#dr3 spoilers ?

[hajihiko]

look on the bright side!

[kmnm1403]

after rainfall

[gladosluver]

they faces killing me why nobody gaf

maggots when you lift up a rotting dead corpse:

[shsl-analyzer-guy]

In-Depth Analysis On All The DR Characters Because What, Are You Gonna Try And Stop Me? Who Are You, My Mom? Yeah, I Didn't Think So- Part 4: Yasuhiro Hagakure

I've actually managed to hype myself up a good bit for this one, despite the fact I'm not fond of Hiro. If there's anything I've learned since starting this series, it's that taking the time to actually absorb these characters and their full existence in the narrative reveals a lot more than you get just by playing the game normally, and I'm hopeful that doing that will make Hiro that much better of a character for me. So, let's dive in.

Per usual, this analysis uses only official materials from the DR series, primarily the english translation of the game. If you aren't that interested in lengthy yapping, then keep scrolling.

Part 1- Character Design

Yasuhiro Hagakure wears several layers of clothing, having a haramaki, white button-up, and his old high school uniform all on over a yellow shirt and a pair of baggy black pants tied up with a yellow bow. His old high school emblem is purposefully designed to look like the yin and yang symbol, and his hair is up in locs styled to bend backwards and stick out at odd angles.

Yasuhiro is a dual character, typically either being the most relaxed or the most panicked person in the room. This sort of duality is likely why he was given the yin and yang symbol, a symbol of balance, along with his talent. Yasuhiro was given the talent of SHSL Fortune Teller, or Ultimate Clairvoyant, and has a unique connection to the spirit world. This may also be why his hair is designed to stick out, similar to how when you touch an object with enough static, your hair stands up. In this way, we can see Yasuhiro is visibly connected to the spirit world at all times.

Part 2- Character Introduction

Hiro is actually the first character to speak in-game after Makoto's self-introduction, calling out in surprise when Makoto gets to the main hall with everyone else("Woah, hey! Another new kid?") He then continues on to be the first one we're able to identify as speaking after the class panover is completed.

This immediately makes him stick out, as this is the character the game makes a point to show you directly before anyone else- not Sayaka, Kyoko, Byakuya- nope, Hiro is first and foremost. Despite this, he fades into the background of the conversation almost immediately after as everyone else decides to introduce themselves to each other. When we get back to his introduction(one of the last ones we see), he introduces himself as someone who takes it easy, and tells you to do the same. We know from Makoto's internal dialogue that he has little to no knowledge on fortune telling, and thus, have almost no insight to Hiro's perspective. We also learn that within the psychic community, he's referred to as 'Supernova'. As he begins to speak, though, we learn exactly what the game's plan for his clairvoyance is: a big joke.

Though, he himself admits he's joking around, and invites Makoto to talk about Lemurian civilization. Lemuria is a debunked theory about a potential 8th continent that was believed to have sunk into the Indian Ocean, disproved by further research on continental drift and plate tectonics. Despite this, it still remains as a subject of conspiracy for many, and tells us a lot about Hiro's interests. Combined with his talent in fortune-telling, Hiro is someone with a fascination for what lies beneath the surface of human understanding. We also learn that he's of drinking age(20 in Japan, though this was changed to 21 in the English translation to reflect international drinking laws). He admits this is due to being held back a few years, waving it off as a 'long story' that we never get to hear.

As the class continues to talk, he remains completely calm, and insists it's all part of the fancy school's orientation. He continues to hold this belief even after Monokuma appears at the entrance ceremony, playing off Monokuma's threat of the killing game and Monokuma himself as a bit.

"Reveal the trick...?" "Yeah, cuz I mean... Y'know, this is all some kinda trick and all, right? So uh, like..."

So our first impression of Hiro is that he's a laidback older guy who isn't the sharpest knife in the kitchen, and that he's into conspiracies.

Part 3- Early Game Development

Once the game's officially started, Hiro very much takes a backseat so the story and mystery can develop, to the point where even when the entire class is talking about their explorations and what they found, Hiro remains silent, only telling the others to chill and continuing to say he believes this is all planned by the school. He appears completely unbothered by the whole situation.

"I mean, this was all planned out, right? The people in charge of Hope's Peak put this all together, right? Man, if I got stressed every time something like this happened, I'd have ectoplasm shooting out my mouth!"

Despite this, if you take the opportunity to talk to him in the laundry room the following morning, you get this:

Despite Hiro's insistence that this is all normal, he's run himself ragged trying to find out why they're trapped in the school. It suggests that his relaxed attitude towards the situation may be some kind of a facade to keep both himself and the others calm. He continues to insist upon it even after multiple days have passed, when Monokuma reappears again to give out the motive videos("Why the hell are you laughing?" "I'm just impressed at the total commitment to this whole act.") He refuses to acknowledge the mere possibility of this situation being an actual threat to their lives, even after watching the motive video of (presumably) his mother and sister in danger.

He insists on it to the point where he doesn't realize the truth of the situation until "Junko" is impaled with a ton of spears and dies right in front of him, and even then, his reaction is delayed, not realizing until Makoto and Byakuya check her for a pulse.

"Sh-she's... dead!? Then that means...! That means everything that's happened so far is real!? It's not a joke or whatever!? It's really real!? Hell no! Someone save me! Let me outta here! SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!" "You're j-just now accepting that...?"

He switches from total calm to ungodly terror, as he didn't experience the dread leading up to the incident that everyone else did. The horror renders him immobile for nearly the entire investigation, only pulled out of shock when Makoto shows him his broken glass ball.

"Did that guy totally dupe me!? He said it belonged to the pillars of history... Genghis Khan, George Washington, Napoleon... He said whoever controlled that crystal ball controlled the world! Was that seriously all BS!?"

"I'm almost afraid to ask, but how much did you pay for that thing?" "Everything I'd saved up from fortune-telling for two full years. Came out to be like... a million."

Not only did he pay that much for what was pretty obviously a glass ball, he fully believed that story despite the fact one of the named holders that 'controlled the world' was a failed emperor that died in exile. It is a hand-sized glass ball. Paying $1M in USD shouldn't have even been on the table in the first place.

Hiro goes into the next chapter still completely panicking, babbling on to Makoto about the 'ill omen' that is the items set in the display case and once again begging to the heavens to be released from the school.

"Ahhh! I've been struck with knowledge! It's an ill omen of total devastation and ruin! L-Let me outta here! Let me ouuuut!"

It's a bit late, as the only dangerous item from that case was used in the previous murder, but better late than never, I suppose.

Prior to the motive announcement, Hiro reveals that he was the one to pick up on the goings-on outside of Hope's Peak, having been in the dining hall and heard what he described as 'noises like a construction site'. It's important enough that Monokuma confirms the noises to be a) real and b) the result of some level of violence, as his provided explanations are an explosion or machine gun. So although Hiro himself hasn't had much of a story yet, he's still keeping his ears open and is at least paying some attention to the problem at hand now.

During the investigation, Hiro ends up in a much better position, now able to not go into total shock and do an investigation of his own. Although it doesn't yield many results, talking to him makes it clear that he's both trying to find something useful and trying to keep what information he does have private before the trial, which is progress. He's doing something instead of just sitting on his ass, and he's trying to remain secretive, even if he's really bad at it.

When the trial comes around, he's excited to provide evidence, being the one to tell the class about the e-handbooks in the mailbox despite insistence that he probably couldn't help anyway. Despite this, he takes it well when he's told he's wrong the second he's given a reason.

"No, she DID have a way! And I can tell you what it was!" "I highly doubt that." "Shut up! I'm telling you, I know how she could've done it!" ('it' being Chihiro entering the girls' locker room)

"She used the thing that was in the main hall!" "Huh? What thing?" "I'm talkin' about Leon's handbook, of course!"

"Why not!?" "Because Leon's handbook was broken." "Oh! Well then yeah, I guess that'd be pretty impossible, huh?"

Part 4- Midgame Events (In fact, we're gonna frame you for murder!)

Now that Taka's grieving, Hiro remembers he's significantly older than the rest of the class and decides to step up as the class rep and keep everyone calm and focused, at least until Taka can take over again. Although it doesn't last for very long, it's a nice gesture on Hiro's part, and shows some level of responsibility from him.

He's the one to direct the class to the 3rd floor and opens up to conversation about what they found, doing everything he can think of to both keep the class' gaze fixed ahead and try to rouse Taka from his silent state, though this falls apart the second Hina starts talking about a ghost.

