#i'm absolutely not kidding when i say the umineko references are very real and strong in ndrv3

[jichanxo]

sooooo... *twirls her hair* how many asks should i send until kuwagami art. jk as well. the real question will be: does it happen often that someone else’s art inspires you? in fandom spaces specifically

well you see it’s like a loyalty card program, every 10 asks or so you get a complimentary kuwagami

just kidding you can just breathe in my direction and I’ll be tempted to draw them. kuwagami blast! (you've caught me on a... just okay art day lol)

(people still like kabedons, right?)

anyway for my actual answer: in terms of direct inspiration, it doesn't really happen much? the last two times i did art directly based on someone else's work is probably this one from this fic, and also that time i drew art of someone else's judgment au. oh! and there's that moriohpsycho art based on this comic! (filthyguts' work is so very. hgngngghh. very good.) nothing else really comes to mind, and when i think of the other things i've been into recently there hasn't been as much opportunity for that to happen...

flex and herds = strong fixation but lmao. almost nobody else made stuff about them. nobody is surprised umineko = surprisingly i don't read much umineko fanfiction? and in terms of illustration, i certainly picked up imagery and indirect inspiration but nothing concrete enough for me to give an example... now that i think about it, i did once draw andromalius from redaction/sunny, but that was years ago, and also mostly because i was acquainted with the writer. ...i don't have that artwork on hand right now death note = didn't really get involved with the fandom + i enjoyed my own ideas well enough! ...i can't recall if i drew long-hair-L art before or after seeing other artists do it. and as for everything else the same kind of reasoning applies. didn't really get involved with the fandom or wasn't really compelled to make art in response to stuff i saw, or i just don't remember anymore.

buuuuuuut if we're opening this up to just... pulling ideas from other people? then yeah, all the time, though that kind of goes without saying when you have a creative hobby. ...it's probably going to be hard to come up with examples of this since it's more ambiguous.

there's uhhhhhh... kuwana listens to nickelback which was a @/four-white-trees invention, wasn't it? (EDIT: and @/overdevelopedglasses!) (not tagging in this post so he doesn't feel obligated to read my big ass ask responses 💀) as of writing this, it's not posted but i did end up making kuwagami art based on a nickelback song so. yknow. there's that LMAO

for sawashiro and arakawa, i do sometimes go reference @/todayisafridaynight 's art to help me with my own. ("how did he draw this part of the suit? oh, like that huh? hmm" <- this kind of thing)

and um. i'm not trying to pander to you (at least not this time), but genuinely it's one of the few examples that come to mind at this moment. but when i was writing my first kuwagami fic, i could feel the influence of the ever-changing on my brain... was turning over some of your ideas there...

you remember this? (you even pointed it out in your comment on my fic, and i should've said something then, but whatever i'm saying it now)

that was absolutely because of this

(obligatory poke at anybody else reading this post that you can read passthroughtime's fic here.)

so, um. yeah. not really sure what else to add to that. pretty self evident i think. (i'm always talking about the ever-changing but i don't think i can overstate the impression it left on me at the time)

anyhow there aren't really any other examples off the top of my head! these are all recent examples so they're not so difficult to recall, but there are probably others i've forgotten...

[oumakokichi]

NDRV3 Transcripts: “The Truth of the Outside World,” Part 1

As we’ve learnt from the previous Danganronpa games, Chapter 5 means horrible truths and near-unsolvable cases. NDRV3 certainly took that to the next level. Anyone reading this has probably already read all of @oumakokichi​‘s amazing meta on ch.5, its mysteries and implications, so you know what I mean. Chapter 5 sure is something.

Now, there’s a particular scene in this chapter that really stands out. No one has seen Ouma since the last trial, and naturally everyone’s pretty wary of him when he does show up. Ouma gives them the electric hammers that Iruma created and walks off after having nearly been strangled to death by Maki (again).

So the group manages to clear the tunnel minigame with the aid of the hammers, and finally gets to see the outside world with their own two eyes. What they see is so horrifying, so despair-inducing, that it causes them to pass out. When they come to, Ouma pops up once again, and now he has some red truths (as far as we’re concerned) to deliver.

