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tobiasdrake · 3 months

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Of the Danganronpa casts, which 8 characters do you think would best fit the Adventure Crests?

Ooh, that is a fascinating question to think about. I can't do an episode of Digimon today because I'm back at work after two days off so I not only have a lot of backlog to attend to but also end-of-week reporting to shoot out.

But this is a fun idea for an exercise to keep my brain moving through the day.

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc

Courage: Mondo Owada. Mondo's issues with masculinity map well onto the Courage template. He's brave and impulsive to a reckless degree, driven by a desire to prove himself. His life has been defined by the virtues embodied in the Crest of Courage, both for better and for worse as his reckless bravery ultimately got his brother killed.

Mondo's story ends in a betrayal of his virtue. In the equivalent of Dark Evolution consuming his Digimon and driving it to kill him. But even this supreme act of cowardice occurs because he is shamed by the courage that Chihiro demonstrates. The virtue that Mondo has strived to uphold.

Friendship: Junko Enoshima. That one's going to take some explaining, but weird as it is to think, Junko's entire gambit as the Mastermind is a dark inversion of the virtue of Friendship. She knows each and every one of these people intimately, and she cares. She has to care for their deaths to bring her the despair she seeks.

The entire Killing Game is a form of self-harm, as despair-obsessed Junko inflicts emotional scars on both her friends and peers, and on herself. It's just like when she stabbed Yasuke; It only works, it only gives her the emotional response she desires, because she cares so much and knows so much about each and every one of these people.

Junko herself has the Crest of Friendship. Which she has corrupted in pursuit of despair.

Love: Sakura Ogami. Sakura is driven by love. Though seen only as a powerful and dangerous ogre by others, it's love that motivates her every action. It's love for Kenshiro that leads her to work for Junko. It's love for the rest of her peers that leads her to betray Junko.

Even her death, her final act in this world, was done out of love. Her final moments spent with a candy in her mouth; A present from a beloved friend. Sakura has a bottomless capacity for love.

Purity/Sincerity: Hifumi Yamada. A Purity-bearer is someone who is emotionally honest and sincere in their presentation. They wear their heart on their sleeve; What you see is what you get. They are, in every moment and every interaction, their truest unfiltered self. For better or worse, they shower everyone they meet in unrelenting emotional honesty.

Hifumi is often difficult to be around. His obsession with his favorite magical girl gets uncomfortable at times. But it cannot be said that he has any sort of filter or that he's concealing any part of himself. Hifumi puts his true self out there in every waking moment, even when you kinda don't want him to. He's not ashamed of himself and he's not going to pretend to be anything he's not. As such, Hifumi embodies the Crest of Purity more than anyone.

Knowledge: Kyoko Kirigiri. I mean. Obviously. Obviously the Ultimate Detective has the Crest of Knowledge. Kyoko is driven to find answers. So much so that she let Makoto die (or almost die until Alter Ego saved him) so that her investigation could continue. There is nothing that motivates Kyoko more than her own curiosity and need to find the answer.

Sincerity/Reliability: Kiyotaka Ishimaru. It can be confusing that there's two Crests named Sincerity in different versions. But they refer to different kinds of Sincerity. The Reliability Crest is exactly what it sounds like. It's the team mom. The most trustworthy person among us. Someone who is dependable and responsible for everyone's wellbeing, who steps up to make sure we're all cleaning our rooms and eating right and making good choices. Or at least tries to.

Up until trauma cracks him in half, that's Taka in a nutshell. A hard-working and diligent believer in effort over talent, Taka futilely tries to be the glue holding this group together and create a sustainable community within Junko's wicked game. He fails miserably, but it's still an effort worthy of the Crest of Reliability.

Hope: Makoto Naegi. He's literally the Ultimate Hope; Who else would this be?

Light: Sayaka Maizono. The Crest of Light is always a hard one because it's more of a spiritual thing than physical. The Light-bearer experiences reality in a unique way. They represent the force of life itself and are attuned to spiritual affairs beyond the mortal realm.

For me, that could only fit superstar pop idol and inexplicable mind-reader Sayaka Maizono.

Kindness: Chihiro Fujisaki. While not appearing in 01, the Crest of Kindness was added in 02 so I think it counts. Obviously there is no one more suited to Kindness than Chihiro, who would sooner give blood to a mosquito than smash it.

Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair

Courage: Akane Owari. Akane is Courage incarnate. Every bit as heroic, impulsive, and reckless as any Goggles Boy. Ready to fight at a moment's notice but disinterested in putting real effort into personal growth. She once threw hands with Monokuma hard enough to get one of her teammates killed; If that's not Crest of Courage material then I don't know what is!

Friendship: Gundham Tanaka. For all his bluster, Gundham cares a great deal for other people. Though he's uncomfortable with human contact, he's devoted his life to building relationships with others, even if they are primarily animal in nature.

Indeed, Gundham himself is no island, no single man standing alone, at any given time. He is accompanied always by his Four Dark Devas of Destruction, working together as a team of five to accomplish any goal. Gundham understands the value of teamwork and companionship like no one else alive.

Love: Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu. Though he tries to be the big bad gangster tough guy, the force driving Fuyuhiko has always been love. Love for his Ultimate Little Sister Natsumi and love for his dearest friend Peko, who he all but begged to deprogram from his family's conditioning.

Even before the Tragedy, Fuyuhiko had killed for love. In the Killing Game, he very nearly died for love.

Purity/Sincerity: Hiyoko Saionji. Again, she can be absolutely unbearable but for better or worse, she always puts forward her truest self. What you see is what you get with this foul-mouthed little bully who hurts animals and people for fun.

