I would even say "Virtue's Last Reward" was a better sequel to "999", since it took things you thought you know and turned them on their head - but I love this one as well.
In terms of improvements from the original, I'd say Kid Icarus Uprising. Yes. KIU is very different from the original, but it's what the series needed.
Fun fact: If you replay Chapter 4 knowing that Gundham is the blackened, you'll notice that during the trial he was trying to nudge the others into the right direction by making the right questions and even laughing at completely wrong assumptions. Also, in his Closing Argument sprite, Gundham is smiling, but the Four Dark Devas look worried about him. Naturally, they're hamsters, so they couldn't possibly know what was going on. That implies that they were worried because they could feel that, under his villain persona, Gundham was actually scared.
@@nauseaeffect his free time events are so wholesome like *I ate poison during my whole life so I wouldn't make my mother sad* He's so precious gimme a gundham plushie rn
I know it’s supposed to be sad and sweet but having 11037 be the password is so funny to me. Like I just imagine Leon’s ghost going “cmon man! One mistake!”
it would be funny (albeit narrative-destroying) if you could skip most of the game just by guessing the password early it's also funny just because it's a meme
Fun Fact about Teru-Teru's portrait after he'd been executed! Many will notice and point out that instead of the regular cross, he was given a knife and fork crossed over eachother. However, what some may not know is that in restaurants and the such, if a customer finishes eating and crosses their cutlery over eachother in an X like fashion, this means that they found the meal unsatisfactory and disgusting, while simply setting the cutlery side by side means that you enjoyed the meal. I don't know if this was added in on purpose, or if they just wanted to use cutlery as a reference to Teru-Teru's talent, but I think it was pretty neat ^^
i was told it was a way of showing waiters that you were finished with your meal so they know to take the plates. I fear I may have unknowingly offended numerous restaurant chefs
One neat detail that's worth noting about chapter 5: By forcing you to choose one of 6 people to be the one who killed him, he puts you into a 1/6 chance just like the Russian roulette he played in chapter 4
Indeed, his case was a reflection of his character, exactly like chapter 5 of V3 Nagito's case = the unpredictability of chance, something that can't be quantify with rationality, making it the only case that can't be solved with rational guesses, like how Hajime pointed out Kokichi's case = the enigma and the constant guess of the identity of the person in the Exisal, which is the same question that people applied to Kokichi: who is he really? making it the only case where you aren't allowed to trust anything or anyone, not even rationality
Yeah... I first played this game during one of the Covid lockdowns. All the characters refusing to isolate or properly protect themselves hit differently than it would have when it was written...
Monokuma probably took all the PPE out of the hospital to make sure that would happen. I can't imagine she would ever make a mistake like that on her own.
I wanna just point out a little fun fact for those that might not be aware, but the use of the repeated "Hello World!" in the chapter 6 pre-trial is a reference to the most basic of beginning coder examples, which almost always create a simplistic program that spits out the phrase "Hello World!"
Sdr2 feels like, a more mature older sibling to dr1. It feels like thematically, dr1 was the setup for dr2's punchline, like 2 was the answer to 1's question. In dr1, the cast were all kids with mostly okay lives. In 2, theyre all explicitly from backgrounds that traumatized them in some way- pressure, poverty, abuse, neglect, etc. I think you put it very aptly when you said that dr1 was the graduates, while dr2 was the dropouts. I think thats why many people find the second cast more likable- theyre more relatable, in so far as such cartoonish characters can be. And I think that while hope and despair are considered the universal theme of the games, dr2 made a point of rejecting that dichotomy. The power that pushes Hajime isnt *hope*, necessarily- hes a little too cynical for that. His power is just straight up Determination. Makoto's philosophy is, "I believe things can be better than this," but Hajime's was "Fuck you, things are GOING to be better. I wont accept anything else" Dr1 pushed hope and optimism. Dr2 shook that off, and decided that no, sometimes you cant be optimistic. Sometimes shit is just awful. But thats when you double down and refuse to stop, when you push twice as hard, and you just keep Living, because thats the one thing you cant ever give up on. Sorry that was kind of a tangent. Anyway, loved the vid!!
The shift in protagonist was something that made me really like the game. Makoto is very optimistic, and it works, being the Ultimate Hope and all. But Hajime is so cynical, so done with everyone else’s bullshit that it really drew me to this story. He doesn’t believe things will get better, he will make them better.
1:25:58 - I think the key in-universe difference that causes the DR2 cast to feel like a group of friends more so than the DR1 casts is the circumstances in which they first meet. The DR1 cast all wake up lost and confused locked inside of a school, and have barely been able to say hello to each other before they are told that they've all been kidnapped to kill each other. Meanwhile the DR2 casts wake up lost and confused on a tropical island resort, where they get to spend almost a full day getting to know each other after being told that their stay at the island is a trip made to make them all become friends with one another. And only as the day is going to conclude does Monokuma show up and do his hostile takeover and turn it into a murder game. This all sets up two very different expectations for each group. With one, they are all perfect strangers who are kidnapped for the explicit purpose to kill each other in a killing game. With the other they were all enjoying a school trip together with their new classmates they had just met when they were all *collectively* kidnapped and told to kill each other in a killing game. This means that the DR2 cast would be immediately inclined to have a "Us vs Monokuma" mentality as they were all taken as a group instead of as individuals, whilst the DR1 cast would have a "It's me vs Monokuma vs possibly everyone else." mentality.
Excellent point. This difference in mentality between the DR1 cast and DR2 cast is also depicted throughout the motives of the killers, if you look at it from a certain POV. The motives of the DR2 cast are (generally) more selfless than the DR1 cast. Take Case 1 for example. Both Sayaka and Teruteru wanted to return to their friends and family as they were worried about them. However, while Sayaka also wanted to frame Makoto for her crime, Teruteru wanted to stop Nagito from committing a murder. Keep in mind that Makoto and Sayaka were the only ones who knew each other previously, and yet she still tried to frame him. These openers basically set the tone for the rest of the game. The killing school life makes for a much more distrustful environment than the killing school trip. Case 2: Mondo kills Chihiro out of jealousy, while Peko kills Mahiru to save Fuyuhiko. Case 3: Celeste not only framed Yasuhiro but also backstabbed Hifumi, her partner in crime. I realize Mikan's motive is not really selfless/understandable but I don't count her because technically it was the Remnant of Despair version of Mikan who committed the murder, not the Mikan we know in the game. Case 4: Both killers technically sacrificed themselves to save their classmates, the difference being that Gundam's sacrifice saved his classmates from starvation while while in DR1 the environment was so distrustful that Sakura saw literally no other option than to kill herself to save her classmates from that distrust.
The 3rd chapter could’ve been made so much better if her motive was more: “I’m going to put the sick out of their misery” and then her disease kicks in during the trial once she is actually called out, the accusation triggering the disease to bring her memory back. Also it wouldve benefited from a completely different execution, or at least tweek it to have it fit her more (maybe have her be forced to OD or be fried by a defibrillator or something medical like that) Idk just some ideas
DEFINITELY agree with the complaints of her execution and general treatment by the narrative. That motive is interesting, but an idea I heard once that I really like was that of her motive being the same, but her forgetting again afterwards. It would have drummed up interest to what the memories are but also would’ve had a cool twist where the culprit doesn’t remember, much like (redacted).
IDK I kinda like how her motive is. At this point in the game everyone kinda has seen each other as friends and I think her turn was perfect in how unsettling it is. She didn't do this for alturistic reasons, or some sort of sympathetic motive. She did it for the no good reason and I find that really compelling. Everyone was such good friends yet Mikan just learning about her memories made her completely cast away all that and almost kill everyone. It makes the half way point of this game end on a really sad note. There's no closure for anyone, the survivors can't even understand or reason with Mikan now. The Mikan we knew effectively already died and we're left with a character we can't come close to understand. I feel like it's a perfect half way point, we're left with so many questions and mysteries and we also have hit our lowest in the game for the group to now climb back up in the latter half of the game. It's one of the few times in a DR game where I cared about the lost memories of these characters.
Actually by Schaffrillas’s definitions I think DR2 is a perfect sequel - It expanded the universe - it continued the story - it continued and expanded upon the themes of the previous entry - and it left an undeniable impression on the franchise
If you're wondering why (Improved) Hangman's Gambit earns much ire from fans, here's a weird explanation: The reason why this minigame is probably the hardest to beat and takes the longest to beat is disgustingly linked to how Danganronpa was brought overseas. Spike Chunsoft didn't translate the DR games themselves, instead hiring NIS America to publish the games outside the west. As a result of this method of translation, the keywords got extended by a hefty amount of boxes. For example, "Under The Floor" was once conveyed as “ゆかした“, which was four Hiragana characters; it became a sizable thirteen English letters after conversion. This is to be expected, since the Japanese language, in any form, sometimes convey similar ideas with a less amount of characters than English letters. However, what was _not_ expected was that Spike Chunsoft programmed the difficulty (i.e., the rate at which orbs spawned) around the original Japanese version. So, using the first (I)HG as an example, the reason why the letters slowly spawn in was because it was designed around a word with four boxes in total to fill, not thirteen. By that notion, it should've been an easy start, but because of how this game was localized, the time it took to beat and the difficulty were artificially bloated. So, there you have it. 80% of Hangman's Gambit's difficulty come from the unfortunate consequences of localization from an outside party. I don’t know if NIS were allowed to test the game against their translations or not, but I think the lack of that led to what we got. The reason why the "Cause Of Death" section in trial 5 was an orb-spawnning hell was because the original Japanese keyword was “しいん”, literally three characters long. _THREE._ Here's a link to the Japanese playthrough of DR2 if you're interested in how the other keywords faired in length: th-cam.com/play/PLTAgn8difgab8Epqxj8ARTfdzR5-iVDop.html Edit: edited the comment to add the original words. Turns out, it’s real easy to find a Hiragana keyboard online.
Honestly I loved that minigame, it's probably my favorite from the first two games. Perhaps because how challenging it is, specially in the last chapters. Also thankfully you've got plenty of health, even in the highest difficulties, so losing some letters isn't that annoying.
Didn't know I could hate NIS america anymore than I currently do so thanks for the explanation! Seriously considered dropping SDR2 cause of that trash and that WOULD'VE BEEN A HUGE MISTAKE.
Thank you for pointing out the analogies between the SDR2 cast andhighschool dropouts/social outcasts. All of these character's are outcasts in some way, and as a social outcast who dropped out of highschool.. it really goes to show that people who drop out can still be happy! (Also thank you for dispelling Nagito slander because I personally have done research on how his illnesses have effects on developing minds.)
fun fact: when you interact with the dead students mailboxes and they show the glitched text, Chiaki’s text shows the Konami Code, but I find it interesting when she said the A and B in the wrong order Idk if this is meant to say anything, but I personally interpreted it as Chiaki sacrificing herself to save the remaining students, but put in the code wrong so she didn’t end up saving everyone until everyone saved themselves in the final trial but that’s just my theory o>o
I think there are different versions of the code actually... idk much but I've heard that pressing select instead of B, A gives lives to multiple players instead of just player 1, your theory is good but perhaps reversing the letters does something similar irl? Like providing everyone else with extra life
You know, I gotta be honest... I hadn't really considered the angle of the struggles of the first two Danganronpas to be related to the struggle of transitioning from a childhood defined by school to adulthood before. I think I can even chalk that up to the fact that they both came out long after I'd already graduated and had already been through a lot of heartache as a result of HOW I entered adulthood. I had dreaded the future, but plunged into it anyway. And I ended up in the Failure bracket for a long time-- arguably, I'm still there. The "Dropout". The one who was never really going to make it. These games came out after I'd already dropped out of college, and while the premise intrigued me (this being back before they were easily accessible to an English audience, never mind through the likes of Steam), I hadn't really put my finger on why, precisely, until you pointed it out. Leaving High School as one of the Talented People expected to have some kind of future- even if I struggled to graduate due to other circumstances- I remember being terrified to fail as an adult. So DR1 felt familiar to my psychological state back then. But DR2 hits closer to my experiences for EXACTLY the reasons you outlined here. Staying in school isn't appealing when you're already failing at it. Graduating doesn't appeal when you're convinced that you're going to fail at adulthood, either. You get stuck in a cycle of despair, a limbo in a chasm too wide to have made it across, that others seem to barely have to hop over. The jealousy that can come from that can lead to a lot of destructive, toxic behavior; self-destructive, and destructive to others. Attitudes like "Kids younger than me are succeeding at stuff I'm still struggling to do" are really easy to fall into, and while I never particularly felt the temptation to tear other people down, I understand the jealousy all too well. Junko isn't just some master manipulator. She's the voice in your own head telling you to give up, to become empty, to conform to a status quo, to let someone else dictate what you do. When you're afraid of messing up, following someone else's direction absolves you of the responsibility of failing. You can languish in a comfortable prison and let yourself get swept up in a sea of apathy alongside everyone else around you who ALSO emptied out and became numb. Junko represents a particular kind of infection, one that people who have been wounded by trauma have to be more diligent at treating. And knowing that there are more paths to living your life, finding your own way, can be the neosporin under the bandage-- it doesn't fix everything, but damn if it doesn't give you a better chance at healing. ....Anyway this overdramatic, overwrought essay is brought to you by You Make A Good Point I Hadn't Considered Before. Thank you for making these retrospective videos; I feel like they're a retrospective of more than just the games, but certain things a good chunk of us who flock to these games go through, too. Great job!!
I feel like you just looked in my soul! Cause I’m kinda going through the same thing right now so I feel a bit more motivated to move forward. Thank you so much for commenting this! I’m still kinda scared about failing but I do wanna move forward and actually live for myself! I hope you’re having a great day/evening/night!
@@ellyhig5928 Fear of failure is pretty common, and the best way to combat it is to accept that you WILL fail at some things. Some things you won't get immediately, and take time to adjust and course correct. You're already doing your best to keep moving forward despite that fear, and despite the potential failure, and to that extent you embody the likes of Naegi-- having hope despite the odds against it. Keep on with it. You might not end up on the path you think you're supposed to be on, but every experience- good OR bad- helps you grow. Failing is one of them. Continuing DESPITE failure is the REAL test of character, and it sounds like you're already on top of that. I wish you the best with that going forward!
@Born2run Hmm. Given that the ones who die are doing so at the hands of someone else, I'm not sure that it's so simplified as "giving up". The "giving up" are the people who give into despair, the ones who shut down because they don't see any hope in their future, maybe even buying into the "Be the toughest to get what you want" attitude that I think is sadly very prominent. Willing to throw someone else under the bus. I think the ones who are killed are those whom the system failed. Whether they're "The Hope Of The Future" in DR1, where the pressure is too high on them to excel, and they crack from that pressure. Or, they're already written off as failures (DR2), who end up slipping through the cracks and end up in tragic fates. A different kind of giving up, maybe, or even people who are left with no support when they need it. I'm not the arbiter of what these things ACTUALLY mean, I'm more just sharing what feels accurate to me. XD It's just one interpretation.
something I've been thinking about with the end of the game: one of Junkos last temptations is pitting Hinata's individual interests against the interests of the group. However, after he awakens, he makes the choice to care for others, definitely not what we would call "selfish", yet he still claims "it's not for anyone except myself!". I think it's a good display of how individual and group interests don't necessarily have to be at odds with one another. Hinata IS being selfish, but that still doesn't mean he disregards his friends or what they want. He synthesized his individual interests with the groups interests rather than seeing them as completely separate.
Anyone else notice that pretty much all the talents in SDR2 are all talents that can be cultivated WITHOUT schooling. Think Gamer, Yakuza, Musician, Imposter. A lot of these are skills that don’t need the school environment to be maximized, or actually benefit from being cultivated OUTSIDE of school. It better fits that idea of them being the “Dropouts”.
what? not they're not Most of them need people to teach them. For example, try learning to play any instrument without an instructor, or how to take care of animals by trial and error, and the progress will be much slower than if someone teaches you how to do them (and you'll fill a whole pet cemetery) Heck, being an imposter implies learning tons of skills to imitate your targets, which requires a large tuition
@@sasir2013 I believe the OP meant that a typical school establishment and enviroment (like public school) would not be neccessary in learning these skills and I don't believe OP was implying that you can learn these things/skills completely without guidance.
@@talzaenvy But that applies to most talents in DR1. You don't learn in school how to make doujinshis, be an idol, manage a company, solve cases, read the future, fight, bet, manage a gang, be a serial killer, be a soldier, be a fashionista...
Nagito that has the LIERS DISEASE: Hajime go away, i hate you, I don't want you to ever be near me at all, leave me a lone. Hajime who is taking his lies seriously and being a dumbass: okay geez.. I'll leave
That’s pretty much their relationship in the game, and I find it hilarious Nagito: *trying to drop hints that he has a crush on Hajime* Hajime: I don’t understand what he wants from me…
While I agree that Hiyoko's death being so soon is a massive loss on a big character arc, I also agree that that is the entire point; she was just collateral damage, hell, even damage control. And her dying before her character could really develop is what makes it so sad to me. In my first playthrough, I spent quite a lot free time with Hiyoko, and her free time events really suggests that, had she lived through the rest of the game, she could have gone through major character development - but then she doesn't. She just dies. And she wasn't even the one that Mikan wanted to actually kill. I personally thought that aspect of the chapter was really well made, as it personally hit me really hard, but I can also see why people wouldn't be fond of it, as it really can feel like a cop out.
I feel like this premise of Mikan and Hyoko could have worked if Danganronpa went into a slightly different direction with Mikans memories. What if, foe example, she got some of her school memories before she turned into a remnant again and remembered Hyoko bullying her even then. I feel like Danganronpa could have explored themes of bullying and if Hyoko even deserves to be forgiven by Mikan. It could have also explored when vengeance that is justified in the beginning goes too far. It’s undeniable that Hyoko was significantly more horrible to Mikan before and during this game so I think the Character dynamic of these two fits well for the chapter. It also makes Hyokos attempt to change even more tragic in my eyes they could have utilized it more cleverly to show what the effect of her bullying was and that even if she changes Mikan is still traumatized.
