There is one thing that they also both share: their signature weapons do not match their character design at all. Hoyoverse. Please give matching signature weapons 😭😭🙏
Nilou also has no playable character friends, so we don't see any unique aspect of her. In her demo she mentioned dancing in the desert, so they could have had Candace and Deyha checking up on her. Those two were so sweet with the traveler, so them doting on her would have been precious. You'd think she'd become more bold after the archon quest and invite everyone around her to dance. Being a sweet girl, she'd probably suggest everyone close their eyes so no one was embarrassed. She could have had a cute parallel to Eula and Amber too and asked Collei to dance. If she liked to read, she could talk to Faruzan about books or talk to Layla about the stars and make dances in inspiration of constellations. Over all, being a performer, you'd think she'd have an interest in clothing and makeup like Navia, but not even that is expressed with her.
@XoloMictlan69 99% depents on what you call relevant. There currently are 84 chars, even if we exclude family of any kind (like Freminet and Lynette) and just focus on friends: Albedo and Sucrose, Diluc and Jean, Jean and Lisa, Lisa and Razor, Rosaria and Barbara, Eula and Amber, Alhaitham and Kaveh, Arataki Itto and Kuki Shinobu, Navia and Clorinde, Ningguang and Beidou, Tighnari and Cyno, Tighnari and Collei, Xiangling and Xingqiu and Chongyun, Dehya and Candace, Sangonomiya Kokomi and Yae Miko, Yae Miko and Ei, as I see it, all of the above are quite relevant friends to eachother which is explicitly shown in the game several times and that's like 27 of them or 32% and if you count in Arlecchino, then you should count in Wanderer, Venti, Xiao, Zhongli and other people whose relevant friends are dead, and you end up with more like 50% of characters have relevant friends rather than 1%. Nilou was done dirty.
@@VetkinaOlga I get what you said, but I think Nilou's friends not being playable is the best thing to do. Nilou had enough in academia after all theatre getting canceled and dancing was banned in front of the academia. Almost all the playable characters in Sumeru are connected to academia or are academically smart so Nilou will always be the odd one out. I really like this theme, she had to make her own dream bubble because she does not belong in reality. That's why she's not a Mary Sue as well. In the end, Nilou manages to gain respect from other characters.
@@zernester7726 Being friends with Deyha or Candace would only show this side of her even more. Dehya feels like an outcast in the city and was the bodyguard of one of Nilou's biggest supporters, while she could have met Candace on her many trips to the desert, I'm sure Candace would not only help Nilou get accustomed to the area and fight enemies, but she also seems like someone who would encourage Nilou's expression through art that the academia views as inferior. It's true that most of Sumuru's characters are connected to the academia, but most aren't all and not all that are actually support it, so they absolutely could and should have let the girl have more relationships and interactions with other relevant characters. I like Nilou because I love these types of characters and both her and her animations are beautiful, but she's really underused and often does feels a bit like a Mary Sue because of that.
Problem with Nilou is they haven't show enough of her She has her big moments during the archon quest but sadly that all we got On the up side I guess it does show how a famous celebrity can be loved just by their work and charming voice alone? So with that reason, it does "make sense" why she is loved for now I really hope they make her second story about her more because I do really like her character after main quest and event
Fr. After reading her character stories, I have a lot more interest in her, I wish they went deeper into that aspect of her character instead of focusing on the story of some random npcs. She’s interesting, but like you said, they never showed it off
Damn, I just remember another thing… Nilou desgin doesn’t have her own identity in it… The outfit she wear is for that one dance, acting like th god of flower It wasn’t her at all, she just been cosplaying someone else What make it worse is her next skin is just her cosplaying another god… again… Man, it’s sucked to be a Nilou fan…
I do wish they showed more of her. I love Nilou's character, but every time we see her it is all about just dancing. I'm unusual in that I liked her story quest, but still..I get that dancing is her thing, but we don't see any other personal side of her except being nice.
Nilou felt more like a tool for the narrative in Sumeru rather than her own individual person. Nilou was the embodiment of what the Akedemiya was trying to squander, and that was her only purpose, and therefore, after the Sumeru conflict was over, her story hadn’t been given somewhere to go.
In addition, Yoimiya felt so active because her story began within the Archon Quest, you saw her impact on an actively struggling community, while Nilou’s was made to be palatable no matter when you did it.
But also we shouldn’t forget that it’s fiction, not real life. Characters are presented in the context, of a story where they are given a certain role. When a character does not fit this role, lacks motivation, and goals, and most players are more interested only (!) in design, it rather shows weak writing skills. I don’t care about Nilou, but I think it’s clear that her character writing is lower than average for Genshin. even though Genshin’s bar is kinda low. Also, It’s absolutely ok to love Nilou, there is just my opinion.
@@han8817 IMO, her initial writing was good. Just the direction, having it focus on another NPC, like with a good portion of other story quests, was questionable. The game does something uniquely consistent with her, in that she's presented as a non-combatant and remains a non-combatant. We don't even fight a hilichurl with her. ...as for her during the summer quest... "Its like dancing!"...having her keep trying to relate things to dancing made her seem poorly written and one dimensional.
this reminds me of how they handled kokomi vs alhaitham. both are supposed to be smart, but kokomi is underwhelming compared to alhaitham. alhaitham is SHOWN being smart, having an active role in the archon quest, while kokomi is just described to be very smart and that's about it. i always really liked kokomi and i thought her character had so much potential but fell flat in the end. maybe they can do something interesting with a second character quest but i doubt that'll happen sadly
thats so true actually. I love kokomi and her character design is so cute but yeah it's sad that her character was hardly ever shown to actually be super smart of powerful. ig they tried to make her sorta mysterious but failed. it also reminds me of jean who, though was handled much better than some of the other girls, is kinda forgotten because she didn't have much going for her other than being a serious worker? i personally never really found her that interesting and actually liked her sister more lol. from what I sorta remember both kokomi and jean's story quests were related to them being overworked. like you said, alhaitham is shown to be smart but also have a bunch of other personality traits and has many interesting dynamics with others making him much more memorable than a lot of characters overall tbh.
i dont know if someone else mentioned this but, most of the cast of sumeru have a distinct personality: kaveh, cyno, alhaitham, faruzan, just to say a few. and nilous is quite similar to other characters: ganyu, noelle, and yoimiya as mentioned here. and seeing how nilou is the most recent out of all these, players may also feel that she's redundant.
i like nilou and ganyu, but not so much noelle and yoimiya. i think it has a lot to do with lore. nilou has references with the goddess of flowers, and ganyu is a half adeptus who feels torn between humanity and divinity, that has a lot of potential for exploration of character. noelle is nice, i think theres more to explore with her than yoimiya though.
I'd also like to add that she's a 5 star character so the bar for quality in lore and personality is higher. Especially when you look ar how fleshed out and interesting Kaveh, Faruzan, Collei and Layla are. Even Dori makes for a more interesting character.
This is a good point, the sumeru cast is pretty universally loved from what I’ve seen and even if they’re not they have the most dynamic and interesting personalities in my opinion with no two characters being all that similar. Nilou being the most boring one of the bunch js puts her in a worse spot.
I am one of the people who don't considers Nilou passive, tbh. She took a stance to oppose the Academia in a debate despite having no academic background and being a dancer, which was quite brave of her, and I don't agree that others did the work for her. She went around compiling pertinent arguments, and debated a lot before the NPC stepped in. She even called out the opponent in the way he was using the argument "you don't have the qualifications to judge us" by reminding him that he, as a non-dancer, was doing the exact same things towards art . That argument was only ignored because she got a bit heated, but even that I actually appreciate because it shows her passion and also shows the very realistic thing that minorities and oppressed groups often tend to face: being dismissed as soon as they show some emotion over a subject that affects them directly, when their opponents have the privilege of not being affected by the issue being debated and can therefore remain calm all the time. I agree that the NPC interfering took away from the scene and was a bad writing call. But I also thing most players hyperfocus on that, let that become the sole thing engraved in their minds and forget everything Nilou did in the quest. Also, Nilou helping the NPC is not that different from Yoimiya helping NPCs, and i think it was the way the writers chose to portray why people like her. So, I don't think it's fair in the slightest to say that people like yoimiya because she helped them when the quest shows Nilou helping and that's the very thing that the players end up dismissing. Sometimes feel like the fandom played different Nilou quests xD Nilou also had the maturity to, in the end, seeing the NPC daughter and father taking some steps to reconcile, not approach and instead give them time - because she knows that kind of healing takes time, and it showed some maturity on her part when many ther people would probably start celebrating and being annoying.
@Anilyan13 i see Nilou as a gentle, innocent, kind, courageous and last but not least, very independent person, she is never hesistant to speak or act up in the time of the situation to whst she thinks is correct
Well said. I think Hoyo picked up on Nilou needing a more active role, and in the Summer Time Quest that began about 1.5 weeks after your video, Nilou is way more active.
not every character needs to be in the spotlight, that just clutters the whole narrative, side characters are important too and “why isn’tshe a main character” isn’t an argument that aside, I doubt they’re talking mostly about story relevance here, rather how the fandom perceives the characters it’s really just the bully types showing their hate of meek “good girls” because they’e easy targets while they can’t hate on the universally liked “good girls”(because the whole group would hate them instead)
@@f.b.lagent1113personally, i dont mind side characters being given the spotlight in events since i dont consider events as part of the main story since whether or not they even happen is based on if you were playing the game at the time of its run.
I've been planning on getting Nilou for a long time, not because I liked her, but bc I'm a dedicated Kaveh main. My opinion on her was similar to the author of this video, I thought she was boring. Another cute waifu girl with beautiful design and a crush on MC, we've had plenty of those before. But when I completed the 4.8 event story and then finally got her from the banner and started using her, I changed my mind on her. She's an extremely supportive and empathetic person. She shares a similar role as Barbara (being an "idol"), but unlike her, Nilou doesn't seem to get tired from it or from being nice and supportive to everyone. It seems like it's just natural for her. And she also has her downside, which makes her even better. I'm referring to her not being able to build a strong relationship with anyone outside of the theater (anyone but mc, ofc), because working hard on her performances and being there for everyone takes all her time. Also, I really love the little demonic sparkle in her eyes when she does her ult animation, like she's teasing you or the enemies (or both). To me it shows that she can be bold if she really needs to (either because she's a good actress or because she has that in her personality). Anyways now I love this beautiful girl and I'm hoping to see more of her in the future❤
@@worldcleansingdragon Wow... that's deep. After reading your comments, I see more and more what you're saying. Levelling Nilou now, so I'm getting used to her role in a team, and she is one of the best supports in the game - both in the story and in gameplay. :) PS - hope you got to C6 your Kaveh. God knows when he'll come around again. :)
@@John_II awww I'm so glad to hear that🥰 Nilou deserves more love. And yeah her team is super fun to play Yaaas I've actually had C6 Kaveh since his release🙊 I just got reeeeeeally lucky on Baizhu's first banner. Love them both💚 ma herby bois
Nilou’s SQ might be whatever, but I’d say her role throughout the Archon Quests was pretty great. She was quite active in putting on the Sabzeruz Festival and helping with the plan in Act V. Also, everyone likes her in game because she’s an amazing dancer and a super sweet person (and is pretty). Seems pretty believable to me idk. Also Yoimiya is amazing 10/10 no complaints except for her kit
@@mitchsz She does good dmg I give her that and freeze can be useful too, but that's honestly the only good thing I can say about her, even her playstyle feels clunky and unsatisfying. Ayato is just better, both more fun and satisfying to play and way more distinguishable and interesting personality wise
I love both Yoimiya anfmd Nilou, but look at it like this, extrovert vs introvert. Of course Yoimiya is more active, and in everyone's business, thats how she lives. Nilou is the mousy girl that is really interested in one hobby and would like to share it
I like Nilou specifically because she is weak, but she's also brave enough to take a stand for what's right, even when she doesn't have the strength to see it through by herself. She was the one in the archon quest who triggers the opportunity for everyone else to be heroes - even Alhaitham admitted he didn't know if somebody else had found his little trap, but she still took that chance. In her own story, her triumph isn't defeating the Academia, but in unifying the theater and the audience against the elitists who want to shut them down. The girl who steps up against her father does so specifically because Nilou encouraged her to stay as part of the troupe. Nilou refused to let that girl ostracize herself from her new friends just to save the theater. This is important, since the obvious solution to their problem was to sacrifice their newest member, who starts that story insecure and feels like she doesn't belong, for the benefit of the theater once her father starts causing them problems. That is precisely what Nilou refuses to do, and she is rewarded when the insecure new recruit is the one to make the final point with confidence. I'm not saying you're wrong about who is more "inherently likeable", but Nilou is a unifier who gives other people the opportunity and encouragement to do what they need to do to be the best version of themselves. Even in the end, the old man who wanted to shut down the theater ultimately comes to check out what it's about. I agree that Yoimiya is strong and very likeable, but there's never much doubt in Yoimiya's ability to carry the day. Nilou isn't strong, but she still refuses to give up on what's right even under threat, and that requires more courage.
I actually like ayaka. She’s sophisticated due to her status. I can see why that makes her boring to most but as a political figure, all she really needs to be is hard working, polite and elegant, which I think works for ayaka
@@rodrign007 , thingy is that we have Ganyu and the game doesn't praise her every time she breaths and paints her as the bestest thing since Canned Bread for doing nothing.
@@itzcrystalzz , name a character that is promoted as the bestest thing since Sliced Bread just by existing. At least other characters have done something to deserve some love.
@@snakecake-mw7vw what are you talking about lol? I hate ganyu as a character. Hoyo wants us to garner sympathy for her because she’s always working hard but for absolutely no reason. “poor me I have no friends so I devote myself to liyue and then complain about how all I do is work and how tired I am all the time” ganyu isn’t funny or cute cause she’s shy and hard working she’s just unlikeable
Great summary! I actually have been thinking about Nilou's character a bit and I think I could add my two words to why Nilou feels off as a character: Pretty much every Genshin character has sort of a flaw or deep running conflict/drama that serves as their establishing moment. Sticking to Sumeru's roster, every character has at least one such element - Colei struggles against her illness and lack of education, Tighnari has his hurdles as the Forest Ranger, Kaveh is caught in a spiral of guilt and idealism*, Candace is working hard for her village to struggle against the harsh desert world** and so on. Layla is sort of an outlier, as she doesn't have any major conflict, but her drive to study astrology and anxiety about falling behind is very relatable to many people, as we all had our own adventures in the education system. Compared to that, Nilou comes from a loving family, is cheerful, optimistic and has pretty much no character flaws. No unresolved conflict in her backstory, or with any other character (like Alhaitham and Kaveh's bickering carrying half their character development). No character trait other than being a good girl (take Cyno's puns and wordplay as a contrast example - while definitely a harmless quirk, it adds a ton to his personality). a Even within the Archon quest (which IMO does a good job making all the main cast involved) her role is the least pronounced (if crucial) - her memory breaks the Samsara (but she has very little agency in anything leading up to this point). Her dance at the Sabzerus festival is a strong emotional payoff - but the focus is on Dunyazard's apparition and her dream to see Nilou dancing. Which, IMO, turns Nilou into more of a plot device rather than a character. And finally in the climax, while Nilou's dance is what enables the rest of the gang to commence their plan, it once again fails to give her any agency or development - she just dances. It wouldn't take an extensive re-write to add a scene where, for example, Azar attempts to apprehend Nilou at first, giving her a chance to fight back or take initiative in some other way, and only resorts to banning art (and thus allowing Alhaitham's gamblwde to work) once this fails. Compared to that, as you said - Yoimiya takes agency in her quest, and is very active towards both the Traveller and the story. Her living with a partially disabled grandpa adds to her character building, as it shows her being caring and compassionate in a situation some other people would have no patience. I think you nailed all the reasons Yoimiya is liked, so I don't have much to add here. Though honestly, if I were to point at a character that is forced down our throats by MHY, it'd be Ayaka. Her story quest was also pretty mediocre (at best), and unlike Yoimiya's, it adds almost nothing to Inazuma's worldbuilding, while also being an obligatory play to progress the story. What baffles me is that, compared to Nilou, she does have pretty solid backstory to her, but completely fails to build on it - but that's an issue pretty much every Inazuma character struggles with (still a better case than genius strategist Kokomi, as much as I love my fish priestess). And a last addition - I see your vid is ~month old, which means it couldn't include the current summer event, but IMO it kinda improves Nilou, at least in terms of characterization. She still doesn't take much initiative, but at least we're shown how she reacts to that event's weird setup and how she cares of the critters put under her care. Not much - but it's something. * -> Sidenote on Kaveh - it's criminal that majority of his development was timegated by the Interdarshan Championship event... ** -> Honestly, it pains me so much to see Candace so underused in the story *and* in subsequent content... We didn't even get a hangout event for her...
YOO I always think something is not quite right with the way nilou is introduced too.. such a shame that her role in the archon quest were only the "samsara" cycle host and... basically acts as a diversion for the guards...😅 i was like... dang, compared to other casts it seems like she does struggle to fit in the archon quest
Nilou felt more realistic as a character than Yoimiya. I've met ten time more "Nilous" in real life than "Yoimiyas". Yes, I'm talking about personality. Nilous are pretty common. Also people in genshin like Nilou for her dance, appearance and character. It's not just "for nothing", those are valuable traits and take a lot of effort same as firework crafting. Which is also...realistic. And more realistic than Yoimiya being popular. How? Easy. Tell me what's more common in media - popular dancers or firework makers? You can name thousand popular irl dancers, idols and etc. Meanwhile 99% of people don't even know a single popular firework crafter. That's how big the difference is.
I see so many people talking about liking Yoimiya because she’s bubbly, energetic, fun, etc and feel like I agree with what a bunch of other people kinda said- people like Yoimiya because she’s a charismatic extrovert, while Nilou has more introverted qualities
These comparisons, writing choices and either met or missed potentials, and usefulness in our own character development as a person or through fictional exploration is very insightful and well presented, great work
She has no one to contrast her personality. She only has npcs and traveler and Paimon but they are only observant non characters that just react. So her care-for-cheer-for-everyone personality just hangs around. So her best times is when we see her arguing against cutthroat Akademiya or being around an unemotional “uncaring” (it’s a facade but still) character like Alhaitham. Or it could be someone who is timid and extra cautious around everyone, who is deeply scarred from her past experiences, has trouble believing in miracles, divine and good in others. What I’m saying is Nilou is a first and foremost “therapist friend”, all of her voicelines revolves around make you forget about your worries, she’s a “healer” in lore not in game. And it still boggles me why don’t they enchances both Collei’s character Nilou’s by making them entangled more. She needs her “Sumeru Amber”. Okay personality aside, what Nilou needs is more interesting lore. And the stupid thing is SHE HAD THE GREATEST POTENTIAL OUT ALL OF THEM AND ITS WASTED ON WORTHLESS NPC. Because I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in this GRAND SAGE SHOULD BE HER FATHER. Like I watched the fucking trailer I thought he was her father, I did the fucking quest I thought he was her father they just waiting for the revelation. Until I read her story I was thinking he’s definitely her father. I’m sorry but this is intentionally sabotaging her character because why have Azar having a fit like he’s an Asian dad shitting on her estranged daughter career choices (which resonates with a lot of SWANA people) then have them being complete strangers to each other? Most discernable theme of Sumeru is Art vs Science. They are thematical parallels even if they are not related. But it’s less impactful this way. Imagine the intrigue and drama. And you don’t need any story changes for it to happen, you can have him say “daughter” in the last second of archon quest and I would be infinitely more interested in both of them. Like we know she’s the dream host in the Akademiya experiment. Why does he choose the most famous person in the city known central to birthday celebrations instead of most random person that no one ever thinks they could be dream host other than petty father reasons? And Hoyoverse knows this is a very good premise, a dramaburger, because THATS WHAT HER STORY QUEST ABOUT! IM SORRY INAYAH SHOULD FALL FROM A STAIRCASE AND DIE. It’s literally Nilous theater, it’s her conflict why do you put your ugly nose into it and try to be the main character? I think it’s intentional on games part to make her not relevant as much as possible. Like they gave her a shit designed weapon, she has minimal voicelines and appearances in events, even when she speaks she says the most impersonal lore exposition, every achievement she does gets undermined by everyone around her there’s many reasons for people to dislike her but i still love her. She may not seem important in surface but she still is related to so many interesting themes and people and events she keeps you ponder about what she stores for us in the future. (Goddess of Flowers lore save us)
Your comment made me realize just how badass it would've been if Azar was her actual father. Oh my god, it would've been so good. Would also give SO MUCH reason for Azar to hate the arts on a personal level. Missed opportunity. Also together with the goddess of flowers thing.
