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Y'know I praise DRV3 a lot.
SO LET'S DO THE OPPOSITE!
Spoilers of course. Of fucking course.
Instead of picking apart something that has been picked apart for ages, like saying DRV3's very divisive ending, Imma talk about the characters who I love so much. The cast of V3 is the strongest of any of the games to date, and I have said many words or at least, thought many words of why this is so. But no matter how good characters are, they are not perfect, so here are some of my gripes about certain characters and what could have been done better.
Let's start off with Himiko, a character I defend to the death for!!
SHE HAS SHIT TASTE. THE END.
Okay, well by that I mean, her vision of Atua is simply a handsome man. Now, that's pretty boring and non-relatable. I say this as Himiko is the most relatable character I've ever encountered so anything I cannot even BEGIN to fathom at all annoys me more than usual. This of course also combines with my obvious bias in my shipping preferences, but I guess she can swing two ways maybe. The point is how boring her tastes are, and sometimes nonsensical or to the level of the most typical teenage girl that it makes me want to gag. Like how some girls unironically like Twilight and its characters. Himiko's wonderful and insightful love hotel event reveals she fantasizes about getting it on with a humanized wolf.
._.
BUT NOT ONLY THAT, in chapter four in I guess an attempt to expand Himiko's ability as the comedic relief, she was one of the few enthralled by the incestual soap opera-like escapades the remaining Monokubs were partaking on during announcements, as if she were not only into any plot that even involves incest, but shitty cliche soap operas too. Himiko. You do realize in LITERALLY THE VERY LAST CHAPTER, which was like, oh I dunno, YESTERDAY, the man who MURDERED YOUR TWO BEST FRIENDS did so because of his INFATUATION with his SISTER. INCEST MURDERED YOUR FRIENDS. WHY DO YOU LIKE TWO SHITTY BEAR SIBLINGS GETTING IT ON AND HAVING DRAMATIC ABUSIVE PLOTS OR WHATEVER. WHAT EVEN ARE YOU!??!?!??
Then in chapter five's trial, in a string of dialogue and events that I also found amusing among many others, was when Exisal Kokichi was messing around with Himiko (who granted, is incredibly easy to troll) and mentioned that Himiko liked him. Of course Himiko denied this because Kokichi had been a complete douchenozzle ruining everything and dividing everyone in everything at this point, having essentially ended the lives of two people a trial prior and is the mastermind responsible for the killing game (or at least what everyone believes at this point) so he is LITERALLY the WORST.
Himiko denies it and then rebutes with a strong, "NUH-UH, I HATE YOU!" Which is very reasonable. A perfectly normal human being would have such an opinion. Heck, anyone in this situation would. Almost everyone, even. (I mean this as an in-universe thing, as a character Kokichi is absolutely fascinating and I can totally understand his widespread popularity as annoying as it is when he's overexposed all over the place) But then Kokichi counters with,
"But I like yooooou~" like a kid teasing another on the playground.
And then Himiko blushes.
IT WAS FUNNY, YES. I chuckled. I laughed. OH BOY I was amused. But thinking about it logically.... wtf Himiko? It makes me think that, should she actually pursue a relationship with like...ANYBODY, she would be easily taken advantage of because she's so lovestruck. She'd be that girl who would stay with their abusive partner because of denial that they were abusive or a terrible person. She'd pursue the asshole bad boy simply because they were hot. And stay with them. Because they are hot. Heck in the same trial she enjoys Monokuma's antics and starts even coming around to him, like maybe he really is cute and really is on their side HIMIKO THIS BEAR EXECUTED ALL YOUR FRIENDS AND PUT YOU IN THIS HORRIFIC ORDEAL IN THE FIRST PLACE.
Which of course wraps around to OF COURSE this character drank the kool-aid. OF COURSE SHE WAS THE FIRST ONE TO. She must have been the absolute easiest person to convert in the history of Angie's time as an oracle.
I will say though, that just because Himiko appears so weak throughout the game doesn't necessarily mean she's like, weaker than average to a considerable degree. Sure she's the shortest girl, weighs the least, isn't strong physically whatsoever due to her laziness, and because of her weak will is even more vulnerable, but what I mean is compared to the rest of the cast she stands out as the weakest. I only point this out because I feel using the abusive partner example might imply that people in that situation are in that because they themselves are weak and it's their fault for having fallen into that situation in the first place. Of course not. It's something that anybody can fall prey to, and Himiko being an example is not an outlier. These kids are all teenagers. They've barely emotionally matured yet a majority of them are like, demigods when it comes to mental fortitude or emotional maturity. Beyond even the average adult. Himiko is relatable because she is what all of us WOULD be in a killing game. We'd be anxious. We'd try to find a way to distract ourselves from the traumatizing events surrounding us. We'd close our emotions and try to guard ourselves mentally as well to keep ourselves alive. So we don't seem vulnerable, so we won't be the next victim.
I mean, I say we but I mostly mean myself. I dunno if most people will be like that. I am ASSUMING most people are like that, but maybe they're Kaedes instead who will take charge and make plans and get themselves killed in their ridiculously ambitious ploys. Who knows.
But yes. Himiko has shit taste. And you know, I haven't even spelled out the biggest reason she has the worst, most awful taste in the history of mankind.
Not liking Tenko. At least not immediately. At least not when she was flesh and soul, anyway. You know, the Tenko at her most Tenko. Living, I mean. Anyone who hates Tenko indeed has the worst, most awful taste in the history of mankind. I cannot relate. I cannot understand.