Knowledge: Sonia Nevermind. As the Ultimate Princess, Sonia is driven to learn much so that she can become a fair and just sovereign. The only reason she's even here is because she came to Japan to learn about the culture, and she also demonstrates a ravenous if amoral curiosity about macabre topics such as serial murderers.

Sincerity/Reliability: Nekomaru Nidai. As a coach, Nekomaru's dedicated to spending the very last years of his life to building people up. What time he has left in this world is his gift to the athletes training under him, and he will take a bullet for them in an instant. He is a responsible authority figure who selflessly and tirelessly works to build up everyone else, and for that reason he deserves the Crest of Reliability.

Hope: Nagito Komaeda. Again, this one's fairly obvious. He's a dark reflection of Makoto and Junko who embodies hope but in a twisted sort of way. Technically Izuru Kamukura gets called Ultimate Hope but that's just, like, the school administration's opinion, man. It's Nagito who has a complex relationship with the very concept of hope and so, I think, the Crest of Hope would go to him. Please use it wisely. (He won't.)

Light: Chiaki Nanami, of course. The digital human who serves in secret as one of the admins running the program, directly connected to the Neo World equivalent of Homeostasis.

Kindness: Mikan Tsumiki. This is another obvious one, I think. Of course the Ultimate Nurse gets the Crest of Kindness. Mikan struggles with her assigned virtue; she has some resentment in her, she's been abused so much she can't recognize positive reinforcement, and she enjoys the power trip of being in charge of others.

There is certainly a risk of a Darkness Evolution from Mikan. But I think those struggles only reinforce that importance and centrality of Kindness to her existence.

Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony

Courage: Tenko Chabashira. Tenko's a full-blown magical girl superhero. She's the Champion of Women, trawling city streets looking for rapists and abusers she can throw hands with.

In the Killing Game, she ticks all the boxes. Impulsive? Check. Reckless? Check. Heroic? Check. Does things without thinking to both the benefit and detriment of those around her? Check check check!

Friendship: Kaito Momota. Kaito well and truly believes that friendship and bonds of togetherness are how we're going to get through this alive. He's a serial adopter of isolated people, dragging anyone who doesn't have a friend into his own social group where he pushes them to become the best version of themselves.

In fact, his greatest flaw is having too much faith in people, blinding him to the darkness inside of them.

Love: Maki Harukawa. Furious though she would be to receive this Crest, Maki's capacity for love influences much of her story. Child caregiver for her orphanage, she became an assassin so that someone she loved wouldn't have to.

As the Killing Game progresses, Maki's capacity for love finds her again. Love is what drives some of her biggest and most influential actions.

Purity/Sincerity: Miu Motherfuckin' Iruma, shit-for-tits! If this were the Crest of Innocence, it'd be Gonta for sure. But this is about unfettered self-expression, and Gonta has to remind himself to conduct himself gentlemanly. He has fetters.

Miu, however, does not. Every last stray impulse or thought that hits her brain comes straight out of her mouth, even when it definitely shouldn't. She is honest and sincere self-expression incarnate, like no other.

Knowledge: Shuichi Saihara. Like Kyoko, this one's a no-brainer. Though he's reluctant to commit to the role, the Ultimate Detective is here to uncover the truth. His relationship with curiosity and the pursuit of knowledge defines his story throughout V3.

Sincerity/Reliability: Kirumi Tojo. Do I even need to explain why? The Ultimate Maid is the ultimate caregiver for all of these children. She is the pillar that makes living here sustainable, even comfortable. And she does it all without a single complaint. Caring for others is what she lives for.

Hope: Kaede Akamatsu. Though she isn't with us long, Kaede carries hope in her heart so strongly that it ultimately kills her. There is no greater gesture of hope in the entirety of V3 than Kaede's desperate gamble to try and corner the Mastermind. She risked it all on the belief that she could end everything right then and there.

She was wrong. But her effort earns her the Crest of Hope.

Light: Angie Yonaga. Cult leader and possibly oracle, Angie's life is downright haunted by her spirituality. She is already (allegedly) the vessel of Atua; She's the perfect choice for the vessel of Homeostasis.

Kindness: Gonta Gokuhara. This is the Crest that belongs to Gonta. Gonta is a gentle giant who loves all things big and small, but especially small. Though he can be scary at times, he means you no harm. He just wants you to meet his bugs. He loves bugs and he wants you to love bugs too.

Ultimate Team

So, of the three sets, who best embodies the virtue of their Crest? Let's assemble the team.

Courage: Akane Owari. Mondo ultimately falls short of his values. Tenko does a better job of it, but she's also terrified of pain and cracks easily under pushback, which holds her back from being a true icon of Courage.

But Akane gives zero fucks. She is, in every moment, the person that Mondo and Tenko aspire to be. Bold and headstrong to a fault, Akane Owari is officially the Goggles Boy of this team.

Friendship: Kaito Momota. Junko is hahaha no. Her subversion of the Crest's values pretty much disqualify her. Gundham and Kaito are close. However, while Gundham has a wealth of animal friends, he struggles with direct human-to-human interpersonal contact which costs him.

Kaito, meanwhile, is able to embrace the values of Friendship with open arms. An incorrigible friend-maker and support system for every introvert he kidnapped into his orbit, Kaito is a friend to all and a pillar that can always be leaned on for support, through thick and thin.

Love: This was a close one. Sakura, Fuyuhiko, and Maki all have their strengths, and they all perform incredible feats of love. Honestly, they all deserve the Crest equally. I agonized over this choice. But if I have to have to pick one, then I'm going to go with Maki. Because it's funnier that way.

Purity/Sincerity: Miu Iruma, queen of the overshare. Hifumi and Hiyoko are in-your-face with their personalities and proclivities too, but I feel like Miu goes above and beyond in the field of shameless, unapologetic self-expression.

