#but with kiibo being shown to actually want to understand Kokichi and give him the benefit of the doubt

[lunarin64art]

Bugvac Squad!!

I love how they connect... ;w;

 Since Kiibo was confirmed to be the actual protag of V3, I like imagining that Miu, Kokichi, and Gonta were considered the actual main characters as well(rather than Kaede, Shuichi, Kaito, and Maki of course) Which explains why all four of them were so involved throughout every chapter compared to previous “side” characters.

 Them being the actual main group also explains why Kiibo and Kokichi are implied to have woken up in the same classroom as well as why Kokichi doesn’t have much of an actual connection to the main group we see the game through.(aside from his rivalry with Kaito)

 Also, I love how Kiibo being the actual protagonist makes Miu the actual main girl of V3. Which is even funnier considering that the writers wrote Miu with the idea in mind of making her “worst girl”.

[dangan-meme-palace]

I realy like your analysis on the kaito-maki-shuichi relationship. So i was wondering who in your opinion has the best relationship dynamic within the cast?

Aaaa thanks! I'm more or less pleased with how it came out :D probably could be shorter though haha

-tech

As for the best dynamic... hmm.

Judging based on what I mentioned in the previous post about strengths being highlighted and weaknesses being dealt with in one way or another and believable emotional bonds that help each other, I'd have to say...

Kokichi and Gonta

For sure, it's gotta be them.

Narratively:

They are canonly a dynamic duo, working together and using their different strengths to help one another in areas the other is lacking in. It feels like they can both truly shine when they cooperate, and that's exactly how it should be.

It's very nice to see them work together because they both bring something different to the table that truly helps the other, and not always in ways you would expect at first glance. The brain and brawn thing is expected, but the extent to which they compliment each other is unparalleled by any other dynamic in the game.

Kokichi -> Gonta

Admittedly, Kokichi does less for Gonta narratively than Gonta does for Kokichi, but to be fair I would expect someone like Kokichi to be the one others help shine, not the other way around. Kokichi, as the Ultimate Leader, is more like the protagonist while Gonta is the supporting character.

For the most part though, Kokichi's narrative role relating to Gonta is to show us that Gonta isn't the happy-go-lucky himbo the rest of the cast thinks he is, allowing us to see that Gonta has depth, specifically that Gonta's morals are definitely different than what one would normally expect from someone with his personality.

The rest is something that relates more to their emotional bond, but for now I'll just say that Kokichi allows us to see Gonta's insecurities, flaws, and dedication to his friends (both the cast and Kokichi) and this improves Gonta's character immensely.

Gonta -> Kokichi

Gonta, as a character, shows us just how human Kokichi can be, especially during chapter 4 but also in little moments throughout the game as well. Whether it be lashing out at the others, being soft (like, so, so soft) with Gonta, his cooperation skills, or the depths of his sadness and loyalty, Gonta drags these reactions out of Kokichi one by one like it's his job, which it is! Narratively, Gonta's job is to allow us to see glimpses of what goes on in Kokichi's heart, something incredibly rare and precious to me.

Gonta also really allows Kokichi's ability to strategize and lead people to shine. Like, really shine. Chapter 4 was the best showcase of Kokichi's talent of leading people, but that's because he had Gonta following him. Any captain needs a crew and any Ultimate Leader needs helpful and supportive followers that believe in him. This goes alongside Kokichi's major weakness throughout the game.

Kokichi's biggest weakness is that he's placed himself into an antagonistic position. Seems smart, until you realize that hes the Ultimate Leader and he just alienated himself from literally everyone, losing any potential bonds/followers he could have made. He shot himself in the foot by forsaking some leadership options when he's the Ultimate Leader. It's the thing he's best at, but he put limits on himself anyway to protect everyone from Monokuma's attempts to break them apart.

He can still get the group to do what he wants, but it takes a considerable amount of effort on his behalf in order to do so. Gonta makes up for that by being the follower that Kokichi desperately needs. Gonta believes in Kokichi enough to go along with both of his plans, to the extent that he still goes along with them even they involve kidnapping and killing the other characters.

There's also the fact that Gonta's dedication to the others might've helped Kokichi decide to keep helping everyone, but I'll get more into that in a bit.

Emotionally:

This dynamic also makes a lot of sense from an emotional perspective. You can actually see why these two outcast characters would want to come together and hang out with each other, and why they view the other so positively: they are each other's ideals.

Kokichi -> Gonta

When Gonta needed a friend and someone to take him seriously/not dismiss him, Kokichi was there to hang out with him, seriously listen to him, and explain things to him that he didn't get the first time. Where the other kids were scared of him due to his size and talent, Kokichi had the confidence to ignore Gonta's natural intimidation and the kindness to hang out with Gonta, despite being so scared of bugs he literally foams at the mouth when they touch him.

Kokichi still regarded Gonta as a friend after that incident though, when most people (justifiably) would've held a grudge and cut him off. Gonta has some very obvious rage issues and reacts pretty impulsively to the things that upset him, but Kokichi is very patient with others, and almost forgiving to a fault at times, so he's willing to stick with Gonta and try and work through their problems instead of abandoning him. This would no doubt be something that Gonta desperately wanted from a friend, seeing as he's very self conscious about appearing as scary.

He loyally sticks by Gonta and readily offers advice, support, explanations, patience, etc... I mean the list goes on. I really do think that his relationship with Gonta is a showcase of how Kokichi would act around someone he really likes, like I'm talking about this being the basis for how I think Kokichi would act around DICE levels of emotional intimacy. I think this is Kokichi at his best, friendship wise. Especially because even during events that take place outside of the main story we never see Kokichi act this way around anyone else, even with the people I would also consider to be his friends (mainly Miu, but also sorta with Kiibo as well.)

They didn't know each other for long, but if you really look at it, it's plain to see that Kokichi really valued Gonta as a friend. I mean, I dont think someone who yells about wanting to live during his FTEs with Kaede would willingly offer to give his life for (no discernable goal) for just anyone y'know? Plus, throughout the game, he uses some of his friendliest and softest sprites during his conversations with Gonta. Even visually you can see their bond.

It's a very subtle relationship when compared to some of the more overt pairs throughout the game (aside from some key moments in chapter 4) but it's there, and honestly I can think of very few characters that share this close of a bond in the whole series game.

They actually kinda seem similar to Aoi and Sakura in a way, but somehow they compliment each other more... damn.

Gonta -> Kokichi

Likewise, Gonta also became Kokichi's friend and didn't seem to mind the lying at all, something that means a lot to Kokichi based on his Harmonious Heart Events, because it means that Gonta doesn't want to be friends with someone different, he wants Kokichi, lies and all. This is Kokichi's #1 wish.

I think that meant more to Kokichi than anything else, because this is his way of life. He leads with lies, he plays with lies, and he protects himself with lies too. He wants to keep lying and Gonta not being bothered by that is literally the exact thing that Kokichi yearns for in the best ending for his HHE.

Gonta also caught on to the times that Kokichi was extending olive branches and accepted him. It's subtle, but Kokichi did try and befriend people as long as he could do it without having to change himself and Gonta was one of the people that responded to that positively. Gonta readily befriended Kokichi, probably understanding first-hand what it's like to be an outcast because of misunderstandings and personality traits.

This is why Gonta's death (especially since Kokichi felt like he was fully responsible for it, despite what Gonta said) was so traumatic for Kokichi and why he reacts so negatively to it, he lost someone he never thought he would ever meet in the first place. More than a few of his dialogue lines have him imply that he's used to being hated for how he chooses to live his life and that he expects this kind of treatment from people, so finally finding someone who won't hate him for that and then losing that friend so quickly with his own plan had to have hurt immensely.

