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pyropsychiccollector · 2 years ago

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Class 80-A Bios

I did these up a while ago, too. Figured with Vergilsama92 properly introducing them, I should get around to posting these~

Ayumu Fujimori

The 80th year of Hope’s Peak Academy brings with it the winds of change. The “Izuru Kamukura Project” starts and stops with Hajime Hinata, and that means Jin Kirigiri has some wiggle room to make some reforms. The first of which is the abolishment of the “Ultimate Lucky Student” drawing. For the 80th Class of Hope’s Peak, there won’t be a Luckster. Not one that they handpicked from a lottery. … Enter Ayumu Fujimori. The Ultimate Unlucky Student. Her existence was uncovered through their own Nagito Komaeda, during his Graduation Exam. A girl that was the personification of bad luck, even moreso than their resident Makoto Naegi, who referred to himself as the “Unluckster”, and Nagito, who was known for both good AND bad luck. It had honestly been just a twist of fate that they discovered Ayumu Fujimori at all. But after Koichi Kizakura did some digging, they came to find out this girl was everything that the local tall tales and rumors claimed and more. By the time she was 5 years old, Ayumu had experienced 13 different accidents that almost brought about her death. Her baby stroller rolling into ongoing traffic, falling out the window of a seven-story building as a toddler, being taken hostage by a grocery store thief and ending up in a car crash with him… She survived all of this and so much more, but the bad luck just kept on coming. She could never catch a break with chores, or school tests, or even making friends… These were all “rumors” circulated by the community that Ayumu grew up in, but they proved to be very real. The worst part was that Ayumu’s father took advantage of his daughter once his wife passed away due to this same rotten luck. If Ayumu was going to make his life a living Hell, take away what he held dear, then the least she could do was make his political career take off by wreaking havoc on his rivals’ families – it wasn’t a rare occurrence for Ayumu’s father to send her away to “sleepovers” at “friends’” houses during campaign season. In fact, a system became established where Ayumu NEEDED to spend time with other families as much as possible; first it was just Ayumu’s father “getting over” the grief of losing his wife. But he soon enough spat out excuse after excuse after excuse, and the community just ate up the lies. As Ayumu’s bad luck became more widely known and recognized, there were rumors that her father was even just trying to save his own skin, considering the accidental nature of his wife’s death. His rivals never pieced it together he was using Ayumu to destroy their campaigns and lives; they simply tried to take Ayumu in as “Samaritans” and paint themselves in a good light.

… But the bad luck just kept on coming. The people that Ayumu stayed with often turned abusive once they figured out she was to blame for random incidents in their lives. In public, they would treat her decently – just so authorities wouldn’t be any the wiser. But it became accepted by the community that SOMEONE needed to pay for all their woes, and if Ayumu’s father couldn’t be bothered then they would take it out on his kid. The one responsible for all the bad luck in the first place. As such, Ayumu grew up to be very feeble and accepting of what others would do to her. She hated her rotten luck as much as everyone else did, but she was powerless to do anything on her own; no one stooped to help her – not without eventually venting on her for any inconvenience she caused them. And as long as her father “wanted” her to come back home someday, it’s not as if the community could let Ayumu commit suicide – so eventually they let up on the abuse and showered her with sporadic acts of charity and “kindness” that would keep Ayumu from considering such dark thoughts. If Ayumu died on them, then they couldn’t use her as a scapegoat anymore; so the community’s approach became very much “poisoned carrot and stick”. But it worked – Ayumu never considered suicide. She just lived a miserable, lonely existence where she was the butt of everyone’s joke. Once Koichi delivered his findings to Jin, they hatched a plan to recruit this girl to Hope’s Peak – not for the purpose of studying her bad luck, but for the purpose of trying to save her. Or at least giving her a better life than the Hell that she had. It’s not like the community Ayumu lived in could object once she accepted – as much as they wanted to interfere. Koichi personally delivered the acceptance letter so that she knew it was real, and that people couldn’t hide it from her. “Ultimate Unlucky Student” was also for the purpose of deceiving her politician father who had ties to the government, who in turn had ties to Hope’s Peak; he was the only one that could get in the way of Ayumu living a happy life, so they needed to make it seem like they were being clinical and detached about recruiting her, like all other students. … But this would be the start of a new life for Ayumu. They’d see to that.

Kazumi Izumo

The Ultimate Occult Enthusiast. Though… Don’t let her hear you call her that. She’s the “Ultimate Spirit Medium.” … Really. Her powers are real!!! In all seriousness, Kasumi Izumo has been fascinated by the supernatural ever since she was very young. She studied all there was to know about the occult until she became the leading, undisputed authority – even if she was just a kid. Though she has better presence online, because she never posts a profile picture, and most people just assume that she’s a woman well on in years. Kasumi has even written books on the supernatural – explaining where “rumors, legends, and heresy” start, and “more importantly” where they end. But she’s not just a prolific writer; Kasumi is gifted enough to argue effectively and make you at least concede the possibility that spirit mediums and the supernatural are, in fact, real. But why did Kasumi become interested in the occult in the first place? She won’t easily admit it, but it’s because her parents passed away. In the beginning, Kasumi just wanted a connection with them – and she will insist that she achieved that connection, being able to communicate with them as a spirit medium. But the more she studied the occult, the more fascinated and engrossed she became. The world was full of so many mysteries, and there was no way to explain them through natural causes. Despite her defensive attitude when others question her “abilities” and knowledge, Kasumi in fact has quite a few friends, both in Japan and around the world through her website and the blogs she frequents. She’s proven herself time and again to be knowledgeable at the very least, and people are interested enough to hear her stories. Some perhaps bonding with her over wanting to “connect” with loved ones they lost. Still, Kasumi’s personality takes some getting used to. She’s arrogant, prickly, and HATES nonbelievers, often threatening to kill people for questioning her. But even so, there’s been no precedents where she’s carried out such threats… A typical tsundere, in other words. Kasumi has a few choice words for Hope’s Peak because of the title they gave her – she keeps petitioning to have it changed to “Ultimate Spirit Medium”. … But no one’s listening.

