#Kaede and Kiibo are important in a very specific way too

[g0nta-g0kuhara]

laying face down on the floor wondering if I am not seeing certain characters' relationships to the core themes of the game because I don't appreciate them enough/correctly or if they genuinely aren't super central to the core themes of the game

[catgirl-catboy]

Which Danganronpa do you think got dealt the worst by Localization?

I'd be lying if I didn't say Gonta. (though Angie's god changing from being a generic god, making her a mockery of religious folk, to Atua, a very specific god that real people actually worship, has some fucked up, arguably kinda racist implications.)

A small CW for discussing the R slur in this analysis/rant. I don't write it out, but I understand 100% if you don't want to read it.

Speaking in the third person is considered a cute quirk in Japan. When a Japanese author has a character speak in third person, they are usually trying to make the character appear cute and harmless, which absolutely fits Gonta.

However, most American (or culturally American) authors reserve that kind of third person talk is reserved either for cavemen, or neurodivergent characters, with the implication that the character in question is too dumb to have a proper grasp of English. (Abelism much?)

This fits everyone else's perception of Gonta, but not who he actually is as a character.

One of the main points of Ch4 is that the class (even characters Kodaka wants you to like, such as Kaito and Himiko) was wrong to treat Gonta like he was stupid, and that Kokichi, who you aren't meant to like (as a person. As an antagonist he does a decent job) at this point, was in the right. With the big twist of Ch6 coming up, in addition to the Ch5 reveal that people like Kaito and Kokichi can work together to a common goal, it's important to point out that your cast isn't as perfect or infallible as they appear.

Which is why it does such a disservice to have Gonta continue to speak in the third person in the English version.

Gonta isn't the first character to speak in the third person in Danganronpa, Ibuki does it too! But it doesn't affect Ibuki's characterization in the same way, since Ibuki's character isn't about wrongly being underestimated. If Ibuki comes across as slightly dumber, it isn't a disservice to the themes of the story.

Also, Ibuki's backstory doesn't evoke Cavemen in the western player's mind.

Some other changes around Gonta were made, notably that Miu does not actually say the R slur to him. The word is a step up from 'baka' in rudeness, so "moron" or "fucking idiot" would be closer to the original tone. Miu calls many people idiots, with Kaito and Kaede being the first to mind. Only Gonta gets the ableist slur treatment -_- (Which makes the fact that it was put in there even more heartbreaking for me.)

Even if you aren't meant to agree with Miu, this can subtly color your perceptions of Gonta. Also, Miu gets a lot of hate for this, which doesn't seem fair to me. Stan Miu.

The most infuriating thing about this is, there's another v3 character that speaks in the third person in Japanese. My queen, Tenko Chabashira. They changed how she referred to herself for the western audiences, when arguably keeping it the same would not have done her that much of a disservice to her character. (She's a comic relief character who says dumb shit. Having her seem a bit less cute and a bit more stupid to western audiences wouldn't affect her plotline that much. Some people would maybe get irrationally angry and say she's a strawman (or strawwoman! sorry Tenko.) for feminists, but Kiibo is right there.)

So the argument that the translators would have to put a lot of work in doesn't hold.

In order to adapt Gonta more accurately and have him seem cute like Kodaka intended, I propose that he has emoticons at the end of his sentences sometimes. (I am shot by a sniper rifle for this idea!)

Heres his canon first line (not counting pregame because fuck that)

"Oh! Sorry for scaring! Gonta scary-looking. Most people not wanna talk to Gonta when meeting for first time. So, like gentleman, Gonta say thank you! Thank you for talking to Gonta!"

and here's it with how I'd alter it.

"Oh! Sorry for scaring! I'm scary-looking. Most people not wanna talk to me when meeting for first time. :( So, like gentleman, I say thank you! Thank you for talking to Me! :)"

Like, he comes across different, huh? Even to my eye, it reads more like he's struggling with the language in the second one, while the first one not so much.

Kaito and the Saiouma ship actually benefit from the localization, but that is another topic for another day.

[ladylolalilly]

Ask and you shall receive!

I saw the reblog on thelemoncoffee's post about the wheel of fate and I thought I'd pitch in to soothe your curiosity. You're welcome.

I don't know if you want the wheel of fates for THH and SDR2, so for now, voila! DRV3.

Chapter 1 Victim: Ryoma Hoshi, Ultimate Tennis Pro Chapter 1 Blackened: Kirumi Tojo, Ultimate Maid

Very in-character... because this already happened in canon. With the First Blood Perk too, that's a bonus. Makes me wonder if Kirumi's gonna be a more important character now that "she made it back to the outside world." (spoilers: she died). Maybe this case'll pop up again in Trial 6 or something to clue em in?

Chapter 2 Victim: Korekiyo Shinguji, Ultimate Anthropologist Chapter 2 Blackened: Gonta Gokuhara, Ultimate Entomologist

Now this... I'm assuming Gonta got his hands on Shinguji's motive video. What could possibly be part of his video, I have no clue. But I'm assuming it reveals the fact that he's a serial killer of women. Gonta goes Chapter 4 upon learning that. We all know how that ends.

Chapter 3 First Victim: Miu Iruma, Ultimate Inventor Chapter 3 Second Victim: Kaede Akamatsu, Ultimate Pianist Chapter 3 Blackened: Maki Harukawa, Ultimate "Child Caregiver" (Assassin)

OhoHO. With the motive being the Necronomicon, this is actually pretty fitting, given Maki was trained to be an assassin as a part of a cult that hid behind religion. This'll require some twisting of character, but perhaps Maki, instead of ignoring it, came to listen to the cult. She genuinely believes in the god the cult came up with, and thus things like the Necronomicon, making her a bit. Crazier than canon. Don't know who she wanted to raise from the dead and why or why she chose a double murder or why it was these two specifically though.

Chapter 4 Victim: Tenko Chabashira, Ultimate Aikido Master Chapter 4 Blackened: Kaito Momota, Ultimate Astronaut

Nekomaru vs Gundham vibes tbh. Since Angie's still alive, I can see her and Ouma being at odds with each other a lot. I say this because it's definitely connected, this is literally two of their biggest haters.

Chapter 5 Victim: Angie Yonaga, Ultimate Artist Chapter 5 Blackened: Himiko Yumeno, Ultimate Magician

Also because of this. The traffic lights trio get a hell of a lot more screen time here huh. I see people be disappointed that Angie never got character development, but it seems here she just went on a downward spiral. Himiko might've been dragged down with her unfortunately, acting as obsessive towards Angie the same way Tenko acts towards her, if not more, depending on how messed up you wanna take this. As a Yonameno shipper, ouch. But also Himiko as the Chapter 5 blackened imo is just chefs kiss and wow Angie really did take over Ouma's role as antag huh. Or maybe they're both main antags and we just have two.

Chapter 6 Mastermind: Shuichi Saihara, Ultimate Detective Chapter 6 Sacrifice: Tsumugi Shirogane, Ultimate Cosplayer

Ah yes. The classic mastermind that 95% of the DRV3 fandom wished for and never got. This is where shit gets real funky considering the amount of sheer AUs out there, but for the sake of simplicity let's just stick to the idea that this is a TV show and they all signed up for it among other stuff. Tsumugi as the sacrifice... well, if she and Rantaro had a good relationship throughout and she acted as his support, oh boy that's kinda depressing. But if she was like. The third rival (jfc so many ANTAGS in this game) cuz this is Tsumugi we're talking about, she definitely played traitor and just wants to get to the 54th killing game already.

Survivors: •K1-B0, Ultimate Robot •Kokichi Ouma, Ultimate Supreme Leader •Rantaro Amami, Ultimate ??? (Adventurer/Survivor)

This trio... ok so Ouma actually gets to face what he's done instead of dying. That's pretty nice. Kiibo survives like he was supposed to in canon goddammit. Amami'll finally reach his full potential, bless. As the Ultimate Survivor, I really do wonder whether he'll ever remember his past games or not... Who knows, maybe he was a graduate blackened in a past game and antag Tsumugi/Saihara spilled those beans to stir shit ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

And that's a wrap! I know I came out of nowhere, but I was ready to rant about this as much as you were begging to know more. I gladly took the chance. Try for the opportunity.

Oh wow, this is neat! For Maki’s chapter, maybe she targeted Miu due to personal dislike, but Kaede walked in on her with the body, so she had to kill her to keep her quiet?

(And I would actually like the THH and SDR2 wheels of fate, I was curious about those too.)

[mugionthewater]

Tsumugi Shirogane Deepdive: Prologue

I’m in a DR mood right now, and really enjoying revisiting Tsumugi in particular, so I thought I’d do a chapter-based retrospective focusing on all the cool Tsumugi material! A reread project especially rewarding for a character like Mugi, so I’m really excited.

In this series, I’m focusing a lot on all the foreshadowing, and also what we can extrapolate about Tsumugi’s true character along the way. I’ll be doing this chapter-by chapter, including the prologue as well as an installment for her Free Time Events.

Full spoilers for V3 under the cut.

The Pre-Prologue

We first see Tsumugi in the gym by the exisals to get their uniforms and their memories. Tsumugi herself has four lines of dialogue in this scene, nothing that particularly stands out, but there are a couple of things worth noting about how she (and everyone else) is dressed.

Kaede describes how she was kidnapped on her way to school, and it sure looks like that’s the case for almost everyone in the room. We’re used to seeing DR characters in flashy outfits that vaguely resemble school uniforms but actually reflect their individuality, so when the game first shows them in an ensemble lineup like this, it’s a lot more striking.

Not so much in this CG. While there are plenty of visual details that tell us about these characters (Saihara’s already hiding under a hat in his sprites; Iruma is revealing; Kiibo and Gonta are buttoned up and orderly, but Kaito’s shirt and jacket are undone to show a bold-colored undershirt), their uniforms look like they’re doing what uniforms are supposed to do: be bland and blend in.

What about Tsumugi? Tsumugi wears a basic uniform like everyone else, but this is where we get the game’s first indication that all is not what it seems with this girl. The clue is the blue. She is the only one in the lineup whose primary color isn’t a neutral tone. What’s more, it’s the same shade of blue Tsumugi is associated with throughout the game. Visually, part of her is already in character as Tsumugi Shirogane, SHSL Cosplayer.

Of course, there’s a much bigger item foreshadowing Tsumugi as the bad guy, which is that in advance of everyone getting their “memories”, the main emphasis is their new clothes delivered by the Monokubs.

There are a couple of reasons the clothes are significant. For starters, there’s a direct line to Tsumugi’s cosplay talent. For anyone inclined to suspect her before starting the game on account of her talent (and her general don’t-look-at-me-I’m-not-suspicious vibes), this is immediate theory fodder. This also primes the audience to look at the setting of V3 with a critical eye, between the contrast of the kids’ boring outfits and their flashy new ones and the Monokubs making explicit references to starting the “story“, there is an immediate suggestion of artifice that runs all the way down to their identities. Not for nothing is Kaede’s magical girl transformation visually similar to the memory light.

Another thing: pre-memory light, the person in the room whose outfit is the least uniform-y is Amami.

At the very least, it’s a look that’s noticeably more casual than what most of the cast is wearing. After Chapter 6, we know that Amami made it to the end of the 52nd Killing Game before he and Tsumugi were condemned to execution via participating in the next killing game- which he seems to be realizing in this scene- so it’s possible they’re coming right off the heels of the last killing game. It’s an ongoing mystery what his relationship with her was like up to this point? Does he know she’s the ringleader? Is “Tsumugi Shirogane“ anything like the person she was in the last killing game, assuming she was even there?

I’m not confident Tsumugi really switched to a new persona for the 53rd Killing Game, even though fake identities is kind of her whole deal. I’ll get more into why in this series, but I think a lot of the character we see in the game is the “real“ Tsumugi, to the extent that such a person even exists.

Introducing Tsumugi Shirogane: Professional Cosplayer, Sex God

If you go back and read the promotional blurbs for V3, Tsumugi’s mention her tendency to get so lost in thought that she’ll ignore everyone around her. This little trait isn’t super weird at first, until you realize later in the game that she doesn’t carry the shtick past the first chapter. It’s like she wrote the character blurbs herself, realized everybody has a wacky “thing“ that would come up immediately in the introductions, and came up with an act of low-grade wackiness so she’d fit in in the prologue.

This is great stuff, looking back. It gives an intro in brief to the many contradictions of Tsumugi Shirogane. On one hand, it’s overly phony and performative. But on the other hand, there’s a core of truth there about her character- she really is someone who stays in her thoughts without a care for anyone around her, albeit less in the cute way and more in the horrifying sociopath kind of way.

It also tells us something important about Tsumugi’s commitment to the Killing Game. She cares about maintaining the integrity of this world and its characters, but is pretty indifferent about maintaining a role for herself. She doesn’t give a shit about having a storyline or even much of a character. The pleasure of DR comes from what she can get as an observer/consumer. 

This is entirely consistent with what she tells Kaede and Saihara about herself and her feelings about cosplay in the actual introduction.

This is the ethos that makes me wonder how dishonest Tsumugi really is. She’s dishonest as hell, of course, but given that she later applies the entire DR LARP reality show experience as “cosplay“, what she says about her convictions largely rings true. She clearly cares about making her tribute an authentic one (lol), which extends to her being the primary creative director inside her fiction bubble.

It partly explains why she spends the next five chapters being little more than furniture. In her mind, her job as a producer precludes her from being a character in her own right, because doing anything to pull focus is tantamount to self-promotion, and, well, that’s an abuse of power that gets in the way of the story!