Going off that, Gonta is the one to convince Kokichi to remain friends with everyone and try his best for them despite how they treat him, and he also desperately begs for the others to do the same thing for Kokichi. He knew he was leaving Kokichi alone, and he wanted to try and protect him.

While the other members of the cast don't seem to remember this or care much about it after the whole "I'm the mastermind" bit, we do see Kokichi trying to protect the group after chapter 4 by trying getting rid of the motive to leave (therefore "ending" the killing game by making sure no one plays it) and by trying to remove Kaito, who has shown himself to be a harmful influence.

I think Gonta's words really got through to Kokichi, and while it did unfortunately lead to Kokichi dying for everyone's sake, Kokichi might not have tried to save everyone if it hadn't been for Gonta's last wishes. Why would Kokichi want to help people that actively hate him and bully him if not for the pleading of his greatest friend in the game telling him to keep protecting them.

In a sense, Kokichi during chapter 5 fulfills Gonta's original wish to be useful and protect everyone even at the cost of himself, with Kokichi doing exactly that.

Interested?

If you asked me for moments that I feel showcase their bond nicely so you can get a feel of it for yourself, I'd point you towards the dialogue they share during the 4th trial investigation and their meeting before the Insect Meet and Greet was very nice (you'll have to read between the lines for the former though!) If you want to see what I'm talking about, I would definitely recommend rewatching those. The moments prior to Gonta's execution are also always a good look at how much they meant to each other.

If you're really interested, I'd also recommend watching through their bonus content (LHEs, FTEs, HHEs, etc) and thinking about how their desires are reflected in each other, it's interesting to think about at the very least.

TL;DR?

Overall, they have an amazing, yet unsung, dynamic between the two of them and I would like to see more people recognize it. It's very brief and doesn't have a lot of story time, but it feels more meaningful than any of the "main" dynamics in the game with 10x the screentime. It has substance to it. It's satisfying and gratifying to watch.

It also makes fucking sense, unlike a particular dynamic that takes up a majority of the fucking story for nOTHING–

[himikoyumeno-chan]

1, 4, 20 :D

Thank you for the ask, Serahne!!! ღゝ◡╹)ノ♡

@serahne-is-here

And sorry it took so long! It has been, like, months,lol. I… have no excuses ^^; I’ve written and rewritten, and re-rewritten this trying to make this more concise and to the point. I gave up, and just now came back to it.

From here: 20 thought-provoking V3 questions

Oddly enough for a V3-centered blog, I haven’t talked too much about my opinions on it here pretty much since I played it, lol. Well, for those that don’t follow my main blog, this is just a warning that I don’t have great things to say about most of it, lol.

1: How do you feel about the game’s writing in general? How does it compare to the other games?

I think I may be able to understand people liking this game, but to me, V3's writing flops. Danganronpa used to have a more defined set of rules, where for the most part, common sense can be trusted. V3 lacks the realism I was expecting, and I’m not even talking about things like there being a talking robot as a student with really highly advanced AI, or how Despair came to ruin the world. Danganronpa treated Despair as if it was a rule of the world, an aspect of it that can cause someone to do insane things, and more importantly, almost anyone could fall for it, even us if we were in that world. Even LUCK in this world seems to have a defined logic (both Naegi and Komaeda’s version of it). I can still accept things like that because they are a part of the DR Universes “rules.” It’s just that V3 seems to unintentionally break a lot of rules of common sense without acknowledging it as being something to expect out of that world.

V3′s main gimmick, the thing that people love about it, is that it aims to be as unpredictable as it can get. That would be fine… if it was done properly and researched well. Murder mysteries that are good have to have reason and logic. While there were a few times in previous games where I really questioned the writing of it (Like Trial 4 in DR2 where Nekomaru is able to hang off of a doorknob??? Or even how was Hiyoko killed? We never discussed a murder weapon), at the very least, the majority of the game made sense, and, if you really pay a lot of attention, you can figure out exactly how it happened because of it. In V3, the trials are just downright ridiculous. In almost every trial in V3, there’s questionable decisions made. How is it that all of these murderers were so lucky for things to work that well? You can argue they still made a mistake, and that is how we catch them, but at the same time, they also make other mistakes that somehow worked. Ch1, we were made to believe Kaede was able to hit Rantarou’s head precisely. Ch 2 had a slew of problems, but the worst was that Kirumi’s CG shows her sliding down the ropeway on a tube tied at two ends, and uf that's what happened, she absolutely would have flopped down into the pool. Ch 3, Kiyo sticks a sword in Kaede’s chest and spins the statue letting it conveniently hit the lock. Ch 4… well actually it made a lot of sense, mostly because the writers could manipulate the world as they pleased. Ch 5, a dying Ouma writes a full three hour-ish script with every possible scenario within, at most, half a night. It was later seen that Kaede did not succeed in killing Rantarou the way she had, but she’s the only one where things didn’t miraculously work out for her (erm… well not that it would have, since she died trying anyways).

It’s not even just trials. The student council arc implies Angie brainwashes the members. You can see a hint of proof from her FTEs. It isn'treally acknowledged, in fact all that had yo do with Angie's plans dies with her, except for Kiibo who for one night tries to get Saihara not to roam at night. There is the fact that Kaito trusts Maki, even though she’s a trained killer, and not Ryoma, a person guilty of one murder and just as, if not more, in need of confidence, is also really weird. Ouma is left practically alone for most of the game, only really gaining importance in Ch 4. Kaito later says he can’t just leave a guy like that alone, when he did. In fact, everyone did, despite being concerned about him and Gonta. At the very least you would expect Shuichi to give more than a passing thought to Ouma, show more concern? Shuichi’s just not one to get involved with anyone, though, it would seem. And one other thing that bothers me, everything to do with the alliance between Miu and Kokichi. When did it start? How? How was Miu even able to create what Ouma wanted her to when everything they showed her invent up until her death (within the main story, mind you) was really simple. She creates a drone and gives Kiibo a few really simple functions… and later on had all the weapons needed to take down Monokuma, and still  gets scared out of her mind. Ouma in general just gives way to too many plot conveniences, so much so it is hard to say whether you should give him credit or not. He takes a key card and we never know where it leads to, he and Gonta planning the murder of Miu all depends on his testimony, him knowing Miu would be capable of inventions to this extreme and allying with her, while she somehow trusts him enough to not blab, and most importantly, somehow figuring out that there had to be an audience and hinting at it regularly.

Over all, the plot was made too convenient. It is way too convenient for things to happen as they did, and they really just build it up, shoving in faces just how much better this game was in every aspect. It’s really flashy, but that doesn’t make this game good, let alone better.

And one last problem I want to address, the story takes way too many ups and downs. One scene, everyone wants to die/give up and starts to cry about their situation. It whiplashes back to hope and never giving up by someone like Kaito or Kiibo. Then it is rejected once again, because a new piece of evidence has been shown, then it whiplashes back again because we can’t give up hope/we just gotta believe! It really just gets so tiring watching these characters go on and on about it. It wastes so much time, and honestly I’m not sure how to feel about the characters at times because they would annoy me so much with their emotions. I feel like in DR1 and DR2, even DRAE, the descent to despair was much slower or less of a common occurrence. I was actually able to feel dread and devastation for these characters because the game let me have the time to feel the weight. In this game, as much as I like the cast in general, it was just getting harder to sympathize with them much. They'll shoot all the way back up again, anyways, right?

