#guy who doesn’t have to face consequences (bullets) for his actions (causing problems on purpose) bc he has plot armor (literal armor skin) | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

commentaryvorg · 6 years ago

Text

Danganronpa V3 Commentary: Part 5.2

Be aware that this is not a blind playthrough! This will contain spoilers for the entire game, regardless of the part of the game I’m commenting on. A major focus of this commentary is to talk about all of the hints and foreshadowing of events that are going to happen and facts that are going to be revealed in the future of the story. It is emphatically not intended for someone experiencing the game for their first time.

Last time, as we started chapter 5 and I spent an entire post on just the first breakfast conversation, Kaito was completely fine, which is to say he was being a gigantic liar, literally nobody was buying it but everyone assumed that he’s at least probably not dying, Kaito was not at all convinced that Kokichi is evil, and I started (but have not remotely finished) discussing the situation of him not talking to Shuichi, which has absolutely nothing to do with him being angry and everything to do with him having “failed” Shuichi by showing so much weakness in the previous trial.

Now we’re unlocking the new areas with the literal keys that we just received, a job that was yet again given to Shuichi because we definitely need to rely on our Ultimate Detective to solve this very difficult puzzle and this definitely isn’t making Kaito feel even more inferior.

Kaito, Maki and Himiko have all gathered outside the door on the first floor that’s about to turn out to lead to Kaito’s lab. It’s almost like you don’t need to be the Ultimate Detective to figure out that the key you just got probably opens up the mysterious locked door that’s been there the whole time.

Maki: “That guy’s really twisted if he enjoys people’s suffering that much… … But I’m not any better. I take people’s lives for a living.”

Maki Roll, no. You don’t enjoy killing people and you never wanted to be forced to do so for a living! That makes you nowhere near as bad as Kokichi supposedly is. But of course that doesn’t matter; what she wants and how she feels never matters. She’s been making progress in some regards, but she still hasn’t stopped thinking that way about this.

Kaito: “Don’t say it like that, Maki Roll. You’re facing your past self. Unlike Kokichi. He doesn’t even want to try and change. That’s the worst decision you can make.”

Meanwhile Kaito has a totally different but equally good point as to why Maki is being a better person than Kokichi right now. Maki’s done a lot of awful things in her past, but she’s facing up to that and starting to acknowledge how much she hurt people and how much it hurt herself and is doing her best to become a better person. That’s exactly what Kokichi will not do. Last chapter, Kokichi came pretty close on several occasions to actually facing and acknowledging how terrible he was being and how much pain both he and others were in because of his actions, which would have been the first step to trying to make up for that and do better. But then he didn’t, and instead just kept lying to himself and running away from all responsibility and digging himself further into that hole.

And I love that Kaito gets that! He was not fooled by the face-value lie that Kokichi is just sadistically evil – that’s not remotely the angle on which he’s contesting Maki’s words here. Kaito picked up on what was really going on with Kokichi, at least to some extent, enough to realise that that moment just after Gonta’s execution was Kokichi’s biggest chance to turn things around and he blew it.

Kaito spent a certain amount of effort last chapter trying to get through to Kokichi and help him – but Kaito can only help people who want to help themselves. After the end of last trial, I think Kaito’s finally accepted that Kokichi is never going to want to change and that trying to help him is a lost cause.

(There’s also some slight hypocrisy going on here, because Kaito is also not trying to change and admit to his weaknesses and get stronger, at least not yet. But that’s… a little bit off the point, because Maki and Kokichi are being compared to each other here since they have both literally murdered people, whereas Kaito’s weakness has not had such drastic consequences and is not something he did on purpose.)

Shuichi: “True…”

Kaito: “U-Uh, yeah… so… …”

Shuichi: “…”

Kaito, Shuichi was agreeing with you! He thought you had a good point! Can’t you see that he’s clearly not acting like he thinks you’ve failed him at all?

(He can’t, and it’s excruciating. I mentioned before that the only time Kaito’s intuitive judgement of people is ever outright wrong is when his issues get in the way, and that is extremely the case right now with Shuichi.)

Maki: “…”

Maki is Not Happy about this painful awkwardness between her two best friends.

Himiko: “Geez… It looks like Kaito’s still upset with you.”

No, Kaito still isn’t and never truly was upset with Shuichi. He’s upset in a way that’s clearly centred around Shuichi somehow, but everyone’s taking that to mean he must be upset with Shuichi when that doesn’t necessarily have to be the case.

Himiko: “He needs to get over himself, but you should think about his feelings too, Shuichi. What happened to Gonta… no one could sort out their feelings in just one night.”

She’s assuming this is all about how Kaito felt over Gonta’s death, and while that’s definitely not helping, that’s not even remotely the full extent of Kaito’s feelings that he very much didn’t manage to sort out in one night. Kaito does need to get over himself, but definitely not in the sense that Himiko probably means it. He needs to get over his irrational conviction that he has to be perfect and invincible to be able to inspire people and realise that having been weak doesn’t mean he’s failed anyone.

