don't worry anon that's not personal at all!! my answer will be a bit personal but that's okay!
[THIS ANSWER WILL HAVE DRV3 SPOILERS]

i've been a DR fan for some nine years now...? but kinda left the fandom for a bit around 2016, after DR3 finished airing. When I left, all I knew of V3 was that I thought Keebo was going to be the protag, due to the one piece of promo that was out in 2016 featuring him front in center. I got back into the series after the release of V3, and was surprised to see the protag actually was this cute pianist girl!

And a really well-written one, at that. I just found myself really impressed at how much character Kaede carried, when the previous protagonists in DR were one step away from self-inserts (i still love Makoto, Hajime, and Komaru tho). At the time, I found some parts of her personality to be really distant from myself but still admirable, while her weaknesses were akin to mine. She wasn't just like me fr, but I wanted to be just like her fr. This made me attach to her almost instantly. Then V3 absolutely broke my heart in Chapter 1 and made me attach to her even more. I cope by writing her as a lardpile...

And beyond the personal, she is the best character to ever be written in DR, period. She's not just a typical genki girl, nor does she fall squarely into the "genki girl that's actually depressed" archetype (though that's a really good one imo). She's uniquely herself, and shockingly human in a game that often has characters too ridiculous to feel real, without falling into the trap of blandness. The way the plot treats her, while unbearably cruel and unfair, exemplifies the themes of V3 and DR as a whole in an unparalleled manner. And she spawns the best mystery and twists in the entire franchise. I could get into the deeper details, but I am not going to dive into a complex character analysis when this ask is already super long.

Also she's super cute with Shuichi and they're my favorite ship ever if that wasn't insanely obvious <33333