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humbugghere · 10 months

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Going insane over P:EG - Eva Tsunaka’s imitation「模倣」piece.

Okay, so my previous post seemed to scratch an itch for some of y’all so I figured while I’m working on the big video I should post my other analysis (if you havent seen Diana's btw its here). So I’ll be hitting on Nifast’s _imitation

「模倣」_series again with Eva’s piece, as seen below:

(Credit to Nifast hi Nifast)

Alright let’s start, I’m copypasting this from the google doc as per usual. Prologue spoilers are in this one btw

Introduction

Eva Tsunaka is among the more enigmatic members of the cast, with many of her basic details obscured by the staff, her very own bio referring to her as a “Truly quiet and mysterious figure”, and the enigma that is her behavior in the prologue, Tsunaka has been set up to be this games “black box”, and while her essential characterization is out in the open, her deeper motives and psyche are likely to stay obscured for a while within the story.

However, via the Imitation「模倣」series, we get another glimpse into Eva, with her being given a portrait in a series of 9 covering the female cast, giving an abstract view into their place in the story.

Unlike my previous essay on Cara, however, this piece has a massive asterisk: Eva is alive. While Cara, Tacticum in death, and the information handed to us being absolute in summing her up, can be analyzed in full, there will be certain aspects of this art that can only be fully digested upon either Eva’s death or upon her survival of the killing game. Eva is a character who strikes me as one who may die incredibly early, or make it into the annals of the killing game.

Regardless, there is no doubt that her presence, in rebutting Wolfgang’s hope in the student's titles, and in the distrust sowed thanks to her talent and nonchalant behaviour, will have a profound impact on the cast, whether or not she may continue to live and act within the story. As it stands, Eva is alive. So while we may not do a true autopsy, we may begin to sterilize our tools and set the scene.

Eva Tsunaka - Within Reality

This section, more than anything, is meant to remind the reader of key moments within the prologue, that both act to define Eva’s character and help inform a calculated analysis of the piece.

The first thing of note is how Eva refers to her talent. After being pressured on how she came to be the Ultimate Liar, she waved such concerns away, simply saying it is what she is.

This use of the word what lines up perfectly with the whole of the Imitation「模倣」series, as each portrait is framed as a response to the question “What are you?”. The response assigned to Eva, being “a lie” again lines up perfectly with her response. All of this is capped off by the end of the art book, which poses a question, almost identical yet strikingly opposite: “Who are you?”.

This question goes unanswered, at least for now. At least for some.

N doing this, we can see a very clear dichotomy between her talent, and her. While Eva has been awarded the title of liar, it is merely what she is - not who she is. It it wholly separate from her identity as a person.

Another thing worth mentioning is the contrast between how Eva handles herself, and how the rest of the cast does. While much of the cast is apprehensive (aside from a few like Cassidy who don’t actively suspect Eva for her talent), Eva is wholly dismissive of their accusations, inviting them to believe whatever they wish to believe. While there is no direct correlation to be drawn, having this part of her in mind will serve us well.

Finally, Eva’s prodding is another key feature of her character. Being the first person to ask the hard-hitting, perhaps harsh questions to characters such as Ingrid and Cassidy about their talents, as well as serving as the principal voice against Wolfgang and Damon in the trial. While she is willing to concede if given a sufficient answer, or hopelessly outnumbers, Eva is still someone who wishes to play an active role in any conversation she has, in order to extract as much information as possible. Again, this is something to keep in mind moving forward.

We can conclude as such that Eva is a single-minded woman, one who is guided by her own questions and observations and is more than willing to disregard any ire she may attract in doing so. While this essay does not discuss her ultimate goals, we may understand the person who has set these goals in the process of doing this analysis.

Eva Tsunaka - Imitation 「模倣」

The portrait of the two Tsunaka’s, henceforth referred to as Black and White, after the colors of their respective hair, is the first one we see within the artbook, and serves as a striking establishment of the mood and rules that define this artbook. By featuring two “versions” of Eva, both that seem to look like her, yet are distinctly not Eva on closer inspection.

This establishes the explicit theme of imitation, as these two figures imitate Eva, but also highlights how these “Imitations” can’t be considered a true reflection of Eva, both in their obvious differences to her design, and the portraits themselves framed as a response to the question “What are you?”.

This question, while tackling many aspects of a person such as creed, nationality, and perhaps characteristics, can never truly capture the cadence of the question “Who are you?”, which directly addresses a person's Identity.

As such, we can establish these portraits serve to outline the public perception of each character, and indeed how this perception latches onto them and molds them in some regards. With this established, we can focus on Tsunaka alone.