This is an incredibly long scene that just doesn’t fucking end. But it is so interesting and relevant that I’ll transcribe all of it! To make this more bearable for me and you, I’ve decided to do two things: I’ll omit certain parts that are unimportant (characters interrupting another’s speech or repeating another’s words), and I’ll split this scene into more than one part.

It’ll be pretty text and image-heavy, so please bear with me! This is a visual novel, after all. I hope you find this interesting! Oumakokichi​ and I are really enjoying bringing this sort of content to you all.

To anyone who’s been awaiting the answers to certain mysteries or riddles being provided in greater detail and with fuller, more accurate translations, wait no more! @ne0dym​ has provided a super thorough transcription of the first part of Ouma’s “confession” in Chapter 5, and I’ve translated it to English right here for everyone’s convenience. There’s still plenty more to come, but this part is chock full of reveals left and right, as well as misleads. It’s a super fun part in the game, and to anyone looking to clarify their information on ndrv3, I’d say this is a must-read.

Of course, major spoilers will follow, and things will get long because I’ll add some of my own meta and clarification at the end. We’ve got plenty more of this scene to come, but in the meantime, please enjoy!

(Also before starting, I’d like anyone going into this scene to watch this video from 0:12 to 0:30 or so. Even if you know nothing about Umineko. Trust me, you don’t need to watch for long. It will improve your experience with this upcoming scene.)

SAIHARA (THINKING): な、なんだ…？何が…起きたんだ…？

Wh, What…? What just…happened…?

OUMA: おめでとう！これでコロシアイゲームは終了だよ！

Congratulations! With this, the killing game is now over!

SAIHARA: お、王馬…くん？

O, Ouma-…kun?

OUMA: 大丈夫？しっかりしてよ？こんな所で死んだらシャレにならないよ？人類にとっての貴重な命なんだからさ。さて、お楽しみはこれからだよ。ようやく、ネタばらしタイムの始まりなんだからさ。

Are you okay? Hang in there, alright? It’d be way too ironic if you died in a place like this, you know? After all, you’re all the precious remainders of mankind.  Anyway, the real fun stuff starts now. It’s finally time for me to start breaking out the big spoilers.

SAIHARA (THINKING): 僕はまだぼんやりしたままの頭を大きく左右に振ると…グラグラと揺れる地面に両足をつけて、なんとか立ち上がった。と、同時に…

Still feeling dizzy, I shook my head from left to right… Wobbling a little, I somehow managed to move my legs and climb to my feet. And, at the same time…

SHIROGANE: ううっ…い、今の…なんなの？

Uu… Wh, What was…that just now?

YUMENO: ど、どういう事じゃ？あの扉の…向こうにあったのは…

Wh, What’s going on? The stuff that…was on the other side of that door…

MOMOTA: ここは…一体どこなんだ！？な、何が…どうなってやがんた？

Where…the fuck is this place!? Wh, What…the hell is going on?

OUMA: おはよう、みんな！気分はどう？もちろん最悪だよね？

Good morning, everyone! How are you all feeling? Oh, but I bet you’re just feeling the worst, right?

そりゃそうだよねー！”外の世界の真実”を知っちゃったんだもんねー！今のを見てわかったろ？オマエラが望む”外の世界”なんてどこにもないんだよ。

Well, of course you aaare! After all, now you know aaall about “the truth of the outside world”! You understand after seeing it now, right? The “outside world” you all want so badly doesn’t exist anywhere.

HARUKAWA: どこにもないって…どうい��意味？

It “doesn’t exist”… What do you mean?

OUMA: 知りたい？だったら教えてあげる。ただし、オレも嘘をつくのに飽きちゃったから、ここからは本当の事しか喋らないよ？あのね…すべての発端は、空から降って来た”あの絶望”からなんだ。

Wanna know? Well in that case, I’ll tell you. But just so you know, I got bored of telling nothing but lies, so from this point on I’m speaking nothing but the truth, okay? Anyway… Everything began when “that despair” fell straight from the sky.

