#A lot of this is what I have in mind when I write dr3 Nanami and dr3 KomaNami actually | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

oumakokichi · 8 years

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Sorry to bother you , i sent a message a few days ago but i think Tumblr or my Internet connection messed up and i wasn't sure you recieved it :( my question was : How well do you think Hajime and Naegi would have fared in ndrv3 if they were in Saihara place, in term of group dynamics and thematic shift (hope/despair->lie/Truth)? Since the others dr are so different from ndrv3, i Wonder how they would have handled it. I'm especially worried for Naegi since he can be very trusting. Sorry again!

You’re not a bother at all! I still have the original message in my inbox and it went through—I’m sorry for taking so long to answer! It’s just that my inbox is very full at this point, and between writing a lot and having to balance real-life stuff, and also still trying to go through every part of ndrv3 very carefully and translate things so I get all the facts, I get a little slow with responses sometimes. But I promise I intend to answer every question that comes my way!

As for this, this is a really interesting and fun question! It’s one thing to look at the ndrv3 characters and wonder how they would actually fare in a hope/despair setting against Junko, but it’s a very unique perspective to wonder about how our previous two protagonists would handle things if they were in Saihara’s shoes, moreso since ndrv3 even raises questions about what constitutes a protagonist.

As ndrv3 is particularly about moral grey areas and finding a middle ground between two extremes, I’m inclined to agree that Naegi would…probably not fare very well. It’s interesting, because while he’s definitely similar to Kaede in the sense of being willing to trust Kirigiri with his life the way Kaede could trust Saihara with hers in the school trial, Naegi lacks the aggressive cunning and willingness to lie that Kaede had. If Kaede is someone who couldn’t trust others until the very end despite wanting to very much, and despite making a big show of telling others to trust in each other, then Naegi is someone who trusts implicitly—too much. And that’s very, very dangerous in ndrv3.

I appreciate what dr3 tried to do (but ultimately…did a very bad job at) in calling Naegi out on this sort of blind, implicit trust, because it’s the same thing that those like Kaede and Momota wanted to do but couldn’t bring themselves to really embrace fully. Trusting people without first doubting or suspecting their motives is, to some degree, just a forfeit of thought. It’s a way of not really trying to get to know them at all, and it’s the reason bad things keep happening.

If too much doubt, suspicion, and paranoia is dangerous, then too much trust is at well, because it’s an unarguable fact that not everyone is going to be at their best in a situation as horrible as a killing game, and that people should therefore be doubted when they’re about to plan something that could get the entire group killed. To put it in Munakata terms, telling everyone to just hold hands and that no one would kill anyone and to trust everyone absolutely with no doubts is just a way of spouting platitudes. (Yes, I’m going to keep making platitudes jokes.)

This kind of thing can and would come back around to bite Naegi, probably. Moreso with how many intentional parallels there are of him with Jin Kirigiri in ndrv3, of all people. Even as a fictional character with no actual connection to the ndrv3 cast, Naegi is very intentionally set up to parallel a character whose ultimate downfall was in being too trusting. His rebuilt Hope’s Peak Academy in the ndrv3 cast’s fake memories mimics Jin Kirigiri’s in almost every way, right down to the cult leader of the Remnants of Despair having accidentally been allowed into the Gopher Plan the same way that Mukuro and Junko were allowed into the Hope’s Peak shelter plan.

Jin Kirigiri’s dislike for the ways in which doubt and suspicion were requirements of being a detective is precisely why he gave up the job and removed himself from the Kirigiri family—and it’s ultimately why he died. I can’t say I foresee Naegi avoiding the same outcome in this scenario, where refusing to doubt gets you killed just as much as refusing to trust does.

The only possible thing in Naegi’s favor though, and the only thing I could see maybe keeping him alive, is that precisely because he is such an embodiment of hope and optimism in the most literal sense of the word, and because he represents such a staple about what the original DR games are about, he might make it through to the end or at least almost the end out of the good graces of Tsumugi’s “mercy,” if you will. If Naegi is the exact thing that the audience wants out of their killing game broadcast, then that’s what they’re going to get, and Tsumugi will bend all rules and cheat like hell to give it to them.

With Naegi around, this begs the question of if Kiibo would still even be an intentional audience proxy or if he’d be given an entirely different personality while serving as cameraman. Kiibo’s “inner voice” that he can hear, which is actually the result of the audience voting and telling him what to do all at once, also bears extreme similarities to Naegi. It’s very clear that the audience wants a Naegi-like protagonist more than anything, because that itself is the whole point of having a hope vs. despair showdown, and if Junko appears in every single season, it would make sense that they’d want at least one character to “be the Naegi,” too. If the real Naegi were there, poor Kiibo would probably suffer quite a few demotions. Basically, Naegi might get to live out of sheer popularity with the audience.

Hinata…now that’s extremely interesting to wonder about. Hinata is extremely complex and well-written in his own right, and is my absolute favorite sdr2 character precisely because he was one of the first characters to succeed in fleshing out the hope vs. despair argument at all. His struggles with self-worth and value in a talent-based society are similar to Saihara’s and the ndrv3 characters’, but also different, and I feel like there’d be a lot of interesting results with having Hinata as the protagonist in this game.

As someone who “can’t remember his own talent,” Hinata as the ndrv3 protagonist would be exceptionally interesting because this time around, the likelihood is that they all are actually completely normal people who never had any talents in the first place. This is still just a theory of course, but if the killing game is some kind of way to dangle talent on a stick and play with the lives of talentless “losers” in a society in which SHSL talents are on the top and people without any are at the very bottom rungs, then Hinata would actually be the best to represent the toll that that sort of sick game takes on normal people.

No one better represents the idea of an individual who has had their self-worth trampled on so much and come to value themselves so little than Hinata, because Kamukura was the ultimate embodiment of what I feel ndrv3 does on a lighter scale. In trying to give Kamukura every single talent imaginable, and making him SHSL Hope, it was a way of saying that normal people, the Hinatas of the world, are extremely worthless. And that’s quite literally what the prologue seems to imply society is like for the ndrv3 characters.

As someone who is ordinary, and who has always been at much more of a middle ground between hope and despair because he was constantly torn between both, Hinata would be much less naïve and blindly trusting than Naegi. Like Saihara, I think he would recognize the need to doubt others in the situation, even if he wasn’t doing so as a detective. And I think his potential for surpassing “the role he was given” and taking charge even when he hardly seemed like the type to do so would interest the other characters, and the audience as well.

The only pitfall Hinata might fall into is with Tsumugi’s remember light in Chapter 5, the one that she used to fool the entire group into thinking they were actually students of Hope’s Peak Academy even though they weren’t, and even though the DR universe is entirely fictional in ndrv3. If Hinata fell for that particular bait hook, line, and sinker, and if he even “remembered” that he was supposed to be SHSL Hope without quite remembering the full extent of the Kamukura Project, he would fall into the hope vs. despair trap very easily at that point even after avoiding it thus far.

And if there were still the big reveal later on about how all their talents are “lies,” and how DR as a whole is a fictional franchise and they never attended Hope’s Peak, the impact this would have on Hinata would probably be far more crushing than on someone like Saihara, who was interested in the pursuit of the truth as a detective, or even than it would on Naegi, who really didn’t think of himself as doing anything particularly special to get into Hope’s Peak in the first place, since he just won a raffle. To someone like Hinata, Hope’s Peak was everyone, and the idea that he was ordinary and miserable and talentless would be absolutely horrifying, precisely because of the way in which SHSLs are this grand unattainable thing that make normal people seem pathetic by comparison.

In sdr2, Nanami remained as a presence of support in order to remind Hinata that he had value as his own person when this reveal happened. But as ndrv3 has a cast that really does lack that fundamental leader figure who trusts in everyone no matter what, it’s hard to tell if there would be anyone around who could actually help Hinata see himself as his own person or someone worthy of respect, or get him to go back into protagonist mode. Tsumugi might very well have a perfect game over by the end, although the audience might not like it too much since it would be one in which “despair” would win.

Anyway, these are just my thoughts on the matter, but it’s really fun to consider! I wouldn’t mind actually seeing this kind of thing in a fanfiction of sorts; it’d be really interesting! I hope I answered it well, and again, I’m sorry for taking so long! I promise I’m never ignoring the messages I get, it just takes me some time to get around to them!

