AT2 question-thoughts

So I was reading through the Tsuchiya & Kawachi interview in the Ar Tonelico Visual Book and the section on AT2 and Croix's role as the protagonist caught my eye. I always felt it went w/o saying that the intent was indeed for Croix to be the point-of-view main character who complements the two heroines, who are the focus of the story. But it seems not everyone sits well with this -- even in the Japanese community.

I know a few people who dislike AT2 for this reason exactly, that Croix is not very "main charactery" or "doesn't have a big presence" in the story (to quote the interview). I'm wondering, to what extent was the backlash or feedback like in Japan at the time of release? And, I know AT2's generally considered the best in the series in the English-speaking community, but is it the same case in Japan? I imagine it is, but I wonder.

So yeah, a bit of extrapolation on this whole subject would be really interesting to hear! I bet I could find out a bit if I dug around those TL'd Ar Portal columns, but I'm still slowly going thru it all.

For what it's worth, I really like Croix. He's mature, sensitive to his surroundings and serves as a great bridge for Croche and Luca's character story and drama. He's my favorite of the three protags.