地球に降り注ぐ無数の隕石群…もはや、その衝突を避ける事はできず、地球の滅亡は避けられないと知った各国政府は、 せめて、人類の滅亡だけは防ごうと…”ある計画”の実施を決定したんだ。

Countless meteorites kept crashing into Earth… With so many unavoidable collisions, the government decided that even if the Earth’s destruction was unavoidable, they could at least try to prevent the destruction of mankind… So they decided to implement “a certain plan.”

それが”ゴフェル計画”なんだよ。選ばれた優秀な人間を宇宙船に乗せ、滅びゆく地球から脱出させて…新たに人類が生存可能な星を見つける、そこで人類の種の保存を行う計画…つまり”ゴフェル計画”とは、人類を救う為の計画じゃなくて…あくまで”人類の種の保存”を目的とした計画なんだ。そして、そんな”ゴフェル計画”に選ばれたのは、若くて才能あふれる16人の優秀な高校生達だった。

That was the “Gopher Plan.” The plan was to select a number of excellent human beings, put them on a spaceship, and have them escape from Earth before it was destroyed… Then they would seek out some planet* where life was sustainable and from there, work to “preserve the species of mankind”… In other words, the “Gopher Plan” was never a plan to save all of humanity… It was a plan to preserve the last vestiges of the human race to the very end. And the ones selected for that “Gopher Plan” were 16 young, talented, upstanding high school students.

(*Translator’s Note: Quite literally, Ouma says “star” instead of “planet” here, but the meaning is clearly implied, so I changed it. Quit trying to launch yourself into the sun, Ouma.)

”超高校級”と呼ばれる16人が、新世界のアダムとイブとして選ばれたんだよ。でも、16人は揃ってそれを辞退しようとした。まぁ、当たり前だよね…家族や友人や知っている人がすべて死ぬのに、自分だけが生きなくちゃいけないなんて…むしろ、そっちの方が地獄だもんね。そこで、16人は計画から逃げる事にしたんだ。自分の記憶を消す事で”超高校級”の才能を捨て、普通の高校生になろうとしたんだよ。ただ、ちょうどその頃だった。ある過激なカルト集団が台頭してきたんだ。

Those 16 high school students, who were called “Super High School Level”s, were selected as the Adams and Eves of the new world. But the 16 of them tried to decline the offer altogether. Well, it’s obvious why they wouldn’t want to do it… Having to go on living yourself, even though all your family, friends, and everyone you ever knew are all dead… On the contrary, that just sounds like hell.

So then, the 16 of them decided to try and escape from the plan. By erasing their own memories, they decided to abandon their “Super High School Level” talents, and tried to live their lives as ordinary high school students. However, it was just around that time. An extremist cult began to come into power.

終末思想を掲げる彼らは、隕石の墜落は人類が受けるべき罰だと考えていた。そして、”ゴフェル計画”を知った彼らは、その計画を阻止しようと企んだんだ…

Obsessed with the idea of “the end,” they believed that the meteor crashes were a punishment humanity had brought upon itself, and thought that mankind should receive that punishment. And they, who knew about the “Gopher Plan,” decided to try to put a stop to it…

そこから始まったのが…”超高校級狩り”なんだよ。”超高校級狩り”は、世間をも巻き込んで、逃げた16人は次第に追い詰められていった。そこで、”ゴフェル計画”を実施する組織は、その状況に対抗する為に…

As a result…the “Super High School Level Hunt” began. That “Super High School Level Hunt” began to encompass the entire world, and the 16 students who had tried to run away were gradually cornered. And so the organization that had tried to implement the “Gopher Plan” in the first place tried to counter that situation…

「16人は全員死亡した」って、でっち上げの嘘の情報を流したんだ。それが、オレらが思い出した葬式の記憶って訳だね。そうやって、”超高校級狩り”を沈静化させつつ、隠れた16人を保護する事に成功し…遂に”ゴフェル計画”は実行に移されたんだよ。

They began spreading false information, saying that “all 16 students had died.” That’s what that funeral we remembered was all about. By doing so, they managed to calm down the “Super High School Level Hunt” while providing protection to those 16 students… And finally, they were able to put the “Gopher Plan” into action.