I’m really thrashing the plot of this game a lot, but I gotta say they didn’t ruin everything.  Now to the thing V3 does best: characters. Not their backstories, mind you (only half, or probably less than half, of the FTEs are really worth doing for backstories). Each of these characters were given such unique personalities. Sure, it may overlap with personalities we’ve seen before, but there is a great mix of personalities. These characters are all really unique, and best of all is how even in the main story, we get quite a bit out of them since ever character was given a fairly important role. Some of them end up being just murderers as their main role *cough*Kiyo*cough* and that’s their end role, but unlike in other Danganronpa games, the first chapter’s victims are given importance acknowledged later on in the game. I don’t agree with all of them, but I will give SC recognition for commendable effort in making every character hold some importance in this story. The cast is truly amazing, but I sincerely wish they weren’t wasted on this over-the-top game with an overall poorly planned out story. Even characters I didn’t really like, I end up liking more as soon as they are set in a different storyline (like the UTDP Mode, as an example).

4: Did free time events change your opinion about a certain character? What did you learn about the character through these events?

I mean, quite honestly my strongest answer here is Kiyo, lol. Kiyo. I was having my doubts about his character. I’d already been spoiled he was into incest and killed two girls for a ritual, so I was prepared to meet a total creep and come to not like him. So very wrong. Kiyo’s FTEs were so interesting. I had interest in what things he taught Shuichi about folklore and customs, and it helped that Shuichi was also a willing and interested student! His personality was refreshing, and they even added a bit of humor to it regarding his mask XD I am really sad that they decided they had to make him a creepy mass murder in an incestuous relationship, and most importantly, revealed all of that last minute. He was already an interesting character, I don’t think killing him off right after that unnecessarily ridiculous reveal was good. It would have been pretty fascinating if it turned out he didn’t kill Angie, though! Then maybe this incesturous serial murder would actually be more than just a surprising factor? If he survived, that would have been very interesting to see how he is dealt eith once the others are aware of hiw dangerous he is. Still, I’m just not a fan of what they did to Kiyo, I feel like they could have done him much better.

20: Does Shuichi make a good protagonist? Why or why not?

Suichi is an okayish protagonist. Sometimes, I think I mostly just unfairly compare him to Hinata. He’s not really great to me because he’s hard for me, personally, to relate to. I think that his backstory that was revealed through Kaede, and later Kaito, could have been made stronger and fit the theme just slightly more if the man he convicted was innocent, thinking he exacted vengeance, and after execution, the true murderer was revealed. (Maybe that would give away too much actually XD I just got the idea from watching people play Hidden Agenda, lol). I just don’t personally think that the canon backstory for Saihara is that strong? Then again, I have the same ideals as Kaito and Nanami, where murder is murder, in the end (only thing that bars it is if it is in self defense).

Saihara was designed to be a more grey character, much more sympathetic to those who commit murder for a noble/good reason. In general, it was hard for me to look at what Shuichi says or does, and go “yup, I would make the same choice,” but at the same time, it does make him different from the typical protagonist. I felt a lot more in tune with Kaede and admired her far more as a protagonist than I had Shuichi, and she wasn’t even given a backstory. At the same time, I find it ironic that the one with a pretty defined history became protagonist, since almost every other protag has little to none (Mostly because of a lack of talent?). I have no hatred towards Shuichi, and I do love some of the relationships he has with his classmates, but because of the story, it just feels he isn’t as close to other members of the class. A lot of it focuses on Kaito and Maki. At the same time, I didn’t dislike it that much because I love those interactions, but he barely interacts or seem to even care about other characters. Ouma should have been kept on better watch, for example.

He’s been described as even better than Hajime, and I personally don’t see it. Hajime had a very strong character arc that was at least consistent the whole game, while Saihara may arguably have a very great shift in character, a good deal of it is super concentrated at the end, and he is even quicker to give up than any protagonist (except maybe Komaru? However even she refuses to die). His true shining moment is in the last chapter (honestly it was a good moment and I can admit the resolution is better than Hajime who needed to lean on his memory of Chiaki to gain the courage tonend his killing game).

Shuichi being the one willing to die to end the killing game is amazing, but then he lives, and I just gotta stare at the screen asking Spike Chunsoft why they had to ruin that as well?

The game left me exhausted, and I just feel like Shuichi as protagonist, who lets things happen quite a lot, or relies on others to take action instead, was not really helping me like this game.

----

As an aside, I honestly don’t mean to be so harsh on this game, but V3 was just such a let down… like having the game tell you everything that happened in the game was fake was enough, and trying to continue giving what had happened to the 16 kids should have been good, but then the game takes the meaning away and kills off two characters instead of all five. I understand the message V3 tries to convey, and I would agree, except it executes the message really poorly. Them making DR1-DR3 non-canon to V3? Fine. Them basically saying that everything you worked for was a big waste of time because all of it was fiction? Especially when the game makes it sound like everything in this game was better than its previous iterations?

I was left feeling hollow, like I had wasted all those hours playing as Shuichi the protag-that-I-didn't-like-much, with trials that made logical leaps to get it to work, and characters I felt I should have cared more for, but didn't.

I am very much done with Kodaka, Spike Chunsoft, and whoever else wrote V3 and DR3.

I'll just contnue to focus my energy and love on Hajime instead of watching out for any more Danganronpa that isn't the fighting game/rpg XD

[kokichi-and-co-imagine-blog]

could I request the v3 boys and Maki finding their s/o's body and how they would behave during and after the trials? bonus points if it was staged like a suicide but it actually wasn't

Since I don’t wanna burn out and give you some half-assed answer for some of these characters, I wrote for the ones I can. If you want the rest, can you send a separate ask? I’ll happily take it and finish it off, but I wanted to make sure you saw that, yes, Mod Kokichi is doing their best to get you what you’re looking for!

I’m  putting this under a keep reading because I have no idea if people will get upset by this.

Gonta Gokuhara saw s/o in her bathroom.

He had come to check if they were coming to breakfast, but they hadn’t shown up beforehand. Instead of laughing and apologizing about being late like they had done in the past, they never peeked their head out from behind the door to get a head count and share a giant grin when they saw everyone look excited to see them. No, instead, s/o was found lying in their bathroom, a knife plunged into them with a hand loosely wrapped around it and lines that seemed to be scattered on their arms. They looked so pale and frail that Gonta was worried he would hurt them with a touch. Why were they holding the knife? S/o wouldn’t do something like this!

When the investigation fully kicked off, Gonta couldn’t bring himself to believe that they would kill themselves. Shuichi trusted him and worked hard to find who would harm someone so close to Gonta’s heart.

During the trial, he would try to help out as much as possible. However, his bias towards his s/o would prove to be a distraction to the group.

When they found the culprit and got them correctly charged, he would burst into tears, asking why they did it. S/o didn’t deserve to die like this! Anything they say wouldn’t be enough for him to fully comprehend.

Kiibo was just trying to get into the warehouse so that he would be able to get something for Himiko who had bumped her head pretty hard after tripping. He was about to climb up a ladder so he could get the painkillers… but that’s when he saw it.

His heart seemed to stop in its tracks as he looked up and saw s/o swinging slowly, clearly lifeless. there was blood on their hands from presumedly scratching at the rope so hard that blood got everywhere. a piece of wrinkled notebook paper was sticking from their pocket as though it was put in there to be found. He gingerly took it, trying not to scream and cry for them to come back.

How they were tired of being used as a pawn in this game. How no one appreciated them. How they knew they’d be better of just dying instead of trying to continue. How they loved Kiibo and wanted him to know that it wasn’t his fault. The handwriting matched, though it still seemed hastily written.

He shut down after telling everyone where s/o was in a quiet concerning voice and hid in his room before the trial, wondering why he didn’t notice s/o was planning something like this. He would still try to help during the trial, but wouldn’t be of much use since his… chest hurts for some reason. Afterwards, he would be as close to crying as he possibly could be, not looking at the killer. He’d hole up in his room for quite some time afterwards.