It really bothers me how mikan killing hiyoko has absolutely zero relation for hiyoko being a superbully towards mikan.Its not even mentioned as a possibility for mikan being the culprit once.
Should have been Fuyuhiko instead imo, considering how utterly melodramtic his role in 2-2 was his death would be more unexpected and also, kinda bullshit that Fuyuhiko "i got Mahiru killed because she annoyed me and only felt bad once my gf died" Kuzuryu lived and not Hiyoko
@@namkwal Yeah it would have been so much better if the game brought in a cliche motive that equates Hiyoko being a bit of a bitch to Mikan murdering her in cold blood? Oh wait no
@@tomgibson6801 I wholeheartedly disagree about Fuyuhiko dying. He is one of the most developed characters from any of these games. However, I also really wish that Hiyoko didn't die either. There was a seriously missed opportunity for Fuyuhiko and Hiyoko to fill the voids in each others' lives after trial 2 in the form of a sibling-like relationship. I think that having the two of them survive until the end was missed potential, it would've turned two of the most initially unlikable characters into two of the most developed and interesting ones. Having Hiyoko slowly come to forgive Fuyuhiko for his role in Mahiru's death and for Fuyuhiko to start to look out for her in a way similar to how Mahiru did would've been an absolutely excellent direction to take their characters. If anyone should've died it should've been Akane. She doesn't really do that much late-game and doesn't have much in the way of development at all. Having Nekomaru come back to find out she died while he was gone would've been an extra punch in the gut and would've helped set up his disposition in chapter 4 much better. That way, we could've replaced the scene where Fuyuhiko tries to console Akane about Nekomaru's current fate with a scene where he and Hiyoko have some sort of reconciling and form a bond of sorts. Additonally, while Fuyuhiko also becomes closer with Hajime, Hiyoko could find that sister-like connection with Sonia. This doesn't even begin to fix chapter 3 but I feel it's a fix for Hiyoko's poor handling.
I think the reason Chiaki seemed a little flat is because the program made her from the class’s memory: a sweet gamer girl that kept them together and comforted them in times of need. So that could be why she wasn’t as varied as others in the cast.
That's what I was thinking. They didn't get to know her a ton when they were alive and it was their first death, so I doubt they remember more than her final moments too since they got brainwashed. I thought it was entirely intentional...
@@blaise3290 in the game , as they never state Nanami was a real person, they only establish her existence as just an ai made to impersonate a student that doesn’t exist, so in a sense, if she’s made just to be an ai gamewise before the anime aspect, then yes it still makes sense to why she’s so bland + doesn’t have a lot of depth, as in the game, she’s merely just an ai and with added on knowledge from the anime, then in a sense it still makes sense ! Edit: it basically works w/ the game aswell if she’s intentionally designed to be bland because she’s an ai, I kinda forgot to answer that part woops
@@parasitophobia I know that but what I mean is that from a gameplay decision it isn’t a good choice even if it makes sense lore wise. It can make sense in cannon but it makes her a boring character to the player when she’s supposed to be someone you’re attached to for he big emotional reveal
This is a great retrospective, even more so than your _Trigger Happy Havoc_ one, and I adore just how much emotion you put into it as well. That grand finale is really just as beautiful as the actual final act itself. Also, the analogies about the cast being dropouts is a really neat touch, one that I definitely wouldn't have considered alone. I eagerly await the rest of the franchise - but I won't be impatient about it. Just... thank you for all your hard work.
1:25:25 Something that makes it even funnier, Nagito has the money to pay it right on the spot. He's insanely rich, probably not quite rivaling Byakuya's assets, but certainly within his top five successors. Thank luck! ...oh, wait, his parents died to leave him with those assests. Nevermind.
How good the finale for SDR2 was really just solidifies my dislike for how they retconned everything interesting about it in D3 Despair Arc. Demolishing each character's personal culpability for the atrocious acts they committed on behalf of Junko Enoshima, to make it solely the fault of "anime brainwashing". In fact, everything was the anime brainwashing. Who cares if that completely obliterates the message the first two games spent so much time setting up? JFC.
YES thank you for saying this!! I remember pre dr3 everyone had cool theories for how junko indoctrinated the sdr2 kids into shsl despair and they went the root of...whatever that was (same with making izuru not responsible for killing the student council 🙄)
Exactly 😩 all of the characters were literally canonically fake. All of their personalities, their stories, their arcs, their emotions-ALL of it meant NOTHING 😭😭 the final game literally reduced every single character from the entire franchise to a shallow facade 🙃 and I’m so glad u mentioned that bcuz that shit had me LIVID
@@deathnstuff They're talking about the anime, not the third game. The third game takes place in a separate world altogether, nothing in it is canon to previous works.
I remember being a highschooler, before the series was localized, watching a semi-badly translated video series of SDR2, and even then, the message struck me. Despite how nowadays people, including it's fans and even myself, meme on the DR series, it will always be near and dear to my heart, because it has powerful messages like this. It has been many years since I've played this game, so Thank You for reminding me what this game taught me
I can't believe you have me crying over Gundham Tanaka well done! On a side note it would make it all the more bittersweet that the angelic animals taking him to heaven where his past animal companions that he took care of and even made sure in their last moments felt safe, loved, and not in pain.
If I'm not mistaken, I thought I read somewhere that that is in fact the case. That all those animals were animals he took care of in his past. Not sure if it was just someone's headcanon or if it was officially confirmed
@@TheDeliciousCaekI think it's implied in the game by the way Gundham talks about the four dark devas - their "current forms" are hamsters, suggesting that he's probably had sets of four pets that have passed away previously
With talking about Chiaki’s character, I feel like the flatness of her character adds to her in hindsight? Like, as you watch the anime of the past, you see the personality that Chiaki displayed and how it’s similar, but different, to her game personality. Then, you see SDR2 Chiaki much more muted, almost like she’s not the real one. Almost like she’s robot. It also goes with how no one programming her would know much about her personality, so they only have the little data on her and added that she was to help with the rehabilitation. This is just me stating my perception though.
Yes Chiaki and monomi were created using alter ego technology from chihiro to be put in the simulation, so I totally agree chiaki is not actually chiaki in this version after we saw what happened in DR3 anime.
@@XxSherlockianHeroxX but before the game that still meant she was little to nothing so that’s not really an excuse as DR1 didn’t have DR3 to clean up it’s plot holes and contrived mess unlike DR2, horrible excuse
SDR2 is my favourite ensemble in the franchise, and I've been (with full affection) calling the cast "problem children" in my head for years, so I'm glad that subtext was picked up on ^^
Simply amazing. While I don't agree with every take entirely, your assessment of the Danganronpa 2 cast being analogies for outcasts and drop-outs alike really struck close to home and finally explained to me /why/ they resonated to deeply so me. I first played the Danganronpa games in the midst of the pandemic when I had to end up dropping out myself, and now it finally clicks in why I care so deeply for the cast of the second game thanks to you. I'm excited to see your take on the rest of the series going forward, and only ask that you go at your own pace as to not burn out. Much love to you.
2:29:05 I wasn't aware at all about the distorted final messages from the deceased characters. These make their murders and comedic style executions heart wrenching. You have amazing analytical skills. Great video.
I legit forgot how, like, intense the reveal of Hajime's backstory was to me when I was younger and first watching a playthrough of this game. I paused this video just to go rewatch that part of the trial. His confusion and breakdown hurts even harder all these years later. I love it.
Something brilliant about Chapter 4 I have never seen anyone point out is how the Funhouse itself contributes to the motive. Monokuma could have chosen anything to theme the two houses around, but what did he choose for the motive where everyone is slowly starving to death? Strawberries and grapes. Just an extra layer of insult to injury seen in executions like the firetruck in Celeste's.
what you said about danganronpa 2 hitting you in your senior year got to me because something really similar happened to me i got into danganronpa in my junior year of highschool, and i was into it throughout my senior year, primarily focusing on danganronpa 2 because of how much i liked the characters. i was already doing pretty bad in school due to my mental health, and i just also happened to have the pandemic hit at the tail end of that. i feel like i only even graduated on a technicality because *nobody* was able to do their work properly. genuinely if they didnt give some extra leeway due to the pandemic i think i wouldve ended up being held back or dropping out. so just like.... everything about the games ending, and everything you said about it, really really hit me hard. thank you for making this video, both this and your video on danganronpa 1 are some of my favorite videos about this series and some of my favorite videos of yours in general!! honestly everything you said about the game here mirrors my feelings on it so strongly its insane (chiakis words at the end of the game also made me cry ;v;)
one small detail i havent noticed till recent was monokumas movie from chapter 3 actually doesnt only predict saionji’s and mioda’s death but also nidai’s death aswell which is a cool small detail to add
Am I the only one that noticed that fanservice scenes were important to all three cases? 1. The Mikan panty shot scene being used to implicate Teruteru in the crime 2. Peko being the only swimsuit girl that was soaking wet implicating her in the murder 3. Mikan trying to use Hajime as an alibis in yet another fanservice scene where she's cuddling up next to him
Yeah, I think the "fanservice" in the game was actually really crucial. I remember someone describing DR2 as "a bunch of anime archetypes acting like anime archetypes, but then you talk to them and find out they act that way because of trauma." And that's definitely how I read DR2.
You perfectly summarized why I love the 4th case. The motive is incredibly cruel, enforcing the purest and most raw form of survival vs morality. All of that mental and especially physical pain and exhaustion having to be dealt with in a place that is supposed to be giving the complete opposite feeling: a fun house. A place that's supposed to be source of laughter and joy, turned into a weapon against happiness. Danganronpa is very sadistic sometimes, but these types of motives truly make you think "what would I have done if I was in such a situation?" and in return, it makes the characters even more redeemable in certain aspects.
I love Gundham for killing Mechamaru in chapter 4. Not only was he already my favorite character at the time, he also made a sacrifice to let the other students survive, and he didn’t even kill an actual person!
Here something I love about Gundham He is the Ultimate Breeders, and have been shown to have control over animal However, they didn't made his personality reflect that, sure, he fucking love animal, but, it's not his whole personality However, they reflected it in his psychology, and I think it's much better
I have some nitpicks and small disagreements with certain parts of this retrospective. When it comes to such a sweeping character drama as Danganronpa, I think the experience becomes personal in such a way as to make any broad commentary almost impossible. But that's why it's the heart of the piece that matters the most, in the end. And also why all my little grievances pale in comparison to the masterwork that was the Chapter 6 analysis. It's apparent how much exploration, critical thinking, research, and heart was put into that segment. I've played this game to death, over and over. But it wasn't until today that I feel like I truly understand why. Thank you.
1:23:00 i have a unique stance regarding 2-3, i absolutely hate the trial especially as someone who really adores all three who got killed in that case and the fact that its stuck between 2-2 and 2-4 which are two examples of how to handle both a victims and killers death it really sticks out like a sore thumb, but the daily life might actually be my favourite in the series, it really does a good job at exploring grief and guilt in both Fuyuhiko and Hiyoko's case and rare for the series actually does seem to have a real aftermath to the previous chapter, in particular a stand out moment for me was the seppuku scene because both Fuyu and Hiyoko come across as very sympathetic throughout that moment, we could have had a good relationship between the two but no, she dies, because of shock value, I'm still salty about that
A friendship between the two would be great! I feel like either akane or Kazuichi dying instead. Or just make 6 survivors and have only Ibuki as the chapter 3 victim.
@@jigglyfan3196 I strongly think it should have been Soda, Akane was at least fun and positive enough for me not to care that she survived over my fav's, Soda was such an unlikeable prick that i was rooting for it throughout
@@tomgibson6801 Yes I wanted Kazuichi to die so bad, but no. The comic relief character with no personality whatsoever who is also a stalker had to live instead of someone who actually had room to grow. Anyways, that's danganronpa as a whole ig 🤷♂️
Jiggly Fan imo Sonia would be the best replacement. Akane could be better by making her development wut neko feel more apparent, and soda would be by default better by virtue of not being able to perv on Sonia, not to mention Sonia doesn't have much to do in terms game anyway, even if you lose that dynamic in chapter 4. You don't even need to change much, just have Sonia get the mirror instead of even go with hiyoko and die in her place.
@@lukebytes5366 But the issue isn't Sonia, the issue is Soda, i don't think its her fault he's a creep and also, she did so much more in game than he ever did. Even without the Sonia simp element he's still unbearable as a person
It's interesting to also compare Junko's motives between the first and 2nd game. In the first game, it seems the Junko their, while wanting despair, wanted to make the game as entertaining as possible and was a bit more 'fair' in it. She only resolved to cheating when she felt Kyoko wasn't 'playing fair' either. In the 2nd game however, she definitely tried making the motives much more unfair, with the exception of Trials 1 and 5, since she wanted to kill off as many chars as possible. Thank goodness for that rule that the 'teacher' couldn't interfere with the students directly.
I'm gonna say it. This, as well as your other DR videos, are THE ABSOLUTE BEST video essays for the series I have EVER seen. Watching these videos gave me the exact same feelings I felt when playing the series for the first time, something I thought I would NEVER feel. Hats off to you, NezumiVA, you outdid yourself thrice, and probably twice more when those DR3 and V3 videos inevitably release
Before the video comes out, here's my take on this game. It has my favorite: Cast in general (Chiaki is my favorite character in the series, period.) Main Character (Hajime was such a good protagonist.) Investigation theme I did like the setting a little bit less than Hope's Peak, because HP felt more claustrophobic.
Although I prefer Jabberwock(did I got the name right?) Island more, I agree on the other points. The soundtrack is a banger and Haji was a good protag. Believing in his friends while still not being naive about them.
For real bruh. Abt the Hajime thing too, 'cause when Nagito made that reference about the book where a detective tried to search for a murderer and it ended up being themselves, was like such a good metaphor
this was a really well made video that definitely did dr2 justice. not only that, it was incredibly comprehensive and entertaining throughout. the emotions of the game were almost perfectly reflected in the video, which really speaks to your ability to write and create videos. this was a fun watch, can’t wait for the next one. (and the shadow the hedgehog video, of course)
About the "rich people watching people kill each other for fun" When I played dr2 4 years ago I thought it might've been meant as a twist on the JP classic film Battle Royale
More than likely, yeah. The entire death game genre more or less sprung up from the original BR novel and especially the film adaptation, I was just making a little tongue in cheek joke lol.
Even someone just mentioning DR0 makes me ridiculously happy! Ahhh, DR0 is my favorite DR installment! I am just so happy you're even briefly talking about it!
2:31:43 I have to wholeheartedly disagree. She’s a program who’s design is to be everyone’s friend and not to reveal her purpose. I’d say her nondevelopment is intentional cause she’s not human
@@LittleKachowski You're right, but also, simple characters can also be compelling, and they can fulfill roles that more complex characters struggle with. Chiaki being almost too perfect is why her being a fiction within a fiction is such a gut punch, and why she slots in well into her role as a guardian angel for the final act. It's like in a classroom of 16 people marked by trauma, she's the only girl who had a quiet life and has her shit together. And instead of looking down on anyone, she helps them move forward. I mean we don't all have dramatic backstories. Most of us just have ok lives and ok personalities. Chiaki shows that people like that can still have an impact on others.
I never saw Nagito as sarcastic or pompous just unhinged and misguided except in trial 4 where I think his sassy and sarcastic attitude and tone was on purpose after learning about the remnants of disspare P.S:Your Tanaka voice is amazing
3:09:46 wow, this entire part was beautifully stated and brought me to tears hearing you talk about it. Although you usually try to keep personal things out of your essays, its honestly one of my favorite parts of your analysis videos. I also played sdr2 at the second half of my senior year (which was only in early '21), which was a turning point in my life for so many reasons. Going into adulthood, the start of transitioning to a different gender, going into a changed world that feels like it has suddenly become much meaner. Breaking out of a shell that reached its end point right when I am entering the cusp of adulthood, and metaphorically being shoved in the water and having to learn how to swim (for lack of a better word.) Although I did well in school, I missed out on some on some of the most integral parts of growing out of adolescence, which were my latter 2 years of high school. I never really got to naturally form new friendships (which felt like torture bc I was finally beginning to find out and work on who I was), never really got to learn much of anything, never had the time to slowly develop into things like getting a first job, learning how to get to school on my own, getting to hang out with people I cared about before we split up for college. I still have never even gotten my yearbook. I would have likely felt lost without the aforementioned changes, but with them, it made it a thousand times worse. I had no idea the world I was going into, and I still don't know. I don't think I was ever ready to. I'm incredibly grateful for your analysis, because at the time I never really understood why this hit me so hard. Its very beautifully stated, and I hope both your words, as well as the game's, stay in my mind as I finally do begin to slowly forge a future for myself. Thank you NezumiVA for the amazing video!!
Thank you so much for pointing out how Teruteru trying to trick people into that sort of stuff is SO NOT OKAY. I've been saying this for years, as his introduction completely killed any sympathy I was supposed to have for him.
Yeah, Dr2 really had a problem with shitty "comedic" characters like abuser Hiyoko wich also forced Mikan into a victim role most of the time, Sexual Predator Teruteru and mabe Sodas simping for....nevermind (Oh and Nekomaru Midai having bathroom issues and openly screaming them out when you least expect it)
On the subject or Chapter 3, I think the chapter rewrite video by TinyLeaf is a wonderful fix to an awkward and odd trial. The video tries to change very little about the outcome of the trial, but fixes most of the big problems in the trial. Such as: the second victim, despair disease, and the killers execution/final moments. Highly recommend giving it a watch to anyone curious!
Something I thought was cool was the hinting at the cast's potential to be corrupted. At first, when I saw the Twilight Syndrome murders, the edginess to everyone's character (the Ultimate Princess' fascination with serial killers, the Ultimate Traditional Dancer's desire to step on ants, etc.), everyone's natural dislike of pure Monomi, I was under the impression that the writers were simply making a choice to make their characters a bit dark like the world around them, and had no idea that it was all intentionally different from the original cast. I also always assumed Nagito was originally meant to be Makoto but was changed in rewrites, so it's really funny to know it was intentionally there just to mess with people.