I'll add a different perspective. Let me preface this by saying I'm not disagreeing with the points you raise and I have nothing against either character. What I think elevates Yoimiya above quite a few others in the cast has nothing to do with her writing -- it's that her personality is fundamentally more attractive. Yoimiya can be best described as "vivacious." She's extremely energetic, always up for an adventure (heck, she ends up in Sumeru), she's constantly positive... these qualities are inspiring and infectious. People like this IRL, even those with little substance, are highly charismatic and typically popular. I credit her VA's delivery (in EN; not sure about CN/KR/JP) for helping set her apart in this way. I doubt many people fond of Yoimiya are going to attribute it to any part of the plot to be honest, although better character development and a more interesting narrative would always help. Nilou on the other hand seems to me to be the weird, quiet, nice theater kid that is off doing her own thing. How she presents herself -is- passive and muted. Is she pleasant to be around? Sure. Is she exciting? Not at all. There really isn't anything helping her other than being nice and well-intentioned. Her tepid personality doesn't save her from otherwise lackluster writing. They both have a lot of similar drawbacks. There's limited character development, they both are mostly inconsequential to the story, they're both similarly limited in dimensionality. They're both underdeveloped. You can lift characters up with good backstory (Shenhe, Eula come to mind), consequential roles in the plot, or greater depth and complexity. Hoyo doesn't always take the time or care to do this properly, so we're sometimes left with aesthetics and personality to rate characters' appeal.
neutral/dont-care about the character because of the writing is reasonable, but the active hate of Nilou still needs to be explained, which is clearly personal and is about the personality type of the character rather than the overall package(story-relevance/writing-quality/personality etc.) and I’m pretty sure it’s just the jealous/petty/bully types who hates others that are likable, specially if they deem them meek and easy target (which Yoimiya isn’t)
Idk about nilou but yoimiya altruistic personality is what makes her shine more than other. Iirc nilou and other kindness is there when the problem that involving themselves present that also entangled with other problem. But yoimiya always insert herself to help in a problem that doesn't even concern her at all
This is what I've been thinking too. Yoimiya thrives in high energy environments, she's perfect to take on an adventure. She'll go out of her way to help anyone in need. She's an extrovert. She'd make a great travel companion. She's the kind of person you'd want by your side in a tough situation. She'll take on any challenge head on. Yoimiya is a perfect fit for Genshin because of that. Nilou, on the other hand, is content just staying at the theater, practicing and performing. She's not the kind of person to seek out adventure. The theater is the highest energy thing in her life. She'd otherwise be relaxing at home reading a book or taking a stroll by the river. She's an introvert. Introverted characters tend to not be very popular in Genshin. (With a few exceptions of course). Nilou is not the idea travel companion. But she's someone you want to protect. Keep away from the dangers of the world.
@@f.b.lagent1113ppl are just toxic in general Ppl can't live in a world where a certain person is liked by everyone Ppl want to live in a world where other ppl are just as SELFISH, GREEDY, AND as MEAN AS THEM. That's why these ppl can't stand Nilou. Or yoimiya (as some of the comments will tell you) These are the types of ppl that hate Sykunno
I agree with pretty much everything said here, so I'll just drop some advice: try researching into the balancing of sounds and volume. The clip from the quest at 3:07 is much louder than the rest of the clip, and it comes off as sudden and unpleasant.
I think I see what you're on about but for me it was completely the opposite. Yoimiya is a very outgoing, extroverted, open to everything and everyone and always ready to help. She is someone that can, if not liked, at least be appreciated by everyone somehow, as you said. Nilou, while following the same trope, is a completely different person. She's nice and helpful and cute but she's NOT Yoimiya. Yoimiya is on a totally different level of extroversion while Nilou is more of a quiet person. You don't have to be outgoing and constantly helpful to everyone to be likeable. Nilou is known for dancing, so she isn't ignored because she's quiet, and she's also soft-spoken and nice. Especially for a famous person, being quiet might aswell just make them more likeable to the people. She just does her thing, is famous for it and treats her enviroment well, it doesn't take much more than that, really. So much for in-game logic. As for the player, I liked Yoimiya when she was in the archon quest, the characterisation was solid and she came across as her own person with her own personality. The reason why I have sort of developed a dislike for her is because of the very same archon quest, which is (as you have elaborated on in another video), not that good. Firstly I was forced to play her story quest, which I otherwise would've only done if I was in the proper mood, and secondly her story quest was set in the most unfortunate place in the story. It just made me want to get it over with as quick as possible and continue the actual story. Adding to that, I feel like her story quest was trying really hard to rub it in that she was all perfect, which was imo already apparrent enough in the archon quest, thanks to her interactions with the traveller and others. I am also quite introverted and tend to find loud, outgoing people with screechy voices exhausting, so that might be a reason. Nilou on the other hand spends most of the archon quest being There. She doesn't do much but that's not who she is. She is happy to help and kind to those around her, but she's not a rebel or a fighter or anything. She joins in on the conspiracy for the sake of her God and her own passion for dancing. Her personality is represented well enough through the part she plays in the quest. Of course she could be more active and have more presence and all, but then that wouldn't be Nilou, really. I must say I really enjoyed your analysis though, I'm glad that you have been motivated in the past weeks and I hope you get the recognition you deserve! in this comment I mostly meant to elaborate on my very own view, not to talk over you or prove you wrong
u have sm prejudice towards yoimiya. they NEVER pretended that yoimiya was perfect. nor u should be hating her bcs u were forced to do her quest. by that logic u should dislike ayaka too. imo, the quest basically gave us more info abt the stuff going on in Inazuma. a look into the sufferings of inazumans apart from what we see in the AQ.
???? I'm an introvert and I find your take super prejudiced I understand that you hate extroverted ppl and want them to burn in hell because they have attacked you in some way I'm here to say that you being an introvert is not an excuse to think that every extrovert is out there to bully you and make your life worse I personally don't remember being forced to do Yoimiya's quest, but I like Yoimiya because I KNOW SHE IS AUTHENTIC. EXTROVERT DOES NOT EQUAL FAKE Okay, you hate Yoimiya's voice? okay, fine, BUT HOW THE HELL CAN YOU HATE HER AS A PERSON? Can you maybe throw your edgy "I'm such a special introvert who has been oppressed by the extrovert" attitude in the trash? such a toxic mindset And mind you, I work with extrovert co-workers that I HATE Does that mean every extrovert in existence is horrid? NO. ARE YOU SERIOUS? And let's get this straight, I like Nilou too. In fact, I loved her story quest too (I come from an immigrant family so that SQ was literally me bruh) And good luck trying to hide behind the excuse of "I never explicitly said any of those things" because I don't buy that. People aren't stupid. It's called implications. Maybe you should take a page from extroverts and learn that so you CAN APPRECIATE EXTROVERTS MORE Oh, and did I not say it? I'M AN INTROVERT.
@@hohoho6203 uuuuuh I don't know what you've been cooking but dude when I say that I tend to find loud and outgoing people exhausting this doesn't mean that I hate every extroverted person ever or that I think I'm special and oppressed, it just means that I tend to find loud and outgoing people exhausting this doesn't mean that I hate them, in fact I often like such people a lot, I just need more time to recover from social interaction with them, because it's psychologically draining. I actually really like a lot of extroverted people because they're outgoing, nice and helpful I also don't hate her at all. I find her to be a cute and engaging character that I hold in good memory, although I have no special appreciation for her, partly because of her story quest, which yes, everyone was forced to play to continue the Inazuma archon quest the reasons why I dislike things surrounding yoimiya have less to do with her character and more to do with the terrible Inazuma archon quest writing and the (imo) misplacement of her story quest I don't know how you read all that hatred into the comment that I wrote, chill a little
@@cloudykhushi I think I need to be a little nitpicky about the definition of "prejudice", as it usually describes judging a person before you've come to know them as I said in my comment, for me it was kind of the other way around? I'm also not hating on her at all lol. I don't know if it's the toxic genshin community speaking through you but I don't mean to spread hate about anyone. I generally don't hate fictional people. I also don't like her less than others because I was forced to play her story quest, but because said story quest was set in a very unlucky spot in an archon quest full of mediocre writing and terrible pacing. Yes, her story went further into the suffering of the Inazumans, but that was already well established and needn't been talked about more. The pacing of the whole story quest is just eh. and yes, I actually dislike Ayaka, but not because I was forced to play her story quest. I know it's hard to see people dislike your fave or not like them as much as you do but that doesn't mean that they're hating on them lol
@@adsfornothing3146 "Adding to that, I feel like her story quest was trying really hard to rub it in that she was all perfect, which was imo already apparrent enough in the archon quest, thanks to her interactions with the traveller and others. I am also quite introverted and tend to find loud, outgoing people with screechy voices exhausting, so that might be a reason." dude, you literally don't like her as a character, stop trying to backpedal because I called you out "exhausting"? Dude, YOU'RE LITERALLY JUST TRYING TO HIDE BEHIND WORDS "screechy" DUDE, you literally used a word with a negative connotation and YOU'RE HERE TELLING ME YOU "don't hate her"? IT'S SO OBVIOUS FROM YOUR POST You literally can't handle that there's an extroverted person out there that is perfect... you're pretty pathetic You're so flawed that you BRING PEOPLE WHO ARE PERFECT DOWN WITH YOU BECAUSE YOU CAN'T HANDLE SEEING THEM BE SUCH PERFECT PEOPLE You're free to hate whoever you want, BUT CAN YOU GET OFF YOUR HYPOCRITICAL HIGH HORSE BEFORE YOU DO? "I just need more time to recover from social interaction with them, because it's psychologically draining" DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED WITH THIS STATEMENT. TIRED OF INTROVERTS ACTING LIKE EXTROVERTS ARE DELIBERATELY SUCKING THE LIFE FORCE OUT OF THEM LIKE SOME EVIL VILLAIN Sigh. I'm an introvert and I find extroverts annoying. DOES THIS MEAN EXTROVERTS ARE HORRIBLE PEOPLE? NO. THE OPPOSITE IS TRUE. I'M THE HORRIBLE PERSON FOR ALWAYS SUCKING THE LIFE OUT OF PARTIES. I'M THE HORRIBLE PERSON FOR ALWAYS GIVING THEM AN UNFRIENDLY FACE WHEN THEY SMILE AT ME. I'M THE HORRIBLE PERSON; THEY AREN'T. I'M A POS. AND THE FACT THAT YOU HAVE THE AUDACITY TO ACT LIKE IT'S THE EXTROVERTS THAT ARE ANNOYING YOU, NO, YOU'RE THE PERSON ANNOYING THEM WITH YOUR "I'M SO SPECIAL INTROVERT OPPRESSED AURA" Good job liking your own comments btw, really seals the deal
What I really love about Yoimiya is that despite her childlike behavior, she's actually very mature. she's very aware of how messy her nation has become due to constant war, and she chooses to be the light that brighten children's hearts.
I have to say, I disagree with almost everything you say about Nilou, but it's nice to see another video essay in such a short time-frame as well. The only thing I'll say (I really don't want to turn into a hate train), and what I hope will be some constructive criticism, is that I think when you say "[Nilou] is treated as an active protagonist even though her actions show the opposite", there is perhaps a tinge of insincerity here. You've talked a lot about how she is a passive protagonist (and she certainly is), but not a lot at all about how she is supposedly treated as 'active' in such a way that her character is undermined. I simply can't see what you mean when you talk about this contradiction. To me, Nilou is a character through which other characters are able to find strength, and I think that is very well communicated in both her story quest AND the Samsara Cycle. We see many people who are motivated through her presence and companionship alone. All of that aside, and my other disagreements, it's good to see another video from you. We don't have to agree, and I think the concept behind the video is definitely in the right direction. Active vs passive is a solid topic to discuss, but that is perhaps sometimes at the detriment of those characters that do effectively break the rules. Look forward to your next video anyways.👌
Exactly! Tbh I don't think this is forced to us, and I also don't think she had to be like yoimiya to be a good and likeable character, she's more someone who inspires people rather than an active protagonist like yoimiya, and I honestly love that
Yeah, that critique makes sense lol, thanks for pointing it out. If it helps, I was mainly thinking that comparing it to Yoimiya’s being active would help, but to clarify, Nilou is being treated by the story like she’s doing everything and that she’s amazing for doing all that, when it’s really the traveler and Inayah(the npc) who are doing all the work. Whereas for Yoimiya, she’s doing everything and earning the credit, as she should. Hopefully that clarifies it!
Thanks for pointing it out. Also Nilou is an introvert, it makes sense she is more "passive" but she summons strength to debate the akademiya going out of her comfort zone, for others. The fact an npc win the debate is because said npc or PERSON got inspired by Nilou's actions and eventually was prompted to act. There was an akademiya guy that resonated with art and said that he finally understands what it is about. There's nothing wrong with having a more likable character that's more passive, that does her job of dancing which spreads joy, art and connects people, and this dedication to an ideal is also why she kept believing in Kusanali.
The thing is, Some people are active and some people are passive, personality wise. There's nothing wrong with neither of them, Both have their strengths and weaknesses in the real world. Those who are passive understand and relate to Nilou and those who are active do the same with Yoimiya. Some people like me have a mostly passive personality and definitely can relate to Nilou and love her for that. But can also admire Yoimiya (shes my only triple crowned character). Love both of my girlies
When I used to be on the twitter this seemed to be the general consensus between the fans. For me on the other hand, it was the other way around. Gameplay wise, I love Yoimiya . Character wise, it was hit or miss. Her quest had to have been the most boring for me and it didn’t keep it drawn in. While I definitely understand why, it just wasn’t like that for me. - Nilou was the opposite for me. I loved her role in the archon quest and her character quest as well. Nilou was already liked due to her status as a celebrity and how great of a dancer she is. She’s an entertainer, she knows how to bring in an audience. Not saying that makes her better, but I believe there is a justification for it. Nilou taking small steps to being more of an active character was honestly more progress than what she was doing before traveler. It was just another one of those quests.
Don't know if there's anyone who understands the enneagram and mbti, but Yoimiya is definitely ENFP enneagram 7, while Nilou is ESFJ enneagram 9. Knowing this I felt a bit bad, because there are just different reasons for people to like them! Nilou can provide the sense of comfort to enyone, to calm them, to see the conflict from the both sides as xxFJ types and Nines do, while Yoimiya is completely opposite. She can't sit still, she brings smile not by creating peace, but by disturbing boringness. They both are really good people, they both are loveable. But HoYo definitely showed them differently. Just because moments of peace would seem boring for a player 😢
Unrelated but I feel like Bennett would've been a better "hero" instead of Wanderer, I mean ik the event is abt Wanderers backstory but he doesnt need to play the "hero" role
@@tothebeyond6318Are you skipping all the lore, development, past, present, future, dialogues, relationships and similarities between Wanderer and Durin?
I was a theater kid growing up. I actually am one of the apparently people who prefers Nilou as a result. She’s kind and patient to her troop. I will say though that I wish her story focused more on herself rather than around an NPC in her troop.
It's written in Nilou's character and mentioned multiple times, Nilou isn't as smart as others from Sumeru and the Academia. She loves her career as a dancer though. In my opinion, she's often overlooked for not having as much lore as some other characters(like wanderer or Xiao) Nilou grew up with 2 loving parents that supported her, she later on got introduced to dancing and fell in love with it. Even though she's not as well written as some others, she's probably one of the most realistic and relatable characters. probably loved for her performances, and treated more like a celebrity than someone that ppl know on a personal level. in her story, it stated that even though Nilou wasn't the smartest, she always had a way to get to ppl's hearts. she also speaks about human emotions, out mood, how to deal with our human sides etc in almost ALL her voicelines. and her not being that smart and being involved in art is unfortunately a stereotype in Iran(aka Persia, where Nilou is inspired from.) where if you're not smart academically you're going to study art and be a "failure," which is how the Sumeru ppl treat art unfortunately. edit: While Yoimiya feels like a friend, to npcs and in the story, Nilou has this small sense of mystery in her, how no one really knows her outside of her dance career, which adds to the celebrity persona.
Yoimiya is much like Itto they make sure you see them. Nilou is the opposite similar to much of the Sumeru cast is very introverted. This lack of extraversion is difficult to write without the character being seen as passive uninterested or down right edgy. Hoyo while also pandering to sell these characters have made a already difficult task so much worse for themselves. It's clear because Furina personality wise is bang in the middle of these 2 and she is still loved even for personality. Hu Tao is a weird girl yet her being so extroverted makes her a lot fun. In conclusion Nilou isn't a bad character she just isn't the most extroverted person. If we go to the current summer event she actually feels more alive taking decisions into her own hands and trying to move things herself, similar to Ayaka becoming slightly more extroverted gave them a wave of people saying their characterisation was better.
to be honest i see nilou as an "Everyone loves me character" and yoimiya as a girl next door character and i kind of lump hu tao and navia in with it as well because i see them as girls who are just doing their own thing without really needing help from the traveler
Awesome video!!! Personally i have a hard time liking characters with the “Everybody Loves Me” trope. Even when they are done right, so i honestly can't withstand when Nilou or Yoimiya are on the screen. They are on my "never play" list, alongside Raiden and Childe.
I love both..But Yoimiya is my favorite 5star I don’t have her cause I couldn’t get her on her last rerun but she is still mah favorite 5star..Then Nilou she is my favorite hydro character her design, I love the design of her outfits, I got her this rerun 4.8..Her dancing aspect is just great..Now her personality can be a bit dry but I love how happy she is… But Yoimiya was done really well, and they Nilou was done kinda dry..But I still LOVE both 😢
Of course people aren't going to be in agreement, not everybody is going to feel the exact same way about something when it's subjective. However there's still an objective part to this, which the video maker themself says is in regards to writing. If you want to interpret an analytical video like this, based on dos and donts in writing characters, as pitting two "kindhearted lovable queens" against each other, then you're free to. Doesn't change the fact that's not the intent of this video, and a blatant disregard to everything said in the video. I personally can't stand Nilou, and Yoimiya means nothing to me, but I can still see this video isn't an attack on the girls. Please, you should definitely watch the video again, and read some comments a bit more deeply. It's okay if you like them, just don't try and change the point of this video and discussion into something it isn't.
@@Vesperad0 Firstly my comment was not that serious. Secondly I never blamed the video itself and my silly unserious little comment was more directed towards some of the people in the comments. Although in my opinion the creator took more time (the entire time, actually) to highlight the good aspects of Yoimiya and the bad aspects of Nilou. Which is fine if that’s how they feel, though that imbalance makes it easy to interpret the message being that one is better than the other, even if the creator didn’t intend for that. I certainly agree that Nilou could’ve been handled better, but Yoimiya clearly isn’t the peak of character writing either. (You don’t even care for her lmao). Anyways I do like them though neither are close to being my absolute favorites, so I don’t actually care if people dislike or even hate them. And I never said this video was a blatant attack on them.
I really agree, I hate that this took a good vs bad formula to make people directly compare two nice characters I think they should instead emphasize the subject of bad writing/minimal screentime and how hoyo hasn’t completely established some characters even though they’ve been out for years now
I’m so glad Nilou featured in the 4.8 Summer Event It really allowed her to have more development on-screen as a character, since hoyo otherwise dumped any notable info about her into walls of text in her profile She hasn’t been given a proper opportunity to show her strengths after the archon quest, which was terribly paced and did not linger on or emphasize the significance of her contributions
I think this perspective is interesting and I agree Nilou's story quest sucked, but I raise a strong counterpoint: Nilou is a gentle, soft-spoken female character and people hate gentle, soft-spoken female characters in media. Think Maxi from Under the Oak Tree, Hinata from Naruto, Beck from You, etc. I also strongly disagree with Nilou having no personality; she's a strong-willed romantic. For example, she believes in Nahida despite the fact that no one else in Sumeru did at the time and how she believes Akademiya will lift the ban on dance if only they could see how happy it makes others.