Kaito Momota couldn’t have asked for a better s/o. A sidekick to beat all sidekicks and go along with his silly antics was one that he could treasure. He invited them to train with him, Maki, and Shuichi since they seemed  like they needed the time out of their room. They constantly hid and seemed less enthusiastic than Kaito, but they opened up around him to show that they were just a lost kid trying their best in need of a hero. He was ready to be that hero and make them feel better about themselves.

At least, that was the plan before he found them lying on the ground with a gun inches away fro their hand. They looked almost peaceful with the way they had sprawled out onto the ground. He couldn’t recall the last time that s/o had looked so happy, and felt sick to his stomach.

Did he fail as a hero? What did he miss? Why did they have to die? What pushed them over the edge? They seemed so… so happy around him the night before, so… why?

He screamed as loud as he could, backing away from the room and pounding on Shuichi’s door until he came out. Shuichi looked a little annoyed before making eye contact with the ultimate astronaut, understanding he wouldn’t be like this for anything else. After telling him to lead the way, Kaito grabbed his entire arm and dragged him to his poor s/o, still laying on the ground.

He didn’t want to believe it was them. He believed they were too content to do that. Sure, they occasionally admitted they didn’t like themselves all that much but… it had to be a lie. It just had to be.

During the trial, he would constantly believe that s/o wouldn’t commit suicide, so he would unabashedly deny anyone who said otherwise. He would fight as though it were the last chance he had at living. If it weren’t for his determination, Shuichi wouldn’t have fell into the same belief and found the correct culprit.

He would be uncharacteristically quiet as the culprit explained his motive, and explode when they finished, coming dangerously close to strangling them right on the spot. He’d be seething afterwards, stomping his way out to somewhere to cool off. after all, a hero wouldn’t act like this.

Kokichi Ouma wasn’t one for hysterics unless they were a joke. If only all of his fits of crying could be written off as jokes or lies, he could die a happy man. He was so used to having to put on a mask that when s/o came around, he almost forgot how to take it off. S/o helped him take it off after such a long time of feeling cold. He felt warm near them, and was more honest with his feelings in their presence. He could remember laying near them, promising they would get out of this whole mess together, and that they were the only person he cared about.

so when he went to surprise them with a thing he had been working on with the ultimate inventor to get through the path in underneath the manhole cover, he dropped the electric grenade in shock, shaking. There they were, a poison bottle still having little droplets coming out of it, and s/o’s body shaking from the aftereffects. Unfortunately, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to save them, so he just rushed to their side, crying genuine tears. He could see their face contort in pain as they took their final breath and gently touched his cheek to wipe away a tear before the light in their eyes disappeared.

He found himself crying and reaching out for the mask that they had taken from him and casted away. He knew he couldn’t get it back, but it didn’t change his agony when he realized that he was going to have to “investigate” the scene in front of him. He doubted they would do this. He doubted that they had it in them to actually kill themselves, and they seemed so level-headed. He doubted all of it, and started to wonder if s/o had even loved him. He began to quickly think about if he’d done something wrong regarding them, yet he couldn’t bring any memory up. He shook as he held himself until he could feign calmness looking at their dead body.

Silently, he began looking around, already gathering evidence. He knew Shuichi was a diligent worker, but he… he needed to know for himself.

During the trial, he would do his usual fuckery, but with more intensity than normal. He would seem to be cutting with all of his accusations, and Shuichi would know that he knew about all of this. After the trial, he would sneak off to cry, only to be found by someone who wouldn’t know what to do about it. The confused comfort would make his body become wracked with sobs, wishing s/o could come back to him and tell him what happened was just a dream. But unfortunately, he knew that it would be impossible.

S/o was gone. Gone. Gone gone gone gone gone gone gone gone gone gone.

sorry i know this is horrible but at least i didn’t butcher everyone

[our-happygirl500-fan]

If Kokichi wants to remove his talent, does that mean DICE is no longer around or?? I'm actually a bit confused about how it works, sorry. Plus there are people like Kiibo and Sonia who I dont think CAN remove the talent if they wanted?? Nagito might be put in by the school after the gym gets blown up, he does qualify as his talent is dangerous to himself and everyone around him, like Ayano I guess? And his classmates arent really friends with him either. 1/2

2/2 I totally and absolutely agree with wanting Kokichi to have friends and nice classmates! But the thought that he feels the need to abandon an integral part of himself (his leadership talent), that isn’t even inherently evil or bad, just to have friends makes me sad! But I believe that your plans/reasoning would be good.

Addition: Perhaps because you might interpret Kokichi’s need to lie as inherently linked to his talent, and I don’t, but I think he might believe that, so I can understand it that way? Each to their own interpretation, I guess. I also feel Maki or others would want to remove her talent since she isn’t fond of it and being controlled, but can’t abandon the orphanage, but I guess I’m being generous with that, since that’s more what she seems meant to be than what she is. Thanks for your reply!

—

Okay, first of all, it isn’t an interpretation in an event with Kiibo during the TDP Kokichi links his lying with his talent as a supreme leader this isn’t me pulling something from nowhere he explicitly states that. Secondly, about DICE, you do bring up a good point but I think the main thinking Kokichi would have over wanting to give up his talent in relation to DICE is linked to his own issues and lack of self-worth, in the game Kokichi constantly comments that he believes that his subordinates would be better off without him while I’m sure this is incorrect and DICE loves him Kokichi probably believes it to be the case.

You are right that people like Kiibo couldn’t give up their talent when their talent is literally their existence but come on this wouldn’t be Hopespeak if there weren’t enough flaws in the system that it could potentially cause the apocalypse also the ‘talent removal project’ states that the SHSL must either volunteer themselves or be volunteered by a /family/ member and Komaeda, unfortunately, doesn’t have family members so unless he got over his hope obsession which is unlikely Komeada would most likely fall through the cracks also Komaeda isn’t completely alone in his class Chiaki is friends with him and in the TDP it’s shown that he forms a friendship with Hinata after Hinata starts hanging with Chiaki’s class.

Also Kokichi isn’t taking part in the talent removal project to make friends, I said that’s why I made the AU but that has nothing to do with Kokichi’s motivations within the AU, Kokichi loathes the idea of changing for other people, he’s not doing it for anyone but himself because he doesn’t want anything even lying to hold him back and also recognises he needs to be honest with himself. This is for Kokichi and bettering himself as a person, the making friends part is just a bonus.

Also as I mentioned in my last post in the Hopespeak universe that revolves around talent removing your talent is a big deal and not many people would feel comfortable even considering it and Maki who already had a support group in her class and never not even in the game showed any signs of learning anything because she didn’t feel the need to change she just found people willing to put up with her shit.

I’m sorry that my AU that is linked to a project I’m working on hard on and have researched and analyzed every bit of canon content I could get my hands on for so I can do these characters justice doesn’t meet up exactly with what you want but please trust me when I say that I have thought things out.

Also the SHSL Unlucky student is called Ayumu 

[drv3imagines]

Mod Tojo apologizes deeply. I hope my writing isn’t off…I haven’t been having a good…anything lately…Please enjoy… (I actually started to feel a little better after writing Rantaro’s…)

Rantaro Amami * He’s angry to say the least. * You work hard and try to do your best in helping others, and to top it off no one shows you the gratitude you deserve. * He understands how harsh life can be sometime, but this is too much for him to handle. * He takes a passive approach to this situation and deters you from helping anyone who doesn’t deserve it. * You of course don’t want to because you hope that maybe someday you helping others, would influence them to help someone else. * That’s…literally the sweetest thing he’s ever heard and omigoshyouaresoprecious. * So instead of dealing with this head on, Rantaro decides to take the route to show you how he feels instead. * He organizes a get-together with those who *do* show you the love and care you deserves and they organize gratitude party for you. * You didn’t think it was necessary, but he gives you a chaste kiss and hug, saying that he’d do anything to see you smile. * And he spent the rest of the party staying true to those words.