I do really like that Himiko has thought about this at least a little bit, though, and isn’t just writing Kaito off as “mad at Shuichi” and nothing else. She has such a good point that Shuichi really needs to think more about Kaito, too. One of the biggest things that make this whole deal with Kaito and Shuichi here so goddamn heartwrenching is how easily it could be fixed if they just understood how the other was feeling.

Shuichi is convinced that Kaito is angry at him because he feels he deserves some of the blame for Gonta’s death, fuelled by his issues about being accused and hated for being the one to reveal the truth. He still looks up to Kaito and sees him as basically invincible, so it doesn’t remotely occur to him that the problem could really be on Kaito’s end, that Kaito is in a lot of pain that Shuichi could potentially help with. Meanwhile, Kaito is convinced that Shuichi has to feel horrendously let down by him, fuelled by his issues about how heroes must be completely invincible and never fail anyone who depends on them. And he looks up to Shuichi and has concluded Shuichi must be an invincible hero to the point that it hasn’t even crossed his mind that Shuichi is still suffering and putting too much burden on himself, and that Kaito is making that worse for him by doing this.

Shuichi and Kaito aren’t behaving like friends right now, but they are still friends. Neither of them has stopped caring about the other even a little. They’re just each irrationally convinced, because of their own issues and their unspoken idolisation of each other, that the other has stopped caring about them.

If Kaito realised how Shuichi really felt, then the problem would immediately cease to exist. And if Shuichi realised how Kaito really felt, he could just talk to Kaito and reassure him that he doesn’t feel let down at all, solving the problem in a heartbeat. If either of them wasn’t misunderstanding the other so badly, or if either of them just managed to bite the bullet and tell the other how they’re feeling, this wouldn’t be happening. This shouldn’t even be a problem, and yet it’s a huge tragic clusterfuck of issues and assumptions and lack of communication making everything more painful for both themselves and each other and I adore it.

Shuichi: “…”

Kaito: “…”

Shuichi: (Kaito still won’t look me in the eyes… Talking to him is going to be awkward.)

It’s not that he won’t, it’s that he can’t. Shuichi believes Kaito is deliberately shunning him out of a notion that Shuichi doesn’t deserve to look him in the eye, but the truth is the opposite. Kaito feels like he doesn’t deserve to look Shuichi in the eye and can’t bear to do so.

(Kaito just talk to him and tell him how you’re feeling, I promise it won’t be as bad as you’re terrified it will! He cares about you so much and would never turn his back on you!)

Can we also talk about the fact that Shuichi is noticing that Kaito isn’t looking him in the eye? Which means that Shuichi has got a lot better at making eye contact with people since chapter 1. Good for him! Aside from losing the hat, it was probably also Kaito who helped Shuichi a lot in that regard, since Kaito usually makes pretty consistent eye contact with the people he’s talking to, and it’s a positive, friendly kind rather than the hatred and accusation Shuichi was so afraid of.

Anyway, maybe it’s about time I actually opened up the new areas.

I examined the monitor in the spiral staircase leading to Kaito’s lab, and…

Shuichi: (Obeying these announcements makes me feel like a character in a story…)

Well that’s there. I’m pretty sure this is a chapter 5-specific thing.

Himiko: “Nyeeeh… those stairs were long and such a pain. I’m tired…”

If even Himiko is tired despite her attempts to be more positive these days, then please imagine what climbing this ridiculously long staircase did to Kaito that he’s refusing to show.

Maki: “They made us climb all these stairs just for the Ultimate Astronaut’s lab?”

Kaito: “What do you mean, ‘just’? This is the main stage, and it’s finally been revealed!”

…

Maki: “Anyway, let’s go inside. There might be something useful in here… probably.”

Kaito: “What do you mean, ‘probably’!? It’s gotta be full of super important stuff!”

Kaito’s indignation here… actually just reads like something he’d have said in any chapter, rather than an attempt to overcompensate for his issues specifically spurred by the state of mind he’s in right now. Still, Maki’s dismissive comments can’t exactly be helping Kaito feel any better about himself.

Maki: “Looks like this is the top floor.”

Kaito: “So my room’s at the very top?”

Pfft, of course Kaito would be happy about that. The higher up your room is, the cooler you are, right?

I’d love to be able to say that the planetarium here in Kaito’s lab is the same one that’s also there in his execution, but they look slightly different. Plus, this one projects an actual starscape, whereas that one functions more like a disco ball. Yes, this is something that I cared about enough to check.

Kaito: “I’ve never seen this machine, but I’ve trained with something like it… Well, I guess it’ll all work out!”