I think someone has pointed it out before but chapter 4, he draws he circle not for his protection, but his animals, as is revealed, his animals are completely safe by the end.
Chapter 6 hit me like a truck due to my Oudenophobia. Seeing Hajime’s panic over ceasing time exist combined with Chiaki’s speech about how she’ll never truly be gone freaking hurt. Especially the “I don’t want to disappear” line from Izuru.
Love the voice acting. Whenever you voice excerpts, I keep expecting them to be clips from the actual dub. Such great subtle variation in voice and excellent emotion 👍
3:05:27 This is a great summary of why Danganronpa could never escape Junko as the Mastermind. She’s just too perfect of a villain in a game series where the main premise are sad teens killing each other.
I feel like the spotlight on Koizumi as a whole was probably my favorite part of this retrospective, giving attention to Koizumi is something I don’t see often, especially considering how many first time players seem to find her annoying for her singling out of men, though it’s not very often you find someone that goes into depth about the reason behind the way she acts and speaks how she does, or why her death actually deserves as much of an impact as any of the others death in this series, she was far from my favorite character when this game first came out but as of late I’ve found that she is my favorite from SDR2 and the series itself, haven’t felt this much raw dread since I first started playing these games, Something about losing a character you really enjoy just hurts a lot,,
I was actually fine with her character on my first playthrough, but I hadn't played her free events. And knowing her backstory makes me like her character a lot less. She's not 5, she should know that not every man is a copy of her father waiting to happen. She's had years to be exposed to dozens of positive male role models. Male teachers, hard-working classmates, etc. It's also silly that she doesn't seem to resent her mom at all for all this. Mom's the one who left her daughter to babysit a grown man while she was out galavanting around the world. If Dad's really that useless, Mom needed to either get a maid, get a nanny, or divorce him. She really should resent both her parents. Her attitude would make a lot more sense if her mother was dead, and her single dad was useless and leeched off her.
It's sort of an issue with chapter 2 victims in the series, they become more like objects or come off as existing only for the plot, and people fail to see their true personalities or potential Mahiru is boiled down to the man hating photographer despite the backstory presented in her free time events I don't think enough people consider what she would have done in the rest of the game had she survived Same with Chihiro and Ryoma. Chihiro has become the centre of an argument instead of an actual character, and people often fail to consider how they would fit into the later game, and how their actions caused the cast of DR1 AND 2 to survive. Then Ryoma is forgotten by most people, and even then everybody ignores how he has probably one of the most horrifically sad backstories in the entire series. But he's just ...not a character to most people.
MAN. ive practically moved on from dr but it had a grip on me in high school and this video made me so emotional. it had a grip on me for all those years for a reason
Chapter 5 of SDR2 is my favorite in the series. It perfectly combines a good mystery, insane tragedy, the talent of the blackened playing into their crime (because let's be real, Komaeda is the blackened of his case despite what Monokuma says), and a setup of things to come. It's the perfect Danganronpa chapter in my opinion. Also Nanami's death made me bawl like someone I actually knew and loved had died. It was awful. She's my favorite character in the series and it hurts like hell to see her go. But I wouldn't have it any other way. It's so much more special like this. and tbh I love that Komaeda's intentions were for everyone but Nanami to die and was counting on his luck that Nanami would be his killer and also that they wouldn't be able to pin her down. Nanami was the traitor and the blackened. Good luck. They found out. Bad luck.
honestly, I really appreciate you giving me a new perspective on SDR2--I think i'm just a contrarian in the larger DR fanbase b/c i hardly ever come across anyone else whose favorite of the mainline games is THH. Idk what it is--a combination of nostalgia and my affinity for the portrayal of proximity based friendships in media? I 100% agree that the camraderie between the group is way more believable in sdr2--and while I think the thinly veiled distain everyone seems to have for ppl who aren't makoto in THH is frustrating in its own way, i can't explain it, I think it has its own funny appeal. Like... the v3 kids feel like strangers, the SDR2 kids feel the most like friends, but the THH kids feel the most like *classmates*, if that makes sense? with all the baggage, thinly veiled contempt hidden behind civility and temporary "this is good enough for now" friendship that implies. The fact that the THH kids have more archetypal talents probably doesn't hurt--their dyanmics are a bit easier to map onto the politics of high school than SDR2 having, like, literal princesses. They're all parodies of existing japanese archetypes, but also, they do just kinda feel like regular high school kids dialed up to 11. I never had a classmate who was a nurse or an animal breeder, but i definitely knew some jocks, a student council president, a delinquent, etc etc. While I stilll have my bias, I've always been aware of the belief (a belief i agreed with despite my bias) that the 2nd game is probably the best of the three, and I think this video is a strong persuasive argument toward this game being the strongest of the bunch. I always appreciated you giving THH a fair shake in your last video--i really do think it does get neglected in the fanfair abt this franchise (SDR2 being viewed as the best, ndrv3 being more polarizing but also being an entry point for so many new fans and invigorating new life into the series means its a lot of ppls favorites too), so i was hesitant about this one, but you've really sold me. Tbh, i think the mystery element is even more compelling than the first game--there's a lot of fun reversals in comparison to the expectations you go into it with and the way it further develops the world feels super organic. And the ending really got to me--reframing SDR2 as a story about the droppouts and underdogs gives the story new meaning in a way that kinda glanced over me the first & even second time i played it. Even tho I always had a fondness for SDR2 & its characters, I think the escalated absurdity kept from feeling quite as bought in (still cried like a baby during ch 2 & 4 tho, i'm only human!), but now i understand. Everything is a feature, not a bug. Didn't mean to get so longwinded, but i just had to put my thoughts out to feed the algorithm with this one. Great work!
It's a little strange to hear an English speaker with an English audience cover the English localization of the game all while accommodating the Japanese terminology, including referring to characters by the last name, but it doesn't take away from this video being very well put together. I especially appreciate you pointing out translation dissonance, such as with Ibuki's talent and Kazuichi's pervy nature.
I go over my preference a little more in the previous video, so I felt it might be a little repetitive to reiterate it in this one, since I'm also doing several more. But yeah, I'm just used to the original terminology, and I have pretty big issues with the localizations themselves that become more prevalent as the games go on.
I totally agree with your conclusion! I've always said this, but Danganronpa is a game of hope, not despair, despite how Junko tries to make it out as such. This game and its message is honestly so comforting to me as a drop out as you put it! Quite literally for me, as I am a legit high school drop out, aha... Overall, it's definitely the game I come back to the most, and is probably my favorite game of the series (though DR0 is my favorite installment). Everything about it is just so comforting to me messaging wise, and I think you articulated really well why! This is all why SDR2 itself is my favorite sequel to a game, I think ever. It just really spoke to me, despite its flaws!
I don’t know if I can’t properly articulate my thoughts about the story itself and the way you presented it but it can’t hurt to try. This video essay about the sequel really hit me harder than the last one you did. The timing of this was just where it needed to be- at least for me. I’ve been going through it for the past week or so and I was stuck in this crisis that I wasn’t sure what a future even looks like; I was paralyzed by this defeatist attitude and indecision. Seeing this especially it’s ending really resonated with me. I’ve always loved it when creators get a bit personal because it feels like something so precious and dear. I find it to be some of the most respectable things to share something like that in order to help others understand their own feelings. The whole senior in high school part was very fitting in this time because I am that senior going to “Oh god what am I going to do with the rest of my life” and the message that if given by the end is comforting. Knowing that despite all the pitfalls I might face that there is still a way further. That I can carve out my own path and pursue it. It’s things like this that make me appreciate life a little bit more. It’s nice to know that you’re not the only one terrified and that there will always be others who feel the same way. All of this is to say thank you for making these analyses of Danganronpa because they mean so much to me.
Finally finished the video, and.... I can't believe I almost never got into this series purely out of stubbornness. Even if I experienced this through your narration, I felt every single emotional punch and investment into this game, it was almost overwhelming at times where I legitimately thought I was going to shed tears, especially with that ending. Even if the timing was on pure coincidence, Nezumi, thank you for an amazing birthday gift, especially from a series I originally intended to ignore.
Danganronpa has some of the highest highs I've ever experienced with a videogame while simultaneously having genuinely unfun, sloppy, and blatantly terrible moments in the same breath. Watching this has only reaffirmed why the games, especially so for SDR2, have been emotionally resonant for me despite everything. Hope vs. Despair, as stupid and corny as that sounds. It takes a more discerning eye than mine to look past a game that constantly wants details clashing over all else, to question everything and solve some fun videogame mystery, to get to the real emotional struggles that come with being a teenager and growing up at large. Everytime something I deemed an important pseudoscience question left unanswered was seemingly "handwaved" when in actuality it was boldly, blatantly dropping all pretenses and trying to direct me to the actual heart of the story it completely passed me by. "Oh how Danganronpa! How wacky! How on-brand! "They're not gonna explain it? Cool!" I thought upon moments like that, not really caring to deeply analyze something framed as a sorta meta joke upon first glance. Guess I don't feel so weird for really liking Junko now that the themes got laid out so throughly. She's great because you can see people following her taken to the most heinous extreme. It's not subtle. At all. But there was way more there than I ever considered on a first playthrough. Biggest takeaway is that I NEED TO READ DANGANRONPA ZERO NOW.
super long form videos on videogames i love are the pinnacle of the internet. pathologic for those who'll never play it and this danganronpa retrospective come to mind. absolutely great job, the massive amount of work behind it really paid out!
I had this playing in the background while I worked in class and suddenly hearing Mr Krabs shout "UNDER THE FLOORBOARD" almost sent me into hysterics, i love it when videos have this kind of humour
I think it's worth mentioning that apparently Kuzuryu was originally going to be killed in Part 3 instead of Hiyoko, which would have been an even worse choice and rendered Pekoyama's death almost entirely meaningless, especially what's effectively her sacrificing herself to save him from her own execution. Hiyoko was basically the last minute replacement, such to the point that the murder weapon used for her was never found because the writes forgot about it.
It was so disappointing for me that there was not murder weapon to be found. I used my time to think these murders on my own and I thought it would be important but it wasn't.
Trial 3 isn't my favorite but one thing I've notices after watching many playthroughs (from streamers and friends) is that the trial is only difficult if you care for Mikan, if you are (like me) someone who really liked her you end up ignoring all the red flags and very obvious evidence because "she obviously couldn't have done it" while others who weren't connected to her at all managed to solve it during the investigation with ease. This is not a fools proof basis but i have noticed that being so attached to the character does help blind you from the mystery.
Honestly my perspective was "Well, by the way it looks, the perpetrator can only be Mikan. Surely it won't be that simple? Yeah, it's probably someone else"
Just like DR2, you outdid yourself in all the ways that truly matter. This video is great and you did such an amazing job!! Gundham is one of my top fave characters, so I nearly teared up as you described him and his final moments. Thank you for doing right by my boi. :') You've also given me an understanding for characters I never thought to before, and I really appreciate that! The way this game relates to high school and dropouts is also a connection I didn't think of before, and man that just really makes me admire this game more. You got me to tear up a few moments in this haha Despite its (at times really major) flaws in writing and character treatment, this game's got a funky li'l place in my heart. Thank you for this vid and I look forward to the next! Tho do take your time and take care of yourself ❤
sorry for commenting twice- i just finished the video and your personal experience with the game informed your thoughts and commentary to such a wonderful extent it brought tears to my eyes. i relate a lot, i spent most of my final few years in high school moving schools, skipping classes, deep in the throes of mental illness and i only managed to graduate by the skin of my teeth. sdr2 is one of my fav games ever and you did it justice. tysm for capturing exactly why this is such a wonderful, meaningful game to so many people because i feel like its so often misinterpreted. great work
Just to point something out in the comments that NezumiVA doesn't seem to know: in the original script for the game, it was Kuzuryuu, not Saionji, who was supposed to die during Chapter 3. However, it was noted during the production process that, were Kuzuryuu to die, it would make Pekoyama's sacrifice meaningless, so they switched the two's fates. This is why Saionji's death seems so sudden and seemingly cuts off her character arc before it can fully blossom: because there was, in fact, a character arc that was cut off. Now this is where things get subjective: I personally think the story would have held more meaning and had better character arcs were Saionji and Kuzuryuu to both survive, and someone else to die in their place. Now here's where it gets reeeaaally subjective, and if people hate me for it, that's ok, cuz everyone has their own opinions: I think the person who should have been tragically and suddenly cut down in lieu of both Kuzuryuu and Saionji...the best choice would be Sonia Nevermind. Now before you Sonia lovers yell at me, here are my reasons, and they mainly revolve around Souda's character: *1.* With the final survivors being Hinata, Souda, Owari, Kuzuryuu, and Saionji, they would all be tied together poetically by one theme: loss of a loved one. Saionji lost Koizumi, Kuzuryuu lost Pekoyama, Owari lost Nidai, Hinata lost both Nanami and, some would say, Komaeda, and Souda would have lost Sonia. So Souda would have been the one to benefit (character-wise, anyways) from her loss, because as the canon ending is, he's the odd one out. *2.* This is based purely around the fact that I played the game's localization, not the fan-translated version, so my knowledge of Souda's character is based on his dialogue there, ok? Souda, as the game progresses, gets creepier and creepier in his infatuation with Sonia, much to her displeasure. Taking her out of the equation would either allow that side of his character to fade away, or force him to grapple with it and overcome it, along with his obvious paranoia that would really be brought out by the trauma of her death, which allows for some interesting routes for his character to take. *3.* This may open up an avenue for Tanaka and Souda to get past their grudge on each other (mostly one-sided, but Tanaka does eventually get very annoyed by Souda) and perhaps find a bond in their loss of Sonia. If they were to develop a friendship of sorts, even if it's low-key and begrudging, this would make case 4 more devastating (and interesting) to Souda, since he lost the one he was attracted to, and now he was low-key betrayed by the friend he thought he'd never make, and whom he had only just started to trust. However, Tanaka's reason for being the case 4 culprit is grey enough that perhaps it would cause Souda to rethink some things and be able to grapple with his paranoia. Perhaps not completely overcome it, but also perhaps not let it rule him either. Now, as for Sonia's development: The main thing that could potentially suffer on her end from her early death is her relationship with Tanaka. The main fix for this? Just speed it along a bit. Make Souda perhaps a tad more simpy while she's alive (as unbelievable as that sounds), which'll cause Sonia to cling to Tanaka quicker (since she already liked his sense of style, his tastes, and his hamsters), and we'll get just the right amount of romance-hinting cuteness to satisfy to the same extent as the canon story. If anyone has alternate ideas, or even reasons for why the canon story works best despite its flaws, feel free to comment below. I love hearing other people's points of view :)
Honestly this is such an amazing take, I believe Sonia was just so out of place and had to much potential to be something more, her end result was just so boring, the only thing she had was the connection to Gundam, that's it. I've seen points being made about how Sonia could of been the mastermind which is something I feel would of been better, or the result of her being the one who died in chapter 3 instead of hiyoko, I feel as though the way she conveniently finds the fliers of Jabberwock before them being brought there, setting up the whole ooo another serial killer is in the group of students is something that could of been some nice foreshadowing. I know I recall her saying some sort of robot fact before nekomaru's body was discovered in chapter 4, this made me think she was the killer or something along the lines of that, she really had the potential, but if they didn't want to do anything they should of just killed her. I can understand why people like her tho at least, she's a cute girl but she just ends up feeling so boring next to everyone else.
I honestly feel like Soda was the best choice for a c3 victim though this might be out of my bias for Sonia, my issue with the idea of Sonia dying in c3 is i feel she provided some of the best emotional moments in both 2-4 and 2-5, Soda in contrast, unlike with Fuyu or Hiyoko i don't exactly think could have got a particularly good arc(though this might be out of my general dislike for his character). In addition i think 2 basically killed off every nice girl in the game anyway(Mahiru, Peko, Ibuki, Mikan, Chiaki) besides Sonia and Akane so it was nice at least two survived but i thought Sonia was probably a better survivor than Akane. Though i 101% agree with the idea that both Hiyoko and Fuyuhiko getting a joint arc was a good option and Kodaka really dropped the ball by killing off Hiyoko instead of giving her an arc
As a Sonia lover i'm offended (don't take this seriously, i'm saying this jokingly) and completely disagree with you with her dying, in contrary, Souda is the one who should've died. Here's my reasoning: 1. PLEASE let's stop using the "woman dies for a man's character development" trope. It's stupid, overused and misogynistic in a way. 2. Sonia would have finally gotten a safe space with nobody creeping on her and sexualising/objectifying her constantly. 3. Souda is just annoying, he's like Hagakure just here to be funny and stupid and to survive for some reason. This is just my opinion based on my playthrough of course, but Souda is a coward, yes he makes funny faces and all but it's all he does. As i played the game he was super annoying to me and yeah he kinda useful being shsl mechanic and all but it doesn't change my mind at all. 4. He didn't sacrifice anything. This is the most important point. Kuzuryu lost Pekoyama, they loved eachother and she sacrificed herself for him. Akane lost Nidai. They had close bond and she was visibly sad from him dying. Sonia lost Tanaka. We can clearly see in some chapters that they had chemistry and they were cute together but alas Tanaka sacrificed himself for others. Hinata lost Nanami. Hinata and Nanami were very clearly hinted to have some romance between them. This point is clear so i won't elaborate that much here. Who did Souda loose? Nobody. If Saionji were alive instead of him she would've lost Kaizumi, her closest and only friend here, which would add nice meaning to all of their lives as survivors of this game. I apologize if there were grammatical errors and such, english is my third language. Also apologize if i was wording stuff weirdly (it happenes)
i agree with this!! i’ve always thought that hiyoko would be a better survivor than sonia. not to mention it gives one of my favourite characters (souda) the chance to get more development…nice
3:11:10 When i saw this video like last week I thought it was my first time watching it But when this started to play out I remembered vividly having heard those words with that classroom like desk and the psp with the game going on I am pretty sure i've somehow seen this whole retrospective at least some months ago even tho i had no memory of doing so But The moment you started to read chiaki's lines , the emotion on your voice alongside the background and how hard those words hit It resonated within me Like "ayo you watched this and you're going to feel like it all over again" Being on my last year of high school rn Althought not being Able to relate with everything you said and your struggles or even your experience due to me having seen playthroughs before even touching danganronpa Your emotions portrayed into her words reached me They reached hajimemes Then you Then me and everyone else Who watched this Omagaaa i dun wanna cry qwq The end of sdr2 is for me at least About self love and having confidence in yourself and i love that I got to play danganronpa after The mobile ports I kinda of went through them numblessly bc i thought that since i knew what was going to happen It wouldn't be fun But seeing this and having played dr 1 again and actually carrying about everything It felt amazing fr fr I bought a ps vita and i have all games ready and after this i am really looking foward to play everysingle one of them with hope that they Will touch me like you touched me >-< I am seeing the retrospectives in a kind of mixed backwards way like Dr 3 anime , ndrv3 and sdr2 for now And i really liked each one of them so far so i gotta say Kudos you're a great youtuber :DDDD English is not my native language so some parts might be a lil cranky but i tried to share my emotions in a understandable way Also have a great day or night and stay hydrated or *Komaeda Will making you drink water in the name of hope*
Hat's off!! You have made one of the best Retrospective I have ever seen!! You deserve mad respects for making this absolute amazing video!! The ending of this video made me tear up a little. this video's ending and the game's ending truly was Beauiful!! Thank you very much for making this video. You have really made me respect the game more, and made me more knowledgable about the contents in this game. Thanks a bunch!! And I cannot wait for your future DR retrospectives and content!! You're a very good youtuber!! And I will for sure watch more of your content!! You make very enjoyable and insightful content!!
