#everything was a mistake for the bait and switch - he's the male lead - no he's the villain - no actually this is not a isekai

[monstersqueen]

i've thought about it and the thing that annoys me the most about the cliche plot of the villainess isekai is that she ends up with male lead every fucking time.

she comes in different from the person she's possessing and not interested in him and now suddenly he's in love with her. gods do that annoy me. can't they be relieved instead of intrigued ? suspicious then relieved when she's genuine ? become actual good platonic friends ??? anything but a romance please !!

[ladyloveandjustice]

Fall 2020 Anime Overview

I started out watching the a ton of anime for the Fall 2020 season, but then ended up not being caught up with most of them by the the time the end rolled around. I still pretty much intend to catch up with Yashahime Princess Half Demon someday (I do like the three leads, it just the plot’s been dull as dirt and the fights aren’t very inspired either) and though I dropped Wandering Witch after bad press started rolling in (I CANNOT deal with pointless tragedy in my current state of mind) I might check out a few more episodes someday just to from my own opinion. For now, let’s just quickly review the anime I DID manage to finish on time this season.

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle is exactly what it says on the tin: Princess Syalis isn’t too bothered about being captured by demons and locked in their castle, but she does value a good night’s sleep, and she is absolutely ruthless when it comes to getting it- so ruthless, in fact, that the demons realized it might not be that she’s trapped in here with them, but that they’re trapped in here with her.

Sleepy Princess is top tier comedy comfort food. It rarely got a huge belly laugh, but it always but a smile on my face and was a great thing to watch before going to bed. Syalis’s single-minded search for some shut eye is a joke that could have gotten old very quickly, but the show consistently found creative ways to expand on the gags and build it’s world and a fun cast of characters along the way. 

Though Syalis is downright brutal to the demons when it comes to getting what she wants (and has a knack for getting herself killed at well), thanks to a demon cleric that offers easy resurrections, you never feel too bad for anyone involved. In fact, the demons and Syalis form a strangely heartwarming bond over the course of the show , and it’s clear by the end that Syalis definitely has the ability to come and go if she damn well pleases and just finds this castle a fun place where she can find respite from her princessly responsibilities. 

A nice bonus for those of us who like a little subversion is that the show has a lot of fun playing with standard adventure tropes- the demons often lament that Syalis is not at all what they expected from a captive princess, for one, but my favorite fun little twist is how Syalis feels about the hero currently on a (seemingly endless) quest to rescue her- she manages to both hold him in contempt AND consistently fail to remember his name. That level of disregard takes some impressive effort.

The show has the same director as the Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun anime and as such has a similarly nice comic and visual flourishes throughout. It definitely gets two sleepy thumbs up for me.

Jujutsu Kaisen

Jujutsu Kaisen follows a young man named Yuuji Itadori who, after tangling with a demon, ends up with one inside him. With a death sentence hanging over his head, he’s inducted into a school for “jujutsu sorcerers”, and begins training to use his newfound powers to defeat demons and curses.

Jujutsu Kaisen quickly tells you on no uncertain terms it is Action Shonen, introducing a huge cast of a characters and powers and super high stakes and hey there’s even gonna be a tournament arc soon. It is really, really pretty to look at, with a killer opening and ending, some seriously great animation and cool visuals for the fights especially. But is it particularly memorable otherwise? Noooooot really, so far. The sea of technobabble it tends to descend into when trying to explain how the various powers work often has me zoning out and wishing they’d just let me watch the pretty punches. The villains and the general plot isn’t particularly compelling. The characters are nice enough, but haven’t given me much to be attached to so far. Though I do appreciate this one dude who is the embodiment of millennial ennui:

I’ll keep watching though, because it is a visually stunning, action-y thing to my turn your brain off to and god knows I want to turn my brain off all the time lately. 

And the characters do have potential- the One Girl of the main group, Nobara, has a really fun personality in that she’s a total shitlord doofus brawler who can thus doof around with our equally dumbass protagonist, which is an pretty fun, unusual personality for the One Girl to have! Her interactions with Maki, the weapons expert senpai girl, are promising too. I’m just waiting for her to actually, you know, DO something that really shows off her skills- I’m told she DOES eventually get to (gasp) win fights on her own and do cool stuff, but so far show has kind at that of failed miserably and underused her like most action shonen underuse their girls. Plus, taking Yuuji out of the group for such a long stretch seems like a weird choice, we’ve been deprived really seeing him for relationships with his peers. The pacing seems off. But maybe the upcoming tournament arc will make up for that and actually be worthwhile!

Talentless Nana

In a world where kids with superpowers are sent to island schools to fight mysterious “enemies of humanity”, one class of such kids is thrown into chaos when they find themselves targeted by a deadly force.

It’s pretty much impossible to talk about Talentless Nana without discussing how it deviates dramatically from what its premise appears to be in episode one, so I’ll just say if you like stories with superpowers and intrigue, you should definitely sit through that first episode and see if the plot that’s eventually revealed is something that you’re here for. But if you want to avoid spoilers, DON’T GO BELOW THE CUT, because I’m about to get very spoilery.

Basically, Talentless Nana pulls a bait and switch, starting it’s first episode posing as generic superhero anime where the protagonist appears to be your standard meek-but-powerful anime boy (Nanao) who just needs some support and encouragement from a pink haired mind reading manic pixie dream girl (Nana) to unlock his self-confidence and ~true power~ (ugh)...only to take SHARP swerve when  Nana ruthlessly murders Nanao and reveals she’s been sent by the government to take out the superpowered kids one by one because THEY are the considered the true enemies of humanity. Oh, and she doesn’t have any superpowers, or “talents”- she was just able to sus out everything Nanao was thinking through basic deductive reasoning because he was so flippin’ obvious and basic.

