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abadsmile · 17 days ago

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Mondo analysis

Good morning or good afternoon! I’m here to talk about Mondo today! I think that there aren’t many discussions around this character and it’s unfortunate, so I decided to act and to make this analysis! Before beginning, let me warn you. This analysis is a long one, a big one, so be prepared when reading it!

I used gender neutral pronouns for Chihiro and all the characters who are in the quotation, has their named reduced to their initial, except Monokuma and Aoi!

(words: 8874)

Design

Today, we’re going to talk about Mondo so let’s start with his design, after all it’s important. First and foremost, Mondo’s creation was inspired from 70’s and 80’s Japanese delinquents with the 70’s Japanese delinquents having ridiculously long coats stylized with heavy kanji embroidery while the 80’s Japanese delinquents are known for the pompadours, baggy pants and open shirt collars and finally sandals. Taking in account those elements, we can see that Mondo is aligned with delinquents especially the 80’s Japanese delinquents.

So, he is a banchou (delinquent leader) from the 80’s which is referred to as the golden age. So, from his design, we can see Mondo as a wild, aggressive, reckless rough and intense person and that’s what we see when we first see him.

His name came from a reference to real-life like his brother’s name, Daiya. Of course, the name of their biker gang is also a reference to Jojo bizarre adventure, with the stand of Josuke Higashikata which is very similar to Mondo, design wise with their baggy pants, their long coats or their iconic pompadour.

What’s interesting is that the old design of Mondo was the design of his brother, Daiya. To be more specific, Mondo was supposed to look like a 70’s banchou who is more reliable as a leader, calmer and far less imprudent. They are also less wild, so they are basically a milder version of the next banchou. When understanding that, we see that our point concerning Mondo correlates well to his design and says more about who he is.

If 70’s banchou are seen as more reliable and calmer then, Mondo can be seen as the inverse of that or at least to a version more aggressive, more violent, who values strength as a man to a higher degree than the previous banchou. Moreover, giving his old design to his brother means that Daiya was actually more reliable as a leader and calmer than Mondo and here we can see already, the contrasting parallels between the two who each represent the older version of a banchou and the next version of a banchou.

Therefore, just from his design, we know what to expect from Mondo as a character. He is going to be the trope of the over-aggressive, imprudent and rude delinquent who uses violence as a means to achieve what he wants to do.

Introduction

Now time for the introduction. We’re going to talk about Mondo Owada, one of the great characters in THH, in my opinion of course. We’re going to talk about a lot of things and his writing throughout the game. Of course, as he is great without his FTEs, I won’t use those FTEs to back up my analysis, and if I do so, it will never be my main example.

So, let’s talk about Mondo. In his first appearance, Mondo is seen as a dangerous individual by Makoto. After all, he is the ultimate biker gang leader and he is the current leader of the largest biker gang in Japan, no wonder he is scary, frightening at least from the point of view of an ordinary boy like Makoto and from the exterior. In addition, he speaks rudely from the beginning “Name's Mondo Owada. Nice to fuckin’ meetcha.” And his appearance goes along with his rude way of speaking

We can also see that he has quite the temperament and gets angry and impulsive quite easily, as he is first to go into the gymnasium when all the other students seem lost after that Monokuma announced everyone to go into the gymnasium:

” Well hell, it ain't like I'm scared or nothin'. Let's just get this over with! Hey! Where's whoever called us here!?” *leaves*

We see his imprudence and anger reach their highest after Monokuma announced the rules of the killing game for the first time. He is furious and it’s understandable after all, who wants to kill someone and why does a bear is the headmaster? Why do we listen to him? And so, he goes to attack Monokuma.

He is the first to attack Monokuma and he is doing so out of anger and fury but also in ignorance. Despite being the most hot-headed character of this game’s cast, he didn’t hit Monokuma after that, the other guy who did attack Monokuma, and twice, was Makoto despite knowing what would happen to him which is interesting, right? But I digress

Fortunately, he is saved by Kyoko who acted in time for shouting out to Mondo to throw Monokuma out as he was about to explode.

But of course, after seeing that, he is scared, horrified. He could have just died, right here.

MO: The hell!? Th-That sure as shit wasn't a joke. It blew the hell up...

MO: You son of a bitch! You seriously tried to kill me just now!

So, from the prologue, we saw that Mondo is the ultimate biker leader gang and rules over the largest biker gang of Japan. Gangs respect and admire him. In addition, we saw that his appearance enters in harmony with his behavior: rude, aggressive, violent, imprudent, impulsive etc… Therefore, we have seen a brief overview of his character in this prologue but as we will see, he is much more than his initial appearance.

Strength

Let’s start with the importance of strength, at least concerning the character of Mondo. Strength and violence are used constantly by Mondo as a way to achieve his goals towards something. The first proof of this is when he tried to destroy Monokuma when angered enough, like we have seen before or when Togami didn’t want to cooperate as a group. But it’s normal, well pretty explanatory by his upbringing and from his design. As we know he is the ultimate biker leader gang, a banchou from the 80’s who are considered to be more wild and more prone to use violence. He is essentially an outlaw. Considering that, he won’t let someone control him or let someone try to say what he has to do:

“This is bullshit! What the hell kinda rules are these!? I'm not gonna let them control ME!”