God I love this video, I don't have much to say There's a couple times I wish the localisation audio was used because it's so iconic, like Komaeda's 'true nature' reveal
I record all of my footage with the JP audio because that's how I play DR games. That's why I can't usually use any of the dub audio in the video itself lol. ^^;
@@NezumiVA I see, I see That makes sense, I guess I grew so attached to the English voices since that's how I played them - including Bryce's Nagito (which I think definitely is closer in tone to JP Nagito when he reprises the role in DR3) - though I guess that means I kinda have a slightly different perception of his character to those that play JP, there's something so unique about his performance that I love so much
Great review. On the hangman’s gambit I first played DR2 on iOS on my iPad and found it super fun because as a touch screen it was easy and worked well but sadly that wasn’t the same for the original console which is annoying. Also with gundams execution the spell he was writing was to protect his animals not save him which really digs in deeper his sacrifice
The end of this video really hits home. Glad to have revisited this piece and I'm sure I I'll do so again in the future. Something about the 'ones left behind' in this game has always reasonated with me and your words on that really made it sink in. I think I needed to hear that ending message again. Not just the game, but what you drew out of it. Thanks again.
Ngl I subbed after the content warning. Not a lot of YTbers do that - at most they'll be pretty vague about the dark content and possible triggers, so it's nice to see someone lay it all down there. Also I like your voice and adore super long videos like this one! I like Danganronpa, not too fond of the overarching lore, it's a bit too absurd even for me, but I love the individual games and characters... Yet I've found myself watching a lot of videos about the series' lore and DR in general, the longer the better. Its entertaining despite it's weirdness! XP Will definitely check out the one on the first game after this.
Hey, I just got around to looking into the franchise (been putting it off in fear of the Fandom killing my like for the games before I truly got into it), and I gotta say, this is brilliant. Game two was really rough to me, a beautiful mess that hit hard. Some context, I myself am a dropout, just threw in the towel last week, actually, and Nanami's future pep talk reduced me to a crying mess. Frankly, we all still have room to grow, struggling teens, grown adults, and innocent kids alike. Junko's right in a sense, the world isn't kind. It wants to swallow us whole, to tear us down. The future of pain isn't one we have to take though. If we create our future, choose what we want to instead of what the world wants to, we'll survive. It will be rough, but even if you fall, remember to pick yourself up and keep moving.
ngl this video made me hella emotional. I didn't have the privilege of first seeing Danganronpa the series back in my formative years, also because I didn't even know about the existence of said series until 2013 when I graduated hs in 2012, and only saw the actual gameplay when a youtuber I follow played in recent years. But I feel like Danganronpa, mainly DR2, was very formative to my present mentality, alongside with some other more mature media that also have such uplifting messages despite their heavy content, such as Night In The Woods, Life Is Strange, and Sailor Nothing (a fanfiction that is deeply triggering and yet has one of the most realistic and well executed messages on the actual power of friendship and support systems as a fundamental way to get through and overcome trauma I've ever seen in media). Not to play my own small violin but life... Has not been the best to me, and in between struggling with a myriad of personal problems, traumas and a streak of bad luck, I am at this point 27 going 28 this year, struggling through a 5 years turned at least 7 years long bachelor's program. And it sucks, mainly when I can feel the palpable disappointment in people around me at my constant failing and struggling, coming from family and beyond. I never was a dropout because I always powered through things at my own expense to keep myself from reaching that level out of sheer fear of the anger and rejection I'll get from others, but I still relate strongly to the dropout outcast experience. And also I relate to the whole shindig of being tempted by doomer mentality, coming from within me, as it feels like regardless of effort, I only fail and get people disappointed in me, which leads me to question what's the point of caring or putting effort at all when people only care about the outcome, and also coming from people all around me and around the same age as me, who all see the world as beyond fucked, the system as beyond broken, and why should they personally care about anything or put effort into anything if "we're all going to die from climate change after all?" Watching the gameplays of DR1 and DR2, I saw that mentality being personified into Junko, and how ridiculous it all sounds when you solidify those thoughts into a more cohesive picture, and I also saw people who were not exactly like me, but felt very similar to me, confront said thoughts, which are difficult to argue against when you're on your own head, but become almost comedically simplistic when they are quite literally embodied by a hedonistic and sadistic high schooler whose main motivation is to plunge the world and people into despair. And also, with DR2 comes the idea of despite one's past history, despite one being quite literally a villain the past (like the cast were), who literally harmed and killed people and influenced others to do the same, they still have that potential of rescuing themselves from said position and becoming the better person. Obviously it is not put as simply as for example MLP:FiM or Steven Universe, whose similar message is undermined by how quickly and easily the characters on those shows accept villains as good without any work or attempt at further reconciliation or reparation besides perhaps an "I'm sorry," and also by the fact that it's usually the main characters on those shows who do the rescuing from villainhood instead of the villain themselves (which also brings forth a whole myriad of questions about the morality and truthfulness of said rescues). I don't think DR2 is a show that woobifies the villains, yet another annoying and perhaps harmful trope where the villain's actions are supposed to be forgiven because "uwu look at this sadboi he only harmed people because he's sad uwu," no I think that the game still put enough severity into their crimes against others and even themselves that makes it plenty clear that their original present selves were very horrific people. But yet, they are still people, and everyone should be at least given a running chance of redeeming themselves, not by erasing their past and in their case quite literally erasing their memories and wiping the evil out of them, something that is quite the common shortcut on redemption stories in modern media, but by giving them a choice to work on themselves and create a better life, moving past their own mistakes. And that's, at least in my honest opinion, the best part of DR2's message, because it's so mature, and I feel it's so lacking in modern storytelling, I think the only other time I've seen being done was with Prince Zuko on Avatar. Bottom line, Danganronpa is such a hopeful story, not only because of its message, but also because it pulls its punches to reach that conclusion, to pass that message wholeheartedly and without sugar-coating, making it very powerful. And, I'm so glad I got to experience it, despite its flaws and its questionable writing at times.
i like what you said about how it’s reiterating on all the same things as the first one did, because i’ve always seen this series as “what if a bunch of character archetypes got put in a killing game together”, to the point where they even start riffing off of the tropes that they themselves established
Seeing this right after finishing the game myself, I wanna say that, to me, nanami being a flawless character fits with what the FF would realistically want for an observer that works as, essentially, a bridge between the students, kinda like when you make friends with your friend’s friends If anything, I’d say that her flawless personality is her biggest flaw, since it’s also what would prevent her from coming out as the traitor as far as chapter 1
That senior year story, quite literally made me realize the exact same thing and in the same situation too??? Thank you for adding that because you might’ve just saved the last few months of my senior year. I literally got into DR at the beginning of my senior year and have been fixating on it this entire time (mainly DR2 of course-). I never took the time to appreciate that ending and it might be exactly what I need right now.
your video essays never fail to amaze me, the part at the end with your personal connection to the scene with chiaki was really touching and made me realize how great the story telling was in the final case
58:38 I really love how in Project Rewrite (Spoilers) Hajime takes a bat from the convenience store and smashes the Twilight Syndrome game to prevent anyone playing it.
I personally adore Tsumiki. She was one of my favourite characters until her being caught in Chapter 3 and her later execution. I related to her in a way, as when I was in highschool, I was shy, overly apologetic for things I didn't even need to apologise for, I was extremely sensitive and easy to make cry and I was bullied a lot, including by someone who I thought loved me at one point. Said person used my insecurities to pressure me into uncomfortable sexual situations, and it's affected me for life. These all helped me relate to and love Tsumiki more, and it only heightened the level of disgust I felt in regards to how she was handled, especially with her execution and all the cheesecake shots of her. I only wish they handled her better. Looking back, it's almost as if they just put her in for the nurse fetish and it makes me sick. I wish they just did betterm
yes!!!! dr0 mention!! criminally underrated in the series, and it just makes my heart soar to hear people talk about it! i hope you do a video with a retrospective (and maybe even critique?) on danganronpa 3. i know i have SEVERAL thoughts on that anime, not all of them being positive lol
This video really hit hard, and reminded me why I love this game. As I'm writing this I'm tearing up, but being reminded of the line where Hinata and by extension you the player are told that talent doesn't matter. That you as a person have value outside your perceived 'worthiness'. It was something I needed to hear and it still gives me the visceral emotional reaction that it did back then. Oh boy this game is something special. It made me step out of my shell and try more, to go out into the endless sea of possibilities that the future holds and go where I want. I still struggle pretty hard with that but I'm still trying, too. Thank you for making this video. It's something special, and I look forward to seeing what else you make.
You have no idea how happy I am to hear someone else spent time with Mahiru and invested their free time events into her. She's always been one of my favorite characters in the series, and I feel like if the main plot had given her just a bit more love she would've gone on to be one of other peoples favorites as well.
loved this video, looking forward to future parts covering the rest of the series. just make sure to pace yourself and not let the process weigh you down
In the past few days, I've watched tons of your content Nezumi, and it's all incredible. This genuinely made me cry at the end, both kinda sadness and joy. This is too amazing. TY. 💜💜💜
I'm so glad you took the time to explain Mahiru's character. I love her so much and it pains me that people doesn't want to take the time to properly know her.
to be fair, if people don't like a character, it's highly unlikely that they're going to choose her for Free Time. Which is down to the design of the game - if any character can die at any time, of course you'll want to max out your favorite characters first...and thus you'll miss out on others. Plus, without the depth of Mahiru's backstory being part of the main story, players lack a compelling reason to seek her out (of course, this is subjective, but it's true for the people who don't like her)
My little opinions~ As a sequel, DR2 does a lot right. The gameplay in trials is better, the writing is really good, and I honestly love the cast, premise and general setup. Some standouts I love is- - The 1st trial - Nagito as a whole - Hijime being a more interesting protag than Makoto - Chiaki is best girl, dont @ me For nitpicks and problems - The 3rd Case was REALLY bad. I already didn't like the 3rd case of DR:THH but somehow, DR2's 3rd case was worse. It felt more random and meaning less. (Also, Ibuki deserved better). - Sonia being irrelevant most of the game bothered me. I loved her chr tho. - The humor. It could be really funny at times but some jokes just... Examples: - Nekomaru's potty jokes - Akane's "front tail" joke - Soda being a simp - Mikan being sexuilzed for no reason, made worse when we learn her backstory (This I hated the most. The only thing I can compare it to from DR:THH was the handle of the whole 2nd case's plot twists.)
I despise 3rd trial because it is just impossible. Did Mikan know clone technics? Did she teleport?? How did she do everything she did in a span of 5 minutes????? Especially clumsy Mikan?????
I don’t mind Soda’s simping so much but yeah, the Nekomaru shit jokes and nearly every joke related to Akane and Teru Teru are just completely non-enjoyable to me. I don’t think any character gags in V3 or THH are just so devoid of anything funny to me as these are, and they aren’t even the jokes that bother me the most in this game! Everything about Mikan’s writing, particularly the weirdly fetishy way she is portrayed constantly and without reason consistently makes me feel gross and unsettled. When I tell people Mikan is my least favorite character in the franchise, it’s not that I hate Mikan as a person more than say Teru Teru or Korekiyo for example, it’s that I hate the way she was written. I hate how she had so much potential to be an actually interesting and engaging character and yet this is undercut for the sake of sexualizing her constantly, and not in a somewhat humorous way like with Sonia (idc what anyone says some of Sonia’s lines are hilarious) but in a “Why was this remotely necessary?” way. There is a reason why 2-3 is widely regarded as the worst DR chapter of them all, beyond Ibuki and Hiyoko being completely discarded with little thought, everything that went into Mikan’s writing this chapter I just can’t stand, and even the execution sucks. Does it foreshadow future plot elements? Perhaps, but they picked the absolute worst way to do it.
@@jordandwiggins1026 you speak nothing but facts, however one thing i'll gave to 2-3, is at least the culprit plot twist truly felt shocking this time compared to 1-3, as soon as you see how Mikan changes from being that innocent into that psychotic killer, you can really feel the betrayal the cast felt, plus as much as the motive was bad (basically Junko's motive) it did actually foreshadow a lot of things later on, like how you also pointed out, but apart from those things, the logic doesn't exist, Ibuki was there just to die, Hiyoko was insufferable to me so nope, and Mikan could have been handled way better, like that entire chapter
Pinned comment question: what is _your_ favorite game sequel of all time?
I would even say "Virtue's Last Reward" was a better sequel to "999", since it took things you thought you know and turned them on their head - but I love this one as well.
Super Mario Galaxy 2
In terms of improvements from the original, I'd say Kid Icarus Uprising. Yes. KIU is very different from the original, but it's what the series needed.
@@ericitzhakeads6905 I went on a rant about 2 games that aren't technically sequels and then didn't mention smg2 fuc 👾
Neo the world ends with you
Fun fact: If you replay Chapter 4 knowing that Gundham is the blackened, you'll notice that during the trial he was trying to nudge the others into the right direction by making the right questions and even laughing at completely wrong assumptions.
Also, in his Closing Argument sprite, Gundham is smiling, but the Four Dark Devas look worried about him. Naturally, they're hamsters, so they couldn't possibly know what was going on. That implies that they were worried because they could feel that, under his villain persona, Gundham was actually scared.
aw i love gundham sm
i mean, wasnt it obvious that he and nidai had an honorable duel to save the rest of the class from starvation?
@@AzurezeroArtyup and that he had no intention of winning the trial
@@nauseaeffect his free time events are so wholesome like
*I ate poison during my whole life so I wouldn't make my mother sad*
He's so precious gimme a gundham plushie rn
Fun fact: the original English special edition of Danganronpa 2 came with an actual "I'm sorry, I was born stupid" sticker.
did it cost a million dollars though?
@@niicespiice Nah. Inflation's a killer. They changed the line later.
That’s incredible, I want one
😢
I want this
I know it’s supposed to be sad and sweet but having 11037 be the password is so funny to me. Like I just imagine Leon’s ghost going “cmon man! One mistake!”
Poor guy will never live it down. Or, die it down, I suppose
@@necrodeus6811Off in the distance, similar sounding to Leon:
"OH, COME ON!"
Live, laugh, love, leon Kuwata he is my baby girl
it would be funny (albeit narrative-destroying) if you could skip most of the game just by guessing the password early
it's also funny just because it's a meme
@@niicespiice Iirc Joseph Anderson, during his playthrough, said that he would've entered 11037 for the meme if the game allowed him to lol
Fun Fact about Teru-Teru's portrait after he'd been executed! Many will notice and point out that instead of the regular cross, he was given a knife and fork crossed over eachother. However, what some may not know is that in restaurants and the such, if a customer finishes eating and crosses their cutlery over eachother in an X like fashion, this means that they found the meal unsatisfactory and disgusting, while simply setting the cutlery side by side means that you enjoyed the meal. I don't know if this was added in on purpose, or if they just wanted to use cutlery as a reference to Teru-Teru's talent, but I think it was pretty neat ^^
wait that’s so sick i didn’t know that
Omg- I love that detail
i was told it was a way of showing waiters that you were finished with your meal so they know to take the plates. I fear I may have unknowingly offended numerous restaurant chefs
miu had an xxx as her cross on her portrait 😨
One neat detail that's worth noting about chapter 5: By forcing you to choose one of 6 people to be the one who killed him, he puts you into a 1/6 chance just like the Russian roulette he played in chapter 4
Indeed, his case was a reflection of his character, exactly like chapter 5 of V3
Nagito's case = the unpredictability of chance, something that can't be quantify with rationality, making it the only case that can't be solved with rational guesses, like how Hajime pointed out
Kokichi's case = the enigma and the constant guess of the identity of the person in the Exisal, which is the same question that people applied to Kokichi: who is he really? making it the only case where you aren't allowed to trust anything or anyone, not even rationality
I guess he learned how to properly play the game
@@GooBER469 wut?
@@etam8099 In chapter 4 he put 5 bullets in the gun instead of 1 and this time he did 1 bullet so he learned how to play properly
@@GooBER469 well you play properly in both cases XD
Mikan being the ultimate nurse and not wearing the proper PPE when dealing with a communicable disease, interesting
Yeah... I first played this game during one of the Covid lockdowns. All the characters refusing to isolate or properly protect themselves hit differently than it would have when it was written...
