Rindo Kanade

Rindo is a big social media user and looking up information on his phone comes naturally to him. He is an avid player of a creature collecting video game known as FantasyGO or “FanGO” for short. He is also a fan of online influencer An0ther due to his poetry, which has had a huge impact on his life. His favorite An0ther quote is, “Don’t waste a chance to make a new friend.” Rindo may also be interested in fashion, especially the brand Jupiter of the Monkey; he wears earrings, frayed jeans, and mentions that he wears his mask for fashion reasons. Since Fret is also focused on fashion, this would be a common point for the two boys in their friendship. He is somewhat passive by nature, mostly following what others suggest before making an effort to decide on his own. He prefers to go with the flow, and while he does not go out of his way to interact with others, he does not reject them if they come to him first. He has a cautious personality and tends to examine situations before acting, but does not hesitate to get involved if necessary. Unfortunately, this can cause him to hesitate on important matters; Fret begins to feel like all Rindo does is "complain about this and that", but when the team has to make important decisions, Rindo acts as a bystander and has nothing to say. Rindo has an indecisive nature, and Sanae Hanekoma comments that Rindo's soul is "stagnant" as a result of "his fear of taking responsibility", but also notes that Rindo is capable of maintaining abnormally high levels of imagination. His gentle and submissive nature is a contrast to Neku's in the first game, and while he is worried about coming back to life, he does not seem as upset about being dead as a typical human would be. Rindo may not believe in supernatural phenomena, as he has long believed that the Reapers Game is simply an advanced augmented reality game utilizing new technology. When very agitated, Rindo is shown to have some character; for example, after getting fed up with Shoka's teasing, Rindo tells her to shut up and leave, shocking her and causing her to become despondent before walking away. He sometimes grows tired of Fret's antics, even displaying passive-aggressive behavior at times, though he also clearly cares for his friends and will protect them to the best of his ability. His agitation may be something he develops over the course of the Reapers' Game, rather than an aspect of his personality from the start. He is fairly deadpan, though not cruel, and typically remembers at least basic manners. As mentioned on his social network profile, Rindo keeps his real-life friends such as Fret at a distance, but lets his guard down around his online gaming friend Swallow. Rindo can also be seen relying on Swallow instead of his teammates on numerous occasions, such as when he needs the answer to a puzzle, he asks Swallow instead of Fret and Nagi. Although Rindo and Fret are friends who spend time together outside of school and Fret considers them close enough to spend the rest of his money on two copies of the Reaper Pin for each of them, Fret is unaware of Swallow's existence until he eats with Rindo in the Prologue, though Rindo's casual mention of Swallow being someone he met through FanGo implies that this was not something he was deliberately keeping a secret from Fret. Fret also only has a cursory knowledge of FanGo, showing that these two things, while important to Rindo, are not things he feels comfortable sharing with Fret, emphasizing his tendency to be a private person. Rindo also sometimes makes dismissive, perhaps judgmental, comments when it comes to Fret and An0ther, telling Fret that someone like him simply wouldn't be able to understand An0ther's poetry.

Another example of Rindo's private nature is also shown when Rindo keeps his Replay ability a secret for most of Week 1. By Day 6, they've already been fighting strange creatures with supernatural powers, and also have team members who can supernaturally stimulate memories and dive into people's minds, so it's unlikely that Fret would have completely disbelieved him or thought he was crazy. However, it is possible that Rindo's confusion and lack of understanding of what has been going on regarding Replay is prompting him to keep them to himself rather than share them with Fret. Despite this, Rindo may still be lying to Fret during Replay sessions in order to achieve the right outcome. Rindo does not truly share his skills with his team until Minamimoto directly confronts him about it. Rindo's time in the Reapers' Game forces him to interact with those close to him. Rindo learns to appreciate his friends more and the boys become closer in the end despite their arguments. Rindo is described by the creators as a naturally quiet and introverted character, but due to the game's situations, Rindo talks more in NEO than he's used to, and Fret's presence brings him out of his shell. He also seems a bit apprehensive around crowds, often commenting on how crowded Shibuya is. Rindo's shyness can still be seen in-game, especially during group conversations. When involved, Rindo is almost always serious, never cracking jokes, and almost entirely keeping conversations quest-oriented rather than asking personal questions about new party members and their lives to get to know them better (though quests understandably take priority). Even when they discuss Shoka's background on a particular day, this is also to motivate her so they can continue the Reapers' Game. Rindo doesn't really value the friends and connections he has in his life, and it's only near the end, as he lives in a world where none of them exist, that he finally wants to appreciate his friends more. By the end of the game, Rindo has matured considerably in different ways. He has become less of a dependent bystander, more willing to take matters into his own hands rather than waiting and hoping that someone else will, becoming a leader rather than a follower of orders. He has become braver and more capable of making difficult decisions, even despite the fear of making the wrong ones. He has learned to be more wary of popular and charismatic internet personalities online, learning that they often adopt personas to attract followers and have the potential to be deceitful and manipulative liars, like An0ther. Rindo acknowledges that if it weren't for his time in the Reapers' Game, he would have likely been another follower of An0ther for the rest of his life, and that the harsh truth was ultimately worth it. He has also learned to appreciate the people around him more, realizing that they make his life feel special.