Aruma Todoroki

The Ultimate Animal Tamer. With Gundham Tanaka’s graduation from Hope’s Peak, Kizakura found the perfect student to fill the void he left behind. Someone that could control animals… even “homo sapiens”. Oh yes, Aruma has quite the pedigree~ Aruma didn’t quite know what she wanted to be when she grew up. But she had a fondness for animals, and that’s why as a child she would become so enchanted by the circus whenever it was in town. It got to a point where Aruma’s parents wanted to spoil her “a little” – so they paid for her to study abroad, at a circus in France, the romantic capital of the world. Once Aruma traveled to France, there was no going back to how she used to be, a rather plain but loving girl… No. Now she had a powerful fire lit within her, and Aruma was determined to be the best Animal Tamer in the world~ No conquest was too great. Once she had a handle on circus animals in France, she felt that she could tame anything. ANYONE, as well. Of course, when Aruma returned to school in Japan, her former school’s staff and student body were terrified of the “wild beast” awoken within her, and they gave her a wide berth – but still applauded her ability. … To control animals. Not them. Are you crazy?! It became school policy to make Aruma leave her whip at the principal’s office at the start of every school day, and she could only pick it up after school; they wanted to take it away from her completely, but were too terrified to find out what the consequences of that might be. Aruma herself didn’t have a bad word to say about people, despite the wariness they gave her. Honestly, Aruma just wanted to make friends like she always used to; it’s just that her training from the circus had… turned her life upside down, in regards to how she took on “challenges”. Not to mention, France was a far more intimate place – Aruma rather liked how open and friendly everyone was with each other in that corner of the world. To go back to Japan where everyone was more formal and “awkward” (her word for it), it wasn’t an easy transition for her. Sure, okay, Aruma could be a LITTLE kinky and suggestive… But she was looking for a man, too, you know?!?!?! People that fell into line were nice, but she relished the orgasmic thought of one day running into a hotblooded man that would become her greatest challenge!!! Of course she’d be a little passionate about romance~ Hope’s Peak’s acceptance letter was like a godsend for Aruma. … And her previous school. They practically shooed her out the door as she eagerly accepted the invitation of the greatest academy in Japan, practically drooling and unable to sleep during her first night on-campus. Aruma was recognized as the “Ultimate” Animal Tamer, and she had no intention of relinquishing her title – she would only get better at her talent. That was a promise. But more than that… Surely she would find a worthy man here? One that would finally sate her romance-addled heart…?

Maiko Kagura

The Ultimate Dancer. Much like Aruma, Maiko arrived at just the right time, filling the void left behind by the Ultimate Traditional Dancer, Hiyoko Saionji. Only, Maiko is more well-rounded in her talent – she can perform any dance. She’s not the undisputed master at each of them, she would need time and practice to be “good” at all of them. Still, Maiko has had an interest in dancing since she was a child. … Just not in the way that you would expect. Her father abandoned her mother and Maiko when she was seven years old. This regrettably left Maiko’s mother in the position of raising a child on her own, Supporting the both of them on a single salary – and that was especially difficult in paying for school for Maiko. This left Maiko to unfortunately almost never see her mother because of the multiple jobs she needed to work to keep them fed and clothed. Not to mention, Maiko’s mother was bitter over her husband’s abandonment, and wished to avoid looking at Maiko for longer than she had to – after all, Maiko had her father’s eyes and face. If she was forced to take care of Maiko more than this, she might have taken her anger out on Maiko for making her remember who abandoned them. But the jobs kept Maiko’s mother busy, and away from such angry, resentful thoughts. Of course the downside was that Maiko had to raise herself for the most part; her mother would buy her clothes and food, but beyond that Maiko had to learn fast how to take care of herself. This left Maiko to be pretty lonely – soon enough however, it wasn’t enough that Maiko had to take care of herself, her mother wanted her to maintain their apartment while she was gone. And if Maiko wanted a pet or anything like that, she would have to handle everything with regards to raising and taking care of it. Maiko had considered getting a dog, anyway, but decided against it in favor of trying to make friends at school and maintaining the apartment, which went beyond cleaning, and involved keeping an eye on the plumbing, water, gas, heat, electricity, etc. If anything ever looked like it would malfunction, Maiko was supposed to leave a note for her mother, and she would leave money to call a plumber, electrician, or whatever Maiko needed.

Things took a turn for the worse, of course. Stress got to Maiko’s mother, and she lost most of her jobs, and it was tough finding new work. Even though her mother was home more often, she was still expected to maintain the apartment, and Maiko would get verbally abused if she “whined” too much about things getting too tough. Despite it all, Maiko loved her mother enough to look into ways that she could help cover the rent, groceries, and her school tuition. The solution she eventually found was… dancing. She started off teaching herself from online videos, and loved managing to get better and better – Maiko ended up having a knack for dance. It was the one bright spot in her life, and she became good enough that she became both a dance performer online as well as in-person. … But despite chipping in like Maiko was, Maiko’s mother grew angrier and angrier as the days and years passed. She was living on her daughter’s efforts, and not her own anymore – and Maiko was essentially a celebrity. It hardly seemed fair, and one day Maiko’s mother just wanted to take her daughter down a peg… But she did it without stopping Maiko’s career in dancing. That’s why one day, Maiko’s mother found her work in the red light district. She thought for sure that Maiko would be too uncomfortable to work a job like that, and would see even a tiny bit of the struggle her mother was going through… But despite her mother’s intentions, Maiko learned pole dancing, lap dancing, and belly dancing from the red light district and managed to somehow NOT get molested from the experiences. It probably helped that some of the people Maiko worked for in that district were fans of her work, keeping people off of her and keeping her from doing anything truly perverted. But that was the last straw for Maiko’s mother. Her last ditch effort to “teach Maiko a lesson” failed, and her daughter would just keep making the most of her life. So Maiko’s mother abandoned her without warning, leaving the apartment entirely in Maiko’s hands. Maiko was heartbroken and crushed by being left all alone – for a time, her career in dancing suffered because she was miserable and alone. She picked herself back up and relied on her fanbase as her only remaining friends – but of course, fans can be cruel and fickle. Some would inevitably lose interest in her online channel, or verbally abuse her on stage. Nevertheless, Hope’s Peak scouted her at about this time, and Maiko took it for the golden ticket that it was. She wouldn’t have to pay for tuition or living at the dorms. A load would be taken off her shoulders, and she could continue to dance to her heart’s content. … But Maiko still had abandonment issues. And those would never truly go away…