そして、16人を乗せたゴフェル号の打ち上げは成功し、地球に隕石群が降り注ぐ中…16人の”超高校級”は、”人類最後の生き残り”として、宇宙へと旅立っていったんだ。そのゴフェル号こそが…この才囚学園の正体なんだよ！

And so, the Gopher Spaceship succeeded in launching with all 16 students aboard, as the meteorites continued to rain down incessantly on Earth… And the 16 students set off into space, as “the last survivors of mankind.” That Gopher Spaceship itself…is the true identity of this Saishuu Academy!

実は、この”才囚学園”は、巨大な宇宙船コロニーだったんだ。

The truth is, this “School for Gifted Inmates*”  is actually a huge spaceship colony.

(* T/N: This is, of course, the literal translation for “Saishuu Academy,” and since he’s putting emphasis, I added it this time. But it sounds a little boggled down to keep using it in place of “Saishuu Academy in every line, so this time was just a special case.)

KIIBO: こ、この学園が丸ごと…大きな宇宙船？

Th, The whole school is…a huge spaceship?

YUMENO: な、何を言っておるんじゃ…？

Ju, Just what are you saying…?

MOMOTA: そんな話を信じろってのか！？

Are you tellin’ us to believe a story like that!?

OUMA: おっと、話はまだ終わりじゃないよ。ところでさ、不思議だと思わない？人類の希望を背負って出発したはずのゴフェル号で、どうしてコロシアイが起きたんだろうね？実は…”ゴフェル計画”を実施した組織は、大変な見落としをしていたんだ。”人類の最後の生き残り”として選んだ16人の中に、とんでもないヤツが紛れ込んでいた事を寝。 ”ゴフェル計画”を潰そうとしていたカルト集団のリーダーだよ。そして”人類最後の16人”の中に紛れ込んだそいつは、高性能なロボットを宇宙船に仕込んでおいたんだ…そう、モノクマだよ。本来、計画に選ばれた乗組員16人はコールドスリープ状態にされて…宇宙船が相応しい星を見つけたところで、そのコールドスリープは解除される予定だったんだけ��…モノクマはゴフェル号を勝手に操作して、船を”滅びた後の地球”に戻してしまったんだ。そこで、別の惑星で目覚めるはずだった16人をコールドスリープから目覚めさせてしまって…今に至るって訳だね。

Hey now, the story’s not over just yet. And by the way, don’t you think it’s strange? Even though the Gopher Spaceship was supposed to set out bearing the hope of all humanity, I wonder why a killing game happened, don’t you? Well see, the truth is, that organization that carried out the “Gopher Plan”… It turns out they overlooked something really big. They overlooked the fact that someone unbelievable had slipped their way in among those 16 students selected as “the last survivors of mankind.”

That person was the leader of the cult group that was trying to crush the “Gopher Plan.” And while that person stayed hidden among the “last 16 survivors of mankind,” they kept a high-performance robot stashed away on the spaceship… That’s right, I’m talking about Monokuma. Originally, the 16 “crew members” selected for the plan were supposed to be put into a state of cold sleep…and when the spaceship found a suitable planet, they were supposed to be woken up from that cold sleep, but… Monokuma began piloting the Gopher Spaceship on his own, and returned it to “the Earth after its destruction.”

さっきキミらが見た光景…あれが今の地球なんだよ。 キミらがコールドスリープしている間に、数百年が経過した後の地球…隕石群によってすっかり滅んで、酸素もなくなって、生物もいなくなった地球…キミらが知る街も、キミらが知る人も、どこにも存在していない地球…それが…”外の世界の真実”なんだよ。つまり、オマエラには帰る場所なんてもうないんだ。だから外に出ても無意味なんだよ。だって、”外の世界”なんて、もう存在してないんだもーーーん！ 地球も人類はとっくに滅びちゃったんだよ。才囚学園に残っていた”人類最後の16人”以外はね。…って、今はもう7人になっちゃったけど。

That scene you all witnessed earlier…that’s the Earth as it looks now. That’s the Earth, hundreds of years after you all were put into a cold sleep… That’s the Earth, completely demolished by meteorites, devoid of oxygen, devoid of all living things… That’s the Earth, where all the cities you knew, and the people you knew, they no longer exist anywhere at all… That’s “the truth of the outside world.”