(sidebar: there are some fascinating things we could speculate about what she says about cosplay relates to her relationship with the rest of Team Danganronpa and the outside world, but this post is getting long, so I’ll save it for another day)

Like everything else about Tsumugi, it’s not until the end that you can fully contextualize how sinister she’s being here. What she passes off as a cute passion for cosplay is actually a bone-deep sense of consumer entitlement taken to a logical extreme. Tsumugi is a more vicious indictment of terrible nerds and a selfish fandom than anything Hifumi Yamada could embody. She loves DR so much, and feels so strongly that nobody should be participating in DR with any corrupt motives, that anything less than the real deal is unacceptable. To this end, she will happily transplant entirely new emotional realities on the others so that even the emotional torture of the Killing Game is authentic. In Tsumugi’s selfish nerd brain, this is the important part of the drama of Killing Games, and anyone who disagrees with her approach is a fake fan who doesn’t deserve any kind of creative control.

Anyways, there’s more to say about Tsumugi’s introduction, so moving on

Some pretty overt foreshadowing here. In the Japanese script, her reference is ep. 53 of Kiteretsu Daihyakka instead of Doraemon. I like the change for the dub, even though it’s pretty obvious. Someone who knows DR primarily through the dub is less likely to know about the franchise’s connection to Doraemon, anyway.

Tsumugi also points out the weird dragon statue in the hallway that will lead into a new part of the school down the line. It’s a neat little metatextual trick on the audience, because it’s the kind of thing that’s not suspicious at all on a first playthrough. She’s an NPC in a DR game, of course her dialogue is gonna point out plot devices that will be relevant shortly, but on a reread you know she’s being deliberate about it. This is far from the last time this kind of thing happens with Tsumugi.

Lastly, this charming observation from Kaede about why she’s maybe not so plain afterall.

Kaede puts it in the worst way possible, but it’s interesting that she, a person with a generally good read on people, decides immediately that there’s more to Mugi than meets the eye. Not only that, she relates it specifically to an audience spending a lot of time looking at her. If she were any less gross about it, Kaede making this kind of observation would land like a big clue.

This leaves us with the biggest question from the prologue: if Kaede wasn’t too busy being horny and gay, could she have put two and two together and thwarted the ringleader?

There is SO much more to say about Tsumugi, so I’m really excited to dig deep into other chapters!

[panta062]

DRV3 Next Gen

Class Truth

Homeroom teacher: Hisami Oshiro

Noriaki Saihara: Ultimate Criminalogist

Noriaki is a seemly stoic person who doesn’t display a lot of outward emotion. He’s very physically skilled (thank you Maki) and highly competitive even if you can’t see it at a glance.

He can sharp-tongued and reserved, dryly teasing his fellow classmates. However, he is also shown to be very kind under his stoic exterior

He’s almost too observant for his own good, sometimes overthinking everything and everyone around him to the point where he freezes, not sure what to do. So, he spends during those moments in his studies, away from others and getting lost in his own intelligence. He may have issues with speaking up for himself, but he’s very good with people. He understands how they work and makes friends very easily.

He spends most of his time with the Momota twins and Eiko but in the end he’s friends with everyone in his class. He may or may not be oblivious to the fact that Kensuke and Hiroto may have a slight attraction with him.

Eiko Amami: Ultimate Explorer

She can be very friendly and chatty, but she also finds it hard to trust people despite this and doesn’t really open up to others, preferring to keep a level of distance. This means that while she has morals and convictions, she doesn’t have the same emotional investment which allows her to consider more morally ambiguous options if it’s a solution to whatever problem she’s facing.  She’s also very well educated. She knows a lot about many things, but especially about the world.

On a personal level, she has an odd sense of humour: a mix of deadpan and absurdist, but she never makes it clear when she’s joking which leads to a lot of awkward situations.

Kensuke Momota: Ultimate Astronomer

He looks pretty much a lot like his dad except he has lighter purple hair and has Kaede's eyes. Although he has a small ponytail keeping a bit of his spiky af hair (positionned below is ears) and a small goatee.

He’s….oddly intense about the subject of astronomy and he finds someone who will let him ramble, that person will be his friend for all time! Kanade nags how much her brother is a big nerd. But if you get past this one subject, he’s remarkably open minded to different people and good at conversation. 

Kensuke is very honest, boisterous and kind-hearted, having a straightforward way of thinking and following a specific code of chivalry that motivates him to live without regret. Thanks to his respectful and encouraging attitude, he's easily capable of making friends with most people he encounters, particularly those that show as much passion and resolve as he does.

Kanade Momota: Ultimate Violonist

Kanade is a strong willed and driven girl who is determined to see her goals through. She values her comrades deeply and has a sense of justice.

Kanade is also very compassionate and she listens to people’s needs. She enjoys helping people when they are distressed, and she often offers to give them a music piece if they need it.

Kanade is very optimistic, and is always looking at the good in people. She usually banters with her twin brother Kensuke.

One of her most bizarre traits is her odd taste for fashion, which totally doesn’t anger Ayana.

Hotaru Gokuhara: Ultimate Gardener

His everlasting need for answers and knowledge, can lead him to isolate himself and overthink at times, but nonetheless his curious nature never subsides. Willing to lend a hand to others, he can easily be befriended and is a person who would lend an ear to anyone. However, once he gets ahold of the conversation and what *he* wants to talk about (being the different variety of plants and the ecosystem)… It is nearly impossible to shut him up.

Sumire Shinguji: Ultimate Spiritualist

She has an encyclopedic knowledge of the various traditions and history of Japan and pretty much every culture around the world

She’s a lot like Angie, a little scatterbrained and odd, but 100% sincere. She still has a lot of self-discipline and unwavering conviction to her vision, but she’s very strict with both herself and others. 

Kaori Chabashira: Ultimate Jujustu Practionner

She has red hair which is mostly shoulder-length aside from the ear-length side bangs she sports and the short clump she leaves hanging down her forehead.

She’s a kindly and protective girl with a bit of a hero-complex where she must step in if she sees someone being hurt. She has a wide range of knowledge of both medicine and martial arts which aids her in both fighting people off and helping the injured. 

She can be clingy, especially if you’re someone she sees as needing protection but, in most cases, you don’t notice it unless something *really* bad happens. 

She’s very subtle.She’ll hang around them more than would be expected and act *very* supportive and defensive (especially towards her sister), even against small things like if there’s a small disagreement with them.

Yuri Chabashira: Ultimate Witchcraft Practionner

Yuri is a little ditzy, I’m just gonna put that out there. She’s a slow learner but with time she’ll understand.

She is very proud of her talent, since it’s the only thing she’s genuinely good at. She loves to talk about the meanings behind certain things in witchcraft and she knows everything there is to know about them.

She loves to practice with Sumire who “knows everything about everything” according to her, to Kaori’s annoyance.

Hiroto Oma: Ultimate Spy

He has white spiky hair with sideburns and has dark violet eyes.  He also wears black framed goggles/sunglasses.  

Hiroto Oma, also known as Agent H1-R0, is the Ultimate Spy. He was adopted by Kokichi. He's also part bionic (his left arm) because of a accident. He considers Kiibo as his second father. He's cunning, loves pranks and lying, but he's bad at lying because his setting make him show his emotions too easily and also blushes easily (just like Kiibo).

Headstrong, stubborn, determined, and slightly rash, Hiroto has no trouble working to get what he wants. He is always sure to but his best into everything though sometimes he messes up… a lot of the time he messes up. He is pretty brutally honest.

There are times where he will do reckless things, like lie when he shouldn’t, just to start drama. He’s a shit stirrer, but only when it’s not him who’s at fault. He is however quite serious with his talent, he has god like dexterity and a keen intellect to carry out any mission (infiltration…)

Ayana Iruma: Ultimate Stylist

Has long blue ashen blue and wears sunglasses like a headband

Ayana can create gorgeous outfits of all kinds. Despite being quite composed at work, except when her friends are here, she can be very loud and can be an uptight person who whines and gives sass a lot but is mostly a nice person.

She has it in her head that she always knows what she’s doing and if not, she can handle it regardless. It aids her in her creative pursuits as she’ll make as many mistakes as she needs until she reaches gold, and that gold is worth it. For her. Possibly not to the people who get caught up in said pursuits. Hiroto and her are partners for most things and share a lot of things. Oh, she also has a bit of a shipping mindset too.

Tadashi Tojo: Ultimate Host

He has very spiky sandy blonde hair, pale skin, bright green eyes and is quite tall. Despite his pretty sophisticated outfits, he almost always wear a beanie that his father gave him young.

Tadashi holds himself with a dignified air, but full of solemn wistfulness. He keeps a modest front, rarely cutting loose and maintains formality. His colleagues and friends express great surprise whenever he does relax. While generally a private person, he does recognize the importance of his duties and expresses confidence and faith in the abilities of his friends.

He can be said to be the voice of reason with his friends. He always lectures Hiroto and Ayana with their behavior. He and Sumire are close friends. Despite him being very composed, he also can be hot headed when he's "not in the mood"

He takes pride in his Ultimate Host talent. But because he's so hellbent on making everyone happy, he sometimes neglect his own health. Something Tadashi would do when facing something that hurts him, would be to suppress his emotions and push away any type of pain inflicted on him. He’s an excellent attendant to others, always aware of what they need and how to provide it. However, he’s very aware of the issues that come with giving too much so he’s very strict with himself about what he does. He tries to look at everything clinically, scheduling his life to the second in an attempt to make sure he balances everything…. he’s not so aware that this just stresses him out even more.

[kimmysfandomblog]

naegi, komaeda and kiibo for the ask meme!

Thanks anon!!

So like I said before, readmores on mobile are gone for some reason, so I can't hide the text, specifically V3 spoilers so

SOME V3 SPOILERS IN THE KIIBO SECTION

Naegi

How I feel about this character: Admittedly, my love for him has significantly grown over time. I liked him a lot in DR1, was hyped to see him in DR2, was very confused in DR3, and then I had a hard time figuring out again what it was I liked about him in the first place. First of all, he's nice to a fault sometimes, and I gotta relate to that. He's also actually a lot more of a fighter than Hajime, partly due to optimism, and partly due to a.loyalty to his friends. He's kind of blunt about it XD He has some of the most relatable random thoughts in DR1 that I never got just from watching the anime XD I am on the fence about the way he was handled beyond DR1 and the whole thing about being Ultimate Hope. That said, he's just the kind of person you wish was your friend and on your side. I like that about him most.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Hinata and Kamukura are at the top of the list now, but I'm sure anyone who knows me knows that at this point XD Next  it is between Kirigiri or Sayaka. That depends on my mood and which shipper was the most rude that day, basically XD I crack ship him and Junko because that would have been a wild relationship… BUT nothing serious at all.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Asahina is at the top now due to DR3 XD I wish he interjected with his sister a lot more as well! And everyone I ship him romantically, I also ship him platonically XD I think him and Toko and Syo can also be a really good friendship. Mukuro as well!

My unpopular opinion about this character: He's not that nice and will likely win a fight against Hinata of DR2 and the Reserve course? XD He is actually stronger in character than Hinata was, though that doesn't mean he is the better character. Hinata is still my favorite of the protags, but Naegi was truly quite a fighter from the start, while Hinata was pretty much always insecure, but tried to hide it with denial.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: Where is the one-on-one interaction with Hinata or Kamukura? And especially him picking his sister up from Towa City? I so wish we could have seen how he met the members of Ultimate Despair. Also, apparently he was supposed to have actually been Ultimate Despair, and have that revealed in DR2… now that's something I wish was explored! He can remain a good guy in the end, but I think that if he also forgot having been Ultimate Despair at one point in time, it would have made things really interesting. 

Komaeda

How I feel about this character: He used to be my second favorite character of the series! Nowadays I find myself liking him a little less, but he is still very important to me! I hate how he is fan only portrayed to be, when really he isn't deliberately trying to be problematic. He's so misunderstood even by those that call themselves his fans that it hurts sometimes.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: mostly it is Hinata! He had an attraction to Hinata that wasn't necessarily romantic at the start, but he did like being in Hinata's presence. And the more he saw Himata interacting with the others and helping him solve cases, the more he wanted to believe Hinata was something special. I really like that he cared so much about Hinata that he even says that despite coming to know Hinata is a Reserve Course Student, he still can't really dislike him completely. On the other characters, unpopularly, I think he and Nanami would be cute, aesthetically and as a more casual couple. Mostly this is because I ship the three as a trio.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: also Nanami in a hypothetical AU where she focuses more on getting him to join the class more actively than she did in canon, or paid closer attention instead of getting mad that he started the killing game and avoiding him. I also kinda like him and Sonia as friends for some reason that is the fandom's fault, with this idea that they are like distantly related XD

My unpopular opinion about this character: I don't at all disagree that he likes Hinata, but I just don't think that means any other ship with him is not also valid. People like to gatekeep him, maybe claiming he is "canonly" gay to keep people from shipping him with any female, but then also not supporting him with anyone besides Hinata and Kamukura. Also, for whatever reason people like him with Kamukura and… I personally can't see it.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I wish that he had a better relationship with more of his classmates before the reveal that he is atypical in how he perceives the world. I wish that he was watched more carefully by Nanami in both DR3 and DR2. I wish that it was obvious if he actually got memories of his time as Ultimate Despair. I wish he succeeded in shooting Junko (but maybe she still lives somehow lol). Mostly I wish that someone else tried to interact with him than Hinata… who did so begrudgingly for the most part. Although I guess Mahiru tried, too. She died very shortly after though lol.