Marin Mizuta

The Ultimate Weather Forecaster. The girl that people tuned into nationwide for both morning and evening news. The girl whose weather predictions are always accurate. Always. Even Kizakura was shocked to see from the start of her career, Marin had never failed to predict how a day would turn out; like everyone else, he’d always just taken Marin to be a “more accurate than most forecasters” kind of girl. If this wasn’t a talent worthy of Hope’s Peak Academy, what was? Marin Mizuta was a nationwide celebrity that enjoyed fame without any of the drawbacks or pitfalls that regular showbusiness personalities went through. After all, she didn’t have to cheat to get ahead, or really “compete” at all. When it comes to forecasting, you’re either correct, partially wrong, or totally wrong. Marin always makes her own predictions, using her own personal data, and people just eat her up for the weather girl being her adorable, sleepy, loveable self that she is~ But how did Marin start out? What’s her “origin story”? Well, ironically enough, she shares some parallels with Chihiro Fujisaki. Her father was a weatherman, and when Marin was really young she idolized her Papa. Every time he came on the air, it was a magical time for Marin. He was like most weathermen in that he wasn’t always right, but that was okay! Nobody was perfect, and Marin and her little sister were so proud to have him as a father. … Yeah, Marin has a little sister. That’s where she gets her verbal tic from. It wasn’t long before Marin was calling herself EVERYONE’S Big Sis – even if they were older than her. Marin was just responsible like that. Still, as her childhood progressed, Marin became enthralled with learning about her father’s job. She wanted to be just like him, but more than that she wanted to help her dad get more accurate results so that everyone could see him the same way that she saw him. By the age of eight, she was learning about equipment that gathered weather data, and she started to read the patterns in said data to make predictions. Marin pointed out to her dad that the problem with the data lied in the equipment itself; a machine is only as smart as the people who made them. Her dad just tussled her hair and admitted that yes, the machines they had probably weren’t the best in the world, but it’s what the weather station could afford. And the results they got managed to match up with other weather stations across the country. What they had was good enough.

Marin wasn’t satisfied with that answer. Her dad was the best weatherman, and he should have the best equipment to sort and properly analyze the data. So by age ten, she’d researched enough about equipment from around the world to figure out what worked, and what didn’t. Of course she couldn’t just go out and buy the “good stuff” that was already in existence… If her dad’s weather station couldn’t afford it, then a ten year old certainly couldn’t. Instead, Marin innovated. She build homemade antennas and computer programs that would refine and organize the data so her father could interpret them more easily. He would get the BEST data, and there’d be room for weather fluctuations. And… when her dad found out what she’d been working on after school… He was astonished. Marin had spent ludicrous amounts of time and her allowance money to build this equipment, and amazingly enough it WORKED. Marin had needed to learn some pretty high level math and science to understand any of this; yet she’d managed to do so. By age twelve Marin was allowed to appear on the air and announce the results that she worked her butt off for. Unfortunately, she did develop a habit of falling asleep at the drop of a hat; but honestly, just building the equipment was half the battle – she kept refining it, and all that effort made her rather exhausted. … Still, it gave her an adorable quirk, don’t you think? Audiences sure seemed to think so. A kid that woke up early to give the morning news, and stayed up late to give the evening news, is it any wonder she was so tired? Of course many thought that her father and the news station was being modest and letting a kid take the credit for the accurate predictions… But no, the station was quite open about Marin being a child genius. And so for the past four years, Marin has been gaining popularity, her forecasts going nationwide pretty quickly. She was happy enough to accept coming to Hope’s Peak; if only so that she could develop her talent further and help her father. Because for her, that was still her dream. To show the world how great he is. Not that the world could love a man as much as his daughter does… But still, it’s the thought that counts, yeah?

Mikoto Ikutsuki

The Ultimate Spy. It shouldn’t be hard to imagine that there would be a family with secrets out there as big as the Kirigiri lineage of detectives. But, here we are. There is another family of skilled people that go as far back as the Kirigiri line, and Koichi Kizakura had no idea they existed. Not even Jin or Kyoko knew. Interesting story about the Itsuki family. Turns out they have a long, bitter history with the Kirigiri line. Mikoto is tight-lipped on where the feud began, but she admits that for generations the Itsuki family has clashed with the Kirigiri’s on how investigations should be conducted and carried out. Their rivalry is… cold. Clinical. Professional. Each family seeking to close a case the fastest and with absolute finality, no loose ends to tie up. Of course… spies and detectives are very different professions to begin with. But generations ago, it seemed like they could have worked out an alliance between the two families. … It never did work out. There was harsh disagreements on policy and lengths the families would go to complete investigations, lines that one family would never cross but the other absolutely would. In short… Mikoto came to Hope’s Peak of her own accord. She baited Kizakura into discovering her, essentially taking a page out of Kyoko’s book and swallowing her pride as a spy to become “known”. But it was for the sake of an investigation, and Mikoto did not intend to stay longer than necessary. The only reason she revealed so much of her family’s history to Kyoko and Jin was to see if they knew about the Kirigiri-Itsuki feud – their ignorance only cemented the suspicions that Mikoto had. Jin’s father was as set in his ways as he always was, never revealing information unless he had to. Mikoto was honestly sickened to be in proximity to such woeful ignorance. … But she will stop at nothing to complete her investigation. Mikoto has no intention of seeking help from a generation of the Kirigiri line that chooses to “forget” the past; she doesn’t care how talented the students of this academy are, they’re all a joke to Mikoto. The sooner she can complete her investigation, the better. … Now, if certain “unlucky” individuals would stop “checking up on her”… making her think about unnecessary feelings.

