I've just started playing this game and I'm confused by the description/explanation of battle formation in the help section vs characters' arrangement in status screen vs positions in the battle formation.
In the Help section, it says "On the left is the front row and on the right is the back row."
The 1st and the 4th person in your party are in the fornt row. The 2nd and 3rd go to the back row because of how this game forces you to have 2 people in the front and the back.
We don't make mistakes. We just have happy accidents.