Happy (belated) birthday, Riko Sakurauchi!

You used to be a character that I absolutely detested, but I’ve learned to love a lot about you, and all of that bitterness I held before exists no longer!

I initially disliked you because I thought that you were bland. Later, when I learned about your role in the anime, I disliked you even more because of personal reasons. I’ve been the You in real life situations similar to the conflict that the second years had in the first season’s eleventh episode, and it wasn’t fun. Usually, when discussion of that conflict pops up, people criticize Chika for how things went down, but the friends I had those experiences with tended to be Chikas, so I never saw Chika in a bad light. It was always you that left a bad taste in my mouth and brought up bad memories since you were the embodiment of the people that I thought that I’d lose my friends to. It really sucked because I wanted to look past my own experiences and find things that I liked about you, but it was really difficult to do so. Eventually, I was able to learn how to judge you without my past experiences influencing my opinion, and I started to find you more and more endearing. Now, I can actually list a lot more things that I like about you than I dislike, and I consider that to be progress!

Something that you and I have in common is that you tend to be self-deprecating at times. You’ll go on about how you’re plainer than vanilla ice cream. In the beginning, I agreed with you and thought that your plainness was your biggest shortcoming. Now, I’m like, “Stop putting yourself down so much! You’re actually pretty neat.” Yeah, compared to the rest of Aqours, you may seem pretty plain, but that’s not a bad thing in the slightest. You’re more unique because of your plainness. You fulfill the role as the “one sane woman” of the group, and it’s amusing to watch! Everyone around you is always engaging in wild antics, and you’re just there for the ride. This is best seen in that one puppet April Fools’ special.

That said, there are moments where you show that you can be as wacky as your cohorts when pushed far enough. You’re a rabid kabedon and yuri fangirl that tries to hide your manga whenever someone nearly discovers your stash. You went to great lengths to avoid dogs which is completely understandable as dogs are the actual worst before you overcame your fear of them – going as far as leaping from house to house and performing flips to escape them. Hell, during your introduction scene, you jumped into frigid ocean waters during the month of April in order to get inspiration for a song! You fit right in with your zany friends at times.

You’re more relatable than I took you for back when I wasn’t fond of you. As aforementioned, you have self-deprecating tendencies. You like to keep to yourself and keep yourself occupied with your hobbies. You’ve had to deal with anxiety and a fear of not being good enough, and you ultimately stopped doing what you loved as a result – throwing in the towel on your career as a pianist. You tried to reignite the spark by trying new things (moving somewhere new and joining an idol group), and you were successful in doing so and rediscovering your passion for the piano again. It reminds me a lot of my relationship with writing. I stopped for a while because of depression, a lack of motivation, and a lack of self-worth, but I was eventually able to find that spark, too, and I’m happily writing again. (I’m still working on the self-worth thing, but I’m getting there!)

I’m glad that I learned to love your character over time, but I feel bad because, usually, whenever your birthday comes around, I tend to be laser-focused on Ruby’s upcoming birthday since she’s considered one of my best girls (I’ll get around to writing up her post soon). I want to give you more attention because you deserve more praise from me. I hope that this post is decent enough at showing my newfound appreciation for you! (Seriously, I feel like my ramblings on these birthday posts can be pretty nonsensical.) Never stop being the piano-playing virtuoso that you are! Riko-chan laser beam!