Despite his efforts, Kyoko is the one who's really in charge here, and instead, Hiro becomes a messenger for her, alerting the rest of the class to 'bathtime' and acting as a voice of reason when both Hifumi and Taka become obsessed with Alter Ego.

"I happened to do a psychic reading for a certain famous CEO once... And that guy was seriously head over heels for a mannequin. He had a wedding and everything! And your eyes just now... I saw the same look in HIS eyes!"

"Oh, Taka! Are you back!?" "Who the hell's Taka!?" "Um... you?"

He also delivers letters to everyone in class when Kyoko has an important update on Alter Ego, assuming that the files have been decrypted. It's also worth noting he has remarkably clean penmanship, and this is attributed to his supernatural beliefs.

The following morning, when Hiro is one of the many students to go missing, Celeste sets it up so that almost everyone is led to believe that Hiro is the obvious culprit before he even so much as gets a chance to defend himself- falsifying and planting evidence, removing proof of innocence to the best of her ability, and manipulating Hifumi to help her- all with the stroke of luck in her favor that even after remembering his life before the game, Hifumi still couldn't betray her when he tried because her legal surname was the same as his first. On a surface level, almost every slip-up or seemingly stupid move was shrugged off as 'well, Hiro's an idiot anyway, so he probably didn't realize,' which is exactly what Celeste bet on. The only one who wouldn't automatically fall under this assumption (Kyoko) was so distracted by her own schemes that she was pulled out of the investigation for the vast majority of it. Even Byakuya completely fell for it until Makoto pointed out some of the inconsistencies to him.

But here's the thing: Hiro's gullible, not stupid. He may fall for other people's schemes, but he can just as easily craft his own and sell them, even when the person being sold to knows they're being duped to some degree. He's a businessman at heart, and you can't become a successful businessman if your schemes don't work. If Celeste wanted her plan to work, then she chose the wrong guy to frame. (The game never actually addresses this directly, but from a meta perspective, it's pretty obvious Hiro is just being used as a red herring, and it's all symbolized in his handwriting- Hiro is more put-together than he's given credit for, and that truth creates the physical evidence of his innocence Celeste couldn't change.)

I mean, Hiro deliberately plays up his own stupidity in the trial, taking the argument that was supposed to work against him and using it in his favor to convince everyone around him of his own incompetency. That's not the strategy of someone incapable of working out a survival plan.

"Come on, I'm not smart enough to think of trying to change my handwriting anyway!" <- a direct contradiction to when he writes Toko's name in blood in handwriting not of his own in the following chapter

Hiro being a red-herring suspect for a murder is quickly followed up with Hiro being a red-herring suspect for a murder. Yes, they do it twice, but this time, Hiro himself believes he's responsible. So there's enough differentiation to warrant it within the plot.

With chapter 4, Hiro's paranoia hits an all-new level. And for good reason, too. Not only have there been 5 attempted murders in the span of just over 2 weeks, 3 of which were intentional and 4 of which were successful, there's also a known serial killer chilling with the rest of the class that's known specifically for attacking men. Not only that, he was literally framed for a double murder case just a couple days ago, and to top it all off, Sakura, the visibly strongest person not only in the class, but also officially recognized as strongest person in the world, has been outed as a spy for Monokuma. So naturally, Hiro's a little on edge when he receives the invite from Sakura to meet in the rec room. So when he hears her muttering to herself-

"This is it... I'm going to end it today... I'm going to end... everything." "As soon as I heard that, I just knew... I knew she was gonna try and kill me! She was gonna kill me and make her escape!"

So, rather then let that potential end happen, he made the panicked decision to defend himself.

He admits to this pretty quickly in the trial as well, as the moment the dying message is disproven as being from Sakura, he caves and tells them everything that happened from his perspective. And he feels terrible about it, too, accepting that he has to die for what he did.

"Well, that's what happened. Go ahead, roast me, boil me, do whatever you want..."

Once Makoto and Kyoko are able to prove he's innocent, it's a massive weight off his shoulders. His fear and panic all but disappear, and he spends the rest of the trial in a much more relaxed state.

And once the trial is over, and they've all heard the truth about Sakura's case, he throws his full support to Hina and Sakura, unable to be mad at either of them.

"This is because of our misplaced hatred. I don't blame her(Sakura)! I CAN'T blame her! And nobody can blame Hina, either!"

Besides being a suspect in both murder cases, Hiro has another important moment in chapter 4. At breakfast on the first morning, after sharing his prediction of no more murders, he tells the story of his encounter with aliens, in which a burger that was supposedly 100% beef was beamed up by an alien spaceship. And because aliens supposedly steal cows, the meat separated and only took 30% of the meat. When he went back to the restaurant, they admitted to mixing pork into the meat. This story is representative of Hiro's own fortune-telling, as only 30% of his predictions are real and the rest are done just for money.

Part 5- Character Relationships

Though none of them are given a main focus in-game, Hiro has fairly important dynamics with about half the cast of THH. Actually, basically everyone that made it past chapter 2 has an established dynamic with Hiro.

5.1- Kiyotaka Ishimaru

Though it's a bit of a one-sided relationship, Hiro is the only character to show any concern for Taka going into chapter 3. After the brutal death of Mondo, Taka goes comatose, and won't eat, sleep, or speak to anyone. It's when in this state that Hiro attempts to get him back in action as class rep, more than once. Unfortunately, he never really succeeds, though this does leave us with the implication that he was the one who told Taka about Alter Ego, as it doesn't make sense for it to have been anyone else at this point.

5.2- Hifumi Yamada

Similar to Taka, Hifumi spends chapter 3 with a special interest in Alter Ego. Hiro is the one that tries to get through to him, calling out his strange behavior and likening it to a former client in love with a mannequin. The two of them also bounce off of each other quite a bit in the first half of the game during group conversations, and when they do, it often paints Hiro in a more reasonable light. As the older and therefore more mature of the two, he knows when Hifumi is full of shit and calls him on it, particularly when he's being horny("But he's a guy! And also a computer program!" "Oh, that aspect is no problem." "That... aspect?").

Hifumi later goes on to work with Celeste to frame him for the murder of both Taka and himself. It's unclear if he had any resentment for Hiro or if he just agreed with Celeste that he'd make a good scapegoat.

5.3- Celestia Ludenberg

Celeste frames him for murder, despite the fact that they didn't have much interaction before then. Why Hiro, though?

"Because you're stupid." "That's it!?" "And in that regard, I made the right choice. I'm so glad your stupidity surpassed my every expectation. Life must have been tough on your parents, though." "I feel like I could cry..."

Not only is this one final dig from her before her execution, it's also just blatantly wrong. Not only was Hiro not there for the majority of the investigation(by her design), but the supposed stupidity of his character she's referencing had almost no effect on the investigation or trial. Rather, it was the assumptions of the rest of the cast that benefitted her, with characters like Hina and Byakuya going along with the same assumption she wanted them to. He was almost immediately proven innocent by Makoto, and was only considered a suspect because Celeste herself kept hounding the idea.

In short, this proved Celeste the idiot. She didn't know her opponent at all, and so she lost, lying about it to the bitter end.

5.4- Sakura Ogami

Hiro's lack of a significant relationship with her is more important than what they did have. Throughout THH, Hiro consistently refers to Sakura not by name, but by the demeaning nickname given to her online, 'Ogre', due to how physically imposing she is. As such, the two never really connect, and when she's outed by Monokuma as the spy, he turns against her immediately, even when they were relatively friendly with each other up until that point. He doesn't necessarily want to distrust her, but not only is her allegiance under fire, but he's already been betrayed and directly put in the line of fire once. He has to consider his safety first, so he cuts her out with the others, though he does say if she makes good on her assertion to defeat the mastermind, that he'll forgive her("If she really can beat the mastermind like she said, that'd go a long way in my mind...").

But even if he isn't condemning her to hell like Byakuya and Toko, he still doesn't know her. He never bothered to try. So when she invites him to talk, he stays on his guard. The game has rendered him unable to connect to her, and so when he hears her speak of 'ending everything', he can only assume the worst. And it leads him to open the case of Sakura's attacker- not Toko, not Jack, not Byakuya. Hiro starts it. And he carries that guilt into her trial.

5.4- Byakuya Togami, Aoi Asahina, Toko Fukawa, Genocide Jill

Hiro has a fairly antagonistic relationship with the other non-main-character survivors(and Byakuya, if you consider him one). The 5 of them spend most of the latter half of the game at each other's throats, often for miniscule, petty things. This is mostly used as a source of comedy, with each pointing out the others' flaws and making each other look dumb. However, when it comes down to it, they can get along and cooperate when it's important.