As my love for a certain character in a certain game may have clued people into, I am ALWAYS delighted when what appears to be a generic, underwritten girlfriend character is then revealed to be an interesting, ruthless mastermind. And having an anime appear to be about a bland boy with a Dream Girlfriend but then actually turn into a show about a deeply cynical, morally dubious girl who’s clearly holding down a lot of messy feelings as she considers everyone her enemy...well, it may be a cheap trick to some, but it also feels a little bit like justice for all the underwritten female characters sacrificed to bland male leads. It’s still rare enough that I dig it when it happens. And the metatext of Nana zeroing in on this kid as the most standard of main character boys, assessing him as the biggest threat because of it and knowing the perfect way to take him out, is pretty inherently funny to me.

But if the show JUST banked on that twist and was about Nana brutally and cynically slaughtering these kids, it would get boring quickly and Nana would be a bland character herself. Fortunately, it doesn’t go that route. Nana struggles and grows a lot over the course of the show. She finds opposition in transfer student Kyoya, a stoic (and socially awkward) young man who pretty quickly becomes suspicious of her. A lot of the tension from the early episodes comes from her sweating as she tries to outmaneuver him and she makes plenty of mistakes along the way. She also slowly but surely starts to question her mission, and we get an idea of her backstory and how the government specifically has groomed her into believing people with powers to be evil. That belief is one that’s challenged by her friendship with another girl, and it’s pretty rewarding to watch Nana’s feelings and world expand little by little.

The show is definitely a little schlocky-some of the plots (as well as the general premise of the government thinking this is the optimal way to get rid of their superpowered kids problem) fall apart if you think too much about them, and some of the kids Nana goes up against are sleazy and unlikeable in over the top ways (which makes it easy for her to stick to her convictions all these kids deserve to die at first). In particular, I have to give a heads up for some sleazy guys doing and saying sleazy things, though the show never gets too overbearing or graphic with it (and the gore is generally PG-13 level as well). 

Basically. There are some truly ridiculous happenings in this show. But how ridiculous and pulpy and over the top it is can be part of the appeal, and it’s fun to just sit back and watch the spectacle of Nana and her peers head-scratching machinations. 

So, while certainly not an anime with airtight construction or flawless quality and depth, I found Nana an overall entertaining watch, especially as a fan of cat-and-mouse murder-y shenanigans, and thought it has a very compelling main character and managed to end on a heartwrenching (but earned) note. I definitely wouldn’t say no to a second season and would be interested to see where things go from here.

[artyblogs]

Launch Date ch 5 One Angry Pantoran

Star Wars the Clone Wars, Ahsoka/Riyo

Launch Date summary: In which Ahsoka mistakes Riyo for an office secretary, Riyo is sometimes too gay to function, and R7-A7 is determined to be a trollish kark.

First Chapter : Previous Chapter : Next Chapter

Chapter Summary: Riyo is kinda ride-or-die for Ahsoka. She's not really subtle about it.

Breaking News flashes across the holoscreen before a male Hosnian anchor appears.

“Good evening, Galactic Republic. Welcome to tonight’s segment of HNN. I’m Lyrax Pentigure. Tonight’s top story: A planet-wide manhunt is underway by the Republic for the recapture of Jedi padawan Ahsoka Tano. She is considered armed and dangerous and was last seen fleeing into the Coruscanti undercity. The Five Hundred and First Legion, led by Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, has assured the public that they are doing everything within their power to bring her back into custody. Padawan Tano is charged with the murder of Letta Turmond and with the extensive bombing of the Jedi Temple hangar that happened earlier this week, which left at least two dozen dead and many more wounded. Joining us tonight is Rogan Cham, who is live at the Republic prison and taking statements from witnesses. We go to him now. Rogan, are you there?”

Riyo can’t hear the rest of the segment over the ringing in her ears. What? What?

“We have gotten a hold of the footage of the murder of Mrs. Turmond. Please be warned, what you will see is quite graphic and not suitable for younglings. If you have a heart condition, please look away now.”

They play the clip. Riyo’s jaw drops in horror.

“While we have invited the Jedi Council to send a representative here tonight, they have declined, citing professional conflict of interest,” Lyrax says. “So joining me tonight is a third-party analyst specializing in the Force. Thank you for being here this evening, Doctor.”

“Thank you for having me, Lyrax.”

“In the clip, Padawan Tano appears to be using the Force to murder Mrs. Turmond. Is that possible for a Force-wielder to do?”

“Yes, quite possible….”

Riyo turns off the holoscreen and lets the remote slip from her numbed fingers. It lands with a muffled thump on the rug next to her foot. Thoughts, half-formed, swim in Riyo’s head, each shouting for attention.

She’s a good person!

Could always investigate it yourself….

Don’t be so naive! That clip is damning enough.

You’re a senator, not a detective.

She ran. She ran! How guilty does that look?

The room spins around Riyo and she shuts her eyes. She thinks about how warm Ahsoka’s eyes are when she smiles. They’re the clearest blue.

If you get involved, you’ll be put on lists.

That’s never stopped you before.

You’re going to form an opinion without all the evidence?

Sure you’re thinking clearly? You’ve got that crush….

“Shush!” Riyo shouts to herself. All the anxious, extra thoughts in her head fall silent. She clenches her jaw and picks up her black data pad to send a few messages. Thirty minutes later, and she has strong-armed herself into having access to the investigation files. She opens them up and reads, but the more she reads, the angrier she gets.

Letta Turmond’s body hasn’t been scheduled for an autopsy.

All the guards that Ahsoka allegedly beat up when she escaped the prison facility haven’t been interrogated.

Despite having multiple security holocams in that prison, the footage from all the other holocams isn’t being gathered, or looked at, or submitted into evidence.

Riyo wants to throw the data pad across the room. Either the investigators are inept eopies, or someone is actively trying to hide evidence. She gasps, and her mind goes light speed.

Ahsoka’s being framed, but it’s not by just one person. The one who murdered Turmond must be a Force-wielder, by virtue of the Force choke. There must be at least one other person to hide the proof of the existence of the first. An entire team maybe. And they’re doing all this without being noticed. Who has enough power to set this all up? Who has enough influence?

The more Riyo thinks about it, the more a sense of foreboding settles in her stomach.