Himiko: “What reckless confidence… I don’t ever want to be in any vehicle you’re driving…”

Isn’t one of the points of Kaito being an astronaut supposed to be that he can drive very complex vehicles completely safely? One should, ideally, feel safe in any vehicle he’s driving. Ideally.

Kaito: “But, wow. Is this really a simulator? I feel like it’s too elaborate… Nah, no way it’s real. I mean, what would it even operate?”

Obviously, this is here as a hint that the whole school is a spaceship and the cockpit in Kaito’s lab really is its cockpit.

But it actually doesn’t make any sense for Kaito to be noticing this. The whole point of spacecraft simulators for astronaut training is that they’re exactly like the real thing, just without the dangers of being in space and potentially dying if you mess up. If they were less elaborate than the real thing, they wouldn’t be very effective training. It might make more sense if Kaito noticed in some way that it seems to be connected to something beyond this room, as if it was actually operating a whole spaceship and not just a self-contained thing.

So… maybe that’s bad out-universe writing because they didn’t think it through (but then again, everything related to Kaito’s astronaut training does seem to have been pretty well-researched, in my admittedly somewhat limited knowledge of having taken a real interest in astronauts only since getting to know Kaito). Or maybe it’s just bad in-universe writing, and the in-universe writers deliberately gave Kaito memories of simulators being less elaborate than real spaceship cockpits, even though that doesn’t make sense, specifically so that he would make this observation here and drop a hint at what’s going on in the “story”.

Then there’s the part where each of the new floors in the school have been gradually built and added over the course of the game. Being on the sixth and highest floor (a floor completely separate from all the other floors and only accessible through the spiral staircase), Kaito’s lab is no exception to this and didn’t exist until chapter 4, at which point you could see scaffolding and the beginnings of a structure in the area where it was going to be. That doesn’t really make sense if it really is the cockpit of this whole “spaceship”, now, does it?

There also just happen to be mostly-tantalisingly-blacked-out documents about the Gofer Project just lying around in here, even though it would have made just as much sense to have those literally anywhere else in the spaceship and not specifically in the cockpit. Almost as if someone is writing a story and wants this chapter to be the point where they start dropping hints about the space thing.

Gofer Project File: The last hope to save humanity from the disaster raining down from space. Burdened with this project were boys and girls of exceptional talent.

…

Maki: “This is like… Noah’s Ark.”

It’s pretty clever of Maki to figure this part out. She’s piecing together more than what’s told to them in the file – from the file alone, it could still sound like they were trying to stop the meteorites. Not sure why Maki can’t also add the implication that this really is the cockpit of a spaceship onto her deductions, though.

Kaito: “Huh? Noah’s Ark?”

Maki: “Well… Noah’s Ark was built with gofer wood.”

Kaito: “What? O-Oh yeah! You’re right!”

Yes, Kaito, you totally already knew that.

Shuichi: (A Flashback Light… Our last hope. But it’s something that Monokuma created… I don’t want to depend on something Monokuma has touched.)

This is a perceptive thought from Shuichi here… but unfortunately that isn’t going to cause him to question anything they’ve already learned from Flashback Lights or stop him from buying completely into the next one they see.

The entire structure that the Exisal hangar is part of was definitely never here before. It’s really bizarre – usually when a new area is coming next chapter, they show it in the process of being built during the chapter before it, but there was no trace of this until now. The only thing I can assume is that it just popped out of the ground overnight, which isn’t too farfetched, since that’s what Tenko’s lab somehow did, and Keebo’s lab somehow shot down from the sky. But they could have shown that better by having there be a mechanism that was always here that we can use the key on, and then have us see the whole hangar coming out of the ground in the unlocking cutscene.

Keebo: “There is a door in that wall. Perhaps we can get in? There’s something next to the door that seems to resemble a keyhole.”

Reminder that you do not need to be the Ultimate Detective to realise that keys go in keyholes, and that splitting the two keys up between two search parties would have made this job go faster than mindlessly relying on Shuichi alone for everything.

Keebo: “I feel like I’m on the set of a sci-fi movie. A mecha could pop out at any moment…”

Keebo, even if you weren’t a robot, you are clearly already in a sci-fi movie. Just look at the Exisals, Flashback Lights, Monokuma. Everything here has been sci-fi, except for when we bizarrely shifted into supernatural horror for chapter 3.

The 59-digit code for the electric barrier that Monokuma recites to them happens to include “11037” in its sequence. Of course they went there.

Keebo: “Wait… Slow down, please! 503… what was the rest?”

You’d think Keebo’s memory would work in such a way that he’d be able to immediately play back something he’d heard and store it somewhere permanent. It’s a pretty remarkable testament to how human he is that that’s not how his mind works and he can’t consciously do that.

He should also be able to use his recording function for this, but I guess this proves that he has to have had the forethought to start recording in advance, and it doesn’t automatically record everything he hears. (It is, after all, a tape recorder and would quickly run out of tape if it were constantly in use.)