#ndrv3 #dangan ronpa #sdr2 #makoto naegi #hajime hinata #ndrv3 spoilers //#my meta #okay to reblog #this question was so much fun to think about!#it was something i really had to mull over for a while before i could write a response #but i had a lot of fun with it and it was really good food for thought #anonymous

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jinjojess · 8 years

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Jess's Suggestions on DR3

I got a bunch of asks throughout the run of DR3 asking me what I’d change if I were writing it, and I wanted to wait and see how it ended before I said anything.

Now that it’s over, here’s what I would have done with the anime. These are just suggestions, aimed at having the story stay more cohesive. Going to try and keep the constraints in mind, and I'll be limiting myself to only 24 episodes. I’ll admit that it was pretty damn tough, and there’s still issues with my version, but I did my best to offer a more coherent, thematically solid story.

Ideally, I’d have a lot more room to include way more things, and if this were entirely my story I’d probably start from scratch and shift the focus entirely, but in the interest of trying to mend rather than completely rewrite, I did my best. I know some people are going to complain that the things they want aren’t included, but despite that I really want to, there isn’t enough time to make everybody happy.

CAUTION: THIS POST IS EPICALLY LONG!

First, I’m going to assume that we’re keeping both Mirai-hen and Zetsubou-hen. I think that just doing Mirai-hen would have been the safest bet, but that seems like it was one of the few things that Kodaka actually seemed to care about preserving, so I’m going to try and stay loyal to that.

So how do we do that? Simple: we pick a theme and stick with it. Our theme for all of DR3 is going to hit at the heart of what Dangan Ronpa has been pushing since the very beginning: there is always more to people and situations than meets the eye, so a black-and-white worldview is a bad idea. So in DR3, the overarching theme is going to be that extremes in either direction are bad, and balance and cooperation is what wins the day.

So now that we have our themes in place, we know what will inform everything else about the series. For clarity’s sake and so we can see how the arcs are going to work together, I’m going to start with Zetsubou-hen and work forward chronologically.

I think Zetsubou-hen actually starts off fine so I’d keep the first couple episodes pretty much the way they are. I’m not going to list EVERYTHING that would be in the episodes, so certain things, like Yukizome on the phone with Munakata, her having meetings with Sakakura, Jin and Kizakura chatting, Afterlife Theater, etc. just fit in wherever is appropriate. Also of note: after episode 6, the 78th Class kids show up in the background of other scenes. The Zero characters are in the background from the start.

The changes start in the third episode, which is dedicated to the Twilight Syndrome Murder. First of all, we’re not going to center it on Hinata and his feelings about it. There can be a scene or two that contributes to his ultimate decision to become Kamukura, but for the most part it’s about Satou, Natsumi, and the three 77th Class members they’re involved with. I would add a scene where the three of them are wary of each other and it’s ruining the class harmony.

This is the first whiff we get that something is rotten in the state of Denmark. In episode 4 we see some of the classmates (let's say...Sonia, Gundam, and Souda) go to Nanami and Yukizome, saying that they’re concerned about the animosity between Koizumi and Kuzuryuu/Pekoyama. Yukizome then convinces a somewhat unsure Nanami that they have to repair the relationship between the classmates and there’s a goofy sequence centered around getting them to make up. Yukizome is happy with this outcome, and convinces Nanami that this is what the class rep needs to do. They can’t let anyone in the class be sad or upset, and they all have to get along. The B-side of this episode is Hinata coming to the decision to become Kamukura.

My episode 5 is now set a few months later, where it shows that not everything is all feel-good and rainbows, and nothing has really been resolved, the kids are just repressing their negative feelings. For the most part Episode 5 follows a similar vein as the actual Episode 4, where Komaeda is trying to cheer his classmates up and get the practical exams canceled so they can work out their issues stress free. It ties in the backstory of the 76th Class still, and touches ever so slightly on the Hope Drug idea by showing Kimura working on something Yukizome has requested of her.

Episode 6 follows the Despair Sisters’ introduction (mostly unchanged from what we got since that was wonderful) and shows that Hinata’s long transformation into Kamukura has been completed. We get our first glimpse of real Mitarai. The other focus of this episode is on some of the characters who get less attention: Mioda, Owari, and Nidai. The three of them are struggling to keep up with Yukziome’s relentless cheer-mongering, especially Mioda. She tries to organize a rebellion but it ends up being quashed by Nanami.

Episode 7 opens with Yukizome and Sakakura having a discussion, Sakakura accusing her of losing sight of why they’re at the school. Yukizome doesn’t appreciate this insinuation, and she tells Sakakura that she’ll take on the snooping duty to find out more about the Kamukura Project. Sakakura tries to dissuade her, and like the scene after the altercation with Hinata, there’s a nice moment where you see that they two of them are very close friends even if they’re rivals for Munakata’s affections.

The rest of the episode plays out similarly to actual Episode 6, with Junko and Mukuro sneaking in to see Kamukura and sway him to their side, eyeball takoyaki, etc. However, one major change is that there’s yet another fateful meeting in this episode–while fleeing the scene, Junko and Yukizome cross paths. There’s a moment where there’s a spark of antagonism between them, but it’s too dark to really make each other out, and then they both go their separate ways. At the very end of the episode, Junko runs into Mitarai for the first time and realizes that he isn’t the upperclassman she knows going by that name.

Episode 8 starts with Junko learning about Mitarai’s brainwashing capacity. Meanwhile, the 77th Class is trying their best to keep up their happy facade. Sagishi is at the most risk, since he’s worried about Mitarai’s disappearance, and he and Tsumiki try to plan a way to go look for him without raising suspicion. Tsumiki ends up going alone because Nanami catches Sagishi and drags him back to Happy Smile Fun Town. Tsumiki searches for Mitarai, getting picked up by Mukuro and brought to Junko, who lays on the charm. From Tsumiki, Junko learns about Yukizome, who was that teacher she ran into the night she first met Kamukura, and upon hearing about the oppressive regime of compulsory happiness she’s set up, takes an interest in the class. Simultaneously, Yukizome and Sakakura are having a meeting via phone with Munakata, and Yukizome mentions the student she saw the night she was gathering info on Kamukura. Munakata tells the two of them to look into it further and let him know as soon as they identify the student.

Episode 9 is entirely about the student council killing game. If it absolutely had to be, it could be put in as the first half of the episode, but I’d prefer if it had a bit more room to breathe. The pace of the game is a little slower, with a bit more time spent showing the various members before Karen inevitably breaks. Also the motives are clearer and not just a single line and image. Kamukura fills roughly the same role, though in this version he actually tries killing a student to see what it’s like, only to conclude that it’s still boring. Junko watches on from the control room with Protokuma and Mukuro soundtracking the whole thing (this is my pipe dream so in it Toyoguchi sings a bunch of songs from Eva). There are cuts occasionally to the 77th Class trying to hide their concern from Yukizome and Nanami, and to Mitarai hard at work. Tsumiki is also in the control room, and it shows Junko treating her in a sinister, but kind way. The episode ends with Junko taking the video of the killing and telling Matsuda about her plan to send it to the prep school to incite the Parade. We see Matsuda comment it seems that Junko's therapy isn't helping, and his expression shifts to pained, which suggests that the events of Zero are going to take place shortly thereafter.

Episode 10 is set a few weeks later, after the events of Zero (there's a short scene in the beginning of Junko handing off her Ryouko apparel to Mukuro to dispose of). This episode is a parallel of Episode 1, only instead of Yukizome gathering up the class, it’s an episode-long montage of Junko approaching all the remaining non-Nanami 77th Class members and telling them she’s got what they’re aching for. They’re all so beaten down from Nanami and Yukizome’s overbearing control that they readily go along with Junko and watch the video. We see that the video stimulates their negative emotions and basically transmits despair directly into them, which is such a relief from their repression that they eat it up and quickly become addicts. When they return to the class, they play along, knowing that Junko will give them their fix if they need it, and starting to assert themselves more. It’s worth noting that Komaeda is trying to convince himself that he’s only going so that he can investigate and figure out how to topple Junko in the name of hope.

The Parade is shown to have evolved from a demonstration to a full-on riot.