Does she still want to get involved?

The next morning, over yet another cup of coffee, Riyo watches the blank holoscreen and wonders how badly she’ll regret turning it on, but turns it on anyway. On the holoscreen, a female Twi’lek anchor straightens the data pad on her desk before looking up at the camera.

“Good morning, Galactic Republic. This is Ultana Anya for Coruscant News Desk on HNN. Today’s top story: Former Jedi padawan Ahsoka Tano was captured by Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and the Five Hundred and First Legion late last night in the Coruscanti undercity, where she was found in possession of a couple hundred kilograms of nano-droid explosives. Admiral Wilhuff Tarkin released a statement assuring the Republic that Miss Tano will be charged with Treason against the Republic and that her trial is scheduled to take place later this morning in a public military tribunal. Miss Tano is also charged with the murder of Letta Turmond and with….”

Riyo turns the holoscreen off and picks up her black data pad. She’s been monitoring the investigation all night for any changes and new evidence, but none have showed up. She switches out of the Investigation site and goes into the court dockets to search for Ahsoka’s trial. When she finds it, she scans the names for Ahsoka’s assigned litigator: Padmé Amidala.

Of course she would be. And who else would do the job justice? Riyo calls Padmé’s hologram comlink. It rings twice before it’s answered.

“Riyo?” Padmé asks before she peers closer. “Are you alright?”

“Just another all-nighter. That doesn’t matter. May I talk to you about Ahsoka’s trial?”

Padmé’s eyes widen in surprise. “Yes, but not over comlink. There’s not much time. Please meet me in my office, Riyo.”

“Thank you, Padmé.”

When the call ends, Riyo packs her things and is out the door in less than a minute.

Padmé’s office is bright with morning sunlight and finely decorated. It even smells faintly of potpourri. Padmé ushers Riyo into her office and locks the door behind them.

“Have you eaten breakfast yet?” Padmé asks.

“What? No.” How can she eat at a time like this? “Padmé, have you seen the files for this case? It’s so unfair. How could they do this to her? How could the Jedi expel her from the Order?”

“It doesn’t look good,” Padmé says. She presses a rainbow berry muffin into Riyo’s hands. “I’ll do my best, but really, it’s up to Anakin.”

“What do you mean?” Riyo asks. She takes a bite of the muffin out of politeness and finds that she’s actually really hungry. She takes another bite.

“Anakin’s trying to find the real culprit of the Jedi bombings.” Padmé eases into her chair with a sigh. “He has a lead, but we don’t know how long it’ll take for him to follow up on it.”

“So all you can do is stall.” Riyo finishes her muffin and wipes the crumbs from her mouth. “But if you drag the trial on too much, the Chancellor will throw you out in Contempt of Court.”

“True. And therein lies the problem. I cannot be a good litigator for Ahsoka and stall for Anakin at the same time.”

“But someone else could stall.”

Padmé nods. “It would be incredibly difficult.”

“Let me do it,” Riyo says. “Please.”

Padmé beams at Riyo. It’s gone after a moment, making Riyo wonder if she imagined it. Padmé takes up a data pad and taps on it.

“I’ve assigned you a place on the jury,” she says. “Good luck.”

��Thank you, Padmé. Good luck to you too.”

“And Riyo,” Padmé calls to her just before she leaves. “You cannot falter. Not even once.”

Riyo nods and the door of the office slides shut between them.

The following items are not allowed in the courtroom: all weapons, comlinks, and (for some reason) Neimoidian finger traps. Riyo gives up her derringer and her comlink to Magnus before she steps into the Jury Box and settles into her seat, leaving him to wait for her outside. The courtroom is a vast, empty, intimidating room. The Chancellor sits on the Judge’s Dais, which is raised to the highest point in the courtroom. He sits in his chair like a king in his throne.

The Jury Box and the Press Box are the next highest points in the room on opposite sides of the the Judge’s Dais, and below them are the Gallery Boxes, where people can sit in on the trial and watch as long as they’re quiet. They’re full to the brim with people, and their low murmurs echo around the room. In the middle of the court are platforms for the defense and prosecution.

When Ahsoka is escorted onto the defendant’s platform, the sound from the Gallery rise in volume and the Vice Chancellor must bang his staff on the floor to keep order. Everyone in the Jury Box is too steeped in a culture of politeness and ceremony to contribute to the noise, but their cool demeanor is damning enough. Ahsoka looks so small from where Riyo sits; a spot of orange surrounded by the dark, gaping abyss below. Padmé and Tarkin take their respective places as the defense and prosecution.

Thus, the Trial of Ahsoka Tano begins.

Padmé is a marvelous litigator; eloquent and concise. As terrible as these last two days are, at least Riyo gets to watch her in action. However, Padmé has pitifully little to work with and her defense is short.

Admiral Tarkin undoes all of Padmé’s good work within minutes. He’s not the stirring orator that Padmé is, but he has a mountain of evidence, and he knows how to heckle Ahsoka, who takes his bait.

Too soon, the jurors are sequestered in a soundproof room to deliberate. On Pantora, juries must reach a unanimous vote, making hung juries possible. On Coruscant, the majority jury vote wins, so Riyo must keep everyone from casting their votes as long as possible.

The head juror is Senator Kin Robb, a hawkish woman whose apathy for Riyo is only matched by her loathing for Separatists. They’re joined by Senators Bail Organa, Mon Mothma, and a few other senators, bringing their number up to twelve. They sit around a long conference table, leaving Kin Robb the seat at the head.

“My fellow senators,” Kin says. “I think we’ve heard all that we need to hear. On the table before you are one-time-use data pads, where you will cast your votes for Miss Tano’s fate.”

“Wait! Please.” Riyo stands up.

“Senator Chuchi, you have something to say?” Kin asks.

Riyo looks around the room at the other senators and steels herself. “Yes. You see, I believe that Ahsoka Tano is innocent, and this is why.”

Riyo stands there and talks. She doesn’t stop.