KIIBO.
I like that spelling of his name the best, btw.
But yes, Kiibo.
Often, when the opinionated threads come about and people throw around who the best cast of girls or boys in a game is, the boys of V3 stand out. They are apparently the best. And well, they are not wrong. Shuichi is a magnificent protagonist. Korekiyo is a fascinating, enthralling fountain of memes. I do not even have to say a word about Kokichi. Kaito is a solid Kamina. Ryoma was someone who I found myself wanting to learn so much about, with his unique backstory and his clinical depression. Gonta though simplified a little too much in the localization, was helpful in so many ways with noticing the clue words and the bugs, pointing out the strange constellations, being surprisingly more useful in the trials than one would expect, and having a tragic, pitiful end at the climax of chapter four. Rantaro was a plot device, but at least he has the excuse of having the least amount of screentime, and I guess he's eyecandy or whatever. (SHUICHI IS THE PRETTIEST BOY IN DANGANRONPA AND NO ONE CAN CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE)
Then there's Kiibo.
I do like Kiibo as a character. I like his personality, backstory. He also has some entertaining FTEs and one of the better Love Hotel segments. (I wager one of the best, actually) but in the context of the main plot.... he, like Rantaro, was ultimately a plot device. But again, Rantaro has the excuse of not living very long. Kiibo lasts the entire game.
...
Let me explain.
Kiibo doesn't really, at least during the main plot, form a cast herd with anybody. Like how you have Shuichi, Kaito, Maki, or the three girls Tenko, Himiko, and Angie. I sometimes see him with Kokichi, Gonta, and Miu as a quartet, which makes sense because they are all connected in some way, but not to each other directly. More like, Kiibo hangs out with Miu, who is murdered by Gonta, who is always manipulated by Kokichi, who always insults Miu, who also always insults Kiibo. I guess you could call this quartet Kokichi's bitches or something. But there's no strong connection between like, Kiibo and Kokichi, or Kiibo and Gonta. Kiibo's only really close to Miu, and Miu insults and belittles literally everyone, which leads us to one of Kiibo's biggest problems.
He EXISTS TO BE BULLIED.
When I read Kiibo's artbook notes, I was rather disappointed by the direction the writer was going with him. Apparently, one of the BIGGEST ASPECTS of Kiibo, planned from the get-go or at least planned meticulously, was that he would be bullied. Like all the time. His personality would be that of one who is easily bullied, and he'd have the assertiveness of a doormat, and the strength of a senior citizen. He is easily offended because of ROBOPHOBIA, and anytime he does pull out anything of that would make use of his unique robot talent, it'd be incredibly mundane. Some of these I did find amusing yes, but when he had no emotional connection to any character nor any plot going on, nor was ever like a suspect of any trial, or anything at all, it was easy to forget Kiibo existed. Often I'd try to remember the cast of V3, and name them off, and then name fifteen, and I've be like.... "wait didn't I get all of them? Who am I missing... .OH RIGHT KIIBO." Every. Single. Time.
Because for five chapters Kiibo was a joke. He existed only for this running gag. There wasn't anything expanded on his relationship with Miu that made Miu's death more heartbreaking like say Maki with Kaito, Himiko with Tenko, or Shuichi with Kaede. When it finally came time for Kiibo to be useful, and I mean useful in a way that didn't just directly come from Miu messing with his internals and giving him more features, but something Kiibo choose to do himself, it was all for the plot device. With Kiibo exploding everything, we can explore and investigate the school! With Kiibo with these badass powers, he can blow up a hole for the survivors to escape! With Kiibo being the audience surrogate, we can explain away his passivity throughout the entire game! Like at what point did Kiibo have any actual agency? Only when it was time to wrap up and conclude the plot.
The reason why I am so convinced of this is that Kiibo is just thrown away once he was no longer useful to the plot. A robot character in a setting where characters dying it is not only possible, BUT COMMONPLACE? They have literally zero chance of surviving. He self-destructs like how any other robot character in some touching movie might do as a heroic sacrifice to allow the rest to live.... which would be sad and touching and all, if Kiibo was ever respected as a standalone character.
But he wasn't. He was made the butt-of-the-joke for the entirety of the game, No one had any emotional attachment to him, befriended him, helped him get over his robot insecurities outside of FTEs, and when it came time to sacrifice himself no one cried. Because the game gave us no reason to cry for him, because the robot that exploded wasn't even the real Kiibo, but the ~OUTSIDE WORLD~ and the real Kiibo had already been erased. And none of the three survivors were like "OH NO POOR KIIBO, or KIIBO SACRIFICED HIMSELF FOR US, no. No, it was the outside world that chose for them to live, at least that was Shuichi's hypothesis. When Kiibo did die near the end of the trial, there was an attempt to make us feel sad that he was about to be erased, but it was done almost like an afterthought. It went by very fast, and like some characters were sad, like Himiko. Y'know, the character Kiibo's artbook entry mentioned that he considered one of the worst because she did a lot of the bullying near the end after characters like Kokichi and Miu weren't in the picture. And I'm not saying Himiko SHOULDN'T be sad, oh she should, but just the manner this whole death scene was written just felt insulting to Kiibo's character.
Even the writers did not see him beyond just a robot, beyond just a buttmonkey, beyond just a plot device. The writers THEMSELVES were robophobic.