But he agrees to submit to Monokuma’s rules because of promises that he must keep. For him, a man must always keep his promises and this from his childhood. That’s what he believes and so one of his core beliefs is if a man makes promises he “has to keep it” until he dies. It’s one of the criteria for a man to be strong, at least for him.

“I... Ever since I was a kid, I grew up with my older brother pounding this into my head... When a man makes a promise, he has to keep it, even if it kills him.”

But as we see later, despite him wanting to cooperate as a group, there is still one person who doesn’t and it’s Togami. To make him accept, Mondo tries to use violence again like we have seen until now, it is his way, let’s say to express himself, to “talk” and we’re going to see later in that analysis how this habit of his, will hunt him later. Nonetheless, he uses violence as a threat to make Togami work with them though Togami also provoked him too.

MO: Hold on! Like hell I'm gonna let you run off and do whatever you want!

BT: Out of my way, plankton.

MO: Wh--!? The fuck's that supposed to mean!?

BT: One tiny bit of plankton, drifting across the sea. So minuscule, so insignificant, they couldn't possibly have any kind of influence on the boundless ocean.

BT: I'm gonna kick your ass!

But at the end, Makoto ended up being punched out for trying to calm the tensions but as we know now, Mondo doesn’t like to be ordered and when provoked easily submit to his rude and aggressive behavior, hence the result:

MO: Who do you think you are, talkin' to me like that? You think you're my fuckin' dad or something!?

MN: N-No, I wasn't--!

MO: Fuck you!

Therefore, we have seen how he values strength and how he uses as its primary way to get things done which are coherent with his ultimate talent. Strength is an important facet of his character and is an important contributor to who he is, after all strength is needed to show who is the strongest and the most reliable person in his environment, so it shouldn’t be a surprise as to why strength is important.

He knows it himself and doesn’t consider himself to be smart or intelligent. He has only his strength to show how reliable and how useful he can be. Like we have said earlier, his strength is really his “way” to show and express his will to help.

“But I suck at thinkin’ stuff up, so I guess I’ll let you guys figure it out.”

“Once it’s time to act, though, you just lemme know. I’ll show you what a real man can do!”

He has also this traditional view albeit sexist view concerning fighting women. He is one of those guys who would never tries to fight women, it’s not in his code and he was pretty much taught by his brother, Daiya who is very important to his story and character as a whole too.

“Anyone who raises their hand to a woman is scum that deserves death. That's what my brother taught me.”

“So if I ever find the son of a bitch that did this, I'm gonna pound his goddamn face in.”

“I wasn't tryin' to be mean! Besides, girls are just naturally weak anyway right!?”

But even though he is aggressive and rude, he is a good idiot at heart and knows how to sympathize with one loss. For example, when Makoto is asked how he feels tomorrow after the first trial, Taka says something insensible which triggers Mondo to display some shock:

KI: I imagine it would be pretty hard to sleep with a rotting corpse in your bathroom! MO : Jesus, that's fucked up, man. Why would you say something like that?

Or when he comes to protect Chihiro from Togami’s insensible words once again when everyone tried to search for him in chapter 2:

CF: I-I'm sorry... MO: Hey, shithead! You get off on bullying people that can't fight back? You wanna try that on me!?

BT: So, you're back to pretending to be friends, huh? And how long do you think that's going to last?

MO: Fuck you!

So, we see another side of him, where he uses his strength to defend people who can’t fight back, people who don’t have means to fight back whether it be with words or with physical strength. Like we said earlier, he may be rude, aggressive, violent but he often uses that strength to protect those he sees as weak. Of course, born in sexist environment, it’s normal that his worldview is sexist and it’s even more understandable when we know the period of when the game takes place (in the beginning of 2010s).

But as we know, he doesn’t only value this sort of strength and that’s what we’re going to see in his dynamics now!

Dynamic

It’s in his dynamics that we will be able to see different facets, aspects of Mondo as a character. What we explain before was more about the surface, how Mondo appears exteriorly. We have briefly talk about his more honorable traits, just before we began in the dynamic section and we will talk more about his other traits too thanks to his dynamic.

Togami

We begin with Togami and yes, there is a dynamic between them as we can consider them as parallels who contrast each other pretty well.

From the beginning, these two are in opposition by the game. They are fairly different characters, opposite. This opposition can be seen directly from their clothes.

Mondo wears informal clothes, with a long coat and baggy plants and other accessories akin to delinquents. His hair, his way of speaking, and his rude behavior go along with his exterior appeal which display even more his exterior as a delinquent and basically as a low-class person.

Whereas Togami is the opposite of that, with him wearing more formal, dignified clothes and having a more classic and so formal haircut. Also, his way of speaking is more formal as well, illustrating his appearance as a person coming from a high class family and environment.

It's these two who begin to fight, like we have seen before. They are like oil and water:

MO: Hold on! Like hell I'm gonna let you run off and do whatever you want!

BT: Out of my way, plankton.

MO: Wh--!? The fuck's that supposed to mean!?

BT: One tiny bit of plankton, drifting across the sea. So minuscule, so insignificant, they couldn't possibly have any kind of influence on the boundless ocean.