The first feature of note is the dichotomy between the two figures, Black and White. While White seems to be wearing Eva’s iconic outfit, Black is not - in fact, the outfit itself seems to be a direct inversion, with Eva wearing a black suit over a white dress shirt, topped off with a bow tie. However, despite this glaring difference, it is Black who has any reference to Eva’s animal motif of a raven, with White’s jacket glaringly lacking the button normally seen.

Not only does this reinforce the idea that neither of these two figures is truly Eva, but it also makes the reader realizes that with their monochromatic hair and the inconsistencies between their designs in regards to being a copy of Eva - the combination - or perhaps reunion - of these two figures is the only way to truly “find” Eva again. Throughout the prologue, it is very obvious that Eva, while being a major force in navigating the strange circumstances of this kidnapping, is still someone who is withholding information. Furthermore, Eva is someone who, despite wishing for the cast to survive, pushes firmly against the idea of open cooperation.

In order to properly elaborate on how the introduction of these dichotomies helps inform our view of Eva, we must look into Black and White properly. What makes them different? For one, the exclusion of crow symbolism, while staying faithful to Eva’s outfit is no coincidence. The animal motifs are consistently a defining part of a character, especially in informing their personality. By stripping this feature from White, it by extension strips Eva of her humanity, which is extenuated by the lack of sheen in her eyes. Together, this makes White seem like nothing more than a model or a doll.

In doing so, this reflects how the cast perceives Eva, being suspicious of her talents and her behavior throughout the prologue and likely throughout the game following the prologue. This objectification of Eva present in white is further supported by the lack of gleam in her eyes as if there wasn’t anything behind them.

As for Black, there are several details to pick up on. For one, Black features Eva’s feather, which demonstrates how this stand-in, to some degree, is a more accurate representation of Eva, the person.

However, this falls apart upon even a surface-level inspection. Black’s outfit is quite literally an inversion of Eva’s usual outfit, with a black suit, white shirt, and a bow tie. This could symbolize the fact that, under her visage in the killing game, Eva is very much different from the stoic cynic we’ve seen.

Furthermore, her hair is notably cut short and not allowed to grow properly in places, in contrast to white long, practically unruly hair. While White’s hair may symbolize the cast's fears that Eva may run wild in the killing game, the short hair may represent Eva’s potential being stumped, perhaps by her own fear to act, perhaps by the pressure of the cast around her… or perhaps by death.

There is also the obvious distinction that Black does have a gleam in its eyes, unlike White, lending credence to the idea that it represents the human part of Eva.

In summary, White represents the image the cast has of Eva, and how their fear and distrust of her strips her of her humanity and personality. Black, however, represents the self-image Eva has of herself, and how it both differs and is ultimately affected by the killing game around her.

Now that we have an understanding of what these two figures represent, we can now answer this analysis’ pivotal question: What is the point of comparing the two figures?

The explicit purpose is simple: It establishes the futility of defining Eva in a black-and-white manner. Her design so far has highlighted this by being a mix of black and white, in particular with her hair, which blends these two colors vivaciously. The separation of the two figures, especially in their monotone hair, symbolizes how both of these views of Eva, both the distrustful one of her classmates and her own self-image, can not truly reflect who she is. Only by understanding both of them, can we truly know who Eva is.

This rebuttal of a black-and-white view of Eva is also supported by the mixture of colors in the figures. White wears a black shirt, Black wears a white one. Both of them carry a part of the other in their designs and ergo their beings, and can be seen looking at each other's halo, used to shed light on the both of them and make them visible in the otherwise pitch-black environment. This simple gesture shows that the two acknowledge each other - showing how over time, it is likely Eva will not just ignore but accept her class's views on her, and the class will recognize that Eva is not merely a suspicious figure, but a person and potential ally in ending this game, in a manner reminiscent of Yinyang.

Furthermore, there is also the introduction of a “wild-card” Color: Red, visible in the bowtie/necktie and headbands. Red is a color with much history behind it, being the color of blood and as such attraction connections to courage, bravery, and sacrifice. On the other hand, it has also represented revenge, danger, domination, and anger. While both neck accessories are visible, Black’s headband is obscured by the light, perhaps showing that Eva does not wish to act on any principle of domination or revenge, despite what the class thinks.

For a final detail, the page after this image, the one directly answering the question “What are you?” The answer “A lie.” is given. This again reinforces that lies, and by extension lying, are not a part of Eva’s identity, both in being a response to a question of What Eva is, as well as the raven’s eye being obscured by the letter “A”, symbolizing how Eva’s talent does nothing but obscure her true nature under a thin visage of perjury.

