#but also dead girlfriend trope still rubs me the wrong way. i could not be anymore beutral towards henry romance but

[wheelercore]

Seems 2 me like henry is getting flayed

[princeasimdiya12]

That anon is an asshole. Why do you hate Shuichi? I think he fits the theme of truth and lies, but his character development is a complete joke as he has zero struggles after his waifu dead. He never once second guess his actions in class trials and doesn’t even think of major consequences (killing the de facto prime minister and not noticing a serial killer is amoung them). His stans over analyze his actions and try to justify everything he does.

They were quite a jerkhole. I can imagine that most stans would be protective of their favorite characters if anyone were to express disapproval.

And thank you for giving me the opportunity to express my personal feelings on the matter anon. And those are some interesting reasons to dislike him but I have some other reasons.

My answers will be hidden under the “Read More” because they’re long answers. But these are my thoughts and reasons for why I hate Shuichi Saihara.

Reason 1: The Protagonist Switch was Lackluster

Right off the bat, I personally dislike that we were promised a unique and compelling protagonist like Kaede only to switch her with a generic insecure protagonist like Saihara. The use of the protag switch isn’t a bad plot twist and it can be clever, it’s just that the result of switching Kaede for someone like Saihara left a bad taste in my mouth.

I loved Kaede because she was unique as a DR protagonist. Along with having a colorful design and talent, she was assertive, confident and willing to take charge. She was actively involved in the story by stepping up as the group’s de facto leader and trying to motivate them. She was also flawed in the sense that she was quick to butt heads with others and she didn’t completely trust others or practice her own beliefs of trusting in friends. And personally, I’m not even upset that she tried to kill someone. It’s still considered something different for a DR protagonist to do, especially if it was for the greater good. 

But when we get Saihara, he continues the trend of being a generic sad boy who feels insecure about his talents and wants to be stronger. Most of his screentime is spent moping about his problems and how he doesn’t feel good enough. He doesn’t have the same presence as Kaede and just stays in the background while the rest of the cast move the story as much as they can.

In all honesty, if they had introduced Saihara as the new protagonist, or at least make it so that his predecessor wasn’t as compelling as Kaede, then I wouldn’t have been too upset. At the very least I wouldn’t have gotten my hopes up for a protagonist who was actually different compared to the past protags.

Reason 2: Waifus In Refrigerators 

For those that don’t know, fridging is the concept of (brutally) killing off a fictional female character in order to create an emotional impact for her male love interest and his character development.

Kaede’s death and how it impacted Saihara is textbook fridging.

I strongly detest fridging since it robs a female character of her agency and role in the story. It treats her as a tool meant to motivate her male love interest to either avenge her death or grow as a person. Kaede’s death along with her final wish is what pushes Saihara to try and beat the killing game. And from then on, Saihara will take the moment to reflect on Kaede’s tragic end and how he inspired him with her kindness. Kaede loses her identity as a complex leader who was willing to commit murder for a greater good. Everyone just remembers her as Saihara’s innocent dead love interest who inspired him to keep on fighting. It’s also worse in the 6th case when it’s revealed that Tsumugi took advantage of Kaede’s trap to kill Amami which further pushes Kaede into the image of an innocent angel that did no wrong.

And it’s also frustrating since this isn’t the only time that the Danganronpa series has killed off its female characters in order to develop their male love interests.

In SDR2, Peko dies trying to save Fuyuhiko which in turn motivates him to stop acting like a jerkhole and be more cooperative with the group.

In DR3 Future Side, Chisa is the first victim of the killing game which pushes her boyfriend Munakata to become a more direct antagonist towards Naegi for protecting the Remnants.

In the same series, Kyoko allows herself to be poisoned in order to protect Naegi. It’s through her death that Naegi decides to confront Munakata in a final showdown. And while Kyoko does get brought back to life at the end of the show, it should be noted that she was only brought back just to be part of Naegi’s happy ending package. She loses her agency and is brought back just to be his newly revived girlfriend.