Speaking of Himiko, when the first two chapters hinted that she was a victim of bullying, it makes it that much more odd that she did most of the Kiibo bullying post-Kokichi. I thought maybe they were making some sort of POIGNANT MESSAGE that lots of people who are bullied can also bully others, but ... since it was never brought up or actually hinted at... that's just wishful thinking or putting too much thought into it. They just did it because Kiibo did not exist to be anything but what he was. And that's sad. I see some Kiibo fans who dislike Himiko strongly for her treatment of Kiibo in chapters four and five, but I mean... while true that wasn't so much an aspect of Himiko but how Kiibo himself was written in the story. To be bullied. Literally no one came to his defence. Ever. Either a character bullied him or they just stood to the side and let it happen. If Kiibo was upset about something like say, the hydraulic press not stopping when it's meant to when it detects a living organism, no one really comforts Kiibo or whatever. I don't remember if Shuichi said anything but it feels like he only really treated Kiibo beyond as just some robot in the FTEs and Love Hotel, and not really anywhere else.
Kiibo deserved better. Deserved WAY better.
Now we shall return to our regular schedule of Danganronpa girls. GIRLS ONLY. BOYS DROOL. Unlike the boy category, V3 girls usually aren't picked for best cast of girls in the franchise. Now I have come up with many reasons why this is, as in why this is such a common opinion. Some of them are shallow, like say how the SDR2 girls tend to have goofier less three-dimensional backstories if any at all, and most of them are usually quite kind or fun, or relatively likable without any crippling flaws or whatever. You sympathize with Peko's plight. Everyone wants to be Ibuki's friend. Sonia's country is amusing. Chiaki is the most perfect waifu ever, etc. Sure you got characters like Saionji sticking out, but she's the ONLY one. It's like every single flaw that should be balanced out amongst the characters was shoehorned into JUST Saionji. ._. But yeah, I find that the SDR2 girls are very likable, but not as interesting as the V3 girls. Sure Akane has oodles of flaws and grates on some people, but she gets like, Nidai to keep her going and has an interesting backstory of a thousand siblings...
V3 meanwhile, has the most likable most perfect waifu material being Kaede. A leader archetype who is kind and assertive and takes charge!! She also tries to kill someone. Sure it was of noble intentions, but she also tries to kill someone with a well-thought out complicated plan that requires setting up in front of others who trust her like Shuichi, and doing so without anyone noticing. That is some cold-blooded premeditated shit right there. It's stuff like that that makes Kaede more interesting, more three-dimensional. Why, a perfect waifu character? HAVE HER TRY TO MURDER!!
Then we have Kirumi, who many have criticized as having the most wasted potential. While I see their point, I think personally I enjoyed Kirumi's character because it ripped apart the perfect maid persona I'm not especially fond of. You see, there is this Touhou character named Sakuya, a perfect and elegant maid. She has oodles of fans, and I can't for the life of me figure out why beyond she is cool. She's COOL. But what flaws does she have? What makes her beyond just, the perfect and elegant maid? We have no detail of any backstory. She's human and not supernatural but has one of the most powerful abilities, STOPPING TIME. For some reason she can throw knives with expert aim... why? How did she learn this? REFERENCE TO JOJO is not an excuse. And she is eternally devoted to Remilia... because... because reasons. Well okay. At least with future servant-like characters who tend to be fifth boss characters they have slightly more explanation to them. Youmu inherited the job from her grandfather. Reisen escaped from the Lunarian army and has taken refuge at Eientei. Sanae is Suwako's descendant. The youkai are the mansion owner's pets. The youkai are devoted to Byakuren's religion. Miko the most supreme leader and master of politics has some dumb minions stolen from two families fighting one another in a war Miko herself orchestrated. You know, REASONS!
Though I am super digressing at this point. People can perfectly like a character for just being cool. I just don't do that kind of thing. I'm the type of person who sees Tenko for the very first time and thinks that's the worst designed DR character ever, then discover her role and personality in the game itself and love her to pieces. Design be damned. In fact, I love Tenko's design now. Not just because I happen to like Tenko, but literally she is designed like so due to her personality. Tenko dresses like so because that's who she is. And that's beautiful.
But still, seeing Kirumi I was intrigued just because, well, it's Sakuya again, but in a setting like DR ANYTHING could happen that could make her more interesting, and even if for most it was lost potential or disappointing, or ridiculous like the random political backstory that came up , the fact that Kirumi actually ran from her execution without any care to appearance or elegance or to serve others or TO BE PERFECT or anything, was just damn awesome and refreshing. She's doing something out of her own selfish desire. She claims it is for her nation and her people, but if she genuinely believes people would be lost without her and her life is valued much higher than thirteen others, then yes. That is selfish. That's BEYOND selfish. That' seeing oneself as far superior over the rest, and it's like Kaede, such a nice twist to her character.
Angie... I have nothing. I am sorry.
