Deadmeat5150 posted:Honestly compared to the other Killing Games, this feels like generic anime. OOrochi posted:Agreed. The Despair parts are interesting because they're giving backstory to already established characters. On the other hand, the Future arc feels like someone had an idea for a show but wasn't sure if it'd be popular so they slapped a thin coat of Danganronpa paint all over it. The standard killing game setup doesn't really lend itself to a standard anime format, so they had to get creative somehow. It being a success is a bit questionable, but well, they tried! One good thing about this format over the standard killing game is that the standard killing game doesn't allow for Kyosuke to be Kyosuke the way he has been here. Walking around with a katana and declaring you're going to murder the poo poo out of everyone that gets in your way isn't going to fly that well here.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2019 20:24
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 19, 2024 05:11 |
|
|
TheMcD posted:The standard killing game setup doesn't really lend itself to a standard anime format, so they had to get creative somehow. It being a success is a bit questionable, but well, they tried! Well, Kuzuryuu tried that, sorta, but with him it was just posturing (Peko nonwithstanding). Anyway, there wasn't nearly enough of our boy Juzo in this episode, and also Ruruka is still garbage and we lost best girl Seiko. But, we did see some Monaca so I guess it balances.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2019 00:34
|
|
|
Look at our boy Juzo go, giving Aoi a fighting chance by not using his talent to beat her to the ground; what a hero. He sticks up for his bro Kyosuke to the ends of sanity. The dumbest part of this whole story is that sugarless sweets do exist, and as the ultimate confectionist should be entirely within Ruruka's wheelhouse, if she wanted Seiko to eat her candy she could've just made candy that would not kill Seiko.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2019 00:57
|
|
|
Yes, I meant to spring that point as well. Between Ruruka and Seiko, there is no way they couldn't come up with something that she can eat without dying.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2019 01:29
|
|
|
tbf I could totally see Ruruka being a huge snob about tainting her creations with artificial sweeteners
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2019 04:07
|
|
|
Bifauxnen posted:tbf I could totally see Ruruka being a huge snob about tainting her creations with artificial sweeteners I guess it depends on what exactly would kill Seiko, in all fairness it being just sugar seems a little unlikely. But generally speaking you can have sugarfree candy and it's usually pretty delicious.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2019 05:54
|
|
|
I can think of one condition that would restrict someone's sugar intake and that's an intolerance. The most common example is lactose intolerance, but in Seiko's case it might be fructose intolerance, which would mean a majority of sweet products are off the table.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2019 07:01
|
|
|
Mraagvpeine posted:I can think of one condition that would restrict someone's sugar intake and that's an intolerance. The most common example is lactose intolerance, but in Seiko's case it might be fructose intolerance, which would mean a majority of sweet products are off the table. Seiko's issue is that she is on medication that can have fatal side effects if she eats sugar and sweets from the sound of it. So it seems to be the side effect of her medicine rather than Seiko herself.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2019 09:49
|
|
MonsterEnvy posted:Seiko's issue is that she is on medication that can have fatal side effects if she eats sugar and sweets from the sound of it. So it seems to be the side effect of her medicine rather than Seiko herself. Yeah, that's the problem. Who knew, the girl that has a ton of interest in medicine and constantly wears a mask covering her mouth is sickly. I can only imagine that given the insanity that is potential side effects in medicine, Seiko doesn't want to take any chances.
|
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2019 11:35
|
|
|
Honest question here: Is this debate a Japanese manners thing about it being rude to not accept gifts even if it will literally kill you? Because otherwise this isn't even a debate, it's just Ruruka being extremely lovely (and technically Sonozuke too, but that would require him not being just an extension of her).
