Characters
Who Will Be Your Double?
In this part of the app, you can pick which digital mahjong gal (or guy) (or panda) you will pick to represent you when you are playing the game. You start with 2 default characters, and can obtain more by drawing from the Gacha. As you play, you can learn more about them, and even unlock Decorations showing off your absolute dedication to your favorites. In a weird feature of this app, you can click on the little pencil next to the character's names to rename them. I guess.
Outfit: Lets you see what alternate costumes are available for the character. Each character has at least 1 "Awakening" alternate costume that you can obtain by Awakening the character on the Bond page. The method for obtaining all other costumes is mostly by buying Outfit Tokens with real money. Costumes are usually offered on rotation, meaning if you see one you like, and you're about that life, make sure to buy it because there's no guarantee what the next time it will come up on offer looks like.
Info: This is where you can get bio info about these characters, including a look at their in game emotes, their voice clips, and a personal story in the Archive that develops as your Bond level increases. Currently, not every Character has their Archives set up, it is a thing that gets updated as development on them progresses.
Bond Screen
This is where you can see what the level of your Character is at. This will increase by playing matches with the Character, as well as giving them gifts. Each character has a few gifts they like, and a few that they don't (don't worry, this game TELLS YOU which is which). You get a little more out of feeding them stuff they like, and a little less from feeding them stuff they don't. When you get them to the next level either by gifting or by play, you'll get a little voice clip saying something nicer about you and, if they have Archive stories, you'll get another chapter of that. This continues until you max out Friendship Lv. 5, where you will have to Awaken your character to reach the next level of rewards.
Awakening
This is the process of bringing a Character to the next "tier" of rewards. Each character requires a certain spread of Awakening items. If you want to whale it up, there are Bonding Packs available in the Shop that contain many of these hard-to-farm items. Here's a list of items that are commonly required for Awakening.
Books: These are the easiest Awakening items to get. There are 6 different types, and different characters require different ones. You can get these from the Daily Check in, and in the Coin Shop. You can also buy them in the Gacha Store for 1 Gacha Stamp, but I really advise against spending this rare currency in this way.
Item Fragment: You obtain these "naturally" when you draw a Decoration in the Gacha that you have already acquired. They are also available in the Gacha Store part of the Shop, where they are on sale for 5 Gacha Stamps.
Outfit Coupon: You obtain these "naturally" when you draw a Character or an Outfit (? can't currently do this) that you have already acquired. They are also available in the Gacha Store part of the Shop, where they are on sale for 15 Gacha Stamps.
When you have what you need, just push the button and watch your Character digivolve (mahjivolve? Riichilution?) into their Awakened form. You will get the last chapter of their current Archives if they have one, and you will be able to select their Awakened alternative outfit. The next tier of levels is called "Affection". When you reach the first Affection level, you will get a character custom Avatar Frame. The second, currently the level cap, will award you with a character custom Title.
Leveling characters in other games may come with rewards like free Gacha spins or other items, but Riichi City is not like this. Just pick the characters you like and level them up!