BT: I'm gonna kick your ass!

But what’s unite them is their affirmative nature and rude way of speaking despite Mondo having a far more causal way of speaking and Togami using formal words (he never uses informal insults). As we can see from these dialogues, Mondo is far more emotional than Togami, tends to get angry easily and uses violence as way to express himself more directly but would ultimately uses his strength to do the right thing while Togami is a logical being to his core, uses words to express correctly and will do bad and wrong things if it benefits him. We see that when Mondo protects Chihiro, an example that I have already used, so I don’t see the point to use it here. However, they are quick to accept reality.

It's not a coincidence that in the first chapter, at the beginning, Makoto was the one to stop the fighting between Mondo and Owada, trying to stop conflicts within the group and that moments later, when Sayaka are dead, Mondo and Byakuya are the ones to try to stop Makoto from spiraling out when he has to accept reality.

It’s also used as a parallel to the first situation buy also opposite as now Mondo and Byakuya together tries to convince that Sayaka is dead to Makoto.

BT: Hey, where do you think you're going?

MN: I have to see for myself! I have to see if Sayaka is--! If Sayaka is...!

BT: You can check once, twice, a thousand times. Sayaka is completely and irrevocably dead.

MN: No! I have to see for myself!

MO: Listen to us, man! Whaddya think's gonna happen if you go out there?

MN: Well what good is it gonna do just sitting around here!? I mean, why are we all hanging out in the gym at a time like this!? Our friend...Sayaka...she's... She's dead!

Here, they “work”together”. Normally, Makoto would talk to them with more shyness or fear as one was the reason why he received a powerful blow and the other was one of the coldest and the most egoistical guys in this room. But he didn’t care at all as he is the one who screamed at them and doesn’t care if they fought him. Their words don’t reach him at all, while in the first situation, it was Makoto’s words that didn’t reach him leading Mondo to just be angered and to punch him. I think here, this parallel served to illustrate that despite their differences, despite being different like hot and cold, they have similitudes in their rudeness and aggressive tone and behavior while displaying it differently of course.

But finally, where they differentiate to each other is how they treat others and how they react when someone trusts them to keep something important. Like we have seen with Mondo, promises are important:

“I... Ever since I was a kid, I grew up with my older brother pounding this into my head... When a man makes a promise, he has to keep it, even if it kills him.”

And this characterization of his, right here, is important to remember as he is driven by this. When killing Chihiro, guilt overwhelms him, his inability of his to control his temperament and used of his strength to express himself turned to be his demise. But he decides to keep the secret that Chihiro told him to keep, which is that Chihiro is a man. He does it, even if it would harm him at the end. He would do anything to keep his promise, no matter what, “even if it kills him”.

Whereas when told a secret, Togami doesn’t hesitate to use it in a way that benefits him. We see that with Toko, who told Byakuya her secret about Genocider Syo. She trusted him but Togami of course doesn’t care. He uses her and tells her secret to everyone in the second trial so as to protect him as everyone knows that there is a serial killer in the group and to see if there are competent people in the group who could hinder him if he attempts to kill someone.

TF: Y-You said you wouldn't t-tell anyone...! TF: You p-promised...! I can't b-believe you l-lied! BT: You have only yourself to blame--you came to me with your tragic little story. I didn't ask you to. This is the real world, not some romantic fantasy fairytale.: Gyah...! G-Gaah!

BT: Besides, you broke your promise first. You said that as long as you were here, no matter what, you wouldn't let Genocide Jack kill anyone. But in spite of that promise...

He even blames her for even trying to tell her secret and tries to guilt-trip her in saying that she lied and that she killed Chihiro but as we know it’s false.

And now we see the extreme difference between Mondo and Togami. While both have rude behavior like we have told earlier with major differences concerning their behavior, Mondo still tries at the end to do the right thing and still treats people as people while Togami is logic incarnate and doesn’t care about people except himself. He sees others as tools, especially when put in this type of situation, a royal battle where one must put himself first.

Taka

Now, let’s talk about one of the most important characters for Mondo alongside Chihiro, which we will see later.

First and foremost, Taka and Mondo are contrasting parallels as well. The more obvious proof are once again their clothes and the color too. Like we have said earlier with Mondo, his appearance as a whole is informal whether it be his clothes and his hair while Taka’s clothes are a lot more formal with his haircut being conventional. But we can go deeper. Indeed, the color oof their clothes are also distinct with Mondo wearing black clothes and Taka wearing white clothes.

This choice of different colors while wearing formal and informal clothing is intentional. Taka, wearing white formal clothing, shows his affinity with purity, order, control, authority, rigidity and also expresses a persona, a role that Taka plays in Danganronpa. He places himself in the role of a leader.

He hides most of the time his concern about himself and his emotions, he doesn’t let those be expressed as he wants to show a strong face and to be useful to the group. There are other reasons tied to his family too, but I’ll stop here. Basically, it displays his talent too, as the ultimate moral compass. Whereas Mondo wears black informal clothing, displaying his dangerous and more rough, chaotic and unrestrained side.