In other words, there’s nowhere at all for you to go back to. That’s why it’s pointless for you to go outside. After all, “the outside world” just doesn’t exist anymore———! Earth and all of humanity both died out a long time ago. Except for “the last 16 survivors of mankind” inside this Saishuu Academy, that is. …Ah, but of course, we’re down to just 7 survivors by now.

YUMENO: う、嘘じゃ！絶対に…嘘じゃ！

Y, You’re lying! You’re definitely…lying!

OUMA: だから、もう嘘なんてつかないって。嘘には飽きたって言ったでしょ？という訳で、素直に告白するけど、さっく言ったカルト集団のリーダーってオレなんだよね。だから…この宇宙船にモノクマを忍び込ませて、オマエラにコロシアイをさせた”首謀者”って…

Come on, I already told you I’m through with lying. I told you all I got bored of lying, right? Anyway, with that said, I’m just going to come clean and say it: I’m the cult leader that I was talking about just now.  So now you know…the one who stashed Monokuma away aboard this spaceship…and the “ringleader” who forced you all into this killing game…

オレなのでしたー！

It was me—!

With this, we reach a good cliffhanger to leave off on, and roughly the midway point of Ouma’s Grand Villain Routine, Redux Edition.

While this scene clearly is meant to make both the characters and players sit back, take a deep breath, and go “What the actual fuck, Ouma,” on a first playthrough, a little critical thinking shows that this is clearly not something anyone should be buying. After all, what kind of mastermind reveal comes around as early as Chapter 4/midway through Chapter 5?

ne0dym was right to bring up the “red truth” reference, because this scene is chock full of that. There are roughly two points on which we can say definitively that Ouma is lying, looking at later reveals in Chapter 6. Those two points are as follows: 1.) he’s clearly not the ringleader/mastermind, and we know this, so calling himself one is a blatant, super transparent attempt to wrest control of the game from the real mastermind, and 2.) he clearly knows about the game being broadcast, so while he doubtless believes the world was screwed over, he clearly doesn’t actually think that all of humanity has been wiped out.

As for the other reveals he breaks out, he wields these as the “single unchanging truth” he’s mentioned time and time again, in order to crush the rest of the group’s desire to get outside the school. The reason for that, as I’ve explained in other posts, is because that desire to get back to the outside world is itself responsible for keeping the killing game continuing. As long as they believe there are people and places waiting for them outside, the characters have shown time and time again that they’re willing to cross the line and attempt to kill in order to get out.

And Ouma is tired of it. He’s very, very sarcastic in this whole conversation, and more than a little resentful, and it’s because even though time and time again he said in Chapter 4 that he didn’t want the rest of the group to know abou the outside world because it was horrible, they kept doubting him.

Even though it was a truth so horrible and so painful as to make pretty much anyone give up on wanting to live immediately, no questions asked, everyone kept assuming it couldn’t possibly be that bad and that the outside world was probably fine, and his response in Chapter 5 is to finally come down on them with an iron fist, because he’s tired of them all giving in and killing people for the sake of trying to get out to this messed-up, destroyed world that he saw for himself all the way back at the beginning of Chapter 4.

This “grand reveal” is Ouma’s first big attempt at really showing where he stand against the real mastermind. Here, he quite literally takes a gameboard that was never his to start with, yanks it out of the mastermind’s hands, and goes, “it’s mine now, game’s over.” He tries to force the game to grind to a literal halt by destroying everyone else’s motivation for getting to the outside world–and therefore, their motivation for killing.

And this plan actually works. It’s cruel, and it leaves the other characters shocked and devastated, but it works. It’s not until the mastermind comes up with their own fantastic counterplan to snatch their gameboard back that things really get set in motion, and Ouma’s willingness to set himself up as a villain to be loathed really backfires on him.

Anyway, this was tremendous fun to translate, and I hope everyone enjoyed it! ne0dym has been an absolute lifesaver with these transcription projects, so please appreciate the hard work they’ve been doing by reblogging or liking this if any of you have a chance!