#and i remember how much i love makoto's character and his story

[eru-iru]

happy one year anniversary persona 3 reload!!

[mmani-e]

Hello! After all this effort, behold:

DANGANRONPA DEMIX, THH EDITION!

Dr Demix 2

Finally got the talentswap designs I have for the THH characters one and done with! You can click through the read more section for some fun design insights. I'm intending on uploading a doc containing short lore bits about them eventually.

Kyoko Kirigiri - Ultimate Affluent Progeny

So Kyoko's design was both kinda simple, kinda not, wanted to give her a very fine and regal kinda attitude to her but not arrogant as that's very much Byakuya's thing. Her story is that she loves her dad more than the family business and her grandpa so she abandons detective work and just uses her brain to help her dad out.

Makoto Naegi - Ultimate Novelist

Makoto is a wonderful guy, just great all around. He loves writing children's books and happy stories. This is his main coping mechanism so he doesn't have to process any negative emotions he gets, the rest he can't process… well they go into a murderous psychopath alter.

Aoi Asahina - Ultimate Lucky Student

Shoujo protagonist Aoi. Cute, headstrong, affective, competitive, these are all the traits that make her fight for her friends and clash with Kyoko (and more often than not Byakuya) in the killing game, even when all hope seems lost… she pushes through, unafraid to let tears spill from her eyes for all those lost, but pushing all the same.

Byakuya Togami - Ultimate Detective

This one, I wanna go into more lore territory, cause I kinda memed around his last desc I gave him so here goes:

"A disgraced heir of the Togami household, Byakuya lost the competition that would've secured his riches. Disdainful and bitter, he sought out to get to the bottom of why he lost, uncovering a rabbit hole in the process. By the end, he proved his sibling a cheater, but it didn't matter because by the end as he found the sweet satisfaction of uncovering secrets and crushing liars and cheaters under the weight of their hubris far more satisfying than any inheritance."

Sayaka Maizono - Ultimate Spirit Medium

So Sayaka isn't a clairvoyant at all like Yasuhiro, in fact her entire skillset is completely different, first of all she is like an actual psychic, and I based her design off of the japanese Itako, quite loosely. Very interesting group, look it up, also she'll never use these powers in the killing game because I dunno how to even approach these rituals or what they look like or how to write them while remaining respectful, so she won't do it in a killing game for the express reason of her not having the right tools available and not wanting to disrespect her traditions.

Leon Kuwata - Ultimate Swimmer

I really wanna draw him again, all these characters again tbh, and I wanna show off the patterns on his wetsuit. It's a whole coral reef under there, that anemone and clownfish bit is only one part of a whole reef stretching his midline.

Sakura Ogami - Ultimate Programmer

Sakura has installed chips into her body to help optimize her body processes and also cause why not. As for the muscles, she's an Assembly programmer, the programs she's made can run on calculators she loves it.

Chihiro Fujisaki - Ultimate Martial Artist

Chihiro's design here with the two belts is an explicit nod to his preferred martial art - Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, so unlike Sakura in canon who'd be easy to imagine cracking someone's skull in half with a chop, Chihiro's approach is more crawling onto someone and bringing them down to the floor with grappling like an angry halfling monk. As for the belts themselves, on his head is his final junior belt, while around his waist is his current belt, he's not a black belt yet because he's still too young for it.

Celestia Ludenberg - Ultimate Baseball Star

Celestia actually isn't a legend in this AU, Taeko is. Celestia hates that and wants to start a baseball career going international, whatever the hell that means is up to her own definition, but she wants to be remembered forever as Celestia, not Taeko. Also extra sentence, but this is the SINGLE hardest design I've ever had to deal with here, I think in the future I'll be drawing all her little accessories and I have an alt costume for her I have in mind.

Hifumi Yamada - Ultimate Pop Star

So I changed Hifumi's story as I originally outlined in the OG post with him. He was friends with Aoi all his life, pretty much his only friend at all, and ever since he was little he had an obsession with writing songs, because he was obsessed with stuff like anime openings and was content to just keep the songs to himself. It wasn't till Aoi convinced him to share some of his songs that he started his journey to success, but bc he's not traditionally attractive, his first hits were literally just… his voice being played over other more attractive singers and it wasn't until very very recently that he even performed a song of his for the first time.

Toko Fukawa - Ultimate Fanfic Writer

So while Hifumi was clearly a Doujinshi but due to weird translation, ended up as fanfic creator, Touko is straight up a FF then Wattpad then AO3 girl, who would get obsessed with this really shitty, tripe manga that she didn't even like reading. It did however have super hot dudes in it, so she wrote good stories of those characters when she got frustrated with the actual authorial content - which was always.

Yasuhiro Hagakure - Ultimate Gambler

Quite LITERALLY the never stop gambling meme personified into a guy. He can lose 3 mil on slot machines but always comes out fine because it means if he keeps gambling he'll eventually run into his 1/3 and win giga millions, what he needs to pay off his debts. It isn't just with luck though either because his personality and lack of intelligence or understanding of most the rules of the games he plays means he'll never react the way he should when getting a good hand in poker or a bad draw in blackjack, so he wins those games almost always through just… stupidity.

Mukuro Ikusaba - Ultimate Biker

She's number 16 in her gang, and is easily the most loyal enforcer and taskman of the gang. She does anything she's told, to a grim and disciplined degree not typical for hooligan bike gangers, she doesn't really desire a seat as top dog of the gang though, after all she's got school to worry about, and her sister.

Mondo Owada - Ultimate Warlord

So his relationship and Kiyotaka's is gonna be interesting, because I don't want him to be exactly like Mukuro at all, who was just sort of an all-obsessed Yandere. It's more like he's always chafing under Taka, who is less than friendly with him in this AU, really the main way he even lets Taka boss him around is because he pays incredibly well and helps keep his gang members from devolving back into the unstructured, chaotic criminal life, the same that took his brother years ago.

Oh and yeah, he still looks like Guile, as he should.

Sparkling Justice - Ultimate Killer Killer

Yeah it's a reference to Killer Killer, sue me I love the manga. He has Hajirahara's ahoge, and I thought it'd be cute to also give him a mask just like the other Makoto from a Kodaka game series (Raincode.) Also, while Genocide jack stuffs all her scissors in her skirt, Makoto keeps a truth gun with "truth bullets" as his main weapon, the gun he stores inside the big book in the chibi of just Makoto, and the bullets kept on his person as the red buttons all over his body, which he pulls out when he needs to reload.

"Kiyotaka Ishimaru" - Ultimate Fashionista

Unlike Mukuro and Junko, Mondo absolutely cannot hide the fact that he acts nothing like Kiyotaka, though this is surprisingly fine to everyone else, because unlike Junko who plastered herself onto literally everything, Mondo always obfuscated himself from the public spotlight, at most showing only his suits while he hid his face behind something conveniently placed. Which played primarily to his vision of an ultimate fashionista, who was above everyone and catered to the rich and powerful.

Junko Enoshima - Ultimate Moral Compass

This was a fun one, I decided to let her have her red hair because I believe it to be the "natural" look of her hair, while attaching little clips of dyed hair to her buns as a replacement to keep her shape sorta and keep the strawberry blonde somwehere on her. Understand that while she is the "moral compass" she is still pretty deranged, and the only reason she focuses so much on keeping everyone on their best behavior is because it's endlessly entertaining to her to make her fellow moral committee members upset when she blatantly makes a mockery of the rules while still keeping kids on their best behavior to make a point.

Kiyotaka Ishimaru - Ultimate Fashionista and Tyrant, the Iron Hand of Despair

Taka's design I wanted to sort of focus on this sort of, holier-than-thou idea, where I wanted to make him look a lot fancier and upper-class than Junko does in his standard highschool fit compared to him. I wanted him to have an upper-crust sort of look

If you're reading this after reading this all, thanks! You're a wonderful person :) Signing off...

Mani

[mapoeggplant]

skip to loafer chapter 62 analysis // spoilers

skip to loafer reiterated its message of "i love you as a person" in a soft and fun chapter. and with that, takamatu-sensei prepares us for a new arc that promises to be full of unforgettable moments.

(since the translation is still very fresh, i'll try to focus more on using the raws not to spoil anyone. i hope you understand that!!)

honestly, i find light chapters like this the hardest to analyze on their own, especially ones like chapter 62 that brings back several loose ends in order to tie up another knot before continuing the journey. so, instead of analyzing the chapter itself, i'm going to bring back some old debates and fit them into this new phase of each character.

even though friendship was the main point of the chapter, in my opinion mika also deserves her own spotlight since, in one way or another, she basically served as a bond between the two groups.

in the case of the boys, her name is brought up when shima reveals that he invited her to his travel group, without much thought of the consequences. this causes a certain amount of anger in mukai, who was the person who witnessed very closely mika's reactions before and after the confession (and even later, when she was talking to nao by the beach). however, he’s also one of shima’s oldest friends, so he knows exactly what he been through, which is te exactly reason why he acts impulsively. 

it's as if he were between two different oceans, not knowing which way to go, since both are too turbulent for him to navigate. it's hard for mukai to completely side with his friend, since mika's feelings are still very vivid to him, but he knows all the difficulties that shima went through regarding her own internal terrors, that’s why he holds himself back to not curse him or anything. what he ends up choosing is the safest rote, which is to scold him with an open heart, making sure to show that what he did was wrong. in the end, he won’t explain it to shima the exact reason why he’s mad because he knows he doesn’t have the rights to speak for mika, that’s why the message gets a little confusing for shima, who’s still learning and growing (and honestly, the reacting of stop to understand where mukai was coming from is actually a big step for him, which i appreciate). 

in the case of the girls, mika is also the only one who, up until now, knows about the events before and after the confession. she can see the sincerity and kindness behind shima, who continues to respect and see her as a friend, but it's hard not to assume a protective position when the new person to be affected by the same feelings is mitsumi, someone who she became so important to her. and that's where her growth as a character is slowly revealed.

mika has always created her own barrier and has had difficulty opening up to the girls. and that didn’t start recently, since she have been dealing with her insecurities for as long as she can remember. mika spend most of her childhood alone and had a hard time to make friends when she started her teenage years, which led her to have a very abrupt start when she met mitsumi, yuzu and makoto. for her, it has always been very difficult to see herself in a group of friends and to be comfortable with herself to the point of expressing her mind clearly. 

