#god Kodaka why

[flutteringfable]

ive been playing with a rewrite of syo because kodaka cannot write a non-abelist non-sanist depiction of did to save his life. here's what i've got so far, after some research into how systems and alters actually work. because again. kodaka cannot be normal about neurodivergence and ESPECIALLY not about did.

syo is a protector alter, formed from toko's emotional abuse from her childhood. whenever toko feels strong social pressure or fear in social situations, syo tends to front. she's a lot more forward than toko, for better or for worse depending on the person causing the stress. she gets more aggressive if the person doesn't let up on whatever it is that's bothering toko.

she doesn't actually like byakuya all that much, especially after putting the pieces together and realizing he ruined their reputation by exposing syo. though, to avoid the weird serial killer alter angle kodaka went with, i think syo would only claim to be the killer, in order to intimidate others and keep them from trying to get close and mistreat toko again. she's a lot more toned down than the original canon, but will put on the sort of unhinged act if it means others will stay away.

she is still a lot more blunt than toko, and speaks more clearly. toko is cautious about others, but syo is even more so, and is immediately suspicious of anyone who attempts to make friends with them. it takes quite some time to gain her full trust.

[funishment-time]

recent kodaka birthday posts!

⚔️ Munakata:

auto-translate:

Munakata: "I can't believe there are still people who celebrate my birthday like this. I thought I had nothing left after I lost them. But I have to keep fighting. This is the least I can do to atone for not being able to save them. But I have no intention of being forgiven. This is just atonement. I will continue to live and make amends for them."

and...oh my god 🧵 Tsumugi:

(deep breath) auto-translate:

Shirogane: "These days, people have started cosplaying casually and without any sense of guilt. Yes, I think that's totally fine. Cosplay doesn't require any permission or license, so I think people should just enjoy it however they want. But, if you're going out in public dressed like that, I think you should be careful and considerate. Oh, I don't mean to be nagging or anything. I'm not complaining, I agree that I don't like nagging old timers. I also think it's weird that there are annoying otaku who always find fault with people, yeah. Oh, speaking of annoying otaku, I'm not really comfortable with the term world otaku. Whether it's a compliment or an insult, isn't it weird to put levels on the depth of love? I think everyone should love in their own way. Isn't it a bit old-fashioned to put a label on it? All you need to do is savor the things you find precious and feel happy. Is there really a need to put a label on the depth of it? That's what I'm saying. This community is a bit like that, isn't it? It's freedom that transcends age and borders, so it's kind of old-fashioned and exclusive. Well, I guess that's what I'd say, but still, it goes back to the point about the need for consideration for others. But. Ah, maybe saying it's necessary is an exaggeration. That would be like imposing something on others. I think it's better to have it, but it's just my personal opinion. So that everyone can continue to enjoy it freely. Of course, I think it's fine if some people ignore opinions like this. That's also a personal freedom. Well, what I'm trying to say is that it's fine if you're just enjoying your cosplay by yourself, but if you go out in public with it, other people will know that you're expressing that character, so I think there should be a minimum of consideration there. For example, if it's arranged in an excessively revealing way, don't you think people who genuinely like that character will feel a little awkward? It's not very pleasant to have a third party who doesn't like your favorite character look at you in that way. Ah, I don't mean to make a definitive statement. I'm just talking about my own case. Well, but I think that there should be a little consideration that there is at least one person who thinks that way. Of course, it's up to that person to ignore it even if they understand, and other people have no right to stop them from doing so. Well, it's fine if everyone can enjoy it, including cosplay and fan activities. Ultimately, it's something we do because we love it. It's not good for everyone to fight. It's just people who love it. So, in conclusion, I'm going back to what I said at the beginning, but I think it's a great thing that people have become more casual about cosplaying recently. That's why I wanted to tell you that in the beginning. Yeah. That's how it is."

...i think this was longer than nagito's manifesto this year

[layton-heritage-posts]

Good Morning, Good Day, Good Evening or, if you're sleep schedule is as horrid as mine, good night! LHP here, and I'm happy to say that we just got some

BREAKING LAYTON NEWS!

As you all probably remember, it has already been confirmed that Level-5 will be at the Tokyo Game Show this year, and that we will get updates on Professor Layton and the New World of Steam. After they fed us these crumbs we finally have an actual schedule for what we can expect and when we can expect it!

Here you can see the complete schedule for all of Level-5 presentations during the TGS. It seems like we’ll be getting Layton stuff on three separate occasions, one on the 23th and two on the 24th September! I’ll be going over what we know of each of these presentations so far now, but before I’ll do that, please keep in mind that mistranslations are not unlikely and that you can check out these posts for yourself here, here aaaand here.

With that out of the way, let’s get to the good stuff!

23.09, 12:45 - 13:25 JST:

First up we have something titled: “How to make a memorable mystery game” where it seems like Akihiro Hino, with Kazutaka Kodaka as his guest, will talk about both of their respective games, probably making a deep dive into the behind the scenes part of game making and the process of creating a good mystery game.

Kazatuka Kodaka is known for both the Danganronpa Series and his more recent game Raincode, so it definitely will be interesting to see these two talk about their experiences.

Next up:

24.09, 10:30-11:00 JST:

This one is titled “Professor Layton explanation special”, this time having Fujikawa Q as a guest.

Fujikawa has stated that he is a big fan of the Layton series and wanted to talk about what makes the series so great and why it has a special charm. Interesting here is that it is supposed to be in the form of a quiz in which both the viewers and the visitors can participate so you know I’ll definitely watch that so I can once again proof my completely healthy and normal obsession with these games.

And last but by god not least we have:

28.09, 12:35 - 13:00 JST:

“Professor Layton x QuizKnock Puzzle Stage”, featuring two people from QuizKnock, the new group behind the puzzles of this game. These two guests are Kurari P and Masaaki Yamamoto, and like before they once again plan to let both Viewers and visitors participate in here.

But now here’s one last gold nugget of information. Level-5 said that they might release a Video that’s a must see for Layton fans. And if that doesn’t get you at least a little bit excited I don’t know what will.

[biggie-chcese]

concepts for kurumi wendy gumshoe gabs because why the fresh fuck did they not give her any like actually hey kodaka can we talk-

(rain code spoilers btw)(also gab will stop sounding like a word to you)

im gonna try to structure a kurumi gumshoe gab set but i will not be writing the conversations out bc im sorry girl but 1. im not obsessed with her enough to basically write a fic and 2. i think the conversations would still be comparatively dull due to yuma's function being "the normal one" to contrast the rest of the kooky cast and kurumi's function as essentially the same thing but also as a love interest and exposition dropper. but i still wanna at least give a model of what her conversations would be like for funsies. I'll be mixing what i think would realistically happen if they gave her gabs and also what i think should happen. alright let's get started

first off, obviously they shouldnt be available until after ch 2. maybe in ch 3 you get a new gab page and yuma can start finding new gabs out in the overworld (what sort of gem color would she have??? jade? is that too close to vivia's emerald? i dont wanna say some shit like rose gold). im not coming up with locations and hints sorry idc that much.

