Out of all of the characters in the Corpse Party franchise, there is one character who hardly gets recognition. That character is none other than Chihaya Yamase.
Just for background information to anybody who doesn't know who she is, Chihaya is a classmate and friend of Nana Ogasawara and a member of the drama club at Musashiwa Girls Middle School.
Her distinctive trait is similar to peoples' perception of Yuka and Naomi- bratty and whiny. Hell, even Nari points this out. However, we are never given any background knowledge for this, and barely any content of Chihaya exists among our fanbase. Why is this?
Personality
As I mentioned before, Chihaya has a Yuka-like personality and a broad clinginess to anyone near her in frightening situations. She often let's her mind get the best of her, something that many children suffer through.
Something that no one seems to mention is the hint of hopelessness that often emits from Chihaya's words. She'll often mention that she and her friends may not make it and that she's afraid that they'll all die in Heavenly Host.
This is quite a pessimistic point of view for someone like her. It seems that she overanalyzes situations to begin with, causing a legitimately frightening situation to cause her to freeze up.
Due to this, her constant sobbing turns into hopelessness as she spirals into distress. The school did not awaken this instinct fully, but it did influence it.
She mentions in the Shangri-La chapter of Book of Shadows that she often clings to Nana when she hears thunder. This is ignorance from her peers as well as her parental figures.
Nana and Nari
She is said to have a fairly good relationship with Nana and a segmented one with Nari. Hikari, Rio, and her other pals seem to get along with her as well.
Now, why would Chihaya cling to Nana when she hears thunder? Another question of mine is why Nana would allow this. Nana is naturally kind and forgiving, and I would assume that she isn't the type to tell others to shove off. She allows Chihaya to take advantage of her kindness, even scolding Nari for being hard on her.
Speaking of Nari, she and Chihaya are far from allies, making them a complete mess to be together with. Chihaya seems to have an Ohkawa sort of feeling about Nari, often too shy to speak up to her more assertive personality.
Being together with the two of them makes her freak out, but being together with Nari and no Nana to spare makes her overly anxious. She's frightened of everything in Heavenly Host Nari included, so has no other choice than to cling to Nari instead.
Fears
Chihaya is terrified of loud noises and loves drama, which is a strange combination. There are lots of books and thuds emanating from all over the stage during rehearsals and performances.
It seems that she finds comfort in other people, but only to an extent. Her anxiety makes her shy, but she gives it her all when she's on stage, such as in 2U.
Many assume this to be due to her "spoiled" personality; they think that she thrives for attention because she's used to getting attention. This isn't exactly the case.
Chihaya is used to getting attention, but the form of this attention is displeasing to her. She takes advantage of Nana's kindness due to Nari. She is too scared to stand up to people besides Nana, and she's grown to have a difficult time trusting others.
Not being one to speak her mind, she's often drowned out by other people, causing her to blend in to the background. She is in drama club, sure, but she's in it to prove that she exists, that she matters.
Sobbing
Chihaya doesn't have much information regarding her personality before Heavenly Host, but it is clear that she is a scaredy cat after her arrival. This causes people to think that she only exists to whine.
I, in fact, have plenty of reasons as to why she's overly sensitive in Tenjin.
1. She was split up from Nana, her best friend.
2. She's stuck with Nari, who terrifies her.
3. She has a naturally pessimistic outlook.
4. She's afraid of death.
These seem like quite a normal outlook on this type of situation. Also, one of the factors of the franchise that makes it so frightful is the way in which the characters react to this situation. Many characters complain: Yukq, Naomi, even Sayaka! However, most of these characters are overlooked for only being whiny.
Chihaya copes with stress by thinking negatively, which bothers Nari. Because Nari scares Chihaya, the cycle repeats and repeats until both girls are dick and frightened of one another, nearly driving them apart. However, Nari actually reassures Chihaya in the Book of Shadows manga. Even though Chihaya and her don't get along, Nari is frantically telling her to live her in her last moments. Chihaya, realizing that she has someone to trust besides Nari, tears up and eventually realizes that Nana is dead too, only for Sachiko to torture her while she cries for her friend and her frenemy.
Conclusion
Chihaya is actually a strong character despite her flaws. She isn't quite trusting, but this causes her interactions with Nari and Nana to reveal her inner personality. Heavenly Host changed her for sure, but it also changed her allies, making for a completely abnormal situation.
Thank you for reading this character defense, and sorry for the lazy writing. I'll see you all at the next post!
Comments (4)
Sexy post :smirk_cat: :bangbang:
I feel like I’m one of the only people in this world that actually LIKES Chihaya, so it’s nice to see someone else speak up for her :two_hearts:
I like how you notice little details
Like
Their relationships and reactions to situations and analyze it
Are you smart or am I just and idiot :flushed:
“An astute observation for we are far from home, and this is a cold, hard land.”
Nice work on this blog! 🙂