as the story go by, we can see how comfortable mika is now with the girls, but old habits are hard to erase. even with all her conversations with nao and the peace she feels around her friends, there are still a lot to be unfold and a lot to grow. 

however, for her to grow, she needs to keep trying. and that’s when she choses to shine in this chapter: she finally manages to open up to mitsumi and reveal the secret that corrupts her so much. 

ever since mitsumi confessed the relationship she and shima had, mika has been struggling with indecision about whether to open up or keep the event forever as a bad memory from the past. it's hard for her, since she doesn't want to lose mitsumi's friendship or the other girls', but she also needs to accept what happened in order to finally say goodbye to them. it's not that she doesn't have her feelings cleared up inside her or that they still have a chance to blossom again. what really hits her is the fact that she's hiding something she considers important from her best friends, which might results in a awkward situation later on. 

the moment mika admits out loud that mitsumi is much more important in her life than any past crush, mika is finally saying goodbye to this weight she's carried for so long and can finally start another chapter in her life. now, she no longer has anything hidden or needs to walk on eggshells — the love she embraced and the love she receives are enough for her to stand tall. 

the development of skip to loafer's friendships is indeed something that needs to be celebrated. throughout the narrative, we are constantly reminded that the story itself is built on the idea that love doesn't need to be romantic to be true, it just needs to be felt. loving someone is accepting their flaws and understanding their scars, like mukai and shima; loving someone is being vulnerable, like mika and mitsumi; loving someone is going out together to buy clothes for a trip they've been waiting for.

it's beautiful to see how the girls care about mitsumi and her feelings, but still root for her happiness and are excited for her. it's beautiful to see how they're always together in difficult times, whether they're big or small (or even medium, like what's the right outfit to wear on a date. that's very important for a teenage girl). 

and for shima and mitsumi, it’s cute to see how shy they are around each other and how they are allowed to slowly understand their feelings. the narrative doesn’t force them to anything at any point or rushes them to a resolution, what it does is explore the nuances and difficulties of dealing with your first ever romantic love, specially when you were never allowed to explore your own feelings in the first place (like shima), and the fear of losing a best friend that you cares so much (like mitsumi feels). 

i don’t think this is the calm before the storm, but i do believe takamatsu-sensei is getting us ready for what’s coming next. i do believe this will be a very decisive arc for a lot of characters, but it will also birth many more plots for us to explore.

thank you so much for reading 💛 don't forget to support the author if you can and also thank the translation group!!

and if you're interested, i wrote a while ago an analysis about skip to loafer's "i love you as a person" message. just click here to find it!

[mirai-e-jump]

Hero Vision Vol.14 (2004/Spring) ft. Kamen Rider Blade Cast Interviews Ryoji Moromoto x Makoto Ito (Suit Actor) Segment (translation below)

Publication: May 20, 2004 (between episodes 17-18) Ryoji Moromoto (Hajime Aikawa) x Makoto Ito (Chalice Suit Actor)

"When did you two first meet?"

Ito: When? (laughs)

Moromoto: When we first met? I'm pretty sure it was before filming started. My first impression of Ito-san was that he was, "A kind big bro."

Ito: He made me think, "This year's also going to turn out cool" (laughs).

Moromoto: We talked alot about Chalice back then. You said, "Chalice has existed for 10,000 years, so I want to show you 10,000 years worth of my career." What were some of the other things you said again?

Ito:……not much, I really don't remember (laughs).

Moromoto: Ahaha! One thing we have in common, is that we have similar bikes, don't we? We've talked about how we want to go (motorcycle) touring together after the show ends. I ride a Yamaha SR400 and, ah...I'm sorry……(Note: The bikes used in Kamen Rider are provided by Honda)

Ito:…Sorry, but I'm also a WR250F (Yamaha) rider~, but before that, it's always been a Honda! I'd love to see Moromoto-kun's rumored SR. I've heard that they're loud and rather slow……

Moromoto: That's right! I actually modified it too much, and now it can only go about 80kph (50mph) (laughs). Right now, I'm too busy to work on it. I feel like my love for it is fading~!

"What were your first impressions of Chalice?"

Moromoto: I received a call from my agency, saying I passed the audition with, "You're Heart." "Eh?! You mean Momorenger?!," I was so surprised and alittle bit intimidated (laughs), but when I saw the design in person, it was cool and I liked it alot because it was something I had never seen before.

Ito: When I was first told about it, I jokingly thought, "Heart……(sinking in)…ah, alright then, I'll just act like a gay guy……" But, after seeing the design, I was relieved and thought about what kind of pose would suit this Rider. My first thought when I read his setup, was that it would be nice to have something wild and different from the other Riders. Compared to G3-X in "Kamen Rider Agito" and Knight in "Kamen Rider Ryuki," this is the wildest work I've ever done. Even with Kaixa in "Kamen Rider 555," I tried to keep martial arts like movements in mind, and to avoid any unnecessary movements. But with Chalice, there's just so many unnecessary movements…(laughs).

Moromoto: That's why I also tried to make the movements bigger in that fight scene (episode 9).

"Morimoto-san, "Hajime Aikawa is not a normal human being," what do you pay attention to when playing such a role?"

Moromoto: When my heart is closer to the human side, it's not so different, but when it's closer to Chalice's side, I try not to blink as much as possible, and when I talk to people, I try to give subtle pauses in my responses. It's almost like a foreigner hearing Japanese and interpreting it in their head before replying. In general, when I'm on Chalice's side, I don't think with my mind, but instead, try to act with my feelings

"Do you have any techniques for the dubbing process?"

Moromoto: I have a high pitched voice, so it can be difficult for me to make Chalice sound intimidating or violent. That's why I'm trying to lower the tone of my voice. I also did research by studying "monsters" such as the Hulk, Akuma from "Street Fighter II" and King Piccolo from "Dragon Ball Z." One time I even played the videos, and would try to voice the characters myself with the sound off, but there was still something wrong. What could it be…I don't know what Chalice's true form is yet, so my image may not be perfect. (Note: The actors have not been told where the story is going at this time.)

Ito: When it's my turn to "Henshin!," I'm trying to decide if it's better to change or to fight and further develop myself. Essentially, Chalice is supposed to be used to fighting, so I want to keep my methods in check. I'm so focused that I feel like I can see my opponent's movements, even when they've stopped. However, the tension is still high.

Moromoto: The way I say "Transformation" is different depending on if I'm fighting to protect Amane-chan or with my natural emotions. For Amane-chan, it's, "Henshin!" but naturally it's, "…Henshin" (lower tone).

"Did you face any challenges during filming?"

Ito: I'm not good when it comes to cold weather, so I almost cried during the snowy mountain shoot.

Moromoto: It was -15C (5F)! And when the sun went down, they brought out one of those giant fans! It kept spraying us with cold water! Man, I remember my face being scrunched up with anger (laughs).

Ito: When I did a test shot without the mask on, my hair ended up freezing. It wouldn't even melt when I put my head over the space heater, so I just had to keep it as is.

Moromoto: There was also the scene where Amane-chan's father gives Hajime the photo, with it being so cold I thought, "This guy, is he really going to die?!"

Ito: I'm bad with Winter, but I'm also bad with Summer too. When I wear a suit, my body temperature rises and my face turns bright red. My heart starts to race too and I think, "Ah, my life is getting shorter…"

Moromoto: It's good for Chalice though, isn't it? Blood rushing, a fast pulse, it's like an unleashing of the instincts.

Ito: But, when I get like that, I become quiet. In the Summer, Chalice becomes more like a domesticated cat (laughs).

Moromoto: Please keep doing your best~, I'm also prepared to risk my life for this role!

Ito: I also want to play the role of a Rider who will continue to remain in everyone's heart. Personally, it's frustrating to often hear people say, "Chalice looks like Gills (Agito)" (laughs), regardless, please continue to watch us in the future. We're going to give it our all!

[autistic-ben-tennyson]

Letting Go: How Shinkai Succeeds where Lucas Fails

After reading that essay on how Kung Fu Panda did the “letting go of attachments” story way better than Lucas did, I was inspired to write this. The problem with SW is that it tries to apply what is spiritual advice to a hero’s narrative when it’s not about heroism. It’s about coming to terms with grief, preparing for death or letting your child grow up. I want to talk a bit about two of Makoto Shinkai’s films that are both favorites of mine, Weathering With You and Suzume as both delve into this topic. The latter has its title character come to terms with her grief and trauma while the former is a rejection of the utilitarian view of letting one person die for the “greater good”.

Suzume succeeds with its “letting go” message because it focuses on the journey and shows the importance of a true support system and that it takes time to come to terms with grief. Expecting people to just let go immediately isn’t fair and unrealistic. Suzume’s whole journey is about exploring new places, meeting new people and learning joy can still come from grief.

Shinkai based this movie off the 2011 earthquake which was a real source of trauma for Japan. Suzume is a survivor who lost her mother and her home. She has to learn to not dwell on her past hurt but at no point is she shamed for missing her mother or told to just let Souta rot as the keystone for “the greater good”. She’s allowed to mourn. She and her aunt, Tamaki grow as people and as parent and child through emotional experiences, both in the movie during their argument and reconciliation as well as in the booklet that revealed a bit about their past. Tamaki had the responsibilities of being a parent thrust on her and resented it at times but communication was what helped their relationship become healthier and she never shamed her niece for having negative emotions. I’ve written an essay about this too.

The reason this movie succeeds at its message is that it treats its characters and audience with sensitivity. Suzume heals by remembering the happy moments with her mother and Tamaki was willing to adapt to her needs, unlike the Jedi Council. I think @abla-soso’s written about this but George doesn’t have the healthiest view of human psychology and trauma or of relationships nor is he a good writer. He’s sympathetic to Anakin, sure, but he and much of the fandom treat him as just greedy for holding onto his attachments when he doesn’t have a support system that validates his emotions and won’t help him heal except for telling him to meditate. A child healing by remembering their mother while going on a road trip to come out of their shell is not the same as being forced to go and help slavers that caused you so much pain. How can one heal from that?

