>>56413667>Kieran was clearly not meant to be as popular as he ended up beingThat's definitely not true. He was a very deliberately planned, designed and written character. I mean he even basically got his specifically designed ace like the other anon said. They wouldn't have put so much effort into his writing and animations if they think he'd flop. However, I think what might've happend is that the writers on the team knew, but it seems like marketing wasn't convinced (or still isn't), considering the lack of merch.
>Arven was the yume baitI think they both are. I mean c'mon, the whole bit where Kieran says he feels "tingly and funny", the whole festival thing that is basically a literal date between you and Kieran... He's definitely portrayed as a romantic interest, it's barely even subtle.
I think it's just that they both scratch a different itch because they belong to different tropes. Arven is the rough guy who turned out to be a softie once he started to trust you. Kieran is kinda the opposite, he's the shy gentle kid who turns malicious and obsessive once his trust was broken. They appeal to different kinds of yumes, also cause they're a bit different age wise.
>But the minute Kieran appeared Arven was completely overthrown.Funny that you say that. I've seen a lot of posts saying from Japanese players who thought that Kieran was indeed more attracted to the MC compared to Arven until the epilogue dropped. Arven's strong jealousy towards Kieran really speaks for itself, it seems.
I think Arven is supposed to be clueless about his own feelings for the MC because he's a total stranger to intimacy, even emotionally. This is shown in the League Club dialog between him and Carmine. She asks if there were any "special feelings" in the Paldea group, obviously asking if there's anything romantic going on. Arven doesn't get it and just answers something about their trip to Area Zero. She just calls him a "poor, innocent thing" to which he just tilts his head.