The problem with Angie is, unlike the other two examples of characters who seem to perfect or hyper-competent who are humanized with real, fatal flaws, Angie is instead... like, not human? She is happy all the time. She has NO sprites that aren't happy or at least not content in some way. No negative emotion exists. I suppose not being a culprit doesn't help, but plenty of victims in this game are very human! Ryoma is relatable and sad, Tenko I cannot even stop talking about, Miu well, lol. And Kokichi... Imma stop. These examples are super obvious. Angie tho? What is Angie? A plot device maybe? I hesitate to go that far. After each execution she watches she is the only one smiling. She is praying to Atua of course, but who can fucking smile after two of the most brutal executions in the DR franchise? Being hung and swung around a bunch while being stoned and then ultimately crushed? Climbing a thorny vine, up through motorized saws just to crash back into the earth in a sickening thud of shattered bones and organs? I can't even take Angie seriously if she's meant to be some sort of example of how the writer views religion or whatever. Like she's written in a way I cannot even understand or relate to. She's a cult leader in the most straightforward of manners. Her talent is quite interesting but has nothing relevant when it comes to her personality, which is 100% Atua and spirituality. No shred of anything else except maybe a hint that Angie is lonely or whatever in an FTE...
Nope, still got nothing.
Even Korekiyo, infamous seesaw wielder and eager participant of familial relations is more human than Angie. His motive at least, in some way can be understandable. He wants his sister to be happy. That's his motive at its core. Sure, he's absolutely insane in viewing death being merely an inconvenience so him murdering girls over and over again doesn't seem morally wrong to him, but he can be angry, and sad, and upset, and cornered, etc. It seems like underneath the mountain of issues that is Kork, there was once a human there. It's visible under the mask, under the tulpa. His passion for anthropology is legit too. It feels real. He talks about it all the time and is able to relate to whatever situation is at the moment to something in his field, but he's not like 100% anthropology. I can feel his passion in it, but he's again, not 100% anthropology. His outfit is absurd looking. He spends eons doing his hair, so he has to wake up at like 6 in the morning to prepare for the day. Korekiyo is my third favourite character of V3. This is DESPITE murdering my waifu. This is DESPITE his crazy weird unnerving disturbing incest twist. He is THAT interesting.
But nah, got nothing for Angie.
Miu... well, Miu is hit or miss. Heck most if not all the V3 girls are hit or miss. The ones I really like are hit. Like REAL hit. Hit to the extreme, so I always rate the V3 gals like, #1 when it comes to best V3 cast. Miu is very hit for me. I enjoy her stupid vulgar humour, and her ability to not offend me when she, like seconds after we discover a body, immediately insults them. She calls Ryoma fish shit moments after his body is obliterated by Piranha, and Tenko "Cunt-fu" right after they find her body. I'M NOT OFFENDED! That's my waifu you're talking bout, Miu! But I don't care! I dunno how they did it but they made Miu work. I applaud the localization for Miu. Now yes, Miu's motive for attempting to murder that got her killed in chapter four kind of sucks. But I dunno, it still feels in-character. No one in-universe actually likes Miu that much due to how unpleasant she is, and Kiibo is unique in that Miu is able to upgrade him and such, so I can't really categorize that has genuine friendship exactly. So Miu feeling the same way back to everyone else, and being so full of herself and her ability that the world would be far worst-off without her on the outside inventing makes sense. Of course she'd try to murder. It's like Kirumi without the twist and far more amusing.
But beyond just vulgar jokes, Miu is human too. Shocking I know. She's a coward essentially. And revealed through the Love Hotel has some abandonment issues as well. With the FTEs with Kaede, she actually insults people for attention because she has no friends, and just wants company. It's actually rather sad, but it gives Miu dimension, so even if she did go out kind of idiotically... well, I mean. Miu's an idiot. So....
Well, V3's comedic relief characters are ridiculously good. Even if the ONLY character being comedic relief was Miu or Kokichi, it'd still be better than the first two games. I don't recall laughing at anything Nagito ever did, and Miu is like Hiyoko done right. Even when these two are gone we still had Himiko who was a solid number three in the chuckle category so that the ending wasn't all bleak and despair. I don't recall the survivors or last few characters of 1 or 2 providing any solid laughs. Hagakure doesn't fucking count whatsoever, and shame on you for even thinking of him. I guess Genocide Jack was good. DR2's jesters died with Ibuki and Gundam.
Anyway, Maki Harukawa, the opposite of comedy.
Yes she's Shadow the Hedgehog in Anime girl form. Yes she's ultra edgy. Yes her character arc is super cliche. Yes, it revolves entirely around Kaito. Yes she got away with too much and wasn't called out for trying to get everyone killed in the chapter five trial like Asahina did in DR1 chapter four. Yes she might be the creator's waifu. Okay, getting all THAT out of the way, I don't actually mind Maki that much. I mean wow she does have flaws. Like oodles and oodles of them! She's certainly human. I give her that. But yes props for getting the ultimate assassin to actually assassinate someone and then get away scott-free! Truly her talent shines above all.
No I'm not being sarcastic. I genuinely believe since Monokuma had no way to view how the chapter five murder took place, that Maki easily could have been the blackened, and being the Ultimate Assassin she probably was, but Kaito was executed anyway because I dunno he was instilling too much hope into the cast, and could have also killed Kokichi or whatever. Heroic sacrifices y'all. That's all I have to say about Maki.
Finally, we have Tsumugi. Yeah all that stuff about Kiibo? Also Tsumugi. Except replace the running gag of being bullied with anime references and PLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIN. I heard they put real effort into researching cosplay and her FTEs are pretty bountiful with some relatable cosplay events or such, but otherwise I cannot really think of much to say except, exists and then is the mastermind yaaaaayyyy.
I must reluctantly end this here as I am starving and tired and it is 4am. GOTTA STOP SOMEWHERE. I wrote about most characters maybe.