Eva Tsunaka - Conclusion:

This piece serves to both introduce the concept of the Imitation 「模倣」series, as well as symbolize the conflict between Eva’s perception within her own mind and within the minds of the cast as a whole.

This is done by underlining the flaws within them. The cast’s idea of who Eva is is only a surface-level understanding (with Eva having a rudimentary version of her outfit on) - that practically objectifies her (seen by her glazed-over eyes on the right). Meanwhile, Eva’s self-image is more truthful to her, though still not reflecting her circumstances (as symbolized by the incorrect outfit) and obscuring her deeper behaviors (as seen by the red headband being obscured by her Halo).

Furthermore, by highlighting these flaws, and the differences between these two perceptions of Tsunaka, calls attention to how a genuine understanding of who she is can only be attained by considering both the public perception and self-image of Tsunnaka, as her own self-reflection may result in her cowering from parts of herself that only a neutral crowd would be willing to discuss. However, this same crowd would find it near impossible to truly comprehend her mind - like with anyone.

Indeed, this is something that can be applied to any of the students - the idea that they must make peace with their own self-image and their public persona, to truly understand themselves and each other. This, however, is a central theme of Tsunaka and suggests that her role in the story will be one that, rather than directly inspire change, will force the cast to reflect on their views of her, and in time, their classmates… and themselves.

#Project: Eden's Garden #project edens garden #Project: edens garden #P:EG #project eden's garden #Eva Tsunaka #Tsunaka Eva #Fantheory #Theorycrafting #I really like this game as you can tell #Thispost isover 2000 words long LMAO

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humbugghere · 10 months

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Found this reddit post. This kinda makes me feel better. And it’s something I think about sometimes because I always feel like regardless of how hard I work on something I don’t get anywhere.

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humbugghere · 10 months

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some sketches

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humbugghere · 10 months

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bagel’s drdt death predictions but they’re all based on character relationships and assumptions (lots of assumptions)

//spoilers for drdt ch1 + ch2 pt. 1

//long, long wall of text warning (nearly 4k words am i right 😭)

i mean, the title explains it all.

there’s really nothing else other than my unhinged predictions which will likely be wildly incorrect compared to the actual outcome in DRDT

so, as always, take this with a grain of salt

alright, let’s get straight into it.

arturo and j:

obviously these two have a… very interesting dynamic. they’re constantly at odds with each other, and this worsened especially after arturo found out about j’s family through her secret.

arturo is following j around and she hates it. arturo constantly crosses j’s boundaries, idolizes her, places her in his own “perfect image” that she doesn’t want to be a part of, and she (justifiably) hates it.

meanwhile, arturo sees j as one of the “beautiful people” that he idolizes and tries to get close to in order to improve his self value, possibly in an attempt to resolve his own insecurities. (okay i don’t think i’m gonna talk about this later so i’m gonna say it now. but based on the fact that arturo seems very attached to “societally valuable” things and people (major brands, celebrities, etc.) and the fact that he instantly pushes away things he sees as “ugly,” arturo may actually be trying to preserve a certain image of himself and/or his ego by surrounding himself with valuable things—which could be due to holding some sort of insecurity that he can’t be as “valuable” as others without those factors surrounding him constantly. maybe because he sees himself as “ugly.” just a thought. not justifying his actions though. idk)

but though i love j with all my heart… i’m very, very scared that she’s going to be the culprit for this chapter.

except for the possible motive, there’s actually a suspicious amount of logical conclusions and reasonings one can make that point to j being the culprit.

this isn’t my post, but i’m going to put this here because u/Difficult-Parfait627 on reddit explained the logic significantly better than i could have:

i also saw some theories on j’s secret weapon (the remote) possibly opening trapdoors that only she could access, so that’s definitely another possible advantage.

aside from that, i find it intriguing that MonoTV makes specific mention of this detail regarding the playground:

it would be very, very interesting if this proved to be foreshadowing of some sort regarding arei’s murder. whether it would just be the height of the room that plays into a factor of the case, or the fact that the movie screening room and the playground are only separable by a single wall, or both—that, i don’t know. but seeing multiple prevailing theories it could be possible that this is more important than we think.

not only this, but during the trial j constantly pointed fingers at many people and jumped from suspect to suspect—which is exactly what min did as well, and might be an indication that j is desperate to pin the crime on someone else.

though i’m probably wrong

but if j is the culprit for this case, it could actually lead to character development for arturo. after all, if j gets caught, he would probably blame himself—if he didn’t get so worked up over eden and the reveal of his secret, if he didn’t let j overhear the conversation—j might’ve not committed a murder. i think he might feel intense guilt that he let j die—especially since he’s so (unhealthily) attached to j.