I was about to ask if they had access to proper PPE but then I remembered they were in a hospital lmao
@@opossum1424 Well Monokuma could just not add them, he is sadisct
Monokuma probably took all the PPE out of the hospital to make sure that would happen. I can't imagine she would ever make a mistake like that on her own.
@@deeplyshalllow8967Everyone reacting with such indignation at the idea of isolating the sick is really weird from a modern perspective
I wanna just point out a little fun fact for those that might not be aware, but the use of the repeated "Hello World!" in the chapter 6 pre-trial is a reference to the most basic of beginning coder examples, which almost always create a simplistic program that spits out the phrase "Hello World!"
Really cool
huh i didnt know that, thanks.
....programmed to work and not to feel......
*compsci flashbacks*
@@tristenj1992 fuck I love that song
Sdr2 feels like, a more mature older sibling to dr1. It feels like thematically, dr1 was the setup for dr2's punchline, like 2 was the answer to 1's question.
In dr1, the cast were all kids with mostly okay lives. In 2, theyre all explicitly from backgrounds that traumatized them in some way- pressure, poverty, abuse, neglect, etc.
I think you put it very aptly when you said that dr1 was the graduates, while dr2 was the dropouts. I think thats why many people find the second cast more likable- theyre more relatable, in so far as such cartoonish characters can be.
And I think that while hope and despair are considered the universal theme of the games, dr2 made a point of rejecting that dichotomy. The power that pushes Hajime isnt *hope*, necessarily- hes a little too cynical for that. His power is just straight up Determination.
Makoto's philosophy is, "I believe things can be better than this," but Hajime's was "Fuck you, things are GOING to be better. I wont accept anything else"
Dr1 pushed hope and optimism. Dr2 shook that off, and decided that no, sometimes you cant be optimistic. Sometimes shit is just awful. But thats when you double down and refuse to stop, when you push twice as hard, and you just keep Living, because thats the one thing you cant ever give up on.
Sorry that was kind of a tangent. Anyway, loved the vid!!
DR2 is more mature than DR1?
I agree with what you said
Agreed
The shift in protagonist was something that made me really like the game. Makoto is very optimistic, and it works, being the Ultimate Hope and all. But Hajime is so cynical, so done with everyone else’s bullshit that it really drew me to this story. He doesn’t believe things will get better, he will make them better.
@@sunsetskye483 Tbh I found hajime a bit boring in comparison to makoto
1:25:58 - I think the key in-universe difference that causes the DR2 cast to feel like a group of friends more so than the DR1 casts is the circumstances in which they first meet. The DR1 cast all wake up lost and confused locked inside of a school, and have barely been able to say hello to each other before they are told that they've all been kidnapped to kill each other. Meanwhile the DR2 casts wake up lost and confused on a tropical island resort, where they get to spend almost a full day getting to know each other after being told that their stay at the island is a trip made to make them all become friends with one another. And only as the day is going to conclude does Monokuma show up and do his hostile takeover and turn it into a murder game.
This all sets up two very different expectations for each group. With one, they are all perfect strangers who are kidnapped for the explicit purpose to kill each other in a killing game. With the other they were all enjoying a school trip together with their new classmates they had just met when they were all *collectively* kidnapped and told to kill each other in a killing game. This means that the DR2 cast would be immediately inclined to have a "Us vs Monokuma" mentality as they were all taken as a group instead of as individuals, whilst the DR1 cast would have a "It's me vs Monokuma vs possibly everyone else." mentality.
Excellent point. This difference in mentality between the DR1 cast and DR2 cast is also depicted throughout the motives of the killers, if you look at it from a certain POV. The motives of the DR2 cast are (generally) more selfless than the DR1 cast.
Take Case 1 for example. Both Sayaka and Teruteru wanted to return to their friends and family as they were worried about them. However, while Sayaka also wanted to frame Makoto for her crime, Teruteru wanted to stop Nagito from committing a murder.
Keep in mind that Makoto and Sayaka were the only ones who knew each other previously, and yet she still tried to frame him.
These openers basically set the tone for the rest of the game. The killing school life makes for a much more distrustful environment than the killing school trip.
Case 2: Mondo kills Chihiro out of jealousy, while Peko kills Mahiru to save Fuyuhiko.
Case 3: Celeste not only framed Yasuhiro but also backstabbed Hifumi, her partner in crime.
I realize Mikan's motive is not really selfless/understandable but I don't count her because technically it was the Remnant of Despair version of Mikan who committed the murder, not the Mikan we know in the game.
Case 4: Both killers technically sacrificed themselves to save their classmates, the difference being that Gundam's sacrifice saved his classmates from starvation while while in DR1 the environment was so distrustful that Sakura saw literally no other option than to kill herself to save her classmates from that distrust.
The 3rd chapter could’ve been made so much better if her motive was more: “I’m going to put the sick out of their misery” and then her disease kicks in during the trial once she is actually called out, the accusation triggering the disease to bring her memory back.
Also it wouldve benefited from a completely different execution, or at least tweek it to have it fit her more (maybe have her be forced to OD or be fried by a defibrillator or something medical like that)
Idk just some ideas
I honestly liked the idea of her getting her memories back but I just wish they handled it better. Also I wish the execution wasn’t so trashy
Yeah her sexualization as a teenage girl was already gross but the execution really topped it off.
DEFINITELY agree with the complaints of her execution and general treatment by the narrative. That motive is interesting, but an idea I heard once that I really like was that of her motive being the same, but her forgetting again afterwards. It would have drummed up interest to what the memories are but also would’ve had a cool twist where the culprit doesn’t remember, much like (redacted).
@@TorrentialStardust you're just explaining Gonta's case
IDK I kinda like how her motive is. At this point in the game everyone kinda has seen each other as friends and I think her turn was perfect in how unsettling it is. She didn't do this for alturistic reasons, or some sort of sympathetic motive. She did it for the no good reason and I find that really compelling. Everyone was such good friends yet Mikan just learning about her memories made her completely cast away all that and almost kill everyone. It makes the half way point of this game end on a really sad note. There's no closure for anyone, the survivors can't even understand or reason with Mikan now. The Mikan we knew effectively already died and we're left with a character we can't come close to understand. I feel like it's a perfect half way point, we're left with so many questions and mysteries and we also have hit our lowest in the game for the group to now climb back up in the latter half of the game. It's one of the few times in a DR game where I cared about the lost memories of these characters.
Actually by Schaffrillas’s definitions I think DR2 is a perfect sequel
- It expanded the universe
- it continued the story
- it continued and expanded upon the themes of the previous entry
- and it left an undeniable impression on the franchise
Exactly
A man of culture
@@meghanrodriguez2393 indeed
After hearing the news of what happened to Schaff, this comment hit me like a ton of bricks. Hope he ends up okay
@@river-sama7681 Wait- what happened to him?
As holistically cruel and manipulative as Junko is...
She STILL really serves that look, Ultimate Fashionista indeed.
Frrr
I'm not saying the remnants were justified. I'm saying I *understand.*
She is not an Ultimate Fashionista, She is the Ultimate Analyzer...
@@esense9602she is both you bonehead
@@esense9602she can be both
If you're wondering why (Improved) Hangman's Gambit earns much ire from fans, here's a weird explanation:
The reason why this minigame is probably the hardest to beat and takes the longest to beat is disgustingly linked to how Danganronpa was brought overseas. Spike Chunsoft didn't translate the DR games themselves, instead hiring NIS America to publish the games outside the west. As a result of this method of translation, the keywords got extended by a hefty amount of boxes. For example, "Under The Floor" was once conveyed as “ゆかした“, which was four Hiragana characters; it became a sizable thirteen English letters after conversion. This is to be expected, since the Japanese language, in any form, sometimes convey similar ideas with a less amount of characters than English letters.
However, what was _not_ expected was that Spike Chunsoft programmed the difficulty (i.e., the rate at which orbs spawned) around the original Japanese version. So, using the first (I)HG as an example, the reason why the letters slowly spawn in was because it was designed around a word with four boxes in total to fill, not thirteen. By that notion, it should've been an easy start, but because of how this game was localized, the time it took to beat and the difficulty were artificially bloated.
So, there you have it. 80% of Hangman's Gambit's difficulty come from the unfortunate consequences of localization from an outside party. I don’t know if NIS were allowed to test the game against their translations or not, but I think the lack of that led to what we got. The reason why the "Cause Of Death" section in trial 5 was an orb-spawnning hell was because the original Japanese keyword was “しいん”, literally three characters long. _THREE._
Here's a link to the Japanese playthrough of DR2 if you're interested in how the other keywords faired in length: th-cam.com/play/PLTAgn8difgab8Epqxj8ARTfdzR5-iVDop.html
Edit: edited the comment to add the original words. Turns out, it’s real easy to find a Hiragana keyboard online.
Very concise explanation, bravo
Honestly I loved that minigame, it's probably my favorite from the first two games. Perhaps because how challenging it is, specially in the last chapters. Also thankfully you've got plenty of health, even in the highest difficulties, so losing some letters isn't that annoying.
Didn't know I could hate NIS america anymore than I currently do so thanks for the explanation! Seriously considered dropping SDR2 cause of that trash and that WOULD'VE BEEN A HUGE MISTAKE.
@@JohnDoe-nu4gj why do you dislike them so much? im curious
@@samyen3210 NIS has always been pretty slapdash in their work I feel. Generally subpar all around.
berleezy choosing kazuichi twice when it was obviously chiaki will always be funny
I did not expect to see my goat Berleezy in this video lol
remember in the fourth chapter when he chose everyone, including himself, except Gundam 😭🤣🤣🤣
Thank you for pointing out the analogies between the SDR2 cast andhighschool dropouts/social outcasts. All of these character's are outcasts in some way, and as a social outcast who dropped out of highschool.. it really goes to show that people who drop out can still be happy!
(Also thank you for dispelling Nagito slander because I personally have done research on how his illnesses have effects on developing minds.)
I like Your reimu pfp
@@jaytakajeremiahtisdale2042 Thank you
fun fact: when you interact with the dead students mailboxes and they show the glitched text, Chiaki’s text shows the Konami Code, but I find it interesting when she said the A and B in the wrong order
Idk if this is meant to say anything, but I personally interpreted it as Chiaki sacrificing herself to save the remaining students, but put in the code wrong so she didn’t end up saving everyone until everyone saved themselves in the final trial
but that’s just my theory o>o
excellent theory, imo
I think there are different versions of the code actually... idk much but I've heard that pressing select instead of B, A gives lives to multiple players instead of just player 1, your theory is good but perhaps reversing the letters does something similar irl? Like providing everyone else with extra life
You know, I gotta be honest... I hadn't really considered the angle of the struggles of the first two Danganronpas to be related to the struggle of transitioning from a childhood defined by school to adulthood before. I think I can even chalk that up to the fact that they both came out long after I'd already graduated and had already been through a lot of heartache as a result of HOW I entered adulthood. I had dreaded the future, but plunged into it anyway. And I ended up in the Failure bracket for a long time-- arguably, I'm still there. The "Dropout". The one who was never really going to make it.
These games came out after I'd already dropped out of college, and while the premise intrigued me (this being back before they were easily accessible to an English audience, never mind through the likes of Steam), I hadn't really put my finger on why, precisely, until you pointed it out. Leaving High School as one of the Talented People expected to have some kind of future- even if I struggled to graduate due to other circumstances- I remember being terrified to fail as an adult. So DR1 felt familiar to my psychological state back then. But DR2 hits closer to my experiences for EXACTLY the reasons you outlined here.
Staying in school isn't appealing when you're already failing at it. Graduating doesn't appeal when you're convinced that you're going to fail at adulthood, either. You get stuck in a cycle of despair, a limbo in a chasm too wide to have made it across, that others seem to barely have to hop over. The jealousy that can come from that can lead to a lot of destructive, toxic behavior; self-destructive, and destructive to others. Attitudes like "Kids younger than me are succeeding at stuff I'm still struggling to do" are really easy to fall into, and while I never particularly felt the temptation to tear other people down, I understand the jealousy all too well.
Junko isn't just some master manipulator. She's the voice in your own head telling you to give up, to become empty, to conform to a status quo, to let someone else dictate what you do. When you're afraid of messing up, following someone else's direction absolves you of the responsibility of failing. You can languish in a comfortable prison and let yourself get swept up in a sea of apathy alongside everyone else around you who ALSO emptied out and became numb.
Junko represents a particular kind of infection, one that people who have been wounded by trauma have to be more diligent at treating. And knowing that there are more paths to living your life, finding your own way, can be the neosporin under the bandage-- it doesn't fix everything, but damn if it doesn't give you a better chance at healing.
....Anyway this overdramatic, overwrought essay is brought to you by You Make A Good Point I Hadn't Considered Before. Thank you for making these retrospective videos; I feel like they're a retrospective of more than just the games, but certain things a good chunk of us who flock to these games go through, too. Great job!!
I feel like you just looked in my soul! Cause I’m kinda going through the same thing right now so I feel a bit more motivated to move forward. Thank you so much for commenting this! I’m still kinda scared about failing but I do wanna move forward and actually live for myself! I hope you’re having a great day/evening/night!
@@ellyhig5928 Fear of failure is pretty common, and the best way to combat it is to accept that you WILL fail at some things. Some things you won't get immediately, and take time to adjust and course correct. You're already doing your best to keep moving forward despite that fear, and despite the potential failure, and to that extent you embody the likes of Naegi-- having hope despite the odds against it.
Keep on with it. You might not end up on the path you think you're supposed to be on, but every experience- good OR bad- helps you grow. Failing is one of them. Continuing DESPITE failure is the REAL test of character, and it sounds like you're already on top of that. I wish you the best with that going forward!
Very thoughtful, actually.
Thanks for the read, might take a bit to get through, though.
@Born2run Hmm. Given that the ones who die are doing so at the hands of someone else, I'm not sure that it's so simplified as "giving up". The "giving up" are the people who give into despair, the ones who shut down because they don't see any hope in their future, maybe even buying into the "Be the toughest to get what you want" attitude that I think is sadly very prominent. Willing to throw someone else under the bus.
I think the ones who are killed are those whom the system failed. Whether they're "The Hope Of The Future" in DR1, where the pressure is too high on them to excel, and they crack from that pressure. Or, they're already written off as failures (DR2), who end up slipping through the cracks and end up in tragic fates. A different kind of giving up, maybe, or even people who are left with no support when they need it.
I'm not the arbiter of what these things ACTUALLY mean, I'm more just sharing what feels accurate to me. XD It's just one interpretation.
@Born2run They'd both be examples of people who were ALSO failed by the system, who ended up actually playing into it somehow? Hard to say. XD
something I've been thinking about with the end of the game: one of Junkos last temptations is pitting Hinata's individual interests against the interests of the group. However, after he awakens, he makes the choice to care for others, definitely not what we would call "selfish", yet he still claims "it's not for anyone except myself!". I think it's a good display of how individual and group interests don't necessarily have to be at odds with one another. Hinata IS being selfish, but that still doesn't mean he disregards his friends or what they want. He synthesized his individual interests with the groups interests rather than seeing them as completely separate.
Anyone else notice that pretty much all the talents in SDR2 are all talents that can be cultivated WITHOUT schooling.
Think Gamer, Yakuza, Musician, Imposter. A lot of these are skills that don’t need the school environment to be maximized, or actually benefit from being cultivated OUTSIDE of school. It better fits that idea of them being the “Dropouts”.
wow, awesome point! i never even thought about this.
what? not they're not
Most of them need people to teach them. For example, try learning to play any instrument without an instructor, or how to take care of animals by trial and error, and the progress will be much slower than if someone teaches you how to do them (and you'll fill a whole pet cemetery)
Heck, being an imposter implies learning tons of skills to imitate your targets, which requires a large tuition
@@sasir2013 I believe the OP meant that a typical school establishment and enviroment (like public school) would not be neccessary in learning these skills and I don't believe OP was implying that you can learn these things/skills completely without guidance.
@@talzaenvy But that applies to most talents in DR1. You don't learn in school how to make doujinshis, be an idol, manage a company, solve cases, read the future, fight, bet, manage a gang, be a serial killer, be a soldier, be a fashionista...
@@sasir2013 true! It's not exclusive to the sdr2 cast.
Nagito that has the LIERS DISEASE: Hajime go away, i hate you, I don't want you to ever be near me at all, leave me a lone.
Hajime who is taking his lies seriously and being a dumbass: okay geez.. I'll leave
That’s pretty much their relationship in the game, and I find it hilarious
Nagito: *trying to drop hints that he has a crush on Hajime*
Hajime: I don’t understand what he wants from me…
@@RikkiLove0317 my poor boy’s in denial😔
I love him
Nagito: clearly showing a romantic feeling for Hajime
Hajime: *proceeds to ignore everything*
While I agree that Hiyoko's death being so soon is a massive loss on a big character arc, I also agree that that is the entire point; she was just collateral damage, hell, even damage control.
And her dying before her character could really develop is what makes it so sad to me. In my first playthrough, I spent quite a lot free time with Hiyoko, and her free time events really suggests that, had she lived through the rest of the game, she could have gone through major character development - but then she doesn't. She just dies. And she wasn't even the one that Mikan wanted to actually kill. I personally thought that aspect of the chapter was really well made, as it personally hit me really hard, but I can also see why people wouldn't be fond of it, as it really can feel like a cop out.
I feel like this premise of Mikan and Hyoko could have worked if Danganronpa went into a slightly different direction with Mikans memories. What if, foe example, she got some of her school memories before she turned into a remnant again and remembered Hyoko bullying her even then. I feel like Danganronpa could have explored themes of bullying and if Hyoko even deserves to be forgiven by Mikan. It could have also explored when vengeance that is justified in the beginning goes too far. It’s undeniable that Hyoko was significantly more horrible to Mikan before and during this game so I think the Character dynamic of these two fits well for the chapter. It also makes Hyokos attempt to change even more tragic in my eyes they could have utilized it more cleverly to show what the effect of her bullying was and that even if she changes Mikan is still traumatized.