He gets along best with Hina, as both were part of the overarching group from the beginning, and both are consistently present whenever the group splits up(for example, before Chihiro's body is found). And because Toko and Jack follow Byakuya around, and Makoto and Kyoko are the main characters, the two of them end up as an unintentional pair when it comes to group dialogue, even ganging up on Byakuya or Toko when appropriate. That said, Hina doesn't like him much, either.

5.5- Kyoko

Kyoko acknowledges Hiro's attempts to become the leader of the class in Taka's absence, and uses him to communicate with the rest of the class about Alter Ego when necessary. He acts as her messenger, suggesting she trusted him to some extent, enough to let him be the messenger. Their relationship isn't expanded upon outside of this, though.

5.6- Makoto Naegi

Despite his mounting paranoia and trust issues in the previous chapters, Hiro is shown to trust Makoto specifically, likely because he was the one to prove his innocence in both chapter 3 and 4. He holds Makoto in high regard, enthusiastically agreeing with Kyoko to let him hold the knife in chapter 5 and attempting to explain the dismantling of Monokuma to him: "I'll explain what's goin' on, Makoto. Cuz that's how much I like ya! Byakuya found this li'l fella layin' around, then we tore it apart!" "That doesn't explain anything..."

Part 6- Hiro's Clairvoyance

Despite Hiro's claims of only having a 30% accuracy rating at best, his fortune-telling and bouts of clairvoyance are accurate a good few times in THH. I'm not doing the math to see if it actually falls between 20-30%, but it is enough to be significant.

In the prologue and 1st chapter, Hiro insists that the killing game must be a prank because of his total certainty that the execs of Hope's Peak were the ones who locked them in the school. This is revealed to be true in chapter 4, when Alter Ego reveals the Hope's Peak Headmaster planned the shelter, and the board signed off on it.

In his 1st FTE, Hiro reveals he's already seen that his and Makoto's paths intersect, and that the mother of their children is the same woman. This becomes true if you get the bad ending in chapter 5.

The chapter 2 cover art has Hiro holding a manga with Taka and Celeste covered in blood, with the number 2 beside Taka. This accurately depicts that Celeste would kill Taka in the following chapter, and that he'd be one of two victims of hers.

In the start of chapter 4, Hiro reveals a prediction that there won't be any more murders. This turns out to be true, as the only other deaths after this are both by suicide.

Hiro's wild guess about what started the Tragedy was later proven in the series to be correct repeatedly- Hope's Peak students' deaths started and continued the domino effect of the Tragedy. Hajime became Izuru due to Natsumi's and Sato's murders; the student council were all slaughtered inside the school as the beta kg; the Reserve Course students killed all the Main Course students that weren't either 77-B or 78-B, and then committed mass suicide via brainwashing. All the students were killed.

Part 7- An Inner Look

During THH, we get a look at both Hiro's bedroom and his locker in the main story. This gives us a unique glimpse into his mentality that we don't get with anyone else in THH.

Interestingly, his room and his locker are very different, despite them both containing his fortune-telling materials. In his bedroom, his books are stacked fairly neatly on the desk, and his divination tools are organized, being set on separate tables with a protective tablecloth underneath. The singing bowl and incense- which work for ambience- are kept on one desk in the back, while his cards and dice are kept on the main table in the middle of the room. Meanwhile, his locker has his books shoved awkwardly into the bottom, while his divination tools are all lumped together on the top and have no separation or organization. The locker's state even leads Makoto to say that its owner "probably has organization problems in every part of their life". This may suggest that his room is clean for the sake of potential customers, or just that the lack of space in the locker was inconvenient.

Part 8- Late Game Events

When chapter 5 opens, Hiro's 'dumb guy' shenanigans are cranked up to the max. While everyone's investigating the 5th floor, talking to Hiro in the garden reveals his conspiracy theory on the inevitable global domination of the world by plants. He also gets excited about the 5 chickens, claiming the number 5 to "contain the mysteries of the cosmos" and says it's a good omen.

When he tells the rest of the survivors about the garden, he decides he wants to use the lawnmower to create crop circles, as a signal for help. What he fails to realize is that there are no crops in the school, and that no one would be able to see them from above if there were. It's this moment that Hina points out how ridiculous he's getting:

"What the heck's happened to you...? You weren't like this in the beginning, you know." "Well back then my personality hadn't quite solidified yet...!" "I didn't think it was possible, but I'm more disappointed in you now than I've ever been..."

This suggests Hiro's characterization, from the ground up, was designed to be laughed at. (That's a surprise tool that will help us later.)

When the other survivors decide to dismantle Monokuma, Hiro is the one who actually undergoes the process of dismantling and opening him up, with the only one we see helping with the parts to be Toko. This puts him directly under fire if Monokuma wakes up and decides to punish the perpetrator. It's safe to assume this is why he and Toko were chosen by Byakuya to do the actual dismantling. He also goes on to be the one to get the TV working in the data center, suggesting some level of proficiency with technology that's never explored again.

When the 5th trial begins, Hiro's panicking, insisting that Kyoko is a ghost("she's like the latest evolution in ghost technology!") and has to be corrected before the actual trial can start.

When the final investigation begins, and Kyoko, Byakuya, and Toko have all gone off on their own, Hiro decides he's going to go off on his own as well, declaring he's going to use his "totally awesome spirit power to figure out the mastermind's identity!" This declaration goes nowhere, as he's the only survivor you don't need to talk to before Monokuma's clue, and his only dialogue before the trial is him avoiding you. This 'totally awesome spirit power' is never used in the final trial, either.

When the final trial begins, Hiro is the first to make the accusation Monokuma wanted- that he was the only innocent one, and that everyone else was working together. But when Hina and Byakuya piggyback off of him, he's the first to realize that they've all been given the same evidence. Simultaneously, somehow, he's the last one to realize the evidence is fake("Wh-what? Wait, hold on... This doesn't make any sense... How can the three of us each have that kind of evidence!?")

When Junko reveals the truth to everyone, he's the first to beg for mercy. He's brought to despair- "We get it... We get it, okay? You're totally awesome, right? We get it already! So help us! I'll do anything! Just help me!" "A peasant begging for his life? How delightful! We've never witnessed such a travesty firsthand..." But when Makoto fights back, he's also the first one to embrace hope(assuming you shoot the characters in the order they appear):

"But to live means moving forward, right...? So even if it's hard... even if we're scared... we don't have any choice, do we? I want to keep on living! I want to open the next door! There must be something new waiting for me! So that's why... That's why...! No matter what, I need to get out of here! The whole fortune-telling thing doesn't matter anymore! What matters is my own gut feelings! I... I've decided to have faith in myself!"

He, along with the other survivors, votes for hope. Junko is executed, and the seven of them leave together.

Part 9- Ultra Despair Hagakure (yes we have to talk about this)

TW: discussion of pedophilia and incest. Skip to part 9 if you need to(5 paragraphs down).

Ultra Despair Hagakure, or UDH, is the spinoff-spinoff LN unlocked by completing "spinoff" game Ultra Despair Girls. It follows Yasuhiro Hagakure in Towa City as he's saved by former captive Kanon Nakajima, and the two of them try to survive the Monokumas and find a way to escape. The novel's state of canon is unclear, but it doesn't directly contradict anything in the main series continuity in terms of plot progression.

The problem with UDH (well, for Hiro anyway. Kanon is a whole other can of worms for the Leonalysis) is that UDH establishes Hiro as a pedophile. Kanon is 15, and says as much in her internal dialogue, but Hiro(who introduces himself as mid-20s) spends the LN being attracted to her, and that attraction combined with his money-hunger pushes him to stick with her, hoping to squeeze money out of her rich father upon their escape. He describes her as 'the type to have a baby by 21', and there are multiple instances of him being turned on by her, either while she's fighting the Monokumas or when she ends up physically leaned against him. All around, it's just a really unfortunate choice they made for his character that serves nothing to the main plot besides acting as a way to emphasize how cute Kanon is. Why did they choose to have Hiro act in this way towards Kanon? Simple: UDH is a fetish novel.

