Is it me, or is Shido kind of terrible?

[Roth]

So far, it seems like most of the date events I've done with Tohka up to this point felt like they got messed up one way or the other. Just finished the cinema and the follow-up event, and Shido just lets her be upset and has her running home crying. Like, WTF is wrong is with him. Admittedly, Tohka is quite vague with her wordings to him, but Shido is so incredibly dense, he just can't read the situation whatsoever or say or do anything useful to cheer her up when she's down.
Meanwhile, he gets burned by his sister day in and out and just apologises and takes whatever she throws at him. I haven't played all that many visual novels, but Shido so far, feels like the weakest, most useless and pathetic MC I've played.

What are other peoples' opinions on Shido?

[Suzaku]

Have you watched the anime? If so, why are you even asking about him? XD

[Xerain]

From what I've seen Key is the only company that consistently makes VNs with good male leads.

A lot of companies intentionally make the male lead weak or stupid so that the player can be all like "Hey, I'm way better than that guy! If he can have a harem of perfect beauties so can I!" I can totally picture myself with Best Girl!

[Village Idiot]

Originally posted by Xerain:

From what I've seen Key is the only company that consistently makes VNs with good male leads.

A lot of companies intentionally make the male lead weak or stupid so that the player can be all like "Hey, I'm way better than that guy! If he can have a harem of perfect beauties so can I!" I can totally picture myself with Best Girl!

This.

[Roth]

Originally posted by Suzaku:

Have you watched the anime? If so, why are you even asking about him? XD

I haven't. Not sure if I want to...

Originally posted by Xerain:

From what I've seen Key is the only company that consistently makes VNs with good male leads.

A lot of companies intentionally make the male lead weak or stupid so that the player can be all like "Hey, I'm way better than that guy! If he can have a harem of perfect beauties so can I!" I can totally picture myself with Best Girl!

All I want is for Tohka to be happy, but these dates I've had with her that end up in her being sad are depressing... Anyhow, that's a pretty bad way of doing things, if true, lol.

[Suzaku]

It's Shidou we're speaking of^^ Everytime he have to have his moments, he has them. During dates he gets help from the Fraxinus in form of 3 choices from which the crew members selects one.
It's a nice I-want-to-have-something-fun anime with 3 seasons, 2 OVAs and 1 movie.

[Sephilar]

It's your first time reading a Shonen-like harem OP? Shido is just one more of a lot of them.

[Nino Nakano]

Originally posted by Milennin:

Originally posted by Suzaku:

Have you watched the anime? If so, why are you even asking about him? XD

I haven't. Not sure if I want to...

Originally posted by Xerain:

From what I've seen Key is the only company that consistently makes VNs with good male leads.

A lot of companies intentionally make the male lead weak or stupid so that the player can be all like "Hey, I'm way better than that guy! If he can have a harem of perfect beauties so can I!" I can totally picture myself with Best Girl!

All I want is for Tohka to be happy, but these dates I've had with her that end up in her being sad are depressing... Anyhow, that's a pretty bad way of doing things, if true, lol.

That's just part of her. She doesn't know a lot about the world, but just wants Shido to be happy. Hell, due to the nature of it being a harem anime, she frequently mistakes something Shido says/does with another girl as him hating her.

As for Kotori, well....that's just Kotori.

[Tericc]

Originally posted by Xerain:

From what I've seen Key is the only company that consistently makes VNs with good male leads.

A lot of companies intentionally make the male lead weak or stupid so that the player can be all like "Hey, I'm way better than that guy! If he can have a harem of perfect beauties so can I!" I can totally picture myself with Best Girl!

I used to think this way. Now i suspect its more of a "Its costs too much for a good writer" and companys play it off just as you mentioned above. I mean its far better to do a half assed job and play it off as traditional content.

[Last]

wait until you see the kotori route in rinne utopia

[Firehawk]

Okay, so I'm contemplating buying this, but so far the comments are kinda discouraging to me. Is he like in the anime (which is fine for me), or actually acting like a pansy? I avoid novels with annoying male leads by a mile.

[Nino Nakano]

Originally posted by Firehawk:

Okay, so I'm contemplating buying this, but so far the comments are kinda discouraging to me. Is he like in the anime (which is fine for me), or actually acting like a pansy? I avoid novels with annoying male leads by a mile.

He's basically the same Shido you know and love (or hate) from the anime. Same goes for everyone else.

[Xerain]

Originally posted by Tericc:

Originally posted by Xerain:

From what I've seen Key is the only company that consistently makes VNs with good male leads.

A lot of companies intentionally make the male lead weak or stupid so that the player can be all like "Hey, I'm way better than that guy! If he can have a harem of perfect beauties so can I!" I can totally picture myself with Best Girl!

I used to think this way. Now i suspect its more of a "Its costs too much for a good writer" and companys play it off just as you mentioned above. I mean its far better to do a half assed job and play it off as traditional content.

I have had similar thoughts recently, but it's more along the lines of "2nd Gen VN authors" who wanted to write for VNs based on having grown up reading VNs, rather than the "1st Generation" who likely grew up reading much more difficult literature. Kind of like the generational shift in light novels.

[Firehawk]

Originally posted by Kurumi Tokisaki:

He's basically the same Shido you know and love (or hate) from the anime. Same goes for everyone else.

That's good to hear, I found him fairly amusing in the anime. Not even close to idiots like Orimura Ichika or Senou Natsuru whose density rivals that of a neutron star as some internet denizens say.

[Roth]

Originally posted by Firehawk:

Originally posted by Kurumi Tokisaki:

He's basically the same Shido you know and love (or hate) from the anime. Same goes for everyone else.

That's good to hear, I found him fairly amusing in the anime. Not even close to idiots like Orimura Ichika or Senou Natsuru whose density rivals that of a neutron star as some internet denizens say.

Having played a little more since first posting this, I'll say he has his moments. But it still gets really annoying when he replies with a "huh?" or "what?" to like every other line of dialogue by a girl.

[Firehawk]

I've seen worse. Chaos Child, just to name a relatively new release is chock full of irritating things like the MC to start with, REALLY weak plot compared to Chaos Head and lots more. So long as it doesn't get more annoing I can live with that much.