Misuzu Aisaka

The Ultimate Shrine Maiden. Misuzu comes from a long line of shrine maidens that are well-known in her home village in northern Japan. Seeing Angie Yonaga and Kinji Uehara adapt to life at Hope’s Peak well enough, Kizakura thought to keep the diversity going and looked into Shinto shrines to see if any maidens spoke out to him as “gifted”. Misuzu was certainly the most maiden dedicated that he came across. Her family raised her well – she was heavily traditional, disciplined, and devout. Misuzu was also hard-working, to the point that he’d heard about her all the way in Tokyo despite how small and out of the way her village was. Misuzu was doing everything that she could to keep the Shinto religion alive even in the modern day, and Kizakura had to respect that. Which is why he offered her the chance to attend Hope’s Peak. It might be unorthodox, removing herself from her shrine – but Kizakura argued that this was Misuzu’s chance for some exposure, to have others “remember” the “old ways” with her becoming even more famous and for her to learn about other shrines. Misuzu didn’t care so much about the opportunity for fame for her own sake. But if it would help her village and family to thrive, if she could open up others’ hearts to Shinto… She accepted Kizakura’s invitation. She wasn’t necessarily concerned about her own advancement and “talent”, but she was peripherally aware of dedicated students at Hope’s Peak, so she knew that it wouldn’t be a complete waste of time if she learned alongside them. … Of course, Hope’s Peak was in the heart of Tokyo, and there was a variety of people who lived in the modern day and didn’t care one bit about the spiritual. She knew it would be a challenge to attend this school. But Misuzu was up for the challenge.

Narumi Osone

The Ultimate Gourmet. One could say that she was made to fill the void left behind by Teruteru Hanamura and Ruruka Ando, but… She doesn’t cook. Narumi reviews food and tastes it. She’s a very discerning, picky, and judgmental girl at that. From food to fashion to people… Narumi will speak her mind, whether you like it or not. As you might imagine, Narumi is the daughter of a multi-millionaire. She hasn’t had to worry about a lack of creature comforts; and whatever Narumi wanted, her parents would get for her, no qualms or conditions. This has led to Narumi being an absolute disaster when she goes out to shop or eat… But especially eating. If your restaurant isn’t up to her refined palette, she has absolutely no problem in calling Daddy and shutting your business down. That’s not to say Narumi doesn’t give you a chance; as long as you hit a 7 out of 10 with her, Narumi will leave you alone. And it’s not like she goes around with malicious intent… Narumi’s just starving for good food. And she wants to try loads of different things. You just need to impress her enough, even if your establishment isn’t rated 5-stars. … Of course, Narumi does have a petty side to her, as well. If any of her friends want to get into cooking, Narumi makes sure to list out all their faults and weaknesses before calling in personal tutors to train said friends. And even if those friends change their minds midway through training… Narumi doesn’t let them back out. They wanted to learn cooking. They’re going to be first-rate, damnit. Narumi wants good food. And she says that’s harder to find than you might think. Narumi doesn’t take well to people criticizing her, of course. Or be stuck in a place or with people she doesn’t like. Her abrasive and whimsical personality is off-putting for many people, and naturally that makes her circle of friends… small. Narumi doesn’t care so much, because she wants only the very best. And even if people have a lot of choice words for Narumi, her judgments of food are second to none – she IS fair, and she can get the maximum discernment of flavors, textures, and smells out of any meal to render that fair, impartial verdict. … She just might not come across that way. When Narumi got scouted for Hope’s Peak as the Ultimate Gourmet, her parents were over the moon. They knew she was special and should be recognized as such. … Byakuya and Shinobu Togami, however… could be less than thrilled with Narumi’s arrival. Daughter that comes from wealth she may be, but compared to them, Narumi is practically lazy. And bratty. … So bratty.

Nico Himuro

The Ultimate Poet. She’s written 14,794.837 poems. … Yes, she counts the poems that are works-in-progress, hence the decimal. Naturally, she fills the void left behind by Tsubasa Kamii, the last Ultimate Poet. Although… to be quite fair, Nico is a very different poet from her predecessor. In personality and nature, she’s similar to Touko Fukawa in being a pessimist who doesn’t think highly of herself at all. She frequently calls herself trash, and imagines that’s just what people think of her. But… Nico has good reason to think that others think little of her. The girl’s home life is far from wholesome; she’s the middle sibling of seven children, and their mother just keeps moving onto the next man when she grows tired of the next one. Consequentially, her siblings adopted a “look out for #1” mentality – frequently egging each other on and picking on Nico in particular because she doesn’t fight back against their bullying. Even at school, it’s not strange for the mean kids to home in on her, and for the teachers to “forget” if they ever received her schoolwork (as a favor to their more favorite students, who don’t like Nico that much for being the “quiet, weird kid”). There’s SOME nice teachers and friends that try to help Nico see the brighter side of life, but there’s enough of the rotten people to make Nico feel miserable and worthless. That’s why she took to poetry in private. She wanted to express herself in some way, but naturally she had no intention of sharing those poems with the rest of the world; this was just a release for herself. Her notebook was her “Fortress of Solitude”, as depressing as that sounds. And then one of her bullies stole that Fortress… He read her poems without her permission, and found them surprisingly well-written; he couldn’t help but share them with others, who also were shocked that THAT Nico Himuro was a gifted poet… It’s not surprising that after that, Nico’s life changed quite a lot. Her schoolmates and teachers were so much nicer. Her siblings stopped picking on her out of fear of what the neighborhood kids would do them for abusing their local celebrity. Her mother entered her into poetry competitions to win cash prizes and get higher accolades and fame… Nico was still miserable, though. She’d suffered abuse for years, and now that everyone was singing a different tune, Nico was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. They only cared about her because she was a “good poet”, but what happened once they lost interest or her “skills” dulled? Wasn’t the fact that they only liked her for being good at something pretty shallow? Nico just couldn’t help doubting everyone, even with her celebrity status… She remained passionate about poetry because that was the only way she could express herself. To be “truly happy”… at least until her abilities disappeared, and she was left with nothing. Nico really did think life was fleeting like that… And then Hope’s Peak scouted her. Nico still didn’t have high hopes for her life; Hope’s Peak was just an even bigger stage, and once she screwed up here, her life would be over. That’s what Nico keeps thinking… But she’s got some persistent friends that want to prove her otherwise…

#Danganronpa #Class 80A #Ayumu Fujimori #Kazumi Izumo #Aruma Todoroki #Maiko Kagura #Marin Mizuta #Mikoto Ikutsuki #Misuzu Aisaka #Narumi Osone #Nico Himuro

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thenewfuture · 1 year ago

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Ranking the Masterminds of DanganRonpa and Fanganronpas

Hey everyone. During this break, I wanted to do some fun rankings that have been scrambling around in my brain for a while now. And the first one we got is ranking all of the DanganRonpa Masterminds.