UDH adds no significant development to the worldbuilding or its pre-established characters, with two exceptions- Hiro, and Leon. Both become victims of immoral fetish content, though Leon at least gets the shield of plausible deniability from an unreliable narrator. Hiro doesn't get that since we see his first-person perspective. The plot of UDH is structured around Kanon, despite its being named after Hiro, and centers on her feelings of lust and desire for a relationship, using the setting of UDG as a backdrop. Hiro is an older man than Kanon, and Leon is Kanon's cousin. Both of these characters had their names and base personalities recycled to act as her love interests, as an excuse to write fetish content. It's as simple as that. And Hiro in particular suffers because he's the living and present man of the two, so to make the content, he's given perverted, sexual thoughts about Kanon, a 15 year old girl, as a grown adult in his 20s, not because it's something Hiro would've done, but because it's part of the older-guy fetish. It's unnecessary for his character, and doesn't appear at all in the next and final appearance he has in the series, nor does it ever come up outside of this LN.

UDH is a dark spot on the history of Yasuhiro Hagakure, and one of dubious canon at that. But it's still important to acknowledge that was written and released as official content within the DR franchise, and therefore, must be part of this character dissection. Ultimately, I've come to the conclusion that, due to the entire LN being primarily fetish content, it can't in good conscience be held up as part of Yasuhiro's own character. However, it is reflective of Kodaka's lack of care in the treatment of Yasuhiro Hagakure as a character.

Part 10- Danganronpa 3: Future Arc

Hiro, alongside Makoto, Kyoko, and Hina, are brought back as part of the lineup for DR3's Future Arc, participating in a new killing game with 12 new characters.

10.1- Character Design Pt 2

Hiro's design is updated to his Future Foundation uniform, with his pant sleeves rolled up, his blazer over his shoulders, and a bright blue tie. His locs are now pulled back, he's wearing thin-wire glasses, and he's pictured holding his crystal ball(though again, it breaks in the 1st episode).

10.2- Hiro's Subplot

In the first episode of the Future Arc, Hiro's left out of the meeting by the others and told to wait outside. He's then left out of the killing game and locked outside the building by accident when the exits are blown up, and left to fend for himself in occasional clips for over half of the season until Byakuya shows up to break into the building.

His only role in the anime is an occasional cutaway to him wondering what's going on inside, only to be shot at by a helicopter with a machine gun and barely survive unscathed. The anime straight up tells the audience the reason for this in one of the opening recaps:

He's the only survivor from THH not to play a significant role as well, as Makoto, Kyoko, and Hina are active in the kg, Byakuya is the one to lead the rescue effort, and Toko and Jack get a dedicated episode in Towa City with Komaru to hunt down Monaca. All this to say, his occasional bit of barely surviving is all he gets in comparison, which isn't much.

10.3- Byakuya Togami

As the only character Hiro has significant interaction with in the season, the relationship between Hiro and Byakuya is mildly expanded upon. Once Byakuya arrives, Hiro immediately falls in line beside him, following orders to lay explosives and try to break into the building, complaining all the while as Byakuya watches and directs him. It's all reminiscent of their relationship at the endgame of THH; however, Byakuya appears to be more fond of Hiro at this point, stopping him from triggering the trap in the lobby and keeping him out of danger at his own risk. In that vein of logic, Hiro being told to stay outside by not only Byakuya, but also Makoto, Hina, and Kyoko wasn't because 'no one likes him', it was because of genuine concern that he'd get caught up in something that wasn't his fault. It was because they liked him that he was safe.

Part 11- Racism in Danganronpa

As we've seen, Hiro is a character without much of a story to talk about. He's got his bit moments, and a banterous dynamic with the other survivors from THH, but even in his own novel, he doesn't have his own plot to speak of, nor does he ever receive any significant character growth in 8 years of DR history by real-world years. He is wholly a gag character, meant to be messy, stupid, and altogether unimportant in comparison to the rest of the cast. And to call this anything other than flat-out racism would be flat-out ignorance.

First off, in a series with over 100 characters, Hiro is one of 3-4 characters who are canonically dark-skinned(I can't remember if Akane was dark-skinned or is in "it's just a tan" club with Hina, Sakura, Teruteru, and Gonta). Of those, he's one of two black men, and the other is a racist caricature whose sole purpose is to die in demonstration of a 'game mechanic'(Daisaku Bandai). So already, we can clearly see that black men, as well as any other dark-skinned characters, aren't prioritized in DR's narrative.

When it comes to Hiro specifically, though, the specifics of his character- his design, his backstory, and the perception the other characters have of him- all at least partially stem from blatantly racist stereotypes. It's not just a matter of lack of rep, it's a matter of stereotypical and often outright offensive representation.

Scroll back up to see Hiro's THH design again. He's dressed in multiple layers, making him look 'grungy', like he doesn't care about his appearance, and he's the only dark-skinned character to have a black hairstyle throughout the entire series. There's a point in the game where, if you choose to speak to him in a group setting, Genocide Jill refers to him as "Afro Thunder" as a derogatory remark. Even from a character that gives everyone nicknames, this is clearly racism, as the other nicknames are plays on the characters' names ('Big Mac' for Makoto, 'Tick Tock' for Taka, etc).

While the details of Hiro's backstory aren't fully expanded upon, we do have enough information from his mother, Hiroko, and some of his dialogue in THH to have enough of an idea. Hiroko was a teen mother, and considering Hiro is in his mid-20s(23 at the youngest) while Hiroko is around 36 during the events of UDG according to the UDG artbook, that would mean she had him at age 13, at the oldest. In addition, Hiroko isn't dark-skinned, meaning that either Hiro got his color solely from his father, or his mother was biracial and just didn't get those genes. In addition, we know that his father wasn't around for most of his life, as he left Hiroko for an unspecified act she 'let go on too long,' which implies infidelity. We do know his dad was around long enough for Hiro to remember him, though, as he's able to recall an instance where his father burned their house down due to smoking in bed. Now, this may be on me, but the implication all this seems to suggest is that his father, who would've been black, left his family and left the teen mother to raise Hiro on her own, and that the one depiction we receive of him paints him as irresponsible for causing a house fire. It's not expressly canon, but it's the implication the given information leaves for the player, and is eerily similar to the stereotype that black men are irresponsible and absent fathers that knock up younger women.

Throughout all of THH, Hiro is perceived as stupid. Just about every character that interacts with Hiro calls him an idiot at least once, and he's repeatedly portrayed as not understanding what's going on around him. The only character that's ever less aware than he is at any given time is Genocide Jack or Toko, and that's because the two don't share memories. In chapter 3, his supposed idiocy is emphasized as the reason Celeste targeted and pinned a double-murder on him, and how she was able to get away with framing him for so long. Almost everyone agreed with her that Hiro's idiocy explained away the flaws in logic from his perspective as a killer. Byakuya even says as such("He probably thought that if nobody saw his face, it wouldn't matter if he was seen. Because he's an idiot, you see."). He falls for every little lie Monokuma drops over the course of the game, to the point where he contradicts himself at the start of the final trial. There's a moment in chapter 5 where Hina goes on about how stupid he is, and asks him what 10+10 is. It offends him to the point he forgets what question she asked, and when he asks her to repeat herself, she just says "Don't worry. You've already answered it." Even Makoto, the POV character who we're meant to project ourselves as player onto, goes on about how stupid and disorganized he is at multiple instances when talking to him. Not only do the other characters perceive him as stupid, but the game wants you as player to perceive him as stupid, too, at the detriment of his own characterization as a successful and sleazy businessman who's made millions. Stupid, disorganized idiots who spend $1M on a glass ball aren't normally charismatic and clever enough to be making that much at such a young age from the ground up.

And maybe, maybe, if Hiro were the only instance where a dark-skinned character were subject to this volume of stereotypes, and the rest of the dark-skinned characters were all excellently developed and unique and well, not written consistently with racist tropes, then you could try to make the argument that this was by mistake. That it wasn't fully intentional, or that the creator was just trying to make a variety of characters, whatever. But every single dark-skinned (or tanned) character in the series suffers from some kind of racist trope. If it's not this, or being a blatant caricature like Bandai, it's being a monster brute who's viewed as an inhuman monster(Sakura, Gonta), it's being an islander cultist who follows some indigenous violent god(Angie), etc. The racism within Danganronpa's dark-skinned characters is inherently a part of their characters, to the point where you cannot separate the sins of the author from the character. Yasuhiro Hagakure is a byproduct of racism, and it holds him back as a character from being expanded upon outside of what the stereotype allows so long as he's written by his creators.

