they'll never make me hate you or call you a boring character tsubaki von hoshido (yap incoming)
it baffles me every time tsubaki gets characterized as overly aggressive, obnoxiously by-the-book and rigid bootlicker when his speech mannerisms by itself in his jpn source is lofty and skews towards endearingly cute/friendly with his quirk of frequently ending his sentences with "ne~" 😭
one of his core traits is how well he was able to sell manufactured affability; jpn!tsubaki leaning heavily into the effortless-yet-*friendly* genius archetype is what makes him easily endearing and inspiring to younger characters (kaden, takumi, hayato in the festival of bonds dlc) in the cast
and what kept niles swinging at tsubaki was how tsubaki knew how to be subtly snarky while deftly dodging his provocations; tsubaki didn't break character and kept being infuriatingly charming until niles caught him at a vulnerable moment, which brought them to equal grounds.
that aside, tsubaki's jpn skinship lines are so *chef's kiss* with the delicious characterization of how confident and charming tsubaki is in a conversation he's controlling and expecting, versus how jumpy, annoyingly playful, yet nervous he becomes with the person he's fully comfortable with.
which is ironic that he's *so* skittish in an environment he's fully comfortable in, but it's the gap moe between the perfectionist!tsubaki who prides himself in being a great conversationalist, vs just tsubaki who noticeably stutters at times and unconsciously starts adding "um/but.." in his speech
Feb 2, 2026 01:15
