#it's a toss up between chihiro mondo and sakura

[whattheskyknows]

After 10 trillions years I have finally sat down and played the first Danganronpa. Gotta say I actually enjoyed it a lot more than I anticipated!

[charlietheepicwriter7]

Hey, it’s me again- Danganronpa AU anon... 3H Anon? I’ll call myself 3H for now, it’s simpler. Hope you don’t mind me responding!

Anyways, that’s. Fair- I’ll admit I tend to charge ahead without thinking, so I hadn’t quite considered the ramifications of so many characters... [eyes Teruteru, Hiyoko, and Korekiyo] I could always toss the unnecessary baggage, I guess. And switching POVs also isn’t a bad idea!

Oh yeah that’s definitely something I have to think more about, don’t worry! I’m torn between “the Mastermind arranged it beforehand” and “the Mastermind uses innocent their attempts to organize before the Killing Game was announced against them,” but I’m indecisive so I’m not quite solid yet, ahaha. But! Having the leaders being the ones voting is a good idea, definitely clears up having so many votes- And it adds some potential for guilt because what if they have to vote off one of their own? Though that begs the question of if the murderers are told they can escape with the rest of their group or their leader or something like that- Either way, Kaede and Makoto and Hajime wouldn’t stand for that, but it’s logistics I have yet to really work out (in my defense, Killing Games can already be pretty complicated).

As for timespan- I’m torn. On the one hand, a quicker, murder-a-week scenario would keep with the pace of the games, but on the other hand, a more drawn out game would allow feelings of unease to fester... Hm. Of course, I could also see it being both, depending on how Monokuma does things and who the motives are targeting.

Speaking of motives, but for the game itself- Not sure yet, in all honesty! I’m kinda leaning towards an outside force being the Mastermind, with a spy or two on the inside, but that leaves the question of why... Which, I’ve always thought the NDRV3 plot twist of “it’s a TV show” had more potential than they used- Maybe something based on that? Like, rich people are paying and setting it up? Or it could take a page from SDR2 and use VR... Maybe both? I’m very unsure, I haven’t gotten super far in planning yet- It’s a lot of baseline stuff, but nothing concrete.

As for the teams... For starters, I’m not sure who the Mastermind is quiiite yet. I’ll figure it out eventually, though. Probably not Junko though, because the idea of her still being obsessed with Despair, but not As Much, is interesting to me.

Yeah, that was kinda the thought process in regards to Nagito- If he’s given the ability to choose, he’d go for someone with a “real” talent (since it’s established he doesn’t think of luck as one).

That makes sense for Byakuya! He’s be more taken with someone who stands up to him, and Makoto is... Ah, not that- At least not at first. I’ll probably stick him with Kaede, in that case, because I feel like their interactions would be the most interesting.

Hmmm that makes sense for Fuyuhiko! I hadn’t actually thought about that resemblance, good point... Which, maybe that plays into a starcrossed lovers thing, like you mentioned? Peko could be somewhere else, and god knows that’d devastate them both.

That’s. A good point, Mikan would work best with someone not as pushy as the other two leaders- If nothing else, Makoto reminds me of a cream puff, and it’s hard to find that intimidating.

Thanks for responding to my last message, by the by! I appreciate the feedback (also, bold of you to assume I'm capable of writing).

Sorry for answering so late, 3H-san!

It’s understandable that you want to cut people from the cast, but once you do, you then have to justify it. I don’t like canon Kiyo that much, but he’s someone’s fav and they’re going to ask why he was cut. You’re going to need a satisfying narrative answer for those types of people or risk losing their readership. (the only real solution I’ve thought of is something similar to the beginning of ndrv3 where everyone is chased to the gym, only this time certain people don’t make it and get killed. This would allow some bonding by trauma, allow the hopes to save certain people and kickstart there yan parts of their dere, AND get rid of certain people) (tho I do suggest keeping Kiyo, he’s good for the drama)

(for a mastermind idea, what if it was kirigiri’s dad? there’s no tragedy in this verse so he could totally be a villain)

Timespan wise, keep in mind that the longer the game goes on, the more likely it would be for some type of law enforcement to find them. Or for one of their loved ones to break them out.