Keebo: “Um… Can you repeat that code you mentioned earlier?”

This comment here a little further into the conversation suggests that Keebo has remembered his recording function and is ready to use it this time, if only Monokuma would actually tell them the code again.

Keebo: “My inner voice is telling me… ‘Hope moves forward.’”

Wow, okay, your inner voice is no longer remotely being subtle any more, mister Basically Makoto But A Robot. (Or at least that’s how the in-universe writers want the audience to feel about him, hence this.)

Monokuma: “This is where I was guarding the precious Exisals so no one would mess with them…”

You were guarding them here while this hangar was still… underground or whatever? This certainly does imply that this place was supposed to have always existed the whole time – so that each unnecessary Exisal could be stored here when a Monokub died – which means it would really have made a lot more sense if this entire structure had always been visibly there and just only got unlocked now. One awkward thing about this game is that a lot of things which are relevant to the story but aren’t something the player needs to directly interact with apparently don’t exist, and we’re supposed to just believe they always did exist somewhere we couldn’t ever see them. For example, we’ve also never actually seen and interacted with the rock that has Kokichi’s message on it. We’re just supposed to believe that it’s… somewhere in the courtyard.

Monokuma: “What!? No one can control them anymore!?”

Shuichi: “…Am I wrong?”

Monokuma: “Oh, don’t worry about my reaction just now.”

No need to make it so “accidentally” obvious, Monokuma – Kaito has already figured out you don’t have your Exisals protecting you, and he isn’t even here to hear this particular supposed slip-up.

Shuichi: (If they were under the impression we would never be here, why make a bathroom?)

The bathroom is, of course, another hint at the “story” that this is a spaceship and the Exisals were supposed to be for them to use to protect themselves on their new planet. For this being a bathroom that people were supposed to actually use, though, there isn’t any toilet paper in it. Even the bathroom in the Virtual World had that despite that room also only existing for set dressing.

You can’t examine the bathroom window yet. Hooray, the writers are finally realising that most things that will be relevant later in the case don’t need to have attention suspiciously drawn to them until then. …That said, this hangar is still blatantly the Future Murder Scene.

Keebo: “…This hydraulic press is probably used to scrap decommissioned Exisals.”

Considering that scrapping decommissioned Exisals is something that was never actually going to happen here, apparently the writers really just put this hydraulic press here as a potential unorthodox murder weapon. Or, at least, an unorthodox way to dispose of a body, since it’s not supposed to be possible to murder anyone except Keebo (sorry, Keebo) with this given the writers didn’t count on Electrobombs being a thing.

So what I’m saying is that Team Danganronpa kinda shot themselves in the foot by including this here.

Keebo asking Shuichi to try the press on him is insanely risky and honestly pretty inconsiderate – if it doesn’t stop and Keebo doesn’t get out of the way in time, then not only is he killing himself but he’s also killing Shuichi.

Shuichi: “…Okay, let’s do it. But get out of there if it’s dangerous, okay?”

Shuichi doesn’t even think to remind Keebo that his own life is also on the line here, though. He’s good like that.

I’ve seen the murder video in the trial so many more times than this cutscene here that my brain always expects the press to stop halfway, heh.

Keebo: “Why didn’t you press the ‘Force Stop’ button, Shuichi!?”

Because you said you’d get out of the way if it looked bad! You never asked him to be the one to stop it!

(And because the out-universe reason for this whole debacle was to establish that the press normally descends steadily without stopping, of course.)

Keebo: “It seems I’m only perceived as a machine, not a human. Well, to this hydraulic press, that is…”

Yes, Keebo, to the hydraulic press that probably senses signs of organic life such as a heartbeat or something. Obviously it was never going to stop for you – but that’s because of your body, not because you’re any less of a person. How would anyone even make a sensor that detects self-awareness?

On the way back to the fifth floor for the last thing to open, it’s Make Shuichi Feel Bad time as I examine the door to Gonta’s lab.

Shuichi: “Gonta…” (You were so kind… You always tried to help us in your own, strange way.)

He was, and he did. The best gentleman.

Shuichi: (But… I sacrificed you…)

No, Shuichi, you didn’t! Being the detective and therefore the one burdened with proving him guilty does not make it your fault that the rules of the game meant he had to die for that!

(Shuichi is much more explicitly blaming himself for Gonta’s death here than he seemed to be last time he thought about this. Stop it, Shuichi; Kaito is not angry at you and you shouldn’t be angry at yourself.)

Shuichi: (…Whose lab is this? There are only a few of us left who don’t have a lab yet…)

The door to Rantaro’s lab kind of looks like it could maybe also apply to Kokichi until Monokuma tells us otherwise. If we believe that Kokichi’s organisation really is as supremely evil as he claims, then all these weapons and blood would potentially fit that.