The real true culprit behind their respective killing games, the ones forcing everyone to kill and distrust one another. The big final boss!

Quick rules to explain the process here:

-While their core character will be taken into account I will primarily be ranking their status as a mastermind first and foremost obviously. How they handled their killing games, hiding their identity and motivations for doing so.

-Only masterminds from fangans I have seen will be ranked, so if there's any one you don't see here it's most likely because I haven't seen it, so don't bother asking.

-Oh, and one final thing of course...The following will contain massive spoilers for the main DanganRonpa series, and certain fangans, take with your own risk.

#8 Akira Tsuchiya and Narumi Osone

DanganRonpa Rebirth holds a special place in my heart; it was the first fanganronpa I had heard about being a big April Fools joke, but soon I discovered the fanmade rework and dubbing for this project known as Rebirth Voices. Remaking the series in a new way with new twists, new class trials, and of course new-ish masterminds. I say new-ish because Akira was the original mastermind of Rebirth vanilla while Voices added Narumi as an extra mastermind.

And while I do indeed like Rebirth and its cast, the masterminds here leave a lot to be desired... And maybe that's because the series was cancelled before their roles of masterminds could get rolling, but these two aren't much compared to others. While we may never know what could have been, I will instead rank them based on the outline the Rebirth Voices crew provided.

So first Akira is your basic despair-filled mastermind fare. Influenced by his grandma's teachings of despair, made him the next generation of despair, and said grandma was killed by Kego and he wanted revenge, yada yada yada. Like I said, standard fare. And in Rebirth Vanilla, I hear he made it so Ayumu never really had any bad luck which is...a thing I guess.

Compared to him however, Narumi is......interesting... So she was in a rights group for Ultimates but lost her dad due to riots and so....joined Akira to make a killing game for.....f-for the sake of hope and.....and intended for Ultimates to be seen as saviors just like back then-

What the Nagito Komaeda, Hope Bagel Bullshit?!

Like....like why?! What? What for any of this?! I kinda get that in order for them to make this series they couldn't just have Akira be the mastermind, but seriously, what kind of reasoning is that?! And in chapter two, she used a corpse of one of her siblings to save Kego by have him swap places with him; WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN?!

Maybe I'm blowing this out of proportion because like I said, the series is cancelled and maybe they could have salvaged this storyline, but as it stands; these two don't have going for them and as a result, DanganRonpaRebirth seemingly ends right back where it started; as one big joke no one talks about anymore...

#7 Tsumugi Shirogane

Oh man guys! Are you ready? This is it, a new chapter for the DanganRonpa franchise, a killing game without Junko Enoshima to be a part of us! Sounds spectacular! How could they fuck this up?

Oh, I'll tell you how. Maybe it starts with having a story so gut-punchingly meta it basically hurts any form of theorizing and creation of any fanwork and community building, also pull the rug under the players' feet and into a ice cold pool of water so many times they develop psychological trust issues along with hypothermia, and to cap it all of, have the mastermind be so, FUCKING, BORING!

I'll go into my feelings about V3 as a whole another time, but for now I'll just stick to talking about Tsumugi, and oh my word, is this girl a whole bag of nothing true to her word. Like, I should feel something she's revealed to be the mastermind just like Shuichi was, but I just don't. I should feel some sort of betrayal and anxiety from the sheer thought that it could be someone we spent so much time with over the course of the game, THIS IS WHAT MYSTERY GAMES LIVE FOR, and yet that feeling never comes with her. You know why?

Because Tsumugi has nothing going for her.

Name me something she did over the course of this entire game. Anything, anything at all, anything of note. Go ahead, I'll wait. I'll be right here.

...........................

You can't think of anything can you? Not one single solitary thing Tsumugi has accomplished. Not one character moment. None, hmm?

"Well she was apart of the Bugs Meet and Greet" So were other characters and even Himiko and Tenko had a funny moment in there, next. "She was in Angie's students council group" Again, so were others and that cult accomplished a grand total of nothing as a result, try again. "That...that one cg in her Ultimate lab" You're addicted to porn. "Oh, what about that one time in the NWP with Shuichi" That moments amounts nothing more than establishing an alibi for the two of them and even when it comes into question the lie Shuichi told to get Kokichi to cough up his involvement, Tsumugi sweeps that shit right under the rug. Meaning this whole game, the mastermind has left virtually no impression until the very end. Do you realize how messed up that is!?

For out the entire duration of the killing game, Tsumugi has thing of note, "being so plain" It's her whole schtick.

Plain plain plain. Plain plain plain plain. Plain plain plain plain plain plain. Plain. Plain Plain Plain Plaaaaaaain.

Plain, plain plain plaaaaaain

Plain!

PlANE!

PLAINE!

PLAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIINNNNNNN!!!!!!!!

And it wouldn't even be that bothersome, if we were SHOWED how she was plain. I think this video goes into detail why Tsumugi just saying she's plain doesn't work too well. Because all she's doing is saying it. No examples whatsoever about this phenomenon. In Fire Emblem Awakening, there's this character Kellam, who has many supports dedicated to how he doesn't stick out and how others easily don't see him, Tsumugi doesn't have that. In Blowback, Akeru is so good at being a silent and invisible ninja, that hardly anyone sees or hears her, Tsumugi doesn't have that. Even Makoto, Komaru and Hajime, admit to themselves and others that they are so ordinary to others based on the things they like; Tsumugi gets none of that!

Why can't Tsumugi be shown being plain and forgotten? Be shown taling and being ignored by others, being shown that she heard or witnessed an event or conversation and wasn't noticed because she's so plain and inactive. Or be shown wearing something ridiculous and no notices her at all. Show, not tell, people, show, not tell!