Halfway into the first hour of her speech, Bail Organa seems to catch on to what she’s doing, and he settles back in his seat. The only sign of his amusement is a subtle twitch of his goatee. He catches Mon’s eye and winks at her, and Mon looks back and forth between the both of them in astonishment. She too, makes herself comfortable and folds her hands in her lap.

At the one hour mark, a clone trooper knocks on the door.

“Excuse me, Senators. Is everything alright in there?”

“Yes, trooper.” Kin shoots Riyo an annoyed look. “One of us is still deliberating.”

“Ah. I see,” the trooper says. “I’ll take my leave then.” He goes, and everyone turns back to Riyo.

“You were saying, Senator Chuchi?” Bail asks. Riyo continues. At the two hour mark, the trooper knocks again.

“I’ve brought lunch for everyone.”

“Thank you, Trooper,” Kin says. “Senator Chuchi, are you done?”

“I’m not done, Senator Robb.” Riyo ignores the groans of the other senators. Kin stands aside so that the trooper can carry bags of sandwiches into the room.

“If you are so determined to speak, then I suppose you won’t be needing any food,” Kin says. Mon’s eyes widen and a senator on the other end of the table gasps. Riyo’s eyes narrow. She knew that this might happen. She straightens up and looks Kin in the eye.

“You are correct, Senator. I won’t be needing food. If I may continue?”

“Please do,” Mon says.

Riyo talks. She kicks off her shoes to stand more comfortably, but its too late. Her feet and legs are already in pain from fatigue. At the three hour mark, another Senator raises his hand.

“Are there breaks? I would like to use the refresher.”

Mumbled agreement winds its way around the room.

“Unfortunately, Senator,” Bail says, “We must stay in here until we cast our votes.”

“You can’t keep us in here forever,” Kin says.

“Indeed,” Bail says. “We’ll go one at a time then, so it isn’t an official break. Senator Chuchi, I’m afraid your predicament disqualifies you from reprieve.”

“Thank you for your consideration, Senator Organa,” Riyo says. “Fortunately, I am prepared to talk for a long time.”

Four hours into Riyo’s speech, her voice cracks. She is so tired. Her body aches from the strain of standing up for so long, but she can’t lean against anything, not even the table. Her stomach has started gnawing on itself. Riyo hides her discomfort under a mask of indifference and keeps going.

Five hours in, Kin slams her hands on the table.

“Senator Chuchi, that is enough!”

“I’m,” Riyo begins, but the other senators cut in.

“Not done,” they chorus.

“Yes, we know,” another senator says from the back.

“Let her speak, Senator Robb,” Bail says.

“Your amusement is irrelevant, Senator Organa! Senator Chuchi may be content to play a fool, but I will not let her make a mockery of the justice system!”

“Sit down, Senator Robb,” Riyo says. Her gold eyes are narrowed and her mouth set in a thin, savage line. Kin almost takes a step back. “I’m not done.”

“No,” Kin sits down. “Please continue.”

Around six hours in, Riyo loses her voice. She clears her throat, and drinks some water, but in vain. Kin stands up and stares down her imperiously.

“You’re done.”

“No,” Riyo tries to say, but it doesn’t come out. Her throat is hot and ragged, like she’s been swallowing razors.

“You’re done, Senator Chuchi,” Kin says, and Riyo clenches her jaw. Not yet, not yet! She can go a little longer. Desperation squeezes her heart.

“But, I just,” Riyo tries again.

“Sit. Down.”

Riyo sinks down into her chair, defeated. Satisfied, Kin surveys the entire jury room.

“Despite Senator Chuchi’s valiant efforts to dissuade us, we have all heard the evidence presented in the courtroom and thus already know what the verdict should be. Please take up your data pads and vote on what Miss Tano’s fate should be now.”

Riyo pulls her data pad towards her. She taps on Not Guilty and she knows it isn’t enough. When the court reconvenes, she sits back in her seat in the Jury Box and scans the courtroom for Anakin. He isn’t there. She catches Padmé eye and mouths, “Where is he?”

Padmé gives the slightest shake of her head and lowers her gaze. Riyo clenches her hands in her lap. One of the senators stands up and reads from a small data pad.

“The members of the court have reached a decision.” He taps on the screen to transfer the information to the Chancellor’s data pad. The Chancellor nods and stands up to deliver the verdict.

“Ahsoka Tano, by an overwhelming count of,” but he never gets to finish his sentence. Anakin Skywalker barges through the courtroom doors like a big damn hero, announcing to everyone that the real culprit is Barriss Offee.

Ahsoka wants to run back into the Council Chamber and scream that she’s made a mistake. That what she really does want is to be a Jedi Knight. She’s earned it more than twice over. She deserves that title, and all she’s ever wanted was to be a Jedi Master someday. But even as half of her is begging to go back, Ahsoka presses on, making her way out of the Jedi Temple. She can’t stay in this place for another minute. The Force, merciful as It is, keeps her from bumping into anyone else on her way out. If she did meet someone, she might not keep herself together and she might even change her mind about leaving.

Anakin runs out after her and tries to get her to stay, but all he ends up doing is rehash a lot of things she already knows. He even hints at his forbidden relationship with Padmé.

“I know,” Ahsoka says, and Anakin gapes down at her. Ahsoka looks out at the sunset and remembers a different sunset seen from an observation deck so many years ago. In that instant, she realizes that she can’t just leave Anakin here like this. She whirls around to talk to him again, surprising them both.

“Come with me.”

“Ahsoka.”

“I’m serious. Come with me! Expelled. Expelled and barred from the Jedi Order. Those are the words the Council used, so they can chew on that. But you, I could never turn my back on you. No matter what happens, you’ll always be my master.”

Anakin’s look of surprise softens into incredible fondness. Ahsoka presses on.

“You could be who you want, be with who you want! What do you say?”

Anakin closes his eyes. “I can’t.”

Ahsoka, resigned, gives him a watery smile. “It’s a standing offer then. I’ll see you around, Skyguy.”

