I feel they both have around the same amount of "anime cliche", but it sticks out less in DS1 due to the more tense/serious tone everybody has most of the game. That kind of thing doesn't bother me in general though. I'm not sure what it is about DS2's cast, but I like them more overall. Both still have a few characters I don't care about at all though. Man I really wish Haru was playable in DS1. Izuna too, but she might have been or been an assist on a map. I can't remember.
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http://myanimelist.net/animelist/swordz9