GAB #1

the first gab is them jumping over the hurdle of "wait we don't really have much interaction besides investigating murders and blushing dumbly" which is primarily what irks me in the game's efforts to push her as a love interest. at least let us watch yuma spend some god damn time with her holy shit WHYYY doesn't she have any fucking gumshoe gabs I'm going insa-

erm anyway let's make em have a casual talk abt something. yuma would probably start off like "this is the first time ive really been alone with kurumi ahh i dont know what to say this is awkward ahhhh" and shinigami gets rightfully annoyed with his cuckly behavior. but in an effort to save the awkwardness yuma asks her about her work as an informant. i think she'd enthusiastically spout off about it and how her grandfather inspired her (though keeping it vague because i think she could save more talk of missing family members for later). maybe she talks about her first forway into her informant work and a certain mishap that occured, yuma has to guess what happened bc she's a little embarrassed about it (this is whwre the dialogue options come in). but it's completely harmless. maybe she got spotted by the person she was tailing and then got a slap on the wrist and sent home. yuma finds it a little endearing, shinigami gives the bond level up message, and there. solid conversation. next

GAB #2

yuma asks her what exactly got her so interested in detectives. did she read heroic novels about them? did she see their noble efforts in the headlines? was she personally saved by one? the possibilities are endless and could all be answered here. actually lets have her teasingly make yuma guess here. poof, there's your dialogue options.

maybe she can even have a little kookiness as a treat and accidentally let the true nature of her admiration for detectives slip for a moment where it pretty much crosses the line of "that's a bit creepy". not towards yuma but still something a bit off putting like obsessively keeping track of her favorite detectives' activities or having information about their personal lives she absolutely shouldn't have (informant + proud participant in WDO stan culture is a dangerous combo) but she also misses doing that because now kanai ward is isolated. yuma could also be like "wait isnt what you were doing then a bit too much?" but it gets dismissed by shinigami telling him they levelled up their bond

Threeeeee!!!

this one should be about aiko methinks. yuma catches kurumi in a down mood and asks what's up and it goes from there. she gives us more detail into her friendship with aiko and maybe she could even actually acknowledge the deaths of those theatre club girls and mention how chillingly quiet the club has gotten. she tells yuma that she tries not to think about it, but the empty space they left behind is immense... yuma's dialogue choices may be to try to cheer up/comfort her. thank you, next

4

perhaps now she can talk about her grandpa (and also maybe drop how that home situation is cause girl where are your parents). she could talk about her mission in finding him cause he must be out there!!! somewhere!!!! this shit could be sentimental or smth. she could say something about kanai ward's nearly extinct species of people who are still fighting for the truth and how even when things are dangerous she remembers that no one else will do it so she's gotta step it up. she'd pivot that over to saying how glad she is that the master detectives are here bc of that, and yuma could have dialogue options where the correct choice is basically saying he admires her for that. idk. next

The Fiverrrrrrr

final gab. i was gonna be funny and say "probably another love confession like fubuki's and then yuma hits her with the nuh-uh" but due to the nature of the epilogue i actually dont think it does exactly that. maybe kurumi is stuck on a small, separate thing she's investigating and she summarizes what's up. i think it could potentially be a more personal problem or at least something she can connect to (another girl in school missing a family member? idk) so that it's a bit obvious she's more frustrated in not finding any leads. yuma helps her out a little in finding a lead (this is where the dialogue choices come in) and after thanking him, kurumi is like "y'know, we make a pretty great team" (flirting, but yuma doesnt read it that way.) shinigami groans and maybe even fusses about how she's yuma's partner but this goes ignored. and of course yuma's dense ass is like yeah i think you have the makings of a great informant and detective and he essentially coworker-zones her. kurumi then asks about how they could still maybe possibly work like this together perhaps maybe 👉 👈 🥹 after solving kanai ward's ultimate secret and yuma happily agrees. this will make his choice in the epilogue to fuck off to florida without much of a goodbye even funnier.

anyway thats it for my kurumi gumshoe gabs thanks for reading

[asaka-lucy-dr-rc]

RAIN CODE Fan Meeting Report ③

From the second reading to the end of the of the daytime program.

Previous posts:

RAIN CODE Fan Meeting Report ①

RAIN CODE Fan Meeting Report ②

⚠️This is a looong post and contains spoilers! Only read this if you have already played RAIN CODE and have time.

After introducing the merchandise sold at the event, Fukuhara, Suzushiro, and Ishikawa gave a reading performance. The reading was a direct reenactment of the game's dialog from Chapter 1, when Halara's forensic forte was first shared with Yuma, so I will just leave out the details.

After that, KENN joined in and the four VAs gave a reading performance. This was a re-enactment of the part after the Mystery Labyrinth in chapter 2, where Kurumi gave Yuma information about the homunculus and Yuma shared it with other detectives of the Nocturnal Detective Agency. Yakou's lines were replayed by playing the voices in the game, and Fubuki's and Vivia's lines were simply omitted. In the actual story, Vivia mentions Death God here, implying that he knows Yuma is possessed by Shinigami, but those lines were left out, and Shinigami forced a punchline by being a bit silly instead. I remember it ending with a meta-statement like, "The most mysterious thing is that Fuzz Head's voice is heard even though he is not here."

I forgot to mention in my previous post that the entire script for the reading was done by Spike Chunsoft staff, and Kodaka was not involved at all. (From the way he talked, it sounded like he didn't even supervise it). So the story itself was not something worth explaining in detail. Just the VAs' performances were really perfect and wonderful :)

------

The next segment, "Kanai Ward Citizen Survey", featured a game in which the VAs predicted which answer to a three-option question would receive the most votes from the audience. The audience was treated as Kanai Ward residents, and voting was done by clapping their hands. The person who best predicted the audience's answer won a book token printed with the main artwork of the RAIN CODE Fan Meeting.

The first question was as follows:

Q1.Which Forensic Forte would you use if you could? 1. Halara's Forensic Forte 2. Desuhiko's Forensic Forte 3. Fubuki's Forensic Forte

Maybe they dared to make it easy because it was the first question, but clearly Halara's abilities are too limited compared to the versatility of Desuhiko and Fubuki's abilities 😅 so the VAs predicted that it would most likely be either 2 or 3. And here's the result of their choice:

(The VAs were given placards to hold up to answer the questions.)

Then, the option that got the most votes from the audience was "3. Fubuki's Forensic Forte". To which the VAs said, "I knew everyone wanted to rewind time." lol

The level of popularity was Fubuki > Desuhiko >> Halara.

The next question was this:

Q2.Who is the detective you want to be your boss? 1. Yakou 2. Halara 3. Yuma before losing his memory. (Number One)

When Kodaka saw these options, he immediately commented as follows:

But Suzushiro said "Isn't Halara too strict? Yakou seems to be very subordinate-minded." Then Ishikawa said, "If I were to become Halara's subordinate, I would like to see Halara looking at pictures of cats."

(The gesture of looking through the gap is what she actually did on the stage!)

And here's the result of their choice:

I was so convinced by Ishikawa's opinion, but she actually raised Yakou's number. (She betrayed us! 😂)

Only Fukuhara chose 3 and was asked by the MC why:

(He really loves Yuma!)