It really bothers me how mikan killing hiyoko has absolutely zero relation for hiyoko being a superbully towards mikan.Its not even mentioned as a possibility for mikan being the culprit once.
Should have been Fuyuhiko instead imo, considering how utterly melodramtic his role in 2-2 was his death would be more unexpected and also, kinda bullshit that Fuyuhiko "i got Mahiru killed because she annoyed me and only felt bad once my gf died" Kuzuryu lived and not Hiyoko
@@namkwal Yeah it would have been so much better if the game brought in a cliche motive that equates Hiyoko being a bit of a bitch to Mikan murdering her in cold blood? Oh wait no
@@tomgibson6801 I wholeheartedly disagree about Fuyuhiko dying. He is one of the most developed characters from any of these games. However, I also really wish that Hiyoko didn't die either. There was a seriously missed opportunity for Fuyuhiko and Hiyoko to fill the voids in each others' lives after trial 2 in the form of a sibling-like relationship.
I think that having the two of them survive until the end was missed potential, it would've turned two of the most initially unlikable characters into two of the most developed and interesting ones. Having Hiyoko slowly come to forgive Fuyuhiko for his role in Mahiru's death and for Fuyuhiko to start to look out for her in a way similar to how Mahiru did would've been an absolutely excellent direction to take their characters.
If anyone should've died it should've been Akane. She doesn't really do that much late-game and doesn't have much in the way of development at all. Having Nekomaru come back to find out she died while he was gone would've been an extra punch in the gut and would've helped set up his disposition in chapter 4 much better. That way, we could've replaced the scene where Fuyuhiko tries to console Akane about Nekomaru's current fate with a scene where he and Hiyoko have some sort of reconciling and form a bond of sorts. Additonally, while Fuyuhiko also becomes closer with Hajime, Hiyoko could find that sister-like connection with Sonia.
This doesn't even begin to fix chapter 3 but I feel it's a fix for Hiyoko's poor handling.
I think the reason Chiaki seemed a little flat is because the program made her from the class’s memory: a sweet gamer girl that kept them together and comforted them in times of need.
So that could be why she wasn’t as varied as others in the cast.
That's what I was thinking. They didn't get to know her a ton when they were alive and it was their first death, so I doubt they remember more than her final moments too since they got brainwashed. I thought it was entirely intentional...
i agree. i think she had much more personality in the anime.
That definitely makes sense canonically but in a games sense it doesn’t work very well
@@blaise3290 in the game , as they never state Nanami was a real person, they only establish her existence as just an ai made to impersonate a student that doesn’t exist, so in a sense, if she’s made just to be an ai gamewise before the anime aspect, then yes it still makes sense to why she’s so bland + doesn’t have a lot of depth, as in the game, she’s merely just an ai and with added on knowledge from the anime, then in a sense it still makes sense !
Edit: it basically works w/ the game aswell if she’s intentionally designed to be bland because she’s an ai, I kinda forgot to answer that part woops
@@parasitophobia I know that but what I mean is that from a gameplay decision it isn’t a good choice even if it makes sense lore wise. It can make sense in cannon but it makes her a boring character to the player when she’s supposed to be someone you’re attached to for he big emotional reveal
This is a great retrospective, even more so than your _Trigger Happy Havoc_ one, and I adore just how much emotion you put into it as well. That grand finale is really just as beautiful as the actual final act itself. Also, the analogies about the cast being dropouts is a really neat touch, one that I definitely wouldn't have considered alone.
I eagerly await the rest of the franchise - but I won't be impatient about it. Just... thank you for all your hard work.
Ending of trigger happy havoc was alot better than Danganronpa 2 imo
I agree tbh. In general i like sdr2 more, but DR had a really good atmosphere and the ending was great!
I actually prefer the v2 ending
@@JossCade I honestly prefer the claustrophobic atmosphere of THH, it just gave me chills the first time I played it. to each their own
1:25:25
Something that makes it even funnier, Nagito has the money to pay it right on the spot. He's insanely rich, probably not quite rivaling Byakuya's assets, but certainly within his top five successors. Thank luck! ...oh, wait, his parents died to leave him with those assests. Nevermind.
Don't forget the getting kidnapped
@@nesiachan4534 Ah, yes, that too
Also the beloved dog incident, and the lymphoma and front temporal disease
@@Ijustexistlmao Yea, but those didn't leave him money, I was just counting the incident that gave him all his money
How good the finale for SDR2 was really just solidifies my dislike for how they retconned everything interesting about it in D3 Despair Arc. Demolishing each character's personal culpability for the atrocious acts they committed on behalf of Junko Enoshima, to make it solely the fault of "anime brainwashing". In fact, everything was the anime brainwashing. Who cares if that completely obliterates the message the first two games spent so much time setting up? JFC.
YES thank you for saying this!! I remember pre dr3 everyone had cool theories for how junko indoctrinated the sdr2 kids into shsl despair and they went the root of...whatever that was (same with making izuru not responsible for killing the student council 🙄)
I think we all agree. Such a waste
Exactly 😩 all of the characters were literally canonically fake. All of their personalities, their stories, their arcs, their emotions-ALL of it meant NOTHING 😭😭 the final game literally reduced every single character from the entire franchise to a shallow facade 🙃 and I’m so glad u mentioned that bcuz that shit had me LIVID
@@deathnstuff They're talking about the anime, not the third game. The third game takes place in a separate world altogether, nothing in it is canon to previous works.
@@Ieam0309 oh, I see. I missed the “arc” part-sorry. But also !!?!!!!?!!!!?!?!! LOL THAT’S NEWS TO ME 😭😭😭
I remember being a highschooler, before the series was localized, watching a semi-badly translated video series of SDR2, and even then, the message struck me. Despite how nowadays people, including it's fans and even myself, meme on the DR series, it will always be near and dear to my heart, because it has powerful messages like this. It has been many years since I've played this game, so Thank You for reminding me what this game taught me
I can't believe you have me crying over Gundham Tanaka well done! On a side note it would make it all the more bittersweet that the angelic animals taking him to heaven where his past animal companions that he took care of and even made sure in their last moments felt safe, loved, and not in pain.
How dare you I'm crying now
If I'm not mistaken, I thought I read somewhere that that is in fact the case. That all those animals were animals he took care of in his past. Not sure if it was just someone's headcanon or if it was officially confirmed
@@TheDeliciousCaekI think it's implied in the game by the way Gundham talks about the four dark devas - their "current forms" are hamsters, suggesting that he's probably had sets of four pets that have passed away previously
Can’t wait for The V3 Retrospective, but take your time patiently and don’t exhaust yourself please.
@@Pulvrk1n-ti5hp her* btw. not him
*oh lord, I can still hear the screams because of the ending*
@@Pulvrk1n-ti5hp don't forget about chapter 5
@@etam8099 I think you mean the train wreak that is the final three chapters. Not hating I just my option.
@@creativecutieprincessd oh you don't like em? I think they were fantastic
With talking about Chiaki’s character, I feel like the flatness of her character adds to her in hindsight?
Like, as you watch the anime of the past, you see the personality that Chiaki displayed and how it’s similar, but different, to her game personality. Then, you see SDR2 Chiaki much more muted, almost like she’s not the real one. Almost like she’s robot.
It also goes with how no one programming her would know much about her personality, so they only have the little data on her and added that she was to help with the rehabilitation. This is just me stating my perception though.
Yes Chiaki and monomi were created using alter ego technology from chihiro to be put in the simulation, so I totally agree chiaki is not actually chiaki in this version after we saw what happened in DR3 anime.
yeah but i feel like thats a bit of an anachronistic take bc that anime came out years after the game
@@AlphaPizzadog yeah, that’s why I said it adds to SDR2 Chiaki in hindsight.
@@XxSherlockianHeroxX but before the game that still meant she was little to nothing so that’s not really an excuse as DR1 didn’t have DR3 to clean up it’s plot holes and contrived mess unlike DR2, horrible excuse
@@Tasty_Tango45 Again, this was my own opinion.
I’m sorry but the “on the bone meat” joke made at 43:28 made me laugh a little more than I think I was supposed to 💀
i definitely fucked up that part of the trial in almost every one and did the on the bone meat myself so it hit extra hard for me 🤣
it's a classic joke in the fandom. you have to take every opportunity you get to make it
I first said on the meat bone when I first did it
BONE MEAT THE ON
SDR2 is my favourite ensemble in the franchise, and I've been (with full affection) calling the cast "problem children" in my head for years, so I'm glad that subtext was picked up on ^^
I will respectfully steal this title for them now. Thank you, kind stranger.
noo but that fits them💀✋
Simply amazing. While I don't agree with every take entirely, your assessment of the Danganronpa 2 cast being analogies for outcasts and drop-outs alike really struck close to home and finally explained to me /why/ they resonated to deeply so me. I first played the Danganronpa games in the midst of the pandemic when I had to end up dropping out myself, and now it finally clicks in why I care so deeply for the cast of the second game thanks to you.
I'm excited to see your take on the rest of the series going forward, and only ask that you go at your own pace as to not burn out. Much love to you.
2:29:05 I wasn't aware at all about the distorted final messages from the deceased characters. These make their murders and comedic style executions heart wrenching.
You have amazing analytical skills. Great video.
I legit forgot how, like, intense the reveal of Hajime's backstory was to me when I was younger and first watching a playthrough of this game. I paused this video just to go rewatch that part of the trial. His confusion and breakdown hurts even harder all these years later. I love it.
I kept rewinding that part. I've been into the game since 2017 but I forgot how gut wrenching that reveal was and how it shocked me to my core.
Something brilliant about Chapter 4 I have never seen anyone point out is how the Funhouse itself contributes to the motive. Monokuma could have chosen anything to theme the two houses around, but what did he choose for the motive where everyone is slowly starving to death? Strawberries and grapes. Just an extra layer of insult to injury seen in executions like the firetruck in Celeste's.
what you said about danganronpa 2 hitting you in your senior year got to me because something really similar happened to me
i got into danganronpa in my junior year of highschool, and i was into it throughout my senior year, primarily focusing on danganronpa 2 because of how much i liked the characters. i was already doing pretty bad in school due to my mental health, and i just also happened to have the pandemic hit at the tail end of that. i feel like i only even graduated on a technicality because *nobody* was able to do their work properly. genuinely if they didnt give some extra leeway due to the pandemic i think i wouldve ended up being held back or dropping out. so just like.... everything about the games ending, and everything you said about it, really really hit me hard.
thank you for making this video, both this and your video on danganronpa 1 are some of my favorite videos about this series and some of my favorite videos of yours in general!! honestly everything you said about the game here mirrors my feelings on it so strongly its insane
(chiakis words at the end of the game also made me cry ;v;)
one small detail i havent noticed till recent was monokumas movie from chapter 3 actually doesnt only predict saionji’s and mioda’s death but also nidai’s death aswell which is a cool small detail to add
Am I the only one that noticed that fanservice scenes were important to all three cases?
1. The Mikan panty shot scene being used to implicate Teruteru in the crime
2. Peko being the only swimsuit girl that was soaking wet implicating her in the murder
3. Mikan trying to use Hajime as an alibis in yet another fanservice scene where she's cuddling up next to him
Yeah, I think the "fanservice" in the game was actually really crucial. I remember someone describing DR2 as "a bunch of anime archetypes acting like anime archetypes, but then you talk to them and find out they act that way because of trauma." And that's definitely how I read DR2.
Omg ranmaru
You perfectly summarized why I love the 4th case. The motive is incredibly cruel, enforcing the purest and most raw form of survival vs morality.
All of that mental and especially physical pain and exhaustion having to be dealt with in a place that is supposed to be giving the complete opposite feeling: a fun house. A place that's supposed to be source of laughter and joy, turned into a weapon against happiness.
Danganronpa is very sadistic sometimes, but these types of motives truly make you think "what would I have done if I was in such a situation?" and in return, it makes the characters even more redeemable in certain aspects.
I love Gundham for killing Mechamaru in chapter 4. Not only was he already my favorite character at the time, he also made a sacrifice to let the other students survive, and he didn’t even kill an actual person!
Here something I love about Gundham
He is the Ultimate Breeders, and have been shown to have control over animal
However, they didn't made his personality reflect that, sure, he fucking love animal, but, it's not his whole personality
However, they reflected it in his psychology, and I think it's much better
I have some nitpicks and small disagreements with certain parts of this retrospective. When it comes to such a sweeping character drama as Danganronpa, I think the experience becomes personal in such a way as to make any broad commentary almost impossible. But that's why it's the heart of the piece that matters the most, in the end. And also why all my little grievances pale in comparison to the masterwork that was the Chapter 6 analysis. It's apparent how much exploration, critical thinking, research, and heart was put into that segment. I've played this game to death, over and over. But it wasn't until today that I feel like I truly understand why.
Thank you.
1:23:00 i have a unique stance regarding 2-3, i absolutely hate the trial especially as someone who really adores all three who got killed in that case and the fact that its stuck between 2-2 and 2-4 which are two examples of how to handle both a victims and killers death it really sticks out like a sore thumb, but the daily life might actually be my favourite in the series, it really does a good job at exploring grief and guilt in both Fuyuhiko and Hiyoko's case and rare for the series actually does seem to have a real aftermath to the previous chapter, in particular a stand out moment for me was the seppuku scene because both Fuyu and Hiyoko come across as very sympathetic throughout that moment, we could have had a good relationship between the two but no, she dies, because of shock value, I'm still salty about that
A friendship between the two would be great! I feel like either akane or Kazuichi dying instead. Or just make 6 survivors and have only Ibuki as the chapter 3 victim.
@@jigglyfan3196 I strongly think it should have been Soda, Akane was at least fun and positive enough for me not to care that she survived over my fav's, Soda was such an unlikeable prick that i was rooting for it throughout
@@tomgibson6801 Yes I wanted Kazuichi to die so bad, but no. The comic relief character with no personality whatsoever who is also a stalker had to live instead of someone who actually had room to grow. Anyways, that's danganronpa as a whole ig 🤷♂️
Jiggly Fan imo Sonia would be the best replacement. Akane could be better by making her development wut neko feel more apparent, and soda would be by default better by virtue of not being able to perv on Sonia, not to mention Sonia doesn't have much to do in terms game anyway, even if you lose that dynamic in chapter 4. You don't even need to change much, just have Sonia get the mirror instead of even go with hiyoko and die in her place.
@@lukebytes5366 But the issue isn't Sonia, the issue is Soda, i don't think its her fault he's a creep and also, she did so much more in game than he ever did. Even without the Sonia simp element he's still unbearable as a person
It's interesting to also compare Junko's motives between the first and 2nd game. In the first game, it seems the Junko their, while wanting despair, wanted to make the game as entertaining as possible and was a bit more 'fair' in it. She only resolved to cheating when she felt Kyoko wasn't 'playing fair' either. In the 2nd game however, she definitely tried making the motives much more unfair, with the exception of Trials 1 and 5, since she wanted to kill off as many chars as possible. Thank goodness for that rule that the 'teacher' couldn't interfere with the students directly.
I'm gonna say it. This, as well as your other DR videos, are THE ABSOLUTE BEST video essays for the series I have EVER seen. Watching these videos gave me the exact same feelings I felt when playing the series for the first time, something I thought I would NEVER feel. Hats off to you, NezumiVA, you outdid yourself thrice, and probably twice more when those DR3 and V3 videos inevitably release
Before the video comes out, here's my take on this game.
It has my favorite:
Cast in general (Chiaki is my favorite character in the series, period.)
Main Character (Hajime was such a good protagonist.)
Investigation theme
I did like the setting a little bit less than Hope's Peak, because HP felt more claustrophobic.
gotta say i def agree on all points
i really love hopes peak as a setting tbh
Although I prefer Jabberwock(did I got the name right?) Island more, I agree on the other points.
The soundtrack is a banger and Haji was a good protag. Believing in his friends while still not being naive about them.
Totally agree. I love how it changes up the setting and makes it work
For real bruh. Abt the Hajime thing too, 'cause when Nagito made that reference about the book where a detective tried to search for a murderer and it ended up being themselves, was like such a good metaphor
@@coffepot4800 3-1 V3 too
this was a really well made video that definitely did dr2 justice. not only that, it was incredibly comprehensive and entertaining throughout. the emotions of the game were almost perfectly reflected in the video, which really speaks to your ability to write and create videos. this was a fun watch, can’t wait for the next one. (and the shadow the hedgehog video, of course)
About the "rich people watching people kill each other for fun"
When I played dr2 4 years ago I thought it might've been meant as a twist on the JP classic film Battle Royale
More than likely, yeah. The entire death game genre more or less sprung up from the original BR novel and especially the film adaptation, I was just making a little tongue in cheek joke lol.
Even someone just mentioning DR0 makes me ridiculously happy! Ahhh, DR0 is my favorite DR installment! I am just so happy you're even briefly talking about it!
2:31:43 I have to wholeheartedly disagree. She’s a program who’s design is to be everyone’s friend and not to reveal her purpose. I’d say her nondevelopment is intentional cause she’s not human
While I see what you mean, author intention and technical accuracy does not equate to a compelling, strongly written character
@@LittleKachowski You're right, but also, simple characters can also be compelling, and they can fulfill roles that more complex characters struggle with.
Chiaki being almost too perfect is why her being a fiction within a fiction is such a gut punch, and why she slots in well into her role as a guardian angel for the final act. It's like in a classroom of 16 people marked by trauma, she's the only girl who had a quiet life and has her shit together. And instead of looking down on anyone, she helps them move forward.
I mean we don't all have dramatic backstories. Most of us just have ok lives and ok personalities. Chiaki shows that people like that can still have an impact on others.
