#some of them are good but don't get the end right (dr2)

[aparticularbandit]

I think

If I finish the chapter I'm in

That might be the last chapter?

And then the epilogue

And the Nagito chapters?

Maybe?

Maybe?????

[detective-dick-gumshoes-pot-room]

Why Danganronpa 3 Despair Arc Fumbled the 77th Class

(QUICK EDIT BECAUSE I REALIZE I WASNT CLEAR: MY beef isn't with brainwashing as a whole in the danganronpa universe. I think there are good points in the story for it to be used. My beef is using one video to mass brainwash the entire 77th class in one go when there was a lot more interesting and effective ways to do it. Instead of an interesting plot device used to explain more inconsequential parts of the greater story, Despair Arc uses it like a crutch. Just because the concept exists doesn't mean it was the right choice for every instance)

So, recently I rewatched the entire D3 Anime with my lovely fiance. I was in the trenchs of the fandom when the show was originally airing, so I thought it would be a great revisit.

It brought me to a realization. The entire brainwashing the remnents felt like the writers way of digging themselves out of a corner that they dug themselves into. What do I mean?

I mean that they couldn't have Junko dragging the 77th class into despair, because they scrubbed away all of the character's most interesting flaws in order to make them into one big happy class of good people.

Don't get me wrong, the characters do have flaws still. But they're almost all downplayed, or so minor you miss them completely. And the few characters that do get to keep some flaws like Nagito, have their entire characters changed anyway to make them more likable. I assume this was because they wanted to play up Chiaki as the group's glue. They wanted to show that Chiaki was this symbol of hope that united her classmates as one. The problem with that is now the class has no reason to fall into despair that they couldn't overcome as a team.

Compare this to how each character was at the start of Danganronpa 2. I'll list some examples to help illustrate what I'm saying here.

Akane Owari

DR2: Akane is extremely spirited, loyal, and impulsive. One of the first things we learn about her is that she marches to the beat of her own drum and doesn't really like to be told what to do by others. Its that impulsive, headstrongness that is one of her most endearing traits and damning flaws. Its amazing when she refuses to let Monokuma's mind games beat down her spirit, but it back fires when she gets over confident and charges into a fight she couldn't win. It ends up getting one of her friends hurt.

(Note: Akane starts the fight with Monokuma despite warning, and Nekomaru gets hurt. She's devasted)

DR3: Akane is very spririted still, and obviously loves her friends very much. But her impulsiveness is scrubbed down to a joke. Sure, she destroys the classroom with Nekomaru. But no one really gets hurt and its just played for laughs. Her big flaw doesn't end up affecting herself, others, or the plot in the slightest so instead of it being a flaw, its just a quirk.

(Note: Oh no, she takes steroids. Hahahha, anyway. No consquenses here.)

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu

DR2: Fuyuhiko starts out extremely abrasive, rude, and rejects others at every turn despite an obivious desire to be apart of the group. He sees himself as not wanting to rely on others, and expects rejection in return. The only reason he changes is because his source of socialization and trust, Peko, its taken away from him making him confront the reality of having to accept others.

(Note: Fuyuhiko literally spends all of his time and dialog being as rude and anti-social as possible up until Peko dies.)

DR3: In a brillant move of character assasination, Fuyuhiko is literally one of the first people to accept Chisa, has little to no issues getting along with his classmates beyond acting a little edgy, and its just another memeber of the big happy family. Why? What happened to him learning to distrust others thanks to being distrusted himself? What happened to his "I can do it by myself" additude? For some reason, the writing team felt like it was better to skip all of his growth, learning, and redemption so they could have him be a cool tough guy with a heart of gold in the end. Like they were scared people wouldn't like him anymore if he *gasp* hadn't gone through anything that forced him to change?! Even though this is the DESPAIR arc?!

(Note: He literally spends 3 seconds fighting Chisa before giving up and respecting her because she threatened him. This is the guy who literally tells you his parents have tried to murder him during arguements with a laugh. But yeah sure he's going to 1. Believe his teacher is gonna kill him. 2. Respond to a violent threat with respect and not more violence. Because no one ever tried threatening him in DR2 only for him to not react to it at all ://)

Mahiru Koizumi

DR2: Mahiru is an obvious moral compass, always trying to do what she thinks is right. At first glance, you're tempted to think that she's immune to having a flaw like self-rightousness, since she presents herself as very selfless and I believe she does strive to become that. But she's human at the end of the day. In chapter 2 we discover she dilberately helped Sato hide her murder. She threw away evidence that she knew lead to Sato being found out as the killer. Sure, Sato was her friend and she didn't want to stand by and let her friend be killed but it was the wrong thing to do. Ironically, she was no better then Kuzuryu here. Making the situation worse by trying to protect someone she loved.

(Note: Sato literally confesses to the murder, and in the next seen Mahiru covers up for her.)

DR3: Mahiru is literally just a sweet, shy, angel with a good head on her shoulders. They literally change the dialog in Twilight Syndrome Murder case to where Mahiru no longer knows Sato is a killer. WHY?!

(Note: Sato LITERALLY DENIES having killed Natsumi, and Mahiru is all like 'Okey I believe you!' no photos. Nothing. Just done.)

I could sit here and write out examples for all of the class 77 characters (Don't get me started on the destruction of Nagito), but we would be here all day.

In short, Despair Arc, despite its name decided to scrub away every major flaw from its cast of characters and ended up backing itself into a corner. Sure, if they kept the original characterizion, its easy to figure out how Junko drags everyone into despair. She could pray on Mahiru's guilt over her part in the murder. But because they insisted on hyping up 77 as this hopeful, supportive crew, it no longer became realisitic for Junko to break them down one by one because they all clearly have 14 other reasons to keep on moving towards hope.

It feels like the only character they didn't do this with was Mikan, but they didn't even take advantage of her insecurity and show Junko twisting her mind into relying on Junko herself. She's just brainwashed. They're all brainwashed. That's it. That's the only reason they're in despair.