“Wait,” Anakin says. He looks down at the padawan braid clenched in his fist and takes Ahsoka’s hand. When he pulls away, he leaves the braid clasped around her wrist as a bracelet. Ahsoka stares in wonder at it, then reaches up to cover it with her other hand.

“You’re a sap.” Ahsoka smiles despite herself.

“You’re the one who’s about to cry. You still wanna leave the Jedi?”

“Yeah. I can’t…I need to figure things out, and I can’t do that with the Council looking over my shoulder.”

“I’m gonna miss you, Snips.”

“I’ll miss you too, Skyguy.”

“Have fun. Be safe,” Anakin shouts as Ahsoka walks away so that she can still hear him. “Make good choices!”

Ahsoka laughs through her tears as she walks down the Jedi Temple steps. She almost bumps into her old Astromech droid.

“R7?” Ahsoka asks. She clears her throat. R7 whistles. “What are you doing here?”

R7 beeps.

“I can’t. I’m not a Jedi anymore.” Something cracks in Ahsoka’s chest at that and she shifts her weight from one foot to the other. “I’m not a Jedi anymore. And you belong to the Republic.”

R7 beeps again.

“That’s called stealing.”

Halfway into R7’s tirade, Ahsoka raises her hand.

“Stop, no need to curse. Fine, come with me, but I don’t have a plan.”

R7 extends his manipulators and presents a wrist hologram comlink with a flourish. Ta-da!

“For me? Aw, you shouldn’t have.” Ahsoka snaps the comlink onto the forearm of her gauntlet and notices that there’s a missed call. She calls back and after a couple beeps, Padmé’s bust appears in the hologram.

“Padmé!”

“Hi, Ahsoka, I just heard the news from Anakin. I’m sorry it didn’t work out with the Jedi.”

“It’s okay. Thanks again for being my litigator. It means a lot.”

“You’re very welcome, but I didn’t do it all myself. You should thank Riyo too.”

“Riyo? She was on the jury, right? What did she do?”

Padmé’s eyes widen in surprise. “You don’t know? No one told you why the jury deliberated for so long?”

“No. Why? What happened?”

“Riyo stalled the jury vote with a filibuster. She gave Anakin time to investigate. Bail tells me she did very well.”

“Oh,” Ahsoka says. That’s all she can say.

“You should go see her.”

“Yeah, I’ll go see her,” Ahsoka repeats. A knowing smile spreads across Padmé’s face and she gives a little wave before she ends the call. Ahsoka sighs. “Let’s go, R7.”

Riyo has fallen asleep in her office chair, which is impressive, considering how uncomfortable it looks. Ahsoka and Magnus watch her from the other side of the desk, absolutely unsurprised.

“She hasn’t slept in close to thirty-six hours.” Magnus’s whisper is a low rumble in his chest.

“Then she shouldn’t be here, she should go home,” Ahsoka whispers back.

“She won’t listen to me, but she’ll listen to you.”

Ahsoka moves closer. Despite the angle of Riyo’s neck, she still looks incredibly peaceful while asleep, and Ahsoka almost doesn’t want to disturb her. Riyo’s forehead is smoothed free of thought, and her dark lashes rest against her cheeks. A loose lock of purple hair has fallen across her face, and Ahsoka reaches out, wanting to tuck it behind her ear.

She falters and gently shakes Riyo’s shoulder instead.

“Riyo,” she whispers. Riyo stirs under her hand and Ahsoka pulls away. “Wake up.”

“Ahsoka,” Riyo tries to say. Ahsoka gasps.

“You lost your voice.”

“I’m fine.” Tea and honey hasn’t improved Riyo’s voice much. It’s still raspy and painful to hear. She straightens up in her chair and stretches out the kinks in her back. There’s a popping sound and she sighs and relaxes.

“You need to rest,” Ahsoka says.

“I need to work,” Riyo whispers.

“How can you work like this?” Ahsoka asks. When Riyo doesn’t answer, Ahsoka smirks. “There, see? I win. Come on, we’re taking you home.”

“We?”

“Yeah,” Ahsoka says. She and Magnus share a look. “I feel kinda responsible.”

“But it’s not your fault.”

“Riyo, let me take care of you.”

Riyo hesitates, then nods. She picks up her bag and the three of them leave the office.

When they get into Riyo’s apartment, R7 requests a power outlet and Riyo points to one. R7 beeps his thanks and rolls off to recharge. Riyo goes into the kitchen and Ahsoka follows her.

“Are you really going to cook right now?”

“I can still do things.”

“Wow, no. I promised that I’d take care of you, so that’s what I’m gonna do.”

Riyo gives a silent chuckle. “Then can you please make tea?”

Ahsoka makes tea and cooks bacon and eggs, which is the only thing she knows how to cook without Riyo’s help. They eat in the living room while watching a hologram show, and whenever Riyo says some scathing commentary, she has to lean closer to Ahsoka so that she can hear her. Ahsoka doesn’t really mind how close they end up getting. It’s cozy, with her in her customary blanket and Riyo as warm as she is. As nice as…whatever is happing is, however, Ahsoka can’t shake this mess of emotion that’s bottled up in the back of her mind. It’s demanding and needy and it pops.

“I can’t believe Barriss killed those people,” Ahsoka says. Riyo glances at her and turns the volume of the holoscreen down.

“Neither can I,” she whispers.

Ahsoka closes her eyes against forming tears. “Maybe someone put her up to it? Maybe it’s an act?”

“I doubt anyone could make Barriss do anything she didn’t think was in the interest of the greater good.”

“Then…then how long has she felt this way? And she didn’t talk to anyone? She didn’t talk to Master Unduli. She didn’t talk to me and we’re supposed to be friends. I don’t understand why she didn’t just…tell someone.”

“Maybe she felt like she couldn’t go to anyone in the Jedi Order,” Riyo whispers. “When you were feeling bad about things, you came to me, and I’m not a Jedi.”