If Taka is associated with rules, Mondo is linked more to a sort of rebel, as someone who goes against the rules and order which is coherent with, we have seen throughout this analysis. But the black here isn’t evil as it also represents the more raw, honest and authentic side of Mondo, compared to Taka who is ironically restrained emotionally by those rules as his obsessive behavior with rules and perfection hinders him as person, so much that he is socially inadept.

Now that we have clarified this opposition and how they exist as contrasting parallels, it’s no wonder that these two, at the beginning, confront each other a lot and it is the case in chapter 2:

KI: He's right! In this situation, there's nothing scarier than when an ally turns loose cannon! It's just like when we were kids, and someone would go crazy at sports day or whatever! MO: What the fuck are you talking about!? You gonna use the rope to do tug of war or something!? Idiot! KI: I'm not an idiot...!

KI: YOU'RE an idiot!

MO: Who are you callin' stupid!?

And their other dispute explained what we already told previously more explicitly and shows the reasons of why they confront each other so often:

MO: This guy's been talkin' shit about me since day one. Callin' me a coward and shit like that...

KI: You *are* a coward! That's why you turn to violence to solve your problems!

KI: That's why you can't do what society asks of you, why you walk around dressed like that!

KI: ...The fuck you say? You dunno shit. KI: You've already lost to yourself, but you're such a coward you don't even realize it!

MO: So what, you sayin' you're *not* a coward? You think you're tougher than me?

KI: I *know* I am!

MO: Okay, then let's throw down. Prove you got what I don't got! KI: I accept your challenge!

This dialogue shows us the conflict between them, but also how both represent a form of masculinity based on the norms of society. Their conflict is pretty apparent now. We know that Taka is someone who values highly order and respects the rules, so for him to criticize the way Mondo expresses himself and the way he dresses himself isn’t surprising at all.

Mondo is in a way, everything Taka doesn’t want to be and that’s why he sees Mondo as a coward, as someone who is ultimately “weak” which is ultimately tied to the events of his past, especially of what his grandfather did as a prime minister (corruption) and how it brought shame in his family, a shame that he wants to get rid of.

As I said, Taka represents a form of masculinity, a societal masculinity, a masculinity imposed by Japan’s society norms. It is an idealistic type of masculinity as Taka’s values exist due to his past and absorbed ideals. He is obsessed with authority rules, for masculinity must be measured by discipline and he aspired to overcome the shame that his grandfather imposed on them. So, he wants to be a greater man than his grandfather, someone who absolutely follows rules to a tee.

But to be able to be right, to be a figure who doesn’t do wrong, he must repress his emotions despite being emotional as he pursues perfection too. He doesn’t want to fail; to submit to corruption like his grandfather did and so he is desperate to take things into hands and that’s why we see him attempting to take a position of leader in the group.

While Mondo represents another type of masculinity, more driven by the stereotypes of masculinity. He represents well how this masculinity forms as a sort of cage. He is a person who values strength and uses strength to achieve his goals. That strength is also used for keeping his portrayal as a tough guy, which is important for his role as a leader of the biggest biker gang of the country.

But that strength is also used as a way to hide his repressed emotions and trauma like Taka with his rigid persona as well. We can see that strength is important as Mondo reacts more intensively when Taka implies that he is tougher than him and so stronger than him. It triggers an emotional respond and so he defies Taka to stay the longest in the sauna.

He goes even deeper in trying to battle with his clothes too, showing how much, he wants to prove that he is tougher than Taka. But it is thanks to this event that the two bonds and become friends too. It is in a male bonding contest that both was able to see the worth of the other: Mondo admires the spirit but also the sincerity of Taka while Taka also admires his spirit but also his honor and so strength. They end up respecting each other.

KI: Forget her, bro. A girl like her just doesn't get our manly bond!

KI: Friendship between men is stronger than blood! A woman could never understand!

MO: What you just said? Bro, that was cool as shit! I should get a tattoo of it!

KI: No, bro, you mustn't! Your body is a temple, given to you by your loving parents!

MN: So, um...who won the contest? MO: Who gives a shit!? KI: Yeah, don't ask stupid questions! What matters is that we both took part in it together!

We see once again the masculinity that the two exhibit here. But what’s more important is that both became friends thanks to that battle of willpower. The fact that they engaged in this form of competition, in a sauna, is symbolic. It’s when both Taka and Mondo lay bared their vulnerability to each other, the sweat and the hotness of the sauna melting their different mask for them to be able to truly understand each other. At the end, Taka gains a true friend that he values highly, and Mondo also gains someone who doesn’t fear him. Both Taka and Mondo values this friendship and consider it as something than a woman could never understand which is again sexist.

They are put in opposition with the friendship of Hina and Sakura. They both have a hard time grasping their friendship who seems more simplistic for them.

SO: Friendship between men seems very...simplistic. Nothing like what I'm used to with girls.

Aoi: Yeah, for real...

I think that Hina and Sakura are here more to highlight this mystic bond and masculinity between Mondo and Taka.

However, when the secrets are given, Mondo refuses to say it:

MO: If everyone's that much against it... Even if my bro's the one that suggested it, I gotta say no.

KI: W-Well, that's okay, then. Either way, if it's just a few secrets, I'm sure nobody's about to kill anybody over it.