The other movie in question, Weathering With You, is sort of a response to the ultra collectivism in Japan. Hina is expected to die so the rainfall will stop but what about the people who know her and have to deal with her loss? The little people are always forgotten about in these greater good arguments. Kind of like Trace and Rafa in TCW. Hodaka may have been selfish, yes, but Hina was the one person who treated him with kindness and affection as opposed to how his parents and the kids from his hometown did. Not to mention she still had a brother to take care of with their mother dying a year before the film was set. To just die would be abandoning those who needed her. Hodaka’s trauma and anger is treated with respect by Shinkai as opposed to just being written off as evil like Lucas or Jedi stans would.

Some have interpreted the movie as a climate change denial story with the rains and flooding being treated as natural. But it’s really more of a response those who put all the blame and pressure on one person to fix the problem, especially the young being forced to do so by the older generations. It’s not fair for the older generations to create these problems then put all the burden of solving it on the youth. The Jedi council was plenty guilty of that with how they treated their padawans. And it’s okay to live your life to the fullest, even if the world is falling apart.

I’m sure the Jedi apologists will probably respond by saying “Jedi aren’t against love or emotion, just possessiveness” but that’s not what the movies show even if Lucas didn’t intend for it to come off that way. Maybe these movies treat the subject with more sensitivity and nuance because they’re written by someone who understands Shinto philosophy unlike a 70s hippie who blends stoicism with eastern beliefs. Yes, SW was intended to be black and white, but that’s not how real life works. What may not affect one person will affect another and it’s not wrong to need time and unconditional love to heal. You can’t just slap labels like selfish attachment or greed on someone when you don’t know or refuse to understand their circumstances and motivations and it’s not fair to judge or write them off.

[ocean-waters]

HEY OCEAN!! ヾ⁠(⁠･⁠ω⁠･⁠*⁠)⁠ﾉ para el ask de personajes, que tal 2, 12 y 24 sobre Haru y 10, 14 y 23 para Lapis (SU)? (espero que no sean muchas)

Hey dragon!!

Ooo mis queridos seres acuaticos 💙🐬🌊

Haru:

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

What isn't, honestly. I really love his love for odd mascots like iwatobi chan and Northern stoplight loosejaw kun. I love that he makes little hand crafted figures and has merch of them. So real of him.

How he can easily succumb to any of his favorite things like mackerel and water and how people bribe him with that. I think it's hilarious.

How much he has done for his friends. He really does show a lot of his love through actions, which speak louder than words. Letting Nagisa stay at his house, also I remember reading that he once wore a girl's swimsuit to save Nagisa from embarrassment because his sisters had packed him one to tease him; Being overall protective of Makoto, especially when things relating to the ocean are involved, the cherry blossom pool for Rin... he just does so much and I adore how truly caring he is.

How expressive his eyes are. How they sparkle and swirl and show so many emotions hidden behind his mostly impassive face.

Also i love how everyone has agreed he's like a big cat. A big water-loving black cat. It suits him.

And so much more, but this question was only supposed to be about one thing, so I'll leave it there.

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character

Oo okay so, i know I've said this so many times across many different posts, but:

That he's in the aroace spectrum. Specifically demiromantic/asexual. From seeing the show, it always seemed like the story was pushing how he really was not interested in anything pertaining to love and sexuality. Sure, this is also because most of the moments that pop up are meant to be funny and not taken too seriously, but he's MY comfort character, and I CHOOSE what the headcanons will be.

Like the story of his "first crush" being a waterfall because water is just so gorgeous and amazing. Or how his "lewd" magazines under the bed were about hot springs. Like, this man is 100% asexual, and this is the hill I will die on. (Though there are certain scenes with a certain someone that appear to have a certain tension like in the splash free! Ending, but they're mostly just so intense because they are also so intense.)

The demiromantic part is well, admittedly, mostly due to shipping reasons. In the actual canon, I might even be inclined to believe he's just fully aromantic.

However, romantic Rinharu has cemented itself in my brain permanently, and their chemistry and story are simply too good. So I do think Haru could discover he's demi through Rin. I just feel like eventually they could reach a point where he starts reconsidering the way he feels about him. All those dazzling smiles, funny electric charges that run through his body, and that racing pulse when he's with him... until it all just boils over and oops, he realizes he's in love.

I also have a very long headcanon about how him and Rin would go about things and what would happen in a relationship, like how Haru may not really be one for traditional romantic gestures and being tactile, but still enjoys the things Rin does and knows they make him happy, so he starts doing them more until they feel so natural- but there's literally too much to mention here, so maybe I'll leave it for another time if you're interested hehe.

24. What other character from another fandom of yours reminds you of them?

While not entirely that similar, one who comes to mind is Chief Justice Neuvillete from the court of Fontaine in Genshin Impact.

He's also a huge fan of water. However, he enjoys it by drinking it instead of swimming. He's such a water connoisseur. He mentions all the different tastes and feels he gets from drinking water from different nations, how some feel more mineral rich, other soothing and fresh, etc. He's constantly drinking water during his idle animations. I think him and Haru could potentially get along.

He also gets along with these little fantasy creatures called melusines and is essentially like their father, lol. He loves them very much and is very gentle with them. Maybe a stretch, but it reminded me of how Haru is good with kids and also animals like cats.

Neuvillette is also technically the fastest swimmer in genshin since he is the hydro dragon of Fontaine and has a passive talent that increases his and his party's swimming speed.

Oh, and during an event quest, he gifts the traveler a cute little hand crafted ladle of an aquatic creature. And it just reminded me so much of Haru. I love it so much.

Lapis lazuli:

10. Could you be best friends with this character?

I would love to, but I'm not sure if she would lmao.

However, painting with her would be really fun, plus I'd love to see what her technique is with watercolors. I'd love to create pieces with her. Maybe she'd be a bit mean and blunt at times, though, but eh, I think that makes her funny, lol. She is involved in fandom, too, given that she loves camp pining hearts. Although not as much as peridot. Maybe I could get her into free! lol, then we'd really hit it off. Going to the ocean with her would be so fun. Maybe a bit scary at times, but fun nonetheless.

14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character

Oof, I really don't know fashion aesthetics by name, but I feel like she could wear coastal, breathable clothes. Either shorts with loose shirts or long baggy pants. Something like these:

23. Favorite picture of this character

Bob. I loved her attitude this entire episode. Her deadpan expression and half assed hits and runs. It reminded me of me during middle school when the p.e. teacher would force us to play soccer. (I hated soccer). Plus I love the outfit. In this one she just gives a casual thumbs up to ruby and sapphire because they got distracted flirting with each other.

[shsl-analyzer-guy]

Takemichi stan here, please talk more about him being a protag, I'm very intrigued.

(And also, Celeste's cat, lmao)

I have been WAITING for this ask since I dropped the tier list. Thank you. Thank you so much

So in UDG, Komaru becomes the protagonist because she's Makoto's sister, and thus, becomes Monaca's target. Well, Komaru is still Monaca's target in this UDT au too, BUT it's because she's the sister of the mastermind, not the one who killed the mastermind. This puts her as a secondary deuteragonist of the game, as Leon (the deuterag) is unsure how much she knows and if she's trustworthy or not. But that left me with an empty protagonist slot, so I thought to myself, which Captive would best fit within this au? And two options came to mind. The first was Takaaki, but I ultimately wanted the protag/Deuterag dynamic that Toko and Syo had with Komaru so I decided against it, instead opting to have him be in my au's UDT 2 and play a major role there. The other was Takemichi.

Takemichi has always been one of the captives I would've liked to see the most, and it helped here that Mondo had become the first victim in this AU's THH, so I figured that gave him enough significance right off the bat to put him in a leading role in a game about the victims' loved ones, especially considering that we know Leon and Mondo were friends prior to the games. I imagine a game in which Takemichi actually remembers Leon but Leon has no memory of him has a ton of potential to it especially. (Also, as much as I love Tokomaru and Syomaru, I wanna assert that Leon and Takemichi are gonna be entirely platonic. Maybe a QPR at most)

If there are any Takemichi lovers who've scrounged up every known piece of info about Takemichi, and any of it contradicts with my limited knowledge and assumptions, please tell me, I'd love to hear more, but as of typing this out, all my knowledge of Takemichi is

A) he's Mondo's right hand in the gang

B) he's expressly not interested in women despite a literal fanclub

And

C) he's short? Ider finding this info so this could just be an assumption based on the way they draw his face

So my line of thinking would be him pulling together an outfit and painting a biker helmet to look like a Monokuma kid, and therefore, avoid being attacked. This disguise would be a work in progress over the course of the game, coming to completion in the later chapters to introduce a sneaking mechanic. This disguise would make for a way to reveal that the helmets aren't just helmets, but tracking devices to keep track of the kids, so while you can go past the kids with the disguise, it doesn't work on the Monokumas bots because there's no sensor telling them to stop. Also, I like to think his weapon of choice would be something along the lines of a survival multi tool for map exploration, while Komaru maintains the gun and can be swapped out when specific bullets are needed for puzzles, rather than shooting being the primary progression mechanic. Leon, meanwhile, is the main fighter, wielding a metal bat to break the Monokumas when they're attacked.

Really, I'd like to delve into the story of what made Takemichi want to join a biker gang, and having his past let him connect with Nagisa. I can't help but imagine Takemichi, who joined a gang, might've done so because of pressures in his home life leading him to redefine his life and leave home, maybe even staying with the Owadas. So he might just be the right character to reach out to Nagisa and get through to him, saving him from being killed by his own robot and giving him a second chance, with him then being the one to help them through the final chapter and warn them of Monaca's interest in Komaru, though he doesn't know why.

But yeah that's what I've been thinking!

[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

Dangancember 2024 - Danganronpa Top 24 Class Trials - Number 15: Danganronpa 1 Case 6

//This render is sick^^^

//Anyway.

//I want to quickly jump back a little bit to the beginning of this countdown at the beginning of this month. If you've been reading these posts as they've been uploaded daily, you would remember that one of the kickstarters of this list was Chapter 6 of Danganronpa V3; i.e. the final trial of that game.

//And you'll remember that I largely had very negative opinions of it. For a variety of reasons.

//However, to V3-6's credit, if there's one thing I can say it DID hit the mark on, it's the fact that it was both climactic AND emotional.

//Regardless of what kind of emotion it made you feel, whether you satisfied with the twists of it or not, I don't think any of us can deny that the final trial definitely felt like a final trial.

//Which...is strangely not the case for me in my relationship with the finale of Game 1.