Episode 11 covers how Yukizome and Nanami are trying to get control over the class again in the midst of the Parade-induced chaos and failing. The entire 77th Class doesn’t show up one day, prompting Yukizome and Nanami to go looking for them. While searching, Nanami ends up stumbling into a trap and wakes up in the death maze, which the 77th Class has been building for Junko over the last several days. A recording of Junko taunts Nanami, saying that she was played for a fool by Yukizome, but if she makes it all the way to the end, she can help her precious friends. Nanami makes it all the way to the end after being beaten mercilessly, only to discover that the ones torturing her in the maze were her own classmates, feeding their rage from being under her thumb into physically hurting her. She drops Yukizome’s happy-at-all-costs ideaology and begs for her life, but the class is already too far gone and they execute her instead.

Meanwhile, Junko herself locates Yukizome, and begins taunting her, saying that she was a horrible teacher who let her students fall into despair. Yukizome tries to blame Junko instead, but Junko shows her the video footage of the rest of the class executing Nanami out of revenge and it’s enough to break Yukizome’s spirit. At this moment Junko tells her that this is how you truly show your love, isn’t it? Doesn’t Yukizome have people she loves in her life? Doesn’t she want to share this exquisite pain with them and grow closer? Her therapist once told her that it's important to show that you care for people, or else they won't know.

A short time later, Sakakura finds Yukizome on campus and worriedly asks what happened. Yukizome says that it’s all her fault, and now because of Enoshima, Munakata will be next. This infuriates Sakakura, who tracks Junko down and announces that he’ll expose what she’s doing to Munakata and then the world. Before he can attack her though, Mukuro shoots him with a paralyzing agent and we get essentially the same outing that we got in the anime, minus the huge conspicuous group of prep school retainers. Mitarai also finally realizes the weight of what he’s been accessory to as the result of his own selfishness, and Junko taunts him as he runs off.

There’s a short after-credits scene of Fujisaki and Gekkougahara working at the behest of the headmaster on what was originally their joint practical exam project. Fujisaki tries to keep the mood light, asking if his AI version of Nanami is enough like the real thing. Gekkougahara distractedly nods, then comments after a pause that this would be much easier if Matsuda were there, leading into an awkward silence. Then Fujisaki remarks that if this doesn't work, the only plan left is to shut themselves up inside the school. Gekkougahara looks upset, muttering that she refuses to fail again.

Now onto Mirai-hen. Again, I think the first episode was perfectly fine for setting up the conflict and setting the stage for the coming killing game, so we’ll leave that alone. One thing I want to get across is that Sakakura and Yukizome seem to be not on the best terms. The audience is supposed to notice this and throughout the series wonder why–they seem so close in Zetsubou-hen, why not here? Is it Munakata? And then you later realize it’s the Junko thing. Also there’s a scene of Yukizome and Munakata together talking about the future, and Yukizome remarks that it's important to show you care for people, or else they won't know.

Anyway, throughout this imagine there’s various short Hagakure-on-the-outside shots spliced in through these episodes.

Episode 2 is mostly the same except for a few major changes. First, there’s a rule in place that you CANNOT share your NG Code or else your bracelet will inject you with poison as if you’d broken it. This solves the issue of “why the fuck didn’t anyone just tell people their damn NG Code and avoid accidental triggers?”

Second, Naegi tries to take charge of the situation, citing that he, Kirigiri, and Asahina are all experienced with games like this. Munakata asks him what he intends to do, but Naegi doesn’t have a concrete answer; he just says that they’ll “find a way.” This isn’t enough for Munakata, who says that they need to have a realistic plan if they’re going to get out alive. He gives the speech about how if Naegi loves hope, he’ll kill himself right now to end the game, since Monokuma mentioned that this was supposed to be a showdown between Naegi and him.

Naegi argues back that there’s no need for anyone to die and Munakata asks how exactly he can guarantee that. Things are getting heated, and Sakakura is about to get involved, but Bandai calls out asking him to stop. When Sakakura asks why, he says that he can’t witness vio–and then he dies of poison. That sends a shockwave through everyone, and in the ensuing confusion, Asahina drags Naegi out of the room to flee. Then the rest of the episode pretty much goes how it went in canon. Asahina manages to figure out Naegi’s NG Code on her own given by how determined he is not to run while they’re in the hallway. They figure out that you can say someone else’s forbidden action aloud and wordlessly confirm or deny it without penalty. Then they hook up with Gekkougahara and continue on as the episode went pretty much.

We’ll throw Kodaka a bone and keep the tomato sauce fake out death for now.

Episode 3 starts off checking in with Naegi’s party and showing that Asahina is still alive. Gozu is also alive for the time being, though he seems agitated and anxious to find out who the victim of the time limit was. He briefly leaves the party and promises to find them later.

Meanwhile, Kirigiri wakes up and finds that Tengan has fallen victim to the attacker. Mitarai is shocked and horrified, and we get some backstory from him about his relationship with Tengan, and how the old man rescued him from a group of adult thugs who had cornered him in an alley (Grandpa Danger can get his fight on in flashbacks) and offered him a spot at Kibougamine. He mentions that Tengan ALSO scouted him for the Future Foundation, rescuing him in a similar way from Remnants of Despair. Kirigiri observes that Tengan was like a father figure to Mitarai, and he says yeah, he kind of was. She then begins investigating.

In this episode, we learn Kirigiri’s NG Code, which in my version is letting all of the original six survivors of Junko’s game live past the fourth time limit. She checks her own bracelet to read it, then continues with her investigation, noting aloud that this is the second official time limit of the game.

We also get a chance to check in with the 76th Class, where Andou is trying to convince Kimura to join the organization she’s trying to form. Kimura is hesitant, citing that she’s surprised to hear that Andou wants to work with her given their past, but Andou insists that it’s all water under the bridge now.

This episode ends with Naegi going to the broadcasting room to contact everyone over the PA and tell them to all gather in the main hall to decide what to do. Munakata has the exchange with Sakakura and then catches Naegi alone. They have the same conversation they have in the actual anime, where Munakata calls him out on not really understanding suffering.

Episode 4 has Gozu join back up with Asahina and Gekkougahara, shaken but seeming better than before he left. Before Asahina can ask what’s wrong, Munakata announces that he’s going to execute Naegi in the main lobby, so they go to rescue him. Meanwhile, Kirigiri looks at her bracelet again, looks conflicted, but then sees Asahina and the others rushing by down the hall toward the main lobby. She takes a deep breath, mutters a good luck to them, and continues on toward the room with Yukizome’s body in it. There, they find Kizakura hanging around, just like in the actual anime, and he unofficially joins their group.

In this version, Gozu is the one who physically stands in the way of Munakata. He allows Asahina, Naegi, and Gekkougahara a chance to escape, and once they’re gone, he accuses Munakata of killing Tengan. Munakata seems surprised that Tengan was the victim, given his fighting ability, and suggests that Gozu perhaps was the one who killed him. This pushes Gozu over the edge and they start to fight to the death.

Episode 5 is mostly the fight between Munakata and Gozu, with them arguing about how the Future Foundation was being run. Munakata says that Tengan was going soft in his old age, considering letting Naegi slide on harboring the 77th Class grads, while Gozu insists that Tengan always did the right thing. At one point Sakakura shows up and tries to join in the fight but Munakata refuses to let him help, so he instead goes after Naegi’s group. Eventually the floor gives way under the two of them.

Mirroring this, we have the 76th Class starting to get more heated with each other. Andou reveals that she knows full well that old man Tengan had Kimura make a Hope Drug that would erase all negative feelings a human might have, and that the only reason they didn’t use it was because he and Munakata decided they wanted a clearer idea of how it worked. She needles Kimura, saying she wants to use it, right? She wants to be useful, right? Well, Andou won’t let Kimura’s talents atrophy like Tengan or Munakata would. Kimura gets defensive, saying that Munakata did so much for her after getting kicked out of Kibougamine. Andou asks why she trusts Munakata over someone she’s known her entire life, and their argument escalates to a full-on fight.

There’s a scene where Sakakura chases down Naegi’s group and Asahina fights him off, with help from Gekkougahara. She sends Naegi and Asahina off to give them a head start and slow Sakakura down. He manages to kick in Gekkougahara’s screen though, badly damaging Monomi. The episode closes on Monomi cutting to and from static, her voice changing to Monoka’s. The final scene is of Monaka muttering to herself about how she’s going to need a few minutes to fix this up.