More characters!

I’m assuming that each team needs 5 from each class (assuming that ur still into the whole 48 people killing game).

Kaede’s team:

Tenko should go to Kaede, since tenko would never willingly take orders from a man. She’d probably drag Himiko over too (making five class 79 characters). For class 77 (u mixed up the order, 77 are Ultimate Despair), I stand by Fuyuhiko, but Sonia and Gundam would make for good members. Maybe Sonia remembers Kaede from when she played piano for her dad? And while teruteru would try to be on her team, Ibuki would get there before him. For class 78, Chihiro would be a good fit, he would feel more comfortable with a female leader. Add in Byakuya, and I think the last space here should be taken by Celeste, she would make for a wonderful possessive yandere (plus she could play off Kokichi).

Makoto team: 78: Since everything else is filled in with Naegi’s harem, he can have yamada and suffer (also, can you really see Hajime or Kaede putting up with him?) 79: Keebo, bc cinnamon rolls stick together. Maki, bc I’m trying to put at least one high key protector character on each team. Gonta, see Keebo’s explanation. and Ryoma, bc depression. 77: Soda, bc like the protector characters, having one inventor type keeps things balanced. And Hiyoko, since Koizumi can deal with her.

Hajime’s team: 77: filling in the rest, teruteru, peko, akane, and nekomaru (only now do i realize how many fighters are on Hajime’s team, damn. but he also has many problem people, so... 78: Aoi, Sakura, Mondo 79: Miu, Kaito.

these are just ideas, mind you.

[honhonluigi]

Hina x Sakura, Mondo x Chihiro, Mondo x Ishimaru, Ibuki and Ultimate Imposter, Gundham x Sonia, Hajime x Nagito x Chiaki, Kaede x Rantaro,

Ooh, okay! I got some opinions about these. I’ll use the same 0-10 rating. 

Hina x Sakura - 10. A more perfect, more beautiful couple does not exist. They were so in love, and it was so wholesome. They protected each other so much. That was all they tried to do. Fuuuck, I love those god damn lesbians. 

Mondo x Chihiro - 8. This one is also super duper cute. Chihiro has such a crush on him, and he can help teach her to be stronger! Plus he tried to keep her secret out of respect for her, even after she was dead. It was a very cute friendship, the sweet innocent person with the big bad biker dude. (I hc Chihiro as a trans girl, that’s why I use she/her. I’m not trying to purposefully misgender anybody. But also, I’m totally fine with other headcanons about her gender.) 

Mondo x Kiyotaka - 9. Whoops. I like their ship more than I like either of them as characters. They were sooo in love. The sauna scene fucking cracked me up, and Kiyotaka was so devastated when Mondo died. Plus it’s literally both enemies-to-lovers AND my all time fav “we’re best friends but totally not gay...unless...” trope. 

Ibuki x Impostor - 7. I think there’s definitely some good potential here. It’s not one of my favorites, but I ship it. Ibuki really likes him and it’d be cute to see him try and parent her. Their interactions were cute. 

Gundham x Sonia - 2. Shoot me. I hate this one. It comes out of nowhere and feels really forced. Gundham and Sonia never talk until suddenly they’re in love, and they have absolutely nothing in common except that she likes his hamsters. Their interactions are forced and stale. When Sonia is the only one to understand what he’s saying, it comes across as forced and silly instead of cute or sweet. It feels like they only shoved this ship in there to be ‘unexpected’ and to make fun of Kazuichi, so it’s badly written as fuck. It’s like a crack ship, and I don’t like it. I don’t like Gundham as a character and Sonia is one of my favorites, so of course I don’t want her with him. There’s no chemistry between them and nothing tying them together. Like I said, they weren’t even friends until suddenly they were in love. 

