#udg critical

[leaderdaimon]

I hate all the weak-minded bitches who keep saying they want "a morally gray woman" when I know for a fact they could not handle Monaka Towa as a concept

[kittykat-pikachu]

got my stylus again :)

[fala-alfredo-pasta]

One of the most weirdest things to me about the fandom is the idea that Nagito would be extra-warm towards Hajime upon waking up, due to Hajime retaining all of Kamukura's talents. To me I think it would be the total opposite. I think there'd actually be a lot of angst deriving from just how alienated Nagito feels around this Hajime, who's not quite the same person he fell in love with anymore. Taking into account what 2.5 implies about his true feelings about talent (that deep down he's always resented what talent has done to the world and his life), I think it could be especially aggravating if Hajime tried to act as if there's no power imbalance between the two.

"...Stop pretending like I'm still your equal. I'm a talentless freak with a brain that's falling to bits, and I'll be gone in a few years. You're the most talented ingenious human being on Earth, and you've probably got a life expectancy of like 250. You don't get to reap all the benefits of being the Ultimate Hope, and then act like you're still an average joe just because you had some profound revelation in a computer world about how okay it is being talentless."

Yeah I feel that. Though it's understandable fandom would run with the "Talent-sexual" Nagito joke given how much he fawns over those with talent and to then apply the logic to "the more talents = the more Nagito will like you". The moment in the anime when he's overwhelmed with adoration simply being in Izuru's presence for the first time also doesn't quite help in this regard, though pretty sure that was put in there more so for fanservice and comic relief.

Funnily enough, as you mentioned, the anime also brought into question how much sincerity Nagito's love for talent truly is. So then it makes you think--if Nagito actually resents talent, then applying the earlier logic: wouldn't the more talents = the more Nagito resents you? Both things are somewhat of a flawed logic, but it's interesting to explore that side of Nagito because it really paints a picture of how deeply entrenched his delusion with hope and talent are. How many layers of denial and repression do you have to be in order to act so sincerely and consistently with your fake ideal that talent=hope and the Ultimates are destined to bring forth that hope? To the point that you circled back around and gaslight yourself into believing it to be a fundamental truth?

At what point did that resentment arise? Did it grow alongside his admiration for talent? Every time he felt his resentment towards talent did he push it back down with positive thoughts of talent instead to try to "look on the brightside/find the silver lining"? Did it get to the point that his resentment was so incredible that he had to think talent positive thoughts 24/7 just to keep it at bay? Is he doing this because otherwise all he'll have left will be hatred, despair, and a bleak view of the world being cruel and unfair? And he'll constantly be wondering why some are blessed with advantage and prodigy while others are seemingly born to suffer and stay stagnant despite their best efforts? Why does the world continue to favor some and crush everyone else? What has everyone done to deserve the life they have?

Honestly, this just further proves that Nagito's obsession with hope and talent are his last ditch attempts at giving himself purpose in a world cursing his existence. Ironically, this unhealthy coping mechanism is the better of two mindsets he chose to follow. Really goes to show that Nagito, despite everything he says, has not given up on himself if he's trying THIS damn hard to keep up the facade and have a reason to keep going everyday. And this is the reason why that OVA is my favorite episode from all the anime as that one line adds so much more nuance to Nagito's already complicated ideology.

Sorry, I sorta derailed things to ramble about Nagito but what did you expect from a Nagito simp after all? He's been rotting my brain for over four years now. But to come back on topic, this post-game Nagito with his looser chokehold on hope and talent would most likely have to contend once again with that resentment, but now with a weaker shield. As such, I do think he'd have mixed feelings about Izuru/Hajime. Part of him would probably sympathize with Hajime's pain from the surgery and the fact that he'll never quite be only Hajime anymore. Izuru is and will always be there. Learning to live with the permanent changes to his body and mind is something Nagito knows intimately--way before he became a remnant. That being said, well....Hajime did get the best case scenario for his outcome. Even some of his emotions returned despite the physical improbability of it happening. And yeah--he gets to keep all those useful talents now too. He's also in better physical health than most of their other classmates and his real name isn't inherently associated with Ultimate Despair. He could go back into society looking the way he does with his legal name and no one would even know he was ever involved with Hope's Peak.