In DR3 Despair Side, Chiaki is brutally killed in order for her classmates to become Remnants of Despair. But it’s her final heartwrenching moments with Izuru that inspire emotion inside of him aswell as deciding to turn against Junko.

So Kaede being killed for Saihara’s development is the fifth fridging example in this series and it sucks that Kodaka and his crew rely on this trope throughout Danganronpa.

Reason 3: The Narrative Forces You To Like Him

Another issue that I found irritating about Saihara is how everyone began praising him.

Just after the first case, everyone constantly praises and coddles Saihara for being such a great detective and for growing so much. For me, that praise feels undeserving since he barely did anything to earn it. Thinking back to each of the past protagonists, they didn’t have everyone’s respect in the beginning. They each had to work had and face adversity throughout their stories in order to earn their praise and respect. Even Kaede, who despite being a confident leader, had to deal with people frequently judging her leadership and actions. So I find it questionable that Saihara already earned everyone’s respect after solving only one case. 

By having all the characters praise Saihara, the narrative pushes you to accept him as the new protagonist and recognize how awesome it is to have him. But for me, it just makes me dislike him even more. I refuse to like something just because everyone else does and it won’t take away my admiration/love for Kaede.

It’s also jarring since anytime a character has the spotlight, it somehow has to involve Saihara.

“Wow Himiko! You’re much more expressive now than before. Just like you Saihara!”

“Man, it sounds like you had a harsh life growing up Harumaki. Just like you and your detective work, eh Shuichi?”

The narrative can’t help but force Saihara to be around and praised by the people around him despite the spotlight not being on him in that given moment. 

Reason 4: He’s Not a Good Detective

While Saihara’s role as a detective may fit the theme of Truth and Lies, that doesn’t mean he was good at the job. My issue being that he was unproductive and biased for the role.

While he did set up that trap in Chapter 1 to catch the mastermind, he doesn’t do anything as proactive in the later chapters. He spent most if not all of his time going to training with Kaito and moping about his problems. It goes on like this for 4 chapters and it takes Kiibo threatening to blow up the school before he actually gets to work on solving the mystery of the killing game. As a detective, you’d think he would put more effort into actually solving the mysteries of the killing game or try to put some thought on who the mastermind could be.

The biased part comes with how he interacts with others and how he’s more critical of people based on how they treat him. Saihar has a tendency to be very judgmental towards the students and doesn’t look at the entire picture. 

He writes off Ouma as the embodiment of lies and doesn’t bother trying to learn more about him or his true motivations. 

And on the opposite side, he openly praises his friends while blatantly ignoring the problematic things they’d done throughout the story. 

He considers Kaede to be an inspirational role model despite how she betrayed him and wanted to commit murder behind his back.

He worships Kaito and treats him as a perfect hero despite never noticing his ongoing illness or the fact that Kaito didn’t trust his friends enough to reveal his own insecurities.

He deems Maki a reliable friend despite the fact that she went behind his and everyone’s back in order to kill Ouma and was willing to gamble everyone else’s lives if it meant taking revenge on the supreme leader.

Shouldn’t a detective be more persistent when presented with a mystery while also acknowledging all the sides (both good and bad) of a given person? If his personal bias was treated as a flaw by the narrative, then that would actually give his character significant depth. Especially if he worked on managing his biases and learning to acknowledge all the sides. But it isn’t treated as a bad problem.

For me, the fact that he’s supposed to be a detective who “grows stronger” and is so good at his job despite all of this really rubs me the wrong way. If anything, it shows me that he’s really bad at the job.

Also, I would like to bring up that I don’t count him investigating the murder cases as being a good detective. Why? Because Hajime and his class in SDR2 were able to solve their class trials without a detective figure. Being a detective, or having one, doesn’t make solving the class trials any easier.

Reason 5: An Unnecessary Cliche

Personally, I really see no reason for why Saihara’s character needed to be the generic insecure protagonist for this particular installment of Danganronpa. It’s the same cliche storyline featured in a grand majority of anime and light novels. It’s repetitive and irritating knowing that so many stories focus primarily on a sad generic boy who doesn’t feel good enough and wants to be stronger. 