Kiibo

Sorry, I am less enthused about V3 and Kiibo is a character I like, but not love 💦

How I feel about this character: I think he's fine. Somehow, he didn't strike me too strongly? He's pretty cute though.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Iruma because they seem to have a relationship already, if not romantic XD It's a lot of fun mostly, and she can fix his parts. Their personalities clash a lot, but I think Kiibo really missed her when she died.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: besides Iruma, Shuichi and Kaede, mostly because of FTEs! 

My unpopular opinion about this character: I don't know? His role as the main character of the video game world's population was weird to me, maybe XD

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: He could have just NOT died. He could have even been a real boy irl of the game world. Like, how'd he still look human in the prologue section then?

[ticktockmyclockworkhart]

:D Finally someone else who likes the Monokubs!! Queation: do you have any headcannons for the kubs?

Oh boy do I ever!!! Because no character, no matter how minor, is safe from my constant need to analyze their story and put my headcanons on it even if they’re fuckin homicidal little teddies 

As an umbrella thing I personally think the Monokubs operate differently from Monokuma. Where Monokuma requires the presence of the mastermind to be active because he needs to be controlled (Shirokuma and Kurokuma also apply here) I think the Kubs operate like Usami does, having actual programmed autonomous AI, hence why they were still active during the time in chapter 1 that Monokuma was “killed”, and therefore absent for a period of time. They have little programmed minds of their own and don’t need the mastermind’s input to do stuff. Now, on to the individual Kubs (this is largely just headcanons on their relationships with one another as a family or little things I think the Kubs do on their spare time like Monodam mentions in a Monodam Theater segment)

Monokid

- nowhere in his programming was he given the ability or knowledge to control his emotions, specifically regulate reactions, hence why he gets loud and excited or screams at the most minor of provocations

- can’t actually play the guitar he can just strum it in an attempt at recreating a rhythm

- of the small rooms the Kubs and Monokuma were given in the top attic-like floor of the academy, his is by far the messiest, one window is totally smashed and almost all of his furniture is broken in some way

- probably best that the Kubs never really wander the academy unless called because if he saw a murder happen literally the entire academy would know what was going on because he would SCREAM 

- honey isn’t actually like an alcoholic beverage to bears, it’s just. Just Monokid it does weird shit to 

- goes after Monophanie if Monodam isn’t available as a punching bag

- actually kind of respects and thinks Monosuke is cool (the feeling is NOT mutual)

- his best friend is probably Monotaro but they need to never be left unsupervised because they can and will level the entire campus with the pure chaotic games they play together 

- in terms of his favorite student aside from Kiibo, who is his babysitter, he is drawn to Kaede because of her musical talent and will often just... show up in her lab unannounced and watch her play the piano for an uncomfortably long time

Monodam

- Loves replicating things he sees on TV. He sees characters build a fort on a show? He’s gonna do that. Characters are hosting a slumber party on whatever he’s watching? Heck yeah sibling bonding time. Watching the Matrix? LET’S GET THE AIRSOFT GUNS FROM HARUKAWA’S LAB AND PRACTICE DODGING BULLETS, GUYS!

- Wants to wear some kind of neat accessory like his siblings

- Also wants to learn how to do yo-yo tricks but he has no fingers :(

- Monosuke organizes poker games between all the Kubs every Saturday and despite never playing poker before in his life and not really understanding the game in the slightest Monodam is insanely good at it and keeps winning

- Keeps his own living space very tidy, he gets a nice feeling of satisfaction when things look nice

- Pushed Monokid down the casino basement stairs once on “accident”

- Does all the Kubs’ grunt work

- His best friend among his siblings is probably Monophanie, they do arts and crafts stuff together and bond over their mutual preference for peace and getting along

- Of the students his favorite is Saihara, who he admires the talent of and refers to him as “detective”, often asking him random questions about secrets of the school to see if the shsl detective had already figured them out

Monosuke

- ftm transboy!! ( if you notice he shares a few physical similarities with his sister, Monophanie. Not just the eyelashes, but the white jagged eye, too, something none of the other brothers have, just Monophanie aside from him. Silly headcanon I know but you can pry it out of my cold dead hands )

- Takes no shit. Zero. None. Will cut a bitch if given the chance.

- gets overexcited about some things and accidentally will blab about info ahead of time (he SUCKS at keeping secrets)

- the Monokubs have zero need for real currency inside the academy’s walls, there’s absolutely no economy in an academy of 16 teenagers and 6 stuffed bears so why is he so obsessed with making a stable profit?? No one knows

- Hates receiving affection from his father and will peace out if he sees anything like that coming

- gets roped into a bunch of schemes his siblings come up with and won’t try and stop them or anything, he’ll just bitch nonstop about how bad of an idea this is

- actually good at organizing events like poker nights, movie nights, what have you

- his best friend among his siblings is probably Monophanie, the two have been close since they were first created 

- as for his favorite student, he hates literally everyone (his babysitter, Kiibo, included) but honestly thinks Ouma is great because of how much he stirs the pot, and Monosuke loves shit stirrers like that 

Monophanie

- soft pink shit like, everywhere. Her room is covered in pink carpet, the super plush kind that’s basically like walking on a mat of faux fur

- in addition to constantly puking if she gets really caught off guard she can have then occasional fainting spell

- waters any and all plants on campus, even if they’re weeds. If it has a flower it’s hers now and she will care for it forever

- actually requests a lot of practical things from her siblings, surprisingly, like soundproofing Monokid’s room and fortifying the walls of Monotaro’s room so his ninja stars stop busting through the other side when he throws them

- ships all of the students with each other. All of them

- the love hotel was probably her idea though she had envisioned something much more cheesy-romantic and wholesome than what her father did instead 

- loves crafts!! Especially making flower crowns and leis to cover her brothers in

- of her siblings, her best friend is probably Monodam, she thinks he’s adorable and appreciates his calmer, quiet nature compared to the rest of her weird-ass brothers 

- in terms of her favorite student, she thinks Yumeno is adorable and finds her magic so cool, she probably sneaks away from whatever important thing the Kubs are doing to watch Yumeno’s occasional shows

Monotaro

- the literal living emobiment of “I just walked into this room super excited to do something very important but now that I’m here for the life of me I can’t remember what it was”

- shirks chores and responsibilities completely unintentionally, because he just simply forgets about them and spends the rest of his day doing other pointless tasks 

- his room is a disaster and it’s a wonder how he finds what he needs in there, but he always manages to get by somehow

- loves playing computer games

- forgets he loves playing computer games

- he’s “discovered” his love for computer games about ten times now

- is convinced he’a the leader but it’s really just Monosuke and Monodam doing everything from the shadows and then Monotaro being thoroughly convinced he was actually being helpful

- his best friend is, of course, Monokid, because he’s his wildest sibling and they can go out and play rowdy, rough and high energy games together 

- while kiibo is generally liked among all the Kubs, Monotaro is by far the closest to him and loves the robot to bits, often following him around campus when he forgets what he’s supposed to be doing, because if he “follows Daddy around, he’ll figure it out eventually”

[kokichi-and-co-imagine-blog]

oh can modokuma do a thing where kirumi throws ryoma a urprise birthday party and he just gets so happy because of all that love from people

“Why yes I can! Those kids better save me some cake too!”

It was a late night in the Ultimate Academy, one so quiet and peaceful, it made one want nothing more than to head off to dreamland…

Instead, here they were, crammed tightly into the lab of the Ultimate Maid, Kirumi Toujo, who had called for a sudden meeting.

“Now that we are all present, I would like to bring up the topic for this sudden meeting.” Before she could continue, a hand rose in the air, Gonta’s hand.

“Um, Kirumi, Gonta no mean to interrupt, but Ryoma is not here!” Rambles went through the room at the realization of the missing man, until Kirumi raised her hand, silencing everyone in the room.

:I am aware that Ryoma is missing. I didn’t invite him to this meeting because he is the subject of our meeting.” Kirumi waited for the wave of confusion to pass once again before continuing. “For those of you who have been paying attention to your ElectroIDs, Ryoma’s birthday will be in a few days. Because of this, I have decided to hold him a birthday party. While this is a task I could accomplish myself, I believe it will mean more to him if everyone pitched into it in some way. Now, do I have anyone who isn’t willing to participate?”

Despite the kind way the words were phrased, it was clear from the way Kirumi looked into the audience that she wasn’t willing to let anyone sit out. Everyone excitedly (or in some cases, disappointedly) left the room, ready to get some sleep for a long day ahead.

—–

It was agreed upon later than everyone would be split into four groups: gifts, food, decorations, and the most important group of all…

The distractions.

It was rather difficult choosing them, as some of the students would’ve been better suited to the role, but were more of use in another group. However, if all else failed, Gonta could just hold Ryoma in place as Rantaro and Kiibo just tied him up. Hopefully that wouldn’t happen though. As for the group in charge of gifts… Kirumi really didn’t want to look at what Miu was holding.

“Ha, check it out fuckers! I bet that little bitch would shit himself dry if he saw this bad boy! Oh, what if I gave it the texture of a tennis ball! Bwahaha!”

Kirumi would be lying if she said this group was great. She actually put this group together specifically so she could control the damage to the best of her abilities. Himiko was rather easy to deal with, she fell asleep taping up a preselected present about ten minutes ago. Miu was… Well, Miu. The worsts ones… Those were easily Kokichi and Monokuma.

“Haha, hey, Kirumi! Not that I mind, but why is Monokuma helping? I figured you’d try to keep him as uninvolved in the party as humanly possible!”

“Upupu~ She just understands how big of an asset I truly am? I mean, what type of party doesn’t have a cute animal? A despairingly bad one, that’s for sure!” The two laughed away as they wrapped presents, Kirumi moving on to the next group to monitor their progress.

In all honesty, the only reason Kirumi asked Monokuma to help is because she knew he would try and mess up the party if she didn’t.

NOBODY was going to ruin Ryoma’s party.

—–

“Nyahaha! Atua says that these decorations need more blood!”

“For the last time Angie… If I happen to catch even a single trace of blood, I will not hesitate to lock you in your room and feed you only Atua’s second favorite meal.”

Aside from Angie, Team Decor was going rather smoothly. The biggest problem (asides from the blood of course) was Tenko badgering Kaito for being a “Degenerate Male,” and Tsumugi trying to make the decorations based off various shows she liked. It only took a swift reminder to them all to remind them that this party was for Ryoma before they quickly got back to work.

Luckily, Team Food was the same. The biggest concern Kirumi had of Korekiyo, as he was a bit… On the abnormal side. Surprisingly, the worst that happened is Shuichi and him just chatted about various customs from around the world as they worked on snacks. Meanwhile, Kaede and Maki were assigned to the cake. Kaede was… Not the best. Maki on the other hand…

That girl knew her way around frosting.

Kirumi could honestly feel her heart skip a beat at Maki’s skill with frosting, it almost put her’s to same for crying out loud!

This feeling… It must be envy.

Kirumi decided to limit Maki’s tasks in the kitchen from that day forward. No one in this school was going to be a better caretaker than her.

—-

Finally, it was almost time for the party.

Everyone was scrambling up to the last minute, making sure everything was perfect for Ryoma’s party, whether it was setting up decorations, food, or doing last-minute inspections on the gift bags to make sure Miu didn’t sneak anything in.

Despite her efforts to hide it, it was clear as day that Kirumi was anxious, fiddling with a walky-talky in her hands. She wasn’t sure why, as she’d held many birthday parties before. Perhaps it was because with those, she had worked with professionals, not an assortment of her peers. Before she could dwell on it much longer, the walky-talky she was holding on to went off. Rantaro’s voice came through the speaker.

“Kirumi! Ryoma’s heading over there right now!” A chill went down her spine, it was too early, there will still things to do! Realizing there was no time for them, Kirumi went into business mode.

“EVERYONE, FIND A PLACE TO HIDE, KAITO, GET THE LIGHTS, KOKICHI, IF YOU TRY TO PULL SOME PRANK I WILL PUT YOUR PANTA ON THE TOP SHELF AND LOCK IT SO GONTA CAN’T GET IT FOR YOU!”

Within merely a second, the room was pitch black, and not a soul could be heard. Kirumi took her place under the table, obscured by the tablecloth. A minute passed, then two, the door to the gym soon opening. Multiple pairs of footsteps made their way in, making Kirumi ready the signal…

“SURPRI-se?”

Everyone jumped out early, only to see the Monokubs. It was really awkward, Monosuke piercing the silence.

“Um… So what’s going on here?” Another pair of footsteps followed behind them, a gruff voice playing out.

“Hmph, I could ask the same thing.”

Ryoma walked in, Team Distraction following shortly behind.

The surprise was ruined.

Those stupid bears just HAD to show up, and everyone couldn’t wait for the signal.

Kirumi felt tears prick at her eyes, knowing that the party she had worked so hard on was ruined at the very last minute.

“Hey, it’s Ryoma!”

“SURPRISE!”

Despite the fact that it failed, everyone continued on, rushing over to Ryoma in excitement… With the exception of some of course, who opted to watch from the sidelines. Shuichi seemed to look around in confusion however.

“Um, guys, where’s Kirumi?”

The cheers stopped as everyone started looking throughout the gym for Kirumi. She stayed silent, not wanting to be found. It wasn’t quiet enough apparently, as Maki quickly found her.