So yeah, that sympathy Nagito has would not be enough to squash down his resentment. I can't imagine him fawning over Hajime post-game given everything that's happened and especially after finding out how Izuru was created (as I talked about in a previous ask). There will definitely be an adjustment period where in Nagito may even be passively hostile towards Hajime. But I think a part of Nagito--the part that white knuckled that silver lining for talent---would try its best to look past that and accept Hajime as a sincere friend. It's just going to take a while for him to get there. But he'll try. Doesn't mean he won't be a snarky passive aggressive guy through out it though. I do think he'll be more blunt about his honest feelings towards others whether they like it or not. Talent be (slightly) damned.

[clickbeetle]

we’re really getting nightbringer in less than two weeks.

ALSO if i see anyone complaining about the 3d models i’ll bite you. it’s a free mobile game about kissing demons. they don’t even look bad compared to some other games i’ve played. they’re fine. just kiss your wives and be quiet.

[ultimatenaegamishipper]

It bothers me way more than it should that a lot of this fandom seems to completely neglect Byakuya's progression as a character. It's like they see DR1 Byakuya as the only version of Byakuya.

Current Byakuya is still overconfident and critical, but current Byakuya also: genuinely cares about the well-being of his fellow survivors (even Toko despite his disgust for her), accepts and leads a mission to go save Komaru and the rest of the hostages in UDG, expresses a great deal of respect, trust, and caring towards Makoto and praises his positive, hopeful influence, considers the well-being of those he doesn't even know (including the hostages, those trapped at Towa City, and the Class 77b remnants of despair), and uses his position of power for good.

Current Byakuya deserves more recognition, dammit! And I am more than willing to die on that hill.

[g0nta-g0kuhara]

Hello! :] I saw your post recently regarding the pervasive feeling of shame in newer fans re: Danganronpa, and it really resonated. I wanted to offer my two cents as a fandom old/armchair fandom archeologist that's hopefully a little heartening:

I remember back in 2012/2013 when Danganronpa was beloved, during the height of the SomethingAwful TL days. It was a genuinely fun time to be into things, especially as people were getting excited for an EN release, something that I do think the fandom deserves a little credit in making happen. I was there for the UDG release, DR3 anime, and the lead-up to v3's release, and unfortunately, I think the fact that all three of those entries were in some ways polarizing effectively memory-holed a lot of people into believing Danganronpa was never "good" to begin with, which makes it a lot easier to pick out its flaws and give it a bit of a weird reputation now.

(As a tangent, but some more context that might help: Danganronpa also got really big on my neck of the woods in Tumblr during one of the big Homestuck hiatuses. Back in the day there was a lot of fandom crossover, which I don't really think is the case nowadays, but I think for people that were either in both fandoms and had negative experiences, or people outside who disliked either/or, they've been inextricably linked together as part of a particular "time" in Tumblr/internet history that isn't remembered fondly. So, I have a theory that a lot of secondhand Danganronpa disdain comes from misplaced disdain for the other Big Thing at the time.

This also overlapped with the tail end of the big SuperWhoLock era to my memory, which is usually much more focused on which discussing Tumblr history. Which is a shame, because I feel like this particular transitional era of Tumblr "fandom" history has been underdiscussed because of it!

None of this is excusing some of the things I've seen said about DR fans and the ways people have been iced out for liking it, but I find trying to understand the factors at play always helps my mind figure out how to process these things.)

However: time moves on. This isn't permanent. Having gone back and re-experienced the whole series some 5+ years removed, I was able to find joy in parts of the series that, while I was in the thick of a shift in fandom attitude, didn't appreciate as much as I think I should have. I didn't absolutely love everything, but I had so much fun, it almost felt like I was experiencing things again for the first time.

I want to believe the same thing will happen as we get some time removed, as people get nostalgic for things and get older and understand that you can love something flawed, criticize it, and not feel shame for it. I always welcome fresh faces discovering something for the first time, but I think that some day, a lot of older fans can come back and embrace it as well. Sometimes you need time and life and a few extra years on you. I'm living proof of it! :P

Of course, this is just one person's perspective from one slice of the fandom. But I remain hopeful. There really is nothing else quite like Danganronpa for me, warts and all. You don't have to post this publicly or anything if you don't want to, but I wanted to offer a little hope to go with your thoughts. :') and I hope you have a great day!

Oh man, I really really appreciate this message. I am really interested in the perspective of fans who have been here for so long, and I always feel a little out of my depth talking about old (read: 2018 and before) DR fandom because despite seeing a Lot of it in my blog-diving, I still wasn't there. It's genuinely wonderful to hear that it was beloved like that, even if only fully for the first two installments.