Before continuing, I liked to see how Taka is less insistent here. If it was Taka from chapter 1 or from earlier, I doubt that he would be that tolerant to let others escape like this but I think it’s due to his experience as a leader of the group and his relationship with Mondo too. With him being friends with mondo, he is able to be more conscious of people’s feeling and so he doesn’t try to force people to say their secrets. Now, let’s talk about Mondo, right? Here, we see that Mondo refuses to say to his Taka and uses the excuse that almost everyone is against it. But it also shows that Mondo was never fully connected with Taka as he didn’t’ truly lay bare his vulnerability and the greatest proof of this is when both were in the sauna, Mondo kept his clothes while Taka stripped his clothes.

This contrast illustrates well how truly vulnerable they were to each other. While Taka was the one being truly vulnerable, as he is almost naked, Mondo isn’t as he still has his clothes, showing that he never let himself to be genuinely vulnerable even with Taka. Mondo is still in fear or in submission to the judgement of the others and clearly wouldn’t want to tell his secret. I think it’s a cool symbolism showing the future of their relationship.

The final of their relationship happens in the second trial. When Mondo is accused rightfully as the blackened, Taka tries to deny it. Of course, he can’t see Mondo as a killer, as someone who has killed and so he refuses to believe it.

KI: What's wrong, bro? Come on, tell him he's wrong...! You ARE wrong! You HAVE to be wrong...! KI: Everything you just said is wrong! You made it all up!

But the more proof piled up, the less he could deny it and that’s hurt him but the one that ultimately stoped him, is Mondo who confessed the truth: He did it.

That fact is a hard pill to swallow for Taka as Mondo was his first true friend, was ultimately the blackened, the one who killed.

KI: I-I refuse to believe it... There's no way...no way he would kill someone!

MO: Sorry...

KI: Wh-Why are you apologizing!?

KI: Why!? Why why why why why!? WHYYY!? Wh...why?

Taka wanted so much from this to not be the truth that he didn’t vote for Mondo, showing how much, he wanted to dent the truth, to deny reality here.

Their relationship crumbles here despite their bond. Mondo couldn’t admit his weakness and his secret to anyone which caused him to commit murder, while Taka is destroyed by this truth and succumbs to despair. They couldn’t escape the role that they have been trapped in which led to these unfortunate events. Mondo wasn’t able to keep their promises between man, he failed to do so which hurt as keeping promises is the core of being after all.

Chihiro

At last, we have Chihiro. It’s going to be shorter than Taka but nonetheless, it is still one of Mondo’s most important relationships. Let’s begin with the basic distinction between each character. Chihiro is pretty weak physically and has a more juvenile appearance showing his apparent weakness and femineity shown as a weakness, at least for Chihiro. They have a gentle and caring personality which heavily contrasts with him and Mondo. As we have seen now, Mondo is strong physically and has more mainly appearance, basically the opposite of Chihiro. In addition, he has a ruder and more aggressive personality who goes along with his appearance.

But they share one desire and it’s the will to not be weak. But throughout the game, at least in chapter 2, Chihiro is perceived as weak by the game and Mondo as well. That’s what we see when he defends Chihiro against Togami.

CF: I-I'm sorry... MO: Hey, shithead! You get off on bullying people that can't fight back? You wanna try that on me!?

But being perceived as weak is not something that Chihiro wants, after all they want to become strong, strong enough that they will be able to say their secret.

CF: Well, after what Byakuya said to me yesterday...I just got so nervous, I locked up. I couldn't say anything. Mondo ended up having to help me out. And even *he* said I was someone who "can't fight back"... I...I hate how weak I am.

Mondo did unintentionally trigger them. That’s why Chihiro, well, almost cries in this scene, as being perceived as weak hinders and hurts them a lot. They have the desire to get stronger as they “hate” the way they are. But thanks to Mondo, Chihiro calms themselves as Mondo promised them to not yell at them anymore.

I consider that’s it’s here that Mondo was seen as a model of masculinity for Chihiro. They came to respect him a lot and decided to trust Mondo as he said to trust them.

MO: Anyway, so you can trust me when I make that promise. So you don't gotta cry anymore!

CF: O-Okay. CF: Thank you...Mondo.

In addition, with how vehement Mondo is when keeping promises, Chihiro surely told themself that Mondo was the best choice to tell their secrets.

Of course, we know the reason why they didn’t choose somebody else as Chihiro wanted to come out as man, to not constantly hides their true identity. They could have chosen Sakura or Hina, but they weren’t a man, they weren’t the model that Chihiro idealized. In hindsight, they may have viewed femineity as a weakness too, regarding their childhood and how it influenced their actions and worldview concerning strength. So, Mondo was the perfect guy to tell their secret. That’s what Monokuma says after all:

Monokuma: Plus, Mr. Macho Mondo was the very symbol of a strong man that Chihiro had always aspired to.

But what’s interesting is that while they have similar desire, which is not to be perceived as weak by the others, they express it differently. They both hate their weakness and thus hate themselves for not being able to overcome that said weakness.

Chihiro clearly shows their will to change explicitly. They don’t use some persona or masks to hide their desire; they say it to everyone. Compared to Mondo, they acknowledge their weakness, in a way that Mondo doesn’t.