“Hey, what are you still doing down there?”

“Oh, well… I happened to find a spot, so I decided to clean it.”

“… With an invisible rag?”

Knowing she wouldn’t be able to cover for that, Kirumi reluctantly crawled out, trying her best to hide her true feelings. Maki looked to the side for a second, before speaking again.

“You should thank her Ryoma, Kirumi was the one who set this whole thing up after all.”

He walked up to her, and Kirumi could feel the dread setting in…

“You know, you shouldn’t have gone through so much effort for someone like me… I appreciate it though. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a party this grand in the past.”

As soon as Ryoma finished, everyone went wild.

… Except Kirumi, who found a chair and let her body turn to jelly from relief. In the distance, someone yelled something about presents, everyone wanting Ryoma to see what he got. Kirumi decided to stay seated, until she heard a deafening silence, followed by wicked cackling.

“I TOLD YOU MOTHERFUCKERS I’D GIVE IT A TENNIS BALL TEXTURE!”

Miu learned how fast Kirumi could run on that day.

[oumakokichi]

So was the world in v3 implied to be messed up or was that just part of the game's script

I plan on writing a much longer piece on my thoughts regarding Tsumugi’s act in Chapter 6, the epilogue (and how it ties in with the prologue), and the outside world, but as far as what I think personally… I definitely think the outside world is messed up, at least to some degree.

First and foremost, I think most of Tsumugi’s speech in Chapter 6 is a deliberate attempt to make the cast fall into despair, rather than “the whole truth.” Considering lies and truths are the central theme of ndrv3, it makes sense that the ringleader would lie, even at the very end.

I think most people were somewhat turned off of the final chapter and the ending because they’re inclined to take most of what Tsumugi says at face value–Junko did, after all, usually tell the truth once she was outed as the mastermind (though she had her white lies in Chapter 6 as well, and ultimately told the survivors that what they believed was up to them). But Tsumugi operates in a very different way than Junko; not only is she entirely different as an antagonist and a ringleader, but her motives are different as well.

What she wanted had little to do with actually inflicting despair or ending the world. Her first and foremost priority was carrying on the show. Anything that would put things back on track and continue the show, all the while making it as entertaining as possible, was good and fine by her.

She wanted to send the other characters spiraling into despair not because she was actually obsessed with making others despair the way Junko was, but because Danganronpa, and particularly the Hope’s Peak arc, centers around having characters nearly fall into despair, only to find their “hope” at the very last moment. It’s pretty obvious that she wanted them to play into those tropes and deliberately told them anything that would break their spirits in order to do so, so that Kiibo could later come in as the “SHSL Hope Robot” and play the Naegi role to her evil ringleader role.

This means that most of what she said was probably a combination of truths and lies, rather than the absolute truth. We know there are some things she said that have to be true, because there’s considerable backing and evidence for them. However, it’s just as clear that she lied about other things, in order to try and make the show more entrtaining for the audience, and in ordr to try and more quickly pressure the rest of the group into falling into despair and carry on the “hope vs. despair” narrative that DR is so well-known for.

The most obvious piece of proof that she lied about the outside world being “peaceful” and “fine” in my opinion is Momota’s illness. In Chapter 6, she takes credit for it, claiming she wrote him to be ill as part of her scripted scenario, then uses that as a springboard to claim that she actually wrote Maki’s romantic feelings for Momota as a deliberate ploy to spice the show up. But there’s pretty solid evidence that she absolutely did not write Momota’s illness, or even know that he was sick in the first place.

In the Chapter 5 post-trial, Momota finally comes clean about the fact that he’s terminally ill, and Saihara guesses that he must have the virus which they found out about from the Hope’s Peak flashback light earlier in the same chapter. This virus supposedly came from the meteorites which crashed into the earth, and wiped out most of humanity within a very short span of time.

Momota, who didn’t use the Hope’s Peak flashback light because he was being trapped in the machinery bay by Ouma at the time, had no clue about the virus, but notes that it’s “very strange” that he’s sick. Even he’s not sure why he’s ill. Most tellingly, he notes that “in his memories of astronaut training,” he doesn’t remember being sick at all. This part is actually so important that it’s noted in yellow in the game, meaning it’s supposed to deliberately serve as a clue.

These memories of astronaut training (memories of his talent, in other words) are the same memories Tsumugi takes credit for writing. They’re part of the “scripted scenarios” for her show, the “character backstories,” in other words. Had she actually, deliberately written Momota to be sick, there’s no way (in my opinion) that she wouldn’t have included memories of his illness among the other memories she implanted using the flashback lights. Momota’s illness is entirely missing from his “scripted backstory”–which means, in my own opinion, that Tsumugi couldn’t possibly have written it.

This leads me to believe that Momota was probably already sick prior to the killing game and just wasn’t showing symptoms at the time. Tsumugi herself seems to have had no idea that he was sick whatsoever in Chapter 5; she freaks out almost as much as Maki, and most of her questions for Momota seem to center around his illness, rather than, you know, pretending to be sad that he’s going to die. Clearly, him being sick wasn’t a part of her scenario, and she was somewhat shaken and alarmed to realize that someone with a very contagious, deadly disease had been living among them the entire time without showing any symptoms until now.

If Momota’s illness was real, then that raises… some very interesting possibilities. Most of those possibilities circle back to what we see in some of the other flashback lights. No other possibilities for his illness are brought up besides the virus–and the virus supposedly came from the meteorites.

The same virus was even foreshadowed by Ouma long before Chapter 5; he comments that “it wouldn’t be strange if the meteorites carried some deadly disease that wiped out humanity,” to which everyone replies that that sounds way too fake, like a twist out of a sci-fi novel. He replies by saying that they deal with things like Exisals and flashback lights on a daily basis, so they’re already basically living sci-fi.

This seems to imply that something very well could have happened to the outside world, though it’s unclear what, specifically. A virus of some kind seems to be pretty certain, but where it actually came from or how many people it killed is up in the air. At any rate, it’s equally obvious that the ndrv3 characters are not the “last survivors of humanity,” so the entire world can’t possibly be in shambles either.

But I do think it’s possible that whatever disaster happened could just as easily have led to a forced assimilation to the “peaceful world” that Tsumugi describes. That’s essentially what Mitarai tried to do with his brainwashing in dr3–and it very much seems like DR as a whole exists to entertain the masses in the ndrv3 universe so that they get their fill of bloodshed and violence from TV, rather than by actually resorting to it in real life.

It’s also worth noting that in the prologue, we catch a few glimpses of what the outside world might be like through a few brief moments of narration from Kaede. Kaede’s cynicism and distrust for others shows through loud and clear. When she talks to Saihara, recalling how she was kidnapped, she mentions how jaded and bitter she felt at how “disgusting” the world was, and wasn’t surprised in the least that no one tried to help her, even though her kidnapping supposedly happened in the middle of broad daylight.

It’s only a small hint, to be sure, but it definitely suggests that the “peace” Tsumugi describes in Chapter 6 is nothing but a thinly crafted façade, reinforced by the media. Which is… well, very Brave New World. Given Kodaka’s love for references and throwbacks, I wouldn’t be surprised if that was intentional, actually.

Anyway, those are just a few of my thoughts. I definitely don’t think the outside world is nearly as okay or peaceful as Tsumugi pretends in Chapter 6, and Momota’s illness is the clearest evidence that something was going on. She couldn’t possibly have written him to be sick as part of a scenario when she herself had no idea that he was ill in the first place. But I don’t think the world is a complete, smoking pile of ash, either, since there are obviously still other people around. As usual with ndrv3, I think the answer probably lies… somewhere in the middle.

Anyway, thank you for asking, anon! This is one of those questions that’s always really fun to discuss, so I hope I could help!

[tuwasduwillst]

ch4 (pt 2)

Shuichi just logged off!

well, that’s probably why Miu’s avatar wasn’t moving.

i’m sorry, what

all of ‘em are in there already except for Kaito, who comes running in at the body announcement.

hm.

he actually would, he basically sentenced Kaede to death already and if he didn’t ~pursue the truth~ it’d be breaking his promise to her. he wouldn’t be happy about it or anything, but even if Kaito killed someone he’d tell the truth about it.

talking about stuff~ Kaito says he believes in Shuichi because he’s his sidekick and they’ll investigate together, etc.

Kaito says it’s not a problem because Shuichi isn’t the type to lie even if they work together, but since Kokichi’s being so persistent about it, he says that they won’t work together this time then.

Shuichi thinks that this is definitely some kind of trick of Kokichi’s, but he also knows that Kaito isn’t going to be convinced to just ignore him, so that’s how things are.

not a ton of information in the file. no external injuries.

apparently Kokichi’s going to be hanging around Shuichi to make sure Kaito doesn’t “bother him”. i’m fine with it! Shuichi is much less enthused.

if you spend so much time being suspicious of every little thing Kokichi does, all you’re going to do is wear yourself out, Shuichi! if he’s done something the damage is already done, so all you have to do is deal with it and figure things out.

let’s talk to people!

Tsugumi apparently saw Miu about 10 minutes before she approached Shuichi, and when she approached Shuichi was about the same time they heard that loud noise.

haha.

Maki was checking out the computer and found out that if someone’s avatar took fatal damage, they’d die from shock. that’s probably something that Miu should’ve told them from the start!

oh, Kokichi just brought up the fact that she didn’t tell them. now Shuichi’s wondering about that, too.

the red bear offers to help “avenge his mommy’s death” by checking to make sure the files haven’t been tampered with. they haven’t, and he also found something else:

log-in and log-out times! Kaito logged out well before everyone else (over an hour before anyone else), but otherwise nothing seems like it’s out of the ordinary.

oh, here it is bigger.

Kokichi was being mean to Gonta, so Shuichi stepped in, but after that...

¯\_(ツ)_/¯  at least you’ve got another person actively helping the investigation now, i wouldn’t really worry about why it’s happening until it becomes a problem

and then they found Miu’s avatar. she’d apparently volunteered to check the outside of the chapel, so that’s why she was outside.

hmm. he says he didn’t look at Miu, so he doesn’t know if she was alive or not before he left.

why wouldn’t you look at everyone else after being logged out of something like that, wouldn’t you want to see if anyone else had been logged out at the same time?? who the hell has something like that happen and just goes “gee, better go take a nap and not look at any of the other people to check if anything’s gone wrong”?

it’s possible, especially since it’s Kaito, but what the heck.

anyway, moving on... Miu’s body being the way it is makes it seem like she died a painful death and that she might’ve been struggling to breathe when she died. strangulation?

okay, calm down, mister.

hey, it’s poison! from Shuichi’s lab, probably, like Kokichi is saying. apparently it’s a very lethal poison when ingested directly (not mixed with anything else), and it gives the victim bloodshot eyes.

Shuichi doesn’t know who brought it in for sure, but he does know whose chair it’s in right now.

you can say Kokichi’s name in your own mental narration, Shuichi, it’s okay. 

anyway, this might not be the crime scene, so they’ll have to go back to~

yes! Kaito says that he’s going along too, in that case. a handful of others say they want to go back as well; Maki, Gonta, and Kokichi say they’ll stay behind.

i wanna see your tiny little avatar again... Kokichi says he has to stay behind to keep an eye on Maki, since she and Kaito are so close.

Kaito predictably gets upset at pretty much everything Kokichi says, even though Maki tells him to just ignore him.

into the virtual world~

yeah, but the loading point is in the middle. it’s obvious that there’s a way to the left side of the map from the right, since the wooden sign went down the river and ended up getting stuck on a rock on the left side. also, when Tsumugi and Shuichi heard Kiibo, they looked to their left--so they can hear things from that side.

that’s just what you’re assuming, Shuichi!!

hey, i found that earlier and Shuichi wouldn’t look at it!

virtual crime scene! ...well, they’re all virtual crime scenes, i guess... since this is a video game...

the cell phone can log people out just by saying their name, so that’s important.

Kiibo overheard Miu and Kokichi talking about meeting on the roof before they all split up.

...did she go sliding off the roof and into the wall of the chapel? because if so, that’s terrible, but also kind of funny.

geez, Shuichi, what kind of a detective are you. the lattice was in here. you were standing right on it!

looking through the binoculars and Shuichi wonders why the map loading point would be in the middle. is it actually in the middle? if Miu made the maps, she can do whatever she wants with that kind of thing...

time to head back! Maki showed up and said that Monotaro is done with the computer stuff, so they should all gather back in the room. 

why would you ever want to draw something on his stomach...

anyway, Shuichi wants to ask him about his meeting with Miu.

there was a lock on the roof door that could only be locked and unlocked from the roof itself. Kokichi can pick locks in the real world, but idk if he’d be able to in the virtual world...

the hammer was the only weapon-like thing left, and it must have been left intentionally. the cellphone was in the simulation originally and Miu just never told anyone about it.

Miu’s avatar was classified as a “non-human object”. is that why she was able to get from one side of the map to the other? if the sign board can and it can go into the river, maybe it’s just because it’s an object.

oh, apparently Miu added a wall to the world. and yep, non-human objects can pass right through it, so that explains that.

also, Kokichi’s avatar had a setting that made it so that if Miu touched him, he’d be paralyzed.

and finally, there was a weird user error when they first logged in. Monotaro can’t get more specific about it than that, but something weird was definitely going on with one of their avatars.

with that last bit of information, it’s time for the trial.

it’s starting off well, clearly.

anyway, Kokichi says that Kaito poisoned Miu after logging out before everyone else, but obviously he didn’t. Kokichi himself made sure that Shuichi knew what that poison did (wrt eyes--Miu’s aren’t bloodshot).

the cause of death was the simulator. something happened to her in there.

