#it's so interesting thinking abt. the in-universe switch from video games to real life broadcasts

[strawberrysweater]

something i've thought about for a million billion hours even though it's probably not even this deep i just like danganronpa ok

i love how kaede shuichi and kiibo are all protagonists of v3 in their own ways: shuichi is the protagonist to the player, kiibo is the in-universe protagonist, and kaede is sort of... a protagonist only to herself. she tells us when we meet her and she wavers between being an in-universe protagonist and also just a plot twist device to the player. dr does this thing where every game has Character Archetypes and i like that "protagonist" is a role so strong that it has a defining physical trait (the ahoge) to the point that like. toko gains an ahoge in udg because she steps into that role. kaede shuichi and kiibo all have one. shuichi's is hidden under his hat only for him to reveal it after kaede dies and passes the role onto him. kiibo's is literally an antenna that i assume lets him receive wireless communication from audience surveys or whatever so it LITERALLY makes him a protagonist, it physically lets him fill that role. it's funny

AND i like the way they all deal with their protagonist roles - kaede and kiibo both do something that pushes them out of the role and breaks their narrative constraints, and it gets them killed and it falls to shuichi both times, someone who was never meant to have it in the first place. and THAT'S why he was able to end danganronpa for good because he's not tied down by the battle between hope and despair that every protagonist has had to go through (this is literally spelled out in the sixth trial you guys already know). i just love that theme of breaking everything and refusing to play a part, making your own meaning out of it, the importance of fiction and also of autonomy, etc. as soon as shuichi becomes the protagonist, the breaking down of the narrative is set in motion, and it culminates in the fourth wall being literally shattered. v3 is all about the reality inside the tv show, and i feel like anyone who steps out of their predestined role is able to see it, to feel it, even just a little...

like we have these two characters who are obviously protagonists who both act in their roles perfectly (kaede leading the group and wanting everyone to be friends and escape together without killing, kiibo listening to the audience and showing them the game and following hope) UNTIL they do something they weren't meant to do. a protagonist has never orchestrated a killing before. as soon as kaede started planning it, even if she ultimately failed at killing the mastermind or killing anyone at all, she was no longer a protagonist, because danganronpa protagonists don't kill

and because of kaito's execution, led up to from his and kokichi's last big fuck you to the narrative and the mastermind, kiibo is totally disconnected from his purpose and can do what he was never meant to do either. a protagonist is supposed to play along and win in the name of hope over despair (like how he acts as soon as he gets his connection to the audience back), not just indiscriminately destroy everything to bring the killing game down. he becomes a total wild card who breaks the fictional world apart, pulls aside the curtain, lets shuichi find out the flashback lights were fake, destroys the physical fourth wall for good, etc. and speaking of breaking the fictional world, when kaede "passes on her role" she literally causes the neon-lit-up trial UI to shut off and shuichi turns it back on again. a fantastic visual that has not left my brain. we love a kaede kiibo breaking the fiction parallel

tldr in both of these instances, kaede and kiibo stop being protagonists (in danganronpa's very distinct specific terms) and the role falls to shuichi, someone who was never meant to have it. and because of that, this danganronpa collapses in on itself. i think that's sick as hell