Knowledge: Kyoko Kirigiri. Though Shuichi's story revolves heavily around deconstructing the pursuit of knowledge, he is by design a pale and unwilling imitation of Kyoko. Sonia's boundless curiosity puts her closer to Kyoko, but there's simply no competing with the Ultimate Detective in the field of pursuing knowledge.

Sincerity/Reliability: Nekomaru Nidai. Ultimately, Taka and Kirumi both crack under pressure, but Nekomaru holds true to his values to the bitter end. This is a man who would give everything for his athletes, and he puts his money where his mouth is twice over.

Hope: Makoto Naegi. Ultimate Hope. Contrary to the way later entries treat him, Makoto did not singlehandedly defeat Junko by shooting lightning from his eyes and disintegrating her. But he was the inspiration at the eleventh hour that burned away despair and made her defeat possible.

A triumph the series has never managed to truly recapture, despite two separate attempts.

Light: Chiaki Nanami. As the conduit to a digital god, it's hard to find someone more appropriate than a humanoid AI. You might think that should disqualify her from being a Chosen Child but I support AI personhood and also something something DR3 retcon says there technically was a real Chiaki so AI Chiaki can just use her Partner and Digivice. Nyeh!

Kindness: Oh fuck me, this one's pretty evenly split too. Chihiro, Mikan, and Gonta all deserve this slot on the team. I can't decide between them. So... I'm going to choose....

Hm, we have three DR2 and three DRV3 to two DR1 in this group. Alright, I'll give this to Chihiro so the numbers can be even. I didn't plan on it being even. But this would make them even and that's pretty neat.

Alright, there we have it. Three teams of Chosen Children and one Avengers-style Ultimate Chosen Children team. Holy shit, that was a hell of a thing. ^_^

#digimon #digimon adventure #danganronpa #danganronpa 1 #danganronpa 2 #danganronpa v3

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catgirl-catboy · 1 year

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My Kinji simpism made me overanalyse that ship to the point I have brain damage.

I certainly agree with you about Tsurugi's characterisation and I love Kinji's that character flaw so much I can't even explain it, he was gullible enough to believe the possibility of saving everyone like a.. kid and when you think about his free time events that paints a very disturbing scenario. I hate when some people address him as emotionally mature one.. He was certainly not and this is what makes his morals that morally gray and make his character interesting in the first place, like sure he is a smart one, I can't call him dumb or anything but the way he can't handle the emotions attracted the guilt and.. guilt attracts failure, his failure was certain when he felt the guilt about it and.. I remember he already believed he deserves to death.. Which is very very disturbing. Idiot Kinji, idiot

And I believe Kinji is the one who affected Tsurugi the most in the culprits, like my man legit can't comprehend his words, I sometimes imagine them as Lawlight in portrayal and it makes it even funnier.

And I start to fall for this ship in hand holding moment, their hand holding was made me remember "The kiss of betrayal." They should make out aggresively.

And how would you exploit him in a mlm scheme? I try to write a fic so I like to have some inspirations if it doesn't bother you

Kinji isn't emotionally mature, he just stifles his emotions and doesn't talk about them outside of maybe a religious context that we don't see in canon. I don't think his talent was very healthy to his emotional development, since its his job to console and advise others, so he puts his emotions aside. This is shown when he doesn't want to be in Kinjo's group and talk about his emotions with the rest of the cast! Objectively, I think thats a good decision, but he quite likely made it for the wrong reasons. Not to have Taka on the brain 24/7 (I plead guilty!) we could have had a similar dynamic with pre-sauna scene Ishimondo are we were robbed.

I feel like this dichotomy of logic vs emotions with Kinji is best put on display in his motive. On one hand, there's the logical explanation of the class trial being a trolley problem. Kill your classmates and/or maybe yourself to save a lot more people. This seems like a morally good act unless you are one of the classmates. But he's also not purely driven by logic either, because then he would have killed Kakeru and then confessed to minimize damage. Then again, I can't exactly blame him for having a healthy fear of death and I think its healthy for him to prioritize his emotions, this is just the one time its morally bad to do it.

As a Kinji fan, can I get your opinion on something? Do you think he still would have planned a murder if instead of his orphanage, it was a random orphanage of people that needed help? I wonder about that.

You are so right about Kinji affecting Tsurigi. He literally passed tf out in chapter 4 due to freaking out over his sense of morality being challenged. My 2 cents is that he likely wouldn't have come up with the idea for a suicide pact if Kinji's sacrifice wasn't painted as moral (or at least morally understandable) to a degree. When he sees Satsuki's selfish act in chapter 4, he realizes the mistakes Kinji's approach made and regrets his actions. Thats my 2 cents. I don't think Satsuki would have hit him had Kinji not already done the leg work.

Anyways, the whole Danganronpa Another game is one giant Saw Trap for Tsurugi and I stand by this.

I wouldn't exploit him into one, since I have morals and in an au where I didn't it'd make more sense to target a bunch of low value members than spend more time on one high value one. That being said, his desire to help people makes him not think things through. If I came off as genuine enough, I think I had a decent shot at convincing him so long as I can ward off any potential questions he has. It would also be beneficial to have someone in a position of powers because then he could unintentionally exploit his followers.

#ask tag #danganronpa another spoilers #crowtalks

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lazerdrawsthings · 3 years

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Art that I still like: 2020 Part 2

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righteousness-and-tea · 2 years

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"Trust me, I have a sense for these things."

Spoilers for Danganronpa Chapter 3 below!!

"So, Hifumi was killed by the true mastermind of this crime," said Makoto, processing the words coming from his mouth.

The trial grounds were tense and spiraling with emotion. You would imagine that by the third time, the students would feel a more acclimated to the unsettling environment... but the disbelief of having to endure another betrayal keeps the wound fresh.

