#and she specifically trusts them to bring an end to her. not sayaka or even madoka. kyoko and mami are here. i believe in them. fuuuuuckkkk

[whimsicalcotton]

some bitches never recovered from this scene (it's me i'm bitches)

[wasdname]

kakegurui anime vs manga pt. 1

some differences i noticed between certain scenes. i’m not going to go over the differences between when something happened, because ultimately it would be redundant, and also because i think it’s more interesting to look at the differences between what happened. mainly, this will be about things that happened in the manga that didn’t happen in the anime. long post under the cut. ofc, spoilers. 

season 1, ep. 8 (Ch. 17), the helicopter scene

it essentially plays out the same way. in the manga, there’s this small extra scene between sayaka and “ririka”, in which you get to see more of sad sayaka, being ignored by both the president and VP (poor sayaka). 

@kakeguruibeyond​ already made an analysis about what happened, specifically about the twin switching, along with what happens later in ch. 36 (season 2, ep. 2).

https://kakeguruibeyond.tumblr.com/post/185900564323/can-i-ask-you-a-question-regarding-kakegurui-ch

in the anime, because rei exists, they changed the meeting between terano and actual kirari to be about bringing rei in the election. in the manga, since rei doesn’t exist, their meeting re-inforces the fact that yes, kirari and ririka switch places, and also lets the audience know that yes, terano, and most likely the whole family, at least knows about this trick. but terano is able to discern the difference between kirari and ririka at a glance. we don’t know (yet) if any of the other family members can do that. i can’t wait to see what this will mean in the future.

but maybe i’m getting ahead of myself. let’s go back and go over some differences in season one. Ep. 6, after the debt-resettlement gamble, there was  a small extra scene between mary and yumeko, which i’ll just leave here: 

kind of sad this yumary scene wasn’t animated

another difference was when kirari attempted to recruit mary, season 1 ep. 7 (ch. 16) . essentially, it played out similarly, but in the manga, when mary asks about the housepet system, instead of bringing up the aquarium, she explains her motivations in a bit more depth using a different example:

like i get why they wanted to use the aquarium metaphor in the anime during this scene, because that’s a recurring theme, but here we have the origin for the aquarium spiel. it’s not just about making the big fish eat the smaller fish because it’s interesting, it’s about power and how kirari is maintaining and preserving that power. this scene in the manga just adds more depth to kirari’s motivations beyond her doing things just because it’s “interesting”.

now, let’s talk about this scene, season 1 ep. 11 (Ch. 26), when kirari reveals herself during the yumeko/manyuda gamble.  

previously, during the helicopter scene, we’ve seen sayaka already having doubts about the president not trusting her. this thought has been embedded into her ever since kirari left without telling her anything, and now, she is sure. kirari not saying anything to sayaka as ririka, solidifies that fact in sayaka’s head. in the anime, she says something completely different that lessens the impact of sayaka’s internal struggle: “How long has she been in our midst?” which is a lot different from what she’s thinking here. i guess you can infer in the anime that sayaka is having doubts, but in the manga it’s crystal clear that she is freaking out and not okay about the whole situation.

another big difference was the build up to the ending of season 1, right after the yumeko/manyuda gamble. the main difference is, in order for the yumeko/kirari gamble to happen in the anime, sayaka had to be more passive and not have that emotional/mental ourburst that led to Tower of Doors in the manga, which was already being set up by the previous helicopter scene and the realization that the president doesn’t trust her: 

unfortunately, this also means we miss out on some more of sayaka’s dialogue in the manga that made her a more interesting and relatable character (imo, anyway). more on that later.

next, in the same scene, there was an exchange between yumeko and kirari that didn’t make it in the anime. @castleoflions​  already made a post about that.

https://castleoflions.tumblr.com/post/612058563484008448/i-really-wish-they-had-kept-this-exchange-in-the

there’s also another exchange that didn’t happen in the anime where kirari brings up the aquarium again, when sayaka asks why they can’t just expel/make people stop gambling with yumeko:

which leads to sayaka freaking out even more about not understanding the exchange between yumeko and kirari, and wanting more answers:

ow. again, poor sayaka, being refused an answer again from the president, not being trusted by the president. which leads to... more sad sayaka, when sayaka initiates the gamble with yumeko and what each person would bet was being discussed:

oof. i wish the anime kept these scenes with sayaka, it just gives us more insight into what’s going on inside her head besides the angry/jealous, obsessive, tit-grabbing (lol) secretary. sayaka was hurt by kirari, (multiple times! with no explanation!) and wants answers, and when she still doesn’t get them, she breaks. which leads to the all-or-nothing gamble with yumeko at the tower of doors. it makes more sense to me than the slow buildup between two seasons in the anime, but i get that they wanted to add in an original scene (the yumeko/kirari gamble) and therefore a lot of sayaka’s internal struggle had to be dampened and spread out over another season. what do y’all think?