Then, Kodaka commented as follows:

Fukuhara countered, "But don't you think it's good that he only shows his true face to me!?" (He seemed to imagine what would happen if he became Number One's secretary or entourage 😄)

But whether his arguments did not resonate with the audience or were simply not popular enough, the option that got the most votes from the audience was "1. Yakou".

The level of popularity was Yakou > Halara > Number One.

Q3.Which organization would you prefer to join? 1.World Detective Organization 2.Amaterasu Corporation 3.Resistance

Kodaka saw these options and again immediately commented.

(That's true 😂)

The VAs began to discuss these options and which organization would give them the best chance of survival. However, all of them are very risky 😅 WDO's work is fraught with danger (as a lot of detectives were actually killed in chapter 0), and workers in Amaterasu would be executed if suspected of rebellion. Of course, the Resistance is always fraught with danger!

After such discussion, here is what they chose:

When asked by the MC why they chose Amaterasu Corporation, Ishikawa and KENN replied:

(Becoming an Ama-Pal developer is certainly a fairly peaceful option 😆)

Fukuhara replied that the reason he wanted to join WDO was because of his love for Yuma, and Suzushiro said she wanted to use Forensic Forte.

And as a result of audience voting, the most popular option was "1.World Detective Organization".

The level of popularity was World Detective Organization > Amaterasu Corporation >>> Resistance. (FYI, WDO and Amaterasu were almost equally popular. WDO was slightly more popular).

Last Question: Which line do you want Shinigami to say? 1. "Kyahaha! Down the rabbit hole we go!" (JA: きゃっきゃっきゃ！　いざ、迷宮入りーーーー！！) 2. "Luminous darkness! Shining rainbow! Glorious stellar spiral! Bello Fresco Grand Finale!" (JA: ダークネスシャイニングファビュラスレインボービューティフルマックススクリューラブリーフレッシュグランドフィナーレ！！) 3. "I hope he dies with his upper body stuck in the pond." (JA: 池に上半身が突き刺さって死ねばいいのに)

*As for the third, I don't remember where Shinigami said it, so I made up the translation myself. I used "he", but it may have been said to a female character. The first and second should be correct because I checked the English version of the videos on YouTube.

As for the first line, KENN mentioned that this line was memorable, but I need to make some explanations so that you can see why he said it. This line is said by Yuma and Shinigami enter the Mystery Labyrinth, but it differs considerably between the Japanese and English versions. If I translate the original Japanese line into English, it should be like "Now enter the Labyrinth!" However, in Japanese, it actually shares a meaning with another word that has a different meaning, but if it were put into English, it would lose that meaning, so it was probably changed to something completely different. In Japanese, when things are left unresolved, the thing is described as having entered a labyrinth. So KENN commented that he found it interesting that a word that was originally used in this sense was literally used in the sense of entering a labyrinth.

The second line is the one that Shinigami says at the end of Mystery Labirinth, when she reaps the soul of the true culprit:

Kodaka said it was based on the scene when the main characters perform a special move in the Pretty Cure series, a famous Japanese anime for girls. Suzushiro said that she searched for videos of Pretty Cure on YouTube and used them as a reference for her performance. When I heard this, I remembered that the title of the music played in the scene is "Heart Catch! Convict! Convict!" in the OST. I think "Heart Catch" is based on a title of one of the Pretty Cure series: HeartCatch PreCure! - Wikipedia

By the way, for Japanese Otaku, "heart catch" is also a word with a different meaning. I know the correct grammatical order in English should be "catch heart", but Japanese otaku dare to say "heart catch" when a cruel character grabs someone's heart (as an organ). So I think the reason for such a music title is a cross between the Shinigami harvesting the soul scene and the cute image of Pretty Cure.

Sorry for the long explanation! 😣 And my memory is a little fuzzy as to which answer the VAs chose here. I think 2 was the most popular. And in fact, 2 was the most popular among the audience, and Suzushiro actually read the line out loud!

The level of popularity was 2 > 1 >>> 3.

As a result of this game, it was Suzushiro who was the best at guessing the audience's answers! She received the book token and declared that she would use it to buy some RAIN CODE books :)

------

In the next segment, "RAIN CODE Maniac Quiz", the audience answered super-geeky questions about RAIN CODE. All questions were true/false and the audience answered by opening their fist for true and clenching their fist for false.

The audience was first asked to stand, and the person who made the mistake was treated as having left the quiz at that point and was seated. And when there were only a few people standing, the game was over. Those who stayed until the end received limited edition merchandise. (They received a card that looked like a pass).

This quiz was full of really difficult questions! 😅 There were 7 questions in total. I encourage you to see if you can answer them.

The questions were as follows:

The tallest person in Amaterasu Corporation is Dominic. True or false?

2. It is in Chapter 4 that Shinigami shows the pose in the following image. True or false?:

3. The word "WINE" is written on the label of the wine bottle* used in the case in Chapter 2. True or false? * The bottle was used as a prop for a play by the Aetheria Academy Theater Club.

4. The cat in the photo Halara was looking at in Chapter 1 had blue eyes. True or false?

5. The color of Pucci's stuffed bear* was white. True or false? * It is the stuffed bear that was sitting on a chair in Pucci's room in Chapter 0.

6. The load capacity of Ama-pal is 120 kg. True or false?

7. In chapter 1, the amount Halara asked for as the price for helping Yuma was 5,500,600 shien. True or false?

The order of the questions may differ from the order of the actual quiz, but in any case, only those who answered all of these questions correctly were eligible for the prizes.

The correct answers are written at the very end of this post!

------

Finally, the participants gave their closing remarks. The VAs all said that it was the first time they had seen the fans since the game was released, and that it was nice to know for the first time that these people love RAIN CODE.

Ishikawa said that even from the stage she could see some fans wearing merchandise shirts or carrying Shinigami bags, and felt that RAIN CODE is really loved.

Fukuhara said that he was very happy because this was the first time he had been able to talk with spoilers. (He had been on the RAIN CODE introduction live stream before RAIN CODE was released, so he had had many opportunities to talk about RAIN CODE, but this was the first time he had done so with spoilers).

The following is Kodaka's final comment, which I tried to write as accurately as possible:

"It took six years to make RAIN CODE, and as you can see from the credits, there were a lot of people involved in making RAIN CODE. I was nervous about releasing it because it was the result of so many people's efforts, and I was worried about whether how many people would like it, but I am glad that there are a lot of fans who have gathered here with such enthusiasm. I am sure that RAIN CODE will have new developments and other things to come, so please continue to support us. Thank you very much."

After the closing remarks, Shinigami's announcement began. Shinigami then asked the audience, "Did you have a great time?" and the audience responded with applause 👏👏

------

Correct answers to the RAIN CODE Maniac Quiz! :

1.✅ True. (Dominic's height is 225 cm (7'4").) 2.✅ True. (You can see this pose in the result of the second Shinigami Puzzle in Chapter4.) 3.❌ False. (It was labeled LEQUELR.)

4.❌ False. (Black is correct.) 5.❌ False. (Pink is correct.) 6.❌ False. (100kg is correct.) 7.❌ False. (5,500,800 shien is correct.)

How many questions did you get right? I got the third question wrong and dropped out 😝 (In a post-event interview in the media, Kodaka said he did not know the correct answer from the first question. lol)

This is the end of the daytime program!