//Let's talk about it.

//For starters, let me just preface that I don't dislike the ending of Danganronpa 1. It DOES contain one of my favourite plot-twists in the series, as most of the final trials tend to do. But to quickly sum up my thoughts on it, I think I generally feel about it the OPPOSITE of how I feel about Game 2 Case 2.

//Game 2 Case 2 was incredibly satisfying for the story, and the character development, but it felt incredibly lackluster as a mystery. Game 1 Case 6 is an incredible and fun mystery, but once it's solved, it's packed with what I think are really mediocre and cliche character moments that feel a bit too...anime, compared to the rest of the game.

//For what it's worth though, the setup for this finale is pretty solid. I think that largely has to do with the fact that unlike the rest of the games, where the 5th Case is far removed and kind of only slightly lays the groundwork for the final chapter, the one that did it in this game, I feel, was Case 4 with Sakura. While Cases 5 and 6 feel like a 2-part finale, especially since Case 5 can end with the Bad Ending where Kyoko dies, and the remaining students are forced to live out the rest of their days in the school.

//But in the alternative TRUE ending of the game, things take a turn that’s both fascinating and a little...anticlimactic.

//Let’s be honest: the final chapters of the Danganronpa series tend to be less about storytelling and are basically one big investigation. Even though the trials themselves kind of round up all the key mysteries in the plot in one...not-so neat little bow, the 6th Chapters themselves are mostly trying to scramble together loose clues to SUPPORT the final points.

//But in this case, it's not just an obligatory sprint to the finish line. It’s a clever, engaging lead-up to the climax.

//Chapter 5 leaves Makoto narrowly escaping execution with an assist from Alter Ego. Instead of the afterlife, he gets the cozy confines of a garbage pit, where he hangs out for a while before Kyoko shows up to save the day.

//Of course, Makoto’s earlier decision to let Kyoko’s gambit slip didn’t just keep her in the game, it also boxed Monokuma into a corner. Caught in a lie, Monokuma has to save face, and Kyoko masterfully reminds him that the "outside audience" is watching. So rather than just brushing the gang off (which he can easily do, might I add), Monokuma makes a bold move: he dares them to uncover every mystery of Hope’s Peak and their situation. If they can figure it all out, they can leave.

//This is largely why I like Monokuma so much in the first game, because these are his roots, and what sets him apart as a villain. Although, to be perfectly frank, I admit that this trial is probably where things kind of take a poor turn for him. That's not the bear's fault though, but...we'll get to that.

//Either way, challenge accepted, queue what I actually think is one of the best investigation segments in the entire series.

//I didn’t love it at first. My initial impression was that it was one giant info dump, which can be a problem for the final chapters in this series, as I've kind of already said.

//And trust me, this trial definitely IS an info dump. As I said before, the issues with the final trials are universal throughout the whole series, and that includes DRA and SDRA2.

//But on reflection, I came to appreciate how dynamic and rewarding this investigation feels. Compared to 2-6, or V3-6, this one doesn’t feel like a tedious game of “connect the dots.” Instead, it’s like you’re genuinely piecing together a massive, vital mystery.

//I think that's especially because of the sense of freedom. Throughout the game, even in the later stages, there are areas you’ve known about all along but couldn’t access until now. Finally getting to explore them feels as satisfying as closing a dozen browser tabs after finishing a huge project.

//(That's the same joke I made back when I reviewed these trials on Reddit. Needless to say my opinions have changed a bit.)

//It’s an “ahh, yes” moment that makes you feel like you’re cracking open the heart of the game.

//Then there’s the trial itself. Sure, it’s not as flashy as some of the earlier trials, except maybe the first and fifth one, but that’s okay. It doesn’t need to be.

//What makes this trial stand out is that the Big Bad isn’t spending the whole time lecturing you or dumping plot twists on your head. Most of the revelations are things you’ve already uncovered during the investigation. You’ve got all the puzzle pieces; now it’s just a matter of putting them together.

//Unlike in the other games, the villain isn’t spoon-feeding you answers, and the clues actually feel meaningful, which is a step up from some of the other final trials.

//There's a lot of really neat plot twists in this case, particularly the fact that the students have actually been here for over 2 years now, and they WILLINGLY locked themselves inside the school, but as far as they go, there are two major twists that stand out especially.

//And while I think both are good, the first one...is executed a little strangely.

//I won't say POORLY.

//Just...strangely...

//The twist I'm referring to is the twist of who the Mastermind controlling Monokuma is, and who actually is that's running the Killing Game.

//And...You know what? I don't know why I'm dancing around so much, we all know who it is.

//It's fucking Junko Enoshima. THE Mastermind. The biggest villain in the series and one of the most all-time notorious villains in FICTION.

//Again, I shouldn't have to explain this to anybody who's a fan of Danganronpa and has played these games, but...I have to pad this out somehow. What makes this reveal especially shocking is that Junko was presumed dead early in the game. During the first trial, she is graphically executed for breaking Monokuma’s rules, leading everyone to believe she was just another victim of the deadly game.

//However, the twist reveals that this was part of an elaborate ruse. Junko faked her own death to continue manipulating events from behind the scenes. The rumored 16th student hiding somewhere in the academy, Mukuro Ikusaba, who we find out was actually the Ultimate Soldier; and in this trial, Junko's older twin sister; willingly posed as her and took her place as the first apparent victim.

//This misdirection ensured that no one would suspect the real Junko was still alive and controlling Monokuma.

//I have complained previously about how Mukuro really wasn't much of a character in DR1, because honestly, I generally don't think I would have given a single shit about her had it not been for IF, and this game really just treats her as a plot twist and a throwaway character.

//At the same time though, I do have to commend this segment not just for its cleverness, but how it immediately sets up what kind of threat you're dealing with. The fact that Mukuro and Junko were not only working together, but also Junko's reveal that they're SISTERS, shows her ruthlessness and willingness to sacrifice anyone, even her FAMILY, for the sake of her goals.

//These days we obviously know that Junko doesn't care about anything enough to think twice about making these sacrifices. But remember, this was the first time we ever got to see her in action.

//And for what it's worth, I think this really is a good way of showing how the person who set up this absolutely horrific game is every bit as evil as we anticipated they would be.

//(Also, minor note here, but one thing I really like is the fact that the reason why Junko's surname is Enoshima and Mukuro's surname is Ikusaba is never actually explained, and Junko absolutely refuses to say why. I just think it's kind of funny.)

//But anyway, when Junko finally reveals herself, her character takes center stage. She is far from the shallow Fashionista image she projects in the outside world. Instead, she is the embodiment of chaos and despair, characterized by her erratic behavior and constant personality shifts.

//The Ultimate Despair, if you will.

//Her motive is not rooted in greed or revenge but in a nihilistic obsession with despair itself. She orchestrated the game to spread despair to both the participants and the outside world, reveling in the suffering it caused. Her ultimate plan involved broadcasting the killing game to the apocalyptic world outside, amplifying despair on a global scale.

//Generally I think this twist itself is fine. It does a good job in recontextualizing much of the game, from the participants’ amnesia to the overarching theme of Hope VS Despair. It also highlights Junko's brilliance as a manipulator and cements her as the standout villain of the series, and it's its still one of the most defining moments of the franchise, even though today, we all KNOW who Junko is, and that she's essentially Hitler in a schoolgirl outfit.

//...Don't imagine that, please.

//Actually, I take it back. Hitler WISHES he could be this evil. But again, we will get to that.

//So with all that said, the real question is what do I think of Junko as a character, AND as the Mastermind?

//Well...that's a bit of a difficult question, because the honest answer is that it depends on the iteration.

//For example, I think she's an extremely competant and awesome villain in DR2, wheras in DR3, I still think she's a cool, sadistic villain, but only when she's not being such a valley girl.

//(DR3 is legit the only iteration in the series where I generally prefer the sub instead of the dub, but then again, the majority of the voice cast is different, save for Makoto and a few of Class 77. I do love Jamie Marchi, but I'm just so taken by the afflictions of Bennett Abara and Erin Fitzgerald, and I think they nail the switching personalities way better.)

//As for the first game...eh...It's honestly not her strongest.

//To be completely and totally blunt, the first time I played Trigger Happy Havoc, the moment the mastermind stopped hiding behind Monokuma and revealed themselves was a standout point where my enjoyment of the game took a SWANDIVE.

//While the twist revealing her as the mastermind pulling all the strings is undeniably clever, her execution as a villain in this game feels…underwhelming.

//Don’t get me wrong, some of her later appearances, show a much darker, more sadistic, and outright evil side to her character, but...we'll talk about that when we eventually cover those cases.

//Here though? It’s almost hard to believe that this cartoonishly over-the-top douche-canoe is the Mastermind behind all the heartbreak, destruction, and death you’ve endured.

//And yeah, I know I said that killing off Mukuro really showed that villainy out of the gate, but...that's really it, at least at first.

//As established, learning that Junko was behind everything was one of those jaw-dropping moments that sticks with you. It’s a classic "mastermind was hiding in plain sight" reveal, and I loved the sheer audacity of it. But as soon as she starts talking, her dialogue and exaggerated mannerisms make her feel like a Saturday morning cartoon villain.

//She’s dramatic to the point of absurdity, and while that’s part of her...ahem..."charm"...it also undermines the gravitas of what she’s done. Especially when she goes on to reveal what's ACTUALLY going on in the outside world.

//You’ve just spent the whole game mourning your friends and unraveling this massive conspiracy, and now you’re confronted with...what is basically a living meme? It’s a bit of a tonal whiplash.

//Then there’s her motivation...or lack thereof.

//When you first find out that Junko orchestrated this apocalyptic nightmare purely because she felt like it, it’s almost laughable. She’s not driven by revenge, ideology, or even self-preservation.

//Nope, she just wanted to watch the world burn because despair is her jam, and it is QUITE LITERALLY the only way she can feel anything anymore.

//Don't get me wrong, that can work for a villain. I mean, look at the fucking JOKER from DC comics. He's basically the exact same.

//But just because the Joker manages to pull it off, that doesn't make it any less tricky of an archetype. Villains who are bad just because they can be need to be handled with finesse to avoid feeling hollow or one-note.