CF: But...I still don't like how I am right now. I have to get stronger... If I'm so weak anything can make me cry...that's not good.

MN: Still, don't stress out too much about having to get stronger. CF: No...I *want* to get stronger. Maybe I should...start working out...

They let themselves be vulnerable and don’t try to repress their emotions, contrary to Mondo who always tries to repress his emotions, tries to hide his guilt and trauma through strength and violence. He never showed vulnerability to everyone and uses his mask as a tough guy to hide it all, like we have said before. Remember, the scene with Taka before, they went to the bathroom with Makoto? It’s a great example of Mondo hiding his fears and emotions:

KI: ...The fuck you say? You dunno shit. KI: You've already lost to yourself, but you're such a coward you don't even realize it!

MO: So what, you sayin' you're *not* a coward? You think you're tougher than me?

They also contrast in the strength they wish to obtain. Mondo wants to be strong enough to be able to admit his weakness, his lack of strength and to admit what he did in this fateful night, the night where his brother died. He wants to be emotionally and mentally strong, to the point that he could one day say what is truly in his mind and heart since this accident. Chihiro wants to be strong physically as they want to be perceived not as a woman but as man, he wants to regain his personal identity. They view their current self as weak, not enough strong.

Though what’s ironic is that they both hid their current self through the strength that they want to obtain. Chihiro hid their identity, their weakness as a boy through his appearance which is something that he wants to change whereas Mondo hid his weakness through his behavior, through his emotions, which is something that he wants to control so as to become truly strong.

And that contrast illustrates the real difference between Mondo and them. While lacking physical strength, he was able to say his secret. It is a thing that he wanted to say to everyone when given his secret by Monokuma. He always wanted to say it not immediately, but at least he showed the will to do it one day. Even if they was scared to say it as they thought that people would surely mock them as people did in the past but despite all of this, they wanted to say it.

CF: Um...s-sorry, I don't really want to talk about it right now.

CF: But I also don't want to leave things the way they are. So maybe I can talk about it later... After I try my best...to become strong... Then I can tell everyone.

What is truly fascinating is that Chihiro while displaying the strength that Mondo wants, is unaware of how strong he really was and that’s the tragedy of Chihiro’s death. They were unable to see their own strength as a person. They could only see their appearance not their true self which ended up being the end of their life. It’s unfortunate, as even if they told everyone that they couldn’t talk about it right now, they talk about it with Mondo this night, showing their will to become strong, to overcome their weakness.

In contrary, Mondo is plenty aware of the weakness that he had and knows in his heart that the physical strength that he has is useless. He hates himself but also wants to change but couldn’t as in the end, he ends up killing Chihiro because they triggered his trauma, his PTSD. So when he saw his secret, anxiety and fear came together. He couldn’t let anyone hear this secret. If not, everything would amount to nothing, everything he did as the leader of his biker gang, the promise that he made with his brother, they would all amount to nothing

MO: After I saw what Monokuma had on me my head filled up with a kind of fuzzy uneasiness, and just started swirlin' around. I'd never felt anything like it before.

MO: I didn't know what to do about it. I wasn't sure what to think of say. But after a while, that fuzzy uneasiness... MO: Turned itself into a rock-hard lump of anxiety, way down in my stomach...! And it was right around then that Chihiro asked me to start working out with him. And right there, I... He told me a secret.

And so, we see how opposite his reaction is compared to Chihiro. While Chihiro was worried about it, he tried to say to someone, to someone that they could trust. They wanted to say their secret. While Mondo didn’t want to say anything, he wanted to protect himself from this. The very strength that he lacked would be the cost of Chihiro’s life and the cost of his life as well. And so, he was jealous, he envied Chihiro as they had the sort of strength that he hadn’t, the strength to try to be true to themself.

“I was...jealous. I was jealous of Chihiro's strength. He had the strength to face his own weakness, to try and overcome it...! It was the kind of strength I've never had... So I was jealous of him. And that jealously...broke me“

And it’s because of this jealousy and that Chihiro triggered his PTSD that Mondo killed Chihiro. Of course, as we know Mondo felt guilty, immensely guilty. He tried to keep the promises that he did to Chihiro and so he moved his body, putting them in the girl’s locker room and stealing their handbook. But the strength that he fought he had, never existed in the first place…

Finally, considering their guilt towards Chihiro, it’s pretty easy to see even when the investigation begins. He reacts pretty violently to the declarations of Togami and is constantly down during the investigation with his posture being like this:

Just from this, we can see how guilty he feels. I can add more images but I’ll stop here.

PTSD

Talking about guilt, we must talk about his PTSD. The definition of PTSD is this:

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that's caused by an extremely stressful or terrifying event — either being part of it or witnessing it. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares, severe anxiety and uncontrollable thoughts about the event.

Most people who go through traumatic events may have a hard time adjusting and coping for a short time. But with time and by taking good care of themselves, they usually get better

Which is coherent to what Mondo has been through. It is the death of his brother that led him to have PTSD. Basically, we learn that before being the leader, it was his brother who was the leader and Mondo followed his brother. He imitated everything that his brother did, he basically admired him. But one day, Mondo thought about how he would have to take the role of his brother which gnaw, erode his soul. But why? Because he didn’t think that he was enough, he didn’t think that he was capable enough to take the mantle of his brother after his departure. The greatness and reputation of his brother was too strong for Mondo to handle.