Next:

[memoriashell]

another year, another birthday tweet...i actually really (mostly) liked this year's message, so i prioritized working on it asap. lol. one day i'll get around to doing some of the ones from the previous years, but not today. also bc twitter is a ticking time bomb and i am doing my part in archiving content o7

disclaimer, i’m not fluent in japanese, so i’m not claiming that this is perfect or potentially not without misunderstandings. i’ve also included some translation notes to clarify some things that i felt needed clarification and to offer explanation as to why i reached the conclusions that i did.

i'll also have everything under the cut for easier accessability! sorry if there are typos it is almost midnight as i schedule this up for tomorrow >.>

--

大和田

「あぁ？誕生日だぁ？ Ah? [My] birthday?

やめろや、恥ずかしい。Quit that, [it’s] embarrassing. **

オレは日本最大最狂最悪の暴行チームの���だぞ？I’m the leader of Japan’s most biggest, craziest gang, you know? ***

こんな事で喜んだ姿を見せてられっかよ……けど、まぁオメーらにだったらいいかもな。 [I’m] not sure if I can show how happy I am [for this sort of thing]...but, well, maybe it’s okay [to show that emotion] if it’s just you guys, right? ****

兄弟からも『本当の強さとは弱さを見せられる相手を持つ事だ』って忠告されたばっかだしな 」 “True strength is to have somebody to show your weaknesses to.” That’s the advice that Kyoudai gave me.

//

** やめろ generally is translated as stop it, but the や emphasis at the end gives the idea of this being a little more intense, which is generally on point for Mondo. To try and get across that it’s more than just a normal stop it, I decided to translate it as quit it instead. 

恥ずかしい just generally translates as being embarrassed or that something is embarrassing, so contextually you could read this as “Stop that, it’s embarrassing [that you’re celebrating]”, or “Quit that, I’m embarrassed [that you’re celebrating me]”. I went with the former because in the overall context that one made the most sense to me, but I think it’s probably okay to read it either way.

*** Okay this one was a bit of a doozy to try and make sense of, because 最大 is biggest, 最 is most, 狂 depends on context but one of the more common ways is to describe someone who is crazy enthusiastic about something, and 最悪 is for worst/terrible. It didn’t seem like there was an easy way to translate this without it becoming a mouthful and also not really making much sense, so I tried to compromise in the translation. 

As a bonus fun fact, since I cross referenced it trying to figure out how to translate,  最大最悪 is used for infamous: the biggest, most awful [most tragic event in human history] line in DR.

The other issue with this line is that uhm. I am hoping Kodaka just accidentally made a typo? 暴行 (boukou), I am hoping, was supposed to actually be bousouzoku (暴走族), which is the term used for referring to Mondo’s gang/deliquent activities. 暴行 is a word that can be associated with violence, but specifically SA. Sorry that I have to bring this up. Anyways, I tried to google to see if there was perhaps some slang I was missing (including the チーム/team from the original tweet), but that really only gave results for things related to sports teams and SA. Considering that as far as I could tell, no one on the JP side said anything about it, it might be something just lost in translation? But even searching the term on twitter didn’t seem to suggest that it’s a term used commonly so I don’t think it’s like a fan abreviation for bousozoku >> boukou. Anyways this god awful tangent aside, I’m working with the assumption that we’re talking about biking!!  Please know I was this close to giving up on this tweet because I did not want to have to explain this mess.

**** Okay so like this part is pretty straightforward, but I figured I’d give a few note anyways:

The first part of the sentance here technically is skepticisim about being able to show delight, but hesitates to say that it’s okay to do so. The following sentence builds on that, which suggests that he believes that showing happiness over celebrating his birthday would be weak, but because he takes what Kiyotaka has said as advice, he presumably takes it into consideration. 

It should be noted that 相手 is usually translated to like companion, partner, or company (singular), so I considered translated it as friend but, I opted to leave it a little more vague and use somebody instead. It seems intentional that it is supposed to be a very narrow translation instead implying that this is something that should be conveyed to anyone/everyone. In conclusion, the train of thought is something like: I’m a gang leader >> It’s embarrassing to be celebrating birthday’s >> I can’t show that emotion.

Then with the following sentence: There’s strength in showing weakness >> It might be weak to show emotion but that’s okay >> I can show that emotion around some people.

[batw1nggg]

danganronpa 3 ugly plushies rating

7/10. fuckass. i understand why monokuma is here but why is monomi here this is a dr3 line. objectively ugly but these are the best looking plushies youll find of these two

theyre cute ugly. chiakis hair color is off but theyre both cute enough i’d pity buy them. 6/10

…thats … thats hajime and makoto. hajime why are you fuckin half smiling at me. hes cute ugly if you squint but makoto. oh my god makoto. what did they do to you. roblox ass looking face. YELLOW EYES. his hair is DARKER THAN HAJIMES. THAT IS NOT MAKOTO. WHO IS THAT. AND WHY IS HE THE ONLY FUTURE ARC CHARACTER. THE ONLY CHARACTER HERE HE INTERACTS WITH IN DR3 IS HAJIME AND ITS FOR LIKE 3 SECONDS. MAKOTO. MAKOTOOOOOOOO. I DONT UNDERSTAND THE CHARACTER SELECTION HERE. IF WE WERE GOING FOR MOST POPULAR CHARACTERS KYOKO SHOULDVE BEEN HERE TOO. OR JUNKO IN HER LEOPARD PRINT OUTFIT. WHY MAKOTO?? AND HES NOT EVEN RECOGNIZABLE??? AND HES FUCKING UGLY??? DID THEY QUIT AFTER HAJIME FID THEY JUST GIVE UP???? THE CHARACTER SELECTION IS SO RANDOM AND THEYRE ALL UGLY. WHO GREENLIT THIS I QUIT. I FUCKING QUIT. KODAKA WILL HEAR FROM ME. KMS/10

[neoptlemus]

It really pizzez me off when people dizz on Tanaka ' z hair . . . "Oh but it looks like icecream it's so weir-" HE ' Z GOTH YOU DUMBA SDUHSAHDUHSSHGA

Actually going batzhit crazy

goth hair

becauze he ' z

GOTH

!

!

!

I luuuuuuuuuuuv goth hair zo much it lookz zo cool

Chat Tanaka ' z hair iz zo fun

OKAY HI FUTURE GUNDHAM HERE !! WHY DO PEOPLE DRAW TANAKA WITH EYEBROWZ

THIZ MAN DOEZ NOT HAVE EYEBROWZ !!!

And yeah yeah I ' ve heard it before "But he's scowling all the time! You can't see them because they are above his eyes"

LOOK CLOZELY !! VERY CLOZELY !! / ref I have overanalyzed hiz character zheet to OBVILON .

Yeah yeah cool flex or whatever the fuck , but remove all the dumb zhit I wrote and zoom into hiz front facing reference

OH MY GOD WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT !!

"But Gundham, I can't read Japanese!" Okay good for you, neither fuckin can I . ( Though I am learning zo I can be more like Tanaka !! ) To Google Translate we go . . .