Nighto!
SO LET'S DO THE OPPOSITE!
Spoilers of course. Of fucking course.
Instead of picking apart something that has been picked apart for ages, like saying DRV3's very divisive ending, Imma talk about the characters who I love so much. The cast of V3 is the strongest of any of the games to date, and I have said many words or at least, thought many words of why this is so. But no matter how good characters are, they are not perfect, so here are some of my gripes about certain characters and what could have been done better.
Let's start off with Himiko, a character I defend to the death for!!
SHE HAS SHIT TASTE. THE END.
Okay, well by that I mean, her vision of Atua is simply a handsome man. Now, that's pretty boring and non-relatable. I say this as Himiko is the most relatable character I've ever encountered so anything I cannot even BEGIN to fathom at all annoys me more than usual. This of course also combines with my obvious bias in my shipping preferences, but I guess she can swing two ways maybe. The point is how boring her tastes are, and sometimes nonsensical or to the level of the most typical teenage girl that it makes me want to gag. Like how some girls unironically like Twilight and its characters. Himiko's wonderful and insightful love hotel event reveals she fantasizes about getting it on with a humanized wolf.
._.
BUT NOT ONLY THAT, in chapter four in I guess an attempt to expand Himiko's ability as the comedic relief, she was one of the few enthralled by the incestual soap opera-like escapades the remaining Monokubs were partaking on during announcements, as if she were not only into any plot that even involves incest, but shitty cliche soap operas too. Himiko. You do realize in LITERALLY THE VERY LAST CHAPTER, which was like, oh I dunno, YESTERDAY, the man who MURDERED YOUR TWO BEST FRIENDS did so because of his INFATUATION with his SISTER. INCEST MURDERED YOUR FRIENDS. WHY DO YOU LIKE TWO SHITTY BEAR SIBLINGS GETTING IT ON AND HAVING DRAMATIC ABUSIVE PLOTS OR WHATEVER. WHAT EVEN ARE YOU!??!?!??
Then in chapter five's trial, in a string of dialogue and events that I also found amusing among many others, was when Exisal Kokichi was messing around with Himiko (who granted, is incredibly easy to troll) and mentioned that Himiko liked him. Of course Himiko denied this because Kokichi had been a complete douchenozzle ruining everything and dividing everyone in everything at this point, having essentially ended the lives of two people a trial prior and is the mastermind responsible for the killing game (or at least what everyone believes at this point) so he is LITERALLY the WORST.
Himiko denies it and then rebutes with a strong, "NUH-UH, I HATE YOU!" Which is very reasonable. A perfectly normal human being would have such an opinion. Heck, anyone in this situation would. Almost everyone, even. (I mean this as an in-universe thing, as a character Kokichi is absolutely fascinating and I can totally understand his widespread popularity as annoying as it is when he's overexposed all over the place) But then Kokichi counters with,
"But I like yooooou~" like a kid teasing another on the playground.
And then Himiko blushes.
IT WAS FUNNY, YES. I chuckled. I laughed. OH BOY I was amused. But thinking about it logically.... wtf Himiko? It makes me think that, should she actually pursue a relationship with like...ANYBODY, she would be easily taken advantage of because she's so lovestruck. She'd be that girl who would stay with their abusive partner because of denial that they were abusive or a terrible person. She'd pursue the asshole bad boy simply because they were hot. And stay with them. Because they are hot. Heck in the same trial she enjoys Monokuma's antics and starts even coming around to him, like maybe he really is cute and really is on their side HIMIKO THIS BEAR EXECUTED ALL YOUR FRIENDS AND PUT YOU IN THIS HORRIFIC ORDEAL IN THE FIRST PLACE.
Which of course wraps around to OF COURSE this character drank the kool-aid. OF COURSE SHE WAS THE FIRST ONE TO. She must have been the absolute easiest person to convert in the history of Angie's time as an oracle.
I will say though, that just because Himiko appears so weak throughout the game doesn't necessarily mean she's like, weaker than average to a considerable degree. Sure she's the shortest girl, weighs the least, isn't strong physically whatsoever due to her laziness, and because of her weak will is even more vulnerable, but what I mean is compared to the rest of the cast she stands out as the weakest. I only point this out because I feel using the abusive partner example might imply that people in that situation are in that because they themselves are weak and it's their fault for having fallen into that situation in the first place. Of course not. It's something that anybody can fall prey to, and Himiko being an example is not an outlier. These kids are all teenagers. They've barely emotionally matured yet a majority of them are like, demigods when it comes to mental fortitude or emotional maturity. Beyond even the average adult. Himiko is relatable because she is what all of us WOULD be in a killing game. We'd be anxious. We'd try to find a way to distract ourselves from the traumatizing events surrounding us. We'd close our emotions and try to guard ourselves mentally as well to keep ourselves alive. So we don't seem vulnerable, so we won't be the next victim.
I mean, I say we but I mostly mean myself. I dunno if most people will be like that. I am ASSUMING most people are like that, but maybe they're Kaedes instead who will take charge and make plans and get themselves killed in their ridiculously ambitious ploys. Who knows.
But yes. Himiko has shit taste. And you know, I haven't even spelled out the biggest reason she has the worst, most awful taste in the history of mankind.
Not liking Tenko. At least not immediately. At least not when she was flesh and soul, anyway. You know, the Tenko at her most Tenko. Living, I mean. Anyone who hates Tenko indeed has the worst, most awful taste in the history of mankind. I cannot relate. I cannot understand.
