Takumi Appreciation Thread

[MoonRose]

Hello! :) In reading a lot of poor reviews on the Fates series, I encountered equally poor feedback on Takumi, as many have written him off as your everyday angsty, brooding anime character. While I see where the complaint comes from, I feel it's a complete dismissal of Takumi's background (especially if you know of the Drama CD). 

Takumi feels like someone with a lot of deep-rooted, agonizing insecurities, which result in him coming off as surly most of the time, but to me it all feels like a front. He feels like someone that just needs a really good friend (or lover) to be his confidant.

This is meant to be geared towards appreciation of Takumi as a character, his storyline, best support conversations and maybe even personal Takumi headcanons, but please feel free to share appreciation of his game stats as well. Why do you like Takumi? What do you think are his best support conversations? Do you think the flack against him is unfair or justified? Who do you ship him with?

Personal headcanon of mine: My male Corrin (Everona) constantly compliments Takumi on his appearance and talents, referring to him as 'beautiful' at one point-much to Takumi's aggravation ("Stop saying weird stuff about your brother!")

[Interdimensional Observer]

Takumi from what I can tell gets equal doses of love and hate in the fanbase. Is he a jerk, or just insecure? With such conflicting ideas of what he is, I'm not sure how much of a middle ground there is with opinions on him. Someone with a milder less polar personality/profile might get less flak, but probably also less love.

It is a similar issue with Soren. Possibly Shinon too, but he isn't as prominent in Tellius as Soren is. Does Soren's insecurity and terrible upbringing justify his cold acerbic language and antisocial behaviors? Or does it go too far?

 

 

I do think Takumi looks kinda cute though. But that is as far as I can judge him personally since I don't pay attention to characters in Fates.

Well I did fanfict him as having nocturnal seizures and thus thinking he's "cursed" and as result. But that is more me imposing fantasies based on the traits I've heard about him (nightmares and insecurity), says more about me than him.

Said fanfict also turned him into Mikoto's puppet in an alternative version of Conquest where she lived, Garon wasn't a monster, and she sought revenge on him for taking Corrin away, to the point of abandoning her kingdom, brainwashing Ryoma and Hinoka to defend the capital, and then using Takumi's love (he is now her actual blood child, so is Sakura) to turn him into a Dawn Dragon Incarnate.

Edited February 9, 2018 by Interdimensional Observer

[anniec8711]

He's basically Hoshidan Leo: male, second youngest sibling, wields a unique weapon, super jealous of Corrin, likes reading about history, likes soup, likes shogi (basically chess).  But they are not without their differences.  Leo compensates for his inferiority complex by showing he is smarter than everyone else and being a condescending little sh*t about it.  Takumi acts like a whiny little b*tch and threatens those he doesn't like with excessive violence.  It's even shown in their paths as enemies.  When you defeat Leo be backs off.  When you defeat Takumi he comes back as the final boss of the game!

I actually like both of these guys though.  Being a middle sibling I can sort of relate to what they are going through.

And if anything, Takumi is an awesome stand-up comedian.

Edited February 9, 2018 by anniec8711

[Ertrick36]

Hell yeah, this is the thread for me.

Screw all the memes, I think Takumi's one of the best characters in the game.  It helps that he's on the same page that I am on with Corrin in the beginning; you can't just immediately trust someone who has been away from your family and in the clutches of the enemy nation for several years (leaving them susceptible to brainwashing, memory wiping, and other things to indoctrinate them to the Nohrian side) to suddenly decide they should work with you no strings attached.  Even if they're genuine, it's better to air on the side of caution until you are absolutely certain they don't intend to bring harm to you.

His story of inner conflict with his insecurity is a very typical story of teenagers and some adults, but I feel it was told in a better, more well thought out manner than some of the characters that are more of gimmicks.  It's a real trait that people have, and it manifests itself in different ways through his various supports, and it takes different turns for a resolution to happen for him.

I think it also helps that I know people who are much worse about their insecurities than Takumi; some will go out of their way to make passive aggressive posts or very "on-the-nose" jokes relating to their insecurities, and others lean way too hard on their friends because they don't have any sense of self.  So I appreciate that they made him insecure in a way that isn't just plain annoying, yet could still probably be seen as relatable to those types of people I described.

25 minutes ago, anniec8711 said:

And if anything, Takumi is an awesome stand-up comedian.

I feel like Takumi is basically the Louis C.K. of Hoshido.

Spoiler

Except for the whole "masturbating in front of women and sexually harassing them in other ways" thing.

He wouldn't have the adoration of a woman of refinement like the 'Boro if he did that.

It'd be funny if he actually took on a hobby similar to spoken word or stand-up after the war was over.

Like in the castle court, he'd do his thing in front of all the nobles and retainers.  I'd imagine that Oboro would be the one who you'd hear randomly giggling at everything he says, while Hinata would be that distinctly loud laugher you could hear over other people's laughs.  I'd also imagine he'd get way too personal at times, and that's why the royal siblings would almost seldom attend his stand-up sessions.

