Toma has always been a creep. It makes all the difference to know that he was responsible for injuring the heroine again after she fell off the cliff due to jealousy in Shin's route. Too bad they cut that out from the anime.

That drugging scene was chilling in that in Shin's bad end, he poisons her (while saying "Good night, sleep for eternity") and it is implied he kills Shin too. Let's not even go to what they will show next episode, if that ever gets animated.

With that said, I have 0 sympathy for him. While his intentions might be to protect, it's also implied that he was jealous of Ikki and he caged the heroine to prevent her from going to Ikki or Shin AND from himself because he desires her. Also, while they are doing a good job of setting up the mystery of the diary, the conflict in his route was just plain dumb and involved the heroine and him being absolute retards.

Why is this guy the most popular character again.

Well the reason he would be popular is because he fits the right mold of the "perfect" guy to most people, at least on the surface. I can't speak to how he is portrayed in the game but is he all around bad in all possible routes? Or is his reasoning incredibly flawed but somewhat explained in a good end for him?

I don't have anymore reason to hate him than any of the other guys at this point they all display serious relationship flaws and I'm relatively certain that's one of the major themes of the game/anime. Though Tomas flaw is taken to the extreme you can easily imagine Shins aggressiveness take a turn to the violent and tragic. Kent and Ikki seem to be more about the psychological problems that being with them would cause. Ikki being a player and seeing you as a prize that can't just be won with just his power and Kent would be more about extreme neglect or aloofness.(probably the least serious out of them all so he would be the best guy, at least according to the limited knowledge from the anime.)

Toma, you possessive and I'd guess bordering yandere as hell

I'm convinced that people like him because he's a yandere. If people liked a 'perfect' guy (aka kind, caring, sweet, gentle, would do anything to protect you) they'd go with Kent (the closest thing to a normal guy in this series) and uh....It will become clear later on after the anime finishes airing. But nope, Kent is the least popular of the lot.

He's really not that bad on Kent and Ikki's route but he barely appears on those routes anyway. He just stands out because aside from green haired stalker, he's the only one who gives bad ends in routes not his own and actually harms the heroine. In fact his bad end involves the heroine acting like a normal human being and running away, only for him to drug and cage her forever with implied rape vibes.

It was explained but it just amounted to: I have issues and poor coping/communication skills. No tragic past or past trauma. Nope, It's just basically his character.

I can agree with you on the character flaws, it's one of the things that I appreciate in the game. I can't really agree on Shin though since the anime kind of butchered him. He even lets her go in one of his ends because he knows she doesn't love him and really, he's one of the sanest and non violent ones.

The thing that bugs me with Toma's fault is he does nothing about it and whines for the rest of his route instead of taking action. In fact, diamond world could have been the most happy world if he wasn't such a retard.

I think the cage was seriously too much, even for anime. And the fact that the heroine was not angry at all... She actually was considering his feelings and how sweet he is to want to protect her.... WTF? If I found out my friend lied to me about being my boyfriend, tricked me into staying at his house (in his bed), drugged me and then forced me into a tiny cage, I think I would be pissed. Also I'd punch that SOB! And run for my life! As for whether or not he took advantage of her while she was passed out, I vote that he didn't, based on what he said about protecting her from himself as well.

There's another character who's even more broken than he is and he's second last next to Kent.

They get together in his good end. It's even titled: You have bad taste in men.

Locking her in a cage? I understand you want to protect her in your own way but locking her in a cage is no different if not worse than those 3 girls messing with her. Anymore, I feel sorry for this girl. Four different guys each with their own personalities and having to be around then not knowing what's up. Looking forward to next weeks episode.