Another thing I want to address real fast is how many think that Tsumugi is dangerous because she helped the killing game go on for like....53 seasons. And like.......no. At least I don't think so. Tsumugi kinda gives off the vibes that she was just an intern at TeamDR and was given the chance to participate in a few killing games, and mastermind the V3 one. But apparently fucked up so much that she ended the series in its entirety. Oops. In the pregame world that V3 is trying to tell, I just get the vibes that Tsumugi is just a massive DanganRonpa fan and nothing more.

We could had great things coming from having a brand new mastermind this game, but if we were just gonna get stuck with this bluenette plain Mary Jane here, I'd rather have it be Junko for the 53rd time honestly. At least then it'd be consistent.

#6 Kazou Tengan

Hey guys, DR3 sucks.

*Wooing and clapping ensues from the audience*

Thank you, thank you. Good, now that I've gotten the easy bait out of the way. Onto Tengan.

I will give props to the DanganRonpa 3 team, it's not Junko Enoshima again; let alone a young girl this time. But an old man. Okay....okay...it's different at least. Why did he become a mastermind in the place?

"He became brainwashed by watching a despair video given to him y Chisa" ......Huh....? O-Okay, I guess... H-His motivation for the game at least...?

"He wanted Ryota to use his talent to brainwash the world into hope" ..................huh.....? What...what....what the fu-

This seems like a last minute decision, like they just chose a random name out of a hat or flung a dart towards a spinning wheel. Of all characters they could have chosen to be the mastermind of the final killing game, all the Future Foundation Heads, and all past characters leading up to this point. They choose...Tengan... Why, exactly? Up until this point, Tengan has been a side character, his only moment of note is kicking Juzo's ass(to the praise of many), and fighting with Kyosuke. Again, none of this sets him up to be swayed towards despair. Even after his death he's rarely talked about, suppossedly left a dying message in his blood, but again, even then, Tengan leaves little to no impact on this story.

He shows up so few times in Despair Arc for him to matter, and like I said, does very little in Future Arc. So it really is like they just chose him randomly. And so unlike my huge rantings about Narumi and Tsumugi at their roles of being the mastermind, Tengan doesn't even warrant enough to invoke any emotion out of me. He's just mastermind simply cuz...that's all. It says a lot about this series when even Kodaka doesn't like that the anime made Tengan the mastermind. But in any case, if we can take away one thing from this dissapointing mess; it's that NicoB was right once again with his crazy bullshit predicting powers.

#5 Izuru Kamukura

Top five baby, woo!

Now Izuru is interesting because, even though he techinally counts as a mastermind, he really......isn't in the grand scheme of things. Let me explain...

He is the one to plant the virus into the Neo World Program, that much is true, but in DR2 we're simply told about his actions and technically don't even get to meet the guy face to face. So one could make the argument that is really was just Junko, again. It wasn't until Despair Arc of DanganRonpa 3 that we truly get to see Izuru's character and what he's like. And I do like Izuru as a character, I think he's incredibly interesting. But as a mastermind....eh...

Izuru is neutral, let's just get right to the chase, Izuru is true neutral. He could care less about any ideals of hope or despair, he just lacks any empathy or any human emotions for that matter and just wants to go with whatever doesn't bore him. He's not overly edgy, evil, dark story, Shadow the Hedgehog person that most portray him as. He really is.....just neutral about everything. He only goes with Junko because she proved to him how unpredictable despair can be, which is why if literally anyone else got to him first, like Chiaki or Chisa, maybe the Tragedy wouldn't have occurred!

Wow guys, could you imagine that. What if we treated Izuru as an actual person, and not some lab experiment. Fascinating!

Izuru was quite literally a means to an end for Junko Enoshima, and I've feel like we've just scratched the surface of his potential. But as it stands, Izuru isn't really evil just misunderstood.

#4 Utsuro and Akane Taira

There is quite a lot to talk about with both Utusor and Akane, so I'm just going to break them up first.

-4a. Utsuro.

Utsuro is....fascinating to me. There are time where I like him more than Izuru; a much more interesting and relatable backstory, a proper hand in the story he derives from, and we do see him emerge at the final trial of DRA rather than just others talking about him. And then there are times....when I don't like him as much as Izuru. It's no surprise that DRA is literally just DanganRonpa 0.5, with A LOT of characters and trials mimicking the first game and even pulling from UDG and DR2. "A somewhat demigod bored of the world helps out Junko Enoshima just to see what despair is like and helps her achieve her goal" Golly, where have I heard that before?

And to make matters worse comes his innate ability, what he's known for; Divine Luck. Unlike Izuru who has multiple talents and therefore has many abilities at his disposal to take care of any and all threats that could come his way, Utsuro just has luck. And not just any luck, mind you. Luck so strong it nearly bends reality itself like the Netflix's Live Action Death Note movie to make whatever Utsuro wants, when he wants it. And therein lies the problem.

Utsuro's Divine Luck is so great, you can ask literally how he did anything and the answer is simply: Divine Luck did it.

"How did Junko's plan go so smoothly?" Divine Luck did it.

"How did Utsuro swap places with Yuki so easily?" Divine Luck did it.

"How did Utsuro get so much food and money when he was alone and starving?" Divine Luck did it.

"How did Tsurugi survive getting shot point blank at his temple?" Divine Luck did it.

"How did Akane survive with her wound and nearly drowning in the ocean?" Divine Luck did it!

"HOW DOES THE DAMN SUN AND MOON RISE?!"

WHO CARES?! ANAKOS DID IT! DIVINE LUCK DID IT!

It really gets worse in SDRA2 when basically all of Void, Mikado especially, are just sucking his dick dry essentially because emo demigod boys are just that damn hot. It really is a coin flip on whether I like Utsuro or not.

-4b. Akane Taira

Now onto the hyper energetic and emotional side to our blank and emotionless trouble maker.

Akane Taira I can say is much more fleshed out and interesting compared to her master. First off, her story of being lonely and on the streets forced to make ends meets by doing jobs as a maid is honestly really sad and compelling. She's Yuki/Utsuro's main support throughout the killing game and helps him on many occasions. So to ultimately reveal her true nature by the end of chapter five is such a gut-punch to my emotions. (Take notes, Tsumugi!)