I would have never thought of Nilou being compared to Yoimiya ! I've always thought she was more similar to Ayaka who also seems to have that same trope, but I definitely see the connexion here
Great essay here and I enjoyed it. Lots of player feel Nilou is just lacking as a character and even someone commented on her page in Genshin Wiki. Now that she appeared in 4.8 event but I have no interest in Nilou whatsoever. I feel the main issue with Genshin is that sometimes they took the writing of a character too emphasised on what element of vision they have. Both Amber and Yoimiya are Pyro vision wielder and are active protagonist in their respective story. Now just bcs Nilou is a hydro they made her so passive even in her story quest and it made her even more unlikeable for some people. This is one of the many flaw Genshin has for a while.
just gonna correct you on Nilou's story quest, Nilou does A LOT of work. She actively seeks out everyone involved to collect evidence to prove to the Akademiya why the Theater has enough value to not be shut down. And she does ALL the debating *until the very last subject of discussion* which is when the Akademiya guy's daughter, who ran away from home and who Nilou has been trying to get through that, steps up and confronts her dad herself. Until that point, it was a draw between Nilou and the Akademiya. And Inayah, the daughter, *was brought into the theater troupe by Nilou.* Furthermore, all the shop owners LITERALLY testify on how Nilou regularly helps them out just because she thinks it's the right thing to do, saving them in the process. We constantly hear (and SEE) her being a great listener, remembering very small details that others forget, but are pretty important to the people themselves. She is just as empathetic and sensitive as Yoimiya, and we are shown that in her story quest. She manages to constantly bring everyone together to support the theater - and by proxy, her - when *she* needs help. It's proven enough so far that Nilou is just as good as Yoimiya. Nilou ALSO actively resisted against the Akademiya in the Archon Quests. Anyone saying that Nilou is 'forced' or anything like that is, in fact, objectively wrong.
I think the biggest issue with Nilou is how bad her SQ is and how poorly it her and her skills. Personally, I absolutely adore Nilou, and after the archon quest, several events with her in it, even her bad SQ, she has a very distinct personality to me: a gentle, outgoing, deeply empathetic person who gets to know people before she helps them-which is the reason why everybody likes her. She supports other people and lets them take center stage in their own lives. The one thing she truly takes charge on a her passion for her art, that being dancing. I do genuinely think it was bs that the NPC overtook Nilou’s debate though. Nilou was making good philosophical arguments up until the game decided she needed to start losing, and it was fun seeing what makes Nilou passionate and angry. As an artist, I found Nilou’s debate deeply relatable, and I was annoyed that another “analytical” person had to come in and “save the day.” People tend to forget that artists are deeply intelligent (you need to be in order to make good art that has meaning and connects to more people) and to me, Nilou comes across as deeply intelligent. Let her show how emotionally intelligent she is without undermining her.
Honestly I kind of feel forced to like both of those characters, it’s absolutely subjective now and I talk only from my feelings, but still. I think for them not to feel what “forced” there must be at least one sacrifice they made to do something for, and story needs to point what out. Like even not massive but something at least important, like even comfort, I’m not even talking about life. I don’t really remember any of them doing something like what, they just do good things for the sake of good things, and their goodness wasn’t really anything impressive. Collei’s kindness and sweetness and how many people like her works, because it’s an end of her character development (or no?…I hope no because she’s super interesting character and I want her to be reused) and we’ve seen from where it started. She truly has strong reasons to be good, and to be like what she needed a lot of work to put, and to go outside of her comfort and stop pushing everyone away and being locked in bubble of hate she created. Bennet’s goodness works because he literally is cursed to be unlucky, but he was strong enough to make himself one of luckiest people of Teyvat (having losing friends parents and job you love is very lucky) they all work because they have struggles what affect directly them (yes they both couldn’t do it without some people around them, but it’s a +, because if they just had most tragic and horrific backstory of all and have won against all of their problems alone it would make them Mary sue, because well, no one is strong enough to just stand alone without anyone against their life issues) Also I think perfect example is Madoka from Madoka Magica. Because Madoka is literally perfect. Like literally. She haves 0 character flaws (except being insecure and shy at some moments in life, and becoming very passive throw whole story before the very end) usually what makes us hate a character or don’t like them, think what they’re too boring or something. And Madoka don’t even haves tragic backstory she literally lives in pretty wealthy family what loves and supports her no matter what and she’s very close with them. But also we all know how dark this anime is, probably only this island of happiness attacks us, but it also makes every sacrifice what she have done a lot more weightful. Because as Homura said (it was her first line hah) “Madoka, do you have anything you don’t want to lose in your life? Yes….then don’t even dare to risk with it” but I don’t really want to spoil whole Plot, so here’s a fact: in first timeline Madoka became a magical girl to save a random street cat who was injured (she’s holding what cat in opening) just for you to know, being a magical girl is a tough work: “0 free time, constant fear for your life, fights with other magical girls because without the drop form witches you will die, being a magical girl is a game on survival, so when you make a wish you pay for it with what” and it’s like only half of the horror (because KyuBei don’t know what you need to tell about whole contract conditions even if youre not asked) and Madoka already knew Mami (it was her line) so she knew what sacrifice she was making. And she did what. For one random cat she probably never seen again. And ending of anime is literally this but 100x. Like if someone saves the galaxy but they didn’t sacrificed anything, then you feel nothing. And if someone plays with kids in dirt sacrificing their favorite clothes, WHAT is empathetic. And we actually need to see the sacrifice, not just on words how much they risk. But what’s just my opinion so….
No, that totally makes sense, I've never thought of it from that perspective. While I've never watched Madoka Magica, I HAVE seen(and quit) shows like miraculous. Having no flaws does make a character hard to relate to, and therefore less likable as you said. Thanks for your take bro.
@@Edahs_exists hah, Madoka Magica and miraculous literally have opposite builds of plot and it’s weird to compare them since they don’t have anything in common (fight with evil in here is like office job, they hate it but they need to pay bills) but you didn’t watched it so….won’t complain. Tho I think worst thing what can happen to main character is him being “relatable” because most of the time they don’t understand what is relatable about main character, because mainly something what can create real attachment is not even similar issues, but just seeing story the same as the viewer. For example, Anya from SpyXfamily is relatable because she’s only character to know whole premise of the show, while others are clueless. When someone makes a “relatable” character most of time it turns out character as completely dull and no one is interested in them. Or they exaggerate it so much what make them annoying, or they act like sociopaths with 0 empathy what do awful things and everyone’s fine with what (COUGH COUGH, mushoku tensei COUGH COUGH) because target audience to who they need to be relatable aren’t good people at all. I think Traveler is supposed to be like what, but they’re not what much of a dull character, they do have a personality it’s just not really fleshed out and you need to search for it. Damn I talk too much.
the first thing that comes to mind in this discussion is that we can very clearly understand why yoimiya is liked by everyone- at least to me, when you first perceive yoimiya you think “i like her” rather than with nilou where you think “everyone likes her”. they both have the same traits, but the only reason you perceive nilou as compassionate and kind is because the game constantly tells us she is. with yoimiya she feels like a truly fleshed out character who takes control of the situations she’s in and SHOWS she cares about other people. i can easily explain why yoimiya is kind and compassionate but with nilou all i can say is, “err, she’s a dancer, and she’s kind”. but we don’t really know WHY. with yoimiya we know she’s compassionate and good with kids because she grew up with a deaf father who she’s used to accommodating, and this likely made her more empathetic growing up. with nilou, i have no idea why she’s kind. i can’t even think of an example of her being kind besides just being passive.
great video thanks! After seeing Nilou in the story I thought that maybe the team will make her personality come through more in events. She got a big role in the summer event this year but it showed her passive side even more when compared to Navia, The purest boss lady. Instead of hopping into the train to help putting the stars into the sky, a real dream adventure, she is too afraid and let's the traveler and Navia take the risk while she waits "in case anything would happen". It showed her as a scaredy cat once more.
maybe nilou was supposed to be written that way?? after all she's a performer - a celebrity, and people like celebrities without knowing much about them
Hi, this is just a bit of technical feedback so don't mind me 💚 Your content is wonderful to listen to, mostly because you have an incredibly calm and soothing voice. But it's also rather quiet - so in order to hear it, I have to turn up the volume to about halfway, which is no problem BUT! The moment a clip taken from the in-game dialogue appears, there's a jarring difference in volume, so much so that it literally gave me a mini heart attack haha This type of content in general is often used as something to relax to, possibly even fall asleep to, so I'd kindly advise to try and match the volume during editing 💚 Other than that, literally zero complaints, you're doing an amazing job and it really feels like we as viewers are taking part in these little deep dives and analyses along with you. Hope to see more in the future ✨
My problem with Yoimiya is that a major theme of her character seems to be "lying is good actually" (this is a simplification, but basically.) In my mind honesty is *the* most important quality for the functioning of society, and her constantly recurring "let's lie to keep someone innocent/happy" thing just rubs me very, very wrong. Her likeable personality otherwise does not nearly make up for this. Nilou, on the other hand, I rather like. She's not one of my favorites, but she's a sweet girl, an artist, a friend. You talk about Nilou being a passive protagonist but I think that's inherently flawed- she's not a protagonist type at all, she's a natural support. Her actions always inevitably help someone *else* to shine, even if she's the one on stage.
My opinion on them: Yoimiya is annoying and Nilou is forgetable. But thats fine. The reason why there is so many characters is so that everyone can find someone they like and relate to. So I dont see their personalities as that big of a problem, both have their own fans.
It feels like everybody likes Yoimiya because she is a good person, while Nilou became a good person because everybody liked her already. This might be a point of contention, but I believe it is easier to be a good person if you are comfortable in your life and don't have to worry about anything. If you are immediately not only accepted by a community, but actively pampered by constantly getting free stuff, people offering to carry your things, or being praised for your performances, there is no reason for you to become bitter and rude. Nilou's biggest achievement in that sense is that she did not become conceited. A notable point that I would make about Yoimiya's story quest is that we as the player are dragged around by her, both ingame and out of game. We HAVE to play the quest to continue the game and to obtain primogems, yet she is out there helping people and endangering herself for no other reason than that she wants to. Even if we don't like Yoimiya personally, we have to begrudgingly admit that she is a better person than we are. And I think that is another big point about why she is more likable. Because even those who don't particularly like her can't bring themselves to actually hate her.
Nilou is just a very sweet girl who likes to dance and does it really well. That's all. She's the sumeru reflection of Barbara. An image of her. Her personality is flat. I still like her tho, but she isn't shown to have any particular personality trait.
I respect your opinion, but “she isn’t a main character” isn’t a valid argument. If every single character in Genshin was a main character, we would have a much less compelling story. It’s the side characters that are important, and that’s what Nilou is.
@@Izzi_idiocy I actually haven’t played her story quest yet, (I’m not an early player, I just have more important story quests to go through, like Zhonglis or Nahidas,) and yes, she should be the main character of her own story quest, but Yoimiya’s story quest sucks ASS. I don’t even think you can consider her as the main character of HER story quest. It’s all about some NPC’s backstory, and yes, we learn about Yoimiya’s love for fireworks, but we learn that so suddenly at the end of the quest. There’s no gradual clues, no nothing. It sucks.
I don’t think the argument in the video is really strong, but I think it’s because of the execution of the side characters. Yoimiya is a character you see a couple of times and that’s what a side character is supposed to be, she still does something important while not being completely the main character, and in her story quest you can see her being her own person and being able to do things herself which is great and allows us to see that side characters are capable as well. Nilou on the other hand was kind of forced to be a main character. You are basically anticipating her dance the whole archon quest as if it’s the most important thing that happened in sumeru. (Which in short, it isn’t.)
Nilou and Cyno felt really underdeveloped. They both have only one trait, and we are shown nothing but this trait. Nilou is just a good and nice girl, that's it. We don't see her other traits, her major weaknesses or other moments in life. Cyno has just to cliches - he's either evil and grumpy on work, either joking his terrible jokes, that it. If we look on Yoimiya - she's cute and nice with children, she's taking care of her family and business, she's brave and loyal, she values children's dreams and wishes. There's so much to her character. Also, paradoxically, even Barbara is more deep character than Nilou, eventhough they kinda similar. Barbara is also a superstar, idol, adored by everyone, and she's glad to help and heal people, but we see that she suffering from stalking and obsessive fans. Also, she's faithful to Barbatos and to the church, helping nuns and singing in church. And she has complicated relationships with her older sister Jean. 4* starter character in 1.0 patch was written better, than Nilou, and that's a shame.
I disagree with a large part of the arguments. First off, I'm mostly neutral to both characters, so I'm not that invested in arguing for or against either. However, I don't like biased arguments presented as objective. I don't feel that the game's forcing you to like Nilou. I get more of that impression with Yoimiya, since she's far more of an in-your-face character. Nilou's consistently portrayed and shown to be genuinely nice and caring. That's reason enough for liking her, without calling it "shallow". Neither is as bad as Gaming, though. That was _awful_ in how the players were pushed to like him. Your argument seems to imply that because Nilou's not good at arguing an academic, we shouldn't like her. Or maybe more accurately, it's bad for her likeability. People having weak sides is natural, and not something we should shun them for. It also doesn't undermine her character, since she was never portrayed as good at it (it's also about reasoning ability, not charisma), so there's nothing to undermine. While it could've been done without having her be overshadowed by an NPC, I don't think it was random, as it was being built up during the quest. There are other arguments as well, but people have covered those in comments here, like @Anilyan13, @sephirothbahamut245, and @azrielackerman4659. In short, I find that you highlight most good aspects of Yoimya and most bad aspects of Nilou, and present it as a fair comparison. But that said, I don't think the video is bad, or I would've just ignored it and not comment. Lastly, the new event right now (which you obviously couldn't include without a time machine) has Nilou in a much more active role, at least in the beginning (which is all I've seen so far).
I don’t think this vid was abt proving yoi was better than Nilou tbh(correct me if im wrong tho), I think it was just abt why the community reception was different
I think it’s mostly outside of the game and into the community. If you look at how almost everyone reacts to Nilou, they overhype her. Both her “character” and her kit. If you show any sign of not liking her, you’re apparently a horrible person, rude, a bully. (most likely isn’t true for most players)
I think the frustrating part of Nilou's story quest for me was that I was hoping for them to make a really compelling argument for the arts. For the value of the arts to society, the value even of works not especially extraordinary to a community. That not all art is great and not everyone will appreciate every work of art, but art is for people and it's important that we do things simply because they make us happy or remember something or evoke some feeling or another. I think there was a great opportunity to say something pretty profound here. Hoyo has a team of composers on staff. Not many game companies can say that. Clearly they value the arts. Unfortunately, for Nilou it almost comes across as though she's never actually given the subject much thought, which is problematic for her characterization (although maybe it helps the fanon characterization that there's really just not that much going on in her head). It's also very unfortunate that the writing decisions muddle the message of the story quest. This was done pretty well in Yoimiya's quest despite the overall mediocre plotline. She explains that for humans, our lives are relatively short and while fireworks may be rather transient, creating memories is arguably the closest that humans will get to eternity. It's simple, but it explains a lot about her own philosophy. She also sort of indicates that this just happens to be her take, she's a pyrotechnician because that's what her family does. She's not necessarily someone who has it all figured out, but she knows enough about what's going on in her own life and area of expertise to have realistically fleshed out philosophies about the stuff that's pertinent to her.
Most of those who hate Nilou types are women, not exactly a shock when it happens alot even in earlier years(at least in my Middle/High school) they’re almost always the ones getting bullied it’s the same as men who hate the jock or leader types just for their personality, it doesn’t take a genius to surmise these hate stems from interpersonal battles for attention or partner competition, for women in particular they viciously yet subtly destroy people through manipulation and destroying reputation, my sister suffered from those rotten people for years
Now that you comment about it, I can see it yeah. In middle school me and other girls were actively bullied by the people of our class. Looking in retrospective I can see the "Nilou type" in me and the others, but I cannot understand why people seem to dislike the "Nilou type" so much. About your sister I am really sorry she had to go through this. I hope te best to her❤
@@mritagoncalves7442 also notice how there’s really no argument against her aside from “”annoying”” and “forced”, what comes first here to them is their idea that it’s “forced” they can’t comprehend or they refuse to accept there’s simply just good people, and the fact that people like those people annoys them which is where their “”annoying”” argument comes from, it’s petty and jealousy setting aside story/narrative related parts because they’re not really taking that into account when they say they hate Nilou
@@f.b.lagent1113 Look, I'm a dude and a Nilou disliker (or just don't care about her, yet annoyed by how Hoyo loves to shill her instead of the more deserving characters). You based something out of your personal story/trauma and comes out generalizing things that sounds like an outright reach. It 's less about people complaining about her being "forced" cause she's an honest, goody-goody every girl and more because that's all she is, a goody girl. You can be a really nice girl and still have other things going on for yourself, yet other than that Nilou is just...a dancer. She just dances and nothing else, you have to find out her depth (and even then still isn't much) by pulling her then reading up her profile instead of the better "show, don't tell" tactic. I mainly blame Hoyo's writer for this though since her design seems to be beloved by the developer teams.
@@emptyvoid5272 nah I'm pretty confident with my comparison, unless they can provide any other reason(that isn't story/narrative related) that they hate her personality aside from vague terms "annoying" or "forced" then they're more than likely exactly the type I'm talking about also narrative relevance doesn't matter in liking personalities I'm talking specifically about those who despise her BECAUSE of being goody-goody sweet girl thats sociopathic behavior if i've ever seen one, I literally don't get it, I don't particularly care about most characters but if there's anyone I dislike like I'm pretty sure it's not because they're giga-good people like most Nilou-hate is I can also say Thoma is just a house husband or that barbara is just a tired idol
It feels that Nilou has npcs but it doesnt feel natural meanwhile Kaeya also has many npcs but they are very carismatic and memorable like Adelinde, Elzer, Tunner and even Huffman. And Kaeya is a 4star
I'm a Nilou stan ever since I realised her character and role in the archon quest to dance as a rally against the Akademiya was a parallel to real life Persian women using public dance as a means of an avocation of their rights. Yoimiya is fine, but she's still such an NPC-personality character with nothing interesting or unique about her at all. She's just there if you like overly sunny characters, which is fine, but Nilou at least STANDS for something. So I feel the opposite for this video: Nilou does this trope well because her medium actually helped people and heavily contrasts Sumeru's culture to be creative and open minded, while Yoimiya is friendly....because she's friendly.
Was 2.0 so long ago that we forgot Yoimiya was actively helping Ayaka and Ayato's Yashiro Commission making moves against the Shogun's orders? Yoimiya was actively risking her life and her Vision to do what she saw as right. We just going to ignore that part to make Nilou look better?
Nilou's SQ was a perfect chance to show how important art is and expand on the conflict of academic vs arts. Or maybe a more laid back but in depth exploration o how the theatre shut down will effect her personally would give us much more information about her. My problem with her is just that I don't know much about her and the game doesn't encourage me to know more about her.
I just remember not being able to understand whose dream it was in the archon quest because Nilou didn't really leave an impression on me and I genuinely didn't even think it could be her dream.
I love both Yoimiya and Nilou for both similar and different reasons. But on some days I think I related to Nilou more. Her story quest aside, because I do think it's one of the least interesting ones in the game, the type of character Nilou is, and the role she embodies in the larger sumeru cast, is something that I find very appealing. She's someone who represents the arts in its purest form in a society that, until recently, shunned them. In a society that valued smarts and academics as the end all be all of life, the zubayr theatre and nilou are a symbol of rebellion and following your heart. It's not surprising that for Alhaitham's master plan in the 3.2 archon quest, they NEEDED nilou to succeed. I wish this energy was carried out in her story quest as well...