Maki and Shuichi both think that she was strangled.

...was she strangled with the toilet paper???? nothing can break there, so it couldn’t have broken off even if it was used for something like that.

oh, hey, that’s the next question.

i mean, she wasn’t that bad. did i like her? not particularly, for the most part. would i say she deserved to get strangled by toilet paper? no.

...was Miu planning on killing Kokichi with the hammer? if she had it with her and Kokichi would’ve been paralyzed just by her touching him, that’s kind of shady. actually, that’s super shady, since she was the only one that knew about the hammer and the paralyzing thing AND she knew how to get rid of Kaito and put him on the roof intentionally. what the hell, Miu, Kokichi is obnoxious and said some terrible things to you, but that doesn’t mean you should kill him in VR.

and yep, it sure does look that way. the hammer gets brought up, since the toilet paper is pretty sure to be the murder weapon, and they ask why she had it.

apparently Miu was the one that asked Kokichi to meet her, so yeah, she was definitely going to try to kill him. and the poison was put in his seat so it wouldn’t be obvious what happened. Miu logged in two minutes after everyone else, so she had plenty of time to do it.

a mini debate about ~trusting friends~ happens again. once that’s done, everyone wants to hear from Kokichi, since he was supposed to meet with Miu and she ended up dead.

makes sense!

Shuichi stops everyone from arguing about how suspicious Kokichi is so that actual facts can be focused on. he wants to figure out the mysteries surrounding Miu’s death before they move on.

like, for example, how she got to the roof. she definitely was over there--Tsugumi saw her through the window of the dining hall. she got through via her secret wall.

aaa, Kaito interrupted Shuichi’s explanation about the wall and it startled me. why, Kaito.

...he did interrupt. i don’t think he’s just holding Shuichi back or anything, though. he is legitimately trying to help and his support helps Shuichi.

wow! why. she’s already dead! you don’t need to do that!

him saying that does get some hints from the bears, though, so...

again:  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

he’s helpful in his own way when he feels like it, i guess. he’s just trying to have a good time.

speaking of that, the group has figured out that the sign must have passed through the wall, but they’re not sure how it got to the other side of the map.

and he does help Shuichi, because he says that it’s the virtual world, so normal common sense doesn’t apply.

world loops! \o/

yaaay, i actually know exactly everything i need to in this trial so far without having any trouble at all \o/

after the intermission, they try to figure out how the culprit got Miu’s body to the chapel if she’d been killed on the roof.

(also, something random i was wondering about that i finally got to find out by paying attention and listening: Gonta and Kiibo seem to be the only two people Kokichi doesn’t refer to as “last name-chan”--he just uses their first(/only) names.)

Kokichi, giving Shuichi the roof slope and everything else as a hint... that’s making it too obvious, geez. he should be able to figure that out without any hints!

why does Shuichi remember the lattice being in the storage room now when he didn’t remember it before... what the heck.

oh, Monokuma hates Sonic the Hedgehog. o:

maybe?

~exposing Kokichi’s lie~

the one about him not going to the roof at all. he said that, but then he described the roof in a good amount of detail, so it’s bothering Shuichi.

she didn’t say anything about the roof...

:o aggressive Shuichi, huh.

wait, does getting aggressive mean lying back at him? i suck that that, Shuichi! i don’t know what you want me to lie about! uhhh... um. he could... pretend like he went into the salon and didn’t see Kokichi in there...?

oh! it worked on my first try! \o/

obviously everyone’s going to believe Shuichi over Kokichi. bu~t, Tsugumi would’ve seen Shuichi pass by if he’d actually gone to the salon, and she never noticed him.

he tried so hard... oh, never mind, she still believes him even though it makes no sense.

Shuichi could absolutely get away with murder at this point if that was something he actually wanted to do.

haha. what happened to being his ~partner~?

Kokichi figured out what Miu was planning and decided to work with Monokuma to make his own plan, is essentially what he confesses.

that’s not much of a revenge, though--

o:

Gonta has no idea what he’s talking about. also, no one believes Kokichi. they still think he did it.

it’s true, there is. if Kokichi was touched by Miu he wouldn’t have been able to move, so there’s no way he could have killed her.

wah

chibi strangulation...

everyone still wants to say it’s Kokichi because they can’t believe Gonta is even capable of killing someone, but Shuichi thinks that something’s off. he knows how important it is to believe in people, but something just isn’t adding up for him right now.

aw, Gonta. :( but... i mean, Shuichi’s 100% right, they can’t just believe in Gonta and not pursue this. Kaito can get as upset about it as he wants, he’s the one that befriended a detective that promised to never turn away from the truth.

i didn’t get lost while picking the topics this time! \o/ this trial has been going pretty well for me; i don’t know if it’s because i’m more awake right now or if i’m just more used to the minigames...

anyway, everyone starts yelling because Kokichi yells at Gonta to say more than “i don’t know”, which is pretty much the only thing he’s been saying. Shuichi realizes that Gonta has been confused about things ever since they logged out.

and Gonta lost his memory because of it somehow. possibly because he put the cords in wrong.

wow, being a lefty really screwed him over there, didn’t it.

haha. that’s been Shuichi’s reaction to so much of what Kokichi’s been doing... that or just going “え?”

and honestly, by process of elimination, it is obvious who committed the crime. Kokichi and Gonta were the only two that weren’t accounted for, and Kokichi physically couldn’t have killed her.

i’ve got to be honest, i don’t want Gonta to die here, but i can’t help but be impressed by the amount of work Kokichi put into this and everything he’s getting from it.

he got to work with Shuichi like he wanted, he got revenge on Miu for trying to kill him, he drove a wedge between Kaito and Shuichi solely by using the truth against them, he got to plan a murder without getting punished for it, and he got to have fun with the trial while knowing all of the twists.

Kaito still refuses to accept it, saying that Gonta was outside the mansion when Tsugumi and Shuichi came outside, so he couldn’t have done it. but that’s not true, because he could have used the toilet paper to climb down from the roof.

he’s said it like 500 times, he’s there to face the truth. face the truth. you know, like he did when he essentially sentenced Kaede to death even though he probably really would’ve preferred to let her live somehow, because he knew how important facing the truth was to her and he basically promised to continue doing that so he (and everyone else) can get out of here.

it’s not about sides!

that alien...

anyway, apparently Kokichi came up with the plan of using the toilet paper to exit the roof. he told Gonta to put it back in the bathroom, but since Gonta ran into Shuichi and Tsumugi, he ended up tossing it instead.

Kokichi tries to get Gonta to confess, but Shuichi stops him. he says if anyone’s getting Gonta to confess, it’s going to be him.

he’s much gentler about it than Kokichi has been, that’s for sure. what a sweetheart.

Kokichi looks like an evil knockoff Precious Moments doll in that last panel...

the little chibi people are cute...

i’m guessing that Kaito is the one that voted for Kokichi there.

...the people that died in this chapter were the last two i hadn’t spent any time with... oops.

:O

Monokuma just made that...

anyway, Kokichi saw the outside world due to the card key. he asked Monokuma to reuse the outside world in the virtual world and then showed it to Gonta, which made Gonta even more confused about what he could do to help everyone (which he’s been worried about for a while now).

hm.

he won’t explain more than that, though. he just honestly thought he’d be helping them.

oh hey, Gonta noticed Miu go through the wall and that’s why she ended up being slid off the roof.

hmm.

hmmm.

honey, if you really didn’t want him to go, you wouldn’t have messed up during the trial.

what the hell did i just watch

anyway, people are upset and crying now. Maki tells Kokichi to tell them the secret of the outside world, now, so they can understand.

Kokichi doesn’t want to tell them anything.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Kaito gets more pissed off the more Kokichi talks until he’s had enough and goes to punch him again like he did before. but...

Kokichi noticed that Kaito seems to be slower than before, too.

how is her hair doing that

anyway, everyone starts to ignore Kokichi in favor of helping Kaito.

oh, wow. that’s cold, Shuichi, you have his underwear in your inventory.

(i know that doesn’t change anything in the game, but it is kind of funny...)

Kokichi doesn’t seem too bothered by Shuichi saying that. he pretty much just says he’s bored and leaves after saying he’ll be the one to win this game.

after that, everyone’s 100% focused on Kaito, who doesn’t seem to be doing well at all.

that’s a lot of blood!

lmao “my cold just got worse” what kind of terrible lie is that even

he says he just needs something to drink and to rest in his room. Shuichi offers to help him, but Kaito doesn’t want his help.

oooh, did he go back to using Shuichi’s last name? did that trial actually do permanent damage to their friendship? :o i figured it’d cause problems, but i wasn’t sure if Kaito would actually hold a grudge like this.

seriously, how do you do that with your face

oh, his name is on there! i was wondering. that’s part of the reason i figured i’d be able to realize what it was if i saw it in Japanese, because if any part of “Ouma” was on there i’d at least know it had something to do with him.

...the reason why i started wondering about it is because i was going to make a stupid joke about grandmas in one of the earlier posts, since “Oma” is the German word for “Grandma”, and then i remembered that’s actually how they spell Kokichi’s last name here. >_>

that’s it for this chapter! idk what’s up with Kokichi, but i guess i’ll find out eventually. :U  i need to go to sleep now because it’s almost noon. those trials always take longer than i think they do...

(next chapter!)

[via-the-ghoul]

Inventor!Akane making Minimaru herself

Meanwhile Gymnist!Miu threatening to beat the shit outta Kokichi at several different points, probably trying to team up with Maki to Kill Him

Musician!Tenko: *Strums guitar string* I will punch the sun

Supreme Leader!Fuyuhiko trying to continue everyone that he’s in charge of a cool evil organization instead of the clown gang, not because he’s an impulsive lier like Kokichi, but because it would make him seem cooler

Yakuza!Kokichi, now actually in charge of a criminal syndicate instead of the clown gang, is claiming that his specifically is more akin to a clown gang

I will not stop referring to D.I.C.E as the clown gang

Pianist!Kyoko somehow still being good with crime scenes, confusing everyone else,

Detective!Kaede, meanwhile, is clearly more cool with this then Shuichi was, notices something’s off with Rantaro’s corpse when going into this with the “I killed him” theory, maybe manages to find Tsumugi idk

(And then she fakes her execution and continues to run things behind the scenes)

“Wait, you have a crush on Alter Ego?” “I mean, I’m a robot too, is that weird?!”

Fanfic Creator!Kiibo meanwhile, is still a robot despite the very different talent, confusing Shuichi, Kaede, and Kokichi when they first meet him, causing him to call them out on their robophobia,

Emtomoglist!Hiro randomly mentioning completely unrelated bug facts which somehow turn out to be foreshadowing,

Clairvoyant!Gonta seeming like his predictions are not that important at the start but then the ending comes and holy crap

Detective!Leon now is the Ultimate ??? since Kyoko was and seems like he’s gonna be important but he still dies in Chapter One

Baseball Star!Shuichi at the start being like “at least there’s no baseball” because he still hates baseball but then the game goes on and he starts angsting about how baseball has nothing to do with this and he isn’t as helpful as he could be

Pop Sensation!Tsumugi having a killer villain song in the climax

Anthropologist!Teruteru having a crush on Murasaki Shikibu

Cook!Kiyo definitely has a thing for reading tea leaves

Maid!Hiyoko is the definition of “Okay I’ll do it but I’m gonna be a little bitch about it”

Traditional Dancer!Kirumi doing commissions in an attempt to raise everyone’s sprits

Tennis Pro!Gundham knows 20 different ways to kill you with a tennis racket and he made 17 of them up on the spot

Breeder!Ryoma having this cat that he carries around all the time, he actually has a movie in the video and it’s the 17 different cats he has back home

Astronaut!Kazuichi hyperfixates on rockets like during the entire plot

Mechanic!Kaito geeking out over a very uncomfortable Kiibo

Gamer!Himiko trying to convince everyone she’s a recarnation of Zelda

Artist!Aoi creating a mural of sorts for the fallen students

Adventurer!Haijime being like “heck yeah islands” before going into “oh no islands”

Judging by Rantaro’s backstory on how he became the Ultimate Adventurer I’m gonna assume he never lost his sisters in this so

(If I left out someone it’s because I couldn’t think of anything)

(I tried)

So like..

random idea but

wait if 

someone 

did

a 

talentswap!au

but with the characters that share vas (english or Japanese)

just a random idea

[v3-killing-harmony-imagines]

How about the boys, Kaede, and Toujou with an extremely self-loathing, anxious s/o?

Mod Saihara currently has lost her voice (Sorta) and is Mc suffering so time to get these asks done b o i 

Saihara Shuichi:

He’s definitely self-loathing and anxious so the feeling is mutual.

However, he doesn’t feel it on the same level as you .

Sure he does loath and gets anxious, but in your case it’s heightened.

 Putting yourself down often, feeling bad because you believe you’re no good for him, getting anxious over little things...

It hurts him more than it hurts you, he detests to see you like that. 

He’ll try and make you feel better, offering to do most of the talking in social situations, helping you with work, etc.

....but that leads you to feeling useless and he has to comfort you about it which makes you feel terrible for dragging him into it and in turn causes you to cry.

As you can tell, things get pretty messy at times .

Your anxiety can make him anxious, your self-loathing makes him regret feeling a certain way about himself because you have it so much worse...

