Musing on the Part 1.5 adaptations.

Gudao and Gudako are, fundamentally speaking, the exact same character.

Like, as much as I meme about how blatantly bi Gudako is, the same can be said of Gudao since a lot of the writing also acknowledges "hey maybe some fem protagonists will be here."

It's more obvious with Gudako, but, like.

At the end of the day they are both the same.

How. Ev. Er.

I've hammered on this point a lot, but because Gudako's character design has, like, 20% more personality than Gudao's, I've noticed that putting aside characterization the Singularity adaptations featuring her tend to at the very least put a lot more varied expressions with her since her design more naturally contributes to expressiveness.

It sometimes goes even beyond that in that Shimousa in particular puts a LOT of effort into making a character study into Gudako

They are fundamentally examining the same character as Gudao, HOWEVER, because Gudako's design communicates more personality, writers and artists tend to put more Thinky Thoughts about Ritsuka as a character with the Gudako design.

IDK! I just think it's Neato.

i think the thing is gudao's existence is just. standard anime protag

whereas gudako like fundamentally is kind of a different character due to being a Normal Girl

most anime girl protags are like. Strong Female Character types or otherwise completely inept and needing to be kept afloat by a dude with more experience

so gudako feels unique in a way gudao doesn't cause he's a dime a dozen