And it doesn't make the characters better, or more likable. Fuyuhiko is my favorite character, not because of all his good traits, but because he had to earn them and still has flaws regardless of them.

But at the end of the day, the biggest crime here is the DESPAIR ARC had less despair then the DR2. Its just, the class being buddies and 'oh no brainwashing :(('

Which begs the question, why class 77B? Why not any other class? We know that Junko, when choosing followers, seeks out people who already are vunerable in some way. (See Warriors of Hope as an example) I'm not saying all the characters had to start off depressed and easily manipulated. But if you kept their original characterizations from the beginning of DR2, thats all Junko would need to get her foot in the door. But with how they are in DR3, there's nothing about them that special or would give the impression that they'll be any easier to break apart then her own classmates. What I enjoyed about the remnents of despair reveal orignally was that I could (Despite my undying love for all the characters) how they could be used and abused until they fell into despair. A clever manipulator could see that too.

So Despair Arc's solution? Brainwashing! Junko didn't have to pick a class who had enough gaps she could wedge herself into. She could pick any randos and carry out her plan anyway with ease by murdering Chiaki. Yaaaaaaay.

Honestly the character that gets the worst scrubbing here is Junko herself. Sure, we as an audience don't get a lot of information about her motives, what makes her tick, any of that. But we do know that when she does something, she wants to do it in a way that causes the most despair possible. Thats literally the only thing we really can be sure about. So, you're telling me she'd opt for just brainwashing her core group of followers instead of savoring in destroying the last bit of hope inside all of them. Bringing them into despair one by one and having them spend the rest of their days serving the person who maniuplated and abused them into unrecognizable versions of themselves who can no longer pull themselves out of despair on their own. Not because they were brainwashed, but because she broke them so far they see no other path.

The brainwashing idea as a whole is fine. But when the only thing that sets the remnents of despair apart from the parade of reserve course students, and the Future Arc victims is that they don't die from their brainwashing. That sucks.

Like I said, for the Despair Arc, it sure seemed like a pretty hopeful story with a tragic ending. This should have been an arc that left the viewer reeling, praying for someone to swoop in and save these kids despite the fact we already knew they were doomed from the start. Because we knew what they could become. We should have been left feeling despair right along with the characters because we saw their dreams, confidence, and hopes all broken away.

What did I feel at the end of the arc instead?

"Oh, its cool how they show shots of all of them starting the tragedy"

I said that aloud because it was all I had to say. I didn't feel anything about the brainwashing and affects afterwards. Yes, there is a sad element knowing that none of their actions were their fault at the end of the day. But its not *despair* its just a shame. I don't blame any of them and thats the problem.

Naegi took a chance and tries to save the remnents? Well duh. They're brainwashed. Its not their fault why wouldn't he forgive them?

MAN EVEN NAEGI GETS THE SHAFT HERE. Because instead of him later having to make the hardest decision imaginable, having to help and forgive the people to hurt him badly because it was the right thing to do, its now an easy decision anyone with a brain could have made.

Sigggggghh. I really wish they had just made a Super Danganronpa anime instead of this and kept the Despair Arc on the back burner until they had the time and budget to give the story what it deserved.

[asaka-lucy-dr-rc]

Hello again! I'm the person who asked about that line form Island Mode said by Kazuichi. So i guess the translation was right after all! Your explanation makes sense, I've read somewhere that in japanese he uses a particular way of speaking that's typical of 'cool teenage boys', and that it's one of those nuances that's a bit hard to translate to other languages. Apparently, it's the same for a lot of other Danganronpa characters way of speaking as well.

The 'Dating Sim' modes have a lot of silly stuff ^^ Like, for example, both Leon and Mondo complain that they don't know how you're suppossed to eat a hamburguer without making a mess, I've seen some funny fanart of that xD (if you're curious there are some compilation videos on youtube, so you don't have to play the whole game, and the wikis as well)

Hajime doesn't exactly say 'let's burn the books', that's true ^^;; (I probably should have just copy pasted the real dialog form the wiki), but you can make him and the other protags say some WEIRD things, I like to imagine that after saying things that are out of character like that they just stand there blinking for a couple of seconds and then go 'huhhhh???? why did I say that????' and the other character just says 'you're asking ME???' xD

Thank you for such a long and detailed answer, your english is really good! I want to learn japanese myself but it's quite difficult ^^;; , but seeing people like you who speak japanese and english inspires me and makes me want to keep trying ^^ that's why I enjoy reading your posts =)

Exactly, including Kazuichi, many of the characters in Danganronpa speak in a way that is typical of teenagers or in a more unique way, so I think it's quite difficult to translate them! X(

OMG, I didn't know Leon and Mondo had such silly stories, how cute and typical of a teenager! ehehe XD Actually, I love the Dating Sim mode and have seen all the endings in Island Mode in DR2 and Dangan Salmon Team in DRV3. Since there is no completion list for Island Mode, I don't have any records of completing it, but everyone has reached level 9 in Gathering and Cleaning to get more than half of the levels to 9.