"Who would kill their own accomplice? I mean, you'd think they'd be friends right?" Hina seemed shocked at the revelation.

That is, until Scarlett Prince, Ultimate Politician, spoke. "I'd like to agree with you, Hina... but the unfortunate reality is that people often use others for their own gain before discarding them." Surprisingly, she was not the two-faced, corrupt sycophant you'd expect of a politician. If anything, she was their opposition-- and knew exactly how to combat them.

"She's right, you know," sneers Byakuya. "In a world full of greed, selfishness and competitive natures...this is par for the course."

"Why, of course you two would know that," says Celeste, in her light, haughty voice. "It is the same in gambling as well."

"Funny you should mention that, Celeste... I was just about to use you as an example." Scarlett clears her throat. "After all, only you would be able to kill your pawn in this game, correct?"

"Excuse me? That's-- that's a rather grand accusation, isn't it?" Her perfectly powdered skin begins to show signs of cracking, almost like an antique doll. Byakuya grins, excited to see how this will play out.

"I see this all the time in my country. Driven people, who will do anything it takes to succeed-- no matter the cost on those around them. I myself have reservations about this, but you... what would stand in your way? Surely not us, your classmates." She takes a breath as she motions to the others. "To you we truly are nothing more than chips on a table. Hifumi hedged his bets on the wrong player, it seems."

Celeste did her best to hold her composure. It was not in her nature to act out of turn. "I see how might feel that way, Miss High and Mighty, but surely you have evidence to back this up?"

Byakuya "Her hypothesis is far from being wrong, actually. Makoto, why don't you enlighten us?"

...

The execution was brutal and stung the class, as usual. A melancholy air filled the room as the students trudged back to their dorms. Two of them lingered, however.

The pair, a blonde, bespectacled boy and short, elegant girl took in the sight and shook their heads.

Byakuya looked at her with curiosity. "Scarlett, when you made that accusation... did you even know for a fact it was her?"

"Truthfully? I was only half sure. But between the evidence we had and my own perceptions about this case, I had to try." She sighed. It was clear she wasn't proud of the outcome, it was more of an obligation. "But... she had always rubbed me the wrong way. Her lies were good, but something about her just screamed desperate."

"I see. You're quite fascinating, actually. Honestly I thought you'd just be another bore like the rest of them, but you have some worth. Though... how did you know she wanted to leave this place that badly?"

Scarlett laughed, albeit in a contrived manner. "Trust me, Byakuya; I have a sense for these things."

Thanks for reading a completely random fic I wrote for no reason other than a flash of inspiration... apologies if it's not consistent, this was not checked very thoroughly. -Mod Celeste

#danganronpa #danganronpa oc #danganronpa fanfiction #fanfic #danganronpa fanfic #Byakuya togami #Celestia Ludenberg

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elyvorg · 3 years

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I want to know what are your thoughts on if the digimon savers cast (or just some of them) got into a danganronpa killing game

Do you think they would trying and kill someone, try help with the case the best, betray every,...

Haha, welcome to this extremely tiny intersection of fandom interests, population me and you and probably only like two other people.

...Well, we sure do already have the Ultimate Street Fighter and the Ultimate Doctor here in the form of Masaru and Tohma, don't we.

Obviously they wouldn't want to kill or betray anyone, because despite what the premise of Danganronpa might be trying to imply, most halfway-decent people would not suddenly jump to doing that even when put in the killing game situation. Masaru and Tohma are both more than resilient and honourable enough to not just give into cowardly self-preservation.

Tohma would be pretty good at helping to solve the cases, of course. Masaru would very decidedly not be. The whole class trials and deductions thing would be extremely not his element, which unfortunately would make it tricky for him to stand out among a DR cast even though he's definitely interesting enough to deserve to.

...Let's be real, Masaru is quite a bit like Kaito in certain ways and would definitely fall into the same trap of being impulsively driven to try and solve the problem by punching it. Let's hope the narrative would be kind enough to let him survive this. Let's hope he'd learn from that, like Kaito did, and never quite go that far again.

Of course, even though most people in DR killing games are in fact not backstabbing murdery assholes, murders still end up happening anyway because of Monokuma's manipulation and motives. Masaru and Tohma would both be very subsceptible to motives involving their loved ones, unfortunately.

...But also, that'd be pretty boring. The narrative of “character tried to do a murder because they thought it was necessary to protect or see their loved one(s), but they failed and died for it, how tragic” is a thing we've seen a few times in DR already, and Masaru or Tohma wouldn't really put that much of a unique spin on it. There's way better things to do with these two's characters in a DR story than make them, like, a chapter 1 or 2 murderer and then that's it and they're dead and don't matter any more. Neither of them narratively deserve to just be the victim of someone else's murder, either; they're more interesting than that.

If either Masaru or Tohma did end up murdering someone, they deserve for it to be some kind of meaningful selfless sacrifice in an attempt to take down the killing game and save everyone, rather than just a personal-loved-ones thing, because they're worth that much. These are five-or-six-chapter-sized characters here, in terms of how interesting they are. They would have very fun and interesting responses to an unfolding killing game (especially Masaru, despite how bad he'd be at the deductions! His manly principles would have so much to say about all this bullshit murder and lying and betrayal for some sick bastard's entertainment!) and it'd be a huge shame to waste all of that.