It’s also worth mentioning that in comparison, the past protagonists at least had narrative reasons for why they were generic and insecure in the first place.

For Naegi, he was the first protagonist of the installment and his normalcy was meant to contrast the extremely talented and radically different students he’d be involved with. As the game progresses, he uses his normalness to bond with the students and rally them together in the name of hope.

For Hajime, he’s treated as a deconstruction of the generic insecure protagonist. It’s because his feelings of inferiority and longing to be special that he decides to accept Hope’s Peak’s experimentation and become Izuru Kamakura: an incredibly talented super-being who lost his humanity.

For Komaru, she was regarded as an ordinary girl that had the potential to lead others which is recognized by the adult resistance and Monaca. So throughout the game, both sides were pushing her into becoming either the next symbol of Hope like Naegi or next symbol of despair like Junko. But she ultimately decides to be neither of them and wants to be her own person.

There were reasons for why each of these protagonists were considered generic and insecure as it contributed to the narratives. But for Saihara, there’s really no solid reason for why he’s the only normal one of the V3 cast. And everyone is more than happy to praise him as the best one out of the cast despite doing so little to earn it. At most, Tsumugi reveals that Saihara being an insecure boy who grew stronger thanks to his friends was for the sake of a fictional storyline. Obviously it was meant to mentally break him but it honestly feels like a weak reason to keep the trend of a generic insecure sad boy. Not to mention there are other reasons for why I believe this doesn’t work.

The setup for the “Danganronpa is a fictional TV show” twist didn’t have enough buildup so it doesn’t make the cliche that strong.

Saihara still continues the role of the insecure boy who grows strong and saves the day. While Tsumugi states that his role was written for him, Saihara still continues the tropes of his archetype by saving the day. It’s ultimately because of him that he’s able to convince his friends and the viewing audience to give up on Danganronpa. It was the writer’s way of having their cake and eating it.

If the reveal was meant to be a shot at how it’s become a cliche, then why not live up to it? If they wanted to show how Danganronpa was running for too long or how it’s cliches were getting old, then why not commit to those ideas? Instead of having everyone praise and worship Saihara, make them question if they’re really going to depend on a generic guy to save them. Instead  of being just a cute quirk, actually show the negative sides of Saihara’s anxiety and depression and how they would hinder him from participating in trial discussions. Maybe even have Kaito lose his temper at Saihara because of how much he mopes around.

There’s so many ways they could have gone with deconstructing Saihara’s stereotype or showcasing how it’s become old and stale. So it feels disappointing that they never went that far.

And another reason for why I dislike his characterization is because it brings to mind Ryota Mitarai from the DR3 anime. Just like Saihara, Mitarai is a main character who’s described as generic, insecure and spends most of his time whining about how useless he is. Despite this, he manages to survive the killing game since the other more unique characters are killed or move the events of the story. I personally found Mitarai to be a frustrating character. I detest characters who constantly whine about how useless or miserable they are as a means of getting sympathy from the audience. So having to deal with Saihara who more or less shares multiple characteristics with Mitarai felt very exhausting.

Conclusion

So those would be my reasons for why I hate/strongly dislike Saihara. I can admit that alot of these reasons weren’t so much because of Saihara or his actions but how he was written throughout the story. He still did alot of things I didn’t like don’t get me wrong, but alot of fault can be traced to the writers and how they decided to write him and Kaede’s characters. I still find his archetype as a generic insecure boy who mopes around to be an unappealing archetype but I’m sure most of his fans would suggest otherwise.

If you’ve managed to read everything here, I’d like to thank you for taking the time to do so. I can’t imagine many people would want to read a critical post targeted towards one of the most beloved characters in Danganronpa. So thank you for doing so.

And as always, if you agree or disagree with anything I’ve written, you’re more than welcome to reblog this with your comments. I’m always up for friendly discussions. 