Episode 6 opens on Kirigiri’s group investigating Yukizome’s body. We get a few shots of Kirigiri looking irritated at Kizakura’s small talk, and she seems ready to snap at him when he mentions that he values friendship above all else, but he guesses Kirigiri must be different. Meaningful close-up of both her bracelet and her glove.

Next it cuts to Munakata and Gozu, who are lying broken and exhausted in the rubble a floor down. Gozu is impaled as Tengan was. Munakata insists through panting that he will stop this game as soon as possible and eradicate all despair, no matter the stakes. Gozu asks him if he really means that. Munakata asks what he means, and Gozu replies that he has followed Tengan faithfully since the Future Foundation was formed, because he truly believed that it was doing the right thing. But lately…he’s not so sure anymore. He asks Munakata what he’d do if his back was against the wall and he had to make a really difficult choice. Munakata says he’d do what was best for the greater good and Gozu chuckles, asking what about scenarios where the greater good is questionable?

He asks Munakata to come closer and take off his mask. With great pain, Munakata does so, and the now bare-faced Gozu looks at him and tells him that Tengan made a deal with Despair, giving them free reign in certain areas in order to ensure certain other ones remained safe. Munakata is horrified by this; Tengan was cooperating with Despair? Gozu says that at first it’s hard to understand but it makes sense–their organization is strong, but Despair is all-encompassing. Compromise was necessary. How did Munakata think the Future Foundation was able to develop certain areas so quickly and return them to some semblance of normalcy? Everything they manage to do is the result of this tenuous truce between Future and Despair.

Munakata is clearly at the point where he’s having a crisis over this information. But, don’t they retake new areas? No, Gozu says, they don’t. They just develop the areas that they are assigned by the agreement between Tengan and Despair. But what about the 13th Branch, doesn’t it do relief work in still-despairified areas? Then Gozu laughs and coughs up blood–does Munakata know what the 13th Branch Head really does? It’s not relief efforts…it’s negotiating with Remnants of Despair and doing upkeep of the agreement. Sometimes they manage to expand their borders of their control a bit, but in general if they do that, there’s a price to pay in another area they control. Sometimes the 13th Branch Head will negotiate a shift in borders, to make the general populace think that new places are being rescued, but in reality the balance is rarely disturbed. Most of her branch has no idea, simply providing aid to border areas.

Munakata stumbles backward, tripping in the rubble and falling down. Gozu apologizes, saying that he knows it seems pretty awful, but at least this way some people are saved. An all out war doesn’t always do anything more than cause more casualties. Munakata crawls away, leaving Gozu to bleed out, and goes to shut himself up somewhere to process this information.

There’s a short scene where Gekkougahara, her Monomi program now repaired, joins Asahina and Naegi again. They greet her happily, though Gekkougahara doesn’t let Asahina pat her head. The next time limit is about to be up, so they need to hole up somewhere–they can’t wait for Gozu anymore.

The last part of the episode follows Class 76. Izayoi and Kimura are fighting, while Andou insists that her organization will be better. Though she slips in a few passive aggressive remarks about what a favor she’s doing Kimura by asking for her help, Kimura senses a hint of sincerity in her words and stops fighting for a moment. She tells Andou that she’ll consider helping, but she wants to consult Munakata first. At that, Andou panics, saying that he can’t know about her plans to make her own organization, and calls Kimura a traitor again, but Kimura promises that she won’t say anything about Andou’s plans–she just wants his opinion on the Hope Drug once and for all. Andou agrees to let her go so long as she promises to come right back.

Kimura manages to find Munakata in the closed room where he’s having his breakdown, though before she can ask him about anything, the time limit is up and they all fall asleep. The final shot of the episode is Kimura’s dead body across the threshold, the Hope Drug no longer in her hand.

Episode 7 can still be set in Touwa City, but it isn’t about Komaru and Fukawa hunting down Monaka, it’s about Fukawa and Komaru growing concerned about the lack of communication from the others. Fukawa tries to contact Kirigiri but gets no response, and then she happily contacts Togami instead. He’s grumpy about it but she insists she tried Kirigiri first. Togami then tries to contact the rest of the Future Foundation, but finds he can’t get through either.

Togami announces that he’s going to head directly to the site of the hearing to investigate, and tells Fukawa and Komaru to do recon within the city. The two of them join up with the remaining Warriors of Hope (who report that Monaka is nowhere to be found in the city) to fight off various monokuma/adults/Monokuma Kids, before hijacking various signals the FF uses looking for information. They stumble onto an unlisted channel where they overhear that Munakata ordered troops to head to Jabberwock Island and firebomb it.

Alarmed, Komaru tells Fukawa that they have to do something. Fukawa tries to brush it off, saying that they don’t owe the 77th Class anything, but Komaru shows her true Naegi side and insists. Fukawa relents because she knows Komaru can’t make the journey alone, and they leave the fate of Touwa City in the hands of the former Warriors of Hope. There’s even a scene where they hand the controller over to Kotoko to show that they trust her, as a callback to the end of DR:AE.

Next we get a scene of Naegi, Gekkougahara, and Asahina waking up to see they’re all fine. Naegi has just had a nightmare about facing Junko again. They worry a bit about Kirigiri and Gozu, and Asahina gets a whole scene to show her grief over her brother’s death. Naegi tries to help her, saying that it’s okay, but Asahina has a moment where she loses her temper with him and says that it’s easy for him to say that–his sister is still alive and well. This is the first instance of Naegi starting to realize that he doesn’t have the answer to everyone’s problems, and that maybe Munakata was right and he doesn’t understand what everyone is going through.

Because I don’t feel any responsibility to mimic the first game’s murders for the millionth time, we’re then going to cut to Andou and Izayoi in the library. Andou is distraught because Kimura hasn’t returned yet, and she’s convinced that she’s been betrayed again. She asks Izayoi what they’re going to do, and he tries to comfort her. He gets up and starts to move a bookcase to make a blockade and discovers the “secret exit”. Excited, he shows Andou, who for a moment looks shocked, but then seems happy. She congratulates Izayoi and tells him to come celebrate with some candy. He declines awkwardly and Andou’s smile stretches just a bit too far to be natural.

The final scene cuts to Kirigiri, waking up and staring at her own bracelet. Kizakura walks over to her and tries to talk to her, mentioning that he’s no detective, but he used to know a guy who knew a detective, so he can figure out a thing or two; he can tell she’s upset. Kirigiri is chilly to him, but they manage to have a conversation about how important it is to protect people you love.

There’s an after-credits scene of the boats pulling up to Jabberwock Island, with five blurred figures watching in the foreground from a cliff.

Episode 8 opens with a scene set on Jabberwock again, showing initial volleys of artillery being shot into various locales you’d recognize from the game (though dilapidated, since this is the real world vs. the Shinsekai Program). The final location is the only up-to-date facility in the islands–on the center one where the Future Foundation building has been built. There’s a quick, dialogue-less scene of the SDR2 survivors frantically trying to attach mobile life support systems to the pods while the building is shaking and crumbling around them.

This segues into a flashback about Kizakura trying to get into Kibougamine to rescue the DR1 cast, creating a parallel of rescue attempts. It goes the same as it does in the actual anime.

Team Kirigiri investigates Kimura’s body and while they do so, Kirigiri notes that it looks like something was taken from her hand. She also assesses the bloodstains in the room. Mitarai asks if the bloodstains will lead them to who took whatever Kimura had been holding, and Kirigiri simply says that it will lead them to something, all right. Kizakura appears none too pleased to follow the blood trail, noting that it’s very likely that it’s a trap, but Kirigiri repeats the line from DR1 and DRK about how you have to face danger if you’re going to find the truth.

Besides, she adds as the camera focuses on her jacket cuff, there isn’t much time left. Kizakura looks distrubed by that comment but says nothing as they start to follow the trail.

Meanwhile, Asahina has regained her composure, and says that she’s not going to die here–Sakura-chan and Yuuta would never let her hear the end of it if that happened. She’s the one to get Naegi to chin up, and tells him that maybe they should try to find Kirigiri to get an idea of what to do. Naegi and Monomi agree that this seems like a good idea.