Korekiyo Shinguuji * It’s inhumane. * How is it that humans could selfishly take from such a pure and innocent soul? * It was disgusting, cruel, and a near travesty. Yet, he was kind of intrigued. * Perhaps he’d take more time to look into that aspect later, but first he must show his love who had been mistreated, a well deserved showcase of gratitude. * He spends the entire morning while you were out, arranging his house into a relaxing beauty parlor✨ * Not that you weren’t beautiful before, but there was nothing wrong with a little pampering. * He was actually excited that for once he could use some techniques he found soul settling on you~ * Of course if you didn’t like something, he had plenty of other ideas. Maybe you wouldn’t like the steamed bath he ran, that’s okay, he would attempt to give you a full body massage using techniques he learned when he traveled to a small village during his travels. * When you got home, it was late in the evening and you were very tired…but…as soon as you stepped through the door, you snapped awake again. * The dim lighting from candles was the only source of light that you could see, but the aura that came from them was captivating. * You hummed in content, mind going foggy with the relaxed environment…so lost in the bask, Korekiyo’s sudden appearance from the dark nearly gave you a heart attack. * “Ah, s/o, welcome home~ Shall we begin the treatment?~” * After making your evening one to remember, he goes back to the problem at hand. Those pesky beings who had shown there ugly sides to you with their ungratefulness; perhaps they could use a “special treatment” as well.

Kaito Momota * All he needs is a name and he’s gonna be at their doorstep giving them the (strike: beatdown) lecture of a lifetime. * No one uses his s/o! And *especially* if their gonna be jackwagons about it! * He’d definitely be fired up about this matter, acting on impulse if he ever caught someone doing it. * And when he did, it wasn’t pretty. He grabbed whoever it was by the collar of their shirt and gave them a good shake down, “talking” some sense into their head. * He’d give a speech about how amazing you were as a person and if they were gonna treat you like a sidebar then they didn’t deserve to even be acquainted with you. * And with that it’d be over with them, and time to teach you how to stick up for yourself. * He gives plenty of helpful advice to you that just because you were nice, that didn’t mean you had to take crap from anyone. * You can still be a sweetie and take names and break doors down if you had to. * … * Or, just let him handle being aggressive for now, until your coaching went on a little better. * … * Okay, then what do you suggest? * You figured it would be best to try and learn how to differentiate those who took advantage of you, and at least let you protect yourself in your own way. * Seemed fair. * But to be on the safe side he still knocks heads when he has to.

Kokichi Ouma * Whaaaaaaaat??? Someone taking advantage of his beloved, S/o-chan? * He hated the idea of puppet masters, which was what this person kind of was to you. Using you for a plan they had, be it benign or malicious. * He was gonna put a stop to it either way. * If he were to witness it in the act, he’d immediately step in and sling an arm around you (if he can reach you that is //shot). * He’d hoped his presence alone would make them back off as a warning, but he’s not as intimidating as he thinks (or what he wants others to think he thinks). * So he’s gotta step up his game and put on a little show for them. * He’d off-handedly call them out on why they were asking for the favors in the first place. * “ S/o~ They’re lying so they can get you to do it for them~ It’s so obvi!” * “I-I don’t mind if they ask, Ouma…I swear…” * “*Gasp* Well in that case, I guess you wouldn’t mind if I asked you to help me too!” * Huh? But didn’t you just say- * “By not helping them!~ They’re totally trying to guilt you into doing their stuff anyway, no good can come from *those* kinds of people ya know. Nishishishi~” * Well…maybe… * He may not be one to confront the jerk upfront, but he sure did have a way of calling them out to the point where they wouldn’t ask anymore. * It was a confusing process, but you were eventually able to see through those like he did…okay maybe on your own terms, but he did teach you a few things.

Shuuichi Saihara * He won’t lie. He was once in your shoes before, but that was before he knew that it was wrong. * But now he does and he doesn’t want to stand for it. * He works out that even if he pointed out that those people were using you, you’d try to cover for them, or tell him you just liked helping people. * He definitely knew it wasn’t his place to lecture you on who you should help and who you shouldn’t, but this was still wrong… * The best thing he could do is take a stand for the one he cared for and deal with this head on. * You were at home preparing your wonderful boyfriend a nice dinner, when you heard the door open and shut. * Shuuichi called out to you, and you told him where you were. * However, you were not expecting him to bring home a beautiful bouquet of- OMG WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FACE, SHUUICHI?! * On his right cheek he had a nice sized bruise steadily glowing and swelling pretty bad. * “Shuuichi, what happened to you?!” * “I did what had to be done, s/o.” He says as he grabs a few materials from the kitchen drawers to make an ice pack. * He didn’t say much more than that, and you knew you wouldn’t go far in pressing too much of the issue. But you were still worried. * Even if it wasn’t his style, he immediately confronted the culprit with the truth they didn’t want to face about making others feel small and using them for their abilities. It was a cover for insecurities they had about themselves…and that was as far as he could get before he received the small reward from his bravery. * But the results that came in the future were all he cared about, as long as that person wasn’t bothering you anymore, he’d take a million of those punches. * (Even if it hurt really bad)

Kiibo * It may take him a moment, but he noticed the situation seemed fishily familiar… * He’s confused as to why you suddenly have become so busy with one person’s tasks, not because they were unreasonable…it’s just that you literally did *everything* for this person. * Hmm… * Wait a minute! * You were being taken advantage of! He had read the signs of that before in his studies of bad human habits! (Not because he wanted to have them, but he needed to understand them too…or at least try…he’s still learning) * He confronts you with this info and off the bat provides a solution to this problem. * He was going to sue them. * … * It would be considered mistreatment of a valuable person’s efforts and kindness. * Was he trying to tell a joke? * Even so, it was pretty funny and you laughed at the thought. * But he was pretty serious. “We’ll see who’s laughing when I take this matter of utmost disrespect to court officials.” * Kiibo that’s not a thing you can sue people for ^^;;;. That case would be thrown out before it even reached a judge. * Other than taking this matter to the emotion police, Kiibo would try to compensate for the problem at hand by helping you find a new cohort of friends. Those who would treat you better. * He also shared a few things that help him when he realizes he’s being taken advantage of. (Ouma: How’s that working out for ya?) * It was exciting to teach his human lover something for once, and he felt a little more worthy to be called your lover.

Gonta Gokuhara * Gonta thinks s/o’s kindness is very touching and he is inspired by s/o’s spirit of helpfulness. * It warms Gonta’s heart to the core to see s/o being active amongst friends with any task! Gonta wants to help to! * And somehow you both get sapped into the trap of being taken advantage of…but Gonta doesn’t feel right. * The other person who asked Gonta and s/o to fill in for them at a volunteering event because they were sick were caught outside of at a cafe the same day, with a group of friends. * Funny enough, Gonta was taking you to lunch during your break, so you happened to run into the “friend.” * But…Gonta thought they were sick? Gonta didn’t understand why they would be out in public where their condition would get worse? * One of the friends spoke up in disgust, calling out the user for taking advantage of their time to skip out on a volunteering event. * …Gonta…can’t believe what he was hearing. * Gonta was used? He didn’t mind so much, but s/o didn’t deserve to be treated that way! * S/o is gentle and nice! They did everything this friend asked them to do and even stayed up all night making preparations for the event to go very successfully. * Gentleman do not get upset! He would remind himself…but it was hard when the “friend” lied to s/o! * Gonta may not be smart, but he knows s/o deserved better! * He politely leaves the premises, and promises you that he would do a better job to protect them from mean people like that. * Gonta is sorry uwu.