Just from there, we see that Mondo was overwhelmed by these thoughts but what triggered him to act was the gossip and whispers of the members of the gang:

"The kid's gonna take over for Daiya, huh?" "Daiya created this gang with his bare hands! Mondo's just along for the ride!" "Can someone like that really be our leader?" "All that'll do is make the gang look bad."

It is those whispers that influenced him to act, to show his strength, to show that he can take the mantle, to show that he was stronger than Daiya but is his gullible side would cost the life of Daiya. And those whispers happened each day which would make him remember at the end, his lack of strength. As we know, he was already aware of this but hearing the others saying it should have made him even more insecure, to the point that he envied his brother’s strength.

And so, he challenged his brother at the night of his retirement ceremony but unfortunately as we know, Daiya died this night in protecting Mondo by pushing him to the side and taking the truck at full front. Daiya had to push him to the side due to the reckless pursuit of Mondo to victory. This is the secret behind Mondo’s.

And that death, is something that he feels guilty, immensely guilty. It is him who caused his brother’s death; it’s him who was gullible enough to be influenced by the gossip of the gang members. The final promise that Mondo did to his brother was to keep the gang together and so it’s the start of him, using strength and masculinity as a sort of defense mechanism, to protect himself from that weakness, from his emotions and guilt.

The lie that he told is this:

"Daiya was gonna lose to his kid brother, so he got stupid and got himself killed." That became the explanation for what happened. Mondo's lie became the truth.”

That lie should have even destroyed him further as even if he wanted to lead the gang, to have the necessary strength to be an adequate leader, it was at the cost of his brother. Lying was again a way to keep the promise that he made with his brother so as to keep the gang together but also as a way to protect himself from telling the truth.

Clearly, Mondo’s mental health wasn’t in a good position at all and we have seen the consequences of this event, with the use of his strength to hide his emotions and vulnerability but also as a way to express himself.

But Chihiro’s words triggered him:

CF: ...I want to change. I wrapped myself in lies. I'm weak. I want to destroy that version of me forever!

His words were like a knife in my gut... I felt like he was exposing the lie I'd been living myself.

Chihiro had the strength to reveal the lie that he kept, Mondo hadn’t. Chihiro had the courage to express himself, Mondo hadn’t, Chihiro had the will to change, Mondo hadn’t. Here the scene where his PTSD attack happens:

MO: What did he want me to do? What was I *supposed* to do? Was I supposed to just sit back, let my secret get revealed, and ruin everything....

CF: Wh...what's wrong?

MO: Why did you have to tell me all that? Are you trying to rub my failure in my face?

CF: N-No, I just...really admire you. I admire...your strength...

MO: That's right... I *am* strong... Strong... I'm strong...!

MO: Strong, strong, strong, strong, strong, strong!

MO: Stronger than you! MO: And stronger than Daaaaiiiyaaaaa!!!

There is a lot to say but here, we see how Mondo acted. Due to Chihiro’s words he underwent an PTSD attack. PTSD attacks are sudden, intense episodes of anxiety that can last for minutes or even hours. Many people with PTSD will experience multiple attacks over the course of their illness. Attacks can be triggered by anything that reminds the person of their trauma which is exactly the case here

That panic that Mondo felt here, feels pretty realistic and is gut wrenching. It is a well display of what PTSD attack can do here. We see that his habit of using strength for anything comes stabbing him in the back. In addition, the panic attack is linked to strength that he lacked when the death of his brother happened and when Chihiro died

He was overwhelmed by what he should have done here. He couldn’t let that secret out, he couldn’t as he wanted to keep Daiya’s promise but also wanted to protect himself and his reputation but the fact that Chihiro was able, forces him to see his weakness, to see how weak he truly is. However, the final word that makes Mondo acts, is when he hears the word “strength”. That’s when he acts and expresses his trauma and guilt but also his will to be strong, stronger to his brother, showing that deep inside of him, he is still insecure, he is still as vulnerable. He never changed, he only hid everything behind the cover of his tough persona, that’s all.

His last words say it well:

MO: ...I...killed him. I killed Chihiro. Even after all this time, I'm still just as weak as I've always been!

I found that his PTSD really interesting as it feels raw and very alive, you can feel how the guilt and his fears and insecurities tear him apart. I think it’s a really nice addition to his character.

Fear

Yes, following what we know we can tell that Mondo probably hided his fears and anxiety behind his mask of anger and fury. He did it so as to protect himself. As we know the masculinity that he projects exteriorly is used by him as a sort of defense mechanism which prevents him from showing vulnerability. It enables him to protect oneself from being perceived as weak as this defense mechanism is a reaction to his trauma, guilt, or insecurity which led him to violence and self-destruction like we have seen earlier.

Monokuma said this:

“As soon as our killing game began, he realized no matter how tough he pretended to be, he was just another weakling that could die in an instant.”

Which is interesting as it would mean that from the very beginning, fears and anxiety were already planted in the heart of Mondo. If we consider that, we can explain one move of his during the first chapter of the game. When Monokuma announced the first motive, Mondo practically forces Makoto to go adventures himself towards the motive, knowing well that it could be dangerous for him.