As for Dangan Salmon Team:

But I have not played School Mode yet! 😭 The reason is that I played DR:THH on the original PSP version, and School Mode didn't exist at that time. Now I have the Nintendo Switch and iPad versions of DR:THH, which have School Mode, but I thought that if I were to replay it, I would like to play the English and Japanese versions at the same time, but I haven't had time to do that yet. So you told me how to see the dialog online, but I'll save it for when I actually get around to playing it. But now that you've told me about Leon and Mondo, I'm really looking forward to playing it, so I think I'll finally do it next month! ✨

RIGHT, making the protagonists say weird things is one of the great joys of the Dating Sim modes! 😆😆 It's pretty crazy that when Hajime goes to the beach, he can suggest "Let's take our clothes off" to anyone. hehe And it's so funny and cute how the protagonists have regrets after saying those things to someone. 😄

I'm very happy to hear that my posts have motivated you to learn Japanese! Actually, my English skills are not very good, using some AI grammar checkers is essential, and my listening and speaking skills are low. (I'm not being modest. I have taken some online English lessons, but even then my evaluation was at the lower end of intermediate level). Still, I enjoy communicating in English, so even if people don't have wonderful Japanese skills and have to rely on machine translation, I hope they feel free to try using Japanese. It's still a fun experience to try using a language other than your native language and communicate with someone far away. Language is a great reflection of culture, so it's also interesting to learn about the cultural background. Annnd it's even more interesting when it's related to the background of your favorite characters! XD So if you learn something about Japanese, you can try sending it to me 😉 (This is not just for the anon who sent this question, but for everyone!) Thank you so much for always reading my posts! (*,,˃ ᵕ ˂ )･.｡*

[nno-user]

i saw "this demon will be easy!" and p a n i c k e d

so tell me more about the au :3

I honestly just think up AU's and never expand on them but since you asked, I've had a few ideas.

So basically, from the beginning Kaito and Shuichi were childhood besties. One day during new years, Kaito invited Shuichi and his uncle to his cabin in the mountains that was a little over from where the village was. Kaito decided to go and sell some charcoal for his family and Shuichi's, and said he'd be back by the end of the day (which if you've seen the story, he does not). Anyways he sells the charcoal and it was about nighttime when he gets back up toward his house when someone stops him and tells him it isn't a good idea and that there's been rumors of a demon loose and stuff so Kaito spends the night there. I think Kaito would kinda have Tanjiro's sense of smell, so the story basically continues the same as Tanjiro's but it's 2 families that die instead of one. He tries to get Shuichi to a doctor but boom !! turns out he's a demon now.

But besides the backstory I'm still deciding if I should make new breathing styles to match the characters or match them with the already existing styles.

Anyways, here's my idea

Kaito - MC, trying to save his best friend. Good sense of smell an' stuff

Shuichi - Demon, trying to control his urge to kill (I don't like how Nezuko basically acts like the MC's pet it's kinda weird, she's not like a demon at all)

His group would probably consist of Maki, Kaede, and Rantaro (Kokichi tags along sometimes but he seems like the type to be like "I'm not following you cause I'm super independent")

The Hashira would probably be the Dr1 survivors.

Kyoko has been there the longest, Byakuya next, then Toko, Aoi, Hiro, and last Makoto. They'd all have different strengths and weaknesses but it'd all work together. (and MAYBE some of the dead characters can make hashira appearances)

The demons would be the Dr2 cast, I still don't know whether to make Junko the leader or Izuru, I feel like Izuru would fit the whole mastermind leader role Muzan gives off but maybe he would be Upper 1 and Junko would be the leader?? I might go with that but who knows.

Upper ranks(in order): 1 - Izuru(?), 2 - Nagito, 3 - Fuyuhiko and Peko, 4 - Sonia, 5 - Nekomaru, 6 - Mikan (or Gundham??) If you have a better list idea I'd be happy to here !!!

That's all I have right now, sorry for rambling.

[despair-to-future-arcs]

I had a feeling we were close to the ending of episde 11, but damn, things really went by fast here!

I think this has got to be one of my favorite episodes so far, a good chunk of it was setup for what's coming next; The DR2's cast new identities, the reveal of their teacher is, the first steps of the SDRA2 storyline, which has gotten me really excited for the upcoming episodes on top if what i was already looking for which were the briefcase missions.

I do believe the main element of this episode is the conclusion of the shelter plotline which i think was done pretty well and even took me by surprise in some of the ways the story progressed, i previously mentioned how much i love seeing Hitaru's role in this, so allow me to focus on talking about some other characters that caught my eye in that place. While Jataro confronting his father was definitely a highlight and marks another step towards his redemption, as he has fully realized his mother was also a victim in the situation and regrets killing her, i have to say i enjoyed Kotoko's part in the climax a bit more than his as seeing Kota talk about her was a wake-up call to the fact that she's, unfortunately, also abused people in a similar manner that he did. It makes me think about the cycle of abuse and how people who were abused but never recived any proper help to deal with the trauma or escape the situation can end up becoming abusers just like those who hurt them, and getting that reality check is what makes Kotoko realize she was essentially trying to steal Jatato moment here when she really didn't had the right to do that.

While it was minor to me in the liking scale, i enjoyed seeing Mio and how she's starting to warm up to the WOH and even the Remnants of despair a little, I'm also intrigued by what's going on with Sanae's family's as i have a hunch that Minoru may have been the one to set off the fire that killed the rest of the Suzuki's, but so far I can't accuse him of that when he's mainly just been an asshole. Another thing i really enjoyed this episode, and one that caught me by surprise, was the inclusion of the Temnants of despair in its resolution as i really didn't expect them to have a part in this but it served to show Juzo and Munakata first hand how they have been changing and that Nagi's plan isn't just a complete waste of time. It's like when you're forced to do something for a school project that you don't like and wouldn't have done it otherwise but end up finding out you're pretty good at it, it's the kind of sudden action that they needed to actually give her plan a shot, now the Remnants will finally get some more care around the Jabberwock facility and Makoto will finally be out of house arrest! A win for everyone!

On the fangame side of things, I'm really enjoying seeing your take on the events leading up to SDRA2 and how you've been characterizing its many mastermind. Syobai acts just as you'd expect him to but the fact that he invaded the foundation and injured one of its members makes me really curious as to why Tsurugi would go and hire his services later down the line. The idea that Kokoro was going to extract Mikako's brain for further research and that's what made her husband finally take action and leave with the child is absolutely heart wrenching and so absurdly in character for her, she is the one canonically said to have done that to Yuki and she really doesn't care for her daughter so really, what was stopping her from seeing that as the next most logical step in an already unethical experiment? Still on her I've been really enjoying her interactions with Ai Mikado as they show us how those two really aren't that different from one another and i hope to see more of that, i also hope we'll get one last look at the NGH before shit hits the fan.

