DANG And His Buddy RONPA

It is obvious to me and many others that i have a favorite villain archetype

Junko’s great and all but for me Hopes Peak Academy is the main antagonist of Danganronpa.

You’ve got the whole oh being part of the elite is actually really fucking stressful. And wow I wish I could do other things but my worth is entirely tied to this one thing I do.

Like we saw with Leon.

Then you’ve got them being a dick to everyone else. Like it’s one thing for them to be like oh you don’t have a talent our one school recognises as important?

I guess you’re nothing then.

But then they take it even further by creating the Reserve course. Ah yes let us give these peasants the privilege of being near us while also reminding them they’re nothing compared to us.

But also you know human experimentation.

It really hit home watching Danganronpa 3 and realising oh..any of these kids could’ve become Izuru Kamakura.

It’s just that they picked Hajime. Oh they frame it as a choice but no that kids fate was already decided the moment he was enrolled.

It would’ve been interesting if that ever got out. That Izuru Kamakura, was a Reserve Course student. That this beacon of terror was someone they all view as inherently worthless for being talentless.

Despite the fact that metric is one that only Hopes Peak uses and cares about.

I don’t blame any of the Reserve Course for wanting to burn the place down. The way they were instantly vilified the second they decided to rebel against the school.

Not only did they cover up the murder of a student but if this got out too…Yikes.

Honestly had the tragedy been less…colossal I genuinely believe Hopes Peak would be relieved by it. Sure they get some bad press but it’s one student, maybe one class.

In the grand scheme of things it changes nothing and they can all be discredited it.

Hell I can absolutely imagine a concept where Hopes Peak reveals Izuru Kamakura’s real identity and paints a narrative about this disillusioned Reserve Course student lost to jealously.

And despite the aid of the prestigious academy trying to help him, he turned into a monster. Even going so far as to bastardise our glorious founder with his name.

I can see them trying to wipe their hands clean of everything. Also I refuse to believe Jin Kirigiri was some unknowing man caught in the middle of this.

When he was the one running the place. And frankly I prefer the concept that he absolutely knew but tried to make amends with saving his remaining students.

With saving his daughter.

And being killed after refusing to give them up. Hoping that maybe just maybe he would be able to atone for the monsters he helped to create.

Junko’s also a monster that’s a fact but none of what she did would’ve happened if not for Hopes Peak.

And unfortunately only one of them got destroyed.

(not) moving on

based on a post-game idea: how strange would it be for the survivors of V3 to live in a world where their friends' entire in-game lives had been perfectly captured and preserved forever, always avaliable for endless rewatching? and more importantly, would the guilt of having to type 'danganronpa V3 best moments' into the google search bar be worth getting to hear their friends' voices again? on bad nights, the answer would probably be yes

Favs from each game

I'm thinking about that one post that went "Amnesia but you're haunted by your scars" post, talking about how wiping someone's memory in fiction doesn't completely erase the trauma they went through, and I just immediately look to DR2's cast and go "... Yeah."

I think Makoto was well meaning in wanting to wipe their memories of being remnants and putting them in an island paradise, but like. That's not therapy. That's not healing. That's only covering the scars on their hearts with an ill-fitted bandaid.

Even without the KG for that game, I think the Remnants would have like, sensations of fear they can't explain, sensations of trauma they can't address.

I don't think it's cruel to want to erase someone's painful memories... but I don't think that's a solution, either.

Why do you think Makoto using the NWP was the wrong thing to do? The despair states class 77-b were in was objectively bad and self destructive and removing them so they back to normal should be a good thing. Also I wouldn’t say what Makoto is doing with the NWP isn’t more brainwashing, it’s deprogramming.

I've talked a bit about my hatred for NWP and how it is used in DR2 here, but it really comes down to this:

Forcibly removing people's memories to make them better people is not the correct answer.

Forcibly removing people's memories and reverting them back to a previous state and then rewriting over those memories with new ones is not the right answer.

Especially when you take DR3 into account and that Makoto etc. didn't know about the brainwashing video or when the Remnants fell to despair, they're just making best guess scenarios and wiping out all of their time at Hope's Peak, which effectively means they are wiping out their memories of real Chiaki and replacing them with DR2!therapybot!Chiaki, which is NOT the correct answer, no matter how you slice it.

The end of DR3 is very good about this - you don't make people better by removing the bad thing. You don't make things better by removing the memories of your past, even if they're memories you regret or hate or don't want to ever address again ever. Those memories are still there. They're still important.

Removing memories is not an effective or even good way of deprogramming people who are brainwashed.

Makoto's luck kicked into full gear with all the stuff that happened in DR2 and the shutdown and getting the Remnants as we see them in DR3, which is not a result of them having their memories removed. They still have their memories and are able to recover.

And yeah. Brainwashing is maybe a stretch (it's Junko's word for it, after all) - but they are reaching into a group of people's heads and mucking around with their brains and making choices for who they want them to be and how they want them to be that way (no, no, you can't be Remnants, so we will remove everything that led to that development and make you into someone we want by meddling with your brain)....

Sounds a bit like brainwashing.

Not the way Junko did it, for sure.

Still sounds a bit like brainwashing.

Girl's got a point.

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

Thought I get in on this holy bandwagon, but Luce has a friend to tag along.

I’m definitely gonna make a stance on this, I’m on the side of Skullgirls fans who are angry about the censorship going on in the game.

If people were mad about the boobs and panty shots, maybe they shouldn’t be playing the boobs-and-panty-shots game. Just a thought.

Messy BNHA x Sonic crossover comic sketches.

Because I can.