I never saw Nagito as sarcastic or pompous just unhinged and misguided except in trial 4 where I think his sassy and sarcastic attitude and tone was on purpose after learning about the remnants of disspare
P.S:Your Tanaka voice is amazing
3:09:46 wow, this entire part was beautifully stated and brought me to tears hearing you talk about it. Although you usually try to keep personal things out of your essays, its honestly one of my favorite parts of your analysis videos. I also played sdr2 at the second half of my senior year (which was only in early '21), which was a turning point in my life for so many reasons. Going into adulthood, the start of transitioning to a different gender, going into a changed world that feels like it has suddenly become much meaner. Breaking out of a shell that reached its end point right when I am entering the cusp of adulthood, and metaphorically being shoved in the water and having to learn how to swim (for lack of a better word.)
Although I did well in school, I missed out on some on some of the most integral parts of growing out of adolescence, which were my latter 2 years of high school. I never really got to naturally form new friendships (which felt like torture bc I was finally beginning to find out and work on who I was), never really got to learn much of anything, never had the time to slowly develop into things like getting a first job, learning how to get to school on my own, getting to hang out with people I cared about before we split up for college. I still have never even gotten my yearbook. I would have likely felt lost without the aforementioned changes, but with them, it made it a thousand times worse. I had no idea the world I was going into, and I still don't know. I don't think I was ever ready to.
I'm incredibly grateful for your analysis, because at the time I never really understood why this hit me so hard. Its very beautifully stated, and I hope both your words, as well as the game's, stay in my mind as I finally do begin to slowly forge a future for myself. Thank you NezumiVA for the amazing video!!
Thank you so much for pointing out how Teruteru trying to trick people into that sort of stuff is SO NOT OKAY. I've been saying this for years, as his introduction completely killed any sympathy I was supposed to have for him.
ikr! mans is a walking rape case waiting to happen istg
I'm glad I'm not the only one who hates that
Agreed, and what frustrates me even more is that take away all his pervyness and attempted assault, he would have been a great character.
@@Bailderdash you mean the mamas boy part and why he wants to be a chef?
Yeah, Dr2 really had a problem with shitty "comedic" characters like abuser Hiyoko wich also forced Mikan into a victim role most of the time, Sexual Predator Teruteru and mabe Sodas simping for....nevermind (Oh and Nekomaru Midai having bathroom issues and openly screaming them out when you least expect it)
On the subject or Chapter 3, I think the chapter rewrite video by TinyLeaf is a wonderful fix to an awkward and odd trial. The video tries to change very little about the outcome of the trial, but fixes most of the big problems in the trial. Such as: the second victim, despair disease, and the killers execution/final moments. Highly recommend giving it a watch to anyone curious!
Something I thought was cool was the hinting at the cast's potential to be corrupted. At first, when I saw the Twilight Syndrome murders, the edginess to everyone's character (the Ultimate Princess' fascination with serial killers, the Ultimate Traditional Dancer's desire to step on ants, etc.), everyone's natural dislike of pure Monomi, I was under the impression that the writers were simply making a choice to make their characters a bit dark like the world around them, and had no idea that it was all intentionally different from the original cast.
I also always assumed Nagito was originally meant to be Makoto but was changed in rewrites, so it's really funny to know it was intentionally there just to mess with people.
I think someone has pointed it out before but chapter 4, he draws he circle not for his protection, but his animals, as is revealed, his animals are completely safe by the end.
Chapter 6 hit me like a truck due to my Oudenophobia. Seeing Hajime’s panic over ceasing time exist combined with Chiaki’s speech about how she’ll never truly be gone freaking hurt. Especially the “I don’t want to disappear” line from Izuru.
Love the voice acting. Whenever you voice excerpts, I keep expecting them to be clips from the actual dub. Such great subtle variation in voice and excellent emotion 👍
3:05:27 This is a great summary of why Danganronpa could never escape Junko as the Mastermind. She’s just too perfect of a villain in a game series where the main premise are sad teens killing each other.
I feel like the spotlight on Koizumi as a whole was probably my favorite part of this retrospective, giving attention to Koizumi is something I don’t see often, especially considering how many first time players seem to find her annoying for her singling out of men, though it’s not very often you find someone that goes into depth about the reason behind the way she acts and speaks how she does, or why her death actually deserves as much of an impact as any of the others death in this series, she was far from my favorite character when this game first came out but as of late I’ve found that she is my favorite from SDR2 and the series itself, haven’t felt this much raw dread since I first started playing these games, Something about losing a character you really enjoy just hurts a lot,,
I was actually fine with her character on my first playthrough, but I hadn't played her free events. And knowing her backstory makes me like her character a lot less.
She's not 5, she should know that not every man is a copy of her father waiting to happen. She's had years to be exposed to dozens of positive male role models. Male teachers, hard-working classmates, etc.
It's also silly that she doesn't seem to resent her mom at all for all this. Mom's the one who left her daughter to babysit a grown man while she was out galavanting around the world. If Dad's really that useless, Mom needed to either get a maid, get a nanny, or divorce him.
She really should resent both her parents. Her attitude would make a lot more sense if her mother was dead, and her single dad was useless and leeched off her.
It's sort of an issue with chapter 2 victims in the series, they become more like objects or come off as existing only for the plot, and people fail to see their true personalities or potential
Mahiru is boiled down to the man hating photographer despite the backstory presented in her free time events
I don't think enough people consider what she would have done in the rest of the game had she survived
Same with Chihiro and Ryoma. Chihiro has become the centre of an argument instead of an actual character, and people often fail to consider how they would fit into the later game, and how their actions caused the cast of DR1 AND 2 to survive. Then Ryoma is forgotten by most people, and even then everybody ignores how he has probably one of the most horrifically sad backstories in the entire series. But he's just ...not a character to most people.
MAN. ive practically moved on from dr but it had a grip on me in high school and this video made me so emotional. it had a grip on me for all those years for a reason
Chapter 5 of SDR2 is my favorite in the series. It perfectly combines a good mystery, insane tragedy, the talent of the blackened playing into their crime (because let's be real, Komaeda is the blackened of his case despite what Monokuma says), and a setup of things to come. It's the perfect Danganronpa chapter in my opinion.
Also Nanami's death made me bawl like someone I actually knew and loved had died. It was awful. She's my favorite character in the series and it hurts like hell to see her go. But I wouldn't have it any other way. It's so much more special like this.
and tbh I love that Komaeda's intentions were for everyone but Nanami to die and was counting on his luck that Nanami would be his killer and also that they wouldn't be able to pin her down. Nanami was the traitor and the blackened. Good luck. They found out. Bad luck.
honestly, I really appreciate you giving me a new perspective on SDR2--I think i'm just a contrarian in the larger DR fanbase b/c i hardly ever come across anyone else whose favorite of the mainline games is THH. Idk what it is--a combination of nostalgia and my affinity for the portrayal of proximity based friendships in media? I 100% agree that the camraderie between the group is way more believable in sdr2--and while I think the thinly veiled distain everyone seems to have for ppl who aren't makoto in THH is frustrating in its own way, i can't explain it, I think it has its own funny appeal. Like... the v3 kids feel like strangers, the SDR2 kids feel the most like friends, but the THH kids feel the most like *classmates*, if that makes sense? with all the baggage, thinly veiled contempt hidden behind civility and temporary "this is good enough for now" friendship that implies. The fact that the THH kids have more archetypal talents probably doesn't hurt--their dyanmics are a bit easier to map onto the politics of high school than SDR2 having, like, literal princesses. They're all parodies of existing japanese archetypes, but also, they do just kinda feel like regular high school kids dialed up to 11. I never had a classmate who was a nurse or an animal breeder, but i definitely knew some jocks, a student council president, a delinquent, etc etc. While I stilll have my bias, I've always been aware of the belief (a belief i agreed with despite my bias) that the 2nd game is probably the best of the three, and I think this video is a strong persuasive argument toward this game being the strongest of the bunch. I always appreciated you giving THH a fair shake in your last video--i really do think it does get neglected in the fanfair abt this franchise (SDR2 being viewed as the best, ndrv3 being more polarizing but also being an entry point for so many new fans and invigorating new life into the series means its a lot of ppls favorites too), so i was hesitant about this one, but you've really sold me. Tbh, i think the mystery element is even more compelling than the first game--there's a lot of fun reversals in comparison to the expectations you go into it with and the way it further develops the world feels super organic. And the ending really got to me--reframing SDR2 as a story about the droppouts and underdogs gives the story new meaning in a way that kinda glanced over me the first & even second time i played it. Even tho I always had a fondness for SDR2 & its characters, I think the escalated absurdity kept from feeling quite as bought in (still cried like a baby during ch 2 & 4 tho, i'm only human!), but now i understand. Everything is a feature, not a bug. Didn't mean to get so longwinded, but i just had to put my thoughts out to feed the algorithm with this one. Great work!
It's a little strange to hear an English speaker with an English audience cover the English localization of the game all while accommodating the Japanese terminology, including referring to characters by the last name, but it doesn't take away from this video being very well put together. I especially appreciate you pointing out translation dissonance, such as with Ibuki's talent and Kazuichi's pervy nature.
I go over my preference a little more in the previous video, so I felt it might be a little repetitive to reiterate it in this one, since I'm also doing several more. But yeah, I'm just used to the original terminology, and I have pretty big issues with the localizations themselves that become more prevalent as the games go on.
I totally agree with your conclusion! I've always said this, but Danganronpa is a game of hope, not despair, despite how Junko tries to make it out as such. This game and its message is honestly so comforting to me as a drop out as you put it! Quite literally for me, as I am a legit high school drop out, aha... Overall, it's definitely the game I come back to the most, and is probably my favorite game of the series (though DR0 is my favorite installment). Everything about it is just so comforting to me messaging wise, and I think you articulated really well why! This is all why SDR2 itself is my favorite sequel to a game, I think ever. It just really spoke to me, despite its flaws!
I don’t know if I can’t properly articulate my thoughts about the story itself and the way you presented it but it can’t hurt to try.
This video essay about the sequel really hit me harder than the last one you did. The timing of this was just where it needed to be- at least for me. I’ve been going through it for the past week or so and I was stuck in this crisis that I wasn’t sure what a future even looks like; I was paralyzed by this defeatist attitude and indecision. Seeing this especially it’s ending really resonated with me.
I’ve always loved it when creators get a bit personal because it feels like something so precious and dear. I find it to be some of the most respectable things to share something like that in order to help others understand their own feelings.
The whole senior in high school part was very fitting in this time because I am that senior going to “Oh god what am I going to do with the rest of my life” and the message that if given by the end is comforting. Knowing that despite all the pitfalls I might face that there is still a way further. That I can carve out my own path and pursue it. It’s things like this that make me appreciate life a little bit more. It’s nice to know that you’re not the only one terrified and that there will always be others who feel the same way.
All of this is to say thank you for making these analyses of Danganronpa because they mean so much to me.
Finally finished the video, and.... I can't believe I almost never got into this series purely out of stubbornness. Even if I experienced this through your narration, I felt every single emotional punch and investment into this game, it was almost overwhelming at times where I legitimately thought I was going to shed tears, especially with that ending.
Even if the timing was on pure coincidence, Nezumi, thank you for an amazing birthday gift, especially from a series I originally intended to ignore.
Danganronpa has some of the highest highs I've ever experienced with a videogame while simultaneously having genuinely unfun, sloppy, and blatantly terrible moments in the same breath. Watching this has only reaffirmed why the games, especially so for SDR2, have been emotionally resonant for me despite everything. Hope vs. Despair, as stupid and corny as that sounds. It takes a more discerning eye than mine to look past a game that constantly wants details clashing over all else, to question everything and solve some fun videogame mystery, to get to the real emotional struggles that come with being a teenager and growing up at large. Everytime something I deemed an important pseudoscience question left unanswered was seemingly "handwaved" when in actuality it was boldly, blatantly dropping all pretenses and trying to direct me to the actual heart of the story it completely passed me by. "Oh how Danganronpa! How wacky! How on-brand! "They're not gonna explain it? Cool!" I thought upon moments like that, not really caring to deeply analyze something framed as a sorta meta joke upon first glance. Guess I don't feel so weird for really liking Junko now that the themes got laid out so throughly. She's great because you can see people following her taken to the most heinous extreme. It's not subtle. At all. But there was way more there than I ever considered on a first playthrough. Biggest takeaway is that I NEED TO READ DANGANRONPA ZERO NOW.
super long form videos on videogames i love are the pinnacle of the internet. pathologic for those who'll never play it and this danganronpa retrospective come to mind. absolutely great job, the massive amount of work behind it really paid out!
I had this playing in the background while I worked in class and suddenly hearing Mr Krabs shout "UNDER THE FLOORBOARD" almost sent me into hysterics, i love it when videos have this kind of humour
I think it's worth mentioning that apparently Kuzuryu was originally going to be killed in Part 3 instead of Hiyoko, which would have been an even worse choice and rendered Pekoyama's death almost entirely meaningless, especially what's effectively her sacrificing herself to save him from her own execution. Hiyoko was basically the last minute replacement, such to the point that the murder weapon used for her was never found because the writes forgot about it.
It was so disappointing for me that there was not murder weapon to be found. I used my time to think these murders on my own and I thought it would be important but it wasn't.
Trial 3 isn't my favorite but one thing I've notices after watching many playthroughs (from streamers and friends) is that the trial is only difficult if you care for Mikan, if you are (like me) someone who really liked her you end up ignoring all the red flags and very obvious evidence because "she obviously couldn't have done it" while others who weren't connected to her at all managed to solve it during the investigation with ease. This is not a fools proof basis but i have noticed that being so attached to the character does help blind you from the mystery.
this was me, I refused to believe it was Mikan even choosing the wrong person at the end hahaha
Honestly my perspective was "Well, by the way it looks, the perpetrator can only be Mikan. Surely it won't be that simple? Yeah, it's probably someone else"
Just like DR2, you outdid yourself in all the ways that truly matter. This video is great and you did such an amazing job!!
Gundham is one of my top fave characters, so I nearly teared up as you described him and his final moments. Thank you for doing right by my boi. :')
You've also given me an understanding for characters I never thought to before, and I really appreciate that! The way this game relates to high school and dropouts is also a connection I didn't think of before, and man that just really makes me admire this game more. You got me to tear up a few moments in this haha
Despite its (at times really major) flaws in writing and character treatment, this game's got a funky li'l place in my heart. Thank you for this vid and I look forward to the next! Tho do take your time and take care of yourself ❤
51:50 "Kira kira" is a homophone for "killer killer", which would later be the subtitle for a Danganronpa spinoff manga.
I read that as "Kira Kira is a homophobe"
@@deadmeme9031 kira noooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!
sorry for commenting twice- i just finished the video and your personal experience with the game informed your thoughts and commentary to such a wonderful extent it brought tears to my eyes. i relate a lot, i spent most of my final few years in high school moving schools, skipping classes, deep in the throes of mental illness and i only managed to graduate by the skin of my teeth. sdr2 is one of my fav games ever and you did it justice. tysm for capturing exactly why this is such a wonderful, meaningful game to so many people because i feel like its so often misinterpreted. great work
Just to point something out in the comments that NezumiVA doesn't seem to know: in the original script for the game, it was Kuzuryuu, not Saionji, who was supposed to die during Chapter 3. However, it was noted during the production process that, were Kuzuryuu to die, it would make Pekoyama's sacrifice meaningless, so they switched the two's fates. This is why Saionji's death seems so sudden and seemingly cuts off her character arc before it can fully blossom: because there was, in fact, a character arc that was cut off.
Now this is where things get subjective: I personally think the story would have held more meaning and had better character arcs were Saionji and Kuzuryuu to both survive, and someone else to die in their place. Now here's where it gets reeeaaally subjective, and if people hate me for it, that's ok, cuz everyone has their own opinions: I think the person who should have been tragically and suddenly cut down in lieu of both Kuzuryuu and Saionji...the best choice would be Sonia Nevermind.
Now before you Sonia lovers yell at me, here are my reasons, and they mainly revolve around Souda's character:
*1.* With the final survivors being Hinata, Souda, Owari, Kuzuryuu, and Saionji, they would all be tied together poetically by one theme: loss of a loved one. Saionji lost Koizumi, Kuzuryuu lost Pekoyama, Owari lost Nidai, Hinata lost both Nanami and, some would say, Komaeda, and Souda would have lost Sonia. So Souda would have been the one to benefit (character-wise, anyways) from her loss, because as the canon ending is, he's the odd one out.
*2.* This is based purely around the fact that I played the game's localization, not the fan-translated version, so my knowledge of Souda's character is based on his dialogue there, ok? Souda, as the game progresses, gets creepier and creepier in his infatuation with Sonia, much to her displeasure. Taking her out of the equation would either allow that side of his character to fade away, or force him to grapple with it and overcome it, along with his obvious paranoia that would really be brought out by the trauma of her death, which allows for some interesting routes for his character to take.
*3.* This may open up an avenue for Tanaka and Souda to get past their grudge on each other (mostly one-sided, but Tanaka does eventually get very annoyed by Souda) and perhaps find a bond in their loss of Sonia. If they were to develop a friendship of sorts, even if it's low-key and begrudging, this would make case 4 more devastating (and interesting) to Souda, since he lost the one he was attracted to, and now he was low-key betrayed by the friend he thought he'd never make, and whom he had only just started to trust. However, Tanaka's reason for being the case 4 culprit is grey enough that perhaps it would cause Souda to rethink some things and be able to grapple with his paranoia. Perhaps not completely overcome it, but also perhaps not let it rule him either.
Now, as for Sonia's development: The main thing that could potentially suffer on her end from her early death is her relationship with Tanaka. The main fix for this? Just speed it along a bit. Make Souda perhaps a tad more simpy while she's alive (as unbelievable as that sounds), which'll cause Sonia to cling to Tanaka quicker (since she already liked his sense of style, his tastes, and his hamsters), and we'll get just the right amount of romance-hinting cuteness to satisfy to the same extent as the canon story.