WHO WOULD ' VE KNOWN !!1!11!!!!1!!11 Quite the zhocker . Kodaka wrote on the character zheet that he haz no eyebrowz !

NO EYEBROWZ DRAW HIM WITHOUT EYEBROWZ BE CREATIVE WITH FACIAL EXPREZZIONZ UGHH

[moonsidesong]

just caught up with Your Turn To Die and absolutely adored it the whole way through. it goes unbelievably hard. calling it Danganronpa But Good feels like an insult. but like... yeah what if danganronpa was good? or rather. game that makes me wish danganronpa was good.

it really keeps you on your toes the Entire time, which is why i ended up saving like......... every five to ten minutes, most times. i would say the only slower part is the minigames during chapter 2? but, i thought those were fun, and they were still broken up by plot important stuff, so i really didnt mind.

ive heard the game had a soundtrack release on CD a few years ago, but i cant seem to find much information about it? much less any resell listings. how sad... i love cd...

i wanna talk more in depth from here on out so spoilers under the cut! warning thoughts very disjointed. and i havent seen absolutely Everything the game has to offer yet (havent done any of the side stories, we'll do them soon probably) so if my takes are disproven by anything ive yet to see please do not tell me htank you

first off OHHH MY GODDDD THIS GAME IS SO MUCH LESS CREEPY ABOUT THE MINORS AND ITS SUCH A BREATH OF FRESH AIR COMPARED TO DANGANRONPA. its not perfect, of course, i do not entirely love the jokes(???) about keiji (known grown adult man) going on dates with sara (known teenage girl), but like, this game does not make me feel gross all the time? thank u nankidai for not making your teacher character with a close relationship with one of his former students a groomer! the bare minimum! im gonna hit kodaka with a stick this should not be a point in the game's favor.

anyway! ended chapter 2 with Reko and Sou (shin) alive, ended chapter 3 having lost Reko .. . :( shes my favorite... i was so sad... ranmaru we're not friends anymore/.... you suck... you killed my best girl... we um, did make a grand total of 175 save files though, so at some point me and the friend i played with are gonna go back and scrub through anything and everything that we missed. maybe after we do the side stories though, not sure yet. reko yabusame i swear to god i will crawl into the screen and kill ranmaru myself for you. i will save you. i love you so much mwah

for years ive only known midori as The Guy That Kids On Danganronpa Discourse Instagram Put Overdramatic Yet Also Somehow Extremely Haphazard Trigger Warnings on every post that included him, so i was really excited to meet him. and boy he did not disappoint this guys NUTS!!! HES CRAZAY!!!!!!!! he has such a perfectly striking look about him. i love how he almost never stops looking straight at you, and how his suit is stark black so it obscures a lot of his shape when he's in the dark, its so cool. they absolutely nailed the atmosphere whenever you're around this guy.

but the first jumpscare when he like reaches out at you from the coffin just kinda made me laugh. me when i get you

also, if you're this far in to care about my opinions on games you probably know that i am Known Danganronpa V3 Hater. i think in particular Kokichi Ouma is way too good of a character for how dogwater the game's actual plot is, and Shin Tsukimi, while not being the same, obviously, scratches that itch of a guy trapped in a death game that spends all his time lying and living under a persona because he's afraid of dying perfectly While Being In A Game That Doesnt Make Me Feel Like Eating Sheet Metal . i love this dude and his ugly several clashing colors outfit. he wants my ass like mega dead right now but thats not important surely

also, i think its sweet that joe and sara are just best friends and they rarely ever even entertain the idea that they had romantic feelings for each other. i think its extra sweet and tragic that joe was able to tell sara he loved her in the end, meaning it as his best friend. and the way the game completely ceases showing you flashbacks of him after that point and just lets the image of the hallucinations replace his actual memory overtime is so good and haunting. this doubled down by the way her memory of him is completely locked up as soon as she starts trying to actually remember the way he really was, its so good.

i think thats all i have to say for now, but umm!!! really really good im excited to go back and fill in the gaps i missed. especially regarding kanna becasue i have a lot of theories about her that i hope im on the right track about #lol. but even if i dont i want to see her i miss her. yaay!!! i love when video games are good. i love you video games.

ill probably make more posts down the line with more thoughts after i let them marinade in my brain for a while... mostly when i have thoughts ive been sending them to the friend im playing with so we can discuss theories together LOL

[hopeymchope]

Worrying about Halara Nightmare, Rain Code's non-binary beauty

Despite seemingly presenting as female at first impression, Halara Nightmare from (Master Detective Archive: Rain Code) is non-binary. Or, to be clearer about it, their character profile says that they "have no specified gender." However, they are described as "beautiful" to both men and women, which... yeah, I can see that. Halara definitely rocks that look.

Look at 'em sweeping that coat around. Every detective should rock an epic coat.

And they're more than a cool coat — Halara's a really compelling character! Like so many characters that've been born from the minds of Kazutaka Kodaka and his supporting team, Halara is an odd duck who possesses believable complexity thanks to a mix of positive and negative traits — some of which seem to come out of left field in the best way.

But here's the thing: I've been doing this for a while. I've seen all the raging discourse that follows video game/visual novel/anime characters such as Chihiro Fujisaki, Naoto Shirogane, and R/Luka Urushibara. So I know a significant chunk of players aren't going to just see Halara as another character participating in the larger narrative who happens to provide some nice diversity to the cast. Even though this is the kind of story where a massive amount of the cast isn't going to make it out alive, many would-be fans are going to take it extremely personally if Halara gets killed or — god forbid — winds up being a culprit at some point. Even MORESO if either of those happens in the first half of the game, for that matter. And worst of all... I can't even say that such a reaction would be wholly unjustified. Y'know?

That's why Halara isn't just a compelling non-binary character who could go any number of directions from my current point in the game; they're a powder keg waiting to go off. I love the representation, but... they also make me nervous.

I'm simultaneously both totally open to whatever story Kodaka wants to tell me AND crossing my fingers for Halara to avoid sparking a bunch of discourse.

[yakool-foolio]

Oh the Last Defense Academy game situation sounds a bit messy. They apparently restarted it and went into debt to finish it, and they’re doing 100 endings?

That's the general gist of what we know about the game's background. A lot of changes to the character's designs (and heck even gender if we wanna talk about the protag) were caused by the restart after the publishing deal fell through. I've been saying this on Discord with all the recent discussion about Last Defense Academy, but it bears repeating here that Tookyo Games seems to have spread themselves too thin with all these recent releases that have been overlapping in development for over six years. They're in a constant state of creation, which inevitably put a strain on their funds because they've poured so much into what they've been working on, but the projects that have already released (mostly Rain Code as of now) isn't giving them enough back in sales. I appreciate them making games that they're proud of, but god damn do they need to not load all their releases into one shotgun shell.

People are already getting tired of Tookyo Games, which is a shame, but it's understandable why. They're barraging us with all these upcoming games when it's barely been a year since Rain Code's release. I do genuinely want Tookyo Games to succeed in their endeavors cause I really do like and even love a lot of what Kodaka and Uchikoshi have made and I'd hate to see their company fall apart. I'm sure these two upcoming games, Tribe Nine and Last Defense Academy, will be fun romps that me n my buds will enjoy, but these could very well be the last projects we ever see from this company. It's not looking bright for them, but maybe a miracle will bonk them on the head one day, who knows. I just hope this doesn't leave our chances of more Rain Code content in tatters.