Cue Sakakura. He bursts in through the door, bellowing bloody murder and wielding some kind of hilarious improvised weapon. Naegi’s group realize that they’re trapped, and Gekkougahara’s chair doesn’t seem to be responding no matter what she types. Monomi starts wailing about how it’s all over. Asahina steps up to fight Sakakura off again, but he is furious right now so he ends up disarming Asahina and smashing her elbow with whatever weapon he’s using, winding up to kick her. Asahina closes her eyes and grits her teeth, a few flashes of Sakura and Yuuta going through her mind…

But the blow doesn’t come. There’s a shot from Asahina’s POV and she opens her eyes to see Kizakura crouched on the ground, coughing. He makes some kind of glib comment about how Sakakura probably could make a living as a kick-boxer if he really wanted to, and he shakily gets to his feet, taking a swig from his flask.

The others are shocked to see him, and even more shocked when Mitarai runs in a second later. Mitarai sees Asahina and Naegi, and turns to yell for Kirigiri to come see, but she isn’t there. He’s confused–he thought she was right behind them. Sakakura shakes off his shock at being foiled, realizes that Kirigiri is alone, and decides to go after her. Kizakura obviously follows.

The others want to follow too but Asahina cries out at how badly her arm hurts. Naegi gingerly touches it and says that he can’t believe she defended him like that. Asahina says of course she did, they’re friends. Naegi frowns, saying that Sakakura was really there to hurt him, and Asahina got hurt instead. It seems like that happens a lot–someone else has to take the brunt of pain for his sake. Look at what Komaru had to go through, even. Is he even really helping anyone? Maybe Munakata was right–he can only help people if things are set up in a way to allow for it. The way things are going now, he’s not going to be able to do anything and people are going to die.

Asahina reassures him that he can still help people, he maybe just needs to be a little more hands on. He mentioned that Yukizome told him before to try to understand Munakata’s point of view, right? Naegi dejectedly says yeah, sure. He and Mitarai decide to stay in the room with Asahina while Gekkougahara goes to look for medical supplies.

The next scene cuts to Kirigiri desperately trying to calm her breathing and stumbling onto Andou seemingly sobbing over Izayoi’s body in the library. Andou suddenly grabs the knife sticking out of Izayoi’s heart and attacks Kirigiri with a wide, Junko-esque grin on her face. Kirigiri parries her clumsy blows easily, using her self-defense knowledge to throw her onto the sofa in the room. Andou laughs uncontrollably when Kirigiri asks her what that was about, saying “Isn’t it great? He didn’t care! He didn’t even care!” before going off into another peel of giggles.

Kirigiri quickly ascertains what happened and asks Andou what was in the container Kimura had been holding. Andou declares happily that it was the Hope Drug old man Tengan commissioned. Kirigiri’s eyes widen for a moment, but then she goes back into reasoning mode and begins putting the pieces together.

Kizakura jogs into the room at that point, takes one look at Izayoi’s body and Andou, and asks Kirigiri what the hell is going on. She begins to explain and it segues into a flashback, where Andou is in a rough spot because Izayoi has found an exit but her NG Code forbids anyone from leaving the game arena, but she can’t tell him that. So instead, to buy time, she says she’s going to go look for Kimura, because they can’t leave without her. While wandering around the building trying to come up with a solution to this problem, Andou finds Kimura’s body and the mysterious drug. She knows it’s the Hope Drug and knows that if she gets Izayoi to drink it, he won’t mind being murdered, so she gets it, comes back, and kisses Izayoi to get him to drink it. This triggers Izayoi’s NG Code (she points out the purplish tinge to Izayoi’s wrist and the fact that his face is covered). This would give away Andou immediately, so she stabbed him with the knife from Kimura’s body to make it look like he had been killed by the Attacker.

Out of the flashback, Andou is still heaving with laughter, saying that Munakata didn’t even stop for the Hope Drug, he just left it there. Kizakura looks disturbed by all of this, but still doesn’t say anything.

Elsewhere, Sakakura is desperately running through the halls, growing increasingly frustrated. He catches a glimpse of Munakata shuffling down a long hallway, and he brightens up, taking off after him, calling for him to wait up.

There’s a few extremely quick scenes of what’s going on on the outside to close out the episode–Hagakure being clueless, Togami organizing troops--including the living Touwa captives--to go on the rescue mission, Fukawa and Komaru on their dinky boat headed toward Jabberwock, Munakata’s troops invading the island by foot and tromping through the areas we saw in the opening, before surrounding the FF building on the central island.

Episode 9 begins with a flashback to Sakakura’s and Munakata’s first meeting. Yukizome, who has already decided to be Sakakura’s friend without his input, introduces them. Munakata seems perfectly nice and friendly to Sakakura, who is being the biggest emo tsun ever, muttering that he’ll scare Munakata off like all the other people who try to be his friend. Yukizome cheerfully reminds him that she hasn’t gone anywhere yet, and tells him that Kyousuke is special–he appreciates people for who they are and what they do rather than their reputation--he'll try to become friends with just about anyone (this is a parallel with Naegi). Sakakura huffs at this, but Munakata tells him with a smile that Yukizome doesn't normally recommend people to him so highly, so he hopes they can be good friends.

Cut to present day Sakakura, scrambling after Munakata down the hallway. He finally catches up, finding Munakata facing away from him, sword limply in hand. “We failed, Sakakura,” he says, “all of us.” Sakakura argues that it isn’t true, and if anyone can turn this situation around, it’s Munakata. He’s Sakakura’s hope and he always has been. Munakata smiles ruefully and tells him that he should hitch his wagon to someone else before he ends up like Yukizome.

Sakakura takes a deep breath, deciding that this is The Moment, but stops himself before he can get the words out. There’s a split second flashback to Sakakura lying on the ground with Junko taunting him, and he just freezes. “It’s fine, Sakakura,” Munakata says in a tired monotone. “You’ve done enough.” Sakakura interprets this as a chance for him to do something right and prove that Munakata really does know best. Maybe if he can demonstrate that he’s useful…

He tells Munakata to leave it to him and he dashes off down the hallway with renewed purpose. If he can just take out Naegi and his friends, then Munakata will be okay.

Back in the library, Kirigiri dramatically de-hoods Izayoi–and finds that his face is completely unaffected by poison. Startled, she takes a step or two back. Andou’s laughter has segued into sobs now, though she’s still repeating “He didn’t care! He didn’t even care!”

Kizakura goes to open his mouth but Sakakura once again bursts through the door. He begins to fight Kirigiri and Kizakura, though Sakakura’s raw determination starts to wear them both down. Things escalate to the point where Kizakura is lying on the floor with the wind knocked out of him and Kirigiri is crouching, pinned against the brick wall behind the "secret exit" door she just pried open. So wild with the thought of being victorious and doing good by Munakata, Sakakura winds up to punch Kirigiri in the back of the head (which would for sure kill her in addition to triggering his NG code), but Kizakura reaches out with his left hand and picks up the knife Andou dropped, stabbing it into Sakakura’s ankle. This throws Sakakura off balance and sends him to the floor.

“You don’t understand!” Sakakura roars, “I have to make this right!” Kizakura offers a sad grin and answers “Me too.” Sakakura is left groaning on the ground, defeated once again. Kizakura convulses a few times as the poison courses through him, and then lies still. Kirigiri stares at the scene, breathing hard.

“You were wrong,” Andou croaks from the sofa. “You got it wrong.” She begins her account of what happened between her and Izayoi, which once again segues into a flashback. Apparently it was Izayoi who wanted to find Kimura before they left–he had always felt badly about the falling out and wanted to see Andou and her best friend make up so she would be happy again. He talks it over with Andou and he urges that she should be the one to go look for Kimura. While searching, Andou is having all kinds of paranoid thoughts–she knows she has to stop Izayoi from leaving somehow without sharing her NG Code, but how? Maybe Kimura has some kind of antidote she can take beforehand to counteract the poison? She could probably find a way to ask about that without violating the Codes.

Then she finds Kimura’s dead body. Presented with this, Andou has more of a mental breakdown. It’s really over now. She and Kimura will really never make up and repair their friendship. And what is she going to tell Izayoi? How is she going to get him to stop trying to get her out once he finds out that Kimura has been killed? He’d stop at nothing to keep her safe but his attempts will set off her NG Code. She might…have to kill him… Andou tears up at the idea of it, and says no, she wouldn’t be able to bring herself to do that. Unless…she notices that the Hope Drug is still in Kimura’s hand.

