The Happy Ending Of Hope Arc Was Only Temporary.

The V3 version of Danganronpa relies on the prison-industrial complex for victims volunteers, specifically juvenile detention centers. Adolescents are offered lightened sentences for participation and full pardons for winning, thus ensuring the sign-up process is (technically) voluntary. DICE is an activist organization - the acronym is Danganronpa Is (a) Criminal Enterprise - that protests the profiteering off of the vulnerable and works to challenge the draconian laws concerning mild, petty crimes that exist primarily to feed the system.

Ultra Despair Girls is honestly probably the best Kodaka has ever gotten at writing traumatized characters.

A Family Picture

I think I found my favorite kiddie cartoon ever.

They said that Yokai Watch is Gintama for kids but who needs Yokai Watch anymore when you can have Snack World.

alright my kings queens and peeps in between, here be the first infodump of the student council au characters ! before we get into the read more, allow me to note that nami and akira’s gang are @suspectunderinvestigation’s ‼️ pls hit them up w a follow and check out their fics bc honestly this au wouldn’t be possible w/out them ‼️‼️

i also want to note that while these characters do be in existence, I’m gonna try not to hyperfixate on them haha. The focus of the story is still Akechi, Adachi, Akira, and some choice p4 characters who I won’t say anything abt yet so if that’s something that worried u,,, do not worry (and trust me you’ll love these guys anyway <3)

and now let’s get right into the news

starting off, here are some general notes

This takes place during Akechi’s third year at Yasogami, making Akira a second year. Everyone else in the council is a third year. In the gang, Toura is a second year and Shiro is a first year.

The student council race is an important plot point in of itself so I won’t go into too much detail. Besides Akira who was added on late term, any members who aren’t committee heads ran for student council and lost to Akechi.

Akira’s gang is called the Black Masks for irony purposes. They existed before Akira came in, but Akira asserted his dominance almost immediately. Akira has certainly upped the ante for crime (petty thievery, grand thievery, traffic violations, intimidation and general violence, yknow , the usual)

Any crimes Akechi commits are typically swept under the rug by the rest of the student council under the guise of “for the greater good” (the greater good is, stealing tamagotchis for student council appreciation day which he totally did not make up just now)

The student council does not solely rely on Akechi for intimidation, although he’s a big driving force. The main goal of the student council is to stomp out all crime (i.e., Black Masks), improve the student body, and protect the school from shadows.

Oh did I mention shadows? Yes well :)

Due to Adachi never getting caught, the fog never dispersed and the “game” kept going. Except, well, after Souji’s departure, the game wasn’t very fun anymore. So things calmed down.

Not only that, but due to the threat of the encroaching fog, life for Adachi and Akechi mostly became defending themselves for some time.

After Akechi’s ascendancy to student council president, shadows begin to flock around the school. The rest of the student council notices this and decides to investigate. Their investigation leads them to the conclusion that they need Personas.

Everyone’s Persona is based on a Japanese myth and I apologize in advance if there’s anything offensive in the design or anything. I will work to redesign or change the Personas entirely as needed.

(and I also recognize that some of these are already in SMT but I’m using the Loki excuse since none of them are the Personas of major characters or anything lmao)

And in terms of plot notes that’s where I’m stopping for now ;)

So with all that being said, here’s some more specific notes,

Momotaro is a fake Persona much like Robin Hood. Since Robin Hood falls more in line with Persona 5’s trickster theme, Momotaro is meant to blend in with the Japanese mythology of Persona 4.

Akechi is gunning to take over Inaba. The game might have stopped for Adachi, but Akechi is very certain that with the right moves, he could rule the small town, and not just Yasogami.

The double-staff is just a reworked UV light, stolen from Junes. Hitoshi, who works at Junes, watched him break it out of the ceiling it in awed silence.

Hitomi and Hitoshi are twins and had been planning to run for student council president and vice president since they were kids. So. Losing was a pretty big blow to their egos, especially Hitomi’s.

Being extremely anal about losing to Akechi, Hitomi typically doesn’t agree with him on anything at all, being contrarian for the sake of being contrarian.

Hitoshi doesn’t really take the same attitude as Hitomi, but he doesn’t particularly like Akechi. Unfortunately for Hitoshi, Akechi typically hangs around him at his job in order to cover up thefts, and so Akechi subconsciously sees him as a friend necessary ally.

Cho ran for student council solely because she has a crush on Hitomi. She was already promised position of secretary, so she doesn’t particularly mind how the race went and holds no grudge against Akechi.

Eika and Kenzo are childhood best friends. They run their committees without a lot of interference from the council.

Yuugo on the other hand is often consulted by the council to dish out discipline on the student body. Yuugo pretends he doesn’t like to dole out punishment, but having been in a gang in the past, for whatever reason, it brings back good feelings. Thus, Akechi and Yuugo have a pretty solid relationship compared to the other committee heads.