Part 12- Fortune Telling Does Matter (Why we should care)

We've now thoroughly dissected Yasuhiro Hagakure and his role, or often lqack thereof, in the story. He's a gag character built on racist tropes that the creator didn't give a fuck about, and was lent out for a fetish piece. He's an idiot, a useless guy whose own creator built to be pointed at and laughed at. Why should anyone care about Hiro? The answer comes in the epilogue of THH, from Hiro himself:

"...Ah! I get it now! If there's no road, you just gotta build one! Creation... Fate is telling me to remake the world! That's... my hope! I've reached the next stage! The next chapter of Yasuhiro Hagakure's Life Story is about to begin!"

'If there's no road, you just gotta build one.' Hiro was made with racism, yes, and went underused in the source material, but that doesn't mean that was all there was to his character. If you dig into the work, you'll find a passionate man that cares deeply for his interest in the unknown, someone who researches and collects artifacts in his free time, and who genuinely believes in his clairvoyance, and used that passion and belief to build a career and life for himself. The pieces are in place for his story to continue, and if the source material won't do it, then well, can't we? Danganronpa is known for its love and attention to detail of its characters. Each and every character is designed with the potential to become the protagonist of their own story. That includes Hiro. He does have the potential to rise past the source material in the right hands, and those could be your hands. Who's to say? Maybe there's some unwritten genius hidden within that next chapter. That's the beauty of fanwork; untapped potential can become a fan favorite if you know where to look.

Afterword

"Hey guys, Sayakanalysis is taking a while, I want an easy one next." Well look how that turned out. This shit was NOT easy, not by a long shot. I've come to the conclusion that there is no easy character to analyze in this godforsaken series

That said, I am happy with how this turned out. Even if Hiro is a bit all over the place, I genuinely like him a lot more now! There's actually a lot of fun to be had with his character if you're willing to look deeper into him; that's what I want people to take away from this

Anyways, it'll probably be a nice long wait for the next one because uh. Junko is next. And V3 is basically the only time she doesn't show up soooooooo hope you enjoyed catch ya later

[penguwastaken]

They could never make me hate you, Ruruka.

[dr-survivor-tourney]

Best Killer Finale!!!!!

[xehanortsreport]

i think the most heartbreaking part of danganronpa, the more years pass and the longer i analyze it, is the revelation that junko loved her classmates. it's subtle, more subtle than a lot of writing in the series, and can easily be overlooked thanks to the narrative seeming to be allergic to showing junko interacting with her own cohort for some godforsaken reason, but it IS there.

we all know by now that the stronger junko feels about someone (positively) the more intimate she becomes in personally crafting despair for them to fall into. and while it would be easy for me to point to DR:S where she straight up admits that (in a non-despair timeline) she's attached to her classmates and that hope gives her despair, i'll instead dabble in that more subtle writing.

now i've spent far too many words far too many years ago talking about how much i Do Not Like DR3 (the anime) and especially do not like the despair video nonsense...but taking the above into account, it almost begins to make sense (almost). junko loves her classmates. adores them. i don't think it's coincidence that just their class were spared the initial slaughter, and i think that junko deciding to personally involve herself in their killing game with her own life on thebline as collateral shows that love.

she wanted her classmates to be personally cradled by her despair. televising their downfall in particular, kidnapping their loved ones - even killing off mukuro way early (and therefore "junko" as an entity in their minds) - all while isolating herself in the control room, trapped along with them...it's a commitment she doesn't show to anyone else except matsuda, her childhood love. the 77th class are throwaways - she involves herself with them only as much as needed to get what she needed before tossing them a brainwashing video and bouncing. they are barely anything to her, useful pawns at best and nothing more.

but her own class? she loves them. in UTDP and DR:S, her classmates are able to clock when her personality shifts even the slightest. she mildly entertains helping them, listening to their problems, giving them advice. she says sakura relying on her makes her feel happy - so happy it brings her despair. their happiness together is /genuine/, and it's why she wants to give them such a horrible, personal, awful gift.

idk, im just obsessed with these relationships that go so unsaid and are paid so little attention to. and i get some of it is to probably keep the mystique surrounding junko, but...sighs. the 78th class needs a little more love from the writers and they're never going to get it lmao, i just wish we saw more of the entire class and their relationship to junko.

[hopeymchope]

what's some criticism you have about makoto/the most valid criticism you've sene of him?

I've been sitting on this ask for like a week, because I've been struggling with it. Even when I think I remember one that hits a solid mark, I then mentally argue it down to being a non-issue.

The only criticism I've seen that ever hit any kind of mark for me is some fans' frustrations that he didn't endure/overcome much personal loss compared to many of the characters around him, because he repeatedly seems to luck out and have it work out in the end. This usually comes from people who are bitter about Kirigiri's survival in DR3, but I can understand that having Naegi's seeming losses get reversed or resolved whereas someone like Fuyuhiko has to lose his sister and then just carry on with it... it can seem kind of unfair. Why does he get to keep his secondary protag/potential love interest, but Hajime loses Chiaki? Why does he get his sister back safely while Asahina loses her brother forever? And so on.

The first counter to this complaint is that, well, he seemingly / maybe / probably? lost his parents during the tragedy. But those with this complaint find it frustrating that this is kept open-ended and hopeful, still leaving him with a chance to once again reverse/undo his loss. Despite seeing their corpses pretty clearly broadcast on television during Ultra Despair Girls, when Komaru finally gets to the actual place the Naegi parents are supposed to be? They aren't there, leaving her with a sense of hope that she'll still find them somehow alive.

The second counter to this complaint is that obviously Makoto still loses tons of friends during the course of DR1. Even if he doesn't immediately remember how close they all were, its implied in DR2 that they maybe/probably got those memories back later. Which had to make it pretty devastating.

Those who harbor this complaint have sometimes said that Naegi's unrelenting hope would mean more if he actually had to overcome a permanent loss. But I think that rings kind of hollow when you consider that he manages to remain hopeful even in the immediate aftermath of Kyoko's "death" in DR3. At this lowest possible point, he stands strong.

And despite how much I'm arguing against this complaint? I still think it rings kind of true. Because it DOES feel unfair that he gets off relatively lightly compared to so many other characters. Togami loses everything that defined him, everything that he based his pride and reputation on. Kirigiri loses Samidare brutally, finds her father's body without even knowing if the two of them ever achieved any kind of closure, and the question of whether she ever reunites with her grandfather is left wide open. Class 77-B may only lose ONE of their friends and classmates, but they also lose their freedom and their ability to live a peaceful life by accepting and embracing not only the guilt of their actions as Remnants, but also taking on the guilt of what happened in the Future Arc of DR3. Maki loses Kaito, Shuichi loses Kaito AND Kaede, and so on. These characters are forced to carry on after permanent, undeniable losses.

For those reasons, I do prefer to think that the Naegi parents are later confirmed dead. It gets Naegi more of a permanent, personal loss to endure and overcome in the longer term—I even wrote a fanfic one-shot about it.

But you know, I feel like I should mention that, for those who think Makoto gets off light because he's a "creator's pet" or something? There is someone in the DR1 who ultimately gets off even lighter than Naegi: Yasuhiro Hagakure. The ONLY seeming personal loss he ever endures is his mom — and he gets her back safe and sound! But I guess he's very rarely explored seriously since he's mostly comic relief... so maybe people don't worry about him as much.

[danganronpa-textposts]

[eebooduh]

Do you think Hajime ever feels like Frankenstein's monster? Does he think that he is the collection of traits from people now long deceased? A creation never meant to exist? A creation so vile he brought about the destruction of the world? Do you think he thinks that? Do you think he lives with that? How does he move on?

[anonzentimes]

last asker here wahoo weehee but yeah i dont mind the ramble !!! honestly i do feel a little similar sometimes ourgh . maybe not with being in specific fandoms but especially when it comes to like . the smaller things like self inserts . the like

but anyway !!!!!! now im curious and im not too sure if you've answered anything of the sort before but i do wonder what you thought of the difference in characterization with Nagito in the games and in the anime?

not that nagito in the games r even one for one the same- same goes for the anime-

but i do know there's a difference , and i've heard so many differing opinions on how Nagito's potrayed in both, especially discussion on how faithful Nagito in danganronpa 3's character is to danganronpa 2, so i'll admit now im very interested on hearing your thoughts on him when looking at game nagito and anime nagito side by side eyes emoji

YAYY!!!!! I love getting asked to talk about him it's so fun!!! No one has actually asked this before, and I've been planning to do something on this for a bit!

Personally I think anime Nagito is actually really good! Although I think side lining him for a little bit was a weird decision, even if I understand why. But enough of that! Let's talk more about his characterization! I'll talk about what I think about Nagito's characterization in the anime and some annoyances I have with the misinterpretations!