He encourages you to tell your feelings often, holding you close as you explain your worries and issues .

He’ll give you compliments often, in hopes to boost your self-esteem.

Some days he’ll just sit with you in comfy clothing, letting you run your fingers through his hair as you said it calmed you.

He loves it as well, almost purring with content.

It’s easy for the two of you to break down, but you help each-other get back up and move on.

Amami Rantaro:  

He makes it his responsibility to act as an anchor for you.

He’ll always coo in your ear when you come to him crying, assuring you that everything is fine .

He tells (and shows) you how much he loves you often, he’s ready to do anything for you.

He loves cuddling up against you, draping an arm over you.

Compliments are given literally hourly, he can really make you blush when he wants to.

One day he’s comforting you about your anxiety when you snap.

“How would you know anything?! You’re always so damn calm and have no worries?!”

A hurt look crosses his face, your anger fades and replaces with dread.

Apologies are spurring out of your mouth, telling him how sorry you are for saying that, he has problems you know but you just lost it oh god please don’t hate-

“Hey, no worries ok?” He takes your hand, a gentle smile on his face “I’m fine!” 

You break down crying, he comforts you yet again.

He is a little hurt after what you said, but he knows you really didn’t mean it. So the sting goes away by the next day.

He’s very determined to make you feel good, good about yourself, good about life, he doesn’t want you to have any anxiety.

It’s easier said then done of course, but he’ll be damned if he doesn’t do it.

Ouma Kokichi:

The line “But my darling s/o is perfect!” comes up quite frequently. 

If you’re feeling bad about yourself then he’ll shower you in cuddles and kisses while he whispers words of comfort in-between.

 When you’re feeling bad about yourself he’ll tickle you, kissing all over until you’re laughing.

There’s times when he tries to always be happy for you, pushing away all of his insecurities away.

But after a while you notice, and tell him that the relationship is about the two of you, its both ways and not one-sided 

He laughs, brushing it off as your imagination 

You tell him angrily that you’re not lying! You’re not making it up! Is it because he doesn’t trust you? Or does he think that you can’t handle it?

“Please don’t think that. I really do care about it begin double sided...but I have worries that I shouldn’t deserve it. I shouldn’t complain because I deserve to feel bad...”

He forces himself to tell the truth, it makes him feel...weird... Uncomfortable. 

You assure him that everything that he suffers from is not justified, he doesn’t deserve any of it.

The night is spent of the two of you venting, tears and sweat and joy all into one.

It’s early in the morning before the two of you are done; calm, content, happy, even if it’s only for a few hours. 

He can work with it, snuggling as close as he can to you before he mumbles a good night. 

He’s very content that night, the calmest you’ll ever see him.

Kiibo:

Step one: Tell partner that they are worthy and deserve all the good things in their life .

Step two: Comfort person by making them comfortable, using blanket, food and water, and comfy seating.

Step three: Take the persons mind off of things(Playing games, going out. etc.)

It had seemed oh so easy on Wiki-steps (with pictures).

But life was harder, much harder.

He had stumbled over his words, he had panicked slightly and had maybe swathed you in too many blankets...

You appreciated his help nonetheless, thanking Kiibo for all of his help.

You do try and not bother him too much...but he somehow has a sixth sense for when you’re feeling down 

Talking to a robot about anxiety is a bit tricky...but you make do

He tries to help you out with your issues, if you maybe wanna get a therapist he’ll get one for you.

Whenever you’re feeling bad about yourself he’s always spouting out compliments, all the reasons why he loves you.

He doesn’t realize it, but it makes you blush a l o t.

/////

He’s not too big on cuddling, as he really isn’t that good to cuddle with...

But if the night is warm, you’ll just lay next to him, letting his metal cool you.

Sometimes he’ll end up heating up too much and it becomes uncomfortable, so cold nights can also be a thing. 

Kaito Momota:

Unless you come and ask him for help, or are really obvious,he really is oblivious if you’re hating on yourself and/or feeling anxious.

After he finds out, he won’t stop kissing you until you feel better. 

Tight hugs because he’s a strong boy.

One of his anxiety relievers does happen to be sex- he’s horny alright but if you’re not really into that then he’s fine with doing other things to make you feel better .

A favorite activity is playing with his hair, putting shinny clips into it and braiding it.

Whenever you even feel bad about yourself his man is there and telling you why he loves you.

He’ll push you onto the bed (lightly), eyes boring into your eyes (You notice that they really do look like space).

A kiss to your lips and he compliments your hair. 

Another kiss to the neck and he’s telling you about your laugh.

On and on he gives kisses and compliments until your face is burning and you feel better.

Kisses to the hand are something he likes to do in public, just to remind you that you’re not alone, he’s there and he cares about you.

Korekiyo Shinguuji:

Look me in the eye and tell me that he hasn’t researched everything about anxiety and self-loathing .

This guy is practically a walking textbook .

He’ll go on about how to treat thoughts like these, how it’s normal for people to feel that way.

Whenever he physically comforts you (actions speak louder than words, as he says) his touches are always gentle, his words are always careful, his hands always are modest and respectful.

You begin to wonder is he really is your boyfriend, or if he’s just taking pity on you.

He treats you like a fragile piece of glass, being soft with his touches and words.

One time you took it the wrong way, yelling at him that he treats you like a child, that he thinks you can’t do anything.

He looks shocked for a second not knowing what to say.

“It hurts you know? It makes me feel useless.It makes me feel like you’re really in it just to see me get better...” he can see you swallow.

 He takes a breath; s/o, he doesn’t think you’re a child at all. He treats you gently because he wants to. It’s the only way he knows how to comfort. He truly does love you, he wants to see you get better as a person yes, but he wants to see that because he loves you...

He never meant to make you feel worthless, he’s sorry.

You’re crying now but he’s afraid if he should hug you or not, you might get the wrong idea.

But when you wrap your arms around him he knows to do the same.

He has to take a step back and think about what to do from then on, whether or not you may take it a certain way or not....he’s always cautious of that.

But he knows that you love him, and he loves you, so everything will be ok.

Gonta Gokuhara:

When he learns about you being anxious he is in d i s t r e s s 

He never wants you to feel or think those bad thoughts 

He’ll end up crying along side of you in situations, so that you won’t feel alone.

If you’re anxious because you’re scared he offers to protect you with his muscles! Gonta is really strong! but he won’t ask you to suck his dong 

However when it comes to your self-loathing...he really doesn’t know how to fix it, which saddens him 

He’ll give you compliments about yourself! Gonta has many compliments!

As a nice treat, he’ll treat you like royalty.

“This way m’am, as he bows and gestures to the oranges.”

What a dork.

He likes to hold you in his lap and arms, caging you in and giggling that you’re like a chrysalis.

He’ll make sure that you’re eating properly, as eating is important for you to be healthy!

He’s definitely concerned about your well-being, it shows when he stays up all night until you fall asleep .

Hoshi Ryoma:

Ah yes, the moping in self-pity and the anxiety attacks, how he loves them dearly.

Of course, he’s joking, he makes sure you know that.

He’s been here before a lot, so he understands when you have to have things a specific way, otherwise you’ll get anxious. 

Whenever you’re anxious, he’ll sit you down and make you talk about the issue before calmly giving you advice and helping out with the situation if he can.

Cuddling isn’t something he’s really used to, but if it makes you feel better he will.

He’s also ok with you using him as a stuffed bear with some persuasion.

When it comes to self-esteem, he lets you know how great you are to him, how you made his life brighter and how he’s improved a lot just from you being there.

You’re a blushing mess by the time he’s done, and he’s pleased 

When you two are in the mall he’ll compliment you on new clothes;

“Those look cute on you s/o.” “The color really compliments your eyes!”

things like that.

Fuzzy things help him calm down a lot, so he might bring in a few fuzzy blankets, or even get kittens to help you relax.

Having something to take care of seems to brighten your day, he’s happy for you..

There is however, times where all fails.

When that happens, he sits you down and makes you repeat after him:

You are good. 

You are needed.

you are beautiful.

He makes you do that over and over until you really believe it.

Kaede Akamatsu:

When she finds out that you’ve been feeling anxious she’s by your side in a flash.

She delicately runs her fingers through your hair, loosening all the knots and ties in your hair.

She’s making you calm down, singing softly and telling you to close your eyes and just take a breath 

In and out, in and out.

She assures you that everything is going to be alright, she’ll be right by your side to help you. She believes in you.

After that she’ll get you comfortable before playing the piano, a soft, trim beat with soft notes and easy transitions from note to note 

She’ll play until she thinks you’ve calmed down, after which she’ll give you a small kiss before asking what you want to do.

When you are out in public, she’ll sometimes squeeze your hand lightly, assuring you that she’s here if you need her.

When you have troubles with your self esteem, she offers to talk about it over a cup of warm tea.

If you need to cry she cradles your head and lets you go.

She’ll remind you how much you mean to her daily, rubbing your hand against her check as he nuzzles it.

Rubbing circles idly on your hands is something she loves to do as well.

If you feel the need to get professional help, she supports you 24/7.

Toujo Kirumi:

She’s been noticing the signs but has always refrained from telling you, as to respect your privacy.

One day she feels the need for it to be talked about, so she brings it up casually, asking you if you’re feeling ok.

When you reply that you aren’t truly well, she prompts you to explain 

You pour out your heart, explaining every fear, hate, and worry about yourself as she listens with a serious face.

After you’ve finished she spends the next hour or so making sure any tears that need to be emptied do get there, having a box of tissues and a glass of water at the ready.

She’ll stroke your hair as she lets you lay on her chest or on her lap, assuring you that you’re so pretty and lovely.

After she feels that you’re ready, she’ll give you a tender massage, working the muscles to relax from their tight position.

She’ll also run you a hot bath to help as well, making sure that the water is just right and the bath salts are pleasant.

She’ll remind you of how special you are to her, how much you make her happy before wishing you good night.

If she thinks you need to get the help of a professional she’ll be honest and tell you. If she notices you seem to be sad or panicked in public, she’ll ask you if you’d like to go home or not.

She’ll hold your hand when shopping, still managing to push a kart and get all the groceries within the hour.

Wonder-mommy. 

[oumakokichi]

in chapter 3, who ended up being chosen to be revived? also do you think those performing the ritual believed that they'd actually be revived, or they were just going along with it (ouma in particular)

They chose Amami tobe revived, in Chapter 3! Or rather, I should say Angie chose Amami, on behalfof her Religious Student Council, and no one else was really allowed to put upmuch of an argument. Her reasoning was rather solid though: given that Amamiclearly knew more about the killing game than the rest of them, he seemed likethe best choice to resurrect so that they could learn more information fromhim.

As far as whether the characters actually thought the ritualwould work or not, I’m pretty sure most of the ones uninvolved in Angie’sStudent Council really doubted that it would work. Even if they did think therewas a chance at it succeeding, I doubt they thought he would be resurrected inthe literal sense of the word. Ouma, Saihara, Maki, Momota, Miu, and Korekiyo allrefrained from joining Angie’s cult or being swayed by her religion, and as aresult, none of them were asked for their choice or opinion on who to revive.

As for whether the rest of Angie’s Student Council actuallybelieved that the ritual would succeed, of that I’m not too sure. I think Angieherself certainly did, and given Himiko’s desperation to believe in real “magecraft”and the occult, she’s likely another “true believer.” I suspect Gonta and Kiibowere more along for the ride than anything else—Gonta may very well havebelieved that the ritual had a good chance at success, since he was extremely naïveand quick to believe most people in the group, but I highly doubt Kiibo thoughtthere was any real chance at resurrection, given how logical he is most of thetime.

Tsumugi… well, we know Tsumugi must have known the realtrick behind the resurrection motive itself, therefore she’d know better thanany of them if it was actually going to work or not. It seems like she joinedAngie’s Student Council more to keep an eye on the situation than anything else(very likely, she knew that joining and giving Angie another follower wouldhelp add tension to the group and make sure that the killing game would keepcontinuing).

While she certainly likes to tell ghost stories or makeoccult otaku references for fun during some of the trials, she doesn’t seem tohave any real belief in the occult. Rather, because she’s a cosplayer whospecializes in “fiction” and “copycat crimes,” I feel like she enjoys thosethings because of how “fake” they are.

While I doubt the resurrection motive would’ve brought backany actual spirits or ghosts, I wouldn’t doubt there might very well have beensome kind of “replacement” or “transfer student,” which Tsumugi must have knownabout. There’s a lot of emphasis in ndrv3 on how “replaceable” all of thecharacters are, and how there are “plenty of people willing to take theirplace,” lampshaded in Chapter 5 when the Monokumerz get brought back afterbeing completely wiped out. They’re specifically called “all-new Monokumerz”and have none of the memories of the old ones, which makes them “completelydifferent people,” according to Monokuma.

If we assume Tsumugi was telling the truth about the killinggame show being wildly popular and people wanting to participate in it for achance to experience “the world of Danganronpa,” I wouldn’t be surprised ifsomeone else had been brought onto the show as the character of “AmamiRantarou,” perhaps using the remember lights to implant false memories abouthis past and backstory.

A twist like that would more than explain why Monokumainsisted that he was telling the truth about the resurrection motive and how itwas possible, and it would’ve been extremely easy to weave a narrative about “Amami’sspirit possessing someone else,” or something like that. And of course,bringing in an entirely new person to participate in the fictional narrativewould have emphasized even further how there was always someone waiting to “replace”each of them as fictional characters.