don’t know man. just trying to give him redeeming qualities here lmao

essentially, i think j might die this chapter as the culprit for arei’s murder, and arturo will survive for at least the next few chapters. whether he’ll be a victim/killer in the last few chapters i’m unsure about at this current moment, but bear with me

side note: it would be absolutely cruel if whoever the killer is, they get a quiet execution in a way that reflects arei’s body discovery ;-; also tbh i’m probably wildly wrong about all of this. for you guys who say the true culprit is someone else (especially people who think it’s levi or whit), i see you and i do see why that’s definitely a possibility. take all of my theorizing with a grain of salt lmao

whit and charles:

(sorry i couldn’t find a proper CG for them haha)

ah, one of my favorite dynamics. i love these two so much

it’s cool to see how they’re actually quite open with each other now, compared to the beginning where they were established as near-total opposites of each other (mainly looks at the free time event)

but as it goes with many ships in danganronpa…they’ll probably end in tragedy. unfortunately

i believe i made a really brief analysis earlier on how whit deals with grief by completely deflecting his true sentiments through the use of humor, and i think as of now this still holds true. whit’s bottling up his grief, and sooner or later he’ll have to come to terms with it.

whit has developed an understanding for charles, though, and seems to be genuinely considerate towards him. plus, he’s willing to admit to any mistakes he makes and is very open about it to charles, which indicates how close they actually are

charles struggles with not only his hemophobia + necrophobia (fear of blood and fear of corpses/things associated with death), but with the pity from others that result from it.

he really, really hates being pitied. we actually saw this earlier in the FTE between charles and whit as well—he seemed very worked up with how whit was “belittling” charles to make teruko laugh. obviously whit figured this out, admitted what he did, and eventually became more considerate of charles’ feelings.

👆 this line is so cute btw

i think though, especially because they’re so close to each other it’ll really impact their characters when tragedy strikes. personally i’m more scared that charles is going to die (as a victim) because plot-wise it would force whit to come to terms with his grief—the grief over not just his mother but the participants of the killing game—that he has pushed into the back of his mind for a long time.

but at the same time charles surviving is also definitely a possibility given his importance in the plot right now—and not only that, if whit dies, i think he would have a clear moment of feeling ashamed of himself for not even being able to look at his partner’s body and being unable to come to terms with whit’s death until later.

either way, one of them is definitely doomed to die, and the other is probably going to be a survivor.

for me, regardless of who bites the dust, they’re going to be a chapter 3 death. i personally believe this because it would give both of them time to cope and face their grief in their respective character arcs over the next few chapters—but also because i think chapter 4 is going to be surrounding a separate character dynamic.

nico, ace, and hu:

yes, it’s the “two people who absolutely hate each other and the one person that stands in between” trio.

as already established within the series, nico and ace hate each other. i don’t even need to put screenshots as proof—plus nico literally attempted to murder ace.

and by the way, for those of you who said other people manipulated nico into doing it, i think that would be very contradictory with what the series is trying to get at. nico is their own independent person—and they’ve tried to solidify that fact. this specific murder attempt was to probably establish that nico has their own limits, despite how much they are infantilized by others. if it’s true that someone manipulated nico, i feel like it would… just take away from nico’s individuality and turn them into someone to be pitied upon.

not only that, even nico established themselves that they have a tendency to be agressive.

there’s not much to analyze here, but it definitely is a strong indication that nico does have their own limits and will not act all innocent-like if those boundraries are crossed. it’s interesting though, because this kinda makes nico a foil to ace. while ace is “all bark and no bite,” and/or accusing and insulting everyone 24/7 but never acting upon it, nico is the opposite: not the type for words but will genuinely act if they are pushed hard enough.

i genuinely think nico attempted to murder ace on their own accord. plus, it would fit perfectly with one of the themes from this chapter

anyways—though i’m not going to condone her for infantilizing nico—there’s one person who’s kinda been keeping both of them in check. (or moreso, keeping ace in check) quite literally, hu defending nico, despite the fact that her way of doing so was really flawed, temporarily stopped their conflicts with ace from escalating in a short amount of time. at least until ace almost got murdered though.