I will admit that some of the fandom's opinions on, "Anime Nagito vs Game Nagito," kind of bother be because a lot of it stems from people not understanding his character in it's entirety in the first place.

The thing about Nagito is that he works as an amazing antagonist because he isn't ill intentioned and is just mentally screwed up. In the killing game his coping mechanisms and absolute beliefs are on display and he is at his worst, he's practically having multiple mental breakdowns and losing it. And his beliefs and coping mechanisms happen to be morally gray because he believes Anything is okay if it's for hope. With his luck cycle, coping mechanisms, and absolute beliefs that stem from both of these things we get Nagito. And when you place Nagito who thinks being trapped on the island forever without the ultimates impacting the world in any way is worse than one person surviving and making an impact on the world, he feels like he has to do something.

Basically, how Nagito acts in the anime and before the first trial is who he is when he's not mentally crumbling and I get really irritated when people try to say that in the game he was a "malicious psychopath" but in the anime he turned into "baby boy" like, just, GRRRAGHHH!!!!! IT MAKES ME FEEL LIKE HE NEEDS TO BE GATEKEPT WHEN PEOPLE DO THAT!!! THEY'RE MISUNDERSTANDING HIM SO BAD IT HURTS ☹️☹️☹️

I believe the anime's characterization is pretty great and still keeps in tact his absolute beliefs that lead him to do morally gray things for the sake of hope! I think he's very well done characterization wise in the anime. I liked the episode where he ends up blowing up the gym because he wants to postpone the test for his classmates it made a lot sense with how he thinks and his luck cycle! I also really love his encounter with Junko and Izuru. He says several good lines in the anime that are accurate and completely in character for him, and I love it!

I think the addition that the class thought he was weird even before he was at his worst and didn't show much reciprocation is sad and adds to his tragic life. The fact that he isn't surprised when Chisa slaps him, but rather when he is shown affection gets me dude!!!

I think it is sweet though that, his time at hope's peak is probably one of the best experiences he had until everything went wrong. He isn't shown much reciprocation but he genuinely cares for his classmates beyond them being ultimates from hanging out and knowing them so long. He has some reciprocation from Chisa and the other classmates somewhat care about him to varying degrees. I believe his overall luck cycle went, get accepted into hope's peak, good luck, gets diagnosed, bad luck, gains people he cares about in his life and some who care about him too, good luck, all of them become despairs, bad luck!

The other thing I wanted to touch upon is Bryce Pappenbrook listening to criticism about how Nagito sounds more sarcastic than intended. For a lot of the english fanbase the misinterpretation that Nagito's not honest is beyond repair especially since he's hard to understand, but I really do appreciate the effort to change it slightly. Even if people who misunderstood think there's a huge difference or even retcon with his character, I think it's a nice change that he sounds more genuine like his Japanese voice in the anime.

I think the real difference with him in the Anime versus Ultra Despair Girls and Danganronpa 2 is his role in the story. I think he's very in character, we just don't see him having meltdowns and go through his self unaware freak outs. We still see him do morally gray things and impact the plot though! In the anime he's doing better compared to the spiraling we see in Danganronpa 2 and rock bottom even more extreme beliefs we see in Udg.

Also I think the anime solidifying the fact that Nagito usually doesn't go out of his way for the ultimate's attention because he thinks he's unworthy of their time actually makes Danganronpa 2 more impactful. Because, if he doesn't try to seek the ultimates attention, then that's further solidifying the fact Nagito was interested in Hajime, he felt a connection with him even when they first met. We see him do the opposite of what he usually would just because of Hajime, and I think that's really sweet.

Nagito barely mentioning hope in Danganronpa 2's prologue is for the plot twist mostly, however, there could be multiple actual reasons for it. My interpretation is that it's because he wanted to make a good impression so he focuses on that instead, that combined with it not really coming up leads to them not really knowing what he thinks. There are hints of it and he's not purposely "hiding it" at all. Nagito is an honest person who only lies when he feels it's necessary, to further prove that point when he gets the despair disease, personality inverting disease, he gets the Lying disease.

Nagito in the prologue and in the anime are the same because he's not losing it yet, the only difference is Nagito talks slightly less about hope and his beliefs because It's not very relevant, he's trying to make a good impression, and he's focusing on keeping Hajime's attention. My favorite little thing supporting this is that he doesn't complain about going swimming. In the Dangan Island events we see him worry about it, but when he's focusing on everything else he didn't really think about it. He asks what Hajime is planning to do instead.

In conclusion, I believe Nagito in the anime is pretty good. He serves his role well for it not being his usual one, info about what he was like adds a little more to Danganronpa 2 analyzing it, and it's nice that we get to see more of him when he's not at his worst. He's still absolutely the same person and I think his characterization is really good. I think they could have utilized him more or made him relevant to the plot sooner if they wanted, but I think the impact and scenes that he has still are great and work well since he, again, doesn't have his usual role in the anime.

One last thing while I'm here talking about the anime's Nagito, a lot of people like to make the joke that he's "hopesexual" because of the one fan service line of dialogue in Danganronpa 3 where he basically says, "Hope feels amazing," and I just. URAGGHHH!!!!!!!! I'm sorry but if someone unironically says "hopesexual" I hope that their pillow always remains warm on both sides because saying it Is ANNOYINGG!!! It's so easy to get I don't know why people do this, and I know I'm being a little over the top but it just bugs me sooo bad Like,

Hope = Absolute Good/Euphoric Feeling for him, Horny = Euphoric Feeling for him, CONCLUSION: GENERAL EUPHORIA DESCRIPTOR!! He doesn't have a hope kink and the people who make those jokes are weird especially since it's straight up wrong!! I know it's just a joke, but it still gets on my nerves regardless because some people take it seriously. Even one of his songs uses this comparison by allegorizing hope with sexual desires, conveying that both are euphoric emotions for him! >:(

Anyways!

Thank you for your ask and Hopefully I successfully got all of the points I wanted to across! <3

[abadsmile]

Makoto & Sayaka relationship : analysis

I already did analyze a major part of their relationship inside that drive which is an analysis of Makoto in chapter 1 so, I really recommend seeing that analysis in order to have a better understanding of their dynamic. It’s important as I wouldn’t have the need to say or repeat things I have already said. What’s to come, is like a part 2, a sequel of that analysis.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1N3Q5S8eVo4c0CfiFxi6dWYQbQR014iWy/view?usp=drivesdk

So what I’m gonna talk about ? Few things that couldn’t have been said in that analysis because I limited my scope to chapter 1

So the relationship between these two is simple but also complex. It’s one of the most well written relationship in Danganronpa franchise. Both are character from the extreme sides and that shouldn’t have met. But they met despite their differences.

Differences

Makoto is someone who is said to be ordinary and to have a degree of normalcy higher than the average person. Regarding, his personality in the first chapter, he seems to be not optimistic but quite critical of most ultimates once he met them as they don’t match his high expectations on them. Remember that while Makoto accepted his normalcy, he still had the ultimates in high regard as he thinks that they are superiors to him in the first place due their talent. But it’s not in an obsession way like Hajime. However, as we will see he doesn’t truly accept it as he said in regard to his relationship with Sayaka.

Of course, he doesn’t have a great opinion of himself. He seems to not have close friends at all which is weird and even his view on himself is weird not normal. At any instance if he does something good, his first reflex is to degrade his actions but also himself.

Finally, he wasn’t and isn’t popular at all and his anormal « normalcy » should explain why he isn’t popular at all: people ignore his existence or should have found him boring enough to not be friends with him. Sure, he must have few people who he talked with but most of these people as seen in Makoto’s secret file aren’t friends as only one of them is. In Makoto’s secret file, once Makoto lost the rock paper scissors with these people, he had to search for drinks, but he was met with multiples unfortunate events. So, the time he puts to buy at the grocery store should at least put an alarm on his friend, but we didn’t see at all after those several unfortunate events that impacted Makoto. His friend of his didn’t seem to come to see how he is doing. So, I can at least say that most of his friends are friends but not close friends.

While Sayaka is extraordinary and can be considered as a genius in her talent. There were four students that were considered to be very talented in their respective area in class 78 and Sayaka was among them. She is in the upper echelons in contrary to Makoto and excel. From her teenage years, she was already popular and now she has 100 million of « Sayakers » said by Komaru in UDG who a « Sayaker » (hyper-fan of Sayaka) and that it was solely in Japan. So, she was already extremely popular when Makoto and she was in the same class, as Makoto quotes during her first FTE that he couldn’t go near him as she was always with people. Here, the difference. Due to her popularity, she had many, many people around her most of her time which contrast with Makoto which due to his simplicity had almost none. Finally, she had close friends that she considered as family which isn’t the case of Makoto.