As for the rest of the main Savers cast, if Ikuto (the Ultimate Wild Child?) is at a stage prior to his canon character development, he'd have no qualms about the concept of murdering a human in principle, and this might just push him to actually do it. Oh dear. Meanwhile, if this is Ikuto after his development, he just wouldn't be massively interesting, because once he's come to terms with things, he doesn't have any particularly strong issues? He'd mostly be a little bit like Gonta in his general concept but with less gentleman and bugs and more childhood trauma. (Imagine if Gonta's forest family had been murdered by humans! oh nooo. Ikuto and Gonta being crossover friends and bonding by sharing stories of their forest families and human families please)

Yoshino didn't immediately spring to mind to include in this because she's pretty much an ordinary person and doesn't have an obvious talent. She'd try to be practical and logistical about things on the surface, a decent contributor in the trials and also one of the biggest advocates of everybody just calming the hell down. She'd also be constantly complaining that this is the worst, because, to be fair, it literally is. ...And she'd secretly be completely falling apart from anxiety and lack of self-esteem on the inside. I hope for her sake this wouldn't result in the narrative just randomly killing her off as an “oh no look at how this weak person just crumbled and died, how very despair”, because that can happen, and it... does feel like what a Danganronpa narrative might do with her, unfortunately.

For that matter, while I can wish for Masaru and Tohma to either survive or have a death that's impactful and narratively important and that matters beyond just the one case... would a Danganronpa narrative actually do that with them, or would it just kill them off randomly because somebody's gotta die here?

That's kind of the thing with putting characters from other narratives into Danganronpa. Those characters weren't designed to die; they were designed to be their own characters with their own lives who get to live and have stories in their own universes and (usually) end up relatively happy. To put them in a narrative where the premise absolutely requires that at least two-thirds of the cast dies just feels really unfair. Actual Danganronpa characters are at least written with the approach that a lot of them are going to die at a certain specific point in the narrative, so it sort of feels like that's the point of that character, and then their death doesn't feel so... wrong? Obviously it's still cruel and wrong in-universe where they're people with their own lives who weren't created just to die here, but, like, on a writing level it feels somewhat more fair like that.

Like, Danganronpa V3 did pretty well in terms of having every character, be they eventual victim, killer or survivor, feel like there was a point to them dying or killing or surviving when they did. No-one's death, or even life, felt narratively pointless. (The first two games were a lot more hit-and-miss at this, and that's kind of one of my issues with them, 1 especially.) Putting in characters who weren't created to be a Danganronpa character makes this a lot less fair, because some of them are going to be dying just because someone needs to die here, and not because they were written in a way such that it works for this particular character to die in this chapter given that somebody has to.

But, well, regardless of what a hypothetical Danganronpa writer would decide to do with these characters, here's approximately what I would do with the Savers cast in a DR narrative in a way that does right by them and makes the most of their potential, by making them some of the central players in the story.

Yoshino would be the non-talented protagonist, because that's the only real way to get her to have any meaningful contribution in a Danganronpa narrative. Her heavily suppressed anxiety issues and tendency to push herself too hard because she has to would be a fun thing to make her an interesting protagonist who's more distinct than just an audience-surrogate everywoman. She'd gradually befriend both Tohma and Masaru, Tohma because he appreciates her level-headedness (on the surface) and contributions to the trials, and Masaru because he respects her guts for being able to be so relatively forceful about keeping the group under control despite not even having a talent.

For the sake of having Ikuto be as interesting as possible but also not just getting killed off, he'd try to kill someone because of his hatred for humans (I guess his forest family is just sapient animals in this universe and not actually Digimon, but he'd have a similar backstory), except then things would somehow happen such that he ends up morally responsible for the death but not directly the blackened, so he doesn't get executed. Then he'd realise how awful he feels about it and that “revenge” didn't help him feel better at all, and he'd accept his humanity and try to do better and slowly become a friend of the main group. A bit like in Savers canon, but darker, given he'd have actually killed someone. (And also a bit like a certain someone from a certain one of the DR games.)

(A potential way that this could work with Ikuto being responsible for a murder but not the blackened: it happens as part of a double-murder case, in which Ikuto killed someone, but somebody else also killed another person on the same night. Ikuto’s victim just happens to be discovered second, and that rule of Monokuma’s where the second-discovered victim simply doesn’t count is in effect. And then Ikuto, realising this, starts loudly insisting that he killed both of them, partly out of realising that this is the best way for him to get even more of those horrible humans killed, but also secretly because he's furiously indignant at the implication that this thing that he's always twistedly convinced himself he wanted just apparently doesn't even matter now that he's finally gone and done it, and he desperately wants to be recognised as the righteous and vengeful Warrior that he totally is.)

Masaru and Tohma would start out barely able to stand one another for the first chapter or two because they're such opposites, but then something could happen that lets them see the similarities in each other and begin to respect each other for their equally strong sense of morality and disgust towards the killing game and drive to do something to stop it however they can. Masaru would begrudgingly admit that Tohma's smarts are super useful here, and Tohma would eventually acknowledge that someone with this sheer reckless unpredictability that Masaru is made of could be exactly what they need to take Monokuma down.

Maybe there’d be a case with some version of the standard threatening-loved-ones motive, and both Masaru and Tohma very seriously consider committing murder because of it. But then Yoshino manages to notice them acting strange and talk them out of it, possibly helped by Ikuto if he’s had his development by then. This’d only help to strengthen Masaru and Tohma’s friendship - they each can relate to the other having family members he’d do anything for - and also their resolve to end the killing game, after seeing how close it came to turning even themselves into murderers.

One of the climactic cases would revolve around some kind of plan Tohma came up with, also involving Masaru, who is trusting Tohma and playing his part, to try and end the killing game. Or maybe Tohma's plan could somehow involve him pretending to betray everyone, without Masaru being in on it (to make it convincing, because to fool your enemy you must first fool your friends!), possibly leading to unexpectedly large consequences with Masaru's reaction to that. I don't know exactly how this'd all fit together and work, but it'd be great. There's some kind of delightful story in there somewhere, I just know it. One of Masaru or Tohma would probably end up dying as a result, but it'd be in a heroic sacrifice sort of way rather than a tragic failure sort of way, because I say so and they deserve to go out in a blaze of glory if they go out at all.