//Unfortunately, Junko in the first game falls victim to that curse. The game shows the things that she has achieved, mostly on her own, might I add, and when you look at it, is really shows just how INSANELY powerfil this creature of a woman is. But the issue is that that isn't reflected in her personality, or the way she conducts herself. If anything, it downplays her.

//But at the same time, Junko's not designed to be a "likable" villain. She’s not supposed to have layers of tragic backstory or moments that make you empathize with her. Junko is the ultimate embodiment of Despair, a character specifically crafted to make you loathe her.

//And in that sense, she’s excellent at her job. She’s less of a person and more of a force. A plague infecting everything she touches, leaving destruction and misery in her wake. The sheer hate she inspires is exactly the reaction she’s meant to evoke, which is why she works so well as the overarching villain of the series.

//Especially compared to the other big bads, Monaca and Tsumugi. Not counting Mikado, Utsuro, or Akane Taira, because they're another matter. Junko still stands out as the strongest antagonist.

//Sure, Monaca had her moments, and hell, even Tsumugi had hers in the end, as limited as they were. But Junko’s influence is on a whole other level.

//She’s the original, the template, the blueprint for despair in this universe. Her character’s impact, not just on the narrative but on the players themselves, is unmatched. You’re not supposed to like her. You’re supposed to hate her with every fiber of your being, and that’s why she’s so effective.

//Which is kind of what I hope to capture in Survivor. What's most important for me with Junko going forward in this story is I want to make sure she damn FEELS like the most dangerous creature on the planet. Hence why her introduction in the final arc of Phase 2 immediately shook everyone to their core before she even revealed herself.

//So, while I’m still not a fan of her cartoonish antics in the first game, I can’t deny that Junko’s presence lingers long after the credits roll. She’s not a "fun" villain or a "cool" one, but she’s the right kind of villain for this story. The kind that gets under your skin, makes you uncomfortable, and ensures you’ll never forget her, whether you want to or not.

//But in short, the whole way she's presented just makes it hard for me to take these sinister aspects seriously, and thankfully, it gets fixed in later games.

//But then there’s the other twist. THE twist. One of the best in the series, hands down: the reveal of the outside world.

//Turns out, the world beyond Hope’s Peak’s walls; that, might I add, everybody has been fighting this WHOLE game to break through and breach through any means necessary; is a post-apocalyptic wasteland, courtesy of "The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History."

//Because why the FUCK not!?

//The twist is devastating, not just because it’s essentially...well...the goddamn APOCALYPSE, but because of the weight it retroactively adds to everything that’s happened.

//All those characters who died trying to escape? Their desperate struggles were for a world that’s beyond saving. It’s heavy, gut-punch stuff, and it reframes the story in such a tragic, chilling way that it hit me like a brick wall.

//For me, this moment was peak Despair. It’s haunting, it’s horrifying, and it lingers.

//But again, this is another reason why I struggle to take Junko seriously as a villain, because the sense of sadism she gives off throughout the game when she's acting as Monokuma doesn't match when she finally reveals herself.

//You're telling me that the entire world outside of the school fell into a state of despair and destruction...because of HER?

//THIS chick!? REALLY!?

//It just...It feels so unbelievable at the time, and...thankfully, it DOES get fixed in later games. But that doesn't change that I really wasn't okay with it at the time I first experienced it.

//Still, it doesn't really take away from the horror of the twist itself, and I think these days, we're so attuned to this aspect of the Danganronpa games that we tend to forget just how POWERFUL this moment is. Like I said, it's one of THE BEST plot twists in the series.

//The students' isolation is no longer just physical but existential. They've spent this whole game fighting to get back to the safety and freedom of the world outside this school, but...now there is seemingly no safety or freedom to return to.

//And you realize, with horror, that this school, where anyone could drop dead at any moment by someone else's hands, is the LAST BASTION of humanity, and the SAFEST PLACE IN THE WORLD!

//I also forewent mentioning this, but this also explains why the Killing Game is being broadcast. Unlike the rest of Junko's main motivations for getting her classmates to murder each other in this game, it’s not just a sick experiment but a psychological weapon in a larger, twisted agenda.

//Junko’s ultimate goal of spreading Despair gains new weight as the broadcast of the game becomes a tool to perpetuate the hopelessness consuming the world. This revelation elevates the stakes BEYOND personal survival, tying the characters’ struggles to a global narrative and making their choice to hope all the more significant.

//But what you might be wondering so far upon reading this is...why do I have this so low on the list if I have so many good things to say about these twists?

//So far, my biggest issue with the trial is that I struggle to take Junko seriously as a villain. But I also admitted that in the later series, this gets reprimanded because Junko as a villain becomes more dangerous.

//Well...ah...the simple answer is that I'm REALLY not a fan of how this all gets resolved.

//Because as I kind of implied at the beginning of this post, there's...a strange lack of impact here for me, for something that's supposed to be an incredibly climactic finale.

//I can actually break the explanation why down into three things.

//One: Hope winning out over Despair feels way too simplistic.

//The way that this trial ultimately resolves itself is that Junko sets up a gambit where the survivors of the Killing Game get to vote for her to be executed. Complying herself with the rules of the Killing Game, she is the one who killed Mukuro, so that technically makes her the blackened for the case.

//The catch is that EVERYONE has to vote for Junko, and when Junko dies, they will get to leave the school. If even a single person doesn't vote for her, the spotless (everyone else) suffers the punishment.

//It sounds simple enough, considering voting for Junko is the only way that they don't die, but the twist is that the way they "die" is of old age, being trapped in the Academy forever. And it's a difficult situation because if they stay trapped in the school, the killing game will continue with Junko watching over them. But if they vote her out, they'll be forced to step into the outside world, which as a reminder, is a hellscape.

//Also, Makoto gets killed because Junko doesn't like him. Perfectly understandable at this point considering he's basically fucked her over.

//(Also, I know this is from the anime, but I love this little cartoon, don't @ me.)

//Well...we have a franchise, which includes a trilogy of games, and a spinoff game, so you probably already know how this gets resolved. The survivors boldly choose hope and triumph over Junko’s despair, thanks to Makoto "planting his seeds" in them.

//Also, this is probably the most impactful thing Makoto does the entire game beyond his relationship with Sayaka in the first chapter. Most of the stuff he does, he's either told to do, or is goaded into doing, by Kyoko. She's basically the real heroine of the story and Makoto is the sidekick.

//Although, despite the way I feel about this, I can't really talk bad about Makoto in this case, because even with the fact that this is the biggest impact he leaves on the game, it doesn't feel outwardly nonsensical or contrived for him to be doing this.

//And no, that's not just because he's the protagonist. Hajime and Shuichi did the same thing effectively, but somehow, Makoto's tirade still ends up being distinct.

//I know that they don't spend much time dwelling on it, since this is the only time in the whole series where the two of them actually meet face to face. But I genuinely think people don't talk enough about Makoto's relationship with Junko and how they are are perfect narrative opposites, with their contrasting ideologies and approaches to life defining the thematic core of the whole franchise.

//Makoto represents unwavering hope, kindness, and the belief in the inherent goodness of people. Despite his initial self-perception as "ordinary," he consistently demonstrates an extraordinary ability to inspire others and bring people together. He believes that hope is not just about avoiding ruin but actively choosing to confront challenges and inspire growth in oneself and others.

//This perspective is why he's such a beacon of resilience and optimism, emphasizing that Hope is a collective force built on trust and unity.

//On the other hand, Junko embodies nihility, chaos, and a deep CONTEMPT for humanity. Her obsession with despair stems from a warped view of life’s meaninglessness and the thrill she derives from causing suffering.

//Where Makoto uplifts and motivates those around him, Junko manipulates and tears them down. And even without him realizing it, her attempts to crush hope are repeatedly thwarted by Makoto’s ability to inspire perseverance and unity in his allies.

//Their dynamic showcases how these two ideas aren't just opposing forces but choices individuals make in responding to adversity. The dichotomy between Junko's cynical, destructive despair and Makoto's optimistic, constructive hope underscores their roles as perfect foils, driving the series' exploration of human resilience and the enduring power of belief.

//But even with all of that said, am I the only one who feels that this is almost suspiciously...tidy...given the dark and gritty narrative leading up to it?

//For a game that throws its characters into a relentless spiral of betrayal, murder, and despair, the ending wraps things up in a way that left me scratching my head more than anything.

//The survivors’ unanimous decision to embrace hope feels a bit too streamlined for a group that just spent weeks accusing, lying, and voting each other to their deaths.

//As a reminder, Makoto is literally the ONLY PERSON here who didn't try to screw over the whole group at least once.

//(Before anyone asks; Byakuya in Chapter 2, Toko, Hiro, and Hina in Chapter 4, Kyoko in Chapter 5. Also, Hiro and Toko did nothing to help this whole game and my god this is probably the worst group of Survivors in the entire series including the Another games so help me god Kyoko and Makoto are the only good ones here and I guess Hina too because she's a sweet bean but fuck the rest of them I know Toko redeemed herself in UDG but she sucks here they all suck WHYYYYYY-)

//These are people who were at each other's throats, sometimes literally, yet by the end, they're standing shoulder to shoulder as a united front. It’s as if all those emotional scars and lingering trust issues evaporated the moment Makoto delivered his TED Talk on hope.

//While inspiring, it also raises the question: Did nobody need at least a little therapy first?

//Anyway, two: The ambiguity of the Post-Apocalyptic Setting.

//There’s a stark contrast between the gritty narrative tone of the game and the saccharine optimism of its finale. The world outside is still a post-apocalyptic wasteland, riddled with despair and ruin, but the survivors walk out of Hope’s Peak Academy with the confidence of contestants on a game show finale.

//Sure, they’ve chosen hope, but how do they plan to, you know, survive out there? The optimism feels less like a well-earned triumph and more like the developers waving a bright "TO BE CONTINUED" sign at the audience.

//For a plotline that doesn't really get resolved in the best way, might I add.

//Putting DR3 aside, the only sign we get of what happened to Makoto and co. after the Killing Game is the fact that the main trio shows up at the end of DR2 and reveal that they are the members of the Future Foundation trying to save the Remnants of Despair, and then we get further context in Ultra Despair Girls.

//But we don't actually SEE a lot of what happens to the survivors and how this came to be in those games. Even in the anime, they're kind of already established members of the Foundation, so...there's still a lot that isn't ever really explained. We don't know what they actually DO with their lives post-Killing Game.