Yoimiya character makes me pull for her. Even though I'm too stupid to user her properly, at least I have her & being reminded about how great her character is. While my motivation to pull Nilou is only bc I already have established teams & want to try a new team comp. Her character doesn't matter much
Nilou technically a cosplayer. Her outfts say: her default is portraying the Goddess of Flowers, while her purchasable outfit is her portraying a forest fairy. These outfits really screaming what the community saying about her: no actually personality. At least give her a casual outfit.
hm..i think this video falls flat on a few aspects. firstly,nilou is a known introvert. you cant really compare the way an introvert and extrovert handle a confrontation because their ways of thinking are way too different to be compared. its like comparing a mouse to a cat. it also doesnt take into account the environmental factors-yoimiyas fireworks are beloved *by all*. nilou didnt push to have her dance because she is whats basically a minority within sumeru. youre forgetting outside of the small circle that worshipped kusanali,dancing and the arts are scrutinised. its no wonder she felt disheartened. also,she wasnt losing the debate as inayah was making the same point nilou did. if inayahs point won the debate,and nilou was going to make the same point then she wasnt going to lose. the traveler recommending the debate doesnt discredit that nilou fought it,and it being npc-centred showcased her want for justice(which was also shown through the archonquest during which she fights for nahidah and to liberate herself) and her love for helping others (shes said to be a natual mediator) the issue falls within the fandom being unable to recognise that these external factors she personality factors heavily affect the way these characters react to things and how they're written
I know this video is a bit older but it summarize my opinions on the both of them pretty well. I'm OK with Yoimiya. Her personality isn't my favorite trope but as far as the story she does more for Inazuma than Ayaka does. Ayaka's problems as a character (and this applies to Ayato too) is that it's a lot of "telling" & not "showing." Ayaka left me feeling nothing for her because we barely see her take action. At least with Yoimiya, we saw what she has been doing for her fellow Inazumans. And while I thought her second story quest was...Kinda cheesy...At least in that one we also see Yoimiya take initiative. She has something she wants and she's took it upon herself to seek it out. Nilou? I'll be honest- I don't like her. I did at first. I thought the role she played in the Archon Quest was fine and I liked how her dancing was used as both a distracrion and a type of "silent protest." But her story quest. Nilou's the only character whose story quest made me like her *less.* The problem with Nilou is that she's not treated like a character, but as a tool to drive a theme. In the AQ, Nilou's purpose is to embody both the "Nahida Supporters VS Rukkhadevata Supporters" and "Art VS Akademiya" themes of the story. She represents what the Akademiya is against. However, after the AQ, neither of these things are or should be a problem. Nahida, while treated warily by some, is remembered as the only Archon of Sumeru. Kusanali-supporters no longer have to rebel against Rukkhadevata-supporters. Because Rukkhadevata is no longer remembered. So Nilou being a huge Nahida-supporter isn't as impactful as it was in the AQ. Now the Art vs Akademiya theme. While compelling in theme, it fumbles in execution. In the AQ, we do see the Akademiya try and shut down the performance and festival. That scene does make Nilou sympathetic and compelling because she's standing up for that. That's great. And then her Story Quest just rehashes it with less at stake and the driving force behind Nilou's decisions is an NPC. My problem with Nilou's SQ is that it doesn't offer anything we already didn't know. We already know the Akdemiya snobs don't like the Theater. We already know Nilou's nice and will support others unconditionally. We already know she'll fight for the theatre. The only new thing is extra NPC drama. And what about after the AQ, when all control is returned to Nahida and they banish the sages who were responsible for everything wrong? Other Akademiya character's voice lines imply that they all respect Nilou's craft and the arts. None of them share the opinions of the sages and other Akademiya snobs (who are antagonized.) Not to mention that said playable characters are considered high-ranking or in some way respected bt the Akademiya (Alhaithem, Cyno, Kaveh, and Faruzan.) My point is that the "Arts Vs Akademiya" problem...Shouldn't be that big of a problem anymore. Would Nahida, Alhaithem, or even Cyno REALLY tolerate a random Akademiya professor trying to shut down Nilou's theater troupe? It makes the “antagonist” in Nilou's SQ not only sound like he's in over his head, but also like a complete non-threat. So it further makes what Nilou is fighting for seem non-consequential. And I understand part of Nilou’s goal is to fix this relationship between father and daughter. But in my opinion, if it wanted to be about that then it should have been JUST that. Have Nilou debate the father about the importance of valuing his daughter and her goals. Not have Nilou debate with the father about Art vs Akademiya only to give agency to the daughter. It’s such a mess of a story quest. ANYWAY- my point is: Nilou's character was meant to embody certain themes in Sumery's AQ. With the AQ done and a lot of things changed, Nilou's themes are no longer necessary or as compelling as they were in the AQ. All she is now is an overtly kind dancer who likes being kind and dancing. And to your point about how "everyone likes her, but we're not given a reason why." That's exactly why I liked her less in the SQ. Nilou being nice and technically a celebrity in Sumeru is an OK explanation for why she's liked. But it's so generic. Generic and...blah. Call me embittered, but I've grown tired of characters where their only trait is how naturally kind they are. Making a character simple, pure and kind is OK. But that doesn't mean you make them without any fatal flaws or incapable of making bad decisions/mistakes. And that doesn't mean that you need to further emphasize how wonderful they are by villainizing characters that are written to dislike the "nice" one. Writing simplencity and kindness requires balance Ironically, Nilou isn't balanced. I like simple, but Nilou is an example of where the simplicity just makes her feel so empty. Sorry for the essay. I have…A lot of feelings about Nilou’s character that I don’t get to express. Often feels like I’m the crazy one for not finding her that compelling.
I’m confused that you complain about characters being stale when they’re kind with no fatal flaws But then discuss how narratively poor it is that Nilou doesn’t debate the academic Like that is her fatal flaw?????? She lives in the nation of wisdom, dominated by academia and the pursuit of knowledge, but she is not at all scholarly She demonstrates that you don’t have to be an intellect and can still enjoy art and live a fulfilling life I’m not gonna argue, I agree that her story quest is terrible and letting NPCs shine is awful, but her timid qualities are the flaws in her character that add to her authenticity
@@bonyeni I think the 'hesitation to debate' thing isn't the overall problem. Her being hesitant to debate at all is fine, because not everybody has the same strenghts. I think what I disliked about the debate was that Nilou collected her own thoughts, stood her ground and decided to debate but then...the random NPC basically saved the day. Making Nilou's involvement almost meaningless. That's ofc a personal standpoint though.
Wait nilou's reception has been negative??? Also like, it felt more so like yoimiya was forced down out throat and nilou was just there, like a usual character. Her whole shtick is tht her brain is completely empty.
Facts bruh. Nilou was the most crucial part of the sumeru arc because her character's purpose asks us the question about the importance of art and how art and academics can go hand in hand. Her whole story revolves around how knowledge can manifest differently such as her dancing and how other types of art forms can be of use in a nation that puts wisdom on a pedestal.
I think you’re only looking at it in the perspective of quests, if you look at the community and what they are saying, they’re basically telling people if you don’t like nilou you suck and you’re a horrible person (which most likely isn’t true). Also the importance of the characters in the main quests is opposite. Yoimiya physically helped someone by hiding them, and essentially helps keep inazuman tales and culture alive, but a lot of people tend to overlook that in the overall story. Nilou just.. dances.. and she gets more praise than yoimiya (her dance is completely unnecessary to sumeru’s quest and it could’ve been successful without that dance)
Yoimiya is hero. Nilou is a princess. I don't particularly like either of them, but I appreciate both character types. Your suggestion is fundamentally flawed. Every character must be unique in their own way. The rest is up to your own perspective.
I often forget about Nilou due to there being so many characters she honestly feels like a npc or 4 star compared to most 5 stars who have a much more defined personality and role in the world. Her design is nice but other than that I didn’t understand why she was so popular with the Chinese audience. I guess she has the shy wifu energy so that’s why.
This video actually reminded me that I got Nilou while trying to C6 Kaveh(after already got Navia as well but Kaveh is still C4 rip)... I mean, I don't necessary hate her but I'd rather have Yoimiya than her bc I have 0 idea how to build and make a team around her(already got Furina, Xingqiu, and Layla for Kaveh team).. Now she's just gonna get benched with low level... I kinda feel bad but I couldn't really bring myself to build character that I don't really like..
Im gonna voice a disagreement with the majority opinion here and state why. My opinion is that Yoimiya feels bland and could easily be replaced by an NPC while Nilou can’t hence my favor towards Nilou by a decent amount. Why I am not a fan of Yoimiya (i dont dislike her): 1) She’s the active kid next door helping around and has like 0 reason to actually be part of the resistance aside from her being reckless and having a vision. Not only is her plan found out but she could have been replaced by her father in the archon quest with pretty much 0 alterations as the traveller can do all the heavy lifting. 2) She talks…alot…and so quickly too. 3) Her whole character personality is basically “What if summer firework could speak?”. Why I prefer Nilou: 1) To get it out of the way I am from the regions she represents however I actually disliked her when she first came out and her design for a long time so if anything she had an advantage. 2) Her personality is kinda the opposite of Jean, someone who depends on others to get through life. This sounds bad but thats what life in the bazaar is all about, NONE of them could get by without help and thats why people like her since they’re a big family who help each other out and in the quest its mentioned that her level of dancing skill took many years and compared her to other dancers but I guess everyone forgot she wasnt born with dancing skills. 3) She is fighting an arguably harder fight, in Inazuma its possible to escape and its infact kinda common, its not easy by any means but this has only been going on for about only 1 ingame year. In comparison Nilou is fighting a 500 year establishment that vilified their god, heavily taxed them, allowed then to work on events on purpose and waited last minute to shut them down and lastly tried seizing the area by force and killed tons of sick and elderly siphoning jgnana energy from them by abusing their love for their god. In other words she is also a brave person but just needs some encouragement (which suits the whole bazaar thing I said, so points for consistency). 4) Her story quest was slow but good, Nilou was elected against her will to represent the theater, then fought an elite scholar in his own game and nearly won, however the deck was already heavily in the Akademiya’s favor to begin with and they stood next to no chance at winning, if you cant solve these issues of art vs logic with logic then fight it with art the language of emotion. An artist will never win a physics argument vs a physicist so they have to win in another way or play abit dirty to not get their whole lives taken away. The daughter coming to stage is very important and so is the father’s actions, these family dynamics arent common in these parts of the world,no..They’re the standard. Nilou’s quest is a deep and emotional commentary on many Asian cultures, how many Indian parents wanted a doctor, how many Filipino parents wanted an engineer, how many Arabian parents wanted something in STEM? It’s a herculean task to talk to these parents and the quest was to say that if parents accept their children even if they dont share their same aspirations then they can live in harmony but if they don’t its very easy to make their children’s lives misterable on purpose in hopes to “show them the light” and make them hate the parents even more and drive them to find another family/group who accept them like the Zubair theater. It’s probably top 5 stories in terms of social commentary ingame for those who are living through it. 5) Her part in the archon quest was unclear but very important, for sure more important than saving a random dude and using fire works so a mega ninja group could collect files (again her father could have done this or given the fire works to the traveller). Nilou is designed after the goddess of flowers and represented the culture of these nations that is living by a thread and is demonized, she also holds belief in the lesser lord and her act of defiance infront of the alademiya doors lead to the message going out TO ARREST HER which was hijacked by alhaitham which lead to the successful rescue of Nahida. You can try to replace her with a random NPC who dances but it would hold 0 weight, Nilou represents so much and is fighting for her own reasons and unlike Yoimiya who if she doesnt fight will get lobotomized by having her vision taken which shows her motivations on another level. In summary I don’t hate Yoimiya I do kinda like her but Nilou means too much and is a character who only gets better once you learn to read through the lines rather than needing quests to hamfist in your face every aspect of the character for you to understand them. Could she use improvements? Yeah, alot. Is she deserving of all the hate online? Absolutely not.
@@kananana774 Happens, Im usually busy and I only have time to check yt and comments at night so I can sympathize to some degree. I’m on break rn tho so i’m in the habit of writing a few essays in comment sections lol
I personally love Yoi because how bubbly and extroverted she is with cool na animations. I enjoy her playstyle a lot. And my favorite color is orange. So it was a match made in heaven 🧡🧡🧡
I agree whit your points and i think people overall prefer more active and positive characters who take matter on their hands, look at Noelle for example, she clearly takes matters in her hands solving tons of problems by herself, and its pretty clear she has tons of personality yet when she appears on events she is so hard on herself and so shy that the "badass" independt part of hers is mostly lost, which makes her personality less liked, it seems totally diferent from her character history personality
Their positioning is indeed similar. They do not have a noble status and origin, but they are very popular, they are passionate about their profession, and although they are kind but not weak. However, because their personalities don't have a growth arc, their SQ are all helping NPC
To be honest I've always preferred Nilou over Yoimiya, but I do see the similarities. I think the main reason why is just because Sumeru's Archon Quest is miles better than Inazumas. Great video btw!
Please ignore this if it's an unwelcome criticism, but listening to this, my biggest comment would be that there's a lot of statements about how Nilou is unpopular without any backing to them. While I personally prefer Yoimiya as well, I feel like some more concrete comparison between their fanart numbers or other fan engagement for them would help portray the otherwise unsubstantiated statements about their popularity.
In what way is Yoimiya good with kids? Yes, she's liked by kids, but that isn't the same thing. The first thing we see her do in her story quest is contradict what local parents have been telling their children, seemingly without a thought to why they might've been telling those tall tales or begin with. She follows that up by encouraging them to fight, and handing out explosives. Then, in her second story quest, she bold-faced lies to a sick girl by making promises she knows perfectly well she has no way of keeping. Traveler and the Aranara come through in the end, but she couldn't have known that was going to happen. To me, she comes across as irresponsible and childish, as someone whose simplistic view of the world is going to get people hurt, and I'll take a bland character over a careless one any day.
Minor technical critique, the difference in volume compared to your voice (which is a lot quieter) and the gameplay at 3:08 is a little startling. Otherwise, this is a good video :}!
Tbh, I used to really hate Nilou. Until I got her. But it’s always like this, I often start to warm up to characters, after I get them, so it’s nothing new lol. Well, I have both characters and I find them alright. While I prefer Nilous design, Yoimiya is definitely more interesting character wise. I agree with most things you’ve said. Nilous action feel so bland, and there’s no real motive except being nice (which is totally fine but doesn’t give her and the other characters around her {mainly NPCs} depth) Also Nilou didn’t got help by a "random NPC", Inayah was literally the protagonist of Nilous story quest. (Why does Genshin love making story quests revolve around one-time NPCs???) Do you think the new event gave Nilous justice (4.8) ?
@@frostblitzxdkartoffelliebh6081 Pretty much, yeah. Definitely a step in the right direction, she takes a lot of authority in the situation without the traveler, which is great to see. I just wish they let her be herself. In both her outfits, she’s cosplaying a god. A bit more self expression from her would be nice, but that’s just a personal nitpick. She’s much better overall.
Huh i see a running theme with me now, because i pull for yoimiya, nilou, furina and now mauiani each one have one same thing about them, it is everyone love them
Nah nilou is superior, all she did was valiant shit while she is not a figther she took a stance against the scholars, confront them and debate against them without being an scholar herself, she is faaar smarter than the tabi idiot realizing she is in a dream easily without having to repeat samsara over and over when duty calls, she accepts without hesitation even when of all the group if something goes wrong she is the one that would do absolutely nothing to scape putting her and her family at risk IDK Nilou even if she is a quiet beauty is very bad ass.
Idk man, i feel like nilou is pretty realistic. Shes a character that works in an industry that is heavily looked down upon where she lives, so if she was a polarizing figure she'd be even closer to being shut down imo. I feel like she really embodies just being passive and just trying to be nice while she lives her own life. It felt kind of fresh while we learn about other characters flaws and deep dark tragic pasts even though we barely know them. She feels like a character we arent meant to "know" on that level. She just does her dances and tries to do her job to inspire people to be more than just "scholars at the akedemia" Idk if any of this made sense. but basically i like her bcus she doesn't lay everything on the table for you. Feels like shes just an acquaintance
When I look at this video on my feed before clicking on it, I knew that this is from a woman's pov 😂 I feel like alot Nilou charms kinda go though straight women because they are not attracted to femininity, especially hyper feminine character like Nilou, so they are like "why do everybody like this girl, shes nothing special and doesnt do anything redeeming" like shes cute, positive and a ray of sunshine, thats all that matters for someone to be likable. Does every character need to swim through lava, choke slam a tiger and have quirky personality to be likable? 😂 I really dont understand husbando fans complaining about waifu characters being boring when every husbando has literally the same stoic personality copy pasted over and over and they treat them as peak writing. 😂
As someone who dances as a hobby, Yoimiya's quest was really boring and had a passive role on the inazuma plot. I don't find any relatability on her quest because all she did was babysitting stuff. Nilou on the other hand is liked by everyone because she is a performer which makes her likeability justified(celebrity privilege). Nilou's actions also pushed forward a new outlook on art for Sumeru's people which is why she is popular. To put it simply, her likeability can be associated because you can admire her performance or strive to fight for her passion like she did (which is a thing for pretty much all people).
![Run Away - Tzuyu(TWICE) ツウィ 쯔위 [Music Bank] | KBS WORLD TV 240906](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/KnHNNyAYiu0/mqdefault.jpg)
There is one thing that they also both share: their signature weapons do not match their character design at all. Hoyoverse. Please give matching signature weapons 😭😭🙏
Real bro 😭😭😭 Nilou is so pretty and her sig looks like hot shit(literally).
@@Edahs_exists what’s even worse is they made her signature weapon so good 😭😭
personally i feel like nilous weapon suits her really well, but yoimiyas weapon doesnt at all suit her and shouldve had a more firework looking design
@@YinPatternsi agree, she has a lot of gold on her, but is mostly blue so the fully gold weapon goes nicely as a contrast (?) to the blue.
@@kaelenemslie yeah exactly! the colors just somehow go well together, i feel like it would be too much if it was also blue
Nilou also has no playable character friends, so we don't see any unique aspect of her. In her demo she mentioned dancing in the desert, so they could have had Candace and Deyha checking up on her. Those two were so sweet with the traveler, so them doting on her would have been precious. You'd think she'd become more bold after the archon quest and invite everyone around her to dance. Being a sweet girl, she'd probably suggest everyone close their eyes so no one was embarrassed. She could have had a cute parallel to Eula and Amber too and asked Collei to dance. If she liked to read, she could talk to Faruzan about books or talk to Layla about the stars and make dances in inspiration of constellations. Over all, being a performer, you'd think she'd have an interest in clothing and makeup like Navia, but not even that is expressed with her.
She is someone who rejects the Akademiya back then, ofc she wont have friends outside of that bazaar.
Oh God, how they missed all of that possibilities & just made her a mary sue
@XoloMictlan69 99% depents on what you call relevant. There currently are 84 chars, even if we exclude family of any kind (like Freminet and Lynette) and just focus on friends: Albedo and Sucrose, Diluc and Jean, Jean and Lisa, Lisa and Razor, Rosaria and Barbara, Eula and Amber, Alhaitham and Kaveh, Arataki Itto and Kuki Shinobu, Navia and Clorinde, Ningguang and Beidou, Tighnari and Cyno, Tighnari and Collei, Xiangling and Xingqiu and Chongyun, Dehya and Candace, Sangonomiya Kokomi and Yae Miko, Yae Miko and Ei, as I see it, all of the above are quite relevant friends to eachother which is explicitly shown in the game several times and that's like 27 of them or 32% and if you count in Arlecchino, then you should count in Wanderer, Venti, Xiao, Zhongli and other people whose relevant friends are dead, and you end up with more like 50% of characters have relevant friends rather than 1%. Nilou was done dirty.
@@VetkinaOlga I get what you said, but I think Nilou's friends not being playable is the best thing to do. Nilou had enough in academia after all theatre getting canceled and dancing was banned in front of the academia. Almost all the playable characters in Sumeru are connected to academia or are academically smart so Nilou will always be the odd one out. I really like this theme, she had to make her own dream bubble because she does not belong in reality. That's why she's not a Mary Sue as well. In the end, Nilou manages to gain respect from other characters.