[numba99]

Hate to Love You

summary: anyone who knows me knows I love slim jim bUT I have this thing with hate fucking him. It’s HOT okay. This is an old trope but honestly i never get tried of reading these kinds of stories so i figured why not. I also might turn this into a series bc i have some ideas for it going longish term but we’ll see. ALSO for the purpose of this kevin is still a ranger bc A) i don’t know how to let go and B) i need the dynamic okay ty Word count 2,249

Warnings: smut, drinking, being kinda mean/aggressive i guess?? it’s nothing crazy but if a guy coming on strong makes you uncomfy you may not like this but everything is 100% consensual  also i didn’t proof read bc im me 

You slipped through the door of your friend Brady’s apartment, music and the scent of beer attacking your senses. You scanned the room of vaguely familiar faces, looking for the one you knew best. 

You’ve been childhood best friends with Brady, growing up together in Minnesota. You had grown apart a bit after high school when you moved to New York for college. As fate would have it, Brady’s hockey career would take off and he ended up in New York with the Rangers. You guys linked up again and it was like you never spent time apart. You loved everything about Brady - in the most brotherly way possible. Well, everything except his roommate.

Jimmy Vesey. The absolute thorn in your side. From the first day you met, you both rubbed each other the wrong way. You didn’t understand how someone as sweet as Brady could like him so much. He was cocky and obnoxious, and you weren’t afraid to tell him that. You pushed each other’s buttons in all the wrong ways and you tried to avoid him as best as you could.

Going to Brady’s place was always a gamble. Sometimes Jimmy would be out and you could just enjoy your time with him. But when he was there... let’s just say there wasn’t a moment of peace. As annoying as he was, you tried not to let that get in the way of seeing Brady. He was your best friend after all, and you definitely weren’t going to let a punk like Jimmy ruin that.

“Hey y/n,” Brady greeted you. He wrapped his arms around you, careful not to spill any of the content of his cup on you. “I’m so glad you made it.”

“Of course, I wouldn’t miss a Skjei party for the world,” you replied.

“Let me get you something to drink,” Brady said. You followed him to the kitchen smiling at some of the people you recognized from past parties. Thankfully, none of them were Jimmy. Brady made you your favorite: vodka cranberry. Although he always managed to go a little heavy on the vodka. 

Nonetheless, you drank it happily as you mingled throughout the party. You caught up with Brady’s girlfriend and a few of her friends that you’ve gotten to know throughout the years. A couple of Brady’s teammates were there as well, though you hadn’t seen Jimmy yet. Maybe it was your lucky night.

“Hey,” a soft voice spoke from behind you. You spun around, finding the blue eyes of Kevin Hayes’ looking down at you.

“Hey,” you smiled. Now Kevin was a friend of Brady’s you didn’t mind. Kevin was everything Jimmy wasn’t: kind, funny, and respectful. Plus, he was pretty easy on the eyes.

“Haven’t seen you in a while,” he said, sounding almost sad.

“I know, works been crazy,” you explained, “I’ve been meaning to get to a game, but every time I’m free, you guys are on the road.”

“Hopefully you can come to one soon, we are kind of in need of a little luck,” Kevin said.

You laughed, “You guys will figure it out. In the mean time, I’ll check my schedule. Maybe I can make it the next time you guys are in town.”

“I’d like that,” Kevin smiled shyly. Before you could reply, there was a commotion in the next room. You and Kevin exchanged a confused look before going to investigate. A circle was forming on Brady’s living room floor. 

“Y/n, Kevin, we are playing spin the bottle come join!” one of Brady’s girlfriend’s called to you. She was giggling, much more drunk than you. Maybe if you were on her level, you’d be more inclined to play. It seemed a little juvenile to you.

“I don-” you began, but Kevin cut you off.

“Oh come on it could be kinda fun,” he nudged you. You sighed, Kevin wasn’t exactly easy to say no to.

“Fine. But just one round,” you told him. Kevin smiled, walking with you to join the circle. Just as it was about to begin, none other than Jimmy Vesey wedged himself between two guys across from you. Gross. You thought you had hit the jackpot of Jimmy being out, but no such luck. Maybe Kevin should rethink using you for luck at a game.

You rolled your eyes at his presence, avoiding looking at him. The game began and you watched as people spun the empty beer bottle and kissed the person it landed on. You quickly could tell who was into each other, their lips lingering longer than necessary. Kevin didn’t seem to get so lucky, only giving the girl he landed on the quickest kiss.