Hajime x Chiaki x Nagito - 0. In my opinion, one of the worst ships in the series. I hate this one so much. It feels like such a fucking copout. You want to ship Hinanami, but you don’t want to be seen as homophobic, so you just toss Nagito in there. Or on the other hand, you just want to ship your fanfavorite Chiaki with the two hottest, most popular guys. Even though these three have no dynamic. They are not friends with each other. They don’t hang out. They don’t interact as a group. There is no real reason to ship them as a triad except that you don’t want to leave one of the fan favorites out, so you stuff them in. The dynamic would not work. Nagito would just feel left out the entire time. Also, I already hate Hajime x Chiaki and Nagito x Chiaki, so of course I would hate the combination of them all. There’s just no reason at all to ship the three of them together, unless it’s a copout to give Chiaki a lot of attention or to ship your three favorites together. Because they’re not a group dynamic, they’re not friends with each other, and they don’t interact as a group either. There’s no reason to look at these three specific random characters who never talk to each other and think ‘I’ll ship them’ unless you’re doing it because they’re the 3 most popular. They are not a group. 

Kaede x Rantaro - 7. Listen, I think this one works, and I think it’s cute. They have really great chemistry in the first chapter. They both show interest in each other as people and kind of make friends. Their interactions are cute and I could see a lot of potential. Plus, Rantaro and Kaede weren’t around for very long, and so they are pretty much the only person the other one frequently talked to (except for Shuichi and Miu), so I headcanon them as good friends. They both want the best for everyone else and are willing to do questionable things to get it. You can tell Rantaro was impressed with Kaede in chapter 1. 

[oumakokichi]

We know Saihara's favorite character was Kirigiri and Shirogane was Junko, but have you tried to guess who the rest of the cast's favs were based on how they built their own characters?

This is a really fun ask that I’ve had sitting here for a while now, because it’s really, really interesting to think about.

Most of what I have is just speculation of course, and personal feelings about which characters they must have liked based on similarities, so I’ll try my best! You already mentioned Saihara and Tsumugi, and both of those are on-point obviously, so I’ll just handle all the other characters.

One of the easiest to go with is Kaede. Sayaka Kanda has already admitted that she was told Kaede is extremely similar to Asahina, and I can really see it. The cheerfulness, the go-getting attitude—even the willingness to do very questionable things, when push comes to shove. Kaede’s decision to kill the ringleader is no less risky and dangerous than Asahina’s attempt to get the entire group killed in dr1 Chapter 4.

I think Asahina’s optimism and very strong belief in people, especially people like Sakura, is probably part of what Kaede wanted to imitate when joining the game. Basically, “I want to be that character but put into a more focal role as a protagonist and a leader.”

Amami is a little harder to tell. There are the obvious similarities in his sprites to Komaeda, but he’s really nothing like Komaeda personality-wise, and since he doesn’t know or remember much about himself outside of prison mode, we have to assume he probably only got to audition about the kind of character he wanted to play for the 52nd killing game season, not ndrv3.

Given his mysterious nature and big sibling status though, as well as their bonus mode interaction, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had used Mukuro as a sort of inspiration. Both of them travel quite a lot due to the nature of their talents (Mukuro as a soldier, Amami as an adventurer), both of them are highly protective of their siblings, and both of them act rather laid back around the rest of the group. Using Mukuro as his inspiration would also make the fact that he dies so early even more hilarious, especially since it was all because of plans the ringleader made behind the scenes.

Himiko and Hoshi I can ironically see as both having taken some inspiration from Gundam. Both of them certainly have a bad case of chuunibyou, to some degree, and while Himiko probably adored the very occult and mystical element about Gundam, Hoshi seems to have quite a lot in common with Gundam in that both of them largely prefer to remain loners, but definitely care for the well-being of the group. Either way, I’m just glad that he seems to have nothing in common with previous “joke characters” like Yamada or Teruteru.