@@zernester7726 Being friends with Deyha or Candace would only show this side of her even more. Dehya feels like an outcast in the city and was the bodyguard of one of Nilou's biggest supporters, while she could have met Candace on her many trips to the desert, I'm sure Candace would not only help Nilou get accustomed to the area and fight enemies, but she also seems like someone who would encourage Nilou's expression through art that the academia views as inferior. It's true that most of Sumuru's characters are connected to the academia, but most aren't all and not all that are actually support it, so they absolutely could and should have let the girl have more relationships and interactions with other relevant characters. I like Nilou because I love these types of characters and both her and her animations are beautiful, but she's really underused and often does feels a bit like a Mary Sue because of that.
Problem with Nilou is they haven't show enough of her
She has her big moments during the archon quest but sadly that all we got
On the up side I guess it does show how a famous celebrity can be loved just by their work and charming voice alone? So with that reason, it does "make sense" why she is loved for now
I really hope they make her second story about her more because I do really like her character after main quest and event
Fr. After reading her character stories, I have a lot more interest in her, I wish they went deeper into that aspect of her character instead of focusing on the story of some random npcs. She’s interesting, but like you said, they never showed it off
Damn, I just remember another thing…
Nilou desgin doesn’t have her own identity in it…
The outfit she wear is for that one dance, acting like th god of flower
It wasn’t her at all, she just been cosplaying someone else
What make it worse is her next skin is just her cosplaying another god… again…
Man, it’s sucked to be a Nilou fan…
I do wish they showed more of her. I love Nilou's character, but every time we see her it is all about just dancing. I'm unusual in that I liked her story quest, but still..I get that dancing is her thing, but we don't see any other personal side of her except being nice.
tbh i only thing i remember is that she danced to distract guards
@@Rhodynitshe only did 2 things dance to break us out of samsara and the one you mentioned
Nilou felt more like a tool for the narrative in Sumeru rather than her own individual person. Nilou was the embodiment of what the Akedemiya was trying to squander, and that was her only purpose, and therefore, after the Sumeru conflict was over, her story hadn’t been given somewhere to go.
In addition, Yoimiya felt so active because her story began within the Archon Quest, you saw her impact on an actively struggling community, while Nilou’s was made to be palatable no matter when you did it.
hoyoverse SHOWS us everyone loves yoimiya. but they rely on directly TELLING us everyone loves nilou, and it feels like lazy writing
This was exactly my thought as well. It’s a classic show vs. tell writing mistake.
I used to be a nilou hater but my eyes have been open to the fact that sometimes people are nice and get along with everyone and that’s ok
same i hated her during release but it's kinda nice to have a simple character with a very casual story quest
@@mickysaifThe problem is that her story quest isn't even centred around Nilou but an NPC that never appears again
But also we shouldn’t forget that it’s fiction, not real life. Characters are presented in the context, of a story where they are given a certain role. When a character does not fit this role, lacks motivation, and goals, and most players are more interested only (!) in design, it rather shows weak writing skills.
I don’t care about Nilou, but I think it’s clear that her character writing is lower than average for Genshin. even though Genshin’s bar is kinda low. Also, It’s absolutely ok to love Nilou, there is just my opinion.
Were u abused as a kid? Edgy ass 😭💀
@@han8817 IMO, her initial writing was good. Just the direction, having it focus on another NPC, like with a good portion of other story quests, was questionable.
The game does something uniquely consistent with her, in that she's presented as a non-combatant and remains a non-combatant. We don't even fight a hilichurl with her.
...as for her during the summer quest...
"Its like dancing!"...having her keep trying to relate things to dancing made her seem poorly written and one dimensional.
this reminds me of how they handled kokomi vs alhaitham. both are supposed to be smart, but kokomi is underwhelming compared to alhaitham. alhaitham is SHOWN being smart, having an active role in the archon quest, while kokomi is just described to be very smart and that's about it. i always really liked kokomi and i thought her character had so much potential but fell flat in the end. maybe they can do something interesting with a second character quest but i doubt that'll happen sadly
thats so true actually. I love kokomi and her character design is so cute but yeah it's sad that her character was hardly ever shown to actually be super smart of powerful. ig they tried to make her sorta mysterious but failed. it also reminds me of jean who, though was handled much better than some of the other girls, is kinda forgotten because she didn't have much going for her other than being a serious worker? i personally never really found her that interesting and actually liked her sister more lol. from what I sorta remember both kokomi and jean's story quests were related to them being overworked.
like you said, alhaitham is shown to be smart but also have a bunch of other personality traits and has many interesting dynamics with others making him much more memorable than a lot of characters overall tbh.
i dont know if someone else mentioned this but, most of the cast of sumeru have a distinct personality: kaveh, cyno, alhaitham, faruzan, just to say a few. and nilous is quite similar to other characters: ganyu, noelle, and yoimiya as mentioned here. and seeing how nilou is the most recent out of all these, players may also feel that she's redundant.
i like nilou and ganyu, but not so much noelle and yoimiya. i think it has a lot to do with lore. nilou has references with the goddess of flowers, and ganyu is a half adeptus who feels torn between humanity and divinity, that has a lot of potential for exploration of character. noelle is nice, i think theres more to explore with her than yoimiya though.
Not only redundant, but shallow
I'd also like to add that she's a 5 star character so the bar for quality in lore and personality is higher. Especially when you look ar how fleshed out and interesting Kaveh, Faruzan, Collei and Layla are. Even Dori makes for a more interesting character.
This is a good point, the sumeru cast is pretty universally loved from what I’ve seen and even if they’re not they have the most dynamic and interesting personalities in my opinion with no two characters being all that similar. Nilou being the most boring one of the bunch js puts her in a worse spot.
Ganyu, Ayaka, and Nilou just seems like one character to me. Sometimes I forget they're different characters
I am one of the people who don't considers Nilou passive, tbh. She took a stance to oppose the Academia in a debate despite having no academic background and being a dancer, which was quite brave of her, and I don't agree that others did the work for her. She went around compiling pertinent arguments, and debated a lot before the NPC stepped in. She even called out the opponent in the way he was using the argument "you don't have the qualifications to judge us" by reminding him that he, as a non-dancer, was doing the exact same things towards art .
That argument was only ignored because she got a bit heated, but even that I actually appreciate because it shows her passion and also shows the very realistic thing that minorities and oppressed groups often tend to face: being dismissed as soon as they show some emotion over a subject that affects them directly, when their opponents have the privilege of not being affected by the issue being debated and can therefore remain calm all the time.
I agree that the NPC interfering took away from the scene and was a bad writing call. But I also thing most players hyperfocus on that, let that become the sole thing engraved in their minds and forget everything Nilou did in the quest. Also, Nilou helping the NPC is not that different from Yoimiya helping NPCs, and i think it was the way the writers chose to portray why people like her. So, I don't think it's fair in the slightest to say that people like yoimiya because she helped them when the quest shows Nilou helping and that's the very thing that the players end up dismissing. Sometimes feel like the fandom played different Nilou quests xD
Nilou also had the maturity to, in the end, seeing the NPC daughter and father taking some steps to reconcile, not approach and instead give them time - because she knows that kind of healing takes time, and it showed some maturity on her part when many ther people would probably start celebrating and being annoying.
You can include me as well
Since im one of the only guys that doesn't consider Nilou as "no personality" kind of statement
@Anilyan13 i see Nilou as a gentle, innocent, kind, courageous and last but not least, very independent person, she is never hesistant to speak or act up in the time of the situation to whst she thinks is correct
If you didnt kill a sea serpent, you dont deserve to be a 5* and have no personality, didnt u know? (sarcastic)
@ArtezanOnline I don't think you need to mention that you're being sarcastic
@@sehrish1837 you'd be surprised...
Well said. I think Hoyo picked up on Nilou needing a more active role, and in the Summer Time Quest that began about 1.5 weeks after your video, Nilou is way more active.
not every character needs to be in the spotlight, that just clutters the whole narrative, side characters are important too and “why isn’tshe a main character” isn’t an argument
that aside, I doubt they’re talking mostly about story relevance here, rather how the fandom perceives the characters
it’s really just the bully types showing their hate of meek “good girls” because they’e easy targets while they can’t hate on the universally liked “good girls”(because the whole group would hate them instead)
@@f.b.lagent1113personally, i dont mind side characters being given the spotlight in events since i dont consider events as part of the main story since whether or not they even happen is based on if you were playing the game at the time of its run.
I've been planning on getting Nilou for a long time, not because I liked her, but bc I'm a dedicated Kaveh main. My opinion on her was similar to the author of this video, I thought she was boring. Another cute waifu girl with beautiful design and a crush on MC, we've had plenty of those before. But when I completed the 4.8 event story and then finally got her from the banner and started using her, I changed my mind on her. She's an extremely supportive and empathetic person. She shares a similar role as Barbara (being an "idol"), but unlike her, Nilou doesn't seem to get tired from it or from being nice and supportive to everyone. It seems like it's just natural for her. And she also has her downside, which makes her even better. I'm referring to her not being able to build a strong relationship with anyone outside of the theater (anyone but mc, ofc), because working hard on her performances and being there for everyone takes all her time. Also, I really love the little demonic sparkle in her eyes when she does her ult animation, like she's teasing you or the enemies (or both). To me it shows that she can be bold if she really needs to (either because she's a good actress or because she has that in her personality).
Anyways now I love this beautiful girl and I'm hoping to see more of her in the future❤
@@worldcleansingdragon Wow... that's deep. After reading your comments, I see more and more what you're saying. Levelling Nilou now, so I'm getting used to her role in a team, and she is one of the best supports in the game - both in the story and in gameplay. :)
PS - hope you got to C6 your Kaveh. God knows when he'll come around again. :)
@@John_II awww I'm so glad to hear that🥰 Nilou deserves more love. And yeah her team is super fun to play
Yaaas I've actually had C6 Kaveh since his release🙊 I just got reeeeeeally lucky on Baizhu's first banner. Love them both💚 ma herby bois
Nilou’s SQ might be whatever, but I’d say her role throughout the Archon Quests was pretty great. She was quite active in putting on the Sabzeruz Festival and helping with the plan in Act V. Also, everyone likes her in game because she’s an amazing dancer and a super sweet person (and is pretty). Seems pretty believable to me idk. Also Yoimiya is amazing 10/10 no complaints except for her kit
She's the "I'm glad my favorite celebrity is not an asshole"
Hot take: Nilou is nowhere NEAR as bad as Ayaka when it comes to lacking personality
100%, I’ve never understood why Ayaka is so liked (as a character). She is capital B BORING.
@@acecake2052 Frr, everything that comes out of her mouth is just so forced "oh I'm so cute and sweet and shy and I can do no wrong please like me"
I thought people liked her because she was OP back then. In personally her brother is so much better.
@@mitchsz She does good dmg I give her that and freeze can be useful too, but that's honestly the only good thing I can say about her, even her playstyle feels clunky and unsatisfying. Ayato is just better, both more fun and satisfying to play and way more distinguishable and interesting personality wise
yup. and at least we help nilou by choice. ayaka practically forced us to help fix a problem we weren't even part of
I love both Yoimiya anfmd Nilou, but look at it like this, extrovert vs introvert. Of course Yoimiya is more active, and in everyone's business, thats how she lives. Nilou is the mousy girl that is really interested in one hobby and would like to share it
Strongly agree
I'm not everybody but I saw the thumbnail and had to click and say that I **DO** love both of them
@@WordsOfTheTeacher based
I like Nilou specifically because she is weak, but she's also brave enough to take a stand for what's right, even when she doesn't have the strength to see it through by herself. She was the one in the archon quest who triggers the opportunity for everyone else to be heroes - even Alhaitham admitted he didn't know if somebody else had found his little trap, but she still took that chance. In her own story, her triumph isn't defeating the Academia, but in unifying the theater and the audience against the elitists who want to shut them down. The girl who steps up against her father does so specifically because Nilou encouraged her to stay as part of the troupe. Nilou refused to let that girl ostracize herself from her new friends just to save the theater. This is important, since the obvious solution to their problem was to sacrifice their newest member, who starts that story insecure and feels like she doesn't belong, for the benefit of the theater once her father starts causing them problems. That is precisely what Nilou refuses to do, and she is rewarded when the insecure new recruit is the one to make the final point with confidence.
I'm not saying you're wrong about who is more "inherently likeable", but Nilou is a unifier who gives other people the opportunity and encouragement to do what they need to do to be the best version of themselves. Even in the end, the old man who wanted to shut down the theater ultimately comes to check out what it's about.
I agree that Yoimiya is strong and very likeable, but there's never much doubt in Yoimiya's ability to carry the day. Nilou isn't strong, but she still refuses to give up on what's right even under threat, and that requires more courage.
3:07 OH MY GOD VOLUME CONTROL😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
Jumpscare 😭
Nilou is nothing compared to the two much worse "Everyone loves me" characters, Paimon and Ayaka
I actually like ayaka. She’s sophisticated due to her status. I can see why that makes her boring to most but as a political figure, all she really needs to be is hard working, polite and elegant, which I think works for ayaka
out of everyone in the game, paimon and ayaka??? 😂😂
@@rodrign007 , thingy is that we have Ganyu and the game doesn't praise her every time she breaths and paints her as the bestest thing since Canned Bread for doing nothing.
@@itzcrystalzz , name a character that is promoted as the bestest thing since Sliced Bread just by existing. At least other characters have done something to deserve some love.
@@snakecake-mw7vw what are you talking about lol? I hate ganyu as a character. Hoyo wants us to garner sympathy for her because she’s always working hard but for absolutely no reason. “poor me I have no friends so I devote myself to liyue and then complain about how all I do is work and how tired I am all the time” ganyu isn’t funny or cute cause she’s shy and hard working she’s just unlikeable
Great summary! I actually have been thinking about Nilou's character a bit and I think I could add my two words to why Nilou feels off as a character:
Pretty much every Genshin character has sort of a flaw or deep running conflict/drama that serves as their establishing moment. Sticking to Sumeru's roster, every character has at least one such element - Colei struggles against her illness and lack of education, Tighnari has his hurdles as the Forest Ranger, Kaveh is caught in a spiral of guilt and idealism*, Candace is working hard for her village to struggle against the harsh desert world** and so on. Layla is sort of an outlier, as she doesn't have any major conflict, but her drive to study astrology and anxiety about falling behind is very relatable to many people, as we all had our own adventures in the education system.
Compared to that, Nilou comes from a loving family, is cheerful, optimistic and has pretty much no character flaws. No unresolved conflict in her backstory, or with any other character (like Alhaitham and Kaveh's bickering carrying half their character development). No character trait other than being a good girl (take Cyno's puns and wordplay as a contrast example - while definitely a harmless quirk, it adds a ton to his personality).
a
Even within the Archon quest (which IMO does a good job making all the main cast involved) her role is the least pronounced (if crucial) - her memory breaks the Samsara (but she has very little agency in anything leading up to this point). Her dance at the Sabzerus festival is a strong emotional payoff - but the focus is on Dunyazard's apparition and her dream to see Nilou dancing. Which, IMO, turns Nilou into more of a plot device rather than a character. And finally in the climax, while Nilou's dance is what enables the rest of the gang to commence their plan, it once again fails to give her any agency or development - she just dances. It wouldn't take an extensive re-write to add a scene where, for example, Azar attempts to apprehend Nilou at first, giving her a chance to fight back or take initiative in some other way, and only resorts to banning art (and thus allowing Alhaitham's gamblwde to work) once this fails.
Compared to that, as you said - Yoimiya takes agency in her quest, and is very active towards both the Traveller and the story. Her living with a partially disabled grandpa adds to her character building, as it shows her being caring and compassionate in a situation some other people would have no patience. I think you nailed all the reasons Yoimiya is liked, so I don't have much to add here.
Though honestly, if I were to point at a character that is forced down our throats by MHY, it'd be Ayaka. Her story quest was also pretty mediocre (at best), and unlike Yoimiya's, it adds almost nothing to Inazuma's worldbuilding, while also being an obligatory play to progress the story. What baffles me is that, compared to Nilou, she does have pretty solid backstory to her, but completely fails to build on it - but that's an issue pretty much every Inazuma character struggles with (still a better case than genius strategist Kokomi, as much as I love my fish priestess).
And a last addition - I see your vid is ~month old, which means it couldn't include the current summer event, but IMO it kinda improves Nilou, at least in terms of characterization. She still doesn't take much initiative, but at least we're shown how she reacts to that event's weird setup and how she cares of the critters put under her care. Not much - but it's something.
* -> Sidenote on Kaveh - it's criminal that majority of his development was timegated by the Interdarshan Championship event...
** -> Honestly, it pains me so much to see Candace so underused in the story *and* in subsequent content... We didn't even get a hangout event for her...
YOO I always think something is not quite right with the way nilou is introduced too.. such a shame that her role in the archon quest were only the "samsara" cycle host and... basically acts as a diversion for the guards...😅 i was like... dang, compared to other casts it seems like she does struggle to fit in the archon quest
Nilou felt more realistic as a character than Yoimiya. I've met ten time more "Nilous" in real life than "Yoimiyas". Yes, I'm talking about personality. Nilous are pretty common.
Also people in genshin like Nilou for her dance, appearance and character. It's not just "for nothing", those are valuable traits and take a lot of effort same as firework crafting. Which is also...realistic. And more realistic than Yoimiya being popular. How?
Easy. Tell me what's more common in media - popular dancers or firework makers? You can name thousand popular irl dancers, idols and etc. Meanwhile 99% of people don't even know a single popular firework crafter. That's how big the difference is.
I see so many people talking about liking Yoimiya because she’s bubbly, energetic, fun, etc and feel like I agree with what a bunch of other people kinda said- people like Yoimiya because she’s a charismatic extrovert, while Nilou has more introverted qualities
These comparisons, writing choices and either met or missed potentials, and usefulness in our own character development as a person or through fictional exploration is very insightful and well presented, great work
She has no one to contrast her personality. She only has npcs and traveler and Paimon but they are only observant non characters that just react. So her care-for-cheer-for-everyone personality just hangs around. So her best times is when we see her arguing against cutthroat Akademiya or being around an unemotional “uncaring” (it’s a facade but still) character like Alhaitham. Or it could be someone who is timid and extra cautious around everyone, who is deeply scarred from her past experiences, has trouble believing in miracles, divine and good in others. What I’m saying is Nilou is a first and foremost “therapist friend”, all of her voicelines revolves around make you forget about your worries, she’s a “healer” in lore not in game. And it still boggles me why don’t they enchances both Collei’s character Nilou’s by making them entangled more. She needs her “Sumeru Amber”.
Okay personality aside, what Nilou needs is more interesting lore. And the stupid thing is SHE HAD THE GREATEST POTENTIAL OUT ALL OF THEM AND ITS WASTED ON WORTHLESS NPC. Because I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in this GRAND SAGE SHOULD BE HER FATHER. Like I watched the fucking trailer I thought he was her father, I did the fucking quest I thought he was her father they just waiting for the revelation. Until I read her story I was thinking he’s definitely her father. I’m sorry but this is intentionally sabotaging her character because why have Azar having a fit like he’s an Asian dad shitting on her estranged daughter career choices (which resonates with a lot of SWANA people) then have them being complete strangers to each other? Most discernable theme of Sumeru is Art vs Science. They are thematical parallels even if they are not related. But it’s less impactful this way. Imagine the intrigue and drama. And you don’t need any story changes for it to happen, you can have him say “daughter” in the last second of archon quest and I would be infinitely more interested in both of them. Like we know she’s the dream host in the Akademiya experiment. Why does he choose the most famous person in the city known central to birthday celebrations instead of most random person that no one ever thinks they could be dream host other than petty father reasons? And Hoyoverse knows this is a very good premise, a dramaburger, because THATS WHAT HER STORY QUEST ABOUT! IM SORRY INAYAH SHOULD FALL FROM A STAIRCASE AND DIE. It’s literally Nilous theater, it’s her conflict why do you put your ugly nose into it and try to be the main character?