I HAVE noticed a weird amount of homestuck/dr crossover in my searches, so that totally makes sense! Hell, my first exposure to DR on tumblr was a homestuck blog I followed back in 2017/2018ish (for the artstyle, I haven't read homestuck) that also posted a lot about Kazuichi. That's super cool!

While I feel like today, there is at least a little bit of fondness (even if it is a little ironic) for superwholock days, I see very little talk of homestuck. And when I do, it is usually with the same flavour of "Wow that fandom was so crazy" as old-DR.

I think there is usually this reactionary retrospective on site-wide popular fandoms to some degree after they start to wane in size. I saw it when I was in the TMA fandom. That thing was a monster, and over all I felt more stressed there than I ever feel now with DR. And after it ended, and really even During those last few episodes, you could feel a level of distaste for the piece of media growing. Although it never really reached critical mass like DR.

Maybe its even more apparent with something like Steven Universe- when it was actively coming out there was so much disdain for it (from some people) and for the fandom. I was there, on the sidelines, but I saw it all and it wasn't fun. But after its finale and a couple years of silence, people now seem to have come around and realized, whoa, so much about all that discourse was way overblown. I feel like a couple years ago there could still have been this sense of "cringe" posting about steven universe, while today its a lot more neutral.

Of course, it's kind of weird to compare DR and SU, and the nature of outside of fandom perspectives on them is not the same. The level of disdain for people posting SU never reached the point of DR either. But if it's anything to go by, I feel like there is hope eventually for people to stop having an immediate knee-jerk reaction to it. To look back and realize, "hey, that was actually pretty good," or "I didn't really appreciate this the first time." Or even just "It's fine actually to have nuanced take on this piece of media I don't like that concludes with them still liking it." I feel like we already got a mini-version of that in 2020, but since that's when I joined I can't speak too much on it.

Small tangent aside, I really appreciate this. I also hope people can come back around to it, or at least appreciate that it made them or other people happy at the time c:

[drawbauchery]

huge ass text of sapphic simping number 1: toko/genocide jill

look at her. she’s the opposite of “no thoughts behind those eyes.” her mind is constantly working. she’s brilliant.

“to serve men”? no honey i’m gonna serve you 🫵

her default emotion of being absolutely done with everyone’s bulls hit is captivating. i love her.

toko is the comphet of all time btw this is canon i do not take constructive criticism

now look at this chaotic gremlin. she’s the fucker who starter the whole crack lunch arc. she’s the one who provided all the stress and drama. she’s evil. i worship her.

i would die for her (most likely due to her killing me and i would accept that fate)

this woman could hold me at scissorpoint and i would apologize

i’ll be back with more nonsense soon :3

nah they're not comphet, they're just bi

i'm still utterly reeling from how udg made me go from hating toko's guts to looking forward to all her scenes. around the right characters toko is actually great

[tobiasdrake]

"the most evil irredeemable villain ever" girl she is 12???

Yes. That's the point.

The problem isn't the ending that DR3 gave to Monaca. DR3 took a look at Monaca and said, "This is a troubled child trying to figure out an identity for herself, not a colossal archvillain powered by pure evil."

The problem is that UDG tried to push her as a colossal archvillain powered by pure evil.

UDG sets up the Warriors of Hope as traumatized and abused children deserving of sympathy. These kids were horrifically abused in so many ways, driven literally to suicide by their mistreatment and their conditioning to revere their monstrous parents, and then taken in by a social predator. The game goes to great lengths to explain that this is not their fault, but the fault of the system that let them down.

And then it draws a line around Monaca and goes, "Except her". The last two hours are the game trying as hard as it can to maximize Monaca's heinousness and strip away her mitigating factors.

It sits there going, "ACTUALLY Monaca was faking the wheelchair and ACTUALLY she wasn't driven to suicide and was trying to make the other kids kill themselves for lulz and ACTUALLY she's solely at fault for the Monokumas and ACTUALLY she was never deceived by Junko and just went with it because she's evil and ACTUALLY she never wanted to make a children's paradise and ACTUALLY and ACTUALLY and ACTUALLY and ACTUALLY....."

They go so hard on this to try and justify why the other kids deserve sympathy but Monaca's going to be Next-Gen Junko Enoshima. Setting up an obvious sequel hook.

