According to himself, Makoto is a very ordinary person, to the point that he feels a bit insecure about it. His most distinguishing feature is his unusual optimism.

Makoto is very kind, supportive and forgiving, though sometimes slightly naive. He is friendly, polite and a lot more down-to-earth than the other students. This is possibly the reason why he is capable of approaching and befriending them in Free Time sequences, even the most antisocial such as Byakuya Togami and Toko Fukawa.

Junko refers to Makoto as a "herbivore man", which means that he is likely to be the passive one in a relationship; this is reinforced in his conversations with others. He is also a bit jumpy at times and quite easily pushed around by some other characters such as Byakuya. However, even though he is sometimes a bit of a pushover, he is also capable of being a very determined and charismatic speaker.

Makoto is a firm believer in hope, having a positive attitude about the future, no matter the bad situation in the present. He is also a pacifist, as he believes that killing and violence isn't the answer. While he dislikes despair, believing it to be a corrupting and negative emotion which cannot benefit the world, he is very forgiving towards those who fell into despair, such as the Remnants of Despair, believing them to be victims of Junko and not inherently evil.