Back in the library, she tearfully tells Izayoi the news and he is also upset. He starts to pry the doors to the exit open, and Andou downs the Hope Drug. Because it isn’t completely refined, the effects are a bit wonky, and she immediately feels lightheaded and strange. Izayoi notices and comes over to steady her, and she leans up to kiss him, following the plan to have him take it too. Izayoi only swallows a drop or two but his NG Code begins to activate. This brings Andou back to herself for a moment and she realizes the weight of what she’s done, but Izayoi reassures her that it’s okay and he understands. However, Andou doesn’t want to see him suffer through the poison, and she grabs the knife she took from Kimura’s body and drives it into his heart to mercy kill him.

“Do you even know what it’s like? Intentionally sacrificing someone you love to save yourself?” Andou asks through her sobbing. Kirigiri has a PTSD flashback to a raging fire and a shadowy silohuette of, naturally, Samidare. She inhales sharply and powerwalks out of the library, intent on finding Naegi and Asahina.

Episode 10 starts off with Fukawa and Komaru arriving at Jabberwock and seeing the warships moored at the dock. Fukawa begins to get nervous, suggesting that they wait for backup, but Komaru insists that there’s no time and convinces her to help.

Komaru and Fukawa sneak onto the island and skulk around without trying to alert the Future Foundation soldiers, using the skills they honed avoiding monokuma in Touwa City. They make it to the building that houses the Shinsekai Program.

Then the scene cuts to Munakata, who is standing over Yukizome’s body, looking upset. He stabs his sword into her and adjusts his pocket, then stands up to see Sakakura limp into the room. Sakakura apologizes for not taking out Naegi or any of his cohorts, but Munakata doesn’t seem to be listening. He brusquely tells Sakakura that they have to get going, retrieves his sword, and they leave the room.

Next is a scene of Togami and the Touwa City captives rendezvousing with Hagakure. Hiroko has a joyful, humorous reunion with her son. They begin to inspect the building.

Kirigiri reunites with her friends and Mitarai. Naegi and Asahina are overjoyed to see her, but Kirigiri can tell that Naegi is looking down. She tries to cheer him up by saying that she’s onto something, holding up her notebook, and says that he and Asahina should take a look later. Naegi senses that something’s off about her, but Kirigiri insists that she’s fine. At one point she holds both his and Asahina’s hands without her gloves and tells that that despite everything, she’s glad to know them. This sets off all kinds of red flags for Naegi, who is about to ask her what that’s about when she says that it’s almost the time limit and they all have to take their places. They all find spots to lie down and the gas starts to go off. Kirigiri closes her eyes, smiles, and says she’ll always be with them. As she dozes off, Samidare’s face comes into full view and she thinks “Yui…oneesama…” before it cuts to black.

While this is going on, Sakakura is walking ahead of Munakata in the hallway, talking more about how sorry he is. Munakata stops, pulls something out of his pocket, looks at it, and then looks at Sakakura. “Did you know?” he asks. Sakakura hesitates, thinking he means did he know that Junko was behind it all, and freezes. Then he releases a slow breath and says, Yeah, he did. Munakata delivers a somewhat wavering “I see.” Sakakura pauses again, as if to turn around but doesn’t, and says that he has something else to confess. He should have said something sooner, and he’ll understand if Munakata doesn’t want anything to do with him anymore after–

Munakata’s sword goes right through his chest. In too much pain to speak, Sakakura chokes and falls to his knees, then the floor. Munakata is visibly upset, but trying very hard to keep it together as he stiffly walks away to find a place to spend the time limit.

Meanwhile, Togami’s rescue team sets off a bomb that makes the building collapse, pretty much the same as how it went down in the actual anime.

Mean-meanwhile, the Jabberwock survivors are trying to sneak their comatose friends out of the building. They have lots of near misses, but it seems to be going well, until Hinata drops to his knees and hisses in pain, holding his head. The other survivors look sympathetic but panicked, trying to reassure him while also not calling attention to the guards. Someone observes that if they can just get to the dock, they can take a boat and escape. You see that they pep tlak each other but try to be cautious of not being too overly positive. They try to keep their comments realistic.

After taking a rest so Hinata can collect himself, they get to the main entrance hall and it seems like they’re home free. However, soliders appear and surround them. Owari wants to fight, but her body is too weak from starving herself. Kuzuryuu’s depth perception is messed up from his missing eye. Souda isn’t a fighter. Sonia hoists a gun, but she can’t take on all of these soldiers alone. Hinata says he’ll help, and he stands up, trying to concentrate, but the others tell him no. They’ll die together if that’s what it takes, but they won’t let Hinata let go of himself. Hinata looks back at them with a smile and ends up having another migrane that forces him to his knees.

Cue Sho laughter. Scissors fly out and knock weapons out of the soldeirs’ hands as they stand there, stunned. The survivors don’t know what’s going on, until Sho appears and stands before them. Whispers ripple through the soldiers about “Isn’t that Genocider Sho? She’s with Despair? I never trusted her” and so on. Sho laughs and tells them to get moving, and the confused survivors see Komaru waving them over to an unguarded hallway. Someone asks Sho if she can take all of these guards on her own and she shrugs, saying “Guess we’ll find out!” before leaping back into the fray.

Komaru gets the survivors and the comatose kids outside. There’s heavy fire and sounds of a heated battle coming from inside. Komaru pauses for a moment to look in that direction, concerned, saying “Touko-chan…” Then she runs off with the others.

Back at the killing game, Kirigiri suddenly wakes up. She sits up, seeing everyone else in her party still asleep. Checking her wrist, she sees that her bracelet no longer displays her NG Code. After checking to make sure that Naegi and Asahina are safe, she takes a deep breath and closes her eyes for a moment. She knows what this means. There’s a hint of resignation on her face, because she’s getting awfully tired of other people dying for her.

However, this is an unexpected boon. She's just confirmed that the mastermind must be alive and in contact with the outside world--if both Naegi and Asahina are safe, the mastermind must have shut off her bracelet manually after hearing that one of the other three survivors on the outside has died. Kirigiri realizes that without the bracelet she can't be put to sleep or tracked, so she can now investigate without restraint. She leaves a note for her friends, but can’t make it too obvious what she's up to. The one behind it all surely knows she's alive, but not what she's doing or where she is. If Naegi and Asahina know Kirigiri's investigating, they'll not stop until they find her so they can help, and she needs to stay under the mastermind's radar. Instead, she leaves a message saying “Don't look for me." After another glance at her sleeping friends, she adds "I’ll always be with you” before heading off to further look into a hunch.

After she leaves, the others wake up to find her gone and her cryptic note. Naegi, who was feeling uneasy about this prior to the time limit, is even more alarmed. He's had another vivid dream about their last stand against Junko, her wild laugh following him even back into the waking world. He and Asahina decide to go look for Kirigiri in spite of the message, but Gekkougahara returns at this point and Monomi mentions that she’s so sorry about their friend. The others are unsure what that means, and Monomi says that she just got done hacking into the system to find out what everyone’s NG Codes were–Mitarai is obviously nervous at hearing this, but no one notices because Monomi goes on to say that Kirigiri’s was letting the other survivors live past the fourth time limit.

Cut to Monaka eating a sundae, remarking to herself that duh, Kirigiri is still alive, but these schmoes don't need to know that. 'Sides, she isn't lying; one of their friends really did just die.

This news crushes both Naegi and Asahina (Monaka enjoying their grief), and they look at the note Kirigiri left for them. Naegi wonders aloud why Kirigiri wouldn’t stay and Monomi muses that she probably didn’t want them to find her scarred, poisoned body. Asahina bursts into tears at this point, and Naegi leaves the room, citing that he’s going to look for Kirigiri’s body. He won’t let someone important to him be alone like that. The others try to stop him, but he marches off anyway.

As he walks he grows increasingly upset, tears starting to fall as he continues down the hallways. The episode ends with him crossing paths with Munakata.