Monokuma: “Puhuhu… It’d be quite a dramatic development if you learned what his talent was right now!”

Yeah, a dramatic development which would risk breaking the fourth wall and potentially lead to everyone rebelling against this fiction they’re in. It sure is convenient Rantaro got killed off before then, huh? Which is totally not something you purposefully made happen or anything.

Monokuma: “That sorta unexpected development can only happen in a real killing game like this one.”

No, that sort of fourth-wall-breaking development can only happen in a “fictional” killing game like this one.

I get what he’s really trying to say, though, even though this is kind of an odd place for him to say it – unexpected developments happen more often in a real killing game that isn’t fully scripted, which totally justifies killing real people for entertainment!

Monokuma: “Oh well, what a waste. I can’t believe that idiot killed him.”

He says, to Shuichi. What a dick. (Especially as he knows that Kaede didn’t kill Rantaro at all.)

Everyone re-gathers in the dining hall thanks to Tsumugi, who found something that turns out not to be the Flashback Light that Shuichi was expecting it to be. It’s interesting to note that Tsumugi didn’t create a Flashback Light for the beginning of this chapter. Presumably she figured that whatever the hell was unfolding with Kokichi’s plans would be enough of a good story that she potentially wouldn’t need to use a Flashback Light to spice things up. There’s also no motive yet, for the same reason.

Shuichi: “…”

Kaito: “Hey… has anyone seen Kokichi?”

Shuichi: “N-No, I haven’t, but…”

Kaito: “I see… Where could he have gone?”

Shuichi: “…”

Kaito: “…”

This is from trying to talk to Kaito during the part here where you’re free to talk to whoever. Presumably Kaito sees Shuichi looking in his direction, potentially about to try and talk to him, and he’s afraid enough of that possibility that he suddenly brings up a completely different subject as an awkward distraction that probably won’t even go anywhere. It’s not just that Kaito won’t initiate conversation with Shuichi, but he also doesn’t want Shuichi to talk to him, because then he might have to respond and actually talk about what happened and nope nope nope nope nope. (Talk to him about what happened, Kaito, it’s okay.)

(Kaito responds to Shuichi’s words here, but that doesn’t mean much, because he’s doing it to continue the distraction topic instead of properly engaging with Shuichi as a person.)

The real reason Tsumugi called everyone here was to tell them about Kokichi’s message in the courtyard.

Kaito: “Heh, so that’s what it means. It was all just a prank by Kokichi.”

Maki: “…A prank?”

Kaito: “He kept adding to that message just so he could make fun of us. Seriously… what a messed up guy.”

It’s notable that Kaito is the one to write it off as a prank and not wonder if it means anything more sinister, since he’s the one person who’s picked up on the fact that Kokichi isn’t as evil as he claims to be and therefore doesn’t see this as a product of his supposed villainousness. He’s also just trying to stop everyone else from pointlessly worrying about it.

Shuichi: (That’s true, but… is that all there is to it?)

But of course, there is more to it, which is that… Kokichi thinks it will help convince them that he’s the mastermind when the time comes. Which, ?????. What even, Kokichi. His plan to convince them of that has so far consisted of a silly message in the courtyard, and then killing two people and making everybody suffer massively. He really has very little idea what he’s doing, does he. This chapter is going to feature me talking at length about the many reasons Kokichi’s plan is terrible and was never going to work, and… given how haphazard his opening moves are, maybe that’s actually the point that the writers are going for? I’m not sure.

Shuichi: (Can we really just ascribe it to Kokichi’s pranks?)

I guess Shuichi is also wondering about the fact that the message started out saying “horse a”, which is another point, but not a particularly important one.

Kaito: “Well, who cares about Kokichi. More importantly, what about the Flashback Light?”

I love the way Kaito is just writing off Kokichi as unimportant like this. From the conversation earlier this morning, people seemed kind of afraid of him and what he might do next, and Kaito’s trying to quell that. While Kaito himself is the least afraid of him, he’s probably also still worried about what Kokichi’s going to do next… but he doesn’t want to make it seem like something everyone else should be worrying about.

Kaito: “The best way to deal with guys like him is to ignore them. So let’s just leave him be.”

Kaito’s also decided to ignore Kokichi rather than continue to try and get through to him, since he’s finally accepted that that’s never going to happen.

Maki: “You say that, but you were the angriest out of all of us.”

During the trial, yes. But since most of Kaito’s anger during the trial, even at Kokichi, was him lashing out and deflecting his own pain, he’s not feeling that way any more. Kokichi did kill two people and show no remorse for doing so, but Kaito can tell that it’s because he’s messed up and running away from his own issues, and not because he’s the evil person he claims to be.

If Kaito were avoiding Shuichi due to being angry with him about Gonta’s trial, then he should also be magnitudes more angry at Kokichi right now. The fact that he isn’t angry at Kokichi any more is another sign that the idea of him still being angry with Shuichi can’t possibly be what’s really going on.