Finally it was your turn. With reluctance, you spun the bottle, watching it go round and round until it stopped. You looked up to see who it landed on and nearly gagged. Jimmy.

“Absolutely not,” you stated, not caring if you looked like a dick.

“Oh please, you’d be lucky to kiss me,” Jimmy rolled his eyes. 

“You can’t say no, that’s not how the game works,” a voice said. You weren’t even sure who it was, you were too irritated by the stupid smirk on Jimmy’s face.

“I don’t care, I’m not kissing him,” you replied.

“Scared you’re going to catch feelings?” Jimmy sneered.

“I’m scared I’m going to catch something,” you shot back. 

“Whoa, wait. Can’t someone take a dare instead of a kiss?” Kevin asked. God bless him.

“Yes, fine. I’ll take a dare,” you said quickly. Anything but that.

Some guy you never met before piped up, “Okay I dare you to kiss Jimmy.” The circle erupted in laughter. You felt your blood boiling. Whoever that man was, he was officially on your shit list. 

“You guys fucking suck,” you grumbled. It’s just a stupid kiss, you told yourself, just do it and don’t give Jimmy that satisfaction of thinking you’re scared. 

“I’m waiting,” Jimmy puckered his lips in your direction. You knew he was enjoying how annoyed this was making you. Don’t give him the satisfaction, don’t give him the satisfaction, don’t give him the satisfaction.

You leaned across the circle, closing your eyes. You pressed your lips to his, pulling away almost as soon as contact was made. “See now was that so bad?” Jimmy teased.

“Asshole,” you grumbled, standing up and leaving the circle in a huff. You made a beeline for the bathroom, wanting to wash him off your lips. If you were being honest... it wasn’t that bad. His lips were kinda soft, it really wasn’t-

Get a fucking grip, you cut your own thought off. You stared at yourself in the mirror wondering just how much vodka Brady put in that drink. That would be the only way you could be anything less that disgusted by kissing Jimmy.

Okay so maybe, maybe, there was the slightest part of you deep, deep down that thought Jimmy was good looking. Not that you would ever admit that, especially not to him. You talked way to much shit about him and he would never let you live that down. Besides, even if he was kinda cute (deep, deep down) he was still an ass and you didn’t want anything to do with him.

You swished mouth wash through your mouth and convinced yourself the only reason you didn’t hate the kiss was because you were buzzed. You washed off your hands out of habit of being in the bathroom and went to head out.

As you swung open the door, a figure standing before you made you jump. Jimmy. Great.

“What do you want?” you snapped.

“You know, you are in my bathroom in my apartment,” Jimmy replied, stepping passed you. He eyed the mouthwash on the counter. “So fucking dramatic.” 

“If you weren’t so gross I wouldn’t have to be so fucking dramatic,” you replied. 

“Oh come on, y/n, I know you liked it,” Jimmy replied, stepping closer to you. You took a step back, feeling a blush creep up your cheeks. How did he know. Your heel hit the door, pushing it back almost completely closed.

“You just can’t stand the idea of a girl who isn’t dying to get in your pants,” you rolled your eyes.

“You don’t have to act in here, y/n,” he said getting closer to you, “It’s just you and me. You can admit you wanna fuck me.” You let out a laugh.

“Either you’re drunk or you’re fucking deranged,” You replied. You ignored the way he said you wanting to fuck him made your heart rate spike. 

“I see the way you look at me,” he continued, getting closer to you still. You tried to take a step back, but you were completely against the door. He placed his hand next your head, pressing the the door closed with a click. “I know you want me.”

“I want nothing to do with you,” you said, sounding a lot less confident than you would had hoped. Suddenly, his hand was on your thigh. It was a gentle touch, so much so that you almost didn’t feel it. 

“If you don’t want anything to do with me, than tell me to stop,” Jimmy stated, looking you dead in the eyes. His hand pressed against your skin with a bit more pressure. Your mind was going a hundred miles a minute, trying to figure out what to say. You didn’t want to give him the satisfaction but, fuck, you’d be lying if you said you weren’t turned on.