Ryoma Hoshi * He usually doesn’t like getting caught up in other people’s bs. * He’d feel bad for someone who was in your predicament, but couldn’t find the right way to approach it without finding himself being too meddlesome. * But with you. * All H*ck was about to break loose. * They didn’t know it, but he was on to them the moment it got out of hand. * It was unacceptable…yet he couldn’t find the right approach to this without doing something he’d later regret. So whenever they decided to come back and ask you for another favor, they were going to get the face. * You know the one. * (ʘωʘ) * Until they were freaked out enough to get the hint. * After sending them that message, he would have a sit-down with you, letting you know how important it was to tell off people who abuse your kindness. * “But, Hoshi, I just wanna make the world a better place. Even if they don’t see it now, one day they’ll look back at the person who helped them, hoping that they can make someone smile too with kindness~🌸” * When you smiled at him he huffed, seeing it was useless trying to get you to change so suddenly. But maybe you were right… * Helping others was a good way to help them help someone else… * But you still had ways to go to understand the difference between helping others and standing up for yourself.

[ultimatescenarios]

hi! since i totally loved mod tsumugi's yandere imagine, could i please ask them to do one for kiibo, maki and toujo as well? i really like their writing style!! thank you lots beforehand!!!

Kiibo, Maki and Toujo being yandere for their s/o!

Aaaah! I honestly feel so flattered right now, dear anon! It means a lot to me that you’re a fan of my writing considering I’m still only growing as a writer, that’s why I certainly hope you’ll be able to enjoy those yandere imagines like you did the last time!

Also, this imagine contains spoilers!

Maki Harukawa

Ever since the killing game started, Maki knew better than to get close to someone.

In a situation you can’t trust anyone, she thought it’d be a clever idea to avoid her supposed classmates, it’d save trouble both for herself and the others.

After all, it would be bothersome if someone found out she’s the Ultimate Assassin.

She’d be put under constant supervision and suspicion, of course Maki wouldn’t desire such treatment.

Maki would use her cold and harsh attitude as a barrier, it’d be foolish if someone were to break through.

If she got attached to someone, they could still die any second in this godforsaken place, that’s why it’s better to be always left out and alone.

Unfortunately, her biggest fear came true.

For some reason, one person always tried to get past through her mask she put on, they’d always make her feel like she’s one of them and a good friend of theirs.

She didn’t understand why.

Why were they so persistent about her joining their petty acts about friendship and trust in this kind of situation? Were they stupid? How desperate are they to bother her all the time like this?

She bets they’d become scared of her once they learn the truth and then pretend like she doesn’t even exist.

However, she didn’t expect them to accept her wholly even after discovering her real talent.

She was astonished, really.

After they’d welcomed her presence without any secondary feeling of doubt she didn’t know how to respond.

It made her even more confused than she was until now.

Their innocence and goodwill was playing a part in this, and Maki has became used to it.

They entrusted her with their secrets and habits they often committed, without wanting to know hers in exchange, they’d often turn down others in order to hang around with her and make her feel important, they’d even go as far as buy her gifts to make her feel more happy about herself.

For some reason, Maki has grown to actually appreciate their presence around her.

She’d still be quite blunt and straightforward, but she has lessened it to the point she wouldn’t accidentally hurt them.

The others noticed her sudden familiarity with you, some of them were cautious, but the other half was quite glad Maki had someone to count on.

However, with her closeness began an obsession.

Since they were still in the killing game, she’d be constantly paranoid about their wellbeing and condition, she’d often make excuses to even follow them around in order to keep them from away any incoming danger.

It’s natural to protect someone special for you, after all.

You also liked to spend time with Maki, but seeing she follows you wherever you go without any visible signs of privacy was disturbing to say the least.

You knew she had good intentions but things were going out of control real fast.

It has come to the point where she’d show her notorious death glares to nearly everyone that tried to even approach you.

Her eyes filled with unyielding never-ending wrath was truly terrifying sight to see.

However, her angry red eyes were nothing compared to when someone attempted to touch you.

Being the Ultimate Assassin, it’d be easy to snap someone’s neck instantly without breaking a sweat.

That’s what nearly happened when one of your fellow friends tried to tap you on your shoulder if you haven’t stopped her.

She’d go berserk if she hadn’t had a complete control over your whereabouts and health, of course, she wouldn’t ever hurt you, but that doesn’t go for others.

She’d already kill most of the remaining survivors if it didn’t mean she may put hers and your life in danger.

If she was found out, she’d get executed and then leave you behind with all the hungry wolves planning to hurt you.

That would be unforgivable.

Although she’s restricted from killing them, there are numerous methods she can use to inflict pain on them without them giving out their last breath.

Everything is to protect you, so it’s not bad, of course.

You never know what is going on inside their heads, that’s why she has to keep sure you don’t get hurt.

Until this Killing Game is over, it’s her priority to keep you safe.

Toujo Kirumi

A maid has no right to refuse any task given to her.

That is Kirumi’s motto even in this Killing Game.

Although she is well aware this catchphrase could have consequences, as long as she is a servant, she has to oblige.

She liked when people requested her to do their work, it gave her a meaning and made her feel helpful.

Even if the others were quite guilty for humping their duties onto her, she felt no annoyance whatsoever.

Then why would you try to help her nonetheless?

Why would you even bother to look her way while she’s doing what she’s been ordered to?

Why were you so persistent on helping everyone although they’re capable to do it themselves just fine?

Although she was clearly confused, she was still grateful for their modesty and kindness she has never been smothered with.

It was something unusual for her, but the more she started to reluctantly share her duties with them the more she grew accustomed to their presence.

Their fellow classmates thought it was a cute sight to see when the two of them helped each other while doing their task.

They immediately noticed the fondness and respect Kirumi had for you.

Kirumi knew you weren’t as good as her in handling her job, and even if you were a complete klutz she still appreciated your part of the work.

However, the less the survivors remained the less duties she had.

Which resulted in her spending less and less time with the person she appreciated.

Overtime it made their relationship nearly nonexistent.

Kirumi was dead set on them spending time with her like in the good old days.

She has grown to be quite rebellious and committed mistakes in her work on purpose to keep by her side longer, even if it was for a few more minutes.

The others noticed her sudden increase in eagerness for work and even if they knew she was fond of handling things for others this time her modesty seemed to be shown only to overshadow something more hostile.

An obsession.

Not an obsession for more work, not an obsession for being more useful, an obsession to make the person she loved to look her way and offer their hand to help.

And she sure was shocked when all of her attempts ended up in vain.

She knew the killing game was taking toll on them but only now she noticed how broken they really are.

Their eyes represented the despair and suffering they were no longer fighting against, they just wholly accepted their situation.

Even if Kirumi felt pity and sadness, she knew she could use their vulnerable state to her advantage.

It was her duty to keep them safe after all.

Once she was fully aware her antics from before won’t work, she slowly but surely started to ignore the others’ existence and prioritized the only person that actually mattered.

A maid that doesn’t listen to what she is told to do is no maid.

If she has to give up her title it’ll be worth it if it means you’ll be there for her.

Even if you’re not acknowledging her or anyone anymore, as long as you’re here everything is okay.

Even if you can’t almost utter a single word, as long as you’re still breathing everything is okay.