Kaito: “No… there was something I was just thinking about.”

Kaito’s also not angry any more just because he doesn’t see the point in bothering with Kokichi when there’s more important things to be focusing on, namely escaping. (Especially since he’s on a time limit here.)

Kaito: “It’s still a little too early to tell you guys, but…”

Kaito totally has the plan figured out already and it’s definitely for clever, strategic reasons that he isn’t telling everyone about it for now. It’s totally not just that he hasn’t even started to come up with it yet.

Kaito: “Well, just leave it to me. There’s no need for you guys to worry. I’ll figure it all out.”

Kaito’s going to figure it out, you guys! He’s doing this! He’s going to save everyone!

(Also good job immediately tanking your own attempt to make it seem like you’ve already figured it out, Kaito.)

Kaito: “I mean, I’m gonna get you guys out of here.”

“You guys”. Not “us”.

He’s not thinking of this as a way to save himself. He must feel like his illness is already too far gone for that. But that’s fine and it doesn’t matter so long as he can be the one to save everyone else before he dies.

Himiko: “Nyeeeh, there’s that reckless confidence again.”

Kaito: “Reckless?”

Yes, Kaito, reckless. Apparently at least some people here realise Kaito has no idea what he’s doing – but his recklessness isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because this is still better than sitting around doing nothing.

Kaito: “Heh, you guys just don’t get it. Geez, heroes are always misunderstood.”

Look, he’s a hero, you guys!!! He’s going to save everyone, like heroes do! If people can’t see that, then they’re obviously just misunderstanding him and it’s definitely not that he doesn’t really have what it takes to be a hero.

The irony is that Kaito misunderstands the concept of heroes more than anybody else here. Heroes have got to be perfect and invincible or they’re not really heroes, right? So if someone else remarks on a hero having flaws, they obviously mean that as a criticism of his status as a hero, don’t they? – which means it has to be a misunderstanding because the hero can’t not be a hero. (What do you mean they’re actually still seeing him as a hero anyway despite noticing his flaws, that’s not how heroes work.)

Maki: “Hero or whatever, it doesn’t matter… Just don’t overdo it.”

Meanwhile, Maki, the “sidekick”, doesn’t give a damn whether or not he’s a hero – either way, that has nothing to do with the fact that she cares about him as a friend and doesn’t want him to get hurt.

Kaito: “Yeah, leave it to me!”

Leave “not overdoing it” to you, Kaito? Yes, that’s definitely something we can trust you with.

Shuichi: (Perhaps Kaito’s confidence is baseless… But it’s sort of a relief to have someone so confident in a time like this.)

I love how this just perfectly illustrates how completely wrong Kaito’s view of this whole thing is. Even if he’s weak and dying and has no idea what he’s doing with the plan he just announced, that doesn’t matter! It doesn’t change that having someone so upbeat and confident is really making a difference for everyone else’s morale, and the fact that Kaito can act that way, even if it’s baseless, even if it’s a lie, is amazing. And everyone here knows at least to some extent that Kaito is putting on a façade, but that doesn’t dampen the effect that he’s having on them at all.

Kaito is terrified of showing everyone his weakness because he’s convinced that if they see that then he’d stop being a hero to them and would never be able to inspire them and push them forward any more, but that is explicitly not true. If they knew just how much he was suffering, then the fact that he can fight through it and still be this way despite that would be even more inspiring than he’s already being. God, Kaito, you’re such an idiot and I adore you.

Shuichi: (A hero… He might really be one.)

Exactly! Shuichi is saying this immediately after acknowledging that his confidence is probably baseless! He doesn’t think Kaito is a hero because he can totally effortlessly save them, but because his ability to act this way in times like this is incredible and so important and makes such a difference to Shuichi!

If only Shuichi had said this out loud. Kaito would have been utterly floored by the realisation that Shuichi still sees him this way despite everything that went wrong last chapter and despite Shuichi being aware that he hasn’t got a clue what he’s doing. This should be all Kaito needs to hear to immediately begin fixing the problem between them – it might well give him the courage to talk to Shuichi about what happened in the trial, because if Shuichi still thinks he’s a hero despite everything then maybe it’s okay after all?

Or Kaito might just think instead that Shuichi calling him a hero means he still somehow hasn’t noticed how weak he is, which would push Kaito to put the façade back up and be aggressively supportive and heroic at Shuichi again in a desperate attempt to never let him realise that he’s wrong to think that (isn’t he?). But even that would probably prompt Shuichi to be all “okay, I’m glad you’re talking to me again, but why the sudden change?” and hopefully realise that the hero comment was the key and get somewhere with him that way.

But of course Shuichi has no idea how much Kaito needs to hear this, so he keeps it to himself. He’s always been kind of hesitant to actually voice how much Kaito means to him, and that’d be especially the case right now while he thinks Kaito is angry at him and wouldn’t care and agshdsghjrtghjrt just talk to each other you two.