the thing is, hu sees things in black and white. she trusts a little too much into nico and she thinks they desperately need to be protected. meanwhile, she essentially antagonizes ace, and didn’t seem to attempt to sympathize with the fact he almost got murdered. she didn’t make many attempts (especially during the second chapter) to genuinely understand their “grey areas,” instead jumping to what she knows. and… it’s understandable why she does this, but regardless, it’s one of her greatest flaws. however, that flaw is exactly what humanizes hu. she cares immensely about others, even if that means trusting them too much. she puts it on herself to help anyone she can. she wants others to rely on her, even if that means she inadvertently forces the role of “the damsel in distress” onto them as a result. though it doesn’t exactly justify her actions, i felt it was still important to bring up. (by the way i actually like hu, plus i love the concept of a really flawed but sincere mother figure. i don’t hate hu at all lmao i think she’s a really good character)

especially as of ch2 ep11, hu seems to show possible signs of change after getting called out by david. his so-called “betrayal” (by throwing hu’s personal impression and expectations of himself out the window) might begin a development arc allowing hu to see past her… i guess… her biases.

but, i’m scared that hu’s character arc would end (whether abruptly or gradually) in the middle of the series, rather than continuing to the very last episode of DRDT—and that she’ll get killed/executed before she can truly develop and leave the killing game with a new perspective.

additionally, as far as i can tell i don’t expect nico and ace to ever make up during the killing game—because in traditional danganronpa, that never seems to be an actual occurrence. not only that, but the whole tension surrounding their situation has already gone too far—neither of them will probably ever forgive each other after how far this conflict went (especially ace, who almost got killed by nico). i personally think hu, though the way she went about this was not exactly the best, acted as a “mediator” of sorts between ace and nico by throwing herself in and breaking up each conflict. if hu dies, their relationship will completely fall apart and their arguments will likely escalate past the point of no return—which seems to be a perfect setup for a murder case. personally i’d put hu as a chapter three death (regardless of victim or culprit), nico and ace’s dynamic escalating to a breaking point during chapter four, and either nico or ace dying in chapter four (with the other one surviving the killing game). my personal opinion as for who dies is nico, but mainly because i think ace might actually be a survivor.

ace and levi:

oh no i wasn’t done talking about ace yet, did you seriously think i would stop talking about him after all of that? plus i. didn’t give ace a proper character analysis in that previous section

ace and levi’s relationship is very unique as well. at first, ace and levi felt at least relatively comfortable around each other—which was really rare for someone like ace, who’s essentially scared of everything and holds many insecurities that prevent him from easily trusting people/processes/objects.

over time during chapter 1, ace and levi get closer to each other. ace develops a feeling of safety when around levi, since to him, he seems like one of the only few people who don’t just see him as a coward.

and that was true for a while, at least, until this happened.

this blog post by @thefandomenchantress explains the effects of levi’s dialogue here better than i ever could. go read this. please but essentially—the death threat is really important because it essentially shattered ace’s sense of security around levi, but the fact that levi out of all people called ace a coward really seals the deal for him. this is my interpretation, but ace probably felt that levi was more non-judgmental than the others and was also one of the few people that saw past his insecurities. so levi specifically targeting one of his largest weaknesses, probably hurts a lot.

not only that, but ace genuinely seems to believe that this is what levi actually thinks about him. though he focuses on the death threat here, i think it still holds true that he’s really paranoid of levi and thinks he actually hates ace, despite their dynamic in the first chapter.

on the other hand, levi regrets threatening and insulting ace in the first trial, and makes attempts to apologize and make up with him. he even asks teruko for advice here.

since ace is a really insecure person who’s essentially paranoid of everything, it’s really difficult to make ace actually forgive levi. ace’s paranoia makes him believe that others are out to “get him” and cause him harm, especially when it comes to people who bluntly pointed out their insecurities in the past. and as a person who genuinely hates those parts of himself and wants to get rid of his paranoia, it makes ace act really aggressive when people begin pointing out those insecurities again. after all, they’re reminders of what he thinks he is.

👆this quote is actually from an earlier point, and is him talking about why he still races despite being scared of horses. but it’s representative of how he hates his own reputation and his insecurities that are connected with it—which he desperately doesn’t want people to see. that’s why ace is so aggressive. it’s because he feels he needs to bluff and act all “strong” to prevent people from targeting his insecurities.

the reason why i actually believe ace would be a survivor is because of some personal unhinged interpretations i have for chapter four. like i mentioned earlier, i personally believe that the current conflict between nico and ace will reach its climax during chapter four, which will likely also be a major part of the murder case during that chapter. and uh. if we go by traditional danganronpa patterns we know which character is probably doomed during that chapter (that is, assuming DRDT still follows a similar equation). though i admit the stereotype of “buff character dies during fourth chapter” is a bit overused—the thing is, if the conflict between nico and ace does actually reach its climax during that chapter, it actually makes sense relationship-wise for levi to play a major part of it. getting into major “this is probably wrong” territory here despite the fact that ace is currently distrusting towards levi right now, i think there’s still some part of him that harbors more personal feelings towards levi (whether that’s positive or negative)—i don’t think ace would be attacking levi so much otherwise. he probably feels like he was betrayed by levi for— uh— many reasons, which is likely due to their changes in character dynamic during the first chapter. i also find it interesting how ace has always harbored a feeling of resentment towards nico—and i personally feel that this is because nico also reminds ace of one of his insecurities. they represent something that ace hates about himself, or they represent the antithesis of this insecurity—as for what specifically, i’m not sure, but it likely has something to do with ace’s paranoia. that’s probably why he attacks nico so much—because they remind him of something he hates about himself.