that’s it for season 1 ish. (Ch. 1-29). i think i’ll make a separate post for (more) season 2 stuff, since this is long AF

[noddytheornithopod]

Danganronpa: Parallels Between Class Trials 1 and 5

I’m sure someone far more familiar with Danganronpa has made this observation and has articulated it better, but a certain set of events I’ve noticed in the first game seem to mirror each other. Namely, class trials one and five: the ones where Makoto Naegi is attempted to be framed.

For starters, there’s who the framer is in each situation. For the first trial, Sayaka Maizono is the one who attempted to frame Makoto, even if it went wrong and she died. In the fifth, it’s Kyoko Kirigiri attempting to frame him even if neither actually committed the murder.

It’s interesting that in both instances, the person attempting to frame Makoto is the person he’s closest with at the time, to the point where romantic feelings are implied at some point. Sayaka and Makoto immediately grew close before she was killed, and we see Makoto and Kyoko both grow closer throughout the game, even if the latter tries not to reveal too much about herself.

As we all know, things went very differently for the both of them. Sayaka was hesitant and instead ended up killed by Leon, but since she planned everything Makoto was still framed for her murder and he had to prove everyone otherwise. Kyoko doesn’t die obviously, but actually succeeds even though the position she was placed in was more a matter of circumstance: Makoto purely happened to be the most likely person besides her (even if neither actually committed this murder that wasn’t even new), so she had to make him seem suspicious to survive.

Their motives also actually have a rather interesting contrast. Sayaka was purely scared as anyone reasonably would be, and after seeing the video of her pop group disbanded she felt like she needed to get out at any cost. Including framing the person she is closest to at Hope’s Peak. Basically, there was a more selfish element to her reasoning, even if there was a bit that seemed to be motivated by the people who were basically her best friends breaking up and likely in terrible conditions now.

Kyoko on the other hand is someone determined to uncover the mystery of Hope’s Peak and stop the mastermind. Instead of being driven by fear and despair, she’s being pragmatic. Pragmatic to the point where if someone has to die so that the truth can be uncovered (and therefore, everyone else can stop suffering and this evil can be defeated), she will pursue that path. Sayaka was driven by her intense emotions, Kyoko was putting them aside to pursue what was she viewed as important for everyone as a whole at the time.

Even if her motives are obviously more selfless here, there is still a selfish bent akin to how Sayaka has a slight selfless one: she believes she needs to be alive for the mysteries of Hope Peak to be unraveled. It is somewhat arrogant on her part, yes, but the curious thing is... she’s actually right. In the bad ending where she’s killed instead of Makoto, we see that everyone lives in Hope’s Peak for the rest of their lives and pretty much just accepts it.

Thing is, Makoto needed to survive too. We see this in the climax of the game where he’s necessary to keep hope alive in everyone as Junko reveals the truth about the outside world to them, which honestly would be despair inducing in anyone. When Makoto was sent to be executed and she wasn’t, it not only became clear to her that trial five was indeed set up, but that the Mastermind saw Makoto as a threat too. She recognised she was one piece of the puzzle, but even if she was aware of Makoto’s ideals and optimism, here is when it actually hit her that he was the other piece they needed to get out.

I also think there’s a curious element of hesitation and regret with both of these trials. With Sayaka, she was driven to get out to the point of betraying the person she grew closest to, but I do agree with the idea that she was conflicted about her decision. I mean, Kyoko believes her hesitation is actually what caused her plan to fail and end up with her killed. She didn’t want to frame Makoto and end up with him dead, but she put her survival first. When she was killed by Leon, she very well could’ve spelt out his name as an act of revenge, but obviously doing so would save Makoto and the others. She probably did regret attempting murder in the end, especially after Makoto promised he’d find a way for them to get out together.

With Kyoko, it might not make itself apparent until after Makoto’s attempted execution, but I really doubt she was okay with putting the one person who believed in her, someone who had actually managed to befriend her, under the bus the way she did.