MO: Hey, hey... Hey hey hey hey hey!

MO: HEEEEEY!!! MO : You see how passionately I'm begging you!? What's the big deal? Just check it out real quick!

MN: ... O-Okay...I guess I'll get going, then.

MO: Awesome, thanks! I owe ya one!

For a guy that said that he would handle muscle work, he seems far less reliable than expected. And that what’s both Makoto and Sayaka think after they got out of the cafeteria room:

SM: I can't decide if Mondo is totally dependable or completely terrible...

MN: Yeah, I'd have to say he's kind of both.

He's not exactly a bad person... But I definitely can't say he's a good person, either.

We can see that neither trust him at all, especially Sayaka considering her fears that she kept hidden throughout the game. But it’s also interesting to point out that clearly, Makoto never truly trusted anyone except Sayaka in the first chapter which is a point that almost anyone seems to forget. In this chapter, Makoto never tries to forge relationships with other people or tries to see the good in everyone. He prioritized his escape with Sayaka and put the others after.

Nonetheless, the fact that Mondo let Makoto go to danger seems to imply one thing: that he was scared to go, that he feared the motive of Monokuma. There were hints of Mondo’s true self from the beginning and this scene is one of those hints, where we could see his anxiety and fears subtly. He didn’t want to go, after all, he already paid the price for trying to adventure first into danger. Remember, he was the first one to actually try to destroy Monkuma which almost cost his life in the process. He knows how dangerous Monokuma is and so fears that he could lose his life if he goes first like the other time. And so, he decides to let Makoto go.

Therefore, this example amplifies Mondo’s depth and shows how hopelessly he tries to hide his fears and anxiety.

Themes and their meaning

Finally, one of the important themes of THH is personal identity but also society, more specifically its norms.

Here we have seen how Mondo is a critique of masculinity. We have explained that Mondo is the hypermasculine type who is obsessed with strength and to show his worth. It is important for him to be dominant and aggressive. We have said this type of masculinity represents a cage that led to his demise at the end. This type of masculinity is shaped by multiple exaggerated stereotypes and is honestly toxic. it is a distorted and extreme form of masculinity that prioritizes dominance, emotional repression, aggression, and the rejection of anything perceived as “feminine” or weak. But Mondo is a critique of this toxic masculinity. It ended up harming others and himself as it repressed a lot of trauma and guilt that Mondo had prior killing Chihiro. But ultimately, the game critiques that masculinity is about control and image, that showing vulnerability is failure and that your identity must serve others’ expectations.

But if Mondo is a critique of masculinity, is Chihiro a celebration of masculinity?

Well, it’s not as clear-cut. Obviously, Chihiro represents real strength, true strength and the game puts Chihiro in a good light to show that it’s this way that boys must be masculine. After all, Chihiro had the strength to reveal their secret, to regain their personal identity. But there is something that we must account for. Chihiro too, was locked up in the vision of hypermasculinity too. Admittedly, Chihiro represents the strength that Mondo hadn’t but it’s a strength they don’t accept as strength. They unconsciously don’t recognize that strength and wanted to gain the strength of Mondo, his physical strength. We have seen how rejected the help of Sakura so as to train because they saw Mondo as a model, something that they must become so as to become truly a someone strong, to become truly a male.

Considering that, Chihiro is also trapped in society’s norms as well, not by representing the stereotypes of masculinity but by pursuing it!

Whether it be Mondo or him, they have hidden their true self through disguise for Chihiro or through a tough persona for Mondo. Their personal identity was catered to the expectations put into them, with Mondo, his gang members and Chihiro, their bullies.

But even when Chihiro wanted to change, for the better, he was still under the cultural stereotype of strength and in a way never escaped him. So, did the game convey this or at least try to do it?

I would say yes as what I think the game valued was the fact that Chihiro were able to tell his secret while Mondo wasn’t but it still confusing at how masculinity is treated at the end. Did Chihiro efforts to try to be masculine was good? Yes, but the problem is that they catered themself toward the figure of Mondo who represents, like we have said, this toxic masculinity.

So that’s why some said that Chihiro’s attempt towards masculinity is misguided and I could see why people see Chihiro as someone who is “lost” through his personal identity, his gender. They see themself as a boy, but chose to disguise themself as a girl to escape criticism and it worked. This could imply that the game views girls as weak, which could be true but I think, it’s to show how society back then, mostly in 2010s, viewed femininity, as it has been always associated with weakness even to this day. But it also shows how Chihiro’s views on his masculinity and identity are tainted by the expectations of others and the stereotypes of society.

It is a contentious debate to this day, and it is understandable. But I think that him, being misguided, is intentional too as it shows he reinforces the tragedy of his character.

And so, I think that’s going to be it for this analysis! I really loved to do it as Mondo is a great character and easily enters in my top 5 of THH characters. I view him as the best chapter 2 blackened, with his story being truly tragic. I also love how the society here plays a key role into his character like many characters in THH, such as Chihiro, Taka, Makoto and more like Sayaka. I’ll hope that people see this analysis and give some feedbacks as well!

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abadsmile · 20 days ago