Similarities

At the end of the game, Makoto and Sayaka shares similarities and parallelize each others. Firstly, he is as popular than Sayaka if not more due to be the one to put an end to Junko and has close friends at the end of his journey.

Both becomes unattainable because of their status and have to be prudent with any actions they take. For example, Sayaka had to be prudent and wary for any actions she takes because she had a reputation to hold on too and a career to keep which is the case of Makoto. He became the ultimate hope and as a symbol hope must take actions that solidify his status. In fact, he is by the world and the Future Fondation, forced to act in a way that would give hope to the world. Makoto was confined at that role.

In addition both do bypass their roles and take actions that could considered to be bad by the world with how Sayaka did bad things to reach her level and how Makoto hid the remnants of despair and put them inside the neo world program without the FF consent. Mind you that these remnants are the ones to have put the world in such fate and has caused many tragedies to the people of this world.

Also Makoto as the ultimate hope does the things that Sayaka wanted to do in a greater scale which is to spread hope to people in need. Both are people at their core who cares about other people even though Sayaka is more selfish than Makoto.

Finally, only people close to them could understand them greatly. Nobody understands Sayaka more than her idols friends. Her true feelings was understood only by them and her classmates when she was in HPA before the killing game. As for Makoto except his friends nobody truly understands him and only see his outer self. I mean everybody saw him as that guy whose will is unparalleled and don’t give up even in dire situations but whose ideals are naive. But Makoto isn’t only that. He is also someone who regrets and has guilt that he repressed whether be in THH or in Dr3 which even his close friends didn’t seem to see. Even his views on hope and despair are misunderstood by a lot of people just like Munakata.

Emotions

I must talk about how Makoto felt when he was with Sayaka compared to the rest of the game. When he was with Sayaka, he genuinely seemed happy. As already established in the drive, Sayaka was essentially Makoto’s hope like Makoto was for Sayaka until the arrival of the motive video. But most of the time with Sayaka, he was really happy.

The FTE done with Sayaka shows how happy and shy he is in contrary to the rest of the game.

FTE 1 - Sayaka

- That smile... That mysterious smile that softens my heart... I really wasn't flattering her. That smile saved me.

- She laughed out loud as she said it. The closer we get, the stronger that smile of hers makes me. ...I was glad to feel that way.

FTE 2 - Sayaka

- When she smiled at me like that, I could feel my entire body filling with power. It was like her smile was a source of pure energy. My friendship with her is my one source of courage. My bond with her makes me stronger. So I have to do my best in here! For myself, and for Sayaka!

It’s only at the end of the game, when escaping that we see him smiling again. But it’s normal right, after her death and chapter 1, he is someone overwhelmed by guilt.

Or again it is shown in a DR’s original drama cd, how Maizono makes Naegi happy.

In this instance, Naegi asks Maizono to sing on the stage and she does so. Maizono helps Naegi setting the stage up by helping him with looking for the microphone. Naegi mentions at the end that he was able to smile for once in a long time thanks to her concert.

Finally, when the motive video came out, Makoto only truly cared for Sayaka and himself, not the others. It would be great. It was already shown in the main game but danganronpa If, reinforces that fact.

Danganronpa If

Anyway, we have to all work together and- huh?

He realized that his determination was slightly different.

We 'all' have to...?

Naturally, escaping the school with all of his classmates was the most ideal scenario. But other than Maizono, he had never met any one of his classmates before, and he had no idea if he could trust them. Yet for a moment, he found himself believing that they were people worth helping even at the cost of his own life, just like Maizono.

He wasn’t optimistic at all of all trustful in chapter 1. It’s a huge mistake made when talking about Makoto. Even if he tells you right off the bat that he is optimistic, in chapter 1, he isn’t and is more in denial than anything else most of the time. His abnormal optimistic nature grows throughout the game and reach his peak at chapter 6. But it wasn’t instantaneous like some would like to tell.

Makoto’s guilt

after chapter one, there is a shift in how he acts with people. I know it’s due to a major events of chapter one but he is more determined to end this killing game not only because he wants to stop the mastermind but also because he feels regret. Like he said he won’t forget the pain, the bad and the good of all the people who died in the killing game. But we can implicitly see the one that he certainly wouldn’t forget is Sayaka Maizono. It’s hidden from the main story but Makoto himself struggles a lot with the events of the chapter 1. This struggle is hidden through optional dialogues that isn’t essential to the main story but essential to get more from Makoto and understand his actions throughout the game. He expresses a lot of fear and regret when trying to go inside some rooms or when trying to interact with something. Here are some examples.

chapter 2, 1st day morning

Shower room

I shouldn’t turn my eyes away… from Maizono-san’s death…!

It is for Maizono-san…

And it is for me as well.

This shows how hurt he is. He thinks about her most of his time. He is here consumed by guilt which he hides actively from others who don’t mention it at all. As seen by those images, he wanted clearly to spend more time with Maizono and to cherish those precious moments with her but he won’t now.

But seems to not touch anything in his room. Like he didn’t clean his room during the entirety of the game as the lint roller is still there as well as the notepad. We can then deduce that even touching it make Makoto remembers of everything that happened in chapter 1 which is something he doesn’t want to actively remember so he doesn’t touch.

But despite all of that, he keeps moving forward because it’s what he promised to all the dead in this killing game in order to achieve their goal : to get out from this place. By memorizing the dead, Makoto gives them a second live. they lived through him and their ambition and will to get out remain still in Makoto Naegi.

He also has some places where he expresses his will to not go like the door to the elevator for the trial because it reminds him again everything which is something he actively doesn’t want to.

But we have to talk about another character who experienced the same loss than Makoto which is Taka

In chapter 3, he himself sympathize with Taka for his loss because both of them lost someone that they considered to be close to them. Makoto lost Sayaka in chapter 1 and was acting very emotional just like Taka when he learned during the trial that his first friend was a murderer. Both learn that their closest friends ended up betraying them in the trial.

However there is one key differences and it’s how they dealt with their loss.

While Makoto seems to deal very easily the death of Sayaka but it’s false. Indeed, he has a strong sense of guilt and regret which he hides. Most of the time, Makoto represses his guilt or trauma to himself and doesn’t express really what he’s going through to the others. It can be explain by the oath he takes at the end of chapter 1, where he swears to end the killing game. He wants to keep a strong face against the mastermind, he wants people to not kill so what’s better to show a strong and determined face to the others and the mastermind ?

However, Taka, though suffering the same loss, the loss of someone dear to him, reacted differently from Makoto. He shows expressively how hurt and sad he is at the end of chapter 2 when Mondo reveals himself to be the culprit. Although, Taka doesn’t have the same connection that Makoto had with Sayaka, Mondo was an important guy for him, after all he was his first friend. They confronted at first but also connected quickly and became very close. He even cries in front of everyone in trial 2 which Makoto doesn’t do intentionally when in front of Sayaka’s body in order to investigate or even do in trial 1. After that, we have chapter 3, where Taka is shown to be greatly affected by this loss, so affected that he become a husk of himself.

So we have an interesting parallel which contains not only similarities but also differences. I already pointed out how they deal with their loss : one repressing the guilt and the other expressing the guilt and sorrow externally. But I also must pointed out another difference which is the fact that Makoto succeeds to not be overwhelmed by the guilt and try to live with it while Taka fails to do exactly that and falls pretty much into depression. While Sayaka’s death pushed Makoto forward when he was down and didn’t involve himself into the killing game, Mondo’s death caused Taka to be down during a major part of chapter 3 whereas he was quite involved in the killing game so as to organize the group during chapters 1 and 2.

But seeing Taka like that made Makoto remembers about himself. He had sympathy for Taka and put himself to his place. He sees how the both of them are the same and how sad Taka is. Here an example :

Chapter 3

Taka hasn't said a word since everything that happened yesterday... One look at his face showed he hadn't slept a wink last night. It must be because of Mondo..

The two of them became so close, and then he finds out Mondo killed Chihiro... And then...having to watch Mondo get…punished. And nothing he could do about it... I can't even imagine what it must have done to him.

That’s why he is also pretty angry at Monokuma when he tricked Taka with the air purifier being a time machine. He had already an intense hatred and beef with Monokuma so it shouldn’t be surprising.