“That’s…true,” Ahsoka says. Everyone else in the Jedi Order is fighting in this war, and no one ever complains. So who the hell is Ahsoka to complain? Who is she even supposed to talk to? Anakin and Obi-Wan are always too absorbed in the next stages of the war to decompress. Plo is usually in the Outer Rim and too busy to take a comlink call. Just keep that lightsaber up, and keep your head down, and maybe you’ll live to see tomorrow.

But Barriss couldn’t cope. Ahsoka remembers their call through the hologram booth, and the fight in the warehouse. There was no time then to notice anything other than Asajj’s helmet and lightsabers, but in hindsight, the assailant was so much shorter than Asajj.

“But still, how could she frame me?” Ahsoka asks. “I thought…I thought I meant more to her than that.”

“I’m sorry,” Riyo whispers.

“It’s…I’m so confused. Everything’s messed up. Barriss was supposed to be a good person, but…you know. And then Ventress was supposed to be Sith scum, but she’s not anymore?”

Riyo’s eyes widen in surprise. “Asajj Ventress isn’t a Sith anymore?”

“No, she’s not. She’s just a bounty hunter now. And, and she helped me while I was on the run. I guess the galaxy is a wonderful place sometimes? Everything was so clear, and now it’s not. It’s so…it’s.”

Riyo lays a hand over Ahsoka’s clenched fist. Ahsoka blinks and realizes that the mug of tea and data cards on the coffee table are rattling. She loosens her hands and the rattling stops.

“You’re overwhelmed,” Riyo whispers. She pulls away and continues as if nothing out of the ordinary has happened. “When I feel that way, I find it’s a lot more manageable to handle one problem at a time. It’s not alright, what’s happened to you, and it’s not going to go away overnight. But maybe, if you chip at it bit by bit, it’ll get better.”

“Yeah,” Ahsoka says, still staring at the mug. “Yeah.”

“Do you have a place to stay?”

“What?” Ahsoka can’t believe her montrals. Stay here, with Riyo? After that little display? Considering what she might still do?

“You could stay here until you get back on your feet,” Riyo whispers. She clears her throat and winces.

Ahsoka gapes. “That might not be a good idea. I’ll stay somewhere else.”

“It’s no problem, Ahsoka. Don’t worry about it. So many others have abandoned you. I won’t be put on that same list. You can take the couch. I’ll get you a pillow.” Riyo gives Ahsoka a smile and leaves. She comes back with a pillow and an armful of blankets, which she presses into Ahsoka’s arms.

“How do you have all this?” Ahsoka asks as she makes her bed on the couch. “I thought Pantorans didn’t feel cold?”

“Are you saying Pantorans can’t be comfy?” Riyo asks. When Ahsoka sputters, she laughs. “I’m only teasing. We don’t feel the cold while we’re awake, but when we sleep, our body temperature gets dangerously low and we could slip into a pseudo-hibernation state.”

“Oh so that’s why you sleep with sweatpants?” Ahsoka asks.

“No, I don’t wear—yes. That’s why I sleep with sweatpants.” Riyo flushes indigo and can’t meet Ahsoka’s eyes. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

Ahsoka considers leaving Riyo’s apartment. When she first started using the Force, it was akin to a youngling clumsily learning how to walk. If she tripped and fell, she was only in danger of hurting herself. She’s never lost control of the Force like that before. It felt cold. Ahsoka pulls her blanket tighter around herself.

If she left now, then Riyo would be safe. It sickens her to think that she could be dangerous to anyone, let alone to Riyo, but she is.

However, Riyo’s the only one so far who’s helping her through this. If she left now, then there’s a very good chance that whatever is going on with her is going to get worse. Riyo may have learned a little about the Force throughout their friendship, but she wouldn’t know what happens when a Force-sensitive gets…unfocused.

“Ugh.” Ahsoka buries her face in her hands. Great. This is just what she needs on top of what’s happened: an ethical dilemma.

BWOOP BWOOP. R7 rolls towards her. Ahsoka gives him a tired smile.

“Hey, bud. You’re a logical guy, mind solving a problem for me?”

R7 tells her that that’s a terrible idea.

“I know. It’s just, well.” Ahsoka explains to him her dilemma in a low voice, so that she doesn’t disturb Riyo. While she does this, the pieces click together in her mind and she falls silent.

R7 tells her that it sounds like she’s already made up her mind. She has. Force forgive her, but she’s going to stay.

The machine shop is plunged in darkness. Power tools and parts are strewn about the slick, cracked duracrete floor, tables are tipped onto their sides, and sparks fly out from loose wires in the half-demolished walls. Ahsoka struggles to free herself from a mess of wide, flexible ducts that are snaked around her.

“Hello?” she shouts. Her voice echoes back to her. She finally gets to her feet and picks her way across the mess. “Hello?”

“Help!” someone calls, and Ahsoka turns around. “Over here!”

It’s Mechanic, and she’s dangling from the ceiling while wrapped in a tarp and tangled in a mess of thick, cabled wires.

“Hi,” Mechanic says.

“What the kriff happened in here?” Ahsoka rights the nearest table and drags it over to Mechanic, who tries her best to shrug.

“The entire week happened! You try keeping a psyche together under what’s been going on lately.”

“Okay, you have a point. Thank you.” Ahsoka stands on the table and reaches up to pull on a couple cables. “But who put you up here?”

A sinister laugh echoes around them. Ahsoka and Mechanic share a look.

“She’s still in here?” Ahsoka asks. Mechanic shrugs again.

“She’s a part of you like how I’m a part of you. We can’t just leave.”

“Where is she? Why can’t I see her?”

Mechanic hisses through her teeth. “I hoped you wouldn’t ask that.”

“Why?”

“If you’re not a Jedi anymore, then what are you?”

“What?” Ahsoka notices her hands. They’re ashy and streaked with familiar sickly veins. “No!”

“Ah, wait! Don’t panic!” Mechanic wriggles around, looking very much like a crazed caterpillar while she’s wrapped in the tarp.