As for Ouma more specifically, I highly doubt Ouma believedin the resurrection motive in the literal sense of the word, given that he tookalmost nothing at face value unless he could confirm it first with his own twoeyes. But I think he definitely suspected Monokuma was up to something, sincethere’s no way he would have given them any kind of motive at all unless it wasyet another incentive for them to kill someone.

Something I also found worth noting is a small conversationhe has with Saihara during Chapter 3, about the motive specifically. He mentionsthat if he did have a choice in whoto resurrect, he wouldn’t want it to be Amami. He says he thinks Saihara wouldprefer to resurrect Kaede, and since he’s “thinking of his belovedSaihara-chan,” he would rather do something to “cheer him up.” He then, ofcourse, passes this off with is usual “…That’s a lie, though!” but I think it’ssafe to assume he probably did tell the truth to some degree, since he was theone who brought up the topic himself.

Rather than being interested in the idea of a literalresurrection, or even in the goings-on of the Religious Student Council itself,I think Ouma was simply interested in the idea of what “bringing someone backfrom the dead” would mean to those of them who were alive. As someone who hateddeath, and someone who claimed to want to “tell the people close to him thatthey were important while they were important while they were still alive,” Ithink he felt like such an opportunity should be used for closure and acceptance,if it presented itself.

Given how Ouma was very likely interested in the informationAmami knew and in his SHSL talent, it’s extremely interesting that he stillprioritized emotional closure over logic and obtaining all the facts. I thinkit’s a very good example of the fact that even when he tries to pretend that he’sa cold, unfeeling strategist, he’s still someone who prefers to make otherslaugh and see other people happy at heart.

Anyway, this is the most I can say! Since Korekiyoultimately killed for reasons unrelated to Monokuma’s motive (for once), we don’tknow much about how the ritual would’ve proceeded if it had all gone accordingto plan. But given the tension within the group due to Angie’s Student Council,I can’t see things going too smoothly. The non-believers in the groupoutweighed the believers by far, but people like Angie herself and Himiko werefanatic enough in the existence of the occult that it might have posed a realproblem at some point.

Thank you for stopping by, anon! This was a reallyinteresting question to think about.

[oumakokichi]

Sort of inspired by the ask a while back comparing Himiko to Kuzuryuu and your Himiko meta in general - based on the survivors of the three DR games, what personal traits/qualities do you think lend themselves to characters surviving in the DR universe? What sorts of commonalities do these characters have? I think it's interesting that, as you've said, the strongest/smartest often /don't/ make it to the end, despite their advantages.

This is a really funask! Evaluating the survivors is always a fun task because there are alwaysgenuine traits or characteristics that helped them get where they are, butthere’s also always that element of pure luck. That being said, it’s very truethat some particular tendencies tend to show themselves a little more obviouslythan others, and some of the survivors definitely have a few things in common.

Himiko is perhaps the easiest one to start with again, sincethere was already the comparison to Kuzuryuu, but I do want to point out that Ithink there are quite a few similarities between her and Aoi as well. Just asKuzuryuu lives on and continues to keep Peko in his thoughts and memories, Aoidoes much the same with Sakura. Aoi and Sakura’s closeness, as well as the factthat Sakura died in order to help protect Aoi in particular, closely mimics alot of the general development between Himiko and Tenko as well.

In many ways, Aoi is a figure who Himiko eventually grows toresemble, rather than one she started out similar to. Aoi’s feisty spirit andlive-with-your-emotions-on-your-sleeve motto is very similar to Tenko’s, infact—and that’s exactly the same sort of motto Himiko herself tries to abide bythe more she develops. Neither she nor Aoi are particularly deep thinkers, andtheir opinions on other members of the group tend to change very quicklydepending on what’s going on in the present, but they’re always reliable asfriends, and they’re more than willing to get angry or offended on behalf ofothers.

It’s these traits in particular that I think made Himiko asure-in as a survivor. In addition to the layers of plot armor she inheritedafter Tenko’s death, ndrv3 has such a general feeling of coming back to thebeginning of things and tends to mimic dr1 a lot more closely than sdr2overall. So I feel like it’s no coincidence that she and Aoi share a lot incommon.

With Maki, it’s interesting because I would peg her verymuch for a Togami-like character at first, although it’s actually moredifficult to draw that comparison in later chapters. In the earlier parts ofndrv3 though, it’s very true that Maki was the character the most inclined topush everyone else in the group away. Like Togami, she was explicitly clearabout “mind your own business and I’ll mind mine,” and was similarly skepticaland wary of everyone else in the group.

Interestingly enough, though, I’d say she mimics Fukawa to aslight degree when it comes to her own self-perception. The Fukawa-Syo revealis treated rather comically, but like Fukawa and Syo, Maki is someone whoharbors a secret about being a killer—and like Fukawa and Syo, she poses a veryreal, very dangerous threat to the rest of the group as long as she tries tokeep it secret from them. Ouma’s exposure of her secret is extremelyreminiscent of Togami doing the same thing to Fukawa in dr1 Chapter 2.

Like Fukawa as well, Maki becomes extremely fixated onMomota to the point where she becomes willing to do reckless and even morallyquestionable things, although unlike Fukawa her love for Momota is never playedas a subject of comic relief (and while it’s not always the healthiestfixation, it’s not nearly as unhealthy as Fukawa’s fixation with Togami).

In a sense, Maki as a survivor reminds me quite a lot ofAkane. Like Akane, she’s dealt with heavy trauma and awful things in her past.And like Akane who carries on Nidai’s memory with her, Maki carries on Momota’s.Akane and Nidai were played in a much less romantic light than momoharu, butthe fact that they were always constantly fighting/bickering does remind mequite a lot of how much of the momoharu interaction progresses, especiallyearly on in the game.

Similar to Akane, Maki is not a thinker either. She’ssomeone who considers herself a weapon and does what she’s told, someone whotakes orders rather than reasoning things out. If there’s a problem to besolved, she’d rather solve it the only way she knows how, using violence andtechniques she’s picked up as an assassin. And this very much mimics Akane’s “punchfirst, ask questions later” style of doing things. Akane was intended for amuch more important role in sdr2, as her last name “Owari” shows, and that alsoreminds me a little of how Maki seemed initially like she might be the protagor have an even bigger and more important role in ndrv3 from originalpromotional art.

Finally, we have Saihara. Saihara arguably becomes asurvivor just because he’s the protagonist; you could argue that it’s very muchthe same for Naegi and Hinata. But considering that both Kaede and Kiibo stilldie despite also sharing the protagonist slot, and considering how muchemphasis ndrv3 puts on the “everyone is the protagonist of their own story”theme, I’m not so sure.

Certainly, Saihara shares some similarities with both of hisprevious successors, just as he also shares some noticeable differences. But Ithink a better case could be made for Saihara surviving due to his detectivetalent, rather than due to his role as a protagonist specifically. In coming toterms with what it means to search for the truth without necessarily shootingdown all lies, Saihara comes to fully understand and accept what being adetective means. And after an entire game spent fearing his talent and tryingto avoid it because exposing the truth felt too painful, he instead embracesthe role—but only on his own terms.

Saihara is really not much like Kirigiri in terms ofpersonality, or even in terms of his style as a detective. But he does come tolearn and understand things which Kirigiri understood intuitively right off thebat in dr1. Kodaka is very emphatic in the DR franchise about the fact thatrunning away from the truth out of fear of exposing it will only backfire inthe end. Jin Kirigiri, who in many ways had a similar distaste to being adetective as Saihara does, ultimately brings about so much ruin to Hope’s Peakand fails to see the worst in people because he’s always blindly believing thebest instead, without any basis at all.

As Kirigiri points out, Jin was someone who ran away fromthe detective business. His refusal to come to terms with the harsher, uglierpoints of the truth meant he never fully understood what being a detective entailed,and it’s something she can’t ever quite forgive him for. Saihara pulls throughto the end partially because where he starts out as someone very similar to Jin,he ultimately comes to understand and agree with Kirigiri’s way of thinkinginstead.

Granted, he wouldn’t have made it as a survivor at all if itweren’t for Kiibo’s sacrifice—none of them would have, actually, since theywere all actively trying to end their own lives in order to end the killinggame.

Rather than the strongest or the smartest, I feel like inmany cases, it really is the characters who are the most willing to adapt andchange their points of view who make it to the end. Celes had lots of fun linesabout adaptability being the most important point of survival in dr1, actually,though she was certainly lying when she herself pretended to be adaptable.Himiko, Maki, and Saihara’s noticeable changes throughout ndrv3 are likely aresult of the three of them having the most room to grow, in my opinion. Allthree of them are immature and require a lot of development in some way oranother.

But this is just my take on it, anyway! This was a reallyinteresting question, again I had a lot of fun answering it! Thank you so muchfor stopping by!

[oumakokichi]

I really love your blog, and I think all the meta you write is fantastic, especially anything you write about Ouma. I feel like I'm learning more about the game every time I come on here, and I wanted to show my support and thank you! I also wanted to ask about Ouma's room; specifically, I wanted to ask about why you think he has a statue of Rantaro hanging upside down, and why it was specifically Rantaro. Once again, thank you so much, and I hope you have a good day!

Thank you so much, anon! I appreciate all the support, and I’mso glad that I’ve been able to help people understand the game or Ouma better!I have so much fun writing here, and getting really nice asks like this keepsme motivated and looking forward to it every day!

This is actually a very fun question, more than you would initiallythink! Ouma and Amami are actually very, very similar in terms of motivations,and also their thought processes. Both are incredibly intelligent, both wantedto stop the killing game itself, and both were ultimately incapable of trustinganyone but themselves because of the doubt and suspicion thrust upon them in asituation as horrible as a killing game.

Talking about this in-depth will require covering quite alot from all the chapters of the game, including Chapter 6, so if you aren’tcomfortable with being spoiled for end-game material, please don’t read anyfarther! I want to clear up the questions in detail, so it’ll be very long probably!

Discussing why Ouma had the Amami statue in his room is…fun,because as with most answers, there’s a short and a long one. At least part ofit is quite simply that Ouma was investigating absolutely everything about the previous cases, as shown by his pile ofevidence that he hoarded which included things like the kagonoko ritual book, atire from the swimming pool, and the drone that Miu created back in Chapter 1for the library surveillance. Taking Amami’s statue from Angie’s research labwas Ouma’s way of snatching at least one more thing for the sake of evidence.

Suspending it over his bed, of course, was probably justOuma being a prankster at heart. Part of it might even have had practical uses—thereare several inventions Ouma asked Miu to make him strewn about his room whenSaihara and Maki go to investigation in Chapter 6, as well as diagrams of otherthings he wanted her to make that she never got a chance to. A likely guesswould suggest he was using the statue as a test dummy of sorts. He probably hada lot of fun with it, too. There’s plenty of things that show that he wastrying to keep his spirits up whenever he was alone in his room, including thelittle doodle on his whiteboard, and the hilarious horse mask on his bed (whichwas also, if you’ll believe it or not, a clue intentionally left for Saihara).

It is, in fact, kind of hilarious to picture Ouma talking tothe Amami statue for “moral support” or to keep himself motivated. While Idoubt it was ever a particularly deep thing, I could definitely see room forheadcanons in which he probably made comments about “Amami-chan being his onlyfriend,” or something else sarcastic along those lines.

As for why he tookan interest in Amami specifically…now that’s where things get interesting.

As we know, Amami dies first and without being able to tellalmost anything about the full extent of what he knew about the killing game toeveryone. He clearly alluded to knowing crucial information, including thingsabout the SHSL Hunt, and he very obviously had his own plan in mind to stop themastermind, probably by exposing them rather than killing them, and thereforeto end the killing game.

Chapter 6 confirms all of this, as well as the fact thatAmami was a survivor from a previous killing game, earned himself the SHSLSurvivor talent as a result, and willingly signed up to enlist in the nextkilling game show. As the survivor of the previous killing game, although hestill had to have his memories wiped to participate like everyone else, he wasallowed two particular “survival advantages” which were supposed to give him anedge in the next game. The first was a video of himself recorded on a USBdrive, stashed away in his research lab.

This video itself is where he confirms with his own mouththe things I’ve already mentioned, and he clearly displays very cautious behaviorwhen it comes to matters concerning the mastermind, saying that if Amami hasreached the point where he can watch the video, then “his plan must havealready failed.” Given that Amami’s lab is all the way on the 5thfloor, and that accessing it would therefore mean that the killing game neededto progress quite a long way, it’s easy to guess that that his plan wasto target the mastermind and the killing game itself, and that watching thevideo was a sign that things had already continued too long.

His second advantage was an additional Monopad whichcontained a map of the entire school as early as Chapter 1. He was able toleave himself a note on this Monopad which displayed upon start-up, andconfirmed that the mastermind was, in fact, within the school, and that the hiddenroom in the library was where the mastermind would go whenever Monokuma was inneed of a replacement. This note was even titled by him, “A Hint in Order toEnd the Killing Game.”

Given all of this crucial information which he held, it’seasy to see why Tsumugi killed him when he began snooping around far too muchfor her liking. The tragedy is that he wouldn’t have even risked trying outthis “hint” if it hadn’t been for the desperation of the 2-day time limit.Everyone in the entire group remarks later on that it was a shame he died soearly, once they realize what a crucial asset he might have been by knowing somuch more about the SHSL Hunt and potentially about the outside world than therest of them did.

