#and then kyoko is the charismatic and cool one duh.

[caramelmochacrow]

"Beating so fast, seems like it'll burst..."

[noddytheornithopod]

So I finished Danganronpa 2 and... MY HEAD HOLY FUCK THAT WAS A LOT TO PROCESS

All the weird glitching and shit was quite eerie, it did get a bit frustrating sometimes actually.

IT’S A GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAME (or rather, the Neo World is a simulation designed to undo the brainwashing of the Ultimate Despairs - the students here). Seriously, whenever Monokuma said that it was hilarious.

Hey it’s Alter Ego! Fucking Junko created her own version of it to upload into the dead students, holy shit that’s freaky.

Okay, Makoto showing up was really cool. Byakuya appeared too, which was awesome. Oh yeah, am I missing someone? Oh of course... KYOKO KIRIGIRI APPEARS TOO!!!!!! They show up because the shutdown sequence they created needs at least half of the number of students that were in the game.

I swear Junko was hot for <akoto with how she talked about him at some points... opposites attract?

So the Ultimate Despairs actually were recruited one by one and through Junko’s persuasion... now I see why people don’t like DR3′s portrayal of things, it reduces it all to “lol she made anime that made them wackos”. How it’s described here sounds much more compelling, it’s basically her just being charismatic and influencing and manipulating people to brainwash them, and her fellow despairs then used that across the world, including with the reserve suicide.

The stuff they did to the world was shocking, but themselves? YIKES. Nagito having the fucking arm of Junko, holy shit. Also... he seemed to still hate Junko even as a Despair? Also... Hajime as Izuru telling him the shit Nagito said to Hajime about how he’s worthless... ironic.

Okay honestly the stuff they did in general is pretty fucked up. Especially... NECROPHILIA???? FUCKING NECROPHILIA????? That was so Teruteru who did that (or Soda, it’s one of the horny ones, duh).

This final chapter was seriously meta, it’s wild. IT’S A GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAME!

Giant Alter Ego Junko said her boobs are like 15 metres wide??? That’s weird. And she also mentions how it’s not a fanservice game, shit.

Junko’s voice acting was much better in this game... I actually found her kinda charismatic even as she was fucking awful instead of last time where she was just fucking awful... OH NO, AM I BEING SEDUCED INTO HER CULT OF DESPAIR???

Just as I thought, Nagito wanted to off everyone but Chiaki since they were all the Despairs... ironically, this would leave all their bodies blank, meaning Junko could hijack them. Okay seriously, the fact she wants to hijack everyone’s bodies so everyone will end up as Junko... that’s honestly pretty terrifying. It gave me freaking LOTS OF ME flashbacks.

Chiaki showed up to save Hajime after she died, holy shit. And she basically shows up to help him choose to do things his own way in the end.

All the ending stuff and the themes is something I’m REALLY going to have to process. Like... despair is defeated, but instead of hope they choose the “future”. I mean, I kinda see that as a form of hope in itself, but I guess the thing here is that they’re kinda creating their own path? I guess kinda like what Makoto decided in the first game? Just now, there’s more grey areas and every option has elements of hope and despair. Oh my gosh, I’m confused just writing this.

THANK YOU CHIAKI for telling us that it’s not important about whether you’re born with talent or not, just whether you believe in yourself. Hajime chooses to be his own person in the end and do that, and that’s what he needed to initiate the shutdown. Now we see just how much of a foil Nagito is to him.

Oh yeah Hajime was basically turned into freaking Izuru... and Hope’s Peak basically ALWAYS was researching talent to create this “Ultimate Hope”. In other words, they made Hajime a fucking ubermensch, essentially. And he killed the student council (which DR3 also contradicts, they went with the “Junko set it up” route), which started the Tragedy.

Look I know Kyoko is my big thing, but I legitimately have to wonder... since her father was the Headmaster of Hope’s Peak, what does she think of him now if he pretty much was involved in this project? I think DR3 portrayed him as conflicted or something, but I barely remember and honestly it seems like it contradicts stuff in 2 anyway so whatever lol

I definitely want to think more about the whole “gifted vs ordinary” theme. Like, it seems like the Tragedy was even able to happen was because Junko basically exploited the resentment of the Reserve Students and used that to convert them to her ideology. Nagito obviously has his social Darwinist views on this too. Junko also said something like that those who have talent end up with despair... this is kind of what she herself experiences, funnily enough. I think she said it’s because you eventually get knocked off the top, essentially. It’s certainly quite a bizarre worldview for sure, but yeah, she seems to have her own resentment for talented people in a way, but not in a sense to actually challenge the idea we even need this divide.

Chiaki’s thank you to Hajime’s, aww...

Small thing, but the ending where they showed Makoto, Kyoko and Byakuya was sweet. Makoto admiring how they were able to find a way to carve out their own futures, their nice Future Foundation outfits and Byakuya being friendly and noting Makoto’s sentimentality. They also chose to come with him even though they knew how risky it was, they had to do something even if the Future Foundation is fucked and the Neo World wasn’t fully prepared. I mean, Kyoko doesn’t surprise me that she’d work with Makoto, but Byakuya joining too really is a testament to how much he’s grown. Guess Hina, Hiro and Toko had their own stuff to do lol (I know Toko is in Ultra Despair Girls for example). Also... Kyoko’s tease about Toko to Byakuya, wow, she can show her sense of humour when she wants to. XD

But yeah, that was a pretty awesome experience. I’m not sure over whether I prefer 1 or 2, since even if 2 had a more complex and intriguing plot with its twists and turns, 1 I feel emotionally impacted me more and also had the isolated horror aspect to it. Plus, Kyoko Kirigiri. :P I found 1′s trials easier to manage overall since even on easy 2 made them more complicated, though I enjoy the brain surfing minigame 2 added. 2 also has stronger music overall. I guess 2 is more “fun”, in a sense, while 1 has that eerieness to it and unknown factor that makes you identify with the characters more? Obviously 2 had great characters too, in general I just felt more for 1′s. I guess they balance each other out in the end, lol. But yeah, overall I really enjoyed Danganronpa 2, as I did with the first game.