Only for DR3 to basically sweep all of that under the rug, and handle her resolution as if she was any of the other kids.

I'm not criticizing DR3 for doing that. I'm criticizing UDG for suddenly trying to pass off a 12-year-old as this uber-despicable and irredeemable monster, purely for shock value, in a game that is otherwise an examination of childhood trauma and the effect that abuse has on its victims.

[funishment-time]

potentially unpopular opinion: UDG is my favorite Danganronpa game hands-down. the Gameplay is mid, but the themes and story make it the perfect cap-off to the Hope's Peak Arc. (i know timeline-wise it takes place smack dab in the middle, but i'm talking symbolically/release dates.)

there is just something about the idea of two characters coming out of a Danganronpa game Perfectly Okay and Together. there's something about Toko, world's worst AO3 Critic, finding happiness and growth with Komaru, who was a Footnote in her brother's story

[nite-puff]

All the talk about Taka being able to use a gun makes me think of like..... what kind of scenario would he end up using a gun in??? I’m thinking, if he and Mondo were spending time outside of school when a rival gang targets Mondo. One of them has a gun and in the scuffle gets disarmed. Taka gets ahold of the gun and they absolutely underestimate him thinking there’s no way he could actually fire the thing. But if Mondo’s safety is on the line... of course, he doesn’t shoot to kill, but he knows enough to shoot a nonfatal spot, turning the tide to get Mondo and himself to safety. They’d probably both be really shaken afterwards, but boy would that be a hurt/comfort scenario, going through that and then recovering from it afterwards. (I’m a huge sucker for ishimondo stuff that gets into Mondo’s involvement in gang activity so I might just sit down and write this if I get the energy...)

Alternatively, if Taka was one of the survivors, it could be a skill he uses quite often!! Especially with the weird megaphone gun for the Monokumas in udg. I could totally see him running around with that and helping others learn how to use it.

This concept really went from a one-off speculation to genuine fanfic material. Wow.

But yeah, both scenarios are great and i could see happening. Though, in a non-apocalyptic world, i only see Taka using a gun on someone if his or someone else’s (in your example, Mondo’s) life was on the line (or could potentially be very critically injured). And the events leading after do have a lot of comfort potential. Let me just jot that down in my “potential fanfic” folder.

Though, in a udg-like setting, Taka wouldn’t feel much remorse for the Monokumas. So he can really use this to better his skills and actually becomes a really good… gunman??? Anyways, he gets a lot better at using his gun/megaphone thingy.

Also it does have the potential for some sort of angst/character development when you compare a pre-tragedy taka (who never used his gun outside of training) and post-tragedy taka (who uses a gun so frequently, it’s almost becomes second nature).

[leaderdaimon]

Liking Ultra Despair Girls isn't enough for me anymore I need to slowly start putting every single character in that game into a personalized SAW trap of their worst nightmares beyond comprehension

[udg-fan]

Friendly reminder you can like something and still criticize it!

Spoilers for Danganronpa (one of my special interests) for example: Chihiro was handled in a very poor way that hurt some members of the trans community, same with Genicide Syo and Toko’s DID. The mini game in UDG with Kotoko was EXTREMELY inappropriate and uncalled for. Danganronpa’s anime made Mukoro super weird. All games have a creepy character that’s hyper sexual (Toko but she gets better in udg, Teruteru, Mikan, Miu) but guess what? I still like the games. I love the character designs and character relationships. I love the lore and how the trials go (even if some suck). I just have to realize that it isn’t perfect. And if some people don’t like it because of that it’s fine! For UDG it’s even more valid because that scene was pretty fucked up. It’s important to note what’s wrong with the series and how some may feel about it. It isn’t a personal attack that someone hates it.

[simplyluunaa]

˙⊹ ੈ✰[intro post/rules]✰ ੈ⊹˙

-ˏˋ. Requests are: Open! ˊˎ-

-ˏˋ. Current Fandoms: Danganronpa (1, 2, V3, 3, UDG) ˊˎ-

-ˏˋ. Masterlist ˊˎ-

Intro!

Hello! Welcome to my blog!! Here I will be writing about whatever fandoms I'm into at the moment! I have ADHD so my hyperfixations can switch up real fast, but I'll make sure everything will be on my masterlist and on my account description!