“I am not Sith!” Ahsoka shouts. All the machines in the room shake from her anger and Ahsoka gasps and turns around to look at them. Behind her, the cables snap and Mechanic falls to the floor with a crash.

“Ow.”

“I’m not Sith,” Ahsoka repeats, her fists clenched. Mechanic wrestles her way out of the tarp and dusts herself off.

“Can you maybe chill?”

“How about maybe you chill?”

“It’s not a big deal.”

“It’s a big deal to me! No, you know what? No.” Ahsoka raises her hands. “We’re not having this conversation right now.”

“You say that, but how else are we gonna clean this mess up?”

“Shush!”

Any further conversation is cut off when the machine from last time flickers to life. The two Ahsokas turn to it and get closer to better see. On the holoscreen looms the Jedi Temple, under repairs and frequented by Jedi. A bit of static later, and the Temple is on fire. Dark smoke billows into the air. People scream and run.

“Oh Force, turn it off.” Ahsoka reaches out, but as soon as she touches the screen, she gets sucked through it to the steps of the Jedi Temple. She smells the smoke and the screams reverberate in her montrals.

“No!” Ahsoka shouts. She flinches when something deeper in the Temple explodes.

“Good soldiers follow orders.” A clone trooper raises his blaster and aims at Ahsoka, who reaches for lightsabers that aren’t there.

“Trooper, stand down,” Ahsoka says.

“Good soldiers follow orders,” the clone says again. He’s joined by more clones who mutter the same thing and take aim. They shoot.

Note Bene: Before I even started writing this fic, I needed to justify Riyo’s status as the Senator. How the hell is she qualified to be such an important politician at such a young age? How? I agonized over it until I realized that she would be qualified if she was the Pantoran pseudo-equivalent of Alexander Hamilton, hence the parallels between them. 

If you’ve been enjoying this story and want to see more, there’s good news: It’s available on AO3 and Fanfiction.net. Check it out! Please leave some comments for me so I can feel better about my existence. 

[fredrichards91]

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[oumakokichi]

I feel like Saihara won't be well-received in English fandom. For obvious reasons, but because he's, as you say, a character who's weak and needs to rely on others constantly. Needing help sometimes is okay, but a character who always needs other more competent people to help them and who never gives back can be frustrating. Thoughts?

I think Saihara will be slightly more popular with thewestern fanbase once the localization is out, but mainly due to the fact thatthere will be less misinformation going around. A lot of the reasons I’ve seenpeople have for hating Saihara stem from wrongful assumptions that he’s a “Naegi/Hinataclone” even when he’s… fairly dissimilar from both of them, really.

I do agree that Saihara will probably never be as popular inthe west as he is in Japan, though. Personally, I like Saihara quite a lot as aprotag. Out of all the protagonists, he’s my second-favorite, with only Hinataranking higher. But I think his popularity will always be somewhat stinted bythe bait-and-switch with Kaede, which left a lot of people with a negativeimpression from the start (even though the bait-and-switch was more the faultof Kodaka as a writer, rather than Saihara’s fault).

I also think the western fanbase by and large simply prefersthe shounen protagonist archetype more. Characters like Saihara, who are weak,anxious, and dependent, are often harshly seen as “annoying” or “pathetic.”Saihara is by no means a self-insert protagonist, and he’s not supposed to be—butmore often than not, people playing a visual novel (and Danganronpa is prettymuch a visual novel with extra gameplay elements, as Kodaka has said severaltimes himself) mistake anyprotagonist for a self-insert protagonist.

Playing as a weak, cowardly, or hesitant protagonist causesmany people to reflect on the weaker, worse characteristics of themselves, andusually means they have a harder time warming up to the character than if theyexhibited traits that are seen as universally positive, like bravery, charisma,extroversion, etc.

However, it’s precisely because of Saihara’s flaws as acharacter that I’ve come to love him. For me, personally, Saihara is arguablythe most relatable out of all the protagonists—because I too know what it’slike to struggle with issues of dependency and questioning my own judgment. Assalty as I still am about the bait-and-switch, and as much as I resent a femalecharacter being fridged off for a male character’s development so early intothe game, I simply can’t deny the fact that from a thematic standpoint, Saiharais the most fitting protagonist for agame like ndrv3.

Ndrv3 is a game that challenges not only the characterswithin it but even the player themselves to constantly reevaluate theirassumptions and worldview. Because of its inherent focus on truth vs. lies,where to draw the line between those two things, and which one of the two ismore “correct,” there’s a constant sense of uncertainty throughout the entiregame. The prologue is uncertain. The epilogue is uncertain. The validity ofeverything that was said in the final trial, of the characters’ memories andtalents and backstories, of our judgment as the player in past cases, is allcalled into question.

We, as players, are tasked with solving the mystery forourselves, going back over the game and picking up on the clues andforeshadowing that Kodaka left, and trying to come up with our own theories. Ndrv3is all about the mystery genre, not only from the perspective of individualmurder cases in each trial but with the entire state of the outside world, thekilling game show, and even the characters themselves.

Therefore, the protagonist being a detective makes perfectsense. Saihara is a detective whose job by definition is to find and expose thetruth, but whose past experiences have left him traumatized by that. More thananyone, Saihara understands that the truth is painful and can be used as aweapon; he feels that he singlehandedly ruined a man’s life all because hesolved a case by accident. And yet, as a detective, he still has a naturalcuriosity that causes him to subconsciously seek these things out. He’s afraidof repeating past mistakes, and yet he can’t quite let the truth go.

This is an intentional allusion to the role of a detectivein any mystery novel: more than once, it’s been lampshaded that “the detective issomeone who brings disaster with them wherever they go.” No matter where adetective goes, a case (usually a murder, specifically) is sure to follow. Thisrole is something we’ve seen Kirigiri embrace as an inherent part of who she isin dr1 after struggling to find her memories and her purpose, but with Saihara,it’s much, much harder for him to come to terms with it. A detective who isafraid of the truth already fails to meet the criteria of a “real detective”from the start, in his opinion—and it is fascinatingto see him struggle to trust in his own intuition and abilities despite hatinghimself so much.