Episode 11 begins with Munakata and Naegi meeting in the hallway. Naegi flashes back to earlier in the series, when Munakata told him it would be best if he killed himself, realizing that if he had, Kirigiri would still be alive right now. Letting out a yell, Naegi walks up to Munakata and begins slamming his fists into his chest, yelling about how Munakata was right this whole time, and he shouldn’t be alive when so many other people are dead. Munakata stands there and takes this wordlessly, and when Naegi finally pauses to gasp for breath, he gently lowers Naegi’s fists and says “Let’s talk.”

I haven’t been pointing out the themes very much during this but here I think it’s important–it’s supposed to show that Naegi is being decisively active like Munakata normally is, while Munakata is being passive like Naegi normally is.

Back in the other group, Mitarai shakily asks Monomi if she really has ALL the NG Codes. Monomi cheerfully replies that yup, she sure does! E-Even his? Of course! Asahina is distraught, but she notices how suspicious Mitarai is acting, and decides to keep an eye on him.

Back with Munakata and Naegi, Munakata throws some photos on the table, and explains that Yukizome had been with despair this entire time, and the preschool incident from the actual anime gets a short flashback. He tells Naegi that he gets it now–this entire game was all Yukizome’s doing to get him to despair. He flashes back to episode one, with Yukizome saying that it's important to show someone that you love them. This is how she was showing her love. Sakakura knew Yukizome was in despair and yet didn't say anything, because he too was in on it.

Naegi is about to say he understands, when he remembers the conversation he had with Asahina earlier about their siblings. He realizes that the pressure of symbolizing everyone’s hope has been affecting him, and because he’s been so focused on living up to the title, he’s forgotten how to really connect with people. Instead of trying to give advice or say he knows what Munakata is going through, Naegi just goes and sits by him, offering to listen. This seems to help somewhat, as it lets Munakata get out his frustration over Yukizome’s (and in his mind, Sakakura’s) betrayal. Naegi says that it seems like they both loved Munakata very much.

This not only makes Munakata feel better, but Naegi too. Kirigiri cared for him and Asahina enough to give up her life for them–he should be grateful for having known someone that selfless.

He tells Munakata that he thinks that Yukizome wasn’t in despair all the time–after all she gave him a very good piece of advice once about how they should cooperate and synchronize their hopes. Munakata starts to be self-depricating about being too controlling with his own version of hope, and Naegi admits that he’s been guilty of that as well. That’s why they need to work together, and keep each other in check.

They go back to rejoin the others, and Asahina reports that she found another note on the back of Kirigiri’s original one, saying that the secret probably lies in the monitors.

The first part of Episode 12 is set some time later, near the next time limit. They agree to have Naegi test out the monitor, and it goes down almost the same as in the anime, except that after Naegi sees his dead classmates, he stumbles backwards and trips over Mukuro’s body, falling into a deep hole ala the trash chute. When he hits the bottom, he hears Junko’s voice, distorted and terrifying around him, saying he’s such a good little hope boy, saving her minions. A huge, twisted version of Junko appears before Naegi, asking “So why didn’t you bother to try and save me?”

Naegi screams, suddenly surrounded by his classmates again, begging him to join them. It’s what he deserves, after all. Then Naegi goes to stab himself with the knife like in the anime, but he gets jolted out of his trance by Kirigiri.

For a moment he thinks he’s dead and begins to cry and beg for forgiveness, but Kirigiri tells him there’s no time. This has just confirmed her guess about the monitors and they need to smash all of them before it’s too late.

They both reconnect with the others, Asahina catching Kirigiri in a huge, bone-crushing hug. Kirigiri quickly explains how the monitors work, and they go around smashing them.

While this is happening, Mitarai slinks off, clutching his phone in his hands. He mutters to himself that he’ll die doing it, but it needs to be done. This madness has to stop. Asahina has followed him, and asks what he’s up to. Mitarai responds that he’s saving everyone and making up for his past mistakes. Asahina’s about to ask what the hell he means by that when Andou walks up behind her and answers: it’s a Hope Video, made by request of Tengan. Mitarai looks shocked, but Andou explains that since she knew about the Hope Drug Kimura was commissioned to make, she figured there were probably other people whose talents Tengan was looking to use as well.

She has a moment where she gets upset over the fact that he didn’t approach her, but she manages to calm herself down and instead she turns to Mitarai, telling him that this isn’t the answer. She tried this route by taking the Hope Drug and all it did was make her kill someone she loved. No negative emotions means no grief, no hesitation, no worry or concern. Even if it hurts, she wants to remember Izayoi, even Kimura, as long as she lives. There is a purpose in the pain.

This seems to get through to Mitarai and he agrees to hold off on the Hope Video, quietly apologizing to Tengan.

The survivors meet up in the main lobby, and Kirigiri begins her “this is whodunnit” thing, saying that she knows who the mastermind is. Munakata says that he figured it out too–it was Yukizome. No, Kirigiri says, Yukizome was only an accomplice. An important one, certainly, but not the one pulling the strings. The one who did that, was…

Kirigiri points to Gekkougahara, who doesn’t react. Monomi begins to panic, but Kirigiri tells her to knock it off, Touwa Monaka, and then Monaka cuts the crap and turns on a video feed of herself.

Everyone is shocked to see her–Monaka is the mastermind?

“No way,” says Monoka. “I’m not cut out for that. I couldn’t even beat Naegi’s dumb little sister.”

“Then…who is it?” someone asks, and Kirigiri, still pointing, says, “Her.”

Gekkoughara sighs, pulling down her scarf to grin and say out loud “I suppose now’s as good as time as any.”

End of epsiode.

Post credits scene of Togami’s rescue party emerging from the rubble, and Hagakure finding Togami’s body.

So. We are now at the finale. Now I anticipate some complaints regarding this but try to stay with me here. I’m doing this stuff for a reason.

So my version of Kibou-hen starts off by checking in with the Jabberwock crew, which is right now the five survivors, Komaru, and a bunch of comatose bodies.

They've gotten the comatose kids to a safe place--the hospital on the third island--and set them up to the life support systems there. Komaru says that she needs to go back for Fukawa, and the survivors pledge to go with her. Komaru tries to argue, but they won't have any of it, and they head off together back to the Future Foundation building on the central island.

They arrive and find that the FF soldiers have fought Sho to a stalemate. They run forward to join the exhausted Sho, when they start to feel a rumbling.

Cut to everyone back in the killing game. Gekkougahara lets out another sigh and says again that now's as good a time as any. At this point in the killing game there's probably been enough despair to get her plan to work.

Someone asks what her plan is and she puts her fingers to her lips and types something into the keyboard. The entire lobby begins to shake, and then the Future Foundation forces, the SDR2 survivors, Komaru, and Sho fall through the floor into the lobby.

Needless to say, everyone is surprised. Naegi runs to his sister and sees that thankfully she isn't seriously hurt.

"Ah, that was lucky," Gekkougahara says, leaning on the keyboard and irritating Monaka, "I took a pretty big gamble there."

Someone asks what she means, and she shrugs. She mentions that one more little bit of despair should do it, and turns to Munakata. She tells him that Sakakura was never part of Despair, and in fact, he was in love with Munakata and would have done anything for him. She then plays some video evidence of this that we saw before in Zetsubou-hen.

Munakata falls to his knees, realizing that he killed his best friend, and lets out a loud bellow from his gut.

Gekkougahara next asks Monka to report in from the Future Foundation building where Naegi's hearing was supposed to be held (this is where Monaka is located). She brings up a video feed from outside, showing that Togami has been killed in a collapse. Asahina screams and Sho lets loose a howl.

Komaru flinches at the sound, hunching over, and Naegi puts a hand on her shoulder, asking if she's okay.

Komaru's hand clamps down over her brother's...and then digs her nails in. Naegi yells and stumbles backward, seeing that his sister is leaning forward, her hair in her face. Her lips then part in a Cheshire smile and she starts to chuckle in an unhinged manner.

"K-Komaru...what's wrong?" Naegi asks, but Komaru ignores him, still laughing.

It trails into "Upupupu..." and then Komaru looks up, her eyes now bright blue and wild.

"I hate to resort to tactics like this," Gekkougahara says, "but unfortunately all my preferred scientific methods failed."