Anyways, back to introducing myself!! I go by Luna, I am 18 years old, I live in the USA, and my pronouns are she/her! I'm not really new to writing, but I am new to sharing my work! So please, be nice! Constructive criticism is always welcomed and encouraged! I write mostly sfw, but I may dabble in nsfw and suggestive material.

Rules!

˚₊·—̳͟͞͞♡⟢ My rules for requests will be pretty simple, but I will add I will not write every request I am given. I write what I want, when I want, and for what characters I want. I am grateful for any requests I may get but I am by no means obligated to write them. I am free to ignore or decline any requests given to me

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[call-of-ishmael]

Danganronpa is such a mixed bag in some regards

Its a mostly shlocky, low brow, over the top and ridiculous game (i say this as a fan of the series) but has some really good bits sprinkled in

Danganronpa 2 being critical of how society values those they see as gifted and special, and puts people in categories and assigns them different worth is really quite good, Hajime's struggle is very relatable and no doubt hits close to home for a lot of ppl

It has an excellent second chapter that makes people tear up

But it also has the weird Mikan fanservice, Teruteru being the worst character in the game and probably one of the worst in the series, a horrible third chapter (they did Mikan so dirty in this game)

Nothing exemplifies this more to me than Ultra Despair Girls

UDG is what ppl who hate danganronpa think the whole series is abt, it has some of the worst tropes that ppl associate with shlocky horny anime. I have friends that consider it the worst game they have ever played

UDG also has one of my favorite characters, its really the extreme of what i said at the beginning, trashy with good bits on it.

Toko and Komaru make the game ALMOST worth recommending to big fans of the series, its crazy how they took Toko a character that had little going for her in her first appearance, and made her have a hell of a character arc. The dynamic between her and Komaru is the best part of the game

Then you have the rest, the warriors of hope and how they handle child abuse themes with zero tact and tastefulness, Haiji another good contender for worst character in the series, and just so many unsavory jokes

Its not hard to see why Danganronpa is a love it or hate it kinda franchise, you see the stuff like the themes in the ending of Danganronpa 2 and the second chapter of the game, and say "oh so thats why people like this game"

But then you also see stuff like Kotoko, the third chapter of v3, the Mikan fanservice and you are like "oh this is why people hate this game"

[danggirlronpa]

If you're still doing those hot take asks then all I want to say is that idk if it's common anymore but I hate it when people criticize Komaru for stupid stuff like the biggest crime of being a scared teen thrown into an apocalyptic situation and her being slightly out of touch and dumb after being locked up in a room for 2 years (the worst criticism I've ever seen was this one person who said that she never treated Toko with kindness as if she doesn't have an ungodly amount of patience the entire game, but this same person called tokomaru a "toxic friendship" soooo) tl;dr I will defend Komaru with my life she deserves better than to be stuck in udg

I think about Komaru all the time. She has a very special place in my heart, and unfortunately I think she's far and away one of the most often mischaracterized DR characters. And she gets a TON of disrespect for things that Makoto & Hajime don't get despite sharing the same traits, like people thinking she's "boring" or "doesn't have a personality outside being normal."

Personally, my big Komaru pet peeve is when people talk about Komaru as being a babysitter, or raising the Warriors of Hope after the game is over. I know it's coming from wish fulfillment on behalf of the warriors - that people want to see the abused kids get an adult who guides them back to the right path - but it's SO frustrating to see yet another female character stripped of her complexities and traumas and fears in order to be A Mother/Older Sister Figure. I HATE this trope. It makes it really obvious that they didn't actually pay attention to the character at all, because Komaru is VISCERALLY uncomfortable with the horrors they've committed and continues to struggle with the knowledge they are children vs her personal desire to get as far away from them as possible for the entire game. Komaru got dealt the absolute worst hand of any protagonist and instead of talking about the fascinating psychological effect of the "inhumane isolation for two years -> watched an entire society massacred in front of her including all of her saviors -> told to become prey in a murder game -> meets a serial killer" pipeline that she goes through in the space of like THREE HOURS?? people just want to talk about her in the context of other characters and the ways she can Help Them TM.

This got away from me. TLDR you're so right and I think Komaru should get to be on the verge of a mental breakdown, keeping herself together through the sheer force of thinking about her favorite manga! is she not valid! is she not relatable

[g0nta-g0kuhara]

While I am having fun with UDG I do already have some criticisms of it, I just might not talk about it as much because I feel like everything that's needed to be said has probably been said already and by people smarter than me haha