KIIBO.
I like that spelling of his name the best, btw.
But yes, Kiibo.
Often, when the opinionated threads come about and people throw around who the best cast of girls or boys in a game is, the boys of V3 stand out. They are apparently the best. And well, they are not wrong. Shuichi is a magnificent protagonist. Korekiyo is a fascinating, enthralling fountain of memes. I do not even have to say a word about Kokichi. Kaito is a solid Kamina. Ryoma was someone who I found myself wanting to learn so much about, with his unique backstory and his clinical depression. Gonta though simplified a little too much in the localization, was helpful in so many ways with noticing the clue words and the bugs, pointing out the strange constellations, being surprisingly more useful in the trials than one would expect, and having a tragic, pitiful end at the climax of chapter four. Rantaro was a plot device, but at least he has the excuse of having the least amount of screentime, and I guess he's eyecandy or whatever. (SHUICHI IS THE PRETTIEST BOY IN DANGANRONPA AND NO ONE CAN CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE)
Then there's Kiibo.
I do like Kiibo as a character. I like his personality, backstory. He also has some entertaining FTEs and one of the better Love Hotel segments. (I wager one of the best, actually) but in the context of the main plot.... he, like Rantaro, was ultimately a plot device. But again, Rantaro has the excuse of not living very long. Kiibo lasts the entire game.
...
Let me explain.
Kiibo doesn't really, at least during the main plot, form a cast herd with anybody. Like how you have Shuichi, Kaito, Maki, or the three girls Tenko, Himiko, and Angie. I sometimes see him with Kokichi, Gonta, and Miu as a quartet, which makes sense because they are all connected in some way, but not to each other directly. More like, Kiibo hangs out with Miu, who is murdered by Gonta, who is always manipulated by Kokichi, who always insults Miu, who also always insults Kiibo. I guess you could call this quartet Kokichi's bitches or something. But there's no strong connection between like, Kiibo and Kokichi, or Kiibo and Gonta. Kiibo's only really close to Miu, and Miu insults and belittles literally everyone, which leads us to one of Kiibo's biggest problems.
He EXISTS TO BE BULLIED.
When I read Kiibo's artbook notes, I was rather disappointed by the direction the writer was going with him. Apparently, one of the BIGGEST ASPECTS of Kiibo, planned from the get-go or at least planned meticulously, was that he would be bullied. Like all the time. His personality would be that of one who is easily bullied, and he'd have the assertiveness of a doormat, and the strength of a senior citizen. He is easily offended because of ROBOPHOBIA, and anytime he does pull out anything of that would make use of his unique robot talent, it'd be incredibly mundane. Some of these I did find amusing yes, but when he had no emotional connection to any character nor any plot going on, nor was ever like a suspect of any trial, or anything at all, it was easy to forget Kiibo existed. Often I'd try to remember the cast of V3, and name them off, and then name fifteen, and I've be like.... "wait didn't I get all of them? Who am I missing... .OH RIGHT KIIBO." Every. Single. Time.
Because for five chapters Kiibo was a joke. He existed only for this running gag. There wasn't anything expanded on his relationship with Miu that made Miu's death more heartbreaking like say Maki with Kaito, Himiko with Tenko, or Shuichi with Kaede. When it finally came time for Kiibo to be useful, and I mean useful in a way that didn't just directly come from Miu messing with his internals and giving him more features, but something Kiibo choose to do himself, it was all for the plot device. With Kiibo exploding everything, we can explore and investigate the school! With Kiibo with these badass powers, he can blow up a hole for the survivors to escape! With Kiibo being the audience surrogate, we can explain away his passivity throughout the entire game! Like at what point did Kiibo have any actual agency? Only when it was time to wrap up and conclude the plot.
The reason why I am so convinced of this is that Kiibo is just thrown away once he was no longer useful to the plot. A robot character in a setting where characters dying it is not only possible, BUT COMMONPLACE? They have literally zero chance of surviving. He self-destructs like how any other robot character in some touching movie might do as a heroic sacrifice to allow the rest to live.... which would be sad and touching and all, if Kiibo was ever respected as a standalone character.
But he wasn't. He was made the butt-of-the-joke for the entirety of the game, No one had any emotional attachment to him, befriended him, helped him get over his robot insecurities outside of FTEs, and when it came time to sacrifice himself no one cried. Because the game gave us no reason to cry for him, because the robot that exploded wasn't even the real Kiibo, but the ~OUTSIDE WORLD~ and the real Kiibo had already been erased. And none of the three survivors were like "OH NO POOR KIIBO, or KIIBO SACRIFICED HIMSELF FOR US, no. No, it was the outside world that chose for them to live, at least that was Shuichi's hypothesis. When Kiibo did die near the end of the trial, there was an attempt to make us feel sad that he was about to be erased, but it was done almost like an afterthought. It went by very fast, and like some characters were sad, like Himiko. Y'know, the character Kiibo's artbook entry mentioned that he considered one of the worst because she did a lot of the bullying near the end after characters like Kokichi and Miu weren't in the picture. And I'm not saying Himiko SHOULDN'T be sad, oh she should, but just the manner this whole death scene was written just felt insulting to Kiibo's character.
Even the writers did not see him beyond just a robot, beyond just a buttmonkey, beyond just a plot device. The writers THEMSELVES were robophobic.