Saihara is certainly weak and dependent—but I’m not really surewhere you got the “never gives back” part from. Even though Saihara doubtshimself often and feels as though he’s a subpar detective and hardly qualifiedfor the job, the rest of the characters constantlyrely on him. If anything, they become over-reliant on him as a detective, somuch so to the point where it’s actually lampshaded in-game and they’re calledout on not wanting to think for themselves.

Starting with Chapter 2 and culminating perhaps with Chapters4 and 5, the characters, hell, even Monokuma, all assume that because Saiharais there “they don’t really have to solve the mystery for themselves.” This isa criticism I often see from mystery authors to their readers: the assumptionfrom people that all the answers are going to be handed out on a silver platterwithout any need to think or theorize or even try to solve the mysterythemselves first is often frustrating and discouraging to writers. And I suspectit was no accident that this sort of mindset gets deliberately addressed assomething negative throughout the course of ndrv3.

Momota and all the rest of the cast rely on Saihara to solvethe mysteries for them for most of the game, rather than attempting to dothings themselves. Rather than trusting Saihara himself, per se, it’s becausethey trust his talent, as a detective. They rely on his intuition and abilitiesso much that he actually begins becoming a little uncomfortable with ithimself.

And in Chapter 5, when at a loss for what to do because evenhe doesn’t know the answers to the case, Monokuma decides to rely exclusivelyon Saihara’s reasoning as a “SHSL Detective,” and even announces so point-blankduring the trial. When Momota attempts to keep carrying on Ouma’s bluff despitethe fact that Saihara did theorize the answer correctly, Monokuma says he’s notworried, because he’s sure that a SHSL Detective’s reasoning won’t lead himastray.

Saihara is, as Momota himself points out in the Chapter 5post-trial, “the one who was saving everyone’s asses.” More often than not, hewas one of the main figures in the group keeping everyone alive, working tosolve things when absolutely no one else was really putting much thought intothings—because they all assumed that Saihara would do it for them. To say thathe “never gives anything back” makes no sense, because in fact, it’s the factthat so much is expected from him and that he’s been thrust into such anunwanted leadership role that makes Saihara so uncomfortable and such ananxious wreck.

Certainly, having a protagonist who is weak, timid, anxious,and dependent on others can be frustrating—moreso if those things are neveraddressed within the narrative or characters constantly come to the protagonist’srescue without ever addressing the fact that they aren’t doing things forthemselves. But this isn’t the case with Saihara. Most, if not all the characters address Saihara’sweaknesses in one way or another. Many of them, like Kaede, Momota, and Ouma,work to help push Saihara out of his shell of hesitation and uncertainty.

In my opinion, having a character without any flaws at allwould be far more frustrating. A character with no flaws means there’s no roomfor development or improvement—which is, frankly… pretty boring. And there aremany, many stories in which the protagonist is often a reckless, headstrong,fun-loving person who relies on cooperation and the power of friendship tochange things (such as, most shounen stories). These archetypes can be well-written,but my point is that they’ve been done often.

It’s far rarer to see a protagonist like Saihara whose entirepoint is that he was deliberately made to be “weaker than anyone.” Tsumugi andTeam DR didn’t expect him to gradually come out of his shell, to make evensmall and timid attempts at being braver or more forthright; they expected hisfear of the truth to keep him immobilized forever, always weak, always unable tomove past his uncertainty.

But Saihara doesdevelop. He changes, he improves—and he, of course, messes up along the way. Hisimprovements don’t mean that his anxiety or depression or suicidal thoughts aremagically “cured”—and as someone who has struggled with anxiety and depressionmyself, I can appreciate that, because it’s realistic. Those things never justmagically go away or stop being a thing, but it’s important to know that it ispossible to keep going in life, to keep taking even one step forward even whenyou were already inclined to give up on life—and that’s a lesson Saihara andthe other survivors learn from Kiibo by the end of Chapter 6.

Expecting every protagonist to be extroverted, brave,self-sacrificing, or to have a positive, take-charge attitude is, in myopinion, fairly unrealistic. Stories remain diverse and interesting when theircharacters are equally diverse. And considering how many characters step into the literal protagonist role in ndrv3,including not only Kaede and Kiibo but also Himiko and Maki briefly during theChapter 6 trial, and arguably Momota too if you consider that he always callshimself “the protagonist,” I would say one of the underlying themes of ndrv3 isthat “everyone is the protagonist of their own story.”

There’s no reason at all why weaker characters can’t also bea protagonist. There’s no definition stating that a protagonist has to beself-reliant or strong. Having a protagonist who not only relies on others butneeds to do so because otherwise they would be inclined to give up is arefreshing change from the norm, in my opinion. Perhaps some people might thinkof it as frustrating, which I can understand—but to me it seems incrediblyhuman, and a reminder that characters don’t have to be the strongest or thebravest necessarily to still be interesting and compelling.

Saihara probably won’t be incredibly popular in the westernfanbase even after the English localization hits, as you said. But I do wishpeople would give him more of a fair chance in his own right. He’s flawed, butthose flaws are precisely the reason he’s able to reach a different sort ofanswer than the standard “hope vs. despair” dichotomy by the end of Chapter 6. Saihara isweak, it’s true, but he’s also thoughtful, generous, and deeply compassionate.The reason that he’s so afraid of exposing the truth is because he knows howmuch it can be used to hurt others—and that knowledge is an essential part ofwhy he comes to accept lies later on too.

The understanding that gentle lies are a kind of “magic” intheir own right, something used to cope with a harsh world in order to moveforward, is one of the most centralthemes in all of ndrv3. And Saihara is one of the few protagonists capable ofreaching that understanding because of how weak he is, not in spite of it.

This is my opinion on it, of course. I’ve written quite alot of meta on why I personally like Saihara as a character, so even if henever quite becomes popular in the western fanbase, I’m okay with that—I’llstill always love him quite a lot myself. I hope this answers your question,anon!