[trubbishrubbish]

Toko DR1 defense rant. (+ some UDG and Tokomaru hot takes)

I wrote a DR1 Toko defense rant and hot takes on twitter after seeing a DR1 Toko hate post on tumblr, funny that. Anyway, I'm copying pasting that rant onto here becuase it's really important. I will defend Toko with my life.

DR1 Toko haters are the weakest link.

Y’all can’t handle the fact that a woman with childhood trauma, trauma with relationships and has DiD with a serial killer alter is thrust into a stressful life or death killing game would not act very nice and normal 24/7.

If Toko in DR1 made you feel uncomfortable and you didn’t like her moments then that’s completely fine. That’s the point of her character.

It’s a pretty accurate portrayal of how someone with trauma who hasn’t been able to get the help they need would act this way. Her character was perfectly done to serve the story she has. Saying her character is bad just because it’s uncomfortable is dumb.

You can argue that her trauma being played for laughs and is bad taste but that’s more a story issue than a character issue.

Here’s another hot take: If you love UDG Toko but hate DR1 Toko then you don’t actually love Toko, you only love a fanon version of Toko.

A fanon Toko that is gay for Komaru and her obsession with Byakuya and trauma are just “magically gone”

All of Toko’s negative traits in DR1 are still present in UDG. Her sole motivation for coming to Towa city was to save Byakuya. Her reason for sticking with Komaru, encouraging her to not give up when she is at her lowest and helping and saving her, it was all done so Toko could trade Komaru with the enemy so she could save Byakuya. Her being rude and making incest jokes in front of Komaru are aspects of Toko’s character that shouldn’t be ignored. (Although, the incest part is more a product of UDG trying to squeeze as much grossness it can)

The reason why it shouldn’t be ignored is that it makes Toko’s growth in chapter 4 onwards all the more significant. Toko at the start of UDG was calling Komaru “Omaru” and fully wanted to betray her.

Toko in the end of UDG has learned that she likes having Komaru as a friend and wants to fight to save both her and Byakuya. That’s a character god tier arc.

But what about Toko’s obsession afterwards? It still exists because it’s linked to her trauma that she still has not been able to heal from. Komaru is a very important and wonderful person for Toko but she is not a therapist. She can’t diagnose all of Toko’s issues and create a way for Toko to fully heal. She can be the start and encourage Toko, but Toko needs professional therapy. Months of therapy most likely. This isn’t something that can be fixed in a week. DR3 shows that even when Toko has Komaru, she still has her obsession with Byakuya because she hasn’t been able to go to therapy.

I should probably clarify that I don’t dislike Tokomaru content that has Toko healing with Komaru’s help or Toko content that has her over Byakuya. Lord knows

I can’t throw stones in the department because of how I write Genocide Jack lol. But what I am saying is that DR1 Toko is important for UDG Toko to make sense. You can’t ignore DR1 Toko and only think about Toko as she is in UDG. Both Tokos are halves of one complete Toko.

That said, I do take slight issue with people who said that Toko NEEDED UDG to be good. Guys, Kodaka wasn’t thinking about UDG or any future DR game when writing DR1. DR1 was written as if it would be the only thing that could be made of the series. Toko’s arc in DR1 WAS supposed to end where it was. It wasn’t left incomplete so another game could fill in the rest. Toko in UDG is just an expansion of DR1 Toko. She’s already learned how to be braver and fight, UDG teaches her that she doesn’t have to pick and choose between two people. She can have both.

It’s extremely rare that a Danganronpa character has second time in the spotlight to develop more beyond the game they star in. Toko is the sole exception to this.

Also worth mentioning, Toko wasn’t first considered to be the partner early in development. It was actually Haiji that would be the secondary protagonist in UDG. The only reason why they switched from him to Toko was for gameplay purposes. Kodaka wanted the player to have the ability to switch to a super powerful character that can’t die so the people used to visual novel aspect of DR can play UDG without worrying about having to be good at a third person shooter.

Haiji’s power form would have been him taking off his cast and killing Monokumas with a robot arm. But that didn’t go very far so it was decided that Genocide Jack would be that power form.

That means y’all have to thank Genocide Jack for giving you the UDG lesbians. (Btw, if I got this info wrong please let me know.)

Anyway I exhausted myself from talking about Toko. She is a perfect weird girl who is one of DR’s best written characters.

[funishment-time]

🔵 Kodaka BlueSky Q&As: Rain Code Characters (All)

⚠️ DISCLAIMER: Please be advised! Translations of all Japanese answers derive from a combination of Google Translate and my manager's three-quarters-remembered Japanese. We've tried our best to work out what he's saying, but there will be mistakes here and there. Do not take this as gospel!

To avoid spreading too much misinfo, where we're completely boggled about an answer, we've decided not to even make an attempt. We'll still list the post, but mark it accordingly.

➡️ AN IMPORTANT NOTE FROM KODAKA BEFORE READING:

First of all, the questions answered here are not official. Everything that is official is what is said within the work. In contrast, this is simply what Kodaka, the creator, thinks, and it is not the correct answer. Use this as a starting point to enjoy the depth of each character, or to say, "That's not right!" and enjoy it with your own interpretation. I think of this as a way of communicating with the characters who live in fiction. This is important, so please spread the word.

💕 FEBRUARY 2024:

Q: I love shinigami chan. Please make games forever!

A: YES

/////

Q: What happened to everyone at Amaterasu Company after the main story?

A: Yomi [Hellsmile] is growing magmatically angry with the opportunity to revolt while imprisoned…!

/////

Q: Why does Vivia wear such stringy underwear? Does he untie it every time he takes a bath or something?

A: I feel like he just goes in like that.

/////

Q: Was Vivia's umbrella tattoo done in Kanai? I was curious because that was the only tattoo related to rain.

A: I think he likes the gloomy rain. I'm sure he doesn't think Kanai Ward is so bad.

/////

Q: The pattern on Director Yakou's uniform is really cool, is there a reason for that?

A: I leave that up to Komatsuzaki-kun, but being a detective is, after all, a job in the underworld, so I think it's better to have that sort of shady side to it.

NOTE: Komatsuzaki is the guy behind Danganronpa and Rain Code's art.

/////

Q: [the question has since been deleted, but I remember it was about the ages of Master Detectives in Rain Code]

A: It varies quite a bit, but let me just say that most are in their 20s to late 30s. By the way, I'm 45. Oh, you didn't hear that.

/////

Q: How much does the director smoke in a day? That ashtray is disgusting.

A: That's probably three packs a day. I smoke half a pack a day. Oh, you didn't hear that.

NOTE: This is about Chief Yakou.

/////

Q: I would like to hear about your impressions of the masked man, and what you were conscious of when writing. I will continue to support your work☔️

A: He's nonchalant, talks about himself without listening to what the other person has to say, but seems intelligent. That's the impression I get.

NOTE: This is about Rain Code's Makoto.