Unfortunately, the setup for the Utsuroshima killing game is also where my main criticism for the arc comes from, as i think you made a mistake by having the remainder of the voids meet Kokoro before the killing game begins. That may have seen like the logical thing that happened, but we are never told that every pawn in Mikado's plan knew of each other and i feel like them knowing Kokoro beforehand opens up a pretty significant plothole in the first chapter of the game because wouldn't the voids question or at least find it incredibly suspicious that Mikado deleted her memories and transformed her back into a teen during the killing game? From their perspective, this is all just an act and none of them would actually die by the executions, so there isn't a logical reason for Mikado to do that to her, in fact, from the void's perspective this may even appear as a counterproductive move of his part because now that Kokoro doesn't remember that she's on their side she will likely use her intelligence agaisnt them, which brings the question on how someone like Nikei didn't start suspecting that Mikado would betray them from that point alone and not just after the first trial.

I also found it the decision to turn Yuki into a severed head and not just a brain strange, but take that with a grain of salt because i have a feeling this is one piece of a bigger thing, one of which if i am right about i shall keep my mouth shut to not spoil the surprise for the rest of the audience

But overall, great episode that's made me really excited for what will come next

-Critic anon

//Well thank you very much for reading this and again, thank you for the comments I got as it's a joy to read!

//Honestly, writing the shelter storyline was so fun and brings attention to one of the WoH member that I feel does get ignore a bit but also shows the damage the WoH had done since I think the idea of the shelter was; 'So what would happen if they discover the people are residents of Towa City that survive/were able to get away but they weren't masked by the WoH or killed by Haiji's group but the person saving them is pretty shitty themselves?'

//It's a situation that no one wants to be in but it's not like the other choices are better and I feel Kota is the type of character that was this reality check for Kotoko and given that her story is coming up next and indeed; I think Kotoko's case is the cycle of abuse and how it's really hard to break out of while also not getting help with your trauma but also I think it is proof that Junko never care about them except Monaca because if she did, I imagine things would be different with Jataro's mom and Kota would of been killed instead. Funny thing was that the RoD was like a bit of a last minute decision there but I think it was a good one since I think the idea here was to prove that they can change to Future Foundation, after all - actions speak louder then words and despite what happen with Nagito, everything work out and hey, at least Makoto can finally get out of his room and help with the investigation.

//Ah Kokoro, a shame how she turn out and how I feel her younger self would of been disgusted by her but again, I do think she's rather interesting and a very depressing case of being a product of her time as I got quite a bit more to do with her but I think what I got plan for her is going to be quite the ride. In regards to all of Void meeting Kokoro, well... there is going to be a reason why they met Kokoro before the killing game and things will come together, just give it a bit of time as things are only starting up so wait and see.

//As for Yuki, there is some plans for why he's just a head in a jar, but again things are gonna come to fruition.

[moiloru]

Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School Review!

Hello, everyone! It was probably long overdue for someone who posts so much in this fandom, but here's my review for Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak Academy!

Well... where to start, right? I mean, there's much to be said, so let's begin by introducing DR3. By the way, if you read this review, I'll assume you've played the first two games in the series, as well as the spin-off. The anime won't be spoiled, but these games will be.

Now, this anime is split into two arcs: Future Arc and Despair Arc. The former takes place right after the events of Goodbye Despair, while the second takes place before Trigger Happy Havoc. They're twelve and eleven episodes long, respectively.

Of course, this is Danganronpa, so you'll be dealing with a mix of high-stakes game, horror, psychology, but with a touch of comedy (and even some slice of life). Beware the fanservice in Despair Arc, too.

Ironically, I disagree with most people when it comes to my favorite of the two arcs. Many reviews will tell you that Despair Arc is better than Future Arc, but I personally do not agree with this. Not that I think that Despair Arc is overrated, but I believe that Future Arc (for all its flaws) is severely underrated.

Future Arc follows the surviving cast of THH, with some brand-new characters thrown into the mix. Well, you might know that I love most of the THH cast, and I really think they got a chance to shine again in this arc. I personally think Makoto's development was done well, and Kyoko is still the best girl. Hina also gets a major role and makes the best of it! The new characters aren't all amazing, but I'd say half of them are at least good. As a Naegiri shipper, this arc is also very important to me (and for more than one reason...).

This arc's main strength, in my opinion, is in its atmosphere. It feels claustrophobic at times, but not necessarily in a bad way. The tension can be felt, and honestly, the few fights out there are pretty good! They made the correct decision in changing things up from the games to make it work in anime format, and some new dynamics are honestly very interesting!

Now, it's not perfect, either. To be honest, it should have been much better, but for what it is, it's very good. The writing could have been less shaky, some plot twists made to be more predictable, and the development of a few characters could have been better. Yet, I believe this arc was more than solid.

Despair Arc focuses on the life at Hope's Peak High School of the DR2 cast. Some tidbits were revealed in the game, and the full story is detailed in this arc. It goes over how they were turned into Remnants of Despair, how AI Chiaki came to be, how Izuru Kamukura was born, how Junko took over Hope's Peak... I don't love the DR2 cast as much as the THH one, but they were written well, and the couple new characters were good. However, I cannot be angry enough at how they wrote Mukuro. Poor girl got the short end of the stick, and honestly, the way they wrote her is pretty disgusting.

This arc focuses a lot more on character dynamics. It's done relatively well, but more importantly, it makes sense (which isn't always the case in Danganronpa...). However, this side of the anime feels rushed to me, to put it kindly. It should have been twice as long to reach its full potential. Still, the story is pretty good, and if you're not made too uncomfortable by horror and fanservice, you should enjoy it.