Someone asks what she did, and Gekkougahara explains that she summoned Junko's soul back to the mortal realm. (Fucking DR:AE claims ghosts are real, so why the hell not? Allow me a crazy twist or two here.) That's why she set up the killing game--Junko required some pretty significant despair as bait. It was a huge pain, moving everyone over to Jabberwock, luring Komaru there, etc., but luckily it all came together. After all this time, it seems like Gekkougahara is finally really getting into Enoshima's head. Here she laughs bitterly.

Naegi asks if she's been with Despair this whole time and Gekkougahara looks offended. No, of course not. She's on the side of hope. Then why the hell did she do all of this and summon the avatar of despair back?! Because, Gekkougahara says, she wants to prove that she can do the impossible.

When asked for further clarification, she says that the one patient she was never able to help in her entire career was Ensohima Junko. Everyone else, even Enoshima's sister, showed some progress when she met with them, but Enoshima never got any better. She failed when Enoshima was alive, and then she failed again when her AI was uploaded to the program she helped design.

Turns out Gekkougahara feels guilty about not fixing Junko before the apocalypse and will only consider her own guilt to be absolved if she can successfully treat her. Mitarai and Andou try to argue, but Gekkougahara cuts them down, saying that they tried the exact same methods and they don't have any room to judge her.

Naegi at this point is having a crisis. He realizes that the nightmares this whole time have represented his guilt over not being able to save his one classmate, and now he's seeing how that exact same feeling is manifesting in someone else.

Hinata is suffering from a migrane, trying to hang onto himself and not get swept away into Kamukura, since there's no coming back if he gives in again, but his friends are furious. They attack Junkomaru, but she easily dodges their attacks and Sho keeps interfering, not wanting Komaru to get hurt. Junkomaru hops onto the back of Gekkougahara's chair and they lift off with a rocket in the bottom and go back to the surface.

Everyone else is kind of left behind, stunned for a moment.

They all turn to Naegi, asking what they should do. Naegi is dumbfounded, but he quickly shakes his head to clear it. Komaru's life is on the line. Taking a deep breath, Naegi turns to Munakata and tells him they'll do it his way.

Munakata nods and says that they'll do their best to get his sister back safely. The surviving characters then begin climbing out of the rubble and back to the surface of Jabberwock.

Gekkougahara and Junkomaru are at the top of the building for dramatic effect, and Gekkougahara is trying futily to get Junko to listen to her. There's an intense scene of everyone climbing the building and dodging all of the hazards that Gekkougahara is sending their way.

On the roof they have the final confrontation. Alter Ego takes over Monaka’s transmission, telling the Warriors of Hope her location. Meanwhile, Hinata is tempted to give in to Kamukura so he can use his talents, but in the end he has a powerful moment where he remembers what Nanami first told him about choosing his destiny. Kamukura did nothing to save Nanami, but he, Hinata, could have. He could have told Nanami that Yukizome was pushing too far and she didn't have to listen. Hinata rejects Kamukura completely and instead goes to tackle Gekkougahara as nothing but an ordinary boy. He manages to restrain her while Naegi and Munakata approach Junko. Munakata backs down and tells Naegi that he'll be on stand by, and hands Naegi his sword.

Naegi tells Junko that he's sorry he couldn't help her, but now they have a second chance. This time he won't let her down.

Junko has a good laugh at this, telling Naegi that he really doesn't get it, does he? He can never understand her or her point of view. He has no idea what kind of person she is and can't see the world from her perspective. Why does he keep trying to force his worldview on everyone else?

Naegi is getting upset. He thought Junko was angry with him for not saving her?

"Ha, what a laugh," Junko tells him. "Things went exactly the way I wanted them to."

"What? You mean you wanted to die?"

"Pin Pon! We have a winner!"

"But...but... I could have helped you."

"Lemme tell you something, Naegi. No one can help me. No one. Not the world's best therapist. Not the world's best brain surgeon and childhood friend. Not even my twin sister. What makes you think you stand any better chance than them?"

"I believe that anyone can be saved!"

"Sure." Junkomaru shrugs. "If they wanna be."

Suddenly, a realization hits Naegi like a ton of bricks: Junko can't be helped or saved, because she doesn't want to be. She's made her decisions and this is the result of her own choices. Naegi can't choose for her any more than Munakata could choose for him. If he tries, he's no better than Gekkougahara.

"You're right, Enoshima-san."

"Of course I am!"

"I didn't understand you at all. I still don't."

"You can say that again."

"I'm so angry with you. For what you've done, but also because you resisted when I offered to help you. Because you didn't react in a way I liked. Because the way things went made me feel guilty." Naegi begins to tear up. "I think I get some of it now. I don't agree and I never will, but I respect your choice for yourself. I think...I think I'm ready to let it all go."

"And what exactly do you plan to do, Naegi?"

Naegi wipes his tears on his sleeve and looks up. He smiles sadly. "I'm going to kill you once and for all."

Junkomaru grins. "It's about time! It's getting pretty lame staying shackled to this worn-out reality."

Naegi considers the sword for a moment before throwing it aside. He winds up and delivers a hard slap to Komaru's cheek. For a moment, the scene shifts to Naegi and Junko herself in the afterlife theater, and then the latter disappears, offering Naegi a peace sign and a wide grin.

Komaru collapses, and Fukawa rushes to her side. Naegi drops his arm and begins to cry openly, Asahina and Kirigiri coming to put comforting hands on his shoulder.

There's a zoomed out shot of everyone on the roof and then it fades to black.

Kirigiri begins to narrate like she did in the beginning, explaining that after that incident it seemed like there was a shift. People weren't deifying Hope or Despair anymore. There are various scenes shown, like how despair is starting to be beaten back, Gekkougahara's imprisonment, Togami's funeral, memorials for all those who were lost, Munakata and Andou starting a new joint organization, the Warriors of Hope bringing Monaka back in and keeping a eye on her while starting a children’s safe haven, Haiji being put to work fixing Touwa City as punishment, the captives reuniting with survivors, etc. Kirigiri says that now, people accept that hope and despair are both necessary parts of life, and it's their choices that make a difference. Balance is easier to keep because of it.

In the final scene, which has no music, Naegi and Fukawa are watching the comatose Komaru sleep in her bed when Kuzuryuu rushes in. He calls them over to another ward, where Kirigiri, Hagakure, Munakata, Andou, Asahina, and Mitarai are all waiting outside. A haggard-looking Hinata steps out of the room with his three other friends, and smiles at everyone.

"One of them moved their fingers," he says.

(The Japanese would be gender neutral, hence the somewhat bizarre phrasing here.)

Afterward, Munakata pulls Naegi aside and says that there’s talk of opening the school again--would he like to be headmaster?

Naegi considers this, but turns it down.

“I don’t want to be in charge,” he says. “I just want to be me.”

Cue "Ever Free" playing over the credits.

So you might notice that a lot of the other suggestions I've made in the past aren't represented here--that's the result of me thinking about and refining what I felt would work better as a whole. I tried to be fair and include as many characters and make them as important as I could manage.

Some things I wanted to have but lacked the space for included: interactions between the 78th and 77th Classes; Kirigiri befriending and starting to open up to another member of the FF outside of her existing friends; more Warriors of Hope; Junko seducing Yukizome to the dark side by taking advantage of her desire to help every student; Sakakura being more of his big gay failure of a self; Tengan wrestling with his decisions; the Killer Killer cast; further exploring Hinata trying to resist the siren song of talents at the expense of his identity for good; more for Monaka to do; more of the Touwa captives; hard resolution to the adult/child conflict from DR:AE; etc.

Alternate Idea: Munakata is the first victim of the killing game and ensuing conflicts arise from Sakakura and Yukizome's reactions.

So there you have it. I know you guys have been waiting months for this post (why, I cannot imagine) and I apologize for taking so long. As you can see, it started out a reasonable length and then kinda...ballooned. Believe me when I say that I thought long and hard about the choices I made, going so far as to show the drafts to people and ask for opinions. Thanks to them, I feel like I was able to account for most of the things I wanted to convey.

Feel free to hit me up with questions if you have any about why I made a particular decision, and as always if you spot a typo or something please let me know!

Hope you guys enjoyed and it lived up to your expectations!

#DR3 #DR3 anime #DR3 spoilers #long post #DR3 negativity #kinda #dear god I can't believe this post is finished #sorry again for the wait everyone #character death #DR3 suggestions

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