#writing is hard but love for hiishi goes strong

[piyoduki]

Some rambly thoughts about Ishimaru and the themes (is this the right word?) of SDR2/DR3 (Side Despair) because I need to put them somewhere. Also an essay on why Hinata and Ishimaru should have definitely interacted and not just because I happen to like them both.

It got... a bit long... and my thoughts are all over the place...

Anyway, I'm pretty sure everyone has already heard people talk about how Ishimaru was a waste of potential because he definitely was. :P So I’m here to ramble about why he had so much potential not in DR1 but... in SDR2/DR3?!  SDR2 and DR3 have a few themes, but one of the most obvious and important ones is the whole view DR’s society has on talent, which wasn’t really explored much in DR1. Anyway, this is the main focus of Hinata’s personality, motivations and character arc of being the only talentless person in the main games (woohoo!). We learn about the existence of the reserve course, how they’re treated as inferior by the school/society for not having any talent, the questionable Hope Cultivation Program that preyed on Hinata’s inferiority complex and desire to gain a talent and recognition. 

There’s people like Komaeda, who because of his luck cycle and past shares a similar view that talentless people are worthless and to be used as stepping stones for the Ultimates because in this world, talent is everything and without it you are nothing. 

Then there’s a certain DR1 character whose views on the matter are almost opposite to Komaeda. Ishimaru hates geniuses (especially those that don’t work hard to accomplish anything aka Kamukura Izuru), and sees himself as a normal person like Naegi. He doesn’t believe people should be given special, or preferential treatment just because they have a talent, but because they have worked hard to earn it.  Anyway you can probably tell where I’m going with this. Ishimaru’s views on talent directly oppose the DR world’s and HPA’s. He believes that anyone can become successful as long as they work really hard. (Of course, he has his own issues with being unable to relate to other people and understand that not everyone is as obsessed with studying as him but that’s another thing entirely.) 

However, the school deliberately separates the main and reserve course students. They just use the reserve course students as a source of funding, to bleed them dry from ridiculous tuition fees, that is more than likely used to mostly fund the main course and HPA’s shady human experiments while the reserve course only get the bare minimum support. 

Of course, Ishimaru and his family is also in huge debt from a mistake his grandfather/former prime minister made, which is just even more reason for someone like Ishimaru to absolutely despise the school the moment he finds out about it’s dark secrets. It’s highly unlikely for him to share the same campus with the reserve course students and not be curious enough to find out what is going on with them. And I also doubt that none of the reserve course students have publicly voiced their complaints with the school anywhere at all, so it’s extremely likely that Ishimaru would find out about HPA’s superior/inferior treatment of talented vs talentless students and putting reserve course students into debt. 

Ishimaru is not the type of person to sit around and do nothing, rather he would most definitely try to protest for reserve course students’ rights and send many angry complaints to the headmaster. With his strong sense of justice he might even think about quitting the school entirely. The existence of the reserve course is everything Ishimaru stands against. 

But of course, none of that will ever happen because Ishimaru’s just a fodder character for a double murder wooo!

Other than that... I think Ishimaru and Hinata are interesting to compare with each other. Hinata being a normal guy who might put in above-average amounts of effort, only to realise he doesn’t actually compare to the most talented of people who are the only ones recognised and celebrated by society. Ishimaru being someone who is naturally extremely hardworking (possibly fueled by his desire to help his family financially and clear their reputation) to an obsessive extent (to other people, to him this amount of work is ‘normal’). 

Hinata who keeps failing to be number one in anything and eventually realises he might be chasing an impossible dream that only gets crushed more and more as he gets exploited and treated like trash. Ishimaru who through his dedication and effort manages to make a name for himself as an Ultimate, and constantly strives to work even harder so that he would not be considered just merely on the same level as a ‘genius’.

Hinata, who despite everything is a down-to-earth person who still tries to reach out to others, lend a listening ear and give advice for all their problems. Ishimaru, who shuns and is shunned by others because of his strict opinions on how others should act, who does not know how to empathise with others. 

Ishimaru, whose emotions got out of hand and caused his death. Hinata, who got his emotions erased, turning into the very embodiment of a person which Ishimaru would despise, that ironically ended up giving him a second chance at life in the end. 

But most importantly, Ishimaru would have called Hinata his senpai, why were we robbed of such wholesome content?? 

I don’t really have a conclusion besides Ishimaru’s character, backstory, personality and motivation just fit in really nicely with one of the main themes of SDR2/DR3 and Hinata’s arc, and they are... good kids. 

tl;dr: ishimaru is my favourite dr3 character