---

[Next post]

#danganronpa #danganronpa v3 #drv3 #ndrv3 #chapter 5 #daily life #commentary

5 notes · View notes

marchagainsttrump · 8 years ago

Photo

One Canadian's View on Trump Part 2 - [

Hello Again.

I want to first thank everyone who took the time to respond to my last post (Part 1) with their opinions and a few posting tips.

Just to preface my 2nd installment I would like to say first that I had initially planned to present my thoughts in a somewhat orderly and sequential way, in other words a chronological account of how my opinions on Trump evolved over time. However, the Trump saga is unfolding at such an astonishing pace these days that's it's hard to avoid jumping around a bit in the presentation of my thesis.

Secondly, although I have written countless papers while at University which required proper bibliographies and the referencing of sources, for the purposes of this essay I don’t feel this necessary. The quotes, tweets, news items etc that I refer to are all easily verifiable, with most being available on YouTube. I am presenting the opinions of one fairly average, ordinary Canadian(I think); obviously this is not a formal, fully researched political science paper.

Please excuse grammatical errors and spelling mistakes as I have no time to edit. I really shouldn’t even be devoting my limited free-time to writing this, but feel that the situation is dire and therefore I am compelled to express myself and add my voice to the mix. My hope is that many Americans may be interested in, and perhaps benefit from the observations of one of your neighbours to the North. And of course the consequences of this man’s actions greatly affect Canadians as well.

Who are these people in Trump’s base? The people cheering at his rallies. The people parroting his cries of “fake news”. I understand why people might have felt they were let down by previous administrations, left feeling disenfranchised and wanting a change. I understand why Trump’s heavy-handed policies and forceful campaigning style appealed to a large part of the country, and worked in defeating Hillary.

But that was then and this is now. It completely mystifies how anyone could possibly support this man after what we have witnessed for the past eight months! It should have nothing to do with one’s ideology at this point; not an issue of whether one is a Republican or a Democrat, a Progressive or a Conservative.

My disbelief is because it is blatantly obvious that Trump has proven on an almost daily basis that he is a pathological liar with an extremely distorted perception of reality. This plus his erratic behavior, inability to accept criticism, inability to take responsibility for (or even admit) any failure, constant obsessive/compulsive tendencies lead me to believe that he is quite likely mentally ill. I don’t care who you are...is this the type of person you want leading your country? Do you not see how he has so greatly diminished the office of the president, and by extension diminished your whole nation even if you agree with his extreme ideology? What kind of country is it that you want? What kind of world?

Canada is a peaceful nation. Like the U.S. we value above all liberty and the right to pursue happiness...but we seem to value peace much more than Americans, on both a national and individual level. I get it...you have the responsibility of being the world’s police, (and as with most police agencies there are often abuses of power), but I’m also referring to our more fundamental, individual peace-loving nature. As a Canadian I have been exposed to American culture all of my life...movies, TV etc. and have travelled through the U.S. many times, and it seems clear to me that Americans are always ready to fight, much more so than Canadians. I’ve seen it countless times ...the very quick escalation to violence, from seemingly little provocation.

I remember when I was in university I drove to New York City for a few days with a roommate. After a very long drive we arrived a night and decided to stop at a bar in Manhattan for a beer. We loved the real New York feel of the place...the type of bar that Archie Bunker would have drank at. Before we had finished our beer an argument broke out between a patron and the guy running the place. It got pretty loud, and the guy in the bar finally left, yelling that he was going home to get his gun, and would be back! We were freaked out and got out of there quick.

I remember too growing up watching Irv Weinstein doing the Buffalo local newscast every day, as this was prior to the advent of cable TV, and ABC out of Buffalo was one of the few channels available. We used to laugh in disbelief, calling it the Buffalo fire and murder report. That’s basically all that this newscast was...daily coverage of fires and murders!! And I don’t mean a re-telling, I mean new fires, and new murders(plural!!) every day!! Understand that by comparison Toronto is a city of over 3 million, and it averages one murder per week...and those are big news! Even the stereotype of Canadians that I see expressed in the American media as well as here, includes the trait of being overly polite, forever apologizing. We are definitely not a nation of Rambos.

The world we build around us is an expression of what’s going on inside us, and these expressions of our collective internal state are apparent not just in our art, but in many places including our leadership. That is the theory right?...that our leaders speak as the voice, and carry out the will of the collective. So it doesn’t surprise me that the angry, disenfranchised part of the U.S. population elected a brutish, bellicose leader. By contrast, here in Canada where we all get along quite well, embrace diversity, have few guns, and where issues can be debated civilly, (and btw we can smoke pot)...our leader is Trudeau. Whatever you may think of his politics, he is a decent intelligent man (and btw seems to be loved around the world).