Speaking of Himiko, when the first two chapters hinted that she was a victim of bullying, it makes it that much more odd that she did most of the Kiibo bullying post-Kokichi. I thought maybe they were making some sort of POIGNANT MESSAGE that lots of people who are bullied can also bully others, but ... since it was never brought up or actually hinted at... that's just wishful thinking or putting too much thought into it. They just did it because Kiibo did not exist to be anything but what he was. And that's sad. I see some Kiibo fans who dislike Himiko strongly for her treatment of Kiibo in chapters four and five, but I mean... while true that wasn't so much an aspect of Himiko but how Kiibo himself was written in the story. To be bullied. Literally no one came to his defence. Ever. Either a character bullied him or they just stood to the side and let it happen. If Kiibo was upset about something like say, the hydraulic press not stopping when it's meant to when it detects a living organism, no one really comforts Kiibo or whatever. I don't remember if Shuichi said anything but it feels like he only really treated Kiibo beyond as just some robot in the FTEs and Love Hotel, and not really anywhere else.
Kiibo deserved better. Deserved WAY better.
Now we shall return to our regular schedule of Danganronpa girls. GIRLS ONLY. BOYS DROOL. Unlike the boy category, V3 girls usually aren't picked for best cast of girls in the franchise. Now I have come up with many reasons why this is, as in why this is such a common opinion. Some of them are shallow, like say how the SDR2 girls tend to have goofier less three-dimensional backstories if any at all, and most of them are usually quite kind or fun, or relatively likable without any crippling flaws or whatever. You sympathize with Peko's plight. Everyone wants to be Ibuki's friend. Sonia's country is amusing. Chiaki is the most perfect waifu ever, etc. Sure you got characters like Saionji sticking out, but she's the ONLY one. It's like every single flaw that should be balanced out amongst the characters was shoehorned into JUST Saionji. ._. But yeah, I find that the SDR2 girls are very likable, but not as interesting as the V3 girls. Sure Akane has oodles of flaws and grates on some people, but she gets like, Nidai to keep her going and has an interesting backstory of a thousand siblings...
V3 meanwhile, has the most likable most perfect waifu material being Kaede. A leader archetype who is kind and assertive and takes charge!! She also tries to kill someone. Sure it was of noble intentions, but she also tries to kill someone with a well-thought out complicated plan that requires setting up in front of others who trust her like Shuichi, and doing so without anyone noticing. That is some cold-blooded premeditated shit right there. It's stuff like that that makes Kaede more interesting, more three-dimensional. Why, a perfect waifu character? HAVE HER TRY TO MURDER!!
Then we have Kirumi, who many have criticized as having the most wasted potential. While I see their point, I think personally I enjoyed Kirumi's character because it ripped apart the perfect maid persona I'm not especially fond of. You see, there is this Touhou character named Sakuya, a perfect and elegant maid. She has oodles of fans, and I can't for the life of me figure out why beyond she is cool. She's COOL. But what flaws does she have? What makes her beyond just, the perfect and elegant maid? We have no detail of any backstory. She's human and not supernatural but has one of the most powerful abilities, STOPPING TIME. For some reason she can throw knives with expert aim... why? How did she learn this? REFERENCE TO JOJO is not an excuse. And she is eternally devoted to Remilia... because... because reasons. Well okay. At least with future servant-like characters who tend to be fifth boss characters they have slightly more explanation to them. Youmu inherited the job from her grandfather. Reisen escaped from the Lunarian army and has taken refuge at Eientei. Sanae is Suwako's descendant. The youkai are the mansion owner's pets. The youkai are devoted to Byakuren's religion. Miko the most supreme leader and master of politics has some dumb minions stolen from two families fighting one another in a war Miko herself orchestrated. You know, REASONS!
Though I am super digressing at this point. People can perfectly like a character for just being cool. I just don't do that kind of thing. I'm the type of person who sees Tenko for the very first time and thinks that's the worst designed DR character ever, then discover her role and personality in the game itself and love her to pieces. Design be damned. In fact, I love Tenko's design now. Not just because I happen to like Tenko, but literally she is designed like so due to her personality. Tenko dresses like so because that's who she is. And that's beautiful.
But still, seeing Kirumi I was intrigued just because, well, it's Sakuya again, but in a setting like DR ANYTHING could happen that could make her more interesting, and even if for most it was lost potential or disappointing, or ridiculous like the random political backstory that came up , the fact that Kirumi actually ran from her execution without any care to appearance or elegance or to serve others or TO BE PERFECT or anything, was just damn awesome and refreshing. She's doing something out of her own selfish desire. She claims it is for her nation and her people, but if she genuinely believes people would be lost without her and her life is valued much higher than thirteen others, then yes. That is selfish. That's BEYOND selfish. That' seeing oneself as far superior over the rest, and it's like Kaede, such a nice twist to her character.
Angie... I have nothing. I am sorry.