I think it’s intentional on games part to make her not relevant as much as possible. Like they gave her a shit designed weapon, she has minimal voicelines and appearances in events, even when she speaks she says the most impersonal lore exposition, every achievement she does gets undermined by everyone around her there’s many reasons for people to dislike her but i still love her. She may not seem important in surface but she still is related to so many interesting themes and people and events she keeps you ponder about what she stores for us in the future. (Goddess of Flowers lore save us)
Your comment made me realize just how badass it would've been if Azar was her actual father. Oh my god, it would've been so good. Would also give SO MUCH reason for Azar to hate the arts on a personal level. Missed opportunity.
Also together with the goddess of flowers thing.
I'll add a different perspective. Let me preface this by saying I'm not disagreeing with the points you raise and I have nothing against either character. What I think elevates Yoimiya above quite a few others in the cast has nothing to do with her writing -- it's that her personality is fundamentally more attractive.
Yoimiya can be best described as "vivacious." She's extremely energetic, always up for an adventure (heck, she ends up in Sumeru), she's constantly positive... these qualities are inspiring and infectious. People like this IRL, even those with little substance, are highly charismatic and typically popular. I credit her VA's delivery (in EN; not sure about CN/KR/JP) for helping set her apart in this way. I doubt many people fond of Yoimiya are going to attribute it to any part of the plot to be honest, although better character development and a more interesting narrative would always help.
Nilou on the other hand seems to me to be the weird, quiet, nice theater kid that is off doing her own thing. How she presents herself -is- passive and muted. Is she pleasant to be around? Sure. Is she exciting? Not at all. There really isn't anything helping her other than being nice and well-intentioned. Her tepid personality doesn't save her from otherwise lackluster writing.
They both have a lot of similar drawbacks. There's limited character development, they both are mostly inconsequential to the story, they're both similarly limited in dimensionality. They're both underdeveloped. You can lift characters up with good backstory (Shenhe, Eula come to mind), consequential roles in the plot, or greater depth and complexity. Hoyo doesn't always take the time or care to do this properly, so we're sometimes left with aesthetics and personality to rate characters' appeal.
Nilou vs Yoimiya is basically introvert vs extrovert energy.
neutral/dont-care about the character because of the writing is reasonable, but the active hate of Nilou still needs to be explained, which is clearly personal and is about the personality type of the character rather than the overall package(story-relevance/writing-quality/personality etc.)
and I’m pretty sure it’s just the jealous/petty/bully types who hates others that are likable, specially if they deem them meek and easy target (which Yoimiya isn’t)
Idk about nilou but yoimiya altruistic personality is what makes her shine more than other. Iirc nilou and other kindness is there when the problem that involving themselves present that also entangled with other problem. But yoimiya always insert herself to help in a problem that doesn't even concern her at all
This is what I've been thinking too. Yoimiya thrives in high energy environments, she's perfect to take on an adventure. She'll go out of her way to help anyone in need. She's an extrovert. She'd make a great travel companion. She's the kind of person you'd want by your side in a tough situation. She'll take on any challenge head on. Yoimiya is a perfect fit for Genshin because of that.
Nilou, on the other hand, is content just staying at the theater, practicing and performing. She's not the kind of person to seek out adventure. The theater is the highest energy thing in her life. She'd otherwise be relaxing at home reading a book or taking a stroll by the river. She's an introvert. Introverted characters tend to not be very popular in Genshin. (With a few exceptions of course). Nilou is not the idea travel companion. But she's someone you want to protect. Keep away from the dangers of the world.
@@f.b.lagent1113ppl are just toxic in general
Ppl can't live in a world where a certain person is liked by everyone
Ppl want to live in a world where other ppl are just as SELFISH, GREEDY, AND as MEAN AS THEM.
That's why these ppl can't stand Nilou.
Or yoimiya (as some of the comments will tell you)
These are the types of ppl that hate Sykunno
I agree with pretty much everything said here, so I'll just drop some advice: try researching into the balancing of sounds and volume. The clip from the quest at 3:07 is much louder than the rest of the clip, and it comes off as sudden and unpleasant.
I think I see what you're on about but for me it was completely the opposite.
Yoimiya is a very outgoing, extroverted, open to everything and everyone and always ready to help. She is someone that can, if not liked, at least be appreciated by everyone somehow, as you said.
Nilou, while following the same trope, is a completely different person. She's nice and helpful and cute but she's NOT Yoimiya. Yoimiya is on a totally different level of extroversion while Nilou is more of a quiet person. You don't have to be outgoing and constantly helpful to everyone to be likeable. Nilou is known for dancing, so she isn't ignored because she's quiet, and she's also soft-spoken and nice. Especially for a famous person, being quiet might aswell just make them more likeable to the people. She just does her thing, is famous for it and treats her enviroment well, it doesn't take much more than that, really. So much for in-game logic.
As for the player, I liked Yoimiya when she was in the archon quest, the characterisation was solid and she came across as her own person with her own personality. The reason why I have sort of developed a dislike for her is because of the very same archon quest, which is (as you have elaborated on in another video), not that good. Firstly I was forced to play her story quest, which I otherwise would've only done if I was in the proper mood, and secondly her story quest was set in the most unfortunate place in the story. It just made me want to get it over with as quick as possible and continue the actual story. Adding to that, I feel like her story quest was trying really hard to rub it in that she was all perfect, which was imo already apparrent enough in the archon quest, thanks to her interactions with the traveller and others. I am also quite introverted and tend to find loud, outgoing people with screechy voices exhausting, so that might be a reason.
Nilou on the other hand spends most of the archon quest being There. She doesn't do much but that's not who she is. She is happy to help and kind to those around her, but she's not a rebel or a fighter or anything. She joins in on the conspiracy for the sake of her God and her own passion for dancing. Her personality is represented well enough through the part she plays in the quest. Of course she could be more active and have more presence and all, but then that wouldn't be Nilou, really.
I must say I really enjoyed your analysis though, I'm glad that you have been motivated in the past weeks and I hope you get the recognition you deserve!
in this comment I mostly meant to elaborate on my very own view, not to talk over you or prove you wrong
u have sm prejudice towards yoimiya. they NEVER pretended that yoimiya was perfect. nor u should be hating her bcs u were forced to do her quest. by that logic u should dislike ayaka too. imo, the quest basically gave us more info abt the stuff going on in Inazuma. a look into the sufferings of inazumans apart from what we see in the AQ.
???? I'm an introvert and I find your take super prejudiced
I understand that you hate extroverted ppl and want them to burn in hell because they have attacked you in some way
I'm here to say that you being an introvert is not an excuse to think that every extrovert is out there to bully you and make your life worse
I personally don't remember being forced to do Yoimiya's quest, but I like Yoimiya because I KNOW SHE IS AUTHENTIC.
EXTROVERT DOES NOT EQUAL FAKE
Okay, you hate Yoimiya's voice? okay, fine, BUT HOW THE HELL CAN YOU HATE HER AS A PERSON?
Can you maybe throw your edgy "I'm such a special introvert who has been oppressed by the extrovert" attitude in the trash? such a toxic mindset
And mind you, I work with extrovert co-workers that I HATE
Does that mean every extrovert in existence is horrid? NO. ARE YOU SERIOUS?
And let's get this straight, I like Nilou too.
In fact, I loved her story quest too (I come from an immigrant family so that SQ was literally me bruh)
And good luck trying to hide behind the excuse of "I never explicitly said any of those things" because I don't buy that.
People aren't stupid. It's called implications. Maybe you should take a page from extroverts and learn that so you CAN APPRECIATE EXTROVERTS MORE
Oh, and did I not say it? I'M AN INTROVERT.
@@hohoho6203 uuuuuh I don't know what you've been cooking but dude
when I say that I tend to find loud and outgoing people exhausting this doesn't mean that I hate every extroverted person ever or that I think I'm special and oppressed, it just means that I tend to find loud and outgoing people exhausting
this doesn't mean that I hate them, in fact I often like such people a lot, I just need more time to recover from social interaction with them, because it's psychologically draining. I actually really like a lot of extroverted people because they're outgoing, nice and helpful
I also don't hate her at all. I find her to be a cute and engaging character that I hold in good memory, although I have no special appreciation for her, partly because of her story quest, which yes, everyone was forced to play to continue the Inazuma archon quest
the reasons why I dislike things surrounding yoimiya have less to do with her character and more to do with the terrible Inazuma archon quest writing and the (imo) misplacement of her story quest
I don't know how you read all that hatred into the comment that I wrote, chill a little
@@cloudykhushi I think I need to be a little nitpicky about the definition of "prejudice", as it usually describes judging a person before you've come to know them
as I said in my comment, for me it was kind of the other way around?
I'm also not hating on her at all lol. I don't know if it's the toxic genshin community speaking through you but I don't mean to spread hate about anyone. I generally don't hate fictional people. I also don't like her less than others because I was forced to play her story quest, but because said story quest was set in a very unlucky spot in an archon quest full of mediocre writing and terrible pacing. Yes, her story went further into the suffering of the Inazumans, but that was already well established and needn't been talked about more. The pacing of the whole story quest is just eh.
and yes, I actually dislike Ayaka, but not because I was forced to play her story quest.
I know it's hard to see people dislike your fave or not like them as much as you do but that doesn't mean that they're hating on them lol
@@adsfornothing3146 "Adding to that, I feel like her story quest was trying really hard to rub it in that she was all perfect, which was imo already apparrent enough in the archon quest, thanks to her interactions with the traveller and others. I am also quite introverted and tend to find loud, outgoing people with screechy voices exhausting, so that might be a reason."
dude, you literally don't like her as a character, stop trying to backpedal because I called you out
"exhausting"? Dude, YOU'RE LITERALLY JUST TRYING TO HIDE BEHIND WORDS
"screechy" DUDE, you literally used a word with a negative connotation and YOU'RE HERE TELLING ME YOU "don't hate her"?
IT'S SO OBVIOUS FROM YOUR POST
You literally can't handle that there's an extroverted person out there that is perfect... you're pretty pathetic
You're so flawed that you BRING PEOPLE WHO ARE PERFECT DOWN WITH YOU BECAUSE YOU CAN'T HANDLE SEEING THEM BE SUCH PERFECT PEOPLE
You're free to hate whoever you want, BUT CAN YOU GET OFF YOUR HYPOCRITICAL HIGH HORSE BEFORE YOU DO?
"I just need more time to recover from social interaction with them, because it's psychologically draining"
DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED WITH THIS STATEMENT.
TIRED OF INTROVERTS ACTING LIKE EXTROVERTS ARE DELIBERATELY SUCKING THE LIFE FORCE OUT OF THEM LIKE SOME EVIL VILLAIN
Sigh. I'm an introvert and I find extroverts annoying. DOES THIS MEAN EXTROVERTS ARE HORRIBLE PEOPLE? NO. THE OPPOSITE IS TRUE. I'M THE HORRIBLE PERSON FOR ALWAYS SUCKING THE LIFE OUT OF PARTIES. I'M THE HORRIBLE PERSON FOR ALWAYS GIVING THEM AN UNFRIENDLY FACE WHEN THEY SMILE AT ME. I'M THE HORRIBLE PERSON; THEY AREN'T. I'M A POS.
AND THE FACT THAT YOU HAVE THE AUDACITY TO ACT LIKE IT'S THE EXTROVERTS THAT ARE ANNOYING YOU, NO, YOU'RE THE PERSON ANNOYING THEM WITH YOUR "I'M SO SPECIAL INTROVERT OPPRESSED AURA"
Good job liking your own comments btw, really seals the deal
Nilou is my comfort character, she's very kind and encouraging in her voice lines
Glad I'm not the only one.
i also like her passion for dancing. i wish i could me as motivated as her lol
What I really love about Yoimiya is that despite her childlike behavior, she's actually very mature. she's very aware of how messy her nation has become due to constant war, and she chooses to be the light that brighten children's hearts.
I have to say, I disagree with almost everything you say about Nilou, but it's nice to see another video essay in such a short time-frame as well. The only thing I'll say (I really don't want to turn into a hate train), and what I hope will be some constructive criticism, is that I think when you say "[Nilou] is treated as an active protagonist even though her actions show the opposite", there is perhaps a tinge of insincerity here. You've talked a lot about how she is a passive protagonist (and she certainly is), but not a lot at all about how she is supposedly treated as 'active' in such a way that her character is undermined. I simply can't see what you mean when you talk about this contradiction. To me, Nilou is a character through which other characters are able to find strength, and I think that is very well communicated in both her story quest AND the Samsara Cycle. We see many people who are motivated through her presence and companionship alone.
All of that aside, and my other disagreements, it's good to see another video from you. We don't have to agree, and I think the concept behind the video is definitely in the right direction. Active vs passive is a solid topic to discuss, but that is perhaps sometimes at the detriment of those characters that do effectively break the rules.
Look forward to your next video anyways.👌
Exactly! Tbh I don't think this is forced to us, and I also don't think she had to be like yoimiya to be a good and likeable character, she's more someone who inspires people rather than an active protagonist like yoimiya, and I honestly love that
Yeah, that critique makes sense lol, thanks for pointing it out. If it helps, I was mainly thinking that comparing it to Yoimiya’s being active would help, but to clarify, Nilou is being treated by the story like she’s doing everything and that she’s amazing for doing all that, when it’s really the traveler and Inayah(the npc) who are doing all the work. Whereas for Yoimiya, she’s doing everything and earning the credit, as she should. Hopefully that clarifies it!
@@Edahs_exists I think that where the game fails is that they should or let Nilou shine in the discussion, or treat her as someone who inspires
Thanks for pointing it out. Also Nilou is an introvert, it makes sense she is more "passive" but she summons strength to debate the akademiya going out of her comfort zone, for others.
The fact an npc win the debate is because said npc or PERSON got inspired by Nilou's actions and eventually was prompted to act. There was an akademiya guy that resonated with art and said that he finally understands what it is about. There's nothing wrong with having a more likable character that's more passive, that does her job of dancing which spreads joy, art and connects people, and this dedication to an ideal is also why she kept believing in Kusanali.
The thing is, Some people are active and some people are passive, personality wise. There's nothing wrong with neither of them, Both have their strengths and weaknesses in the real world. Those who are passive understand and relate to Nilou and those who are active do the same with Yoimiya. Some people like me have a mostly passive personality and definitely can relate to Nilou and love her for that. But can also admire Yoimiya (shes my only triple crowned character). Love both of my girlies
When I used to be on the twitter this seemed to be the general consensus between the fans. For me on the other hand, it was the other way around. Gameplay wise, I love Yoimiya . Character wise, it was hit or miss. Her quest had to have been the most boring for me and it didn’t keep it drawn in. While I definitely understand why, it just wasn’t like that for me.
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Nilou was the opposite for me. I loved her role in the archon quest and her character quest as well. Nilou was already liked due to her status as a celebrity and how great of a dancer she is. She’s an entertainer, she knows how to bring in an audience. Not saying that makes her better, but I believe there is a justification for it. Nilou taking small steps to being more of an active character was honestly more progress than what she was doing before traveler. It was just another one of those quests.
Don't know if there's anyone who understands the enneagram and mbti, but
Yoimiya is definitely ENFP enneagram 7, while Nilou is ESFJ enneagram 9. Knowing this I felt a bit bad, because there are just different reasons for people to like them! Nilou can provide the sense of comfort to enyone, to calm them, to see the conflict from the both sides as xxFJ types and Nines do, while Yoimiya is completely opposite. She can't sit still, she brings smile not by creating peace, but by disturbing boringness. They both are really good people, they both are loveable. But HoYo definitely showed them differently. Just because moments of peace would seem boring for a player 😢
nilou is definitely cognitively introverted lmao
nilou being “forced down our throat” was really obvious during the new summer event
Unrelated but I feel like Bennett would've been a better "hero" instead of Wanderer, I mean ik the event is abt Wanderers backstory but he doesnt need to play the "hero" role
How? Every summer events focused on the most random ass characters.
True
@@tothebeyond6318Are you skipping all the lore, development, past, present, future, dialogues, relationships and similarities between Wanderer and Durin?
@@Quaker600 dont you have reading comprehension? ☠️
I wish people separated the "no personality" from "I don't like thier personality".
I was a theater kid growing up. I actually am one of the apparently people who prefers Nilou as a result. She’s kind and patient to her troop. I will say though that I wish her story focused more on herself rather than around an NPC in her troop.
It's written in Nilou's character and mentioned multiple times, Nilou isn't as smart as others from Sumeru and the Academia. She loves her career as a dancer though. In my opinion, she's often overlooked for not having as much lore as some other characters(like wanderer or Xiao) Nilou grew up with 2 loving parents that supported her, she later on got introduced to dancing and fell in love with it. Even though she's not as well written as some others, she's probably one of the most realistic and relatable characters. probably loved for her performances, and treated more like a celebrity than someone that ppl know on a personal level. in her story, it stated that even though Nilou wasn't the smartest, she always had a way to get to ppl's hearts. she also speaks about human emotions, out mood, how to deal with our human sides etc in almost ALL her voicelines. and her not being that smart and being involved in art is unfortunately a stereotype in Iran(aka Persia, where Nilou is inspired from.) where if you're not smart academically you're going to study art and be a "failure," which is how the Sumeru ppl treat art unfortunately.
edit: While Yoimiya feels like a friend, to npcs and in the story, Nilou has this small sense of mystery in her, how no one really knows her outside of her dance career, which adds to the celebrity persona.
Yoimiya is much like Itto they make sure you see them. Nilou is the opposite similar to much of the Sumeru cast is very introverted.
This lack of extraversion is difficult to write without the character being seen as passive uninterested or down right edgy. Hoyo while also pandering to sell these characters have made a already difficult task so much worse for themselves.
It's clear because Furina personality wise is bang in the middle of these 2 and she is still loved even for personality. Hu Tao is a weird girl yet her being so extroverted makes her a lot fun. In conclusion Nilou isn't a bad character she just isn't the most extroverted person. If we go to the current summer event she actually feels more alive taking decisions into her own hands and trying to move things herself, similar to Ayaka becoming slightly more extroverted gave them a wave of people saying their characterisation was better.
3:08 My ears f cking broke
to be honest i see nilou as an "Everyone loves me character" and yoimiya as a girl next door character and i kind of lump hu tao and navia in with it as well because i see them as girls who are just doing their own thing without really needing help from the traveler
Awesome video!!!
Personally i have a hard time liking characters with the “Everybody Loves Me” trope. Even when they are done right, so i honestly can't withstand when Nilou or Yoimiya are on the screen. They are on my "never play" list, alongside Raiden and Childe.
Well the thing is,if they had non NPC centered story quests they'd have more of an impression and spotlight
I love both..But Yoimiya is my favorite 5star I don’t have her cause I couldn’t get her on her last rerun but she is still mah favorite 5star..Then Nilou she is my favorite hydro character her design, I love the design of her outfits, I got her this rerun 4.8..Her dancing aspect is just great..Now her personality can be a bit dry but I love how happy she is… But Yoimiya was done really well, and they Nilou was done kinda dry..But I still LOVE both 😢
The way no one in these comments is in agreement 💀 why are we pitting two kindhearted, lovable queens against each other
Of course people aren't going to be in agreement, not everybody is going to feel the exact same way about something when it's subjective. However there's still an objective part to this, which the video maker themself says is in regards to writing.
If you want to interpret an analytical video like this, based on dos and donts in writing characters, as pitting two "kindhearted lovable queens" against each other, then you're free to. Doesn't change the fact that's not the intent of this video, and a blatant disregard to everything said in the video. I personally can't stand Nilou, and Yoimiya means nothing to me, but I can still see this video isn't an attack on the girls. Please, you should definitely watch the video again, and read some comments a bit more deeply. It's okay if you like them, just don't try and change the point of this video and discussion into something it isn't.