Overall, this arc is good. As mentioned before, I don't think it's as good as Future Arc, but it does the job of telling the story it's supposed to tell. It does answer some really important questions, which is perhaps the most important part.

And we're... not done, actually! This anime has a third arc (although it's not really an arc, since it's only one episode...): Hope Arc! It basically connects both arcs (and both casts) in one grand finale. It's a pretty good ending to the Hope's Peak saga, to be honest. Not perfect by any means, but at least it concludes everything well. Some people don't really enjoy the final twist (and I personally don't like how it was written), but honestly... I'm pretty happy it happened, haha.

To summarize, this anime is good. It's not as much of an adventure as the games, but it's still more than solid, especially if you like the Danganronpa universe. The way it's designed so that you have to watch one episode of Future Arc then one of Despair Arc is honestly super clever. It shows how the overarching writing is still really good. Of course, this anime has weaknesses (which others won't fail to insist upon), but it's worth watching, especially if you're looking for some answers to the questions the games left unanswered...

Down below is the tierlist for the characters! Please note that I rated them based on how good they are in the anime only. Thank you for reading this review!

(Link: https://tiermaker.com/create/danganronpa-all-characters-games-novels-and-anime-360438)

[nebulastarss]

Danganronpa fnaf AU because I have an obsession:

Dr2 are animatronics that look very humanlike but have little things that make it obvious that they are machines. Komaeda can transform his left arm into a spear with a cord that draws it back to him. And shoot knives out of his right palm. He just sorta, walks around and talks to the children, usually hanging out with the lonely ones. Hinata and Kamukura are a transforming robot, made for security and calming down kids. Hanamura was banished to the kitchen with Owari watching him.

Kuzuryuu stays in the back but usually helps with security, Pekoyama joining him. Koizumi takes photos of happy children and adults (With Consent!) Saionji dances on stage (duh) while Imposter and Mioda play music.

Tanaka, Sonia, and Souda have little plays that they do, but Souda usually helps with maintenance while Sonia talks about culture and Tanaka takes care of animals. Tsumiki takes care of any scrapes or bumps the children could get running around. Nidai is "head of security" in that he usually tells people where to patrol and they usually listen. Kamukura doesn't though. His eyes have weirdness going on that no one knows how to fix which causes the lightning effect. There's also Mitarai, he messes with the lighting and puts together the pictures Koizumi takes into happy slideshows.

Nanami is the night guard, and they don't hurt her in any way, just scare her. Only a small portion even participate in scaring her, Saionji who forced Koizumi, Mioda who forced Imposter, and Sonia. In the room, sitting in the corner, is Kamukura or Hinata. One time they scared Namami a little too badly and ended up getting a three hour lecture from both, his hair and eyes rapidly switching as they both say things, some purely logical but mostly emotionally charged. It's because of that event that Souda gave him a mode where it's both the empathetic Hinata and analytical Kamukura. Dark short hair and heterochromia. That form is now the most used unless a situation calls for purely Hinata (a crying child) or only Kamukura (security breach).

I mentioned earlier that they had weapons based on their deaths or murders, Hanamura would absolutely throw boiling oil on someone threatening or stab them with a skewer, so let's say his dominant hand can transform into a sharp spike. Mahiru could… hit someone with the camera? It's a really durable camera so sure.

Mioda has a canon fire guitar. I don't need to say more. Imposter is a jack of all trades. Hinata alone isn't made for violence, that's what Kamukura is for. Kamukura could kill someone with a strand of hair so he's good. Tsumiki is made to patch up injuries, not make them. Mitarai's also helpless, along with Saionji.

Nidai doesn't attack, often restraining or protecting while Owari goes wild.  Kuzuryuu has gun fingers, Pekoyama with sword hands, wrist still fully moveable. No one is quite sure how Tanaka fights, but it's pretty effective. Sonia is usually with Tanaka so she doesn't need to fight, since Souda also protects her. He has those giant tools some people give him in his Despair mode.

There's a bit more to this AU, just two stories I came up with for it, but it's kinda long so I'll just put it in a different post.

[hcpefulmarshmallow]

DR2 Kids + Optimistic Doctor Who Quotes

Hajime Hinata: In 900 years of time and space, I've never met anyone who wasn't important before.

Chiaki Nanami: If it's time to go, remember what you're leaving. Remember the best. My friends have always been the best of me.

Nagito Komaeda: The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don't always soften the bad things, but vice versa, the bad things don't always spoil the good things and make them unimportant.

Akane Owari: Never cruel or cowardly. Never give up, never give in.

Kazuichi Soda: When you’re a kid, they tell you it’s all… Grow up, get a job, get married, get a house, have a kid, and that’s it. But the truth is, the world is so much stranger than that. It’s so much darker. And so much madder. And so much better.

Sonia Nevermind: One may tolerate a world of demons for the sake of an angel.

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu: I’ve seen a lot of this Universe. I’ve seen fake gods and bad gods and demigods and would-be gods. And out of all that, out of that whole pantheon, if I believe in one thing — just one thing — I believe in her.

Peko Pekoyama: I don't need an army, I never have, because I've got them. Always them. Because love is not an emotion, love is a promise.

Gundham Tanaka: 'Cause you're special. No, but you are. Oh...you really don't believe that, do you? I can see (...) what you're thinking. All that attitude, all that lip - 'cause you think you're not worth it. Shouting at the world 'cause no one's listening. Well, why should they? But look what you did!

Ibuki Mioda: When you're on your own, just close your eyes, and you'll hear it. Music, inside your head. 'Cause everyone's a musician. Everyone has got a song inside them. Every single one of you.

Nekomaru Nidai: This is who I am, right here, right now, alright? All that counts is here and now, and this is me!

Hiyoko Saionji: There’s no point in being grown up if you can’t be childish sometimes.

Twogami: We're all stories in the end. Just make it a good one, eh?

Mikan Tsumiki: Some people live more in 20 years than others do in 80. It's not the time that matters, it's the person.