The problem, and cause for my utter dismay is that the truth has been laid out clearly for the whole world to see...that Trump has nothing to bring to the office but the bluster. And after eight months of lies and self-contradictions even the bluster is losing effect. His rhetoric is not being backed up with clear ideology and leadership, and so like the boy that cried “wolf” it seems that people are starting to disregard his message.

Well here we are...faced with the scenario we all feared, and just 8 months in. A world crisis, probably the worst that anyone younger than 55 has ever known, and it’s being handled by a moron. Instead of an intelligent, well-studied leader who understands the complexities of the situation and the importance of choosing his words wisely, we have instead a hot-headed ignoramus in a pissing match with a lunatic(you decide who is who).

I have gone back and watched countless videos of Trump speeches and interviews, and realize that there is no indication that he has ever understood anything but the most fundamental points of any issue. None. Let’s face it...the man is an idiot. He is nothing but a self-promoter, a loudmouth who figured out how to draw media attention and use it to his advantage. That’s it as far as I can see. Even his business acumen is suspect, and I would wager that Mueller’s look into his ill-gotten gains will reveal a net worth far less than he has stated.

So now, 8 months in, he is the one that the world is depending on the steer us clear of disaster. A man who needs the details of the developing catastrophe kept to less than one page, with bullet-points and pictures. He cannot possibly appreciate the intricacies of this complex situation. His wreckless “fire and fury”comments to the press yesterday were just downright stupid, and highlight his ineptitude and incapacity for diplomacy. He only had one or two sentences to get out, and even still he blew it again!! Most thinking is that he went off script by adding the tag “than the world has ever seen”...one of his standard catch-phrases that he has used many times.

Even his language was so characteristically moronic. After warning the N Koreans that any further threats would be met with “fire and fury”, he repeated himself but this time adding three words to his comment... “threats would be met with fire and fury and frankly power”, as though he thought it would add clarity or might to his statement.

I am also reminded of one of Trump’s many hundreds of inappropriate or wreckless comments which rings rather poignant today, and again highlights the need for careful, accurate language especially when it is going on record, and especially when spoken by someone in power. Not long ago Trump made the comment that nukes are made for a reason...to be used!

It’s now several hours after writing the last few paragraphs, and it’s been confirmed that Trump improvised his “fire and fury” ultimatum. I knew it had to be. Now please tell me, is he the only person on this planet that doesn’t realize the importance of delivering a clear, carefully constructed and well deliberated message in a situation this sensitive! How dare he speak so impulsively! But then again that’s how he responds to any threat or criticism; bullying is all he knows, and all he’s got since he doesn’t have the brain-power to compete with the big boys. He is not fit to deal with this situation, or the presidency in general.

It’s now Friday 2:30 am. I would like to keep typing, fueled by my outrage at this man and the cadre of dunces that he brings with him. There is so much more to say, but many much more eloquent than me are saying similar things. Here you can hear Lawrence O’Donnell et. al. say it so well... https://youtu.be/7ZNqCRd9ke0 .

It seems almost futile at this point...certainly from this side of our border. Take to the streets!...your country has a great history of protest. Somehow this man (as well as the fascist alt-right movement) must be stopped from steering the world away from a path of progress and healing. We are now a global community, and unless competition and warring is replaced with a world mindset of co-operation, we are doomed.

I find myself feeling something that is quite foreign to me, and a feeling that I don’t like within me...that of hatred. Every time I see that mealy-mouthed creep lying so easily, knowing that he is jeopardizing my children’s future, my blood boils.

To his base I would say this...

Two important things that I have learned in my life are:

1) that when 10 or 20 people are saying one thing, and I am saying another...I am probably wrong as much as I would like it to be otherwise. That fact is that Trump is strongly disapproved of around the whole world and by the majority of Americans. There must be a reason for that! Please understand that the countless millions who see him as a failure (the overwhelming majority of the planet) should tell you that you cannot be seeing things clearly. I understand that it is hard for any of us to admit that we were wrong, but here the stakes are critically high!...and 2) I would rather have peace than be right!!

That’s all for now. If a couple of nukes hit, come up to Canada...we take in lots of refugees. Just please...leave your guns at home.

Sean

]

#MarchAgainstTrump #March Against Trump #Against Trump #Donald Trump #President #One Canadian's View on T

0 notes

marchagainsttrump · 8 years ago

Photo

One Canadian's View on Trump Part 2 - [

Hello Again.

I want to first thank everyone who took the time to respond to my last post (Part 1) with their opinions and a few posting tips.

To his base I would say this...

Two important things that I have learned in my life are:

That’s all for now. If a couple of nukes hit, come up to Canada...we take in lots of refugees. Just please...leave your guns at home.

Sean

]

#MarchAgainstTrump #March Against Trump #Against Trump #Donald Trump #President #One Canadian's View on T

0 notes