I love Hajime so much. What a great protagonist. Every playthrough, I'm delighted anew when he agrees to pay 1.5 million dollars for a sticker so he doesn't have to watch Monokuma's film. I love that he has absolutely no patience for Nagito's bullshit, too.
Hajime feels very real to me: his insecurities, his sarcasm, the way he relates to the other characters. I love Makoto, but his optimism meant that, in a way, he never seemed to grasp how terrible the situation was; the potential of murder wasn't a real thing to him, because he was always going 'nobody's going to kill anyone, right?' right up until a body showed up. So it caught my attention very early on that Hajime's plagued by dread in a way Makoto isn't; he really grasps the weight of the situation. As soon as he learns the rules of the game, Hajime is asking himself whether he can trust the others not to kill, and whether he can trust himself.
Hajime Hinata is, in fact, my favourite character in the entire Danganronpa series. He's just a normal kid, insecure and sarcastic, heart in the right place, thrown into a terrible, terrible situation. And that makes him the perfect protagonist for Danganronpa 2, because most of the characters in that cast are incredibly over-the-top, and Hajime is a great way to make things feel grounded.
A couple of years ago, I listed ten of my favourite characters of all time and then tried to answer a series of questions about each of those characters. Hajime was one of them, so here are my answers!
Who is this character and why do you love them?
A lot of my favourite characters are ordinary people struggling to cope with a bizarre and terrible situation, and Hajime Hinata is a great example. He's a very normal person in the midst of a colourful cast, but his relative groundedness means he interacts well with everyone else, without those interactions becoming overwhelming.
Hajime could easily have felt bland, but I don't think he does at all. He has enough personality to feel real and present; he's compassionate, he's sarcastic, he's insecure but unafraid to speak his mind. He genuinely likes and cares about most of the people he's trapped with, but he's naturally struggling with the paranoia of the situation, which is a fun internal conflict. He also seems like he has a mild crush on everyone he interacts with, which is a trait that always delights me.
Do you ship this character with anyone?
I ship Hajime with pretty much everyone, but particularly Nagito, Mahiru and Fuyuhiko.
Hajime and Mahiru, both strong-willed and relatively level-headed, would probably have the occasional argument, but I think they could ultimately work out well and be very cute.
Fuyuhiko is short-tempered and clashes with everyone else at first, but he and Hajime build a mutual respect over the course of the game, which I think could form a strong foundation for a relationship.
Hajime and Nagito would work absolutely terribly, but that's the fun of it. Nagito adores Hajime and expresses it in horrifying ways; Hajime, appropriately horrified, spends every second he's forced to be around Nagito wishing he were anywhere else. It's great.
What's your favourite fic you've written about this character?
Probably Humanity's Hope, an AU inspired by The Last of Us. Hajime has to deal with zombies and Nagito, and frankly Nagito might be worse. Their dynamic is always a lot of fun to write; I love the way Hajime finds Nagito simultaneously repellent and fascinating.
Are there any similar characters you love?
Danganronpa protagonists tend to come from a similar mould, and I love all of them. I've also generally got a weakness for ordinary, good-hearted, slightly sarcastic teenage boys who love their friends and go through absolutely horrific experiences. Bonus points if they cry. Other examples include Sean Diaz of Life Is Strange 2 and Keiichi Maebara of Higurashi: When They Cry.
Anything else you'd like to say about this character?
Some of my favourite characters are more-or-less unique characters who won me over as individuals; some are just great examples of character types I have a particular weakness for, and Hajime falls into the latter category. He'd be slightly wounded to hear that, given that he has a lot of issues about being ordinary and not really standing out. Sorry, Hajime. You're still a standout character in my heart; you don't have to be unique for me to like you enormously. I realise that this probably isn't making you feel any better.