And Leo, of course, would be the one who'd throw the first tomato if Takumi told a bad joke.

[MoonRose]

2 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Takumi from what I can tell gets equal doses of love and hate in the fanbase. Is he a jerk, or just insecure? With such conflicting ideas of what he is, I'm not sure how much of a middle ground there is with opinions on him. Someone with a milder less polar personality/profile might get less flak, but probably also less love.

It is a similar issue with Soren. Possibly Shinon too, but he isn't as prominent in Tellius as Soren is. Does Soren's insecurity and terrible upbringing justify his cold acerbic language and antisocial behaviors? Or does it go too far?

 

 

I do think Takumi looks kinda cute though. But that is as far as I can judge him personally since I don't pay attention to characters in Fates.

Well I did fanfict him as having nocturnal seizures and thus thinking he's "cursed" and as result. But that is more me imposing fantasies based on the traits I've heard about him (nightmares and insecurity), says more about me than him.

Said fanfict also turned him into Mikoto's puppet in an alternative version of Conquest where she lived, Garon wasn't a monster, and she sought revenge on him for taking Corrin away, to the point of abandoning her kingdom, brainwashing Ryoma and Hinoka to defend the capital, and then using Takumi's love (he is now her actual blood child, so is Sakura) to turn him into a Dawn Dragon Incarnate.

Incredible headcanons. You may not pay close attention to the characters, but you put in a lot of effort for those headcanons. They're very creative and put a unique, deep spin on Queen Mikoto.

I'm familiar with Soren and a little familiar with Shinon, the former having an insanely horrible childhood and enduring brutal discrimination. I'm foggy on Shinon but I'm definitely on Soren's and Takumi's side.

7 minutes ago, Ertrick36 said:

Hell yeah, this is the thread for me.

Screw all the memes, I think Takumi's one of the best characters in the game.  It helps that he's on the same page that I am on with Corrin in the beginning; you can't just immediately trust someone who has been away from your family and in the clutches of the enemy nation for several years (leaving them susceptible to brainwashing, memory wiping, and other things to indoctrinate them to the Nohrian side) to suddenly decide they should work with you no strings attached.  Even if they're genuine, it's better to air on the side of caution until you are absolutely certain they don't intend to bring harm to you.

His story of inner conflict with his insecurity is a very typical story of teenagers and some adults, but I feel it was told in a better, more well thought out manner than some of the characters that are more of gimmicks.  It's a real trait that people have, and it manifests itself in different ways through his various supports, and it takes different turns for a resolution to happen for him.

I think it also helps that I know people who are much worse about their insecurities than Takumi; some will go out of their way to make passive aggressive posts or very "on-the-nose" jokes relating to their insecurities, and others lean way too hard on their friends because they don't have any sense of self.  So I appreciate that they made him insecure in a way that isn't just plain annoying, yet could still probably be seen as relatable to those types of people I described.

I feel like Takumi is basically the Louis C.K. of Hoshido.

  Reveal hidden contents

Except for the whole "masturbating in front of women and sexually harassing them in other ways" thing.

He wouldn't have the adoration of a woman of refinement like the 'Boro if he did that.

It'd be funny if he actually took on a hobby similar to spoken word or stand-up after the war was over.

Like in the castle court, he'd do his thing in front of all the nobles and retainers.  I'd imagine that Oboro would be the one who you'd hear randomly giggling at everything he says, while Hinata would be that distinctly loud laugher you could hear over other people's laughs.  I'd also imagine he'd get way too personal at times, and that's why the royal siblings would almost seldom attend his stand-up sessions.

And Leo, of course, would be the one who'd throw the first tomato if Takumi told a bad joke.

Thank you thank you thank you for taking the stand. A lot of people snarf at how prickly Takumi is, but he is well within his rights, feeling the need to protect everything and everyone he loves. In addition to him being like the protective, territorial pup of the litter, with this new puppy coming in and stealing away everyone's attention, leaving Takumi lost and lonely.

Love the comical, snarky additions you added to Takumi's character, proving there is plenty of life and light behind his dark exterior. I too feel that he doesn't come off super annoying-his attitude is justified and well written.

55 minutes ago, anniec8711 said:

He's basically Hoshidan Leo: male, second youngest sibling, wields a unique weapon, super jealous of Corrin, likes reading about history, likes soup, likes shogi (basically chess).  But they are not without their differences.  Leo compensates for his inferiority complex by showing he is smarter than everyone else and being a condescending little sh*t about it.  Takumi acts like a whiny little b*tch and threatens those he doesn't like with excessive violence.  It's even shown in their paths as enemies.  When you defeat Leo be backs off.  When you defeat Takumi he comes back as the final boss of the game!

I actually like both of these guys though.  Being a middle sibling I can sort of relate to what they are going through.

And if anything, Takumi is an awesome stand-up comedian.

I love how you love Takumi by calling him a whiny you-know-what but still being fond of him, and relating to what he's going through. :) Thanks to you guys, it is easy for me to picture Takumi being quite the jokester, and maybe even a prankster, to release aggression.

And I never knew he liked any of those things before. :)