Teruteru Hanamura: Your chances of survival are about one in a thousand. Forget about the thousand. Concentrate on the one.

Mahiru Koizumi: You were fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. And you know what? So was I.

Bonus: My experience is that there is, you know surprisingly, always hope.

[tartrazeen]

Here's another thing that was missing from Danganronpa - the main games at least, because I haven't played any of the fan games I've heard are out there:

The Ultimate Trendsetter

I still like the idea of an 'Everyone Operating In Full Knowledge of What This Is' DR4 (or v4, I guess), and this is building on that. And I'm being coy with what I'm calling this character type 'cause I don't want to instantly give it away, but basically, this is the Ultimate Rulebreaker. 'Rule' can extend as far as social norms, setting records, or actually inspiring some new trend of some kind. It gives options, but it's mostly to hide the literal 'kills by breaking the rules' thing they've got going on.

Their personality could be anything - brash and inspiring like Kaito, deceptively polite yet lethal like Celeste, or completely blasé until it's Go Time like Chiaki. Doesn't matter, because they can be anywhere on the villain-to-hero scale and it won't change that they'll be an antagonist.

Ideally, this is also someone who's already done the impossible to throw the player off the scent of their tactics. I'm thinking 'Returning winner from the last season, who won as the blackened in the very first trial'. Groundbreaking, right? Technically that makes this DRv5 or DRv4.2, because that's all 15 other students gone after just one round and right when it's the most difficult to get away with something (so many witnesses and people investigating).

They character should be pretty open about it too: "I simply went after the loneliest one before anyone had built any friendships with each other. That way, no one came looking for them until it was too late to tie any clear circumstantial evidence to me. That's usually what nails everyone else - reliable witness accounts. :)"

Let's say this one's the first trial. I think my other theory about the Ultimate Danganronpa Hater and Critic covered the fourth and fifth trials, and my one about hiding the victim's body could be third case shenanigans, but this one's got a definite set-the-tone Case 1 vibe.

So!

Dead kid at the end of a hallway, very openly in plain sight.

The hallway's been clean. The person's been very clearly laid out, suggesting they were moved from how or where they fell. There are obvious signs of death, but to draw from the canon, let's say there are multiple incisions over their body that the Monokuma File confirms is the cause of the death. No weapons or objects are around them.

The victim should be someone who's had some bite to 'em. Narratively, this is gonna be the group's warning to not let the excitement of being on the show overshadow the threats around them.

Extra points if someone from the Investigation side tries to pull off a 'perfected' version of an almost successful murder from their qualifier game, or someone from the Blackened side calls the killer out by recognizing a tactic that they themselves pulled off, except done much more carelessly. No really, extra points: there's some bonus prize in there for any Blackened that makes it to the final two or for any Investigator who wins by killing this time. Good God, after those stupid Truth Swords from DR2, it could even be some stupid Pen Versus Sword motif with Ultimate Might up for grabs as the championship's title. That's exactly what a show that's 56 seasons in would do.

Hell, if you wanna go hard into the "Trendsetter won in the very first round" idea, these are all winners of an earlier game here to play in the Ultimate Championship finals - so everyone's on the same level of knowing what to do, having seen it happen, having seen what works and what didn't, and a solid mix of people who won as the blackened plus those who won by cracking cases. Should be fun to see who won by getting away with murder working alongside those who won through investigation (and hey, that'd incorporate my little Fuyuhiko theory too).

Anyway!

This victim went too hard bragging that they were gonna win, maybe even motivated to get the bonus prize (as a winning Investigator from their qualifier), but surprise, surprise, they're dead first.

The investigation has people searching for the original kill site, the murder weapon, and any opportunity people may have had.

The Trendsetter's going to be helpful in reminding everyone how deceptively difficult the first round will be. True, this is when they have the most witnesses, but they have the least idea of who everybody is and nobody walked in without examples of how to strike. And this person moved fast, whoever they were, which is smart because they now have a series precedent for everyone losing in the first round to a blackened student. Nothing's guaranteed anymore.

Somebody finds a knife. Somebody else finds a sharp chisel. Somebody else finds a decorative spear. All these weapons are in different corners of the school, all have blood on them, and there's not a drop of blood elsewhere in those locations. If we keep to my growing Tartra-verse canon and have the Ultimate Danganronpa Critic here, they might point out how the spear seems like the most likely weapon to fit with this "obvious callback to Mukuro's death in Season 1."

That's the first layer to crack: what's the murder weapon? With the maximum number witnesses in the smallest amount of available space during the first round, it's too risky for someone to drag a corpse from any of those locations to where it is now (plus there's no drag marks in the blood that's pooled), but it's just as risky to bring a weapon from where these three originally were, kill the victim, then sneak it back while it's covered in blood. And a whole spear? No way. In fact, it's looking like that blood was planted to throw them off. They don't even know if it's the victim's blood - that's also risky to carry, so maybe it was the killer's own blood.

All three weapons are ruled out. Nobody found any other weapons, so they're stuck there for now.

The second layer to crack is where the victim was murdered. If the killer couldn't drag anything away without getting caught, then where the victim died probably held special significance. Thing is, the only thing 'special' about this hallway is... well, it's a hallway. It's long and empty, and according to everyone else, far enough away from the others to avoid hearing anything, but there's nothing unusual about it otherwise.

That's right around when someone should ask why the victim was there themselves. They would've had to go there willingly, because the thought of being lured somewhere during these finals seems ridiculous. Were they trying to set up a trap for someone else? But who would the trap be for if that hallway was so far from everybody? It'd make running from a long-ranged weapon difficult - like a bow and arrow or throwing knives - because there's no corners to hide behind, but surely everyone would assume that and avoid walking down it in the first place. The best guess everyone can make is that the victim was following someone else to sneak up on them, but quickly became the prey.