The problem with Angie is, unlike the other two examples of characters who seem to perfect or hyper-competent who are humanized with real, fatal flaws, Angie is instead... like, not human? She is happy all the time. She has NO sprites that aren't happy or at least not content in some way. No negative emotion exists. I suppose not being a culprit doesn't help, but plenty of victims in this game are very human! Ryoma is relatable and sad, Tenko I cannot even stop talking about, Miu well, lol. And Kokichi... Imma stop. These examples are super obvious. Angie tho? What is Angie? A plot device maybe? I hesitate to go that far. After each execution she watches she is the only one smiling. She is praying to Atua of course, but who can fucking smile after two of the most brutal executions in the DR franchise? Being hung and swung around a bunch while being stoned and then ultimately crushed? Climbing a thorny vine, up through motorized saws just to crash back into the earth in a sickening thud of shattered bones and organs? I can't even take Angie seriously if she's meant to be some sort of example of how the writer views religion or whatever. Like she's written in a way I cannot even understand or relate to. She's a cult leader in the most straightforward of manners. Her talent is quite interesting but has nothing relevant when it comes to her personality, which is 100% Atua and spirituality. No shred of anything else except maybe a hint that Angie is lonely or whatever in an FTE...
Nope, still got nothing.
Even Korekiyo, infamous seesaw wielder and eager participant of familial relations is more human than Angie. His motive at least, in some way can be understandable. He wants his sister to be happy. That's his motive at its core. Sure, he's absolutely insane in viewing death being merely an inconvenience so him murdering girls over and over again doesn't seem morally wrong to him, but he can be angry, and sad, and upset, and cornered, etc. It seems like underneath the mountain of issues that is Kork, there was once a human there. It's visible under the mask, under the tulpa. His passion for anthropology is legit too. It feels real. He talks about it all the time and is able to relate to whatever situation is at the moment to something in his field, but he's not like 100% anthropology. I can feel his passion in it, but he's again, not 100% anthropology. His outfit is absurd looking. He spends eons doing his hair, so he has to wake up at like 6 in the morning to prepare for the day. Korekiyo is my third favourite character of V3. This is DESPITE murdering my waifu. This is DESPITE his crazy weird unnerving disturbing incest twist. He is THAT interesting.
But nah, got nothing for Angie.
Miu... well, Miu is hit or miss. Heck most if not all the V3 girls are hit or miss. The ones I really like are hit. Like REAL hit. Hit to the extreme, so I always rate the V3 gals like, #1 when it comes to best V3 cast. Miu is very hit for me. I enjoy her stupid vulgar humour, and her ability to not offend me when she, like seconds after we discover a body, immediately insults them. She calls Ryoma fish shit moments after his body is obliterated by Piranha, and Tenko "Cunt-fu" right after they find her body. I'M NOT OFFENDED! That's my waifu you're talking bout, Miu! But I don't care! I dunno how they did it but they made Miu work. I applaud the localization for Miu. Now yes, Miu's motive for attempting to murder that got her killed in chapter four kind of sucks. But I dunno, it still feels in-character. No one in-universe actually likes Miu that much due to how unpleasant she is, and Kiibo is unique in that Miu is able to upgrade him and such, so I can't really categorize that has genuine friendship exactly. So Miu feeling the same way back to everyone else, and being so full of herself and her ability that the world would be far worst-off without her on the outside inventing makes sense. Of course she'd try to murder. It's like Kirumi without the twist and far more amusing.
But beyond just vulgar jokes, Miu is human too. Shocking I know. She's a coward essentially. And revealed through the Love Hotel has some abandonment issues as well. With the FTEs with Kaede, she actually insults people for attention because she has no friends, and just wants company. It's actually rather sad, but it gives Miu dimension, so even if she did go out kind of idiotically... well, I mean. Miu's an idiot. So....
Well, V3's comedic relief characters are ridiculously good. Even if the ONLY character being comedic relief was Miu or Kokichi, it'd still be better than the first two games. I don't recall laughing at anything Nagito ever did, and Miu is like Hiyoko done right. Even when these two are gone we still had Himiko who was a solid number three in the chuckle category so that the ending wasn't all bleak and despair. I don't recall the survivors or last few characters of 1 or 2 providing any solid laughs. Hagakure doesn't fucking count whatsoever, and shame on you for even thinking of him. I guess Genocide Jack was good. DR2's jesters died with Ibuki and Gundam.
Anyway, Maki Harukawa, the opposite of comedy.
Yes she's Shadow the Hedgehog in Anime girl form. Yes she's ultra edgy. Yes her character arc is super cliche. Yes, it revolves entirely around Kaito. Yes she got away with too much and wasn't called out for trying to get everyone killed in the chapter five trial like Asahina did in DR1 chapter four. Yes she might be the creator's waifu. Okay, getting all THAT out of the way, I don't actually mind Maki that much. I mean wow she does have flaws. Like oodles and oodles of them! She's certainly human. I give her that. But yes props for getting the ultimate assassin to actually assassinate someone and then get away scott-free! Truly her talent shines above all.
No I'm not being sarcastic. I genuinely believe since Monokuma had no way to view how the chapter five murder took place, that Maki easily could have been the blackened, and being the Ultimate Assassin she probably was, but Kaito was executed anyway because I dunno he was instilling too much hope into the cast, and could have also killed Kokichi or whatever. Heroic sacrifices y'all. That's all I have to say about Maki.
Finally, we have Tsumugi. Yeah all that stuff about Kiibo? Also Tsumugi. Except replace the running gag of being bullied with anime references and PLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIN. I heard they put real effort into researching cosplay and her FTEs are pretty bountiful with some relatable cosplay events or such, but otherwise I cannot really think of much to say except, exists and then is the mastermind yaaaaayyyy.
I must reluctantly end this here as I am starving and tired and it is 4am. GOTTA STOP SOMEWHERE. I wrote about most characters maybe.
Nighto!