Chapter 3

Makoto : Air purifier...?

Monokuma : It can produce clean air no matter where you're at. With that thing, you could even live on Mars! But

what with the discombobulating gravity and deadly low temperatures, you prolly don't wanna live on Mars

Anyway, this machine is the reason you guys have all this delicious air. So don't go messing with it!

You break it, and it's your butt! *leaves*

This huge thing is just...an air purifier? And more than that...

Taka : …

To go out of your way to say something you know will hurt someone who's already suffering...

Makoto : God damn you!

He also tries to interact with him in two instances even though it fails due to Taka not responding to him. But once Taka comes to his room so as to use alter ego, Makoto accepts easily not because of his optimism but because of his sympathy towards Taka.

He even lied to Kyoko and the others who were in their ways in order to go see alter ego. He really wanted to help Taka to surpass his loss even though it led to troubles. He was the only one we see at least trying to sympathize with him.

During the investigation after the discovery of Taka’s and Hifumi’s body , if you click on Taka’s door, Makoto says this :

And says this if doing the same for Hifumi :

We can see that there is a difference. While seeming more regretful and hurt by Hifumi’s death, he is a lot more angry and furious when he talks about Taka’s death. It can explain by his sympathy that he had toward Taka and everything he was going through. Therefore, the reason is pretty much what I have already explain which is the fact that he puts himself at the place of Taka too, so his death is more impactful for Makoto than Hifumi’s death.

But like said previously, Makoto succeeds to at least momentarily, surpass his guilt thanks to his optimism in chapter 6 when clicking on Sayaka’s door, Makoto says this :

Chapter 6

Maizono-san’s room…

The key opens the door.

But it’s not related to this case…

I shoudn’t let my heart wander…

… isn’t that right, Maizono-san?

Here, he doesn’t grieve as he always do at the mention at Sayaka but also tries to go forward. He surpasses his guilt with his own optimism and hope that he gains at the end of chapter 5, when Kyoko saves him. Like he said before he holds the memories of everyone who died with him. He considers that he should not grieving because it’s especially something that Sayaka wouldn’t want him to do in his point of view. The two last sentences said that much after all.

Symbolism : Crane

As much as I said back then in my analysis on the drive that Sayaka represented the crane just like she said to Makoto in her FTE, I think that the crane could also represent Makoto himself. Just like the crane, he was lost when the killing game started. Why was he chosen ? What was his place in a class where his classmates are more talented than him and have a true talent ? How could he compare to them ?

But throughout the game, Makoto began to take his flight and become smarter as the chapters goes in until he was capable to hold his on against Kyoko in chapter 5. He rediscovered every facet of himself during the killing game until he finally found, until others guide him into his true talent which is the ultimate hope. Just like the crane who was lost, Makoto was the one to get him find his way. It’s the same things in the killing game where Makoto discovered himself again truly until he can finally recognize his qualities as great and therefore to be really proud of himself for the first time in the killing game. Not even talking about how the crane symbolizing Makoto is correct as the crane is seen as its white color already represent not only innocence but also hope. The crane is also seen as a symbol of peace, good fortune and longevity. They are often use as an anti-war symbols during protest.

Everything said concerning the crane is also valid for Makoto. He does bring good fortune as it was his luck that saved that ended up saving the world. Good Fortune was given to the world except himself the day he was accepted at HPA. He is also viewed as hope incarnate by the world and his whole philosophy prone a more regenerative and pacific hope than most in the universe of Danganronpa. While he hates death, he never radically opposed to the views of Munakata concerning hope. Thus, he doesn’t completely disregard that death can be considered as necessary even if he doesn’t prone that. Finally, he is one of the few characters that survived 2 killing game so he does have longevity for him.

Again, he parallelizes with Sayaka as both can be seen as the crane. Sayaka at the start of the story and Makoto at the end of story, representing their initials differences before the killing game.

In addition, just like Makoto who has helped the crane to find his way in middle school, Sayaka in a way helped him to become what he is in chapter 6. Sayaka, more so her death, put him in the right track, in the right mindset in order to fight against the mastermind.

She pushed him forward just like Makoto did back then with the crane which is supposed to represent Sayaka’s mental state at the time: lost and hurt because of everything she did and see in the industry whether the things she’s done is implied to be sexual or not (I don’t necessarily agree with that but it’s not that important for Sayaka’s writing). But seeing one act of kindness was enough to move her heart to such a point that she has been obsessed to see and talk with Makoto Naegi. That moment is parallelized with Makoto when he saw the corpse of Sayaka. He was hurt and lost. Even after seeing her corpse, he was in denial and even shout at both Togami and Mondo, people that he either fears (Mondo) or is hurt at each encounter he makes with (Togami) which again parallelizes with when Makoto tried to stop Mondo and Byakuya from fighting and to stay calm. Here it’s these two who tries to do the same thing that Makoto did try to do back then.

The roles are again changed. It’s a great callback to their dynamic which the crane plays an important role in it. So I think it’s fair to say that Makoto can symbolize the crane.

SDR2

In Sdr2, the reset password used by Makoto was 11037 for the neo world program. Naegi used Maizono’s dying message as a reset password to New World program. In Japanese version, Naegi refers to her as 'some person(ある人)’ while in English version Naegi refers to her as 'someone close to me’. It shows that he still holds his oath, to don’t forget about his classmates but also shows that the guilt is still there and will continue to be there. As long as he doesn’t forget about them, the emotions he had towards his classmates won’t disappear too. Like said before in this post, Makoto makes them lives through him. In addition, the fact that he got the memories of his past two years when he was at Hope speak academy worsen his guilt even more.

DR3

In Danganronpa 3, Maizono appeared in Naegi's deathwish hallucination with Kirigiri. Maizono's actor was asked to act like a boy's first love appearing in the flashback right before his death. Because Maizono within Naegi always smiles. The hallucination talked about how Naegi wasn't able to get her out of the school and told him to come with them. It reinforces what we’ve already said so far with dr3 showing more blatantly his survivor’s guilt which was a great idea who was greatly executed by dr3. It also enforces on how Sayaka was his first love and someone who he cared for greatly. It must have hurt him very much as he regained the memories of the two past years that were extracted from him.

In the last episode of Despair Arc, Maizono is shown talking informally to Naegi without using any honorifics. This is actually a significant change in her character. She often is polite with everyone. That politeness comes from her talent that force her to be polite so as for public appearances and to hide her emotions. Emotions who are hidden with a polite smile. But sometimes, she can be polite because of nervousness when she asked about if Makoto has a girlfriend in her last FTE.

But here she isn’t. She talks informally to Makoto which shows a huge development and means that she became close with at least one person.

She said “Daijyobu?” instead of normal “Daijyobudesuka?” Which shows that both are close with each other. She surely opened herself with everyone in her class, as seen in THH with the photos, she seemed to be close with everybody in the class. She also must be closer with Naegi as shown by her song Monochrome Answer which was said to explain her relationship with Makoto during their time in Hope speak academy.

So that’s it. I did more work based on Makoto in relation with Sayaka as there is already plenty of analysis of Sayaka as a whole.

[goshdangronpa]

Thinking about Izuru Kamukura's tears from that one scene in DR3 ... (spoilers under the cut)

We know that Izuru doesn't feel anything other than an overwhelming boredom. So why does he weep over Chiaki's death? Is it because somewhere deep inside, it was Hajime leaking through? That was what I thought when I watched it.

But maybe it is Izuru, and he's crying because a guy who could see anything coming simply did not expect that a dying girl's final gesture would be to reach inside his heart? Maybe after only knowing the agony of his creation and the banality of his torturers, he was just that touched by this humane gesture.

The saddest notion I could conceive is the opposite. Izuru weeps because he can see that Chiaki is tapping into her last reserves of strength and compassion in a desperate attempt to find a person she so clearly loves - partly because that's why she went through Junko's hellish gauntlet in the first place, partly so she doesn't die alone, partly so he doesn't feel so alone - and he doesn't care. He can't care. And he knows that he can't care. And that kills him. What makes him weep is that because of what others have done to him, he can't give this dying, loving girl what she deserves.

[gladosluver]

whatever these are called i enjoy them and thought i should share

[shsl-analyzer-guy]

nothing more accurately depicts the total sidelining and laziness surrounding Hiro's usage in Danganronpa like this scene

EXPAND UPON HIS CHARACTER OR I'LL DO IT MYSELF

[penguwastaken]

"mr. tengan what happened i just got here"

"ryota what the actual FUCK are you doing here"