/////

Q: Kodaka-san!! Thank you for your wonderful works as always ₍ᐢ..ᐢ₎⊹ Amaterasu is exactly my type of organization (especially the head of security...!) Even if it's not a sub-story, I'd like to know if you have any small details that haven't been made public 🙏🏻💞

A: Thank you! Of all the Amaterasu characters, Komatsuzaki-kun was most enthusiastic about the robot researcher.

NOTE: We're pretty sure this is about either the character known as "Akira." The one weird about the Ama-pals.

/////

Q: A question about Rain Code: Are there plans to release a book that delves deeper into the backstories of the people who appeared in Chapter 0?

A: If there's a demand, I'd like to see a spin-off novel or something...

/////

Q: Excuse me for asking a question about Yuma, the main character of Raincode! What type of woman does Yuma like?

A: I wonder...! I think he's a pushover. lol

/////

Q: The names of the characters in Rain Code are sprinkled with elements of Japanese mythology, but is there any inspiration or backstory for this? Is there a reason why you named Makoto after the god of fire?

A: It all started with me wanting to incorporate a Japanese flavour.

/////

Q: Rain Code was really fun! I wonder if there will be an "if" story where the five train detectives (all real) arrive in Kanai Ward!? I'm ready to buy all the DLC and whatever else it takes👍

A: I would love to depict stories of their success. It would add more depth to Chapter 0.

/////

Q: Are there any characters who are certain that Halara's gender is this or that?

A: I don't think anyone can ask. Even if they did, Halara would probably think there's no point in answering. They might tell someone they like...

/////

Q: Mr. Kodaka, what is your impression of Director Yakou of Rain Code?

A: He's caring but also lazy, sloppy but cool... I think he's a very human detective.

/////

Q: Is Vivia's name a reference to the movie "Ghosts of the Sierra de Cobre"? Are there any other works that the names of the other characters are also based on?

A: I'm ashamed to say that I hadn't heard of that movie. The characters in Rain Code were named with an emphasis on giving them a stateless feel, and on the sound of the name.

/////

Q: Was there a deciding factor in casting Uchida Yuuma for the role of Seth?

A: I basically leave the casting up to the sound company. They did a very good job.

/////

Q: I'm sure Desuhiko has picked up as many women as there are stars in the sky, but does he actually have much experience in love?

A: Although he is not unpopular, he is most likely rejected quickly.

🍀 MARCH 2024:

Q: I'd like to know the ages of the Resistance members (even a rough estimate is fine if you haven't thought about it)! Since Iruka is planning to receive a birthday present from her parents, is she the youngest member?

A: Judging from his voice, Shachi sounds like he's 52 years old.

/////

Q: Excuse me. Who is most given chocolates on valentine day in raincode ?

A: Maybe, Vivia.

/////

Q: Why did Shinigami-chan give Halara-san the nickname "Hellara"?

A: I wanted Halara to be so stoic it drew Shinigami's attention.

/////

Q: There may not be sushi in Kanai Ward, but I'd like to know what your favorite sushi toppings are, folks at the detective agency.

A: Desuhiko likes sea urchins, Yakou likes mackerel, Vivia doesn't feel like eating, Halara likes maki rolls, and Fubuki tries to save the fish with time reversal.

/////

Q: [The question has since been deleted, but I believe it was about Seth's childhood.]

A: His childhood must have been similar to that of Jataro [Kemuri]...

/////

Q: I would like to hear about Martina's "calculation" of Yomi, which came up in a previous Rain Code interview. Did you have any stories in mind, Mr. Kodaka?

A: She thought she could use Yomi's favor to advance her own career.

/////

Q: I'd like to know the name of the Amaterasu Researcher who appears in Director Yakou's DLC!

A: His wife? It's a secret! I only tell people when I'm drunk, so... nope. (said cutely)

/////

Q: I'm guessing the age order of the train detectives is Zange > Melami > Zilch > Aphex > Pucci, is that correct?

A: There are various theories about the location of Melami [in that order].

🥬 APRIL 2024:

Q: Do special abilities have a genetic component? (e.g., Vivia's family is more likely to see spirits)

A: Sometimes it is and sometimes it is not. It is said that the Clockford family will rarely produce a child like this due to genetics.

/////

Q: Sorry if this has already been mentioned❗️ Harara Nightmare's gender is unknown, but do they ever wear feminine clothes like skirts as fashion?

A: "No. I only wear clothes that are easy to move in."

/////

Q: Halara is often depicted holding a lollipop, but do they have a favorite flavor?

A: Anything as long as it's sweet. It's to get the sugar needed for that person's brain.

/////

Q: I played Raincode to the end ☔️ I love the masked man...! I'd be happy if you could tell me anything about him.

A: "I made the masks myself. I made them suspicious on purpose to scare people away."

NOTE: This is about Rain Code's Makoto again.

/////

Q: A question! I'm curious about what method the Raincode super detectives used to get into Kanai Ward! What other routes could they have taken besides the Amaterasu Express!? I'd be happy if you could tell me who got there and how!

A: I'm saving [this info] so I can make a special edition someday! lol

/////

Q: who would you choose to solve a mystery and why? kirigiri, saihara or halara?

A: It would be great if the three of them performed together!

🌺 MAY 2024:

Q: What do you think about animals other than dogs and cats, Halara?

A: "More precious than humans."

/////

Q: Can Chief Yakou cook?

A: "I can make lazy meals."

☀️ JUNE 2024:

n/a

🎇 JULY 2024:

n/a

🌭 AUG 2024:

Q: I want to know how Yomi Hellsmile is doing after the main story of Raincode. Also, how is Seth Burroughs doing?

A: In his luxurious cell, his desire for revenge boils.

🍁 SEPT 2024:

Q: Is there any reason why the masked man in Rain Code has one eye?

A: Apparently he chose the most suspicious mask possible, so that no one would like him.

NOTE: This is about Rain Code's Makoto once more.

[tobiasdrake]

Okay, let's meet the new team.

SHINIGAMI! That's fucking RUDE, Ghost Junko. These are going to be our colleagues and they deserve to be treated with some respect and reverence for human life!

...but also, same.

Very nearly misgendered them on account of visibly being a mid-thirties Chiaki Nanami. Fortunately, their bio spells out that they "have no specified gender".

Plus side, enby rep. Downside, oh god, Kodaka's writing an LGBT character again. The guy who brought us Chihiro Fujisaki, Teruteru Hanamura, and Korekiyo Shinguji is taking another swing at LGBT rep. Can't wait to see how he fucks this one up.

In any case, all we know so far is that they're a cold and calculating mastermind who coolly analyzes the circumstances around them while giving away nothing emotionally.

Roughly the same age as me and a hot-headed jackass to offset my calm and understated persona. This kid's definitely here to be my Shonen Rival and then maybe we gradually become friends over time as our rivals-to-bromance plot overtakes the story and shunts other characters out of the spotlight.

You know how that goes.

Incidentally, when I typed Desuhiko's name in to tag it, the second result that came up on the autocomplete was "Desuhiko x Yuma". So. Yeah. You know what this dynamic is going to be.

She's in the running for fave right now but a lot's going to depend on when and how the other shoe drops. Fubuki is an air-headed noblewoman who can't count past three and struggles to comprehend basic concepts. She thinks chocolate grows on trees already in its silver wrapper.