Drama starts. Team Investigation starts accusing those bloodthirsty Blackened for automatically knowing how to kill somebody trying to murder them first in some warped fight or flight reflex, and Team Blackened starts accusing the Investigators of all chasing the bonus prize by getting away with any kind of murder. I'm not expecting any kind of friendship from these folks, but absolutely a kind of mutually beneficial alliance that every Battle Royale gets into. It's easy here at first because there's that divide of "who won and by what method".

I wouldn't be surprised if the Ultimate Trendsetter was behind it either, having convinced (or implied) that if all the Blackened work together, at least two of them could survive to the end and win the bonus. It'd trigger a counter-alliance among the Investigators, who'd very quickly realize (by having the Trendsetter again imply) that if they didn't band together right then, they'd be on their own against a newly unified Team Blackened. Whether or not the Trendsetter was telling the Investigators the truth, Team Blackened would either already honestly exist or be deceived into needing to exist now that Team Investigation was locked in.

This all 'implies' that the Investigators are the only ones who'd kill somebody that won as an Investigator (again, because Investigators don't get a bonus prize unless they kill this time). At the same time, it 'implies' that that's the perfect cover story for the Blackened, as if a bonus prize - they don't know what it is - would magically be enough to ignore the real prize of winning Danganronpa at all.

In other words, no dice on the murder site.

Finally, they start going through each other's alibis. The Trendsetter's sounds rock solid - they were in their room trying to get some rest. Any snarky accusations of "Resting up so you could murder us?" is met with, "No, I'm sick. I have a cold. And I'm on Team Blackened, so I can't get the bonus prize by killing." Some others on Team Blackened - and only on Team Blackened - can vouch for this account, which leads to more, "You're all covering for each other," claims. That one's snubbed off as extra ridiculous because everybody knows accomplices can't win unless they're the ones actually killing. It looks more and more like Team Blackened has no incentive here, while Team Investigation is lawlessly prize-hungry. The two cliques click even further into place.

The thing is, this is a competition. Right now, if they don't solve this case regardless of what 'team' they're on, one person is going to win at everyone else's expense. Team Investigation bites the bullet on working with their very smug enemies by doing what they do best: investigating.

Each person on Team Blackened explains how they got away with murder to mine those stories for clues - things to look out for in this case. Team Investigation narrows in on those patterns for everyone: an open kill is no good because these need to be sneaky, and nobody kills someone that'll make them the obvious murder suspect. Killers either try to frame someone else or play off the victim's trust (even if it's only a temporary truce) to get them alone.

Well, no one's been framed for this. The problem is that it seems like a ghost did it. They can rule out suicide because it's the first round of the finals and the victim really wanted to win. But when it comes to the other pattern - trust - they hit another wall. The victim would've been someone who won by investigating until the end of the season, and who was openly declaring an intent to kill and get the bonus prize. Team Blackened wasn't going to work with anyone like that, and Team Investigation wasn't going to be anybody's accomplice. That should technically mean nobody trusted the victim enough to talk to them and build up any kind of friendship.

... Which sounds really, really, and suddenly familiar.

They ask the Trendsetter how they won their round. The Trendsetter reminds everyone about their alibi and how no one stood to gain anything by lying to corroborate it, then re-explains.

Let's just commit to the Ultimate Danganronpa Critic being here. :P The Critic points out that while nobody could trust someone on Team Investigation because of the bonus prize, by that same logic, everyone could absolutely trust someone on Team Blackened. That makes Team Blackened the suspects again, which is about to cause more drama before the Critic says, "We also know that a Blackened won their season in the first round before by targeting someone who was lonely and before anyone could become friends. So our killer is probably someone who helped make sure the victim had no one on their side, even if they were doing pretty well at that by themselves."

This is when both teams start discussing when the cliques were made. Sure, there's a bonus prize, but the Critic runs through all the other 'prizes' Monokuma's promised in the past. Is that what they're naturally aiming for? Or did someone convince them that the other team was aiming for it, just to keep everyone scared? And as they dig and dig, they realize the Trendsetter was the one who put the 'two teams' thing into motion.

The Trendsetter handwaves that by saying Monokuma's also had millions of dollars as the prize before, and anyway, the thought would've occurred to everyone eventually. People just like being in groups - it happens. Except the Ultimate Danganronpa Critic points out that every season where someone won by investigating, it was because everyone eventually worked together as a group. The ones who refused were usually the ones who died first - or, in the Trendsetter's case, won immediately. When it comes to why the victim was in that hallway, there was a way to lure someone down it after all: the same power of friendship that brought the Trendsetter here for the championship.

The Trendsetter's going to entertain this. If they're the suspect despite such a strong alibi, how did they kill the victim from their bedroom? The Monokuma File said they died from being stabbed all over their body, and the killer wouldn't have been able to leave with a blood-covered weapon (or blood-soaked clothes) without being seen putting those three weapons back or returning to their room.

The Critic's got answers for that too: those weren't the murder weapons. The killer could've prepped those as false evidence while they were investigating and could take their time walking around to those corners of the school. As for how the victim got stabbed, the killer left that part up to their accomplice.

The Trendsetter's about to explain the thing about accomplices again when the Ultimate Danganronpa Critic goes full Byakua-Is-Smarter-Than-You and Nagito-Is-Admiring-You about how they never said there wasn't an accomplice, just that the accomplice couldn't win as the Blackened, and how they're so delighted to see something completely new after 56 seasons and be there to see it firsthand! The accomplice in this case was the one person completely unaffected by the killing game: Monokuma himself. Those stab wounds are impossible for someone to pull off from their bedroom, but completely possible to trigger remotely - say, for example, by skewering someone with a bunch of spears. This means that 'homage' to Mukuro's death was not the Critic exaggerating.

This is ridiculous, the Trendsetter will protest. Monokuma can't interfere with any of the students, so there's no way anyone can ask him for help. The Critic'll point out that no one would need to ask. Once a rule was broken, Monokuma would send those spears out automatically. The only thing they need to prove now is which rule was broken.