Also, if we want to make Masaru and Tohma's backstories and issues relevant to the plot of this, maybe Masaru's dad disappeared because he got caught up in a previous killing game or something related to it, and they slowly find out about what happened there? (Oh no, this means Suguru's super dead in this universe, doesn't it.) Maybe the Norsteins are into much shadier stuff than in Savers canon and are, like, funding the killing game or something, and Tohma is disgusted when he finds out? There's definitely things that could be done there and fun reactions that both of them could have to this, which could potentially even provide some fun motivation to whichever one of them might end up doing a heroic sacrifice to end things.

#digimon #digimon savers #danganronpa #crossover #masaru daimon #tohma h norstein #yoshino fujieda #ikuto noguchi #goes a bit into my thoughts on overall danganronpa narratives but i kept things general and vague and spoiler-free #thanks for the ask!#i am delighted that someone else cares about these two fandoms enough to prompt me to do this #Anonymous

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satoshi-mochida · 5 years

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Publisher Top Hat Studios and developer Hiromu656 have released the third trailer and updated the previously released PC demo for Thief’s Roulette, the upcoming choice-driven puzzle game inspired by the Danganronpa and Zero Escape series.

The demo update consists of updated puzzles in Challenge Room 1, and improved graphics and performance. It covers only a short tutorial. The elevator cutscene from the original demo has been removed. A separate demo featuring more about the story and characters will be released in the future. Download the updated demo here.

Here is an overview of the game, via Top Hat Productions:

About

Thief’s Roulette is a choice-driven puzzle game inspired by the Danganronpa and Zero Escape series. Thief’s Roulette takes the narrative heavy design of visual novels and combines it with immersive, first-person puzzle gameplay to create a unique gaming experience. Thief’s Roulette hopes to take the player on a journey through betrayal, deception, and trust. Player freedom through choices, building alliances, or creating rivals will be the driving force of the game.

Story

Thief’s Roulette takes place in a far off future Earth, where people are no strangers to android life, body augmentation, or any of the other concepts of a high-tech society. Our characters live with it every day, to them it is the way things have always been. That is simply the world they inhabit, and it all takes a back seat to the terrible events that the characters must face.

Key Features

A gripping story of deception. Who you choose to align with may either lead to your death or your survival.

Heavy player choices that can alter the path of the story.

Multiple endings.

Immersive and intricate puzzles to solve.

A natural approach to difficulty. Any time during a puzzle, you may ask your teammates for help. Players who want to take on the challenge with no clues can simply not ask for assistance.

Fully explorable 3D environments and visual novel-style artwork.

A cast of unique characters with their own goals and personalities. Some are only out for themselves, others may have your back when the time comes.

Thief’s Roulette is in development for PlayStation 4, Switch, PS Vita, and PC.

Watch the trailer below.

youtube

#Thief’s Roulette #Top Hat Studios #visual novel #Puzzle Game #PS4 #Nintendo Switch #PS Vita #Steam #Gematsu

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noddytheornithopod · 6 years

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Danganronpa: Parallels Between Class Trials 1 and 5

I’m sure someone far more familiar with Danganronpa has made this observation and has articulated it better, but a certain set of events I’ve noticed in the first game seem to mirror each other. Namely, class trials one and five: the ones where Makoto Naegi is attempted to be framed.

For starters, there’s who the framer is in each situation. For the first trial, Sayaka Maizono is the one who attempted to frame Makoto, even if it went wrong and she died. In the fifth, it’s Kyoko Kirigiri attempting to frame him even if neither actually committed the murder.

It’s interesting that in both instances, the person attempting to frame Makoto is the person he’s closest with at the time, to the point where romantic feelings are implied at some point. Sayaka and Makoto immediately grew close before she was killed, and we see Makoto and Kyoko both grow closer throughout the game, even if the latter tries not to reveal too much about herself.

As we all know, things went very differently for the both of them. Sayaka was hesitant and instead ended up killed by Leon, but since she planned everything Makoto was still framed for her murder and he had to prove everyone otherwise. Kyoko doesn’t die obviously, but actually succeeds even though the position she was placed in was more a matter of circumstance: Makoto purely happened to be the most likely person besides her (even if neither actually committed this murder that wasn’t even new), so she had to make him seem suspicious to survive.

Their motives also actually have a rather interesting contrast. Sayaka was purely scared as anyone reasonably would be, and after seeing the video of her pop group disbanded she felt like she needed to get out at any cost. Including framing the person she is closest to at Hope’s Peak. Basically, there was a more selfish element to her reasoning, even if there was a bit that seemed to be motivated by the people who were basically her best friends breaking up and likely in terrible conditions now.

Kyoko on the other hand is someone determined to uncover the mystery of Hope’s Peak and stop the mastermind. Instead of being driven by fear and despair, she’s being pragmatic. Pragmatic to the point where if someone has to die so that the truth can be uncovered (and therefore, everyone else can stop suffering and this evil can be defeated), she will pursue that path. Sayaka was driven by her intense emotions, Kyoko was putting them aside to pursue what was she viewed as important for everyone as a whole at the time.

Even if her motives are obviously more selfless here, there is still a selfish bent akin to how Sayaka has a slight selfless one: she believes she needs to be alive for the mysteries of Hope Peak to be unraveled. It is somewhat arrogant on her part, yes, but the curious thing is... she’s actually right. In the bad ending where she’s killed instead of Makoto, we see that everyone lives in Hope’s Peak for the rest of their lives and pretty much just accepts it.