Yuugo was once a Black Mask himself but quit after he started working at Tatsumi Textiles, which, he only started doing because he thought he could get some tips/mentoring from Kanji. Unfortunately, the tips and mentoring he got were square in the opposite direction of how to get away with gang activity.

Nami is an enigma. She’s the new kid who transferred to Yasogami in her third year, so nobody knows a whole lot about her. She makes fast friends with Akechi though, and starts working night shift at Moel Gas Station.

She’s a big fan of Jack Frost. Some of those shadows seem to… flock to her…

Akira is pretty much your baseline Akira, except for the fact that without that initial Metaverse intervention, he had no other way to vent his frustration with getting sent to Inaba, so he just. Joins a gang.

Also, under his probation, he lives with Naoto. Although Naoto is aware of Akira being in the Black Masks, he assumes they’re more lowkey than what they are because under Akira’s leadership, they’re a lot better at covering their tracks. (Being friends with the student council president/nephew of a detective/best friend of the daughter of the head detective helps quite a bit!)

Morgana also exists here but as far as anyone knows he’s just a cat. Just a cat ;)

Sumitomo is Akira’s second in command and his muscle. When their scooters need repaired, Sumitomo’s the one on it. The gang as a whole are saving up money for actual motorcycles, but for now, most of the money they steal goes to repairs.

Sumitomo and Akira have a pretty close relationship and thus far this has been my favorite thing of the AU:

Also, Sumitomo can’t keep a pair of clothing free of tatters to save his life, hence his nickname.

Toura was at Yasogami before Akira, but people often mistake her for his sister. As if she could ever be related to that dweeb tho lmao. She calls herself Ace anyway in reference to this because, well, she might not be his sister by blood but 🥺. Also, she is the brains of the operation.

Shiro is sort of the baby of the gang and keeps a baseball bat with him even in school for protection and also because he thinks it will make him fit in more.

He has a soft spot for animals, which leads him to decisions like

Others often tease Shiro for his hair, having gone prematurely white, but he finds solace from this in the gang. They call him “Snow” (affectionate) and would kill for him given the chance.

And that’s all we’ve got for right now! Hopefully this clears some things up and also helps paves a road for a comic/fic in the future !! If you have any questions hit up the inbox !! Happy to provide any elaborations ;) ‼️

(and any chance for doodles is very very welcome :3 !!)

not sure how much it counts as controversial, but the bit at the end of DR3 where the Remnants take the blame for the killing game has always rubbed me the wrong way. Not just because of personal beliefs about information, but also because in that very same anime, we see Junko blackmailing people and HPA trying to cover up their mistakes. If anyone finds out the truth about the kg, they’re screwed. Felt like it went against the theme a bit.

Yeah actually I would say this is the opposite of controversial simply because I don't think I've ever met or seen a danganronpa fan who thinks dr3 was incredible. I don't hate dr3 nearly as much as I've seen other hate it, but I have a very strong love-hate relationship with it. Especially for Future.

But I can totally understand having beef with that particular ending. (In fact I have issues with most of the Hope arc) All three of the main games, even the pessimistic one, have a theme of facing the truth no matter how awful. So it is a bit strange for danganronpa to hide the truth when the core theme has always been to expose it. I can understand the world not being ready but...it felt unnecessary. Because The Future Foundation needs to be completely rebuilt anyway. All but three leaders of the FF are dead, and one of them just kinda walked away to do who knows what. The FF is also incredibly corrupt and terribly built. There IS no need to save it by taking the blame because it's already dead by the end of the anime.

Started out as just "what if Mikan remembering the game means Mikan remembers what she remembered in the game aka she's still Like That when she wakes up?" and then developed into "what if Mikan is offended that everyone denounced Junko....and doesn't think they deserve to have any remnants of her...." thassit just a little idea blurb

I don't want anyone to think I hate Mikan tho she's fun

In all honesty, i love hiyoko the same reason why i love Kokichi and is because they're total assholes.

Seeing that post you made just now actually reminded me of something. This post-SDR2 RP blog storyline. Which claimed to be about the whole cast healing, and would be even-handed to everyone. Yet the writer's biases against Nagito constantly crept in, as there were noticeable double standards in the way he was treated compared to the rest of the cast.

Like I realized something upon looking at it again. It's Nagito, and Nagito alone who has to actually face his victims from when he was an Ultimate Despair. He's the one who gets ragged in person on by cast members from UDG. The others meanwhile? They never actually have to meet someone they personally wronged. There are no survivors of Novoselic (which got completely genocided in their version of events) ever confronts Sonia for example.

This is actually the case in a lot of fan works. It is very easy to tell when the writer has a bias against Komaeda. Personally, a thing I noticed when reading is that it feels like they all tend to put the other remnants in a good light while he is just. Separated. Similarly to how the fandom treats him in general by acting like he is the worst of them all. There's always that subtle undertone that shows they only hold things against him, which, again, is often because of the rooted ableism in how the fandom portrays him.