//I can't complain because yeah, the sequel at least proved to be an absolute godlike game that really built a solid foundation from DR1. And again, a lot of these issues are mainly because of DR3, not DR1.

//Finally, Three: The lack of impactful consequences for Despair.

//Junko’s obsession with Despair was such an overwhelming force throughout the game that defeating her with a pep talk and a group vote feels like it might have oversimplified things a bit.

//I'm not saying they could've jumped her and killed her on the spot is a good alternative, because that solves nothing, but still...

//Junko spends the entire trial, as well as most of the game when she masquerades as Monokuma, proving that despair is layered, intricate, and relentless.

//But Hope? Hope wins in a neat little package with zero paperwork or follow-up emails. For a villain as theatrically chaotic as Junko, her defeat feels almost anticlimactic.

//The only villain defeat that's more anticlimactic than this is that one Borderlands villain who dies falling down some stairs.

//And that's the real killer for this final trial. It's anticlimactic. At least, it's anticlimactic compared to the final trials of literally any of the other game finale's.

//Despite its tidiness, the resolution does fit thematically with Danganronpa’s central message: Hope, no matter how improbable or naive, is the antidote to Despair.

//Still, for a game that thrives on complexity and moral gray areas, this resolution feels more like a rainbow-colored band-aid slapped onto a very messy wound. It works, but it doesn’t stop you from side-eyeing the optimism as you imagine the survivors squinting into the wasteland and wondering what on earth they’ve gotten themselves into.

//But in short, when it comes to the Danganronpa series and fangames, if you can do an ending that's better than this ending, then it's a good ending.

//And luckily for us, we still have three more final trials to talk about.

[queenofliars-inanotherlife]

yourself chihiro or kirigiri you choose. or you can pick one for each

ooc://

2. Favorite Canon Thing about this character?

Celestia Ludenberg:

That she is a nerdy little manga lover. Also that she loves her cat so much.

Chihiro Fujisaki:

I may very well be misremembering or misinterpreting this. BUT

I recall liking the way Chihiro's gender was handled in Danganronpa S Ultimate Summer Camp.

I think a lot of the scenes in Summer Camp felt like nothing scenes to me, you know a lot of inconsequential fluff. But I remember there being some discussion of what type of bathing suit Chihiro would have or want and feeling like that was sort of a correction of the treatment of Chihiro's gender in Trigger Happy Havoc. Like, the stated truth in THH is that Chihiro is a boy who is pretending to be a girl to hide from his weakness, and we can tell this by looking at his body, which is not a narrative that I'm cool with.

But the bathing suit discussion made me feel like the narrative has changed to one where Chihiro's gender is something that can be self-determined, that can be personal and not necessarily binary, and that others aren't entitled to know. Again, I might be misremembering or misinterpreting, but it felt better to me, and it was one of the few places in that game where I was like "oh this is character development, this is someone on a journey of some kind."

If you actually want a simple canon fact, though, I'd say... That Chihiro has a good relationship with his dad.

Kyoko Kirigiri:

I really like her arc in chapter 5-6. Like, I like that she was 100% willing to throw Makoto under the bus and let him die AND that she felt wanted to make up for that by going into danger and saving him. It just adds so much more nuance to her character and their relationship. She is not just a straightforwardly heroic character or a flawless superhero. She's dynamic.

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

Celestia Ludenberg:

I have complicated feelings about her luck. I won't say that I hate it exactly, but it's an extension of my feelings about how luck is treated in Danganronpa in general. It's also part of why I think I initially misinterpreted her character in some big ways.

In short, I think it's weird that Danganronpa generally treats luck as simultaneously something ordinary and not special AND one of the only literal reality-altering superpowers a person can have. That's why I initially thought that Celeste worked hard to learn strategy and win games but lied and said she had the supernatural ability to never lose, but I now think the reverse is more of what they intended to come across; that she had the power to never lose games, but she pretends to be more cunning and strategic than she really is.

Chihiro Fujisaki:

The aforementioned issues with how Chihiro's gender is treated in THH. It's a massive can of worms where just bringing up clearly pisses off a bunch of fans for different reasons. But long story short, I think the game is 100% telling us that Chihiro's gender identity is determined by sex/gender assigned at birth, the game does not consider the possibility of a legitimate trans identity, and sees "getting stronger" as going back to living as a boy and performing traditional masculinity, and I think that's fucked up.

Kyoko Kirigiri:

At the risk of beating a dead horse here... It's how Kyoko serves as the mouthpiece for my problems with how Chihiro's gender is handled in THH. I think the player is meant to see Kyoko as the authoritative voice of what is true in class trials (along with Monokuma *most of the time*) and so she has the final word on Chihiro's gender. It's a bad look.

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

Celestia Ludenberg:

I want to believe that, even though it's hard, she would have eventually opened up to her classmates and become a better person if she survived. I think she would have eventually synthesized her two identities into something more authentic, because I don't really think Taeko Yasuhiro or Celestia Ludenberg are exactly right.

Chihiro Fujisaki:

I want to believe that Chihiro is a g-g-g-gaaaaamer!

Kyoko Kirigiri:

I see Kyoko's flat affect as being out of her control. Like, it's not that she has a good poker face, she just isn't naturally able to translate what she's feeling inside into the expression on her face, and it makes people misinterpret her as mysterious or aloof or cold-hearted more than she really is.

[asaka-lucy-dr-rc]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASAKA🎉🎉🎉

I don’t know if I’m too late or not but I wanted to say Happy Birthday!!!

I don’t really have much and I didn’t have too much time, so here are some small drawings I did for brainstorming ideas for an English assignment alongside a photo I took of Hajime and Nagito in tomadachi life?

I also have a Small Ramble about Hajime Hinata for you!

Hajime is my one of favorite characters because he's the perfect balance for a protagonist. The story uses the fact he's "basic," and gives it life. His story is of someone who is so insecure, depressed, and feels so inferior about being talentless that he gives up his own life just to be something he can be proud of. Just so he can be something worth remembering. He finds his own strength, not only that but he decides he won't live in the past but rather the future and present. That he'll decide his own future, no matter what happens. In contrast to class 78th they're basically the school dropouts after all, they don't know how life will go, but they'll figure it out. They'll make their own future, together! Out of all of the protagonists and messages the Danganronpa franchise has, Danganronpa 2 resonates with me most. Hajime has a wonderful story, a fun personality, a cute appearance, and is a beautifully compelling and charming character. He’s honestly adorable, he’s such an introverted realist a lot of the time haha!

Hope my Ask is enough to make you smile for your birthday, Sorry if I’m late!!!

sorry I don’t have that much to say about Makoto… I LIKE HIM TOO THOUGH!!!

Ohhhh my gosh your drawings are SO CUTE!!😍😍 Thanks for showing me this, Zen! I knew you had good drawing skills (I must have seen your drawing of Nagito in your YouTube video) but I didn't know you drew such lovely and funny things, so this is a pleasant surprise! 😆💕 hehe, it seems like Hajime is yelling something at Nagito every 5 seconds or so. I’m happy to see these silly boys!

I also didn’t know you have been playing Tomodachi Life! I have never played this game myself, but I love looking at the screenshots of this game. Did they become good friends with each other in that world? It's so nice to see them together on the beach under the stars! (ㅅ´ ˘ `)✧.｡.:*

And thank you for telling me the reason why you like Hajime!💖 I totally agree with you that he has a wonderful story! I didn't notice it the first time I played the game, but when I replayed it and followed the story from the beginning, I found that his sense of inferiority is described well before he knows he's a reserve course student. I haven't checked how it's expressed in the English translation yet, but he tends to use the phrase "俺なんか" a lot more than other protagonists. “なんか” is an ambiguous word, similar to "some" in English, but it is an expression of self-deprecation to use it after the first person (俺). He has a subconscious tendency to be self-deprecating even though he has lost his memory, but I think that is why he easily falls for people who are kind to him. In fact, he was very shocked when he realized that Nagito might be the culprit in the first class trial, saying, "You were so kind”. It's very cute how he felt that way about Nagito even though they only met for the first time two days ago. ( *´艸`)💖 (He is rather cautious and suspicious of things, but I feel that in relationships he easily falls for others!)

As you say, the process of how he, who originally felt inferior and introverted, becomes determined to make his own future is very touching, and his personality itself is what makes him so cute and appealing. Honestly, when I first saw Hajime, I wasn't attracted to his looks at all, but now I think he's the cutest guy ever. I feel happy whenever I see his cute smile!😊💓

Thank you so much for this wonderful gift and taking the time out of your busy schedule! Your message definitely made me smile! I was actually in the process of preparing a post that would sort of summarize the birthday gifts I received, but your message came just in time for me to post it. So my birthday has passed, but in that sense you made it! 🥳

I'm happy and grateful every time I get a message from you. Hope you have a great day! 🫶✨ And I hope to hear more about your thoughts on Makoto sometime! 😆

[lattedecoffee]

Finished Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club aka FMC3 or just Emio and holy shit that was a roller coaster.

Gameplay definitely feels updated from the 2021 remakes but not so much that it feels like a different game.

Those characters holy shit. Kamihara had frat boy vibes during his first scene but his voice actor was so good I started growing attached anyway and eventually started shipping him with the protag (Taro Ninten is the closest we have to a default name).

Taro has two hands: one for Ayumi and one for Kamihara. Anyway here's a break before I do spoilers.

Okay before I talk about the climax and especially the epilogue I want to call out Junko Kuze for trying to murder me and then stealing my fucking boyfriend. I love her and she's a fascinating character but she married Taro's boyfriend and I'm salty about it.

Okay so that ending. I had figured out that Makoto thought he was Minoru but I wasn't sure if he had some amount of amnesia or if Emio had fucked with his mind. Turns out it was mostly the amnesia but Emio certainly didn't help matters. Although it wasn't as intentionally malicious of a thing as I originally thought given...

When the game basically had Utsugi go "yeah the epilogue's gonna be real fucked up so make sure you're ready before you start it" I was concerned. The game hadn't provided a content warning before this point so I wondered what could be so severe that they'd provide one now. Watching it basically right before bed was probably a bad idea but somehow I had no nightmares (I did have an irrational "what if Emio's in the dark hallway" that made me use my phone flashlight more than I usually would but that's typical for me with horror games. Happened when I watched Markiplier play FNAF all those years ago but I handled it much better as an adult than as a child).