That being said; there isn't really that much different compared to what we've seen of Akane previously and her despair persona. Just that she's really acrobatic and horny, I suppose... Which isn't really bad thing I'd say, she gets the jobs done well.

Her legacy spreads and haunts the Kisaragi Foundation in SDRA2, Akane has left a lasting impression on the surviving trio that the mere thought of her coming back sends them into shivers and willing to do anything to prevent that from happening, and you can mainly see it from how they treat Sora when they finally come together. But Akane is mainly following orders and whatever Utsuro wants, so like Izuru if Utsuro was just found by literally someone good, I'm sure Akane would've turned out fine as well.

And the interesting thing about Akane is much like how others are hurt by Akane's betryal, Akane has come to grow close with her classmates as well. She wants Master Utsuro back but at the same time she doesn't want them to die either. She has a heart, she's compassionate, she understands, she empathizes.

These two are really quite something, and I do like them. But there are things about these two that hold them back for me and just shy away from making the top three.

#3 Junko Enoshima

Here she is everybody! Junko-MotherFuckin'-Enoshima! The bitch that just keeps on coming back! The one that started it all!

Junko has a rep for coming back so many damn and being ludicrously tied to DanganRonpa's man lore and literally every other's story. Started the Tragedy, blackmailed Juzo, basically groomed the Warriors of Hope and leaned demigods like Izuru and Utsuro to her cause, all so flawlessly that one would call her a "Mary-Sue" in any other sense. So with all this in mind, why is she so high on the list?

Well, one of the reasons is that most of the other candidates SUCK! And the other is that......she just works.

Junko Enoshima is shallow, incredibly so. She causes Despair, just for the fun of it. She has no sad or tragic backstory, no reason to this other than cause she can. She is despair incarnate, causes Despair for Despair's sake, and there's nothing more to it than that.....and that works.

Sometimes, you don't need a relatable villian for your story. Sometimes, a bitch just evil. And that's fine. There's nothing wrong with that.And because she works so well it good explain why she keeps coming back. She's the Bowser to our Mario, the Dr. Eggman to our Sonic the hedgehog, the Ridley to our Samus Aran, the Xehanort to our Sora. We've peaked with her and there can hardly be any other villian to replace her. And with a story as wacky sounding as DanganRonpa, a hammy and almost cartoony villian such as her can only live in this strange world.

Junko works when you just stop thinking about her. Her motivations, her character, her personality, they all answer for the simple sake of despair. Like I said, incredibly shallow like a Saturday morning cartoon villain. But they're typically the best and most impressionable villains around.

#2 Monaca Towa

Pickle Satan!

I said we've peaked with Junko and none can really compete with her as a mastermind of a villian for this series, and I do mean that. But Monaca Towa here just may come close.

She's like Junko in almost every possible way. Sociopathic nature, manipulates people psychologically, and uses others like tools with no remorse for her actions. Saying Monaca here is FUCKED UP, would be a huge understatement of the century. But on the other hand, unlike Junko; you can kinda understand where Monaca is coming from. Abandoned by her birth mother to live with her abusive father and step-brother who obviously don't give two craps about her and make her know it. And apparently the treatment is so bad, when Monaca shows up one day with a wheelchair, they don't question why. Telling, isn't it?

While she's immensely smart of her age, she still is just a kid. Throwing temper tantrums when things can't go her way and using her cute looks and status as a child to trick others into working for her. She is vile, Chapter 4 will make you know this with what she did to Nagisa. And was already showed signs of being heartless when she nearly got the WOH to jump off the school rooftop, remember, this was BEFORE Junko showed up.

Monaca was perfect to be a complete mastermind, Ultra Despair Girls set her up to be the next Junko Enoshima, and when she finally comes back in DR3....they just throw it away anticlimactically and send Monaca into space.....sure I guess... Though it is kind of funny in a way, like she did not DR3 so much she yeeted herself out of the plot. I respect it.

I do like Monaca being as unsympathetically as Junko, but there are times when I do want her to be better, she is still just a kid after all. It's not her fault that she grew up in a shit environment. But then again, that's what makes Monaca so fascinating. There are many sides and many layers to dissect her, to pick a part bit by bit, it's intriguing to me.

It's with these reasons why I think Monaca is an amazing mastermind going by the main series timeline. .....Buuuuuutttt....if we were to include fangans into the mix. I think one does beat her.

#1....Mikado Sannoji

Behold, ladies and gentlemen! The master of dimensions the pleaser of crowds, Mikado Sannoji; Charming Magician!~

Mikado checks every box for me. Cool design? Check! Great personality? Check! Hammy? Check! Unrentlessly eeeevil? Checkity check check!

I do believe it was a stroke of PURE, GENUIS to unviel Mikado as the mastermind in the early prologue. Like, HOLY SHIT! The mastermind's right there! Oh my god! What a fucking twist to start off with!

Mikado is so charming with his eccentric personality and unhinged abilities as a magician, that for like two chapters you kind of forget he's the mastermind!

Like look at him! Look at this silly dude!

So funny, so witty, so goofy!

So, waitwaitwait, go back-

Waitwaitwait, this isn't right. Go back, go back!

OHMYGODGOBACK!!!

...ahem....like I was saying. even though Mikado is silly, I don't think he's so silly he ruins the narrative. It's a perfect balance if you ask me.

The mysteries surrounding him and his power of the other Void members are not to be trifled with. He's the boss for a reason folks, don't forget it. But because he was revealed so suddenly there are at times a lot of humorous moments with the cast where they either ignore him, kick him out of activities, or just straight up tell him to die.

And what I like most about is....finally...FINALLY GUYS....it's a mastermind....WITH NO RELATION TO JUNKO ENOSHIMA WHATSOEVER!

WOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! WE DID IT! WE CAN HAVE A GAME WITHOUT HER! FUCK JUNKO ENOSHIMA! HE DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT BITCH! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

...I mean he does kind of copy her plan to use the Neo World Program, but Mikado could not literally give a fuck about Junko. He's all about that Divine D as I said before.

If there's one thing I can say I don't like about Mikado, its that once chapter 6 rolls around he just becomes another typical, "human are inferior to my AI genuis. Gwahahaha" stereotype that kind of kills his whole magician he vibe he had going. And his plan literally factored on him not even thinking that Akane would be the one to have Divine Luck when she emerged from the ocean. My man has linear thinking. If you pointed this out to him I'm pretty sure he'd explode.