If anyone has alternate ideas, or even reasons for why the canon story works best despite its flaws, feel free to comment below. I love hearing other people's points of view :)
Honestly this is such an amazing take, I believe Sonia was just so out of place and had to much potential to be something more, her end result was just so boring, the only thing she had was the connection to Gundam, that's it. I've seen points being made about how Sonia could of been the mastermind which is something I feel would of been better, or the result of her being the one who died in chapter 3 instead of hiyoko, I feel as though the way she conveniently finds the fliers of Jabberwock before them being brought there, setting up the whole ooo another serial killer is in the group of students is something that could of been some nice foreshadowing. I know I recall her saying some sort of robot fact before nekomaru's body was discovered in chapter 4, this made me think she was the killer or something along the lines of that, she really had the potential, but if they didn't want to do anything they should of just killed her.
I can understand why people like her tho at least, she's a cute girl but she just ends up feeling so boring next to everyone else.
I honestly feel like Soda was the best choice for a c3 victim though this might be out of my bias for Sonia, my issue with the idea of Sonia dying in c3 is i feel she provided some of the best emotional moments in both 2-4 and 2-5, Soda in contrast, unlike with Fuyu or Hiyoko i don't exactly think could have got a particularly good arc(though this might be out of my general dislike for his character). In addition i think 2 basically killed off every nice girl in the game anyway(Mahiru, Peko, Ibuki, Mikan, Chiaki) besides Sonia and Akane so it was nice at least two survived but i thought Sonia was probably a better survivor than Akane. Though i 101% agree with the idea that both Hiyoko and Fuyuhiko getting a joint arc was a good option and Kodaka really dropped the ball by killing off Hiyoko instead of giving her an arc
As a Sonia lover i'm offended (don't take this seriously, i'm saying this jokingly) and completely disagree with you with her dying, in contrary, Souda is the one who should've died. Here's my reasoning:
1. PLEASE let's stop using the "woman dies for a man's character development" trope. It's stupid, overused and misogynistic in a way.
2. Sonia would have finally gotten a safe space with nobody creeping on her and sexualising/objectifying her constantly.
3. Souda is just annoying, he's like Hagakure just here to be funny and stupid and to survive for some reason. This is just my opinion based on my playthrough of course, but Souda is a coward, yes he makes funny faces and all but it's all he does. As i played the game he was super annoying to me and yeah he kinda useful being shsl mechanic and all but it doesn't change my mind at all.
4. He didn't sacrifice anything. This is the most important point.
Kuzuryu lost Pekoyama, they loved eachother and she sacrificed herself for him.
Akane lost Nidai. They had close bond and she was visibly sad from him dying.
Sonia lost Tanaka. We can clearly see in some chapters that they had chemistry and they were cute together but alas Tanaka sacrificed himself for others.
Hinata lost Nanami. Hinata and Nanami were very clearly hinted to have some romance between them. This point is clear so i won't elaborate that much here.
Who did Souda loose? Nobody. If Saionji were alive instead of him she would've lost Kaizumi, her closest and only friend here, which would add nice meaning to all of their lives as survivors of this game.
I apologize if there were grammatical errors and such, english is my third language. Also apologize if i was wording stuff weirdly (it happenes)
i agree with this!! i’ve always thought that hiyoko would be a better survivor than sonia. not to mention it gives one of my favourite characters (souda) the chance to get more development…nice
@@gilly7376 She's a lot more interesting than Soda who at best is just there and at worse is actively toxic and a disgusting person
3:11:10
When i saw this video like last week
I thought it was my first time watching it
But when this started to play out
I remembered vividly having heard those words with that classroom like desk and the psp with the game going on
I am pretty sure i've somehow seen this whole retrospective at least some months ago even tho i had no memory of doing so
But The moment you started to read chiaki's lines , the emotion on your voice alongside the background and how hard those words hit
It resonated within me
Like "ayo you watched this and you're going to feel like it all over again"
Being on my last year of high school rn
Althought not being Able to relate with everything you said and your struggles or even your experience due to me having seen playthroughs before even touching danganronpa
Your emotions portrayed into her words reached me
They reached hajimemes
Then you
Then me and everyone else Who watched this
Omagaaa i dun wanna cry qwq
The end of sdr2 is for me at least
About self love and having confidence in yourself and i love that
I got to play danganronpa after The mobile ports
I kinda of went through them numblessly bc i thought that since i knew what was going to happen
It wouldn't be fun
But seeing this and having played dr 1 again and actually carrying about everything
It felt amazing fr fr
I bought a ps vita and i have all games ready and after this i am really looking foward to play everysingle one of them with hope that they Will touch me like you touched me >-<
I am seeing the retrospectives in a kind of mixed backwards way like
Dr 3 anime , ndrv3 and sdr2 for now
And i really liked each one of them so far so i gotta say
Kudos you're a great youtuber :DDDD
English is not my native language so some parts might be a lil cranky but i tried to share my emotions in a understandable way
Also have a great day or night and stay hydrated or *Komaeda Will making you drink water in the name of hope*
Hat's off!! You have made one of the best Retrospective I have ever seen!! You deserve mad respects for making this absolute amazing video!! The ending of this video made me tear up a little. this video's ending and the game's ending truly was Beauiful!! Thank you very much for making this video. You have really made me respect the game more, and made me more knowledgable about the contents in this game. Thanks a bunch!! And I cannot wait for your future DR retrospectives and content!! You're a very good youtuber!! And I will for sure watch more of your content!! You make very enjoyable and insightful content!!
God I love this video, I don't have much to say
There's a couple times I wish the localisation audio was used because it's so iconic, like Komaeda's 'true nature' reveal
I record all of my footage with the JP audio because that's how I play DR games. That's why I can't usually use any of the dub audio in the video itself lol. ^^;
@@NezumiVA I see, I see
That makes sense, I guess I grew so attached to the English voices since that's how I played them - including Bryce's Nagito (which I think definitely is closer in tone to JP Nagito when he reprises the role in DR3) - though I guess that means I kinda have a slightly different perception of his character to those that play JP, there's something so unique about his performance that I love so much
This video is the perfect mix of info, education, humour, and criticism u rlly ate this up
Great review. On the hangman’s gambit I first played DR2 on iOS on my iPad and found it super fun because as a touch screen it was easy and worked well but sadly that wasn’t the same for the original console which is annoying. Also with gundams execution the spell he was writing was to protect his animals not save him which really digs in
deeper his sacrifice
The end of this video really hits home. Glad to have revisited this piece and I'm sure I I'll do so again in the future. Something about the 'ones left behind' in this game has always reasonated with me and your words on that really made it sink in. I think I needed to hear that ending message again. Not just the game, but what you drew out of it. Thanks again.
Ngl I subbed after the content warning. Not a lot of YTbers do that - at most they'll be pretty vague about the dark content and possible triggers, so it's nice to see someone lay it all down there. Also I like your voice and adore super long videos like this one! I like Danganronpa, not too fond of the overarching lore, it's a bit too absurd even for me, but I love the individual games and characters... Yet I've found myself watching a lot of videos about the series' lore and DR in general, the longer the better. Its entertaining despite it's weirdness! XP Will definitely check out the one on the first game after this.
Hey, I just got around to looking into the franchise (been putting it off in fear of the Fandom killing my like for the games before I truly got into it), and I gotta say, this is brilliant. Game two was really rough to me, a beautiful mess that hit hard. Some context, I myself am a dropout, just threw in the towel last week, actually, and Nanami's future pep talk reduced me to a crying mess. Frankly, we all still have room to grow, struggling teens, grown adults, and innocent kids alike. Junko's right in a sense, the world isn't kind. It wants to swallow us whole, to tear us down. The future of pain isn't one we have to take though. If we create our future, choose what we want to instead of what the world wants to, we'll survive. It will be rough, but even if you fall, remember to pick yourself up and keep moving.
ngl this video made me hella emotional. I didn't have the privilege of first seeing Danganronpa the series back in my formative years, also because I didn't even know about the existence of said series until 2013 when I graduated hs in 2012, and only saw the actual gameplay when a youtuber I follow played in recent years. But I feel like Danganronpa, mainly DR2, was very formative to my present mentality, alongside with some other more mature media that also have such uplifting messages despite their heavy content, such as Night In The Woods, Life Is Strange, and Sailor Nothing (a fanfiction that is deeply triggering and yet has one of the most realistic and well executed messages on the actual power of friendship and support systems as a fundamental way to get through and overcome trauma I've ever seen in media). Not to play my own small violin but life... Has not been the best to me, and in between struggling with a myriad of personal problems, traumas and a streak of bad luck, I am at this point 27 going 28 this year, struggling through a 5 years turned at least 7 years long bachelor's program. And it sucks, mainly when I can feel the palpable disappointment in people around me at my constant failing and struggling, coming from family and beyond. I never was a dropout because I always powered through things at my own expense to keep myself from reaching that level out of sheer fear of the anger and rejection I'll get from others, but I still relate strongly to the dropout outcast experience. And also I relate to the whole shindig of being tempted by doomer mentality, coming from within me, as it feels like regardless of effort, I only fail and get people disappointed in me, which leads me to question what's the point of caring or putting effort at all when people only care about the outcome, and also coming from people all around me and around the same age as me, who all see the world as beyond fucked, the system as beyond broken, and why should they personally care about anything or put effort into anything if "we're all going to die from climate change after all?" Watching the gameplays of DR1 and DR2, I saw that mentality being personified into Junko, and how ridiculous it all sounds when you solidify those thoughts into a more cohesive picture, and I also saw people who were not exactly like me, but felt very similar to me, confront said thoughts, which are difficult to argue against when you're on your own head, but become almost comedically simplistic when they are quite literally embodied by a hedonistic and sadistic high schooler whose main motivation is to plunge the world and people into despair. And also, with DR2 comes the idea of despite one's past history, despite one being quite literally a villain the past (like the cast were), who literally harmed and killed people and influenced others to do the same, they still have that potential of rescuing themselves from said position and becoming the better person. Obviously it is not put as simply as for example MLP:FiM or Steven Universe, whose similar message is undermined by how quickly and easily the characters on those shows accept villains as good without any work or attempt at further reconciliation or reparation besides perhaps an "I'm sorry," and also by the fact that it's usually the main characters on those shows who do the rescuing from villainhood instead of the villain themselves (which also brings forth a whole myriad of questions about the morality and truthfulness of said rescues). I don't think DR2 is a show that woobifies the villains, yet another annoying and perhaps harmful trope where the villain's actions are supposed to be forgiven because "uwu look at this sadboi he only harmed people because he's sad uwu," no I think that the game still put enough severity into their crimes against others and even themselves that makes it plenty clear that their original present selves were very horrific people. But yet, they are still people, and everyone should be at least given a running chance of redeeming themselves, not by erasing their past and in their case quite literally erasing their memories and wiping the evil out of them, something that is quite the common shortcut on redemption stories in modern media, but by giving them a choice to work on themselves and create a better life, moving past their own mistakes. And that's, at least in my honest opinion, the best part of DR2's message, because it's so mature, and I feel it's so lacking in modern storytelling, I think the only other time I've seen being done was with Prince Zuko on Avatar. Bottom line, Danganronpa is such a hopeful story, not only because of its message, but also because it pulls its punches to reach that conclusion, to pass that message wholeheartedly and without sugar-coating, making it very powerful. And, I'm so glad I got to experience it, despite its flaws and its questionable writing at times.
Very excited to see your take on this, I loved your first retrospective, and DR2 is my personal favorite game for a whole bunch of personal reasons
i like what you said about how it’s reiterating on all the same things as the first one did, because i’ve always seen this series as “what if a bunch of character archetypes got put in a killing game together”, to the point where they even start riffing off of the tropes that they themselves established
Seeing this right after finishing the game myself, I wanna say that, to me, nanami being a flawless character fits with what the FF would realistically want for an observer that works as, essentially, a bridge between the students, kinda like when you make friends with your friend’s friends
If anything, I’d say that her flawless personality is her biggest flaw, since it’s also what would prevent her from coming out as the traitor as far as chapter 1
That senior year story, quite literally made me realize the exact same thing and in the same situation too???
Thank you for adding that because you might’ve just saved the last few months of my senior year. I literally got into DR at the beginning of my senior year and have been fixating on it this entire time (mainly DR2 of course-). I never took the time to appreciate that ending and it might be exactly what I need right now.
your video essays never fail to amaze me, the part at the end with your personal connection to the scene with chiaki was really touching and made me realize how great the story telling was in the final case
That was beautiful and extremely fun to watch. I didn’t expect to finish the whole thing but I did.
58:38 I really love how in Project Rewrite (Spoilers)
Hajime takes a bat from the convenience store and smashes the Twilight Syndrome game to prevent anyone playing it.
I personally adore Tsumiki. She was one of my favourite characters until her being caught in Chapter 3 and her later execution.
I related to her in a way, as when I was in highschool, I was shy, overly apologetic for things I didn't even need to apologise for, I was extremely sensitive and easy to make cry and I was bullied a lot, including by someone who I thought loved me at one point. Said person used my insecurities to pressure me into uncomfortable sexual situations, and it's affected me for life.
These all helped me relate to and love Tsumiki more, and it only heightened the level of disgust I felt in regards to how she was handled, especially with her execution and all the cheesecake shots of her. I only wish they handled her better. Looking back, it's almost as if they just put her in for the nurse fetish and it makes me sick. I wish they just did betterm
yes!!!! dr0 mention!! criminally underrated in the series, and it just makes my heart soar to hear people talk about it! i hope you do a video with a retrospective (and maybe even critique?) on danganronpa 3. i know i have SEVERAL thoughts on that anime, not all of them being positive lol
This video really hit hard, and reminded me why I love this game. As I'm writing this I'm tearing up, but being reminded of the line where Hinata and by extension you the player are told that talent doesn't matter. That you as a person have value outside your perceived 'worthiness'. It was something I needed to hear and it still gives me the visceral emotional reaction that it did back then. Oh boy this game is something special. It made me step out of my shell and try more, to go out into the endless sea of possibilities that the future holds and go where I want. I still struggle pretty hard with that but I'm still trying, too.
Thank you for making this video. It's something special, and I look forward to seeing what else you make.
You have no idea how happy I am to hear someone else spent time with Mahiru and invested their free time events into her. She's always been one of my favorite characters in the series, and I feel like if the main plot had given her just a bit more love she would've gone on to be one of other peoples favorites as well.
loved this video, looking forward to future parts covering the rest of the series. just make sure to pace yourself and not let the process weigh you down
In the past few days, I've watched tons of your content Nezumi, and it's all incredible. This genuinely made me cry at the end, both kinda sadness and joy. This is too amazing. TY. 💜💜💜
I'm so glad you took the time to explain Mahiru's character. I love her so much and it pains me that people doesn't want to take the time to properly know her.
to be fair, if people don't like a character, it's highly unlikely that they're going to choose her for Free Time. Which is down to the design of the game - if any character can die at any time, of course you'll want to max out your favorite characters first...and thus you'll miss out on others. Plus, without the depth of Mahiru's backstory being part of the main story, players lack a compelling reason to seek her out (of course, this is subjective, but it's true for the people who don't like her)
My little opinions~
As a sequel, DR2 does a lot right. The gameplay in trials is better, the writing is really good, and I honestly love the cast, premise and general setup.
Some standouts I love is-
- The 1st trial
- Nagito as a whole
- Hijime being a more interesting protag than Makoto
- Chiaki is best girl, dont @ me
For nitpicks and problems
- The 3rd Case was REALLY bad. I already didn't like the 3rd case of DR:THH but somehow, DR2's 3rd case was worse. It felt more random and meaning less. (Also, Ibuki deserved better).
- Sonia being irrelevant most of the game bothered me. I loved her chr tho.
- The humor. It could be really funny at times but some jokes just...
Examples:
- Nekomaru's potty jokes
- Akane's "front tail" joke
- Soda being a simp
- Mikan being sexuilzed for no reason, made worse when we learn her backstory (This I hated the most. The only thing I can compare it to from DR:THH was the handle of the whole 2nd case's plot twists.)
God I sometime feel for Mikan but I fucking hate her.
Yes she suffered a lot but she killed my favourite character in the game.
I despise 3rd trial because it is just impossible. Did Mikan know clone technics? Did she teleport?? How did she do everything she did in a span of 5 minutes????? Especially clumsy Mikan?????
i agree with everything, but still way better than THH
I don’t mind Soda’s simping so much but yeah, the Nekomaru shit jokes and nearly every joke related to Akane and Teru Teru are just completely non-enjoyable to me. I don’t think any character gags in V3 or THH are just so devoid of anything funny to me as these are, and they aren’t even the jokes that bother me the most in this game! Everything about Mikan’s writing, particularly the weirdly fetishy way she is portrayed constantly and without reason consistently makes me feel gross and unsettled. When I tell people Mikan is my least favorite character in the franchise, it’s not that I hate Mikan as a person more than say Teru Teru or Korekiyo for example, it’s that I hate the way she was written. I hate how she had so much potential to be an actually interesting and engaging character and yet this is undercut for the sake of sexualizing her constantly, and not in a somewhat humorous way like with Sonia (idc what anyone says some of Sonia’s lines are hilarious) but in a “Why was this remotely necessary?” way. There is a reason why 2-3 is widely regarded as the worst DR chapter of them all, beyond Ibuki and Hiyoko being completely discarded with little thought, everything that went into Mikan’s writing this chapter I just can’t stand, and even the execution sucks. Does it foreshadow future plot elements? Perhaps, but they picked the absolute worst way to do it.
@@jordandwiggins1026 you speak nothing but facts, however one thing i'll gave to 2-3, is at least the culprit plot twist truly felt shocking this time compared to 1-3, as soon as you see how Mikan changes from being that innocent into that psychotic killer, you can really feel the betrayal the cast felt, plus as much as the motive was bad (basically Junko's motive) it did actually foreshadow a lot of things later on, like how you also pointed out, but apart from those things, the logic doesn't exist, Ibuki was there just to die, Hiyoko was insufferable to me so nope, and Mikan could have been handled way better, like that entire chapter
3:16:20 that’s the moment that broke me during the playthrough, I turned off the game and cried on the bed for a solid hour, such a touching moment