It was tragic and certainly extreme but the things that happened to Minoru never felt unrealistic. A child drowning as part of her effort to escape her abusive father, her older brother killing their father, and said older brother delusionally believing she was somehow still alive all feels like it could be a real story. The key here is that nobody ever stepped in to help Minoru. People recognized there was a problem all the way back when the father's abuse ramped up but nobody ever stepped in. The juvenile detention center heard him talk about Emiko as if she was still alive and did nothing. The Todorokis never pried into his personal life, which is generally a good and respectful thing to do, but we know he will open to people he trusts given he told Ayaka everything about his past. Ayaka was really the only person who tried but she was 17 and already going through a lot herself. She did seem to be helping him open up but once he saw she was being physically abused he projected Emiko onto her and only spiraled downward from there.

And yet despite all of this Utsugi reminds you what this guy actually did. He killed Ayaka after she freaked out at seeing him kill her abusive father (she also hated the guy but seeing your older brother figure kill someone with no remorse is understandably terrifying). He killed two more girls the same way simply because they were scared of him. He kidnapped a now amnesiac Makoto and told him they were both Minoru Tsuzuki and needed to find Emiko. He almost killed again 18 years later only to have his head bashed in by Makoto who had finally remembered who he was thanks to Junko's bookmark. I'm skipping over a lot of things but suffice to say the man ruined a lot of lives. His backstory is not an excuse nor does it mean he should be forgiven. It explains why he did these things and shows us how to avoid similar events.

As for Junko, I love her story. You can understand why she said she knew nothing even though it was in her and her brother's best interest for her not to lie. You understand why she makes Eisuke's suicide look like the murders from 18 years prior. You understand why she goes to the abandoned village alone. You understand why she claims to have killed Minoru. You understand why she threatens Taro's life for Makoto's sake. And yet all of those choices were awful. Had she not lied, her brother's disappearance would have been looked into for much longer as it was now a kidnapping. She stole a suicide note and hid it from everyone, including the victim's family and friends. She shuts Kami out of her investigation and leaves both him with doubts he doesn't want to acknowledge (hence why he lashes out at Taro for pointing out all the reasons Junko's behavior is suspicious). She threatens to kill someone who only showed up because he believed she was in danger. She knows all of this was wrong and it's clear the guilt has been eating her alive, especially after what she did to Eisuke's death. She apologizes through tears while holding Taro at gunpoint and after explaining herself to him still can't go through with pulling the trigger. She just wants her older brother back and was doing anything she could. And while she does have him back, he's going to need a lot of support through physical rehab, hopefully intensive therapy, and a reintroduction to society (he was going into town but pretty much only to do construction work and then leave). And she has to apologize to Eisuke's family and friends. And to Taro, though he doesn't seem to be holding a grudge. Also "I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience I may have brought to your lives" is the funniest way to genuinely apologize for almost murdering someone.

Many characters in the game have been through some sort of childhood trauma. Our protagonist, Ayumi, Junko, Makoto, Minoru, Ayaka, Megumi, Eisuke, Kohei, Mama Shoko, and more. Only Minoru ends up being a serial killer. Only Junko and Makoto do terrible non-murder things. All the rest of these characters do nothing of the sort. Some acquire the supports of both peers and the adults around them, others manage to pull through largely on their own, and some we will never know how their story would have gone as it ended far too soon (either of their own volition or not). The game never says that childhood trauma = doing awful things. The game warns that ignoring signs that someone, especially a child, is not okay will often end in tragedy. Someone has to step in. Only a few people are obligated to intervene, but if the people who are supposed to intervene don't or are part of the problem then someone else must.

Eisuke's friends believe he committed suicide until they're told the crime scene doesn't match that. And yet they were right. They were the only ones who noticed something was wrong, but neither of them were able to do anything besides ask him if he was okay (he'd lie and say he was).

One last thing before I stop writing because wow this post is long: I love how Fukuyama was genuinely just a good guy with negative people skills. I was so worried he was doing something to Megumi and finding out that his response to her confession was to try to turn her down gently while clarifying that he did care about her as a teacher is supposed to care about their students. He didn't succeed in explaining that to her and she ended up assuming the harshest possible interpretation, but she seemed to already have a very concerning view on love (someone doesn't return her romantic feelings and her next question is "do you hate me?") so I'm not sure even the best possible wording could've helped there. As for him and Ayumi, it's up to interpretation whether he's interested in her romantically or not, but I choose to see it as him seeing her as his first student to grow up. He never formally taught her, but he was her upperclassman in naginata club. So she's the first person who he helped teach that he gets to see thriving as an adult. And now they're functionally peers, with her being able to comfort him about how Eisuke's death is not his fault as he had no way of knowing how things would go and made the best choices he could (he also literally saves Megumi + the whole case about midway through the game).

[wonderousmonarch]

Definitive Thoughts on the Kamen Rider Series I've watched (part 1)

SPOILERS WARNING for Geats, Ghost, and Ex-Aid

please keep in mind that this is just my opinions, and a little justification for where I placed the series on the tier list. I would be interested to hear other people's thoughts on these series, however please be normal about it

Geats

Geats was the first series I watched, and it's been a bit so I might not fully remember everything right away.

Plot/Concept: 9/10

I like the Squid Game/Fortnite/Battle Royale idea behind it, it gave the show a much more serious tone than I was expecting (it's still KR so it's not like, super dark but it changed my view of the series entirely).

Execution: 6/10

I would've liked it more if they fully leaned into the Hunger Games aspect, and kept the full roster of the DPG for the whole series/longer, cause there's like 20 or so initial competitors each time and then they just get shafted in favor of our main crew. like I get why they did it but still I was a bit disappointed.

Characters: 7/10

I don't like Ace as much as I like every other supporting character. I love his arc and the direction his character went but I didn't mesh with his personality. I know he was supposed to be cunning and witty but like he was just kind of a dick most of the time, and we just didn't know why. Keiwa, Neon, and Michinaga all had pretty clear goals from the get go and that made me enjoy them a lot more, Ace keeping his true goals hidden just made his schemes come across as him being an asshole for no reason and getting away with it.

I liked all the antagonists as well. the Jamato were a very cool concept and Archimedial was a freak. Beroba was very cool as well, I liked her and Michinaga's dynamic

Suit/Character Design: 7/10

I liked how all the suits looked, I loved the dpg uniforms, Michinaga is hot. That's it really.

Music: 4/10

man there was not a single song (in the show) that really stuck out to me afterwards. I didn't even remember what Geat's battle theme was until I found it later on YouTube. the four character themes on the Character Song Album are bangers tho but I don't think they get played in the main series so they dont really count

Overall: 8/10, A-Tier

Ghost

Ghost came second cause I thought the suits looked cool. I was right and it was totally worth it.

Plot/Concept: 9/10

I like the overall story, and the idea of using the spirits of dead heros as transformations is really cool. I fucking love Yu Yu Hakusho and Persona, and Ghost is just shoving those two together

Execution: 7/10

Close to the end it starts to drag, and it never explains the whole "15 other Makoto clones" thing in series and I think we're just supposed to assume it was Adel using the Granmeisers power? it was kinda wild, although I did love that whole arc. I feel like ghost, more than any other series I watched, really wanted the audience to watch the movies as part of the series, cause it just kinda brought up aspects of the movies without ever explaining them in series.

biggest offender being when Edith was like "a shame Daigo had to die" as a way to set up his appearance in the 100 Eyecons movie, but since this line is never explained again (other than I think when it's revealed Adel killed Daigo) it's just kinda awkward. idk.

Characters: 9/10

I like all the characters and how they all interact with each other. the only exception is onari who I just kinda hated. admittedly the character archetypes are kinda basic, you've got main character who believes in the good of everyone's soul, rival character who has a more selfish goal, science girl who's the brains behind the whole thing, old man who's more involved than he wants the characters to know, and annoying.

despite this, I wound up really enjoying all the characters and the way they interacted with each other. while Takeru didn't really change that much throughout the series, he is the one who sparks change in the other characters. Makoto goes from someone who only cares for himself and his sister, shutting out anyone who tries to help him and blocking out the world, to fighting for the ideals of both Takeru and Alain. of course he still winds up taking on more than he can handle during the whole clone thing (which is still so wild how they never explained that in series) but even still he did that so the group would focus more on reviving Takeru and not waste time on him, which was wild. Alain has such a good character arc from start to finish, but he doesn't kiss Makoto at any point which makes me sad.

Suit/Character Design: 9/10

Yes. Yes yes yes I loved all the suits (minus the Ghost Boost form, way too much red) and transformations and monsters and just. yes. I wish they let Makoto wear a different outfit cause he does wind up looking like a SMT protagonist, esp combined with how he's stanced up the whole time. but Deep Specter makes me feel a certain way so its excused.

Music: 10/10

oh my god I love the ghost soundtrack so much. I love it so much I'm not sure I can fully explain it with words and it would be better if I just like made noises of general excitement

Overall: 9/10, S-Tier

Ex-Aid

I started this one so I could watch the movie where Ghost and Ex-Aid fight Pac-Man. Was it worth it? only a little.

Plot/Concept: 8/10

Doctors curing a video game virus? are you kidding me? that sounds so ridiculous and campy and I'm so here for it. it sounds so fucking funny

Execution: 4/10

It was just kinda... boring? Like it was kinda interesting to start but then they revealed where the Bugsters came from and I'm just... really? He sent a deadly pathogen to an 8 year old because he got so upset that he didn't think of Big Mario sooner? that's some Elon Musk levels of stupid and I mean that so very negatively. I liked the Chronus reveal, that had to be the best villain entrance I've seen in a while, not the mention the time stop effect was so fucking powerful. idk I was riding the "it's so over" to "we're so back" pipeline the whole time. it ended pretty strongly but like wow I wish I didn't sit through all of it.