All their interactions before this trial suggested that Kyoko was genuinely warming up to Makoto - I mean, she was pretty clearly upset at him not discussing the possibility of Sakura Ogami being a mole less about the idea that he knew something that she didn’t, but that he offered trust and when having a chance to prove it goes both ways he blows it. Basically, she allowed to open herself up only to feel betrayed. She was upset because she was beginning to see Makoto as a friend and was warming up to him.

She goes back to being her usual more distant self after that brief falling out, but they still spent all this time together and got to know each other. When the fifth trial came, she knew that she may have had to make sacrifices, and of course was able to put any feelings aside to achieve that. She was quite clearly lying to frame Makoto, but she did what she had to for her survival. Thing is... she may be pragmatic enough to achieve this, but deep down I bet she was pretty upset at what she may have had to do to survive.

This all culminates in Makoto’s attempted execution. This is when she realises her mistake of putting her survival (and in her eyes, what’s necessary to uncover the school’s mysteries) first. She may have thrown a wrench into the Mastermind’s game, but this was still a friend she was risking for it all. Sure, she does admit she can’t solve the mysteries of the school alone, but that’s not there all there is to it: Makoto is a friend, possibly her only friend at this point. One she literally just saved from being the actual murder the trial would focus on. The regret is strong enough for her to literally go into a garbage dump to find and rescue Makoto. Not only that, but she’s actually trying to look out for his wellbeing since she brings food and water, and actually is willing top open up about her past to show she’s more trustworthy.

I think there’s also a mirror in regards to trust. With Sayaka, regardless of how conflicted she was with carrying out her plan, she still took advantage of Makoto’s trust in her. A big thing in the first trial was Makoto realising that he needed to put aside his preconceptions to actually face the truth: that Sayaka was attempting to frame him. Here, Makoto was too willing to trust her, and that easily could’ve been his downfall.

With the fifth trial however, Kyoko is quite obviously lying to frame Makoto, and Makoto specifically spots a lie that only he could know in regards to the Monokuma key that can open any door. This is quite clearly a betrayal, but Makoto chooses to trust Kyoko regardless. Why? Well, I mean he wasn’t declared the Ultimate Hope in the game’s climax for nothing.

Instead of a more oblivious trust he placed in Sayaka based more on a small shared past and mutual romantic attraction, the trust he placed in Kyoko was one that proved to work out with experience. Instead of trusting Sayaka because of the relationship they had, the experiences Makoto and Kyoko shared and their working together ended up helping form their very relationship.

I tie this to the Ultimate Hope thing because as Makoto’s optimism is his big thing, he chose to have hope that Kyoko had ulterior motives since they both realised the fifth trial was rigged. He could’ve continued insisting he wasn’t guilty, but he took a massive risk that could’ve ended his own life because he believed Kyoko had a plan as she usually does. And of course, experiencing each other’s methods over the game ended up forming their friendship, and that caused Makoto to trust her not only as someone he worked with, but as a friend.

Makoto’s trust in Kyoko ended up being a gamble that worked because even though neither knew it and this was indeed a massive risk, Makoto was saved by Alter Ego. Here, Makoto’s luck, and more importantly hope, really did win out. Of course, as discussed Kyoko didn’t realise Makoto actually would make it out and really was putting his life on the line, but he still trusted her enough to take what was the biggest risk of his life at that point.

Some smaller things too:

I also noticed that preceding both trials, there is some pretty significant stuff that happens where stuff happens with both Sayaka and Kyoko that is quite concerning and gets Makoto worried: Sayaka has her freak out and goes into panic mode, while Kyoko disappears until the trial actually gets started (though in the anime she actually shows up for the investigation, even if Makoto’s worrying is still there).

Before both murders are discovered, there is a major incident where both Sayaka and Kyoko come to Makoto’s room. Sayaka comes because she claims to be scared of someone breaking into her room, while Kyoko comes over as Makoto is sleeping to save him from being killed by the Mastermind.

This is probably the wildest stretch of them all, but in the events leading up to both of these cases, there is a rather... lewd reference to their potential romantic development in both cases. With Sayaka, it’s the suggestion to sleep in Makoto’s bed, which prompts a brief moment of shock because of the sexual connotations of this act in most cases elsewhere. With Kyoko, it’s when Makoto is diverting Monokuma’s attention, and Monokuma asks what they’re doing in the bathroom, claiming it must be something dirty.

I’m not exactly sure where this is going, but I think this is interesting to look at. I guess if anything, these situations kind of mirror each other as a way to show how both characters Makoto grows close to and their respective relationships with him end up comparing and contrasting? Something like that, if anyone can articulate something better then go ahead.