if both of them die, in the same chapter, i think he’d start doubting himself. the two people who he was actively trying to attack are gone, and all that are left are people who have already seen how insecure he is. i think he’d lose his “purpose” in some ways, in that case—which would actually be a great setup to his secret quote: “i don’t know what to do with myself anymore.” ace markey existential crisis at 3 anyone /j

okay, finally:

david:

(okay he’s literally just his own category at this point.) (i like to psychoanalyze him independently because i uh. have so much to say about him)

if you couldn’t already tell from my multiple theory posts about david, i have a considerable amount of interpretations regarding his character:

his current demeanor doesn’t reflect his true personality, but it’s not exactly like he’s a constantly optimistic person either

he’s not actually manipulating everyone into making the worst decisions. even his plan, though it wasn’t foolproof, was probably better than any of the options the cast had. even then, however, he did try to preserve his own image a little while presenting the plan since he’s trying to hide his depression

(both of those bullets are linked to other theory posts i made that elaborate more on these points)

either way, david is currently established as the “antagonist” character for this series, which was especially solidified after his breakdown in ch2 ep11. i think we all know what usually happens to the antagonist character in chapter 5.

however—david, unlike other canon danganronpa protagonists (especially nagito and kokichi from goodbye despair and killing harmony), has different motivations. rather than acting fully evil and/or cynical in an effort for the “greater good,” to me, he just… seems like he’s acting cynical and manipulative because that’s who he thinks he actually is. he’s playing a glorified version of his self-doubts and insecurities. so, to be completely honest, i think rather than him acting in a way to throw everyone off and ultimately end the killing game, i think david’s just in the middle of a breakdown and is acting suicidal. he’s actually pretty smart, so unless he was really emotional/desperate, i don’t think his lying would be as obvious as it is now. i think he honestly would’ve thought about it more (/lh) if he was genuinely attempting to end the killing game through lying and making everyone vote wrong. plus, we have already seen in chapter one that david doesn’t really… think straight when he’s emotional. we saw this during xander’s trial with the way he really pressed teruko and thought she was the culprit despite the gradual accumulation of evidence that proved her innocence. (i think it’s general consensus that david actually did care about xander (and arei actually), and was therefore probably pretty emotional regarding his death, but i probably will make a post on that later if necessary.)

if david really is breaking down and acting suicidal in the second trial, i think it would fit if the plot decided to pull some irony and… y’know, have the one person who wants to die the most actually be a survivor. i really have no backing to this (and tbh i think i believe this is going to happen just because i want david to live LMAO), and i don’t exactly have any concrete evidence that establishes david as an antagonist character that doesn’t follow canon danganronpa antagonist traditions, but even then i still think it would be pretty cool if that happened.

god. this was. unhinged.

okay but watch me be entirely wrong on this lmao

i hope you guys could actually understand that entire wall of text because i don’t even know what i was writing halfway through also i didn’t put chapter 5/6 here because i literally have no idea what’s going to happen. it’s just going to be full of plot twists and i know it

i also didn’t exactly put a clear amount of killers/survivors so they don’t exactly. match up. plus i didn’t actually do a thorough analysis on veronika, rose, eden, teruko, etc so i’m probably going to have to go through those if i genuinely feel like doing a proper death order. (something is telling me rose and veronika are both going to get significant character development though, especially in the later chapters. we don’t have too much information on either of them yet (moreso veronika than rose) so i’m kinda waiting until we get more scenes to make assumptions about those two in particular)

but in summary:

j might die this chapter, arturo’s going to get significant character development as a result

no matter what, charwhit is absolutely doomed and one of them is going to die in the third chapter while the other is a survivor

hu will probably die in the third chapter, leading the conflict between nico and ace to escalate and reach a climax during the fourth chapter

(of course, this is assuming drdt follows traditional danganronpa and has a double murder during the third chapter. i’m not too much of a fan of the trope myself, but for the sake of organization)

nico and levi, who ace has the most personal (mostly negative) emotions towards at the current moment, will probably die during the fourth chapter leading ace to have an existential crisis and get character development (and will have to navigate his way to the end)

david is a non-traditional antag so he might die during chapter 5, but i personally see it more ironic and fitting to see him survive until the end seeing his current emotions and character

anyways.

