#look at her rant about mewmew kissy cutie 2

[socksandbuttons]

the fact MewMew exists and STILL not enough mg content in my fanart

[irregodless]

critical-quit

it's cool this was a one-off thing, but i don't see the brainwashing as a bad plot point

what upset me the most about it was that it really seemed to backpedal a lot on what wed already established

the rest under the cut because i talk entirely too much (and a great deal about nothing at that)

in the second game we met a cast of students who ALL had these horrible life experiences, were easily manipulated, or already barely hanging onto hope. so when we learned who they were outside, it became obvious how they could become so. it was a short drive in driving them up the wall.

but then junko just showed them a video and... poof. it completely changed them. thats why i feel its important here to distinguish something:

the difference between brainwashing and mind control. brainwashing is what cults do (as an example). a systematic reworking of ones own beliefs and warping of perception to force someone to think another way. but that isnt what junko did. junko showed them a video and they instantly became as obsessed with despair as she was. they knew their purpose as shsl despair. there was no vengeance toward a cruel world (like say with the warriors of hope) there was no internalized anger. it was a superimposed despair by junko herself. thats mind control. she effectively forced them to behave that way. which leads into my next issue:

not only that plot point, but the entire installment, did an awkward job of making junko seem more evil and destructive (which she admittedly might have needed help with) and the 77th class seem innocent so wed forgive them for being despair. but the thing is- that was the point of the second game! that was part of the twist! to grow attached to and empathize with these students who were later revealed to be monsters. but then we realize........ it wasnt their fault to begin with? it was never their fault. they had a video that forced them to behave that way. their backstories are blown out the window and replaced with “but junko made me do it.” and with something as simplistic as the student council massacre and chiakis execution (granted that WOULD be traumatizing and horrible especially with the film tricks she learned from ryouta, but i dont feel it would be enough to make a person whole heartedly pledge themselves to the sake of despair).

its the difference between the student council who sat in a dark room in monokuma heads, surrounded by his influence, watching the murders near a thousand times, ingraining every scene into their memories to fuel their hatred for the school that did this to them (so they thought). as opposed to... watching a video and “oh i guess im evil now.” i didnt care when they were un-despair-ified because it was never their fault. i didnt care when they said “oh, time to make up for all the bad things we did...” because it was never their choice! if junko had said “hey sonia isnt it fucked up ur not allowed 2 have emotions but everyone expects the world of u, maybe u should launch nukes at other countries or smthn idk just a thought” and sonia said “Ah Yes That’s A Great Idea” and did that of her own volition... itd carry weight. but instead, she was working as a proxy of junko. the irony is we were talking about the junko ai implanting plan earlier, but this way, it was practically a reality already! they were no longer acting under their own autonomy. they did not choose to let despair win. they were forced to behave that way

and it seemed like this, as a plot, was implemented solely for the sake of the twist of the future arc... which also wasnt all that great! it was an arc with very little catharsis for character oppositions, very few resolutions to character development, no stakes at all for our main six, an immediate and unglamorous villain decay of monaka that was as simple as “im over it im going to space now i guess because that makes sense and also didnt end up having any bearing on the plot” and meanwhile, the motive for the entire game seemed contrived (someone was affected by the despair video... but chose to interpret that as a means to wildly chase hope?) but those thoughts are an entirely other rant EDIT: to be fair this also applies to komaeda but komaeda is also a very special case of his very own

but my last point is this: it completely depersonalizes the entire phenomenon of despair. junkos plan all along was to plummet humanity into despair by herself. it was to prove that despair would ALWAYS beat out hope and was ultimately superior in every way. all hope ends in despair. no matter how strong. ill give her that since she wasnt televising it to make a point, HOW she went about doing it was less important in that sense, but it also meant she had very little to do with it herself. this entire empire she established for herself was based on her making someone else do the dirty work for her, essentially

in the end, she had little to do with that innermost circle of despair she “treasured” so much. she kickstarted the despair, but the perpetuators were basically just robots

the idea that despair is powerful (even if the moral of the game itself is that hope is MORE powerful) is completely thwarted if you have to perform LOBOTOMY on people to make them feel that way. junko is an organic villain. she behaves the way she does because its how she is and how she genuinely feels and thinks. but by distancing despair so much from average human nature, it makes her seem more synthetic than ever. like this is just a “junko thing” not a “the whole world is actually at threat of becoming like her” thing. it makes her less scary of a villain because she becomes less human. and it was her amazing humanity that made her such a compelling villain. the fact that she feels emotions like everyone, the fact that EVEN SHE HATES despair but subjects herself to it anyway for the very SAKE of despair. EDIT: (for the first few sentences) and if despair isnt viewed as powerful... then theres no threat. theres no longer a conflict

maybe im just an asshole, weve established ive had this habit of “not getting it,” but this is truthfully how i think. after thinking about it in detail and analyzing what it means for the rest of the plot, this is honestly how i feel about it.

i dont really hate dr3 but at the same time i cant like it since both of the plots centered around this very specific theme that very specifically contradicted other parts of the story and would sometimes rely on convenience to be told.

i feel bad for being like this, but i dont think that im wrong, or at least that im on the right train of thought. i mean no disrespect if you or anyone else liked it (and ill state for the record that the “trash” statement is only a joke on MewMew Kissy Cutie 2) and i can appreciate that some people find it a good addition

but i personally find way too many flaws with it from the way they handled seiko and rurukas relationship down to how they decided to handle one of the most pivotal events in junkos conquest that fans had been looking so forward to

i dont know, thats just me. im sorry