I can also see Himiko having taken some inspiration from Maizono, weird though that might sound. We don’t see a whole lot of stage performers or entertainers in the DR franchise, but like Himiko, Maizono is someone who works tirelessly for her craft and constantly avoids confronting her true emotions about things. They don’t have a particular lot in common personality-wise, but it’s true that Tenko does bring up the fact that idols and “mages” are somewhat similar in her FTEs. So it would actually be cute if Maizono had been something of an inspiration.

Maki could go so many different ways. The most likely ones are Peko and Togami—Peko for her selfless dedication to protecting another character, as well as her terrifying willingness to kill for it, and Togami due to his unpleasant aloofness from the rest of the group, especially in the earlier parts of dr1. If dr3 counts, then throw Juzo in as well, since he’s also similarly reckless and violent. Given the whole cosplaying convention part of her backstory and her own handy skills with swords and knives, I’m going to guess Peko was probably the biggest inspiration out of all three, though.

Kiibo is a hard one to guess, mostly because we know very little about him from a pre-game perspective. If he was created by Team DR from scratch as Tsumugi says, then he wouldn’t have gotten any kind of audition. If he wasn’t (and he certainly does look different from that one glimpse we see of him in the prologue), then it’s possible he did audition like the rest of the group but was simply picked to play the part of audience proxy because he already looked physically similar to Naegi.

He and Naegi are the exact same height, after all, with similar voices and a similar hairstyle. If you assume the audience wanted to connect with someone who could “embody” what DR is all about, then it would make sense if they intentionally chose someone out of the group who looked the most like Naegi, and gave them that “inner voice” of “hope” for that exact purpose. But this is, of course, highly speculative, since again, Kiibo doesn’t even get a single speaking line in the prologue and it’s very hard to determine how much of what Tsumugi said about him was true or not.

Korekiyo is another hard one to judge, and it’s hardly a fair comparison at all, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Saionji was something of an inspiration, at least aesthetically. The bonus mode interaction between them shows that while they aren’t compatible at all personality-wise (he doesn’t even think she’s suitable to “become friends” with his sister), Saionji’s strict upbringing and knowledge about traditional Japanese dancing still interested Korekiyo quite a lot.

We don’t see a lot of DR characters with this super traditional, super formal background; I don’t doubt Saionji and her family would fall right into Korekiyo’s field of study, considering how much dance is a part of culture. So it’s hard to judge if there is any other character who Korekiyo might have based himself on (I certainly hope he didn’t ask to be so horrible on the show, but you never know), but he and Saionji exhibit the most similarities in terms of design and background.

Tenko is a pretty easy one to compare with—she’s extremely similar to Sakura. Her talent as a Neo Aikido master parallels Sakura’s martial artist talent pretty obviously, just like her role as a protector figure for Himiko parallels Sakura’s role in protecting Asahina. If anything, Tenko strikes me as having taken inspiration from the both of them. She has Asahina’s love for food (and never goes quite as wild over food as Akane, for instance) and upbeat personality, as well as the refusal to run or hide from her emotions. I kind of half-wonder if Tenko didn’t specifically go and ask to be some kind of Asahina/Sakura fusion on the show.

Gonta is… a little trickier, but I’m almost inclined to bring Gundam up again. The obvious choices would seem to be Nidai or Sakura, considering “big bara protector figure,” sure, but Gundam seems to fit a lot more with Gonta’s desire to be a “true gentleman.” Both of them die as the Chapter 4 culprits as well, and both have a very open fondness for animals. Gonta isn’t nearly as sure of himself as Nidai or Sakura are either, so I really am inclined to say Gundam is the better fit.