“You’re annoying,” was all you could manage.

“That’s not a no,” he pointed out. His hand slid high up your thigh and just under your skirt, making you squirm. “Come on, tell me no. I’ll stop the second you do,” he said, brow raised. His eyes were still locked on yours, a mischievous glint in them. It was becoming a battle of resolve and the way he smirked at you, you knew he knew he was winning.

You were silent as his hand went further up, inching ever closer to your core that was starting to ache, despite your better judgement. Jimmy brushed a finger over your underwear, making you draw in a quick breath. He paused, waiting to see if you’d say anything.

“You just can’t say no can you?” Jimmy smirked, “I knew it.”

“I hate you,” you growled, wondering where your will power went. Just as the words left your lips, a finger slipped into your under wear. Jimmy a finger along your slit, smiling to himself.

“If you hate me so much, why are you so wet for me, hmm?” he asked. God he was such an asshole. You wanted to slap the cocky grin right off his face. 

“Doesn’t matter you couldn’t do shit about it anyway,” you huffed.

“Is that a challenge?” Jimmy asked. You told yourself you were going to tell him to fuck off and leave, but that’s not what you heard yourself say.

“It’s whatever you want it to be.”

“And what if I want it to be you cumming on my fingers?” Jimmy asked, hooking a finger through your underwear. It was impressive how he managed to make your skin crawl and turn you on with one sentence.

“Then you should shut the fuck up and do something about it,” you shot back, sick of his games.

Without another word, Jimmy yanked your underwear down your legs. He coated his fingers in your wetness, allowing him to rub smooth circles over your clit. You bit your lip, not wanting to moan as he slid two fingers inside you.

His fingers were long and slender, allowing him to hit a sweet spot deep inside you. You squirmed against the wall, hating how quickly you felt a knot of pleasure form in your stomach. You looked down, refusing to let him seeing you enjoy it. You couldn’t see him fingering you, as he was under your skirt, but you could hear how wet you were and he most definitely heard it too.

“You didn’t have to make this so easy,” he taunted you, pressing his fingers deeper in you.

You stifled a moan. “God can’t you ever just shut up.”

“Nope.”

You wanted to say something clever, but your mind was clouded. You were trying to focus, not wanting to cum to fast. His ego didn’t need that. Part of you didn’t want to cum at all. You savored the idea of him just pumping into you and getting nothing. You thought it would be wonderful to watch him deflate like that but, fuck, it did feel good.

Jimmy twisted his hand slightly, allowing his palm press against your clit. Your knees buckled, making Jimmy chuckle as he continued to work at you. He was relentless, and you were nearing closer to your end.

The friction of Jimmy’s palm against your sensitive clit coupled with his fingers hitting all the right spots inside you became too much. Despite what your mind wanted, your body gave into the pleasure. A low moan escaped your lips and your head tilted back and your eyes squeezed shut. It would be better to not look right at him. 

Jimmy didn’t linger, removing his hand form under your skirt just as you finished. “You’re welcome,” he said in your ear, with a triumphant smirk. Without another word, he slipped out of the bathroom and back to the party, leaving you shaking in the bathroom.

[mysterious-matcha]

just curious, why do you dislike saihara so much?

Why do I dislike Saihara? Here’s why.

I mean, I sort of understand why some people think he’s a good protag. He does get development, blah blah blah, but I still think Saihara is pretty Gary Stu-ish. Like, this might be mainly because of how Saimatsu was executed in-canon, but he and Kaede are so revolved around each other, it’s almost impossible for me to talk about my issues with him without bringing up Saimatsu.