Even if you’re already broken beyond repair and dead inside, as long as she has complete control over you everything is okay.

Even if you’re nothing but an empty doll she won’t mind.

Knowing you don’t even react to your friends’ deaths anymore, she can finally make her plan reality.

Being the last two survivors wasn’t even a shocking plot twist in the end.

Kirumi knows she is a failure of a maid, she knows being selfish and have her own will as a servant is forbidden, but she doesn’t care if she to sacrifice everything in order to own you.

You’re finally caught in her web forever.

Kiibo

It should be obvious robots can’t have feelings.

They’re just a heartless AI, reacting and showing emotions through calculations.

Although Kiibo tends to disagree, claiming he’s the same as his classmates, deep down he knows even the most intelligent AI is no match for a living and breathing human.

Then why were you embracing him with the same kind smile you showed to others?

You welcomed and cared for him like he was another fully functioning human.

You always protected him from all the teasing he was unfortunately a target of by Kokichi, even went as far as to fully lecture him about Kiibo still being one of his friends and taking his feelings into the account as well.

Kiibo never felt so flattered and grateful to someone before.

As the time passed, the killing game became more and more cruel with it, and even when everyone was in despair, you were like an angel sent from the heavens to cheer and motivate people to still keep on fighting this scary situation with their heads high!

Your determination to help others never once faltered, and it was stronger than ever before.

Kiibo always felt strange sensations inside him whenever you brightly engulfed everyone in hope and happiness.

Even if it sounds ironic, his face would be covered in red.

He was starting to get worried about this whole weird feeling and decided it would be for the best to ask Miu to check him up.

The wait was still bothersome, but he grew more confused when the beautiful genius couldn’t find anything wrong in his system.

One part of him was still skeptical, while the other was glowing in bliss due to realizing that all those mushy and fluffy ‘emotions’ inside him weren’t bad.

However those weren’t the only emotions Kiibo has obtained.

Whenever he saw them with one of the other participants in the killing game, he started to feel a very unpleasant sensation.

His inner voice told him it was clearly jealousy.

Kiibo didn’t know how to respond to any of these petty feelings, so he decided to rely on his inner voice fully.

Once it explained the peculiar occurrences he started to grow familiar with, he knew there was no doubt he’s in love.

An emotion he thought he would never experience.

The poor robot didn’t even notice his so trusted inner voice was manipulating and twisting his devotion into obsession.

And before he knew it, an actual error was creating a place inside him.

Even if Kiibo fully disliked the idea of him being too sci-fi, if it meant he could show off and make them pay attention to him he’d request some outrageous upgrades from our fellow vulgar inventor.

Not long after that, everyone noticed his sudden outbursts whenever his beloved was mentioned, Kiibo became delusional enough to declare they’re officially in relationship.

Although it took more than a while to persuade him he was wrong and he still doesn’t have your consent his words never faltered.

He felt offended they doubted his words, after all what he feels is real!

His inner voice told him so!

With Miu gone, it’s impossible to do check ups on his condition anymore, the remaining survivors felt quite wary of this fact but tried to rely their trust on Kiibo.

Still, Kiibo’s confused, why would they try to change something inside him? He’s completely fine! That’s why he won’t ever comply to their wishes, he’ll even use force for that matter.

He won’t let them get rid of these emotions he was always been longing for.

With his obsession growing more and more, you finally noticed how needy Kiibo was in terms of attention and affection.

But even upon your realization, it was too late.

He’ll make sure to treat you the best he can with the newfound emotions you’ve provided him with!

With the killing game at its final stage, the hope robot feels ecstatic they can both get away.

A happy ending! But for whom, is the real question.

Too bad no one ever noticed that the so called ‘inner voice’ was only the audience striving for more despair from their favorite fictional characters.

[oumakokichi]

I really love your blog, and I think all the meta you write is fantastic, especially anything you write about Ouma. I feel like I'm learning more about the game every time I come on here, and I wanted to show my support and thank you! I also wanted to ask about Ouma's room; specifically, I wanted to ask about why you think he has a statue of Rantaro hanging upside down, and why it was specifically Rantaro. Once again, thank you so much, and I hope you have a good day!

Thank you so much, anon! I appreciate all the support, and I’mso glad that I’ve been able to help people understand the game or Ouma better!I have so much fun writing here, and getting really nice asks like this keepsme motivated and looking forward to it every day!

This is actually a very fun question, more than you would initiallythink! Ouma and Amami are actually very, very similar in terms of motivations,and also their thought processes. Both are incredibly intelligent, both wantedto stop the killing game itself, and both were ultimately incapable of trustinganyone but themselves because of the doubt and suspicion thrust upon them in asituation as horrible as a killing game.

Talking about this in-depth will require covering quite alot from all the chapters of the game, including Chapter 6, so if you aren’tcomfortable with being spoiled for end-game material, please don’t read anyfarther! I want to clear up the questions in detail, so it’ll be very long probably!

Discussing why Ouma had the Amami statue in his room is…fun,because as with most answers, there’s a short and a long one. At least part ofit is quite simply that Ouma was investigating absolutely everything about the previous cases, as shown by his pile ofevidence that he hoarded which included things like the kagonoko ritual book, atire from the swimming pool, and the drone that Miu created back in Chapter 1for the library surveillance. Taking Amami’s statue from Angie’s research labwas Ouma’s way of snatching at least one more thing for the sake of evidence.

Suspending it over his bed, of course, was probably justOuma being a prankster at heart. Part of it might even have had practical uses—thereare several inventions Ouma asked Miu to make him strewn about his room whenSaihara and Maki go to investigation in Chapter 6, as well as diagrams of otherthings he wanted her to make that she never got a chance to. A likely guesswould suggest he was using the statue as a test dummy of sorts. He probably hada lot of fun with it, too. There’s plenty of things that show that he wastrying to keep his spirits up whenever he was alone in his room, including thelittle doodle on his whiteboard, and the hilarious horse mask on his bed (whichwas also, if you’ll believe it or not, a clue intentionally left for Saihara).

It is, in fact, kind of hilarious to picture Ouma talking tothe Amami statue for “moral support” or to keep himself motivated. While Idoubt it was ever a particularly deep thing, I could definitely see room forheadcanons in which he probably made comments about “Amami-chan being his onlyfriend,” or something else sarcastic along those lines.

As for why he tookan interest in Amami specifically…now that’s where things get interesting.

As we know, Amami dies first and without being able to tellalmost anything about the full extent of what he knew about the killing game toeveryone. He clearly alluded to knowing crucial information, including thingsabout the SHSL Hunt, and he very obviously had his own plan in mind to stop themastermind, probably by exposing them rather than killing them, and thereforeto end the killing game.

Chapter 6 confirms all of this, as well as the fact thatAmami was a survivor from a previous killing game, earned himself the SHSLSurvivor talent as a result, and willingly signed up to enlist in the nextkilling game show. As the survivor of the previous killing game, although hestill had to have his memories wiped to participate like everyone else, he wasallowed two particular “survival advantages” which were supposed to give him anedge in the next game. The first was a video of himself recorded on a USBdrive, stashed away in his research lab.

This video itself is where he confirms with his own mouththe things I’ve already mentioned, and he clearly displays very cautious behaviorwhen it comes to matters concerning the mastermind, saying that if Amami hasreached the point where he can watch the video, then “his plan must havealready failed.” Given that Amami’s lab is all the way on the 5thfloor, and that accessing it would therefore mean that the killing game neededto progress quite a long way, it’s easy to guess that that his plan wasto target the mastermind and the killing game itself, and that watching thevideo was a sign that things had already continued too long.