i know there’s a lot of you who are significantly better at analyzing certain characters than i ever could so please please don’t hesitate to correct me if there’s an assumption i made that’s incorrect, and/or if you have anything i said that you could refute

plus i didn’t like. rewatch the entire series to make this i just had a long train of thought and searched for certain scenes that fit the most to what i was saying even if my assumptions weren’t correct

and as always. take this all with a grain of salt

(no but seriously, feel free to voice your opinions on this as well! i’ll definitely listen to them)

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humbugghere · 11 months

Text

Going insane over P:EG - Diana Venicia Analysis.

Okay so I’ve been doing a series of Essay’s dedicated analyzing Nifast’s “Imitation” art series - which are framed as abstract views into the characters and their role in the story. He also said how we’d only understand them once the game is 100% out, which are fighting words, so I started this series. Firstly I’ll post Diana because she’s the newest one I’ve done. Spoilers for the prologue!!! (Credits to Nifast for the Art LMAO)

Introduction:

Diana Venicia [roaring applause, I am pelt with roses from the audience].

Anyway, Diana Venicia is one of my favorite characters. Point blank. She is also a staple of the fandom. Partly because they love her, and partly because you motherfuckers can’t help but call her the mastermind she is a favorite among the fandom for a potential Mastermind candidate.

In a few words, I think this is bullshit. The main evidence relies on easter eggs in her design, latching onto the whole Beauty Talent = Mastermind trope, or a bad-faith reading of her actions.

Anyway, we are here to analyze her Imitation 「模倣」piece and infer what it tells us of her and her role in the story. Here I would argue we have more to work with with the proceeding page, but that’s something for the actual Analysis.

Diana - An Imitation 「模倣」

The first feature we will notice is the glaring lack of Diana’s chameleon bracelet in Diana's reflection. While one would expect this to be the starting point of the analysis, a more pressing issue is this: Is the figure without the band the reflection? This seems absurd, but after looking at the piece, the only indication that there is a mirror is the condensation that Diana is using to draw the heart. This lack of a clear distinction may highlight how these two versions of Diana - one with and one without the chameleon - are slowly blending together. While the distinction between which is real and which is just a reflection fades, we can still deduce the one without the chameleon band is the reflection of who Diana is. Now, we can return to this later. It is time to comment on the second feature - the plethora of hearts in the image. We obviously have the heart being drawn into the “mirror”. This is a deliberate action by Diana, with her likely breathing on the glass beforehand, given its spotlessness otherwise. There is also her heart necklace and the oddly heart-shaped curves in her hair. At least visible in her reflection, it’s likely she is wearing these on her “real” self. The chameleon's absence seems to purposely be the sole incongruity with the reflection. So, what does this all mean? The chameleon band - or lack thereof - and the lack of a distinction between the reflection and the physical Diana creates an impression of her losing herself. The chameleon, while representative of adaptability, artistry, and balance, is also symbolic of blending in - or changing part of yourself to avoid being noticed. I fervently believe that Diana, prior to being recognized, used her talent as a means to blend in with the “popular kids”, using it to blend in herself and perhaps offer it as a favor to them. In this way, the chameleon bracelet, still clinging to her, symbolizes how she has not let go of this part of her: the part that changes her to please others. The reflection lacking this band also has a message to tell us. A reflection of Diana and who she is- it lacking the band symbolizes her being able to shed this mentality, and being able to actually, genuinely be herself and not place the needs of others above her own. Still, the lack of any distinction between the two in the form of a mirror, makes it clear this will not be an easy journey for Diana. To separate her genuine self from the persona she’s created for her previous social environments. Now, the second part: What’s with the hearts? This is much more direct. I believe these hearts, which universally symbolize love and kindness, symbolize Diana’s resolve to trust in others no matter what. I say this in part due to the abundance of the symbol in the drawing. That is a simple observation. However, I also wish to draw attention to the act of Diana and her reflection drawing the heart together, copying one another. Even if the both of them are quite literally opposed, and reflective of different images of Diana (the Diana that is molded by others and the Diana that is herself), they are both acting on this desire to trust and befriend those around her. This is further backed up by the frankly relaxed and almost vacant look in her eyes as if acting like this comes naturally. Overall, this picture shows us that Diana is someone who trusts the wishes to connect to the people around her instinctually, however, this desire has led her to degrade her own self-image - and she is only just beginning to reclaim it. No matter what, however, it is certain that her desire to connect to those around her will remain consistent. That’s it for the drawing. Now, what can we say for the next page?

