...

Been thinking about the differences between aitsf and aini recently and I just realized how... isolated Ryuki is. This man barely has any friend. Aside from Tama and Date, his relationships with the rest of the cast range from "friendly aquaintance" at best (Gen) to "outright hatred" at worst (Bibi) passing by "weirded out/concerned" (Mizuki, Boss) with the large majority of characters being neutral towards him (anyone else.) No wonder the guy latches so hard on Date, this literally the ONLY person who goes out of his way to hang out with him.

Compare with Date in aitsf, or even the Mizukis in aini. Date is close to Boss and Pewter, has a roommate, drinking buddies, even seems to know Mama pretty well. Mizuki is still friend with Kizuna and Shouma, and she jokes around with Boss and Pewter. Bibi also jokes around with Boss, and she's on friendly enough terms with Lien and the Kumakuras to ask them for favors every once in a while.

On a more meta way, Ryuki's isolation extends to the plot itself; he's not only an outsider to his social groups, but to his very world. Ryuki is, for the most part, an observer of the plot; if you removed him from the story, not much would change. Things would play out very similarly. Ryuki has no power over the narrative. He's a character of a tragedy who cannot save a single person. This is why he keeps dissociating and glitching out of reality. This is why the only way for him to save anyone is by breaking the narrative alltogether.