned.
Akira flows in and out of a few of the stories, and does a lot to make Hisao think every time she appears. Her contributions actually end up being much more subtle than her candor indicates.
However, some characters feel like throw-aways. The antique shop keeper, Miki, Mrs Ibarazaki (in Rin's route), and, in most routes, Nurse (in all but Emi's route), end up contributing so little to the proceedings that they could have been left out with only minor changes to the dialogue.