@@Vesperad0 Firstly my comment was not that serious. Secondly I never blamed the video itself and my silly unserious little comment was more directed towards some of the people in the comments. Although in my opinion the creator took more time (the entire time, actually) to highlight the good aspects of Yoimiya and the bad aspects of Nilou. Which is fine if that’s how they feel, though that imbalance makes it easy to interpret the message being that one is better than the other, even if the creator didn’t intend for that. I certainly agree that Nilou could’ve been handled better, but Yoimiya clearly isn’t the peak of character writing either. (You don’t even care for her lmao). Anyways I do like them though neither are close to being my absolute favorites, so I don’t actually care if people dislike or even hate them. And I never said this video was a blatant attack on them.
I hope they meet in some event and become friends
I really agree, I hate that this took a good vs bad formula to make people directly compare two nice characters
I think they should instead emphasize the subject of bad writing/minimal screentime and how hoyo hasn’t completely established some characters even though they’ve been out for years now
I’m so glad Nilou featured in the 4.8 Summer Event
It really allowed her to have more development on-screen as a character, since hoyo otherwise dumped any notable info about her into walls of text in her profile
She hasn’t been given a proper opportunity to show her strengths after the archon quest, which was terribly paced and did not linger on or emphasize the significance of her contributions
too bad it's not permanent
I think this perspective is interesting and I agree Nilou's story quest sucked, but I raise a strong counterpoint: Nilou is a gentle, soft-spoken female character and people hate gentle, soft-spoken female characters in media. Think Maxi from Under the Oak Tree, Hinata from Naruto, Beck from You, etc.
I also strongly disagree with Nilou having no personality; she's a strong-willed romantic. For example, she believes in Nahida despite the fact that no one else in Sumeru did at the time and how she believes Akademiya will lift the ban on dance if only they could see how happy it makes others.
I would have never thought of Nilou being compared to Yoimiya ! I've always thought she was more similar to Ayaka who also seems to have that same trope, but I definitely see the connexion here
Great essay here and I enjoyed it. Lots of player feel Nilou is just lacking as a character and even someone commented on her page in Genshin Wiki.
Now that she appeared in 4.8 event but I have no interest in Nilou whatsoever. I feel the main issue with Genshin is that sometimes they took the writing of a character too emphasised on what element of vision they have. Both Amber and Yoimiya are Pyro vision wielder and are active protagonist in their respective story. Now just bcs Nilou is a hydro they made her so passive even in her story quest and it made her even more unlikeable for some people. This is one of the many flaw Genshin has for a while.
just gonna correct you on Nilou's story quest, Nilou does A LOT of work. She actively seeks out everyone involved to collect evidence to prove to the Akademiya why the Theater has enough value to not be shut down. And she does ALL the debating *until the very last subject of discussion* which is when the Akademiya guy's daughter, who ran away from home and who Nilou has been trying to get through that, steps up and confronts her dad herself. Until that point, it was a draw between Nilou and the Akademiya. And Inayah, the daughter, *was brought into the theater troupe by Nilou.*
Furthermore, all the shop owners LITERALLY testify on how Nilou regularly helps them out just because she thinks it's the right thing to do, saving them in the process. We constantly hear (and SEE) her being a great listener, remembering very small details that others forget, but are pretty important to the people themselves. She is just as empathetic and sensitive as Yoimiya, and we are shown that in her story quest. She manages to constantly bring everyone together to support the theater - and by proxy, her - when *she* needs help.
It's proven enough so far that Nilou is just as good as Yoimiya. Nilou ALSO actively resisted against the Akademiya in the Archon Quests. Anyone saying that Nilou is 'forced' or anything like that is, in fact, objectively wrong.
I think the biggest issue with Nilou is how bad her SQ is and how poorly it her and her skills.
Personally, I absolutely adore Nilou, and after the archon quest, several events with her in it, even her bad SQ, she has a very distinct personality to me: a gentle, outgoing, deeply empathetic person who gets to know people before she helps them-which is the reason why everybody likes her. She supports other people and lets them take center stage in their own lives. The one thing she truly takes charge on a her passion for her art, that being dancing.
I do genuinely think it was bs that the NPC overtook Nilou’s debate though. Nilou was making good philosophical arguments up until the game decided she needed to start losing, and it was fun seeing what makes Nilou passionate and angry. As an artist, I found Nilou’s debate deeply relatable, and I was annoyed that another “analytical” person had to come in and “save the day.” People tend to forget that artists are deeply intelligent (you need to be in order to make good art that has meaning and connects to more people) and to me, Nilou comes across as deeply intelligent. Let her show how emotionally intelligent she is without undermining her.
Honestly I kind of feel forced to like both of those characters, it’s absolutely subjective now and I talk only from my feelings, but still. I think for them not to feel what “forced” there must be at least one sacrifice they made to do something for, and story needs to point what out. Like even not massive but something at least important, like even comfort, I’m not even talking about life. I don’t really remember any of them doing something like what, they just do good things for the sake of good things, and their goodness wasn’t really anything impressive. Collei’s kindness and sweetness and how many people like her works, because it’s an end of her character development (or no?…I hope no because she’s super interesting character and I want her to be reused) and we’ve seen from where it started. She truly has strong reasons to be good, and to be like what she needed a lot of work to put, and to go outside of her comfort and stop pushing everyone away and being locked in bubble of hate she created. Bennet’s goodness works because he literally is cursed to be unlucky, but he was strong enough to make himself one of luckiest people of Teyvat (having losing friends parents and job you love is very lucky) they all work because they have struggles what affect directly them (yes they both couldn’t do it without some people around them, but it’s a +, because if they just had most tragic and horrific backstory of all and have won against all of their problems alone it would make them Mary sue, because well, no one is strong enough to just stand alone without anyone against their life issues)
Also I think perfect example is Madoka from Madoka Magica. Because Madoka is literally perfect. Like literally. She haves 0 character flaws (except being insecure and shy at some moments in life, and becoming very passive throw whole story before the very end) usually what makes us hate a character or don’t like them, think what they’re too boring or something. And Madoka don’t even haves tragic backstory she literally lives in pretty wealthy family what loves and supports her no matter what and she’s very close with them. But also we all know how dark this anime is, probably only this island of happiness attacks us, but it also makes every sacrifice what she have done a lot more weightful. Because as Homura said (it was her first line hah) “Madoka, do you have anything you don’t want to lose in your life? Yes….then don’t even dare to risk with it” but I don’t really want to spoil whole Plot, so here’s a fact: in first timeline Madoka became a magical girl to save a random street cat who was injured (she’s holding what cat in opening) just for you to know, being a magical girl is a tough work: “0 free time, constant fear for your life, fights with other magical girls because without the drop form witches you will die, being a magical girl is a game on survival, so when you make a wish you pay for it with what” and it’s like only half of the horror (because KyuBei don’t know what you need to tell about whole contract conditions even if youre not asked) and Madoka already knew Mami (it was her line) so she knew what sacrifice she was making. And she did what. For one random cat she probably never seen again. And ending of anime is literally this but 100x. Like if someone saves the galaxy but they didn’t sacrificed anything, then you feel nothing. And if someone plays with kids in dirt sacrificing their favorite clothes, WHAT is empathetic. And we actually need to see the sacrifice, not just on words how much they risk.
But what’s just my opinion so….
No, that totally makes sense, I've never thought of it from that perspective. While I've never watched Madoka Magica, I HAVE seen(and quit) shows like miraculous. Having no flaws does make a character hard to relate to, and therefore less likable as you said. Thanks for your take bro.
@@Edahs_exists hah, Madoka Magica and miraculous literally have opposite builds of plot and it’s weird to compare them since they don’t have anything in common (fight with evil in here is like office job, they hate it but they need to pay bills) but you didn’t watched it so….won’t complain.
Tho I think worst thing what can happen to main character is him being “relatable” because most of the time they don’t understand what is relatable about main character, because mainly something what can create real attachment is not even similar issues, but just seeing story the same as the viewer. For example, Anya from SpyXfamily is relatable because she’s only character to know whole premise of the show, while others are clueless. When someone makes a “relatable” character most of time it turns out character as completely dull and no one is interested in them. Or they exaggerate it so much what make them annoying, or they act like sociopaths with 0 empathy what do awful things and everyone’s fine with what (COUGH COUGH, mushoku tensei COUGH COUGH) because target audience to who they need to be relatable aren’t good people at all.
I think Traveler is supposed to be like what, but they’re not what much of a dull character, they do have a personality it’s just not really fleshed out and you need to search for it.
Damn I talk too much.
@@tayschannel2695 lol it’s okay, and I wasn’t comparing the shows itself, rather the ‘perfect’ mcs
the first thing that comes to mind in this discussion is that we can very clearly understand why yoimiya is liked by everyone- at least to me, when you first perceive yoimiya you think “i like her” rather than with nilou where you think “everyone likes her”. they both have the same traits, but the only reason you perceive nilou as compassionate and kind is because the game constantly tells us she is. with yoimiya she feels like a truly fleshed out character who takes control of the situations she’s in and SHOWS she cares about other people. i can easily explain why yoimiya is kind and compassionate but with nilou all i can say is, “err, she’s a dancer, and she’s kind”. but we don’t really know WHY.
with yoimiya we know she’s compassionate and good with kids because she grew up with a deaf father who she’s used to accommodating, and this likely made her more empathetic growing up. with nilou, i have no idea why she’s kind. i can’t even think of an example of her being kind besides just being passive.
great video thanks!
After seeing Nilou in the story I thought that maybe the team will make her personality come through more in events. She got a big role in the summer event this year but it showed her passive side even more when compared to Navia, The purest boss lady. Instead of hopping into the train to help putting the stars into the sky, a real dream adventure, she is too afraid and let's the traveler and Navia take the risk while she waits "in case anything would happen". It showed her as a scaredy cat once more.
maybe nilou was supposed to be written that way?? after all she's a performer - a celebrity, and people like celebrities without knowing much about them
Hi, this is just a bit of technical feedback so don't mind me 💚
Your content is wonderful to listen to, mostly because you have an incredibly calm and soothing voice. But it's also rather quiet - so in order to hear it, I have to turn up the volume to about halfway, which is no problem BUT! The moment a clip taken from the in-game dialogue appears, there's a jarring difference in volume, so much so that it literally gave me a mini heart attack haha
This type of content in general is often used as something to relax to, possibly even fall asleep to, so I'd kindly advise to try and match the volume during editing 💚
Other than that, literally zero complaints, you're doing an amazing job and it really feels like we as viewers are taking part in these little deep dives and analyses along with you. Hope to see more in the future ✨
My problem with Yoimiya is that a major theme of her character seems to be "lying is good actually" (this is a simplification, but basically.) In my mind honesty is *the* most important quality for the functioning of society, and her constantly recurring "let's lie to keep someone innocent/happy" thing just rubs me very, very wrong. Her likeable personality otherwise does not nearly make up for this.
Nilou, on the other hand, I rather like. She's not one of my favorites, but she's a sweet girl, an artist, a friend. You talk about Nilou being a passive protagonist but I think that's inherently flawed- she's not a protagonist type at all, she's a natural support. Her actions always inevitably help someone *else* to shine, even if she's the one on stage.
Careful with the audio, the in game clips weher too loud in comparison to your voice. I got Yoimiya'd for godsake lmao 🤣
My opinion on them: Yoimiya is annoying and Nilou is forgetable. But thats fine. The reason why there is so many characters is so that everyone can find someone they like and relate to. So I dont see their personalities as that big of a problem, both have their own fans.
It feels like everybody likes Yoimiya because she is a good person, while Nilou became a good person because everybody liked her already. This might be a point of contention, but I believe it is easier to be a good person if you are comfortable in your life and don't have to worry about anything. If you are immediately not only accepted by a community, but actively pampered by constantly getting free stuff, people offering to carry your things, or being praised for your performances, there is no reason for you to become bitter and rude. Nilou's biggest achievement in that sense is that she did not become conceited.
A notable point that I would make about Yoimiya's story quest is that we as the player are dragged around by her, both ingame and out of game. We HAVE to play the quest to continue the game and to obtain primogems, yet she is out there helping people and endangering herself for no other reason than that she wants to. Even if we don't like Yoimiya personally, we have to begrudgingly admit that she is a better person than we are. And I think that is another big point about why she is more likable. Because even those who don't particularly like her can't bring themselves to actually hate her.
Nilou is just a very sweet girl who likes to dance and does it really well. That's all. She's the sumeru reflection of Barbara. An image of her. Her personality is flat.
I still like her tho, but she isn't shown to have any particular personality trait.
I respect your opinion, but “she isn’t a main character” isn’t a valid argument. If every single character in Genshin was a main character, we would have a much less compelling story. It’s the side characters that are important, and that’s what Nilou is.
Yeah but it was her own story quest she should be the main character of that at least imo. Nilou deserves better gang
@@Izzi_idiocy I actually haven’t played her story quest yet, (I’m not an early player, I just have more important story quests to go through, like Zhonglis or Nahidas,) and yes, she should be the main character of her own story quest, but Yoimiya’s story quest sucks ASS. I don’t even think you can consider her as the main character of HER story quest. It’s all about some NPC’s backstory, and yes, we learn about Yoimiya’s love for fireworks, but we learn that so suddenly at the end of the quest. There’s no gradual clues, no nothing. It sucks.
I don’t think the argument in the video is really strong, but I think it’s because of the execution of the side characters.
Yoimiya is a character you see a couple of times and that’s what a side character is supposed to be, she still does something important while not being completely the main character, and in her story quest you can see her being her own person and being able to do things herself which is great and allows us to see that side characters are capable as well.
Nilou on the other hand was kind of forced to be a main character. You are basically anticipating her dance the whole archon quest as if it’s the most important thing that happened in sumeru. (Which in short, it isn’t.)
TBH, we don't even know Nilou's backstory. What tf does she even like aside from dancing? IDK.
another reason where the game fails to be interested in her 😭
Nilou and Cyno felt really underdeveloped. They both have only one trait, and we are shown nothing but this trait. Nilou is just a good and nice girl, that's it. We don't see her other traits, her major weaknesses or other moments in life. Cyno has just to cliches - he's either evil and grumpy on work, either joking his terrible jokes, that it. If we look on Yoimiya - she's cute and nice with children, she's taking care of her family and business, she's brave and loyal, she values children's dreams and wishes. There's so much to her character. Also, paradoxically, even Barbara is more deep character than Nilou, eventhough they kinda similar. Barbara is also a superstar, idol, adored by everyone, and she's glad to help and heal people, but we see that she suffering from stalking and obsessive fans. Also, she's faithful to Barbatos and to the church, helping nuns and singing in church. And she has complicated relationships with her older sister Jean. 4* starter character in 1.0 patch was written better, than Nilou, and that's a shame.
I disagree with a large part of the arguments. First off, I'm mostly neutral to both characters, so I'm not that invested in arguing for or against either. However, I don't like biased arguments presented as objective.
I don't feel that the game's forcing you to like Nilou. I get more of that impression with Yoimiya, since she's far more of an in-your-face character. Nilou's consistently portrayed and shown to be genuinely nice and caring. That's reason enough for liking her, without calling it "shallow". Neither is as bad as Gaming, though. That was _awful_ in how the players were pushed to like him.
Your argument seems to imply that because Nilou's not good at arguing an academic, we shouldn't like her. Or maybe more accurately, it's bad for her likeability. People having weak sides is natural, and not something we should shun them for. It also doesn't undermine her character, since she was never portrayed as good at it (it's also about reasoning ability, not charisma), so there's nothing to undermine. While it could've been done without having her be overshadowed by an NPC, I don't think it was random, as it was being built up during the quest.
There are other arguments as well, but people have covered those in comments here, like @Anilyan13, @sephirothbahamut245, and @azrielackerman4659.
In short, I find that you highlight most good aspects of Yoimya and most bad aspects of Nilou, and present it as a fair comparison. But that said, I don't think the video is bad, or I would've just ignored it and not comment.
Lastly, the new event right now (which you obviously couldn't include without a time machine) has Nilou in a much more active role, at least in the beginning (which is all I've seen so far).
I don’t think this vid was abt proving yoi was better than Nilou tbh(correct me if im wrong tho), I think it was just abt why the community reception was different
I think it’s mostly outside of the game and into the community. If you look at how almost everyone reacts to Nilou, they overhype her. Both her “character” and her kit. If you show any sign of not liking her, you’re apparently a horrible person, rude, a bully. (most likely isn’t true for most players)
Oh my god finally someone else who's also annoyed by Gaming
Yeah the issue is really the fact that nilou is really forced unpon you, yoimiya is more hey look at this cool girl anyways the story goes on
I think the frustrating part of Nilou's story quest for me was that I was hoping for them to make a really compelling argument for the arts. For the value of the arts to society, the value even of works not especially extraordinary to a community. That not all art is great and not everyone will appreciate every work of art, but art is for people and it's important that we do things simply because they make us happy or remember something or evoke some feeling or another. I think there was a great opportunity to say something pretty profound here. Hoyo has a team of composers on staff. Not many game companies can say that. Clearly they value the arts. Unfortunately, for Nilou it almost comes across as though she's never actually given the subject much thought, which is problematic for her characterization (although maybe it helps the fanon characterization that there's really just not that much going on in her head). It's also very unfortunate that the writing decisions muddle the message of the story quest.
This was done pretty well in Yoimiya's quest despite the overall mediocre plotline. She explains that for humans, our lives are relatively short and while fireworks may be rather transient, creating memories is arguably the closest that humans will get to eternity. It's simple, but it explains a lot about her own philosophy. She also sort of indicates that this just happens to be her take, she's a pyrotechnician because that's what her family does. She's not necessarily someone who has it all figured out, but she knows enough about what's going on in her own life and area of expertise to have realistically fleshed out philosophies about the stuff that's pertinent to her.
Not everyone can be super good at everything tho. Nilous is calm and nice, but needs help, and those aren't unlikeable things or anything.
Itto is so badass that his signature becomes the second claymore stat stick, and isn't it also related to his lore?
Most of those who hate Nilou types are women, not exactly a shock when it happens alot even in earlier years(at least in my Middle/High school) they’re almost always the ones getting bullied
it’s the same as men who hate the jock or leader types just for their personality, it doesn’t take a genius to surmise these hate stems from interpersonal battles for attention or partner competition, for women in particular they viciously yet subtly destroy people through manipulation and destroying reputation, my sister suffered from those rotten people for years
Now that you comment about it, I can see it yeah. In middle school me and other girls were actively bullied by the people of our class. Looking in retrospective I can see the "Nilou type" in me and the others, but I cannot understand why people seem to dislike the "Nilou type" so much. About your sister I am really sorry she had to go through this. I hope te best to her❤
@@mritagoncalves7442 also notice how there’s really no argument against her aside from “”annoying”” and “forced”, what comes first here to them is their idea that it’s “forced” they can’t comprehend or they refuse to accept there’s simply just good people, and the fact that people like those people annoys them which is where their “”annoying”” argument comes from, it’s petty and jealousy
setting aside story/narrative related parts because they’re not really taking that into account when they say they hate Nilou
@@f.b.lagent1113 Look, I'm a dude and a Nilou disliker (or just don't care about her, yet annoyed by how Hoyo loves to shill her instead of the more deserving characters). You based something out of your personal story/trauma and comes out generalizing things that sounds like an outright reach. It 's less about people complaining about her being "forced" cause she's an honest, goody-goody every girl and more because that's all she is, a goody girl. You can be a really nice girl and still have other things going on for yourself, yet other than that Nilou is just...a dancer. She just dances and nothing else, you have to find out her depth (and even then still isn't much) by pulling her then reading up her profile instead of the better "show, don't tell" tactic. I mainly blame Hoyo's writer for this though since her design seems to be beloved by the developer teams.