But despite all that, Mikado is clearly set on his goal and will stop at nothing to achieve it, and DAMN NEAR SUCCEEDS I WILL ADD! He won the chapter 5 trial and everyone would have died had the Kisaragi Foundation not intervened, by all accounts, Mikado won. That is INSANE! And I love SDRA2 for breaking the molds of past DanganRonpas! With all that said, I tip my hat to the AI magician.

Mikado Sannoji is my favorite mastermind, personally.

-Mod

#the new future #mod freeze #ranking #danganronpa #super danganronpa 2 #danganronpa 3 #danganronpa ultra despair girls #danganronpa another despair academy #super danganronpa another 2 #danganronpa rebirth

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a-student-out-of-time · 1 year ago

Note

Please share the ReBirth thoughts!

//Alright, if you insist!

//First off, I really like the cast. You can probably tell my favorite character is Marin, but I like Ayumu, Aruma, Maiko, Kego, and really everyone has their merits ^^

//I have to admit, though, that I take issue with a lot of aspects of the story itself. Not quite to the same extreme as SDRA2, as I don't think it completely derails its own plot, but there are still sticking points to me, some of them pretty heavy given the subject matter of the game:

(CW: Discussions about bullying, oppression and racism included)

I appreciate that they changed the reactions to Ayumu being a cross-dresser away from the grotesquely transphobic attitudes in the original Japanese version, but I'm not fond of the implication that Ayumu became an enby because of Emi's abuse. Even if it wasn't the intent, that's how it comes across.

Everything that happened with Maiko and Saiji is textbook fridging. It doesn't really do anything for the story beyond artificially setting up his death and lots of drama.

I don't like that they can talk to the dead. Kasumi having the ability to channel spirits is supposed to be unpleasant for there and that's why it doesn't happen often, but if they can just pull ghosts back to get information, that really undermines a lot of the deaths in a way the story never really recovers from. Chapter 1 literally ends with Maiko coming back, explaining the misunderstanding that got her killed, and hugging everybody. Come on.

The talent-switching machine Chapter 3 feels like it completely breaks the motivations of the villains just by existing.

The multi-kill for Seishi, very Murder on the Orient Express, where it turns out Marin is the one who accidentally killed him feels...I dunno, I think it's why I prefer DT's idea for the Blackened. Having the Blackened by the one who delivered the fatal blow feels far too easy to exploit for emotional manipulation.

Everything having to do with Narumi.

//Now, I have to say, I like that this game has two masterminds, one motivated by despair and the other by hope. It's pretty unique. My problem mostly has do with the motivation.

//See, Akira's motivation is purely self-centered, wanting revenge on Kego for the death of his grandmother, Sumiko Kamiya, the Former Ultimate Ghostwriter. A woman who became a despair during The Tragedy and, as a result, was swayed to that side himself.

//In contrast, Narumi is the daughter of Taizo Osone, the former Ultimate Chef, and is the middle child of a huge number of siblings. The two of them were very close, Taizo helped her hone her own talent, and he was an active member of the Rights For Ultimates (RFU) movement. This was a group that sought to promote equal rights against people who were blaming them for the Tragedy.

//And it was during one such RFU protest that a riot broke out and Taizo was gunned down by police. An event that broke Narumi's heart and drove her to seek revenge against the system that had caused all of this. That's how she wound up crossing paths with Akira.

//The problem here is that, in her quest to seek justice for her father, Narumi becomes another example of the "oppressed minority who goes too far" cliche. Instead of targeting the system that hurts people like her, she targets other Ultimates and puts them in a killing game, thinking that by causing another Tragedy, she and Akira can become the new heroes and getting people to love Ultimates like they did back in the day.

//Now, of course, Akira's actual goal is just to destroy society as revenge for Sumiko's death and to spread despair once again. But because he dies in Chapter 2, that ultimately means most of the blame falls onto Narumi's shoulders. And what happens to her by the end?

//She gets sentenced to life in prison, with Ayumu promising to finish what she started. This sounds nice and all, but coming at the end of the story, it feels more like an empty platitude. How will Ayumu dismantle this oppressive system? How will equal rights for Ultimates be earned? How will any of this get solved?

//No idea! That's just how the story ends!

//I don't like this kind of storytelling because it often perpetuates negative and dangerous stereotypes, and even if the villain is functionally right, their actions within the narrative are effectively meant to get us to dismiss those ideals for change in favor of the status quo.

//The fact that Narumi is dark-skinned really doesn't help.

//RWBY, the MCU, Shadowrun, even The Last Airbender suffered from this in the episode where they introduced Bloodbending. I know a lot of people like that episode, but I really don't care for it. It takes a victim of oppression by an imperialist society, held captive and dehumanized for years, and turns her into an unrepentant villain that tortures random civilians and revels in killing. And then when she's defeated, she's returned to that same oppressive system as if that's meant to be justice.

//The irony is that, had Akira stuck around, all of this would've been easily solved. Make HIM the guy who hijacked Narumi's good intentions, lied to her, tricked her and pushed her too far. She still has a hand in all this without making her out to be another example of this cliche, and instead of being sent to rot in prison, she tries to actually change things for the better.

//Hell, you can include Seishi in that as well. Rather than just a hitman sent to kill Ayumu, have him showcase how much he's suffered under this oppressive system and how much he wants to be free of it too. You can still have the talent-switching machine, maybe as a promise for anyone who kills, and Seishi says Ayumu can escape with him and both of them will be free of their respective talents they hate.

//Yes, I understand this is all just an outline of how the story would've gone and the final product might've been different, but the greater-scope villains here should be the ones orchestrating the system that hurts people, not people trying to take a stand against the system and change it or bring it down.

//I don't think Rebirth is bad at all, it just suffers from a lot of the flaws and misunderstandings that come with trying to write nuanced stories about prejudice. Making the oppressed just as bad as the oppressor is not deep or complex storytelling when it's designed to get us to see challenging the status quo as bad.

#mod talks #a student out of time #danganronpa rebirth

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