Also it was weird to call the "True Ending" movie the "True Ending" instead of just "The Ending." but idk that's a bit nitpicky

Characters: 3/10

One point for each character I liked. Emu, Poppy, and Parado were the only characters I really liked in the whole show. Everyone was just so mean to Emu for no fucking reason. Like he just wanted to help people and all of his coworkers were one TV rating away from telling him to kill himself during every interaction. and now that I think about it, technically he did! and it was during the one point when they were telling him to NOT do it! Parado's "redemption" seemed very short for a redemption arc but the way that he learns what he was doing was wrong was by Literally Dying For Real which is so fucking raw. Steven Universe could never. Oh, I guess the girl that hung out with Snipe was cool, she made his character a lot more bearable and was a very welcome addition to the crew.

Suit/Character Design: 7/10

While the Level One suits were kinda weird, I think the character designs are some of this series strongest points. the only suits/designs I really despise were Level 99 and Hyper Muteki. Level 99 looked so big and clunky and Hyper Muteki has so much gold it makes me want to barf whenever I look at it. Ex-Aid's Burger design goes hard though, and all the monsters looked really cool.

Music: 4/10

Forgettable. Opening was kinda cool but I wouldn't go seeking out any of its music for any reason.

Overall: 4/10, C Tier.

more coming soon - I had to split them up cause my notes app was starting to lag with how much writing I was doing

[chirpos]

Seeing how many supporters Makoto has makes me so happy!

When I first heard of Danganronpa, I remember going straight to Trigger Happy Havoc's Wikipedia page and reading the whole thing. I wasn't too keen on playing the game and only wanted to read the story.

And I was naturally drawn to Makoto.

I was drawn to the amount of trust and belief he had in his friends.

I was drawn to how he, despite being thrown at death's door multiple times, came back up, stronger than ever.

Then, I moved onto Makoto's Wikipedia page, read it all, and went, 'Ah yes, my new favourite!'

Finally playing the first game solidified my love for him.

I was also drawn to how I related to him too (specifically how he sometimes thought low of himself, but when it came to his friends? He would become their biggest supporter).

I remember the first time I drew Makoto!

I drew him again, again, again, and again. Then I drew little comics of him, exploring many scenarios - some happy, some depressing, some funny, and more!

I wanted to search around and see if there were others who felt passionate about Makoto too.

But I was a little surprised that many didn't consider him much at all, some even going far to say 'He has less character so it's easier for the players to insert themselves into him.'

Or that he's 'boring', 'dumb', 'needs Byakuya and Kyoko to carry him'.

And I remember a whole post dedicated to declaring Makoto as the 'worst character ever'.

Owch!

I mean people are allowed to have their opinions and interpretations, but still . . .

Owch!

Yes, there were Makoto appreciation posts too, but they seemed to be so . . . few.

But now, I see people who feel so positively-strongly towards Makoto like me.

Reading through the reblogs of that poll and seeing the words "MakotoSweep" brings a silly smile to my face.

(Eventhough Makoto loses that poll, I will still be happy about how far he has come and how loved he is)

So, thank you . . . Makoto-nation.

[mikuni14]

I started watching new series from Japan. Finally.

Takara's Treasure - Ep 1 This is a typical production from Japan with strange motifs like parrots, glass balls and tropes like following someone to his university, somehow it reminded me of the Takumi series, huh.. 🤔 I liked the first episode: school dynamics, group of friends, interesting school club, probably never seen by me before, shyness, sense of not fitting in and "weirdness" of a "non-big city" person, how attractive Takara is 😉 I will continue watching with interest, although I don't vibe with the main couple, Taishin seems a bit too childish to me right now.

I Hear The Sunspot - Ep 1-2 I was curious what the series would be like, I watched the movie, but I admit I don't remember much of it. I really like the main couple, they are both very interesting and likeable. Very good and economical use of flashbacks to briefly but precisely show a character's past and how they came to be the way they are (looking at you Living With Him). I like Taichi so much, his personality, sense of social justice, uncompromising nature, his courage, directness, even the way he moves suits him. Taichi doesn't take their bullshit from anyone, including Kohei. Which is something Kohei needs most. In general, I like how the series shows people's reactions to people with disabilities, including those that are not malicious, such as fear of harming such a person, or destroying equipment that helps them (and which may be expensive), as in the case of a scene during a basketball game. So far, both MLs are acting more like friends, I don't feel any budding romantic feelings in them yet. I will continue to watch, the show is lovely, the plot is good, intelligent and it doesn't waste time on nonsense.

Ossan no Pantsu ga Nan Datte Ii Janai ka! - Ep 1 What an interesting and funny story! 😄 I like the clash of "old times" with "new times". I admit that "tea prepared by a woman tastes better" and "a woman has a calming effect" triggered war flashbacks in me 😬 Okita Makoto is the kind of a very real father that makes you want to hug him and kick his ass next moment. I cannot explain or forgive many of his behaviors, because for a long time I have believed that "no one taught me this" combined with "I'm old" and "I don't understand this modern world therefore I hate it" does NOT forgive ignorance, discrimination and simply not being KIND. What I appreciate about Makoto is that he ultimately sees the need for change IN HIMSELF. And he takes appropriate steps to do this. And that he apologizes to his child. I'll watch it, I'm so interested 😉

(I don't watch the new Zettai BL, it's too much hassle finding episodes.)

I LOVE THIS BOY SO MUCH OK 💖💖💖

[leonawriter]

I remember a fair few times lately when it's been brought to my attention how Sonoko is one of the few people Kaito could theoretically connect with about magic... and here he is, on her balcony.

I thought I'd give this its own post, because honestly? Yeah, they deserve it.

We start out by seeing this scene which... could almost be reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet. Or Superman at Lois' balcony. There's a sort of coding here, especially since she's in her nightgown, that it's an illicit tryst.

That wouldn't be entirely wrong, considering he's asking her to be his accomplice for the heist!

She outright passes her one-of-a-kind dress over the bathroom stall partition to Kid, who is waiting on the other side, as part of her bet that "will Makoto-san be able to tell when it's me and when it's you?"

But let's look past that. Let's ignore Makoto-san for a minute and look just at Sonoko and Kaito.

There we go!!

I'm fascinated and drawn in by the way Kaito is sitting patiently and calmly with his legs crossed on there. His hands are by his sides, and he's looking up, but he looks like he's talking. Sonoko herself is blushing as she pushes the dress over the stall.

I find it easy to imagine the two of them discussing the bet here. "Will he recognise me, or won't he?" - Kaito could be reassuring her, since she doesn't look discouraged. But they could also be quite simply discussing the tricks involved, which is my personal favourite theory here, given the way he looks so relaxed, as well as his smile.

How often d'you think he gets to have an assistant who's so willing to work with him? Who is interested in the mechanics of magic?

And, as I'd said in a previous post, this here is Sonoko at her best, and most critical of him - she wants to see him at his best, but she also doesn't want to see him succeed. She wants to see him fail! He knows that!

If anything, I think that this helps them connect on a far more equal level.

Which puts this moment in a different light.

Sonoko wants Makoto to win because he's her boyfriend. She wants Kid to win because she looks up to him and respects his abilities. The two are equal in her mind, while being different things.

In fact, I'd say this is Kaito, having seen Sonoko cheering loudly for him so many times by now, stating as clearly as is possible for him that a) you can't control what people feel (he's been the subject of someone trying that, thanks Akako) and b) Sonoko... was never fully romantically in love with him in the first place. That was all Makoto's territory, that Kaito's not interested in going near.

And yet, at the end, Sonoko holds up her end of the bargain with him, because as said above, she cares about both of these people... just in different ways.

All in all, the case provided actual character development for both Sonoko AND Makoto, thanks to Kid.

Sonoko gets to be shown accepting that her feelings for Kid aren't the same as her feelings for Makoto, and Makoto is told (whether he internalises it or not is another story) that Kid isn't his love rival.

It also softens down the sense of Sonoko being someone who's basically trying to double-date whenever she's seen screaming after Kaitou Kid in any future heist - it isn't like with Kogoro simping for Yoko-chan and leaving his wife behind so much as her appreciating Kid on different terms...

Although given she's still Sonoko, she'll probably still take some enjoyment and thrills out of seeing "two dashing young men fight over [her]" no matter what.

But at that point, after all this, it's then Makoto's responsibility to trust in her, not her responsibility to... not be her idol's biggest fan.

[victimsofyaoipoll]

Round 1

Propaganda under the cut

Shiv Roy

She's honestly kind of a canonical victim of yaoi almost. She and her husband Tom have a loveless marriage but never end up getting divorced. Tom has a weird psychosexual obsession with Shiv's cousin Greg and at one point literally compares them all to the time Emperor Nero pushed his wife down the stairs and then castrated and married a slave boy named Sporus (Tom is unwell). Anyway the show just ended and long story short Tom is now CEO of Shiv's family's evil company and she is reduced to being his pregnant wife (which is the result of her voting not to authorize either of her brothers as CEO in order to save them from themselves) and Tom made another weird comment about literally owning Greg. And now people who ship Tom and Greg are like "omg it's canon we won" but I don't. Think that they did. Sorry I'm rambling it was just a really good finale idek if this counts but

I will be honest I'm not really tuned into the tomgreg fandom, but tons of people wanted tom to leave shiv and get with greg and tons of people thought shiv was the devil incarnate and refused to see any nuance in her character and I don't think those two things are a coincidence. 

She gets a lot of hate from fans, largely just for being a woman who reacts in a non pretty way to abuse and for doing the exact same shitty stuff her brothers do. But also a large part of the hate she gets comes from the people who ship her husband with her cousin. To the point where people claim she's abusing her husband who views her as an accessory, a baby factory, and a ticket to money. Don't get me wrong, their relationship is incredibly toxic and unhealthy, but it is so on both of their parts. But Shiv's the only one who gets criticized for it

Kyoko Kirigiri

The anime series Danganronpa 3's ending somewhat implied she and Makoto are a couple but the fandom likes to ship Makoto with Byakuya much more. The same anime series also saw a lot of hatred against her character and well, it was already there because people also complain about how she acted in the original Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc game as well, unfairly in my opinion. She's really cool and really smart and just isn't the quickest to trust people, which makes sense considering she's in fucking death games. Her deduction skills and strategy played a big part in saving the people who did make it out BOTH times she was in killing games and in one of those cases she was even willing to potentially sacrifice herself for it. I'll stop now but she is my most mistreated fave

arguably the most important character in the game but gets tossed aside a lot because of the two male leads byakuya and the main guy (dont even remember his name ngl) and she is so pretty and cool and smart and i love her so yeah <3