But she's also a Master Detective. She can't actually be stupid if she's not only a member of the international League of Best Detectives but also talented enough to be one of the few survivors to skate past Amaterasu's murder-wall. There has to be something more to her beyond what seems readily apparent. Right?

You can't see it in these shots but he's chilling in the fireplace.

I don't know why he's chilling in the fireplace. The more pressing question is where he found all that leg room. My guy, did you sledgehammer open the interior wall of the fireplace so you could have a comfy place to lay?

His bio says he likes fluffy pillows and dislikes hard pillows (and living) but he's choosing an architecture-defying fireplace lounge when there are all these comfy surfaces around the room so I don't know if I trust it.

[catgirl-catboy]

Which Danganronpa do you think got dealt the worst by Localization?

I'd be lying if I didn't say Gonta. (though Angie's god changing from being a generic god, making her a mockery of religious folk, to Atua, a very specific god that real people actually worship, has some fucked up, arguably kinda racist implications.)

A small CW for discussing the R slur in this analysis/rant. I don't write it out, but I understand 100% if you don't want to read it.

Speaking in the third person is considered a cute quirk in Japan. When a Japanese author has a character speak in third person, they are usually trying to make the character appear cute and harmless, which absolutely fits Gonta.

However, most American (or culturally American) authors reserve that kind of third person talk is reserved either for cavemen, or neurodivergent characters, with the implication that the character in question is too dumb to have a proper grasp of English. (Abelism much?)

This fits everyone else's perception of Gonta, but not who he actually is as a character.

One of the main points of Ch4 is that the class (even characters Kodaka wants you to like, such as Kaito and Himiko) was wrong to treat Gonta like he was stupid, and that Kokichi, who you aren't meant to like (as a person. As an antagonist he does a decent job) at this point, was in the right. With the big twist of Ch6 coming up, in addition to the Ch5 reveal that people like Kaito and Kokichi can work together to a common goal, it's important to point out that your cast isn't as perfect or infallible as they appear.

Which is why it does such a disservice to have Gonta continue to speak in the third person in the English version.

Gonta isn't the first character to speak in the third person in Danganronpa, Ibuki does it too! But it doesn't affect Ibuki's characterization in the same way, since Ibuki's character isn't about wrongly being underestimated. If Ibuki comes across as slightly dumber, it isn't a disservice to the themes of the story.

Also, Ibuki's backstory doesn't evoke Cavemen in the western player's mind.

Some other changes around Gonta were made, notably that Miu does not actually say the R slur to him. The word is a step up from 'baka' in rudeness, so "moron" or "fucking idiot" would be closer to the original tone. Miu calls many people idiots, with Kaito and Kaede being the first to mind. Only Gonta gets the ableist slur treatment -_- (Which makes the fact that it was put in there even more heartbreaking for me.)

Even if you aren't meant to agree with Miu, this can subtly color your perceptions of Gonta. Also, Miu gets a lot of hate for this, which doesn't seem fair to me. Stan Miu.

The most infuriating thing about this is, there's another v3 character that speaks in the third person in Japanese. My queen, Tenko Chabashira. They changed how she referred to herself for the western audiences, when arguably keeping it the same would not have done her that much of a disservice to her character. (She's a comic relief character who says dumb shit. Having her seem a bit less cute and a bit more stupid to western audiences wouldn't affect her plotline that much. Some people would maybe get irrationally angry and say she's a strawman (or strawwoman! sorry Tenko.) for feminists, but Kiibo is right there.)

So the argument that the translators would have to put a lot of work in doesn't hold.

In order to adapt Gonta more accurately and have him seem cute like Kodaka intended, I propose that he has emoticons at the end of his sentences sometimes. (I am shot by a sniper rifle for this idea!)

Heres his canon first line (not counting pregame because fuck that)

"Oh! Sorry for scaring! Gonta scary-looking. Most people not wanna talk to Gonta when meeting for first time. So, like gentleman, Gonta say thank you! Thank you for talking to Gonta!"

and here's it with how I'd alter it.

"Oh! Sorry for scaring! I'm scary-looking. Most people not wanna talk to me when meeting for first time. :( So, like gentleman, I say thank you! Thank you for talking to Me! :)"

Like, he comes across different, huh? Even to my eye, it reads more like he's struggling with the language in the second one, while the first one not so much.

Kaito and the Saiouma ship actually benefit from the localization, but that is another topic for another day.

[kiwibongos]

What’s your opinion on Junko? I’m personally not the biggest fan of her, but I’m certainly fascinated by her character, so I would like to know what you think!

Also btw your art is super good! :D

thank you for asking and thank you for your compliment!

oh, don't even. i love junko. not in the "i will hold her and kiss her on her cheek shes my baby" way but in the "oh she is fucking awful, downright putrid, i hate it." way. there are definitely Weird Things about her, like the shit with mukuro and all, but what can ya do about it. sigh .

but aside from that, and with the knowledge i've only seen from the games so far, i think she's a good villain. kodaka wrote her very nicely, so she really fits as the face of the franchise. obviously i dont think any big fan of her would support her morals. and thats the best part of a villain. you dont have to agree with them to like them. i love me a fucked up character. i do think that sometimes, junko is really annoying in the endings, but i blame it mostly on the writers, like with the way she was recycled in SDR2 while throwing izuru away when there was more potential, and then... the Entirety of V3. we wont get into that though.

i do think shes a bit annoying with like, that personality shift she does when shes bored or whatever. but theres obviously more beyond that. shes a literal monster, a master manipulator, so i like to indulge into her and mukuros relationship because toxic siblings is what gets me goin'. like, her tricking mukuro into growing attached to her, only to have never loved her familially and to stab her in the back so early on in THH. and also her with the remnants.. god .. like, we can all agree the way she brainwashed them was dumb lol so in my mind it was definitely up close and personal. which interests me a lot more! her being an expert liar and guilt tripper, who can sweep anyone under her finger by saying the right thing at the right time, no matter how smart her victim thinks they are, is pretty cool dont ya think. and for her to just swing back at her victims time and time again even if they escape her grasp, because this girl does not know when to stfu and disappear, UGH big fan me

junko also just does a Lot for other characters by herself, not just on her own or to mukuro. she fuels the remnants heavily and personally, which gave me a lot of inspiration and fascination for the absolutely terrible things they all did with/to her. like honestly, the gaslighting, manipulating and brainwashing, and, to my headcanon/interpretation atleast; cannibalism, meat banquets and murder parties, are really dark n' cool topics to me. junko is purposefully portrayed as this cute pigtailed girl who could do no wrong or she has atleast done enough to where you think it couldnt get worse, but before you know it, It Gets Worse. she welcomed the remnants' previously despair enamored selves to take a part of her with them because she knows no matter what, it'd haunt them to their last breath. and we Know that she may never really be gone, when theres a phantom hole inside of those who took parts of her/perhaps consumed her

but yeah umm something something shes vile but i really enjoy her, shes a nice villain, though a bit obnoxious and Weird sometimes, i dont mind her, she carries herself and many other characters interestingly. i totally understand why people dislike her though, but she lets my brain have a field day with scenarios and headcanons. really makes ya think like, damn how did it all go so wrong