Funny... Since his actions really are tame compared to the others, he never even directly hurt anyone, unlike them. It's weird how the fandom doesn't hold the characters accountable for actual murders in the first place, but can I just mention how Komaeda (including Hinata) was the only remnant who didn't do anything violent and messed up except cutting his arm off?

As for Komaeda being the only one to face the people that he wronged, I saw that people even tend to make the remnants forgive each other immediately (or easily) or don't write any tension between them, making them friends. It's very confusing since they don't have normal relationships even in sdr2 and because they always make them target Komaeda with all the negativity... And because they literally killed each other. They would all be aware of how messed up they are and have to learn to accept it... They don't even have a reason to call Komaeda fucked up anymore because they've done worse, or rather he's fucked up too. They don't have to like him (they would realistically only tolerate everyone except the ones closer to them in the first place anyway), but it'd be way different, and they wouldn't be hostile. The fact that Komaeda would be peaceful makes that even more believable.

(Also do you mind sharing the name?)

Thank you! Yeah, it's been bothering me for a while now that people in this fandom became so attached to the idea that the Remnants were all voluntary mass-murderers acting of their own free will. To start with, it basically means that Makoto and co. are complete assholes for trying to redeem such people through amnesia. To do that to terrorists who acted entirely of their own free will instead of putting them on trial would be an insult to all of their victims (both living and dead). Yet the writers were clearly wanting the players to sympathize with Makoto's cause, and don't treat what he's doing as reprehensible. And the very existence of the Neo-World Program implies that it's made with the intent to deprogram brainwashing. Then there's the fact that "someone preyed on my insecurities and made me depressed, so now I'm gonna blow up the world"...is just not a believable fucking heel turn at all. Human beings just don't work like that. I'm not saying that you couldn't tell a story where a moral person like say Mahiru Koizumi gradually becomes a complete monster. But it would take a hundred extra steps and need way more time. Class 77-B are all flawed people, but Jesus wept they're not THAT flawed. And something I forgot to bring up in the previous ask is another big logistical issue for Junko. They're not even in the same class. The SDR2 cast a year above her. Thus meaning the amount of time she could spend with them is even more limited. If anything it would have actually made more sense for her to pick Class 78 as her Remnants, since she at least has more time to work with them. One of the explanation I've heard is she did an evil variant of the FTEs during school lunch breaks or in the afternoon. Like...how even the fuck do you corrupt someone to that level over the course of a few private conversations? And to have it work perfectly with zero subjects acting conspicuously too early, or going on a bender, or just committing suicide? That is not a cunning manipulator you're writing. That is one of the worst examples of a Villain Sue I've ever seen, as you've just given her the most nonsensical winniest win that's ever been won.

LITERALLY. LIKEA CTUALLY. junko is a flat piece of cardboard to me

!!!WARNING: 2nd IMAGE - GORE!!!

"Makoto"

If only they knew he had the power.

Inspiration? This post from @makowo and @hibiscuswolverine's reply!

Makoto's a war criminal is being an argument, and there's nothing I love more then being pedantic, so lets see what Geneva Conventions be argued as broken

For the sake of it I'm going to consider despair vs FF as something akin to a civil war, thus capturing the remnants would be prisoners of war

Convention (III) relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War. Geneva, 12 August 1949.

Article 13 - Humane treatment of prisoners

Prisoners of war must at all times be humanely treated. Any unlawful act or omission by the Detaining Power causing death or seriously endangering the health of a prisoner of war in its custody is prohibited, and will be regarded as a serious breach of the present Convention. In particular, no prisoner of war may be subjected to physical mutilation or to medical or scientific experiments of any kind which are not justified by the medical, dental or hospital treatment of the prisoner concerned and carried out in his interest.

Well those in the Neo World program DEFINITELY were seriously endangered. While you could argue the experimental treatment was done in the interest of the remnants, the fact it went so badly and was illegally administered against the will of Future Foundation definitely breaks this.

Article 22 - Places and conditions of internment

Prisoners of war may be interned only in premises located on land and affording every guarantee of hygiene and healthfulness. Except in particular cases which are justified by the interest of the prisoners themselves, they shall not be interned in penitentiaries. Prisoners of war interned in unhealthy areas, or where the climate is injurious for them, shall be removed as soon as possible to a more favourable climate.

Depending on how safe Jabberwock island is, Makoto may be in violation of this. As a cluster of small artificial islands all of which have been abandoned, how safe is it? Is it at risk of hurricane or giant tropical storms? What are the facilities there? If they're completely on their own can it really be stated they have every guarantee of Hygiene and Healthfulness?

Article 55 - Medical supervision

The fitness of prisoners of war for work shall be periodically verified by medical examinations at least once a month. The examinations shall have particular regard to the nature of the work which prisoners of war are required to do.

Sorry Makoto, Mikan doesn't count I'm pretty sure.

That's at least three war crimes and I'm sure you could find more if you looked harder then I did, but even with the most CHARITABLE reading possible, the Neo World Program is 100% against article 13, he's a war criminal

Source