Thing is, Makoto needed to survive too. We see this in the climax of the game where he’s necessary to keep hope alive in everyone as Junko reveals the truth about the outside world to them, which honestly would be despair inducing in anyone. When Makoto was sent to be executed and she wasn’t, it not only became clear to her that trial five was indeed set up, but that the Mastermind saw Makoto as a threat too. She recognised she was one piece of the puzzle, but even if she was aware of Makoto’s ideals and optimism, here is when it actually hit her that he was the other piece they needed to get out.

I also think there’s a curious element of hesitation and regret with both of these trials. With Sayaka, she was driven to get out to the point of betraying the person she grew closest to, but I do agree with the idea that she was conflicted about her decision. I mean, Kyoko believes her hesitation is actually what caused her plan to fail and end up with her killed. She didn’t want to frame Makoto and end up with him dead, but she put her survival first. When she was killed by Leon, she very well could’ve spelt out his name as an act of revenge, but obviously doing so would save Makoto and the others. She probably did regret attempting murder in the end, especially after Makoto promised he’d find a way for them to get out together.

With Kyoko, it might not make itself apparent until after Makoto’s attempted execution, but I really doubt she was okay with putting the one person who believed in her, someone who had actually managed to befriend her, under the bus the way she did.

All their interactions before this trial suggested that Kyoko was genuinely warming up to Makoto - I mean, she was pretty clearly upset at him not discussing the possibility of Sakura Ogami being a mole less about the idea that he knew something that she didn’t, but that he offered trust and when having a chance to prove it goes both ways he blows it. Basically, she allowed to open herself up only to feel betrayed. She was upset because she was beginning to see Makoto as a friend and was warming up to him.

She goes back to being her usual more distant self after that brief falling out, but they still spent all this time together and got to know each other. When the fifth trial came, she knew that she may have had to make sacrifices, and of course was able to put any feelings aside to achieve that. She was quite clearly lying to frame Makoto, but she did what she had to for her survival. Thing is... she may be pragmatic enough to achieve this, but deep down I bet she was pretty upset at what she may have had to do to survive.

This all culminates in Makoto’s attempted execution. This is when she realises her mistake of putting her survival (and in her eyes, what’s necessary to uncover the school’s mysteries) first. She may have thrown a wrench into the Mastermind’s game, but this was still a friend she was risking for it all. Sure, she does admit she can’t solve the mysteries of the school alone, but that’s not there all there is to it: Makoto is a friend, possibly her only friend at this point. One she literally just saved from being the actual murder the trial would focus on. The regret is strong enough for her to literally go into a garbage dump to find and rescue Makoto. Not only that, but she’s actually trying to look out for his wellbeing since she brings food and water, and actually is willing top open up about her past to show she’s more trustworthy.

I think there’s also a mirror in regards to trust. With Sayaka, regardless of how conflicted she was with carrying out her plan, she still took advantage of Makoto’s trust in her. A big thing in the first trial was Makoto realising that he needed to put aside his preconceptions to actually face the truth: that Sayaka was attempting to frame him. Here, Makoto was too willing to trust her, and that easily could’ve been his downfall.

With the fifth trial however, Kyoko is quite obviously lying to frame Makoto, and Makoto specifically spots a lie that only he could know in regards to the Monokuma key that can open any door. This is quite clearly a betrayal, but Makoto chooses to trust Kyoko regardless. Why? Well, I mean he wasn’t declared the Ultimate Hope in the game’s climax for nothing.

Instead of a more oblivious trust he placed in Sayaka based more on a small shared past and mutual romantic attraction, the trust he placed in Kyoko was one that proved to work out with experience. Instead of trusting Sayaka because of the relationship they had, the experiences Makoto and Kyoko shared and their working together ended up helping form their very relationship.

I tie this to the Ultimate Hope thing because as Makoto’s optimism is his big thing, he chose to have hope that Kyoko had ulterior motives since they both realised the fifth trial was rigged. He could’ve continued insisting he wasn’t guilty, but he took a massive risk that could’ve ended his own life because he believed Kyoko had a plan as she usually does. And of course, experiencing each other’s methods over the game ended up forming their friendship, and that caused Makoto to trust her not only as someone he worked with, but as a friend.

Makoto’s trust in Kyoko ended up being a gamble that worked because even though neither knew it and this was indeed a massive risk, Makoto was saved by Alter Ego. Here, Makoto’s luck, and more importantly hope, really did win out. Of course, as discussed Kyoko didn’t realise Makoto actually would make it out and really was putting his life on the line, but he still trusted her enough to take what was the biggest risk of his life at that point.

Some smaller things too:

I also noticed that preceding both trials, there is some pretty significant stuff that happens where stuff happens with both Sayaka and Kyoko that is quite concerning and gets Makoto worried: Sayaka has her freak out and goes into panic mode, while Kyoko disappears until the trial actually gets started (though in the anime she actually shows up for the investigation, even if Makoto’s worrying is still there).

Before both murders are discovered, there is a major incident where both Sayaka and Kyoko come to Makoto’s room. Sayaka comes because she claims to be scared of someone breaking into her room, while Kyoko comes over as Makoto is sleeping to save him from being killed by the Mastermind.

This is probably the wildest stretch of them all, but in the events leading up to both of these cases, there is a rather... lewd reference to their potential romantic development in both cases. With Sayaka, it’s the suggestion to sleep in Makoto’s bed, which prompts a brief moment of shock because of the sexual connotations of this act in most cases elsewhere. With Kyoko, it’s when Makoto is diverting Monokuma’s attention, and Monokuma asks what they’re doing in the bathroom, claiming it must be something dirty.

I’m not exactly sure where this is going, but I think this is interesting to look at. I guess if anything, these situations kind of mirror each other as a way to show how both characters Makoto grows close to and their respective relationships with him end up comparing and contrasting? Something like that, if anyone can articulate something better then go ahead.