Kirumi’s sort of a toss-up. Both her gothic sense of fashion and her mid-trial breakdown suggest Celes as an inspiration, but she’s also far smarter than Celes and less selfishly motivated. She seems very much like someone who might have appreciated Celes’ design and aesthetic as a character, but not her motivations (or lack thereof).

If DR: Kirigiri counts as a source of inspiration, then Uozumi would seem like the obvious pick. As another maid-who-isn’t-really-a-maid, and who has a similarly serious personality, I could really see Kirumi having liked her a lot. Maybe she wanted to embody a character like that on the show, since Uozumi is only limited to light novel materials.

Angie is… another interesting toss-up. She’s somewhat similar to Mikan—she hardly puts on an act of clumsy helplessness, but it’s true that she does downplay how cutthroat and cunning she can be, and her seeming ditziness or airheadedness as a foreigner helps to mask a lot of that. Like Mikan, Angie very much enjoys having people under her who she perceives as “weak targets.”

Unlike Mikan though, she takes it up a notch, particularly seeking anyone who seems easy to take into her cult, who will do anything she wants them to. And it’s also true that unlike Mikan, we don’t see Angie demonstrate any actual willingness to kill, since she mostly seems to just be interested in self-preservation.

I’m just going to assume Mikan was a general reference for Angie because there aren’t really a lot of others who fit. Considering the racist undertones of Angie’s entire religion and home island though, that’s probably a good thing.

As for Miu, the obvious choice for loud and brash inspiration would be Ibuki, although Miu amped up the crassness a whole lot. I could also see Souda as being one of her favorites. Both of them like to talk big but are quite insecure under the surface, and want attention from other people quite a lot, even to the point of being annoyingly persistent. Souda’s mechanic talent also parallels Miu’s inventor one quite a lot, so I could see him having been her favorite character.

It’s even possible that there were plenty of mechanics or people with a similar title on the show before, but no outright inventors. Maybe Miu asked for the inventor talent for the first time specifically, which would explain why her talent blindsided the ringleader so much—they had no idea what kinds of things she’d actually be capable of creating.

Then there’s Momota. Between his audition video, his violent streak, and his talk about “promises between men,” Mondo is most likely the biggest inspiration. Like Mondo, Momota also has something of an inferiority complex and a need to prove himself as a result—his jealousy of Saihara in Chapter 4 brings to mind Mondo’s jealousy, both of Daiya and of Chihiro. I could see Mondo’s entire backstory and unfulfilled promises having resonated with Momota. The ridiculous hairstyle might also have been something of an inspiration, too.

Momota is someone extremely concerned with appearing “masculine enough” and “proving himself,” so I can’t see him having found much inspiration in any character who didn’t appear “strong,” “tough,” or “manly.” That leaves Mondo as pretty much the only option.

Finally, we have Ouma. My favorite headcanon of all time is still “Ouma hated Danganronpa and everything about it and wanted the godforsaken show to end”—which I think might be a very real possibility if he entered wanting to end the killing game from the start. But given how timid and upset he looks in the brief glimpse we get of him in the prologue, it’s also very possible that Ouma asked for one particular kind of role or talent, and was given something very different from what he asked for, just like Saihara.

I’ve always thought it possible that if Ouma had to pick any character as his favorite from the DR series, he would’ve really liked Nanami. It would explain the many, many similarities between their sprites and designs, as well as the ways in which their roles parallel each other. Assuming Ouma might have asked for some kind of role similar to Nanami’s, I could easily see the ringleader having felt it would be a much better twist if he just looked cute and innocent, but was actually an “evil Supreme Leader,” and a liar.

Either way, given everything that happens in canon and what we know about Ouma’s distaste for killing and death, he hardly strikes me as a Junko fanboy. The whole game is spent framing him as one, so it really would be the perfect kind of subversion if he’d looked up to a much more peaceful kind of character like Nanami instead.

Anyway, this got really long, but I’m glad I could finally answer it. It was a really fun ask, Comun, and gave me a lot of food for thought! Thanks for asking it!