Diana - Response

Normally, I have never had to dedicate an entire section to analyzing the “Response” page. However, the response and the details of the chameleons behind it are incredibly evocative and deserve to be analyzed on their own. The first thing to analyze is the response to the question “What are you?”. On this particular page, the answer is “A change.” This answer serves as a double entendre. While it could be taken to mean the change that Diana imparts to her clients or anyone that seeks her services, another meaning can be found. As we've already established, Diana has likely, at some point, changed parts of herself to fit in with those around her. In this sense, this change may highlight both how Diana changes herself to fit with social groups, or in a more positive sense, Diana changing her own mindset to be more unapologetically herself. To have these two ideas coexist isn’t just acceptable but perhaps truly reflective of Diana’s growth, as she is stuck in between the mentality of changing herself for others, and being herself to form meaningful bonds in the killing game. Another feature to analyze is the two chameleons behind the text. One we can see has its eyes purposely closed. Simply put, this represents the “real” Diana, who hides herself to more easily appease those around her. The other lizard, the one with its eye open, represents the persona Diana has put up, in order to fit more easily with the groups she’s met throughout her life. An interesting difference between the two is that the Lizard with its eyes open - Diana's persona - has scales, but lacks horns. Some lizards and chameleons (almost always male for what it's worth) have scales to defend themselves, and horns to fight over territory. By including the scales and excluding the horns, we can realize that Diana’s Persona was created as a method of defending herself from others, rather than any attempt to wrestle influence from others, which aligns with her dislike of drama and competition. Thus, we can finally conclude that the image Diana has created for herself - primarily among non-ultimate's - is one with the primary purpose of being a defense mechanism from the ire of those around her. While, like a chameleon, she wishes to shed this part of herself, it will not be an easy journey and will involve her having to dredge through her persona and anima to decide what part of her is her.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we can realize that Diana is characterized by a few major motives: The desire to see the good in others (likely tied to her pursuit of cosmetology), the desire to appease others (as seen by her chameleon motif and the sweet nothing in her dialogue in P:EI and Chapter 0) and the desire to connect with others. Of the three, this desire to connect meaningfully with others is the newest, as is seen by Diana having only just recently been “recognized” for talents, and as such being given the chance to stand with equals, rather than have to simply use her skills to blend in with others. Diana’s primary arc, if seen to fruition, would see her overcome the ingrained idea to put others over herself - while not sacrificing her instinctual desire to befriend and understand those around her. I do believe Diana is hiding who she is from those around her. However, I do not believe there is any malicious intent behind this. On the contrary, I ardently espouse the idea that Diana is willing to mold and change herself to fit in with those around her. By being among Ultimates, those who see her as an equal rather than someone to be taken advantage of, it is certain Diana will have the chance to be more confidently Diana, even amid the killing game. To end off, I would like to share the idea of Diana being Damon’s foil [Foil - a character who serves as a contrast to the qualities of another character.] Damon and Diana have almost certainly experienced some form of social isolation due to their talents. Damon is explicitly told to us in his Bio card, and Diana’s can be inferred as it is very possible her make-up skills made her seem more like a tool than a friend to those she helped in her school. There is also their motive to attend the school, in being surrounded by other ultimates. Finally, I wish to share that I am confident that both of their arcs will be learning how to communicate and connect with the students in the face of the game. Both of their animals are even reptiles! However, while their motives, arcs, and backstories may be the same, everything else is perfectly opposed. Both wished to be surrounded by Ultimates; Damon so that he could claim the glory and be among those he saw as equals, and Diana so she could be among those who saw her as an equal. Both of them likely faced ostracization due to their talent, however, this occurred in opposite ways. Damon, ever argumentative, decided to double down on his stubbornness and turn it into a new talent instead of trying to connect with others. Diana, while attempting to connect to others via her talent, only ended up positioning herself atop a pedestal, rubbing elbows with Hollywood bigshots - regardless of her intentions. Hell, even the fact that both of them are trying to hide who they are is consistent. It is a no-brainer that Diana will act to contrast with Damon - showing how the desire to connect with others will triumph in both of their cases and her death [which I am certain is her being the - not “a” - chapter 3 victim] will highlight the cruelty of the game and motivate the cast to properly unite in the face of the game. [Note - I didn’t expect the “Diana and Damon symbolize what talent can do to a young person's social bonds and how they can overcome that damage in an opposite yet harmonious way” spiel to be that long. Oops!]

#project: eden's garden #project eden’s garden #edens garden game #p:eg #diana venicia #theorycrafting #I love Kuwait btw #fanganronpa

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