@@emptyvoid5272 nah I'm pretty confident with my comparison, unless they can provide any other reason(that isn't story/narrative related) that they hate her personality aside from vague terms "annoying" or "forced" then they're more than likely exactly the type I'm talking about
also narrative relevance doesn't matter in liking personalities I'm talking specifically about those who despise her BECAUSE of being goody-goody sweet girl
thats sociopathic behavior if i've ever seen one, I literally don't get it, I don't particularly care about most characters but if there's anyone I dislike like I'm pretty sure it's not because they're giga-good people like most Nilou-hate is
I can also say Thoma is just a house husband or that barbara is just a tired idol
People keep labelling nilou as 'fanservice' and it's sad. The devs aren't doing her justice either
i loved nilou's design when i first saw her and i really wanted to like her but i was never able to put into words why i couldn't until this video
It feels that Nilou has npcs but it doesnt feel natural meanwhile Kaeya also has many npcs but they are very carismatic and memorable like Adelinde, Elzer, Tunner and even Huffman. And Kaeya is a 4star
I'm a Nilou stan ever since I realised her character and role in the archon quest to dance as a rally against the Akademiya was a parallel to real life Persian women using public dance as a means of an avocation of their rights. Yoimiya is fine, but she's still such an NPC-personality character with nothing interesting or unique about her at all. She's just there if you like overly sunny characters, which is fine, but Nilou at least STANDS for something. So I feel the opposite for this video: Nilou does this trope well because her medium actually helped people and heavily contrasts Sumeru's culture to be creative and open minded, while Yoimiya is friendly....because she's friendly.
Was 2.0 so long ago that we forgot Yoimiya was actively helping Ayaka and Ayato's Yashiro Commission making moves against the Shogun's orders? Yoimiya was actively risking her life and her Vision to do what she saw as right.
We just going to ignore that part to make Nilou look better?
Nilou's SQ was a perfect chance to show how important art is and expand on the conflict of academic vs arts. Or maybe a more laid back but in depth exploration o how the theatre shut down will effect her personally would give us much more information about her. My problem with her is just that I don't know much about her and the game doesn't encourage me to know more about her.
I just remember not being able to understand whose dream it was in the archon quest because Nilou didn't really leave an impression on me and I genuinely didn't even think it could be her dream.
I love both Yoimiya and Nilou for both similar and different reasons. But on some days I think I related to Nilou more.
Her story quest aside, because I do think it's one of the least interesting ones in the game, the type of character Nilou is, and the role she embodies in the larger sumeru cast, is something that I find very appealing. She's someone who represents the arts in its purest form in a society that, until recently, shunned them. In a society that valued smarts and academics as the end all be all of life, the zubayr theatre and nilou are a symbol of rebellion and following your heart. It's not surprising that for Alhaitham's master plan in the 3.2 archon quest, they NEEDED nilou to succeed.
I wish this energy was carried out in her story quest as well...
Yoimiya character makes me pull for her. Even though I'm too stupid to user her properly, at least I have her & being reminded about how great her character is.
While my motivation to pull Nilou is only bc I already have established teams & want to try a new team comp. Her character doesn't matter much
Nilou technically a cosplayer. Her outfts say: her default is portraying the Goddess of Flowers, while her purchasable outfit is her portraying a forest fairy. These outfits really screaming what the community saying about her: no actually personality. At least give her a casual outfit.
hm..i think this video falls flat on a few aspects. firstly,nilou is a known introvert. you cant really compare the way an introvert and extrovert handle a confrontation because their ways of thinking are way too different to be compared. its like comparing a mouse to a cat. it also doesnt take into account the environmental factors-yoimiyas fireworks are beloved *by all*. nilou didnt push to have her dance because she is whats basically a minority within sumeru. youre forgetting outside of the small circle that worshipped kusanali,dancing and the arts are scrutinised. its no wonder she felt disheartened. also,she wasnt losing the debate as inayah was making the same point nilou did. if inayahs point won the debate,and nilou was going to make the same point then she wasnt going to lose. the traveler recommending the debate doesnt discredit that nilou fought it,and it being npc-centred showcased her want for justice(which was also shown through the archonquest during which she fights for nahidah and to liberate herself) and her love for helping others (shes said to be a natual mediator) the issue falls within the fandom being unable to recognise that these external factors she personality factors heavily affect the way these characters react to things and how they're written
I know this video is a bit older but it summarize my opinions on the both of them pretty well.
I'm OK with Yoimiya. Her personality isn't my favorite trope but as far as the story she does more for Inazuma than Ayaka does. Ayaka's problems as a character (and this applies to Ayato too) is that it's a lot of "telling" & not "showing." Ayaka left me feeling nothing for her because we barely see her take action. At least with Yoimiya, we saw what she has been doing for her fellow Inazumans.
And while I thought her second story quest was...Kinda cheesy...At least in that one we also see Yoimiya take initiative. She has something she wants and she's took it upon herself to seek it out.
Nilou? I'll be honest- I don't like her. I did at first. I thought the role she played in the Archon Quest was fine and I liked how her dancing was used as both a distracrion and a type of "silent protest."
But her story quest. Nilou's the only character whose story quest made me like her *less.*
The problem with Nilou is that she's not treated like a character, but as a tool to drive a theme. In the AQ, Nilou's purpose is to embody both the "Nahida Supporters VS Rukkhadevata Supporters" and "Art VS Akademiya" themes of the story. She represents what the Akademiya is against.
However, after the AQ, neither of these things are or should be a problem.
Nahida, while treated warily by some, is remembered as the only Archon of Sumeru. Kusanali-supporters no longer have to rebel against Rukkhadevata-supporters. Because Rukkhadevata is no longer remembered. So Nilou being a huge Nahida-supporter isn't as impactful as it was in the AQ.
Now the Art vs Akademiya theme. While compelling in theme, it fumbles in execution. In the AQ, we do see the Akademiya try and shut down the performance and festival. That scene does make Nilou sympathetic and compelling because she's standing up for that.
That's great.
And then her Story Quest just rehashes it with less at stake and the driving force behind Nilou's decisions is an NPC.
My problem with Nilou's SQ is that it doesn't offer anything we already didn't know. We already know the Akdemiya snobs don't like the Theater. We already know Nilou's nice and will support others unconditionally. We already know she'll fight for the theatre.
The only new thing is extra NPC drama.
And what about after the AQ, when all control is returned to Nahida and they banish the sages who were responsible for everything wrong? Other Akademiya character's voice lines imply that they all respect Nilou's craft and the arts. None of them share the opinions of the sages and other Akademiya snobs (who are antagonized.)
Not to mention that said playable characters are considered high-ranking or in some way respected bt the Akademiya (Alhaithem, Cyno, Kaveh, and Faruzan.)
My point is that the "Arts Vs Akademiya" problem...Shouldn't be that big of a problem anymore. Would Nahida, Alhaithem, or even Cyno REALLY tolerate a random Akademiya professor trying to shut down Nilou's theater troupe?
It makes the “antagonist” in Nilou's SQ not only sound like he's in over his head, but also like a complete non-threat. So it further makes what Nilou is fighting for seem non-consequential.
And I understand part of Nilou’s goal is to fix this relationship between father and daughter. But in my opinion, if it wanted to be about that then it should have been JUST that. Have Nilou debate the father about the importance of valuing his daughter and her goals. Not have Nilou debate with the father about Art vs Akademiya only to give agency to the daughter. It’s such a mess of a story quest.
ANYWAY- my point is: Nilou's character was meant to embody certain themes in Sumery's AQ. With the AQ done and a lot of things changed, Nilou's themes are no longer necessary or as compelling as they were in the AQ.
All she is now is an overtly kind dancer who likes being kind and dancing.
And to your point about how "everyone likes her, but we're not given a reason why." That's exactly why I liked her less in the SQ. Nilou being nice and technically a celebrity in Sumeru is an OK explanation for why she's liked.
But it's so generic. Generic and...blah. Call me embittered, but I've grown tired of characters where their only trait is how naturally kind they are.
Making a character simple, pure and kind is OK. But that doesn't mean you make them without any fatal flaws or incapable of making bad decisions/mistakes. And that doesn't mean that you need to further emphasize how wonderful they are by villainizing characters that are written to dislike the "nice" one.
Writing simplencity and kindness requires balance
Ironically, Nilou isn't balanced.
I like simple, but Nilou is an example of where the simplicity just makes her feel so empty.
Sorry for the essay. I have…A lot of feelings about Nilou’s character that I don’t get to express. Often feels like I’m the crazy one for not finding her that compelling.
I’m confused that you complain about characters being stale when they’re kind with no fatal flaws
But then discuss how narratively poor it is that Nilou doesn’t debate the academic
Like that is her fatal flaw?????? She lives in the nation of wisdom, dominated by academia and the pursuit of knowledge, but she is not at all scholarly
She demonstrates that you don’t have to be an intellect and can still enjoy art and live a fulfilling life
I’m not gonna argue, I agree that her story quest is terrible and letting NPCs shine is awful, but her timid qualities are the flaws in her character that add to her authenticity
@@bonyeni I think the 'hesitation to debate' thing isn't the overall problem. Her being hesitant to debate at all is fine, because not everybody has the same strenghts.
I think what I disliked about the debate was that Nilou collected her own thoughts, stood her ground and decided to debate but then...the random NPC basically saved the day. Making Nilou's involvement almost meaningless. That's ofc a personal standpoint though.
Wait nilou's reception has been negative???
Also like, it felt more so like yoimiya was forced down out throat and nilou was just there, like a usual character. Her whole shtick is tht her brain is completely empty.
Facts bruh. Nilou was the most crucial part of the sumeru arc because her character's purpose asks us the question about the importance of art and how art and academics can go hand in hand. Her whole story revolves around how knowledge can manifest differently such as her dancing and how other types of art forms can be of use in a nation that puts wisdom on a pedestal.
I think you’re only looking at it in the perspective of quests, if you look at the community and what they are saying, they’re basically telling people if you don’t like nilou you suck and you’re a horrible person (which most likely isn’t true).
Also the importance of the characters in the main quests is opposite. Yoimiya physically helped someone by hiding them, and essentially helps keep inazuman tales and culture alive, but a lot of people tend to overlook that in the overall story. Nilou just.. dances.. and she gets more praise than yoimiya (her dance is completely unnecessary to sumeru’s quest and it could’ve been successful without that dance)
Yoimiya is hero.
Nilou is a princess.
I don't particularly like either of them, but I appreciate both character types.
Your suggestion is fundamentally flawed. Every character must be unique in their own way.
The rest is up to your own perspective.
I often forget about Nilou due to there being so many characters she honestly feels like a npc or 4 star compared to most 5 stars who have a much more defined personality and role in the world. Her design is nice but other than that I didn’t understand why she was so popular with the Chinese audience. I guess she has the shy wifu energy so that’s why.
This video actually reminded me that I got Nilou while trying to C6 Kaveh(after already got Navia as well but Kaveh is still C4 rip)... I mean, I don't necessary hate her but I'd rather have Yoimiya than her bc I have 0 idea how to build and make a team around her(already got Furina, Xingqiu, and Layla for Kaveh team).. Now she's just gonna get benched with low level... I kinda feel bad but I couldn't really bring myself to build character that I don't really like..
And then there is Me Who Loves both as Top 3 Genshin Characters xD
Im gonna voice a disagreement with the majority opinion here and state why.
My opinion is that Yoimiya feels bland and could easily be replaced by an NPC while Nilou can’t hence my favor towards Nilou by a decent amount.
Why I am not a fan of Yoimiya (i dont dislike her):
1) She’s the active kid next door helping around and has like 0 reason to actually be part of the resistance aside from her being reckless and having a vision. Not only is her plan found out but she could have been replaced by her father in the archon quest with pretty much 0 alterations as the traveller can do all the heavy lifting.
2) She talks…alot…and so quickly too.
3) Her whole character personality is basically “What if summer firework could speak?”.
Why I prefer Nilou:
1) To get it out of the way I am from the regions she represents however I actually disliked her when she first came out and her design for a long time so if anything she had an advantage.
2) Her personality is kinda the opposite of Jean, someone who depends on others to get through life. This sounds bad but thats what life in the bazaar is all about, NONE of them could get by without help and thats why people like her since they’re a big family who help each other out and in the quest its mentioned that her level of dancing skill took many years and compared her to other dancers but I guess everyone forgot she wasnt born with dancing skills.
3) She is fighting an arguably harder fight, in Inazuma its possible to escape and its infact kinda common, its not easy by any means but this has only been going on for about only 1 ingame year. In comparison Nilou is fighting a 500 year establishment that vilified their god, heavily taxed them, allowed then to work on events on purpose and waited last minute to shut them down and lastly tried seizing the area by force and killed tons of sick and elderly siphoning jgnana energy from them by abusing their love for their god. In other words she is also a brave person but just needs some encouragement (which suits the whole bazaar thing I said, so points for consistency).
4) Her story quest was slow but good, Nilou was elected against her will to represent the theater, then fought an elite scholar in his own game and nearly won, however the deck was already heavily in the Akademiya’s favor to begin with and they stood next to no chance at winning, if you cant solve these issues of art vs logic with logic then fight it with art the language of emotion.
An artist will never win a physics argument vs a physicist so they have to win in another way or play abit dirty to not get their whole lives taken away.
The daughter coming to stage is very important and so is the father’s actions, these family dynamics arent common in these parts of the world,no..They’re the standard.
Nilou’s quest is a deep and emotional commentary on many Asian cultures, how many Indian parents wanted a doctor, how many Filipino parents wanted an engineer, how many Arabian parents wanted something in STEM? It’s a herculean task to talk to these parents and the quest was to say that if parents accept their children even if they dont share their same aspirations then they can live in harmony but if they don’t its very easy to make their children’s lives misterable on purpose in hopes to “show them the light” and make them hate the parents even more and drive them to find another family/group who accept them like the Zubair theater.
It’s probably top 5 stories in terms of social commentary ingame for those who are living through it.
5) Her part in the archon quest was unclear but very important, for sure more important than saving a random dude and using fire works so a mega ninja group could collect files (again her father could have done this or given the fire works to the traveller).
Nilou is designed after the goddess of flowers and represented the culture of these nations that is living by a thread and is demonized, she also holds belief in the lesser lord and her act of defiance infront of the alademiya doors lead to the message going out TO ARREST HER which was hijacked by alhaitham which lead to the successful rescue of Nahida.
You can try to replace her with a random NPC who dances but it would hold 0 weight, Nilou represents so much and is fighting for her own reasons and unlike Yoimiya who if she doesnt fight will get lobotomized by having her vision taken which shows her motivations on another level.
In summary I don’t hate Yoimiya I do kinda like her but Nilou means too much and is a character who only gets better once you learn to read through the lines rather than needing quests to hamfist in your face every aspect of the character for you to understand them.
Could she use improvements? Yeah, alot. Is she deserving of all the hate online? Absolutely not.
I don't think Jean became the acting grand Master by relying on others.
@@kananana774 Re-read, I said the opposite of Jean then i started describing Nilou.
Maybe I wrote it in a confusing way
@@Fuphu No, this isn't on you. I was half asleep and read that part wrong before falling asleep instantly, whoops. 🤭
@@kananana774 Happens, Im usually busy and I only have time to check yt and comments at night so I can sympathize to some degree.
I’m on break rn tho so i’m in the habit of writing a few essays in comment sections lol
In my opinion, Yoimiya is "Older sister", when Nilou is a "Precious doll"
I personally love Yoi because how bubbly and extroverted she is with cool na animations. I enjoy her playstyle a lot. And my favorite color is orange. So it was a match made in heaven 🧡🧡🧡
I agree whit your points and i think people overall prefer more active and positive characters who take matter on their hands, look at Noelle for example, she clearly takes matters in her hands solving tons of problems by herself, and its pretty clear she has tons of personality yet when she appears on events she is so hard on herself and so shy that the "badass" independt part of hers is mostly lost, which makes her personality less liked, it seems totally diferent from her character history personality
Their positioning is indeed similar. They do not have a noble status and origin, but they are very popular, they are passionate about their profession, and although they are kind but not weak. However, because their personalities don't have a growth arc, their SQ are all helping NPC
To be honest I've always preferred Nilou over Yoimiya, but I do see the similarities. I think the main reason why is just because Sumeru's Archon Quest is miles better than Inazumas. Great video btw!
Please ignore this if it's an unwelcome criticism, but listening to this, my biggest comment would be that there's a lot of statements about how Nilou is unpopular without any backing to them. While I personally prefer Yoimiya as well, I feel like some more concrete comparison between their fanart numbers or other fan engagement for them would help portray the otherwise unsubstantiated statements about their popularity.
In what way is Yoimiya good with kids? Yes, she's liked by kids, but that isn't the same thing. The first thing we see her do in her story quest is contradict what local parents have been telling their children, seemingly without a thought to why they might've been telling those tall tales or begin with. She follows that up by encouraging them to fight, and handing out explosives. Then, in her second story quest, she bold-faced lies to a sick girl by making promises she knows perfectly well she has no way of keeping. Traveler and the Aranara come through in the end, but she couldn't have known that was going to happen. To me, she comes across as irresponsible and childish, as someone whose simplistic view of the world is going to get people hurt, and I'll take a bland character over a careless one any day.
Minor technical critique, the difference in volume compared to your voice (which is a lot quieter) and the gameplay at 3:08 is a little startling. Otherwise, this is a good video :}!
Tbh, I used to really hate Nilou. Until I got her. But it’s always like this, I often start to warm up to characters, after I get them, so it’s nothing new lol.
Well, I have both characters and I find them alright.
While I prefer Nilous design, Yoimiya is definitely more interesting character wise.
I agree with most things you’ve said. Nilous action feel so bland, and there’s no real motive except being nice (which is totally fine but doesn’t give her and the other characters around her {mainly NPCs} depth)
Also Nilou didn’t got help by a "random NPC", Inayah was literally the protagonist of Nilous story quest. (Why does Genshin love making story quests revolve around one-time NPCs???)
Do you think the new event gave Nilous justice (4.8) ?
@@frostblitzxdkartoffelliebh6081 Pretty much, yeah. Definitely a step in the right direction, she takes a lot of authority in the situation without the traveler, which is great to see. I just wish they let her be herself. In both her outfits, she’s cosplaying a god. A bit more self expression from her would be nice, but that’s just a personal nitpick. She’s much better overall.
Huh i see a running theme with me now, because i pull for yoimiya, nilou, furina and now mauiani each one have one same thing about them, it is everyone love them
Nah nilou is superior, all she did was valiant shit while she is not a figther she took a stance against the scholars, confront them and debate against them without being an scholar herself, she is faaar smarter than the tabi idiot realizing she is in a dream easily without having to repeat samsara over and over when duty calls, she accepts without hesitation even when of all the group if something goes wrong she is the one that would do absolutely nothing to scape putting her and her family at risk IDK Nilou even if she is a quiet beauty is very bad ass.
Idk man, i feel like nilou is pretty realistic. Shes a character that works in an industry that is heavily looked down upon where she lives, so if she was a polarizing figure she'd be even closer to being shut down imo. I feel like she really embodies just being passive and just trying to be nice while she lives her own life. It felt kind of fresh while we learn about other characters flaws and deep dark tragic pasts even though we barely know them. She feels like a character we arent meant to "know" on that level. She just does her dances and tries to do her job to inspire people to be more than just "scholars at the akedemia"
Idk if any of this made sense. but basically i like her bcus she doesn't lay everything on the table for you. Feels like shes just an acquaintance
When I look at this video on my feed before clicking on it, I knew that this is from a woman's pov 😂 I feel like alot Nilou charms kinda go though straight women because they are not attracted to femininity, especially hyper feminine character like Nilou, so they are like "why do everybody like this girl, shes nothing special and doesnt do anything redeeming" like shes cute, positive and a ray of sunshine, thats all that matters for someone to be likable. Does every character need to swim through lava, choke slam a tiger and have quirky personality to be likable? 😂 I really dont understand husbando fans complaining about waifu characters being boring when every husbando has literally the same stoic personality copy pasted over and over and they treat them as peak writing. 😂
As someone who dances as a hobby, Yoimiya's quest was really boring and had a passive role on the inazuma plot. I don't find any relatability on her quest because all she did was babysitting stuff.
Nilou on the other hand is liked by everyone because she is a performer which makes her likeability justified(celebrity privilege). Nilou's actions also pushed forward a new outlook on art for Sumeru's people which is why she is popular. To put it simply, her likeability can be associated because you can admire her performance or strive to fight for her passion like she did (which is a thing for pretty much all people).
I really like and play them both! Howerever, you're really on point.