#honestly this might be more of an infodump than a proper analysis lol #danganronpa #makoto naegi #kyoko kirigiri #sayaka maizono

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tsunanami17 · 10 months

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I drew the Driven Betrayal characters in the style of the DR and Sanrio Collab Chibis!! These were super fun to draw!!

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tracinginwardinvestigation · 3 years

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Note #26: A detective’s personal stake

After taking a few weeks off to recover from my burnout from detective fiction, I’m back with full force again now!

Comparing GA detective fiction to most recent detective stories I have read, I notice that detective figures have begun to have more personal stake in the crime they are trying to solve.

For examples, in some notable GA detective novels:

Hercule Poirot mostly deals with cases unrelated to himself.

Similarly, Carr’s The Hollow Man features Dr. Gideon Fell has no personal connection with the victim or perpetrator besides knowing the victim’s acquaintance.

There is also a mixed situation with Miss Marple in her debut novel The Murder at The Vicarage. Even though she knows the victim as she lives in a small village, her connection with the victim never goes beyond neighbor status.

In general, any cases that contain personal stake tend to relate to the protagonist’s past.

Meanwhile, compared to some of the contemporary detective stories that I read:

Ace Attorney has a lot of cases that deal with the protagonist’s relationship with his friends (Maya, Butz, Edgeworth…)

Danganronpa’s whole premise is all about personal stakes: the protagonist’s low odds of survival in the death game, the possibilities of friend's betrayals, etc.

Umineko deliberately uses the differences between insider detective vs outsider detective as a main conflict in one of its Episodes.

Of course this might just be my selection bias since my knowledge of the whole scope of the genre’s history is still limited. Nevertheless, I ought to examine the importance of personal stake in detective fiction seeing that it usually determines the focus of a narrative between clue-puzzle and character-driven. The more connection the protagonist has with the case, the higher chance the puzzle might be character-driven, and vice versa.

#tct_detectivefic #tct_notes #tracingtheculpritstrack

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stillthewc · 24 days

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YEAR OF THE FANGAN - AUGUST EDITION

ꕥ DANGANRONPA: DRIVEN BETRAYAL ꕥ

It's time to talk about one of the few fangans I've actually been following the production on! Driven Betrayal has been on my radar for a while now, with me pretty much solely using Twitter to sporadically check in on the story's development. So, I was ecstatic when I heard the news that the prologue was dropping this month, and taken aback by just how good it was!

For starters, I was pleasantly surprised to learn just how this fangan was formatted in the first place: a mix of longer-form videos on Youtube, and story posts on Instagram. I've never encountered a fangan that uses mixed media before (outside of maybe Penguinronpa, but that's moreso posting their slides on Youtube rather than blending both mediums at once), so it automatically adds some charm points to the story.

However, what really drew me into this story is the central premise of it: it follows Ennosuke, a survivor from a previous killing game who find himself thrust into a new one, with only his past experiences and connection to private investigator Jun to help him through it. From the pre-prologue alone so many interesting questions are raised about this story: how will Ennosuke once again deal with a situation so traumatic to him the first time? What connection does the previous game's mastermind have to this new one? Were Jun's motivations for joining the new killing game truly just to investigate it? There's so much unexplored territory that makes it all the more interesting to follow, which I see as an absolute plus in a genre filled with more by-the-books, solely-focused-on-cast-intros-and-set-dressing prologues.

Speaking of Ennosuke, he's officially joined the roster of "fangan main characters I adore just as much as the side cast", a rare feat very few protags have the honor of having! Really, the foundational work for his character set up by this prologue is amazing: as a survivor of the previous killing game (and one who seemed like a once-irrelevant side character from my understanding of the pre-prologue), he's left with heavy trauma about the event, having since given up his kendoka talent and becoming a more closed-off and jaded person. With the story laying out a trust vs. distrust theme, I'm excited to see just how he develops, especially since both Fujiko's role in the prologue and Takako's involvement in promotional materials seem to serve as a direct counter to Ennosuke's closed-off demenor.

That's not to say the side cast is slouching at all though, since right off the bat I adore pretty much all of them! More goofy characters like Rie and Fumiaki do a good job at helping the prologue feel light and breezy, more logical-minded characters like Jun and Yoshimitsu make sure the tone stays grounded, and there's even some more relatively-normal characters with fun quirks, like Dai and Shigetoki. Because of it, the cast is super well-balanced tonally, and are a joy to watch the interactions of!

And that's it, that's all! Seriously, go check this thing out if you have the chance, and as per usual, I'll see you in the next one!

FORMAT: "Instaronpa" / Video

WHERE TO FIND IT: On both Youtube and Instagram (please note that both formats work in service of one another! If you solely consume one of these, you're probably gonna get super confused, lol)

FAVORITE MOMENT: The argument between Ennosuke and fellow first-killing-game-survivor Hibuko in the pre-prologue (but if you wish to exclude that, I'd say Ennosuke and Jun speaking to one another just before the mascots show up, and Ennosuke realizing his worst fears are right)

FAVORITE CHARACTER: Fumiaki Hosekawa. Due to his status as the Qualified Youth Parody Artist, he's naturally a cocky, carefree goof who makes confusing "jokes", doesn't have any tact whatsoever, and butts heads with the more-mature Ennosuke (and apparently wrote all Minecraft / video game song parodies in this world? Seriously, that's amazing)

OTHER STANDOUT CHARACTERS: Yoshimitsu Masako, my pre-story fave whose calm demeanor and immediate desire for logical deductionism already makes him a great leader (even if I don't see him living for very long because of it, lol), and Ennosuke Shiokawa, for all the reasons listed in the main article.

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