The Trendsetter's gonna be all kinds of upset about this. For one thing, even if that's what happened, why is the Critic singling them out as the suspect? Why not anybody else? But the Critic assures everyone that once they figure out the rule that was broken, they'll have the proof they need to know who was behind everything.

The group - working together - goes through the list. For the championship and especially these finals, almost every rule that was previously in effect is back in play, minus any that contradict each other. This includes classics like "The game will continue until only two students remain (à la Rule 6 from DRv3)," "Destroying any property without permission is expressly forbidden (like Rule 10 from DR2)," and of course, "Sleeping anywhere other than the dormitory will be punished accordingly (just like Rule 3 of DR1)." The Critic puts the question to the group: the victim looked pretty laid out on the floor, didn't they? What if they weren't moved anywhere so much as they...

... laid down?

Oooooh boy, the Trendsetter is not gonna be happy about that one (and neither's the Ultimate Danganronpa Hater). First question: someone had a forbidden nap and that suddenly makes it a murder?! The Critic says yes, because if it was only a rules violation, they wouldn't be having a trial. The victim had to have been set up. So now that they know how the victim died, they can finally reveal the murder weapon.

(Cue the too-stupid-to-live one going, "Huh?!?!?! I thought the spears WERE the murder weapon?!?!?!" Like an idiot. Worse - like a casual.)

The Critic asks Team Blackened - everyone who vouched for her - why it wasn't strange for the Trendsetter to be going to sleep while the rest of them were still awake. When they repeat that the Trendsetter had a cold and needed sleep (cooperating, finally), they start digging into any proof they had that the Trendsetter was sick at all. Some coughing maybe, but nothing extreme. The nap, certainly. Definitely the cough syrup the Trendsetter'd been drinking.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

A murder weapon that no one would suspect, that wouldn't leave any blood, and that could knock someone out if they - for example - both drank from the same spiked bottle as friends. After all, even if there was a bonus prize for killing and it was only for Team Investigation, no one here was just going to drink something handed to them. Unless, maybe, whoever was handing it to them drank it too, to prove it was safe. And the Trendsetter did go right to bed at the same time the victim was comfortably on the floor.

With such a tucked-away hallway, it was unlikely people would stumble onto the body right away, and it wasn't as if anyone would come looking for the victim with everything that was said. Just like the Trendsetter's previous game, there was likely going to be a lot of time that passed before the evidence could be tied back to them, but what sealed their fate was true to the spirit of Danganronpa: witness testimony - and for the very alibi the Trendsetter themselves had set.

That stupid 'you must sleep in your rooms' rule has bugged me as being useless for so damn long, on top of that 'you cannot destroy property without permission' rule. The whole point of this is to use those rules to someone's extreme advantage, and in my mind, the Trendsetter won their first round by asking Monokuma for permission to destroy a surveillance moniter, then covered it up like an hay target and swapped it in ahead of the Ultimate Archer's next bit of practice. They were gonna wait for as long as it took after they got close enough to learn that person's schedule, and it was just the right amount of time for them to be far enough away while still getting the first and only kill of the season.

Hell yes, Monokuma would go for that. Shit would be hilarious af. The rules were available to everybody. But without the same convenience of having someone known to regularly impale something with sharp sticks, the Trendsetter picked a different rule to break. With that, they might've set a trend for winning on the first round, but they clearly couldn't keep the Ultimate Streak. :)

100%, the Critic would be saying that out loud lmao, before going to back to whether this still counted as a Mukuro homage or something between Sakura and Sayaka.

There's also no way that they, having absolutely been on Team Investigation, wouldn't bring home the ending that should've happened for DRv3's last trial: the detective will finally be the one that does it.

Bonus prize acquired. :D

[peachaliearchieve]

I've been excited for you to play NDRV3 too since I spoiled myself already. Any thoughts on it before playing the game?

I do actually have a few thoughts! Mostly predictions, I guess now would be a good time to share them though… So I guess [shrugs]

Reminder that I’m 100% unspoiled! if I get anything right don’t fuckin’ correct me! I don't want to know!

One of my biggest predictions is that we’ll FINALLY see a protagonist not make it through an entire game. I think this for a couple reasons. In all DR games so far a new game has introduced a thing that was teased in the previous game as something that is used/told about right away.

Example: In DR2 it was introduced right away that the kids suffered amnesia when in DR1 it was a major plot point. There are plenty of others too I just dont want to get into them

In DR2 a protag switch was introduced (and I’ve talked about this before but I thought it was foreshadowing Hinata’s death and a permanent protag switch from chapter 4 onwards at the time). Because it was never fully utilized in DR2, I think (and hope) they’ll do it in DRV3.

If the protag is offed then… who they switch to is ??? I have no idea. most likely candidates are Rantaro, Kibo?, Saihara or The SHSL child care… person. Her name escapes me right now. Kiiiinda hoping if there is a protag swap we see another female. KINDA NOT GETTING MY HOPES UP THERE LOL. 

As for who lives or dies [SHRUGS] I see some characters that I don’t see surviving because they’re just kinda weaker and look like targets like Kibo and Gonta. I’m guessing Ouma will be a murderer….. but that’s really all I have in that guessing game department???

Ummmm…. let’s see what else? I personally think it’d be cool to have a bad end with a full class execution. I just want to know what it’d look like really.

One thing I do know is there’s a 50/50 split as far as happy with it/disappointed. SO I did think about what would personally disappoint me in a DR game and honestly it all went back to a LOT of things that they did wrong in DR3. 

Exp: an ending that negates all the deaths and struggles the characters went through

Everything being fake or not adding up to anything

Characters not learning a damn fucking thing either because a death was negated by bullshit OR just shitty characters

That’s….. really all I got as far as thoughts on it go before playing it.