If the rest of the group found it a shame, then Ouma musthave been frustrated beyond belief, and fascinated. Like himself, Amami wassomeone who wanted to target not the individual case-by-case culprits, but thelarger overall problem of the killing game broadcast, and of the mastermind. Hewas clearly smart, cool in a crisis, and able to solve puzzles and thinkrationally judging by the hints and clues he left for himself in his lab. Hewas far more likeminded with Ouma than many of the other characters, judging bythe fact that even while knowing where the mastermind was and that they were,in fact, in the school, he seemed to want to approach their lair to exposethem, not to kill them.

But he died far, far too early, and without being able totell almost anything about what he knew. It had to have driven Ouma up the wall, and that is precisely why I thinkhe latched onto Amami as an important source of information, even if he wasunder the mistaken impression just like everyone else that he had actually beenkilled by Kaede. He clearly knew that researching what Amami knew that the restof them didn’t was the quickest way to get himself closer to the truth, and Ibelieve his stealing Amami’s statue reflects the interest that he developed.

Ouma was desperate to solve things. What people don’trealize about him is that he’s not only “really smart,” he’s terrifyingly smart. He realized thingsabout Amami and his talent, and was thoroughly investigating the entire schoolas early as Chapters 3 and 4, long before any of the rest of the group caughtonto anything—and they only caught onto the clues they did specifically becauseOuma made sure they would find them.

When Saihara actually manages to reach Amami’s lab inChapter 6, using Kiibo to quite literally blast the door open, it turns outthat Ouma has already been there long before the rest of them (most likelyusing the inventions Miu made for him in order to take care of hidden camerasand to disable the locks on the door).

In order to open the safe with the USB drive and video,there’s a puzzle involving dials with signs from both the western and Chinesezodiacs, and the safe only opens if you can turn the dial to the correct signfrom both. Given that there are 12 options for both, this leaves 144 possiblecombinations, and Saihara and Himiko both freak out for a bit upon realizinghow long this would take them with a time limit so close at hand—until Saihararealizes that Ouma had already left them the clues they needed all along.

For the western zodiac dial, the answer is Gemini. And Oumahad left a hint scrawled on the garden boiler room, saying “ro wa futago,” or “The‘ro’ dial is ‘twins.’” As for the “i” dial, with the Chinese zodiac, the answeris horse. And the hint for this was a little trickier to figure out, as itdates all the way back to the mysterious message scrawled on the stone in thegarden which Gonta discovered back in Chapter 4: “’i’ wa ‘uma,’” or “The ‘i’dial is ‘horse.’”

The “’i’ wa ‘uma’” message later became “kono sekai wa OumaKokichi no mono,” or, “The world belongs to Ouma Kokichi,” by the end ofChapter 4, after Ouma’s grand performance of officially taking the villainmantle. I have absolutely no idea how they’re going to manage this particularlittle word-puzzle in the English localization, but I’m fascinated, because itwas brilliant. And the fact that Ouma had already been sneaking throughout theschool and leaving them with tools to open Amami’s lab so early on isincredibly brilliant because he left the clues so gradually and so mysteriouslythat no one, not even Tsumugi, caught onto what he was doing.

(This is also what I meant about the horse mask also being aclue, just in case the actual message itself was too long ago for anyone toremember. Ouma clearly just wanted to make them think about horses, if they hadto take a blind guess.)

If I sound like I’m gushing a little here, it’s because I’mstill not sure I’m getting across how smart and how calculated Ouma was. Amami’slab didn’t even open up until after Chapter 3, with Korekiyo’s execution. Thismeans that literally as soon as the 5th floor opened up, he wasrecruiting Miu to make inventions vital to the group’s survival and which couldmanipulate all electronic devices. He stole the keycard from the rest of thegroup and used it to check on the state of the outside world with his own twoeyes by completing the platforming mini-game by himself. And he used Miu’s inventions to bust his way into Amami’s lab,watched everything on the USB drive and began piecing together the things Amamimust have known about the outside world, the broadcast, and the mastermind, andleft essential clues for Saihara and the others to find.

Ouma absolutely intended to make sure the rest of the groupcould reach these clues, as shown by the letter found in his room in Chapter 6.On the envelope, it’s titled, “Isho (ja nai yo),” which roughly translates to “Thisis (not) a will/suicide note.” As Maki and Saihara surmise, the fact that hewent out of his way to mark it as “not” a will or suicide note (“isho” roughlytranslates to any message or note left behind by a dead person) was Ouma’s wayof trying to lie/joke around the fact that it absolutely was his will and testament. And following the puzzles to the clueshe had left behind was literally the primary reason Saihara and the others wereable to discover anything at all anduncover the truth in Chapter 6.

The end of this very long answer is that we don’t discoveruntil near the very end that Ouma had been researching Amami thoroughly andnear-obsessively in order to uncover the truth about things, but clearly thisinvestigation had been going on since almost the very beginning, probably rightafter Amami’s death when the whole group realized that he had known far, farmore about the outside world than he’d ever gotten to tell him. He looked intohis case, uncovered Amami’s lab and his talent ages before anyone, and put allthe information he learned from Amami to vital use in order to further his ownplans and help everyone else stay alive and reach the truth.

Him taking Amami’s statue specifically reflected hisinterest, and I think had Amami actually lived longer he and Ouma would havemade for a potentially interesting duo, although it’s arguable whether theywould ever have been able to confide in each other or trust each other. WhileAmami certainly wanted to trust the rest of the group and was more inclined todo so, given his protective big brother-like nature, Ouma is still ultimately askeptic through and through, and being unable to eradicate all the possibilitiesmeans he would likely have still kept observing Amami from the shadows.

Still, if some kind of tag-team had formed between them theway Ouma tried to strike up a semi-alliance with Miu, that would have beenabsolutely fascinating. The two of them had similar motivations and goals, andgiven how incredibly smart the both of them were, Tsumugi would probably havebeen sweating bullets if such an alliance had ever come to pass. Amami’sinterest in stopping the game without wanting to kill anyone was also what Iwould wager intrigued Ouma the most, as it reflected his own goals, and it’swhy I can see oumami working as a very interesting and fun dynamic as a shipeven though the two of them canonically didn’t interact at all.

Amami’s statue was a hilarious find because it confusedpeople and boggled them, and it seemed so weirdto just be hanging in Ouma’s room like that. And while I’m sure Ouma didprobably view stealing the statue as some kind of prank to some degree, there’salso so much more to it under the surface, because it’s very clear that he wasincredibly interested in Amami’s identity and what he knew that the rest ofthem didn’t.

This is incredibly long by this point so I’ll stop, but Iwanted to discuss these details at length because I haven’t seen literallyanyone at all talking about these things, and they were so much fun to gothrough and notice in Chapter 6 while I was watching. I hope I’ve shed somelight on the subject, and if anyone wants to reblog this in order to clear upthe questions people have had, that’d be fantastic!

[oumakokichi]

Hello!! Sorry if you've already talked about this before, but do you have any thoughts on Tenko? o/ I love your blog!

I don’t think I’ve ever actually answered a question justabout Tenko herself! Thank you so much for asking, anon!

As with fanart, it’s hard to find content of Tenko just onher own. I love, absolutely love herwith Himiko as a ship, and I find her interactions with some of the othercharacters very fun or sweet, but I really wish there were more appreciation forher on her own. It’s true that she perhaps doesn’t get the most time to standalone even within canon, but still. I love Tenko, and I feel like withcharacters who make similar sacrifices like Kaede and Momota, it’s important toremember Tenko as being really great all around and appreciating her as acharacter in her own right.

Tenko is a character I know a lot of people were wary aboutprior to the game’s release, although without much to go on. Her design wascute but there wasn’t much that really stood out or indicated her talent, andher lines from the first few trailers and her likes/dislikes released with thedemo just indicated that she really didn’t like men.

What I was primarily concerned with prior to the game’slaunch was that she might get relegated to some kind of joke character—not inthe same way that I was worried about Ryouma getting treated as a jokecharacter because of his design, but mostly because I thought that if theytouched on her dislike of men at all, it would be in a way to try and make theplayers hate her, view her as an “unreasonable” or “stuck-up” character, andmostly all-around try to treat her as some kind of joke character who wouldneed to be “put in her place” or “taught” to open up to men after all.Thankfully, this is not what happened at all, and I’m so, so glad every day.

Tenko is one of the fairest, easiest-to-get-along-withmembers of the group. She treats pretty much everyone respectfully, and she’s ateam player through and through; her personal boundaries extend to not wantingmen to compliment her or touch her at all, and these things are regarded aspretty understandable by the rest of the cast. Even when her reactions to “DANshi”result in hilarious expressions and perhaps a few exaggerated outbursts playedfor comedic effect, she’s clearly well-liked by Kaede, by Saihara, and by prettymuch the whole group at large.

Even her honorifics reflect her sense of fair play. Unlikemany of the cast, who use “-kun” for boys and “-san” for girls as a staple,Tenko is one of the only ones besides perhaps Kirumi who uses “-san” for both.If she truly were trying to be mean or aggressive to boys only, then she’d useno honorifics at all, or some sort of rude and insulting nickname for each ofthem individually (the way Miu uses rude nicknames for the entire group at large,not just boys).

I’m glad for this, because it’s clear that by making Tenkowell-liked and a staple of moral and emotional support for the group, she wasn’tmeant to be a joke character of any sort. She’s highly encouraging to anyone atall who’s been upset or traumatized. While there’s no denying she’s much morecomfortable around the girls in the group, and that she particularly reallylooks up to and wants to be around Himiko, with less-aggressive orless-irritating boys in the group like Saihara, or Gonta, or Kiibo, she’s quitepolite, and very supportive to them.

And at the same time, while Tenko is undeniably a goodperson, I liked that she still had flaws of her own. Not huge, glaring flaws oranything, but just normal flaws that any ordinary person struggling to do theirbest might have. I still feel like ndrv3 did such a good job, better than anyDR installment in the past, with making the whole cast of characters feelparticularly more balanced and less one-sided. The characters who die early onin dr1 and sdr2 are certainly likable, but in my opinion, it was always alittle hard to get a feel for them. If you asked me to explain what flaws someof them had besides “being a little clumsy” or “too loud” prior to readingtheir FTEs or school mode, I probably wouldn’t have been able to tell you.

But with Tenko, a huge part of her character arc, and ofHimiko’s, was the fact that Tenko’s protective streak was also precisely whatwas pushing Himiko away. Since very early on, Tenko was thrilled with the prospectof Himiko’s talent, and clearly foundher very cute and funny to be around. Himiko was someone who inspired such aprotective urge in her that she wanted to be around her more and more, and sheclearly wanted to inspire her to get out and have fun and maybe be a littlemore open with her emotions.

But she came on so strongly that there’s no denying Himikowas a little uncomfortable at first. Someone as introverted as Himiko onlyfound Tenko’s attempts to draw her out of her shell tiring—and more thananything, Tenko’s insistence that she could protect her from anything andeverything, and her attempts to make sure Himiko was never in danger or doinganything too risky or outside her comfort zone kind of miffed her, becauseHimiko has a definite urge to prove herself and show off a bit preciselybecause of how small and seemingly helpless she is.

This kind of overprotective, somewhat coddling behavior is areally believable, understandable flaw, and something I think we’ve all been guiltyof at some point or other. I feel like there’s plenty of times for most peoplewhere we maybe assume too much about someone else’s abilities or don’t quitethink before trying to do something for them. And even if we don’t have any badintentions, it still hurts the other person, and I like that this kind ofbehavior was something that was addressed with Tenko.

And her good intentions were also addressed, and it wasclear that despite the fact that she sometimes came on a little too strongly orwas perhaps too smothering in her attempts to protect Himiko at first, shereally, genuinely cared, and she wanted to be Himiko’s friend in the truestsense of the word (and also her girlfriend). Tenko realized in the Chapter 2trial what a lot of characters in ndrv3 took much longer to realize: thatdoubting someone is perhaps sometimes necessary, but that trust is all aboutcoming to a conscious decision to believe in someone even after doubting them.

Tenko was killed off too early for my liking, and just aswith Kaede, I would have loved to see her take a more central role in the plotor receive more development, but I am at least glad that she was such a lastinginfluence and presence on Himiko. Tenko’s sincerity and affection for Himikowere so obvious to the entire group at large, many of them specifically commenton her feelings for Himiko even after she’s gone, and Himiko herself carriesTenko with her in her heart and keeps going for her sake specifically eventhrough the worst scenarios.

In addition to all these really fantastic reasons to likeTenko too, the cherry on top for me was realizing that the dislike of men and notwanting them complimenting or touching her was thankfully really not played assome comic relief thing. I’ve yet to read translations of any of Tenko’s FTEs,but I know that even in the Chapter 2 trial, Tenko specifically has a lineinvolving the fact that her father was drunk, and that he yelled a lot, which strikesme as a strong implication that hewas probably verbally abusive at the very least.

Given Tenko’s interest in neo-aikido and its measures ofself-defense, I was really glad to see a female character with this kind ofabuse implied her past whose aversion to men wasn’t treated as somethingneeding to be “fixed” or “gotten over,” and that everyone pretty muchunderstood that she’d be polite and nice as long as her boundaries wererespected.

Tenko is great, and I adore her, and as with most of thecast, I really, really wish she’d lived to the end. Couples rarely ever getoutright confirmation in the DR franchise, let alone happy endings, but I’dhave loved to have seen some AU with himitenko both making it until the end andbeing if not entirely happy then at least somewhat comforted by having eachother around.