His second advantage was an additional Monopad whichcontained a map of the entire school as early as Chapter 1. He was able toleave himself a note on this Monopad which displayed upon start-up, andconfirmed that the mastermind was, in fact, within the school, and that the hiddenroom in the library was where the mastermind would go whenever Monokuma was inneed of a replacement. This note was even titled by him, “A Hint in Order toEnd the Killing Game.”

Given all of this crucial information which he held, it’seasy to see why Tsumugi killed him when he began snooping around far too muchfor her liking. The tragedy is that he wouldn’t have even risked trying outthis “hint” if it hadn’t been for the desperation of the 2-day time limit.Everyone in the entire group remarks later on that it was a shame he died soearly, once they realize what a crucial asset he might have been by knowing somuch more about the SHSL Hunt and potentially about the outside world than therest of them did.

If the rest of the group found it a shame, then Ouma musthave been frustrated beyond belief, and fascinated. Like himself, Amami wassomeone who wanted to target not the individual case-by-case culprits, but thelarger overall problem of the killing game broadcast, and of the mastermind. Hewas clearly smart, cool in a crisis, and able to solve puzzles and thinkrationally judging by the hints and clues he left for himself in his lab. Hewas far more likeminded with Ouma than many of the other characters, judging bythe fact that even while knowing where the mastermind was and that they were,in fact, in the school, he seemed to want to approach their lair to exposethem, not to kill them.

But he died far, far too early, and without being able totell almost anything about what he knew. It had to have driven Ouma up the wall, and that is precisely why I thinkhe latched onto Amami as an important source of information, even if he wasunder the mistaken impression just like everyone else that he had actually beenkilled by Kaede. He clearly knew that researching what Amami knew that the restof them didn’t was the quickest way to get himself closer to the truth, and Ibelieve his stealing Amami’s statue reflects the interest that he developed.

Ouma was desperate to solve things. What people don’trealize about him is that he’s not only “really smart,” he’s terrifyingly smart. He realized thingsabout Amami and his talent, and was thoroughly investigating the entire schoolas early as Chapters 3 and 4, long before any of the rest of the group caughtonto anything—and they only caught onto the clues they did specifically becauseOuma made sure they would find them.

When Saihara actually manages to reach Amami’s lab inChapter 6, using Kiibo to quite literally blast the door open, it turns outthat Ouma has already been there long before the rest of them (most likelyusing the inventions Miu made for him in order to take care of hidden camerasand to disable the locks on the door).

In order to open the safe with the USB drive and video,there’s a puzzle involving dials with signs from both the western and Chinesezodiacs, and the safe only opens if you can turn the dial to the correct signfrom both. Given that there are 12 options for both, this leaves 144 possiblecombinations, and Saihara and Himiko both freak out for a bit upon realizinghow long this would take them with a time limit so close at hand—until Saihararealizes that Ouma had already left them the clues they needed all along.

For the western zodiac dial, the answer is Gemini. And Oumahad left a hint scrawled on the garden boiler room, saying “ro wa futago,” or “The‘ro’ dial is ‘twins.’” As for the “i” dial, with the Chinese zodiac, the answeris horse. And the hint for this was a little trickier to figure out, as itdates all the way back to the mysterious message scrawled on the stone in thegarden which Gonta discovered back in Chapter 4: “’i’ wa ‘uma,’” or “The ‘i’dial is ‘horse.’”

The “’i’ wa ‘uma’” message later became “kono sekai wa OumaKokichi no mono,” or, “The world belongs to Ouma Kokichi,” by the end ofChapter 4, after Ouma’s grand performance of officially taking the villainmantle. I have absolutely no idea how they’re going to manage this particularlittle word-puzzle in the English localization, but I’m fascinated, because itwas brilliant. And the fact that Ouma had already been sneaking throughout theschool and leaving them with tools to open Amami’s lab so early on isincredibly brilliant because he left the clues so gradually and so mysteriouslythat no one, not even Tsumugi, caught onto what he was doing.

(This is also what I meant about the horse mask also being aclue, just in case the actual message itself was too long ago for anyone toremember. Ouma clearly just wanted to make them think about horses, if they hadto take a blind guess.)

If I sound like I’m gushing a little here, it’s because I’mstill not sure I’m getting across how smart and how calculated Ouma was. Amami’slab didn’t even open up until after Chapter 3, with Korekiyo’s execution. Thismeans that literally as soon as the 5th floor opened up, he wasrecruiting Miu to make inventions vital to the group’s survival and which couldmanipulate all electronic devices. He stole the keycard from the rest of thegroup and used it to check on the state of the outside world with his own twoeyes by completing the platforming mini-game by himself. And he used Miu’s inventions to bust his way into Amami’s lab,watched everything on the USB drive and began piecing together the things Amamimust have known about the outside world, the broadcast, and the mastermind, andleft essential clues for Saihara and the others to find.

Ouma absolutely intended to make sure the rest of the groupcould reach these clues, as shown by the letter found in his room in Chapter 6.On the envelope, it’s titled, “Isho (ja nai yo),” which roughly translates to “Thisis (not) a will/suicide note.” As Maki and Saihara surmise, the fact that hewent out of his way to mark it as “not” a will or suicide note (“isho” roughlytranslates to any message or note left behind by a dead person) was Ouma’s wayof trying to lie/joke around the fact that it absolutely was his will and testament. And following the puzzles to the clueshe had left behind was literally the primary reason Saihara and the others wereable to discover anything at all anduncover the truth in Chapter 6.

The end of this very long answer is that we don’t discoveruntil near the very end that Ouma had been researching Amami thoroughly andnear-obsessively in order to uncover the truth about things, but clearly thisinvestigation had been going on since almost the very beginning, probably rightafter Amami’s death when the whole group realized that he had known far, farmore about the outside world than he’d ever gotten to tell him. He looked intohis case, uncovered Amami’s lab and his talent ages before anyone, and put allthe information he learned from Amami to vital use in order to further his ownplans and help everyone else stay alive and reach the truth.

Him taking Amami’s statue specifically reflected hisinterest, and I think had Amami actually lived longer he and Ouma would havemade for a potentially interesting duo, although it’s arguable whether theywould ever have been able to confide in each other or trust each other. WhileAmami certainly wanted to trust the rest of the group and was more inclined todo so, given his protective big brother-like nature, Ouma is still ultimately askeptic through and through, and being unable to eradicate all the possibilitiesmeans he would likely have still kept observing Amami from the shadows.

Still, if some kind of tag-team had formed between them theway Ouma tried to strike up a semi-alliance with Miu, that would have beenabsolutely fascinating. The two of them had similar motivations and goals, andgiven how incredibly smart the both of them were, Tsumugi would probably havebeen sweating bullets if such an alliance had ever come to pass. Amami’sinterest in stopping the game without wanting to kill anyone was also what Iwould wager intrigued Ouma the most, as it reflected his own goals, and it’swhy I can see oumami working as a very interesting and fun dynamic as a shipeven though the two of them canonically didn’t interact at all.

Amami’s statue was a hilarious find because it confusedpeople and boggled them, and it seemed so weirdto just be hanging in Ouma’s room like that. And while I’m sure Ouma didprobably view stealing the statue as some kind of prank to some degree, there’salso so much more to it under the surface, because it’s very clear that he wasincredibly interested in Amami’s identity and what he knew that the rest ofthem didn’t.

This is incredibly long by this point so I’ll stop, but Iwanted to discuss these details at length because I haven’t seen literallyanyone at all talking about these things, and they were so much fun to gothrough and notice in Chapter 6 while I was watching. I hope I’ve shed somelight on the subject, and if anyone wants to reblog this in order to clear upthe questions people have had, that’d be fantastic!