Saimatsu is NOT a relationship where both sides mutually support each other—Kaede is the only one who does the supporting, and that’s her sole purpose in the story. Her own character arc was tossed aside, and she’s reduced to nothing but Saihara’s dead girlfriend. She was the one who “killed” Rantarou, yet the way Saihara treated her like she was a victim. And everyone else, instead of being cautious towards someone who had been following Kaede—who just “killed” Rantarou—like a dog, they always comfort him every time he’s even remotely sad as if those two had been married for like a century or something. And chapter 6 only made it even worse. The fact that she didn’t actually kill anyone only confirm that her death was meaningless other than, once again, to be an angst machine for the sake of Saihara’s “development”. Despite her actually attempting to kill someone, she wasn’t faulted at all for that. The only ones who remember her “fault” were Angie and Kokichi, yet the plot treats them as “the ones that aren’t meant to be likeable”.

IMO Saihara is basically just emo bishie Naegi minus the flaws—and I don’t even like Naegi to begin with. Hell, Naegi was at least mad when he first found out Sayaka framed him for murder. Granted, she only did that because she had no choice, but it was plausible for Naegi to not be able to care less about her reasons at first. Sayaka was at least treated as someone who suffers the consequences of her own fault. But Kaede? She was only fucked over and tortured by the plot for the sake of making Saihara sad, so the players feel sorry for him.

Saimatsu is so idealized and rubbed onto the players’ faces despite Saihara and Kaede have only just met like 3 days before Kaede died. And they’re not even saved by the “past lovers who regain their feelings despite not having memories of each other” trope. Their “fateful encounter” in the prologue was the literal proof that they’ve just met then and there, debunking any possibilities that they’ve known each other beforehand. You may argue the “only know for three days” thing also apply to every other Kaede ships, but the “past lovers” trope could still be an excuse somehow, albeit cheesy/unrealistic/whatever.

Kaede was interesting and she had the potential to be the best protag in the series, but nope, the story just has to toss her aside and replace her with someone who’s easier to write. I’ve heard some people saying Kaede’s constant optimism was annoying, but actually, she was called out for it. When she tried to take everyone else to go through the tunnel over and over, Kokichi reality-slapped her for pushing everyone else too far. And unlike in later cases where the rest of the gang defend her despite her murder attempt like there’s no tomorrow, in Kaede’s case (at least when she was still a character) no one else stood up for her except for Kaito—because, well, he’s Kaito—and Saihara. Also, people only praised Kaede for being a great leader after she actually acts like one. She was surprised at first, yeah, but she didn’t go “wah wah I don’t deserve this” like Saihara would, and actually took the leadership baton.

And now my non-Saimatsu-related issues: The side characters like to kiss his ass/brag about how great he is like every 5 minutes, just because that’s easier than actually showing him doing something great. Best example was when everyone praised Himiko—who actually earned her praises, since she actually developed after what happened to Tenko and Angie, but then suddenly Himiko changed the topic into “No, Saihara, YOU’RE the best one!” which was so out-of-place, despite Saihara’s only “development” at that point was, what, taking off his hat? Kaede, as said above, solely exists to be his dead girlfriend. Kaito was mad at him in chapter 5, yeah, but 10 minutes later their “fight” ends with Kaito being like “You’re the best person ever, sorry for the pointless tension lmao” instead of both sides trying to reconcile. Miu was one of the few who doesn’t kiss his ass, but the story treats her as nothing but a walking sex joke. Let alone Tsumugi, who was the literal villain in the story.

Basically, a lot of things that revolve around Saihara happens “because the plot wants it to be”, not because it actually makes sense to happen. Why does Kaede only stick with him like 90% of her screen time? Because he’ll eventually take over the protag spot so the story has to build him up. Why does the rest of the gang like kissing his ass, praising him for being great? Because he’s the protagonist beloved by everyone. Why does he bother to say Tsumugi might have lied about him and everyone else voluntarily signing into the killing game? Because the villain is the only one who’s bad, everyone else is cinnamon rolls who did nothing wrong uwu.

All in all, I’m not gonna bash you for liking Saihara, I promise. You’re entitled to your opinion. But please keep in mind that I’m also entitled to mine. I also promise that I won’t post anti-Saihara/Saimatsu posts too often—since this is supposed to be a Rantarou-centric blog, and when I do, I’ll tag it as [#character hate] and [#ship hate] if you just want to avoid negativity in general. Or [#anti saihara shuuichi] if you want to be more specific.