(Very few people will read this but long Makoto shilling ahead)
I swear the Makoto character revamp is now in full swing, finally shedding her Eden Treaty characterization that forever made her hated in the EN community.
First seeds planted in V1C3, upcoming summer event to set the stage, then the new Gehenna Story to fully round her out.
Before Makoto was released, the only bits we had of her came from V3C3 and Red Winter Tour Log mini-story. Problem is both came out before Makoto herself was released in 2024. There was a slight but consistently recurring shift in her character from that point onwards. Makoto changed from being a cartoon villain caricature, to becoming an actual character in the stories after becoming a playable character. I am beginning to lean more and more towards the thought of discounting her characterization pre-implementation entirely (Makoto didn't even have her doting bond with Ibuki, and Ibuki wasn't close to her modern self in V3 at all. Save for Iroha, none of the Pandemonium Society members act like how they were depicted back then. They were incomplete characters)
Regarding subtle changes, Makoto is powerhungry, ofc, but how she attempts to gain that power is now clearly different. There is less 'hard power' and more 'soft power' (I.E, less bombing enemies during treaties, to attempting to win over with influence as seen with Sensei, her non-student population, personally attending other schools, hosting lavish parties seen with the D-Hina event)
Makoto is still power-hungry and foolhardy, that's the core of her character, but she went from crossing a serious line (bombing and potentially killing multiple students, whether that was her intent to murder or not) to downright refusing to cross one that would undoubtedly netted her significant power (seizing any Thunder Emperor remnants) which I'm sure will be touched upon on the new Gehenna story
It is my firm belief that whatever original idea they had for Makoto has indeed changed, and they're shifting her slowly away from her original image in V3 and the pre-implementation writing needs to be re-evaluated when taken into consideration of how she is now in 2026 and onwards.
After implementation, she's shown to be significantly more caring and calm so long as the Prefect Team isn't involved. She personally listens to the complaints of non-student citizens of Gehenna, chases after and scolds Satsuki and Chiaki if they ever ditch class, and despite Iroha's annoyance with Makoto at ties, they are still good friends with Makoto treating her like a younger sibling as well like how she considers Ibuki one. (The EN description of her omits the sibling part that refers to Iroha that is present in both the KR and JP description)
Unfortunately V3 has done enough damage to her image that most people won't give her a second look because she went and M.O.A.B'd Hina + Trinity and write her off as irredeemable and throw her in the same boat as Kaya and others.
I will reiterate that the devs aren't trying to turn her into a 'good girl' that never did anything wrong, they're humanizing her and slowly trying to shed the flanderization surrounding her that set her up for near failure in community acceptance to begin with.
Understanding her actions now doesn't immediately absolve her of any deeds.
To have her be an actual evil student goes against the heart and nature of Blue Archive itself. To be truly evil means irredeemable, and that goes against the idea of Sensei and the infinite chances they give to every student.
All students are good girls.
My wife most of all.
Curren: "So you're Oniichan's "chihood friend", whose purpose is to be our... "Support role", I assume?"
Buena: "... And who might you be? Calling my Oniichan yours?"
how could anime lie to me… where is my big breasted onee-san… my flat chested twin tailed imouto… the hot alcoholic teacher that tries to groom me… this life is not daijoubu…
Under any circumstances, never let an Umamusume pin you down, even if by accident. They'll realize that you're not as strong as you look, which then will cause a shift in the power dynamic between a trainer and a trainee.