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2019 15:23
|
|
|
1234567890num posted:Honest question here: Is this debate a Japanese manners thing about it being rude to not accept gifts even if it will literally kill you? Because otherwise this isn't even a debate, it's just Ruruka being extremely lovely (and technically Sonozuke too, but that would require him not being just an extension of her). It's possible that Ruruka views it in those terms, but more likely that she is just an rear end in a top hat.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2019 22:42
|
|
 Back on the Despair side of town, we begin our episode just as we did the last one - with a flashback. Here, we have a young Ryota getting bullied by others from his school.  His parents argue about this bullying, wondering what would happen if he stopped going to school, all that stuff.  But Ryota doesn't notice that. He's glued to a TV screen.  Watching Heidi, of all things. I'll admit this right here - I'm German, and this confused the hell out of me. It was only now that I learned that this series was in fact a Japanese production. It was just filed in my head as this completely German thing, probably based on the the whole thing taking place in the Alps and being based on a German (well, Swiss) story. Who says that you don't learn things with my LPs?  We then cut to Ryota in the present time, working on his animation, and we get a voiceover from him, chastising himself to work harder and put more time into it because the world needs what he's creating.  After the opening, we then cut to Chisa having her first day at the Reserve Course.  Then we fast forward through her time there. To quote Chisa: "Short version: It sucked. Big time."  We end up in March. Not sure why we get a specific month here, but whatever. Anyway, Chisa's banishment to the Reserve Course is about to end, and she's chatting with Juzo about what she found out while she was there. She responds by asking how difficult it would be to get an ID card off of one of the Hope's Peak trustees. Juzo answers that by saying it would be very difficult, if he got caught, he'd get fired - or worse. Chisa then brings up the Kamukura Project as something the principal and the trustees are working on, and all she knows is that most of the Reserve Course money goes there, and it has to be something big, but she needs an ID card to learn more.  She also brings up Hajime. Turns out that she found out in her research that he got expelled. Of course, we know what is actually happening behind the scenes - he got basically erased from school records since he'll no longer exist after the experiment. At least not as Hajime.  We then cut to Chisa being told that she can return to her original class, and is also being promoted to being their regular homeroom teacher as opposed to just being the substitute.  Koichi, who was the previous homeroom teacher, is now going to be focusing more on scouting. The topic of Nagito is also brought up, and he seems to have disappeared. Koichi suspects he won a cruise around the world in a contest or something like that. Chisa then runs off to see her old class, and Koichi and Jin talk about the next class. Seems that compared to the current class, the next group is a bit slimmer, though those that are there are very talented.  And, well, we know those, too. Jin's attention obviously falls on somebody particular.  We then find Chisa nervously pacing up and down in front of the classroom, unsure of if they'll even remember her and all that stuff. She psyches herself up by thinking about how Kyosuke would think she's an idiot for being so nervous about this, calls herself Kyosuke's future beloved, then blushes violently when she realizes she just did that, then heads into the class...    ...to find that the class definitely remembered her.  Turns out that Chiaki was the one that organized all this. Basically, Chiaki knew about this because Koichi talked about it, and she was keeping class morale up by holding game tournaments, picnics, all that kind of stuff. This kind of sums up my problem with anime Chiaki - she's "tell, don't show" as gently caress. Somewhere, she's made this transformation from a girl that mostly keeps to herself to this class leader that becomes the glue that keeps everybody sticking together, and we kinda just skipped the gently caress over that process. This can mostly be blamed on the lack of time we have - we need to get through the whole shebang with the Kamukura Project, we needed to get through the Twilight Syndrome backstory, and we're still due to get to everybody's favorite character in this episode, so there's not a lot of time to get into Chiaki's transformation, especially since we also need to get her relationship with Hajime in. It's unfortunate, really.  Hiyoko then shows up, having had, uh, a bit of a growth spurt. Her personality hasn't changed, though.  Also, Gundham and Sonia have gotten in sync in the meantime, much to Soda's chagrin. Everybody's happy that Chisa is back, and everything's just hunky-dory. Awww.   Then, we cut to the imposter coming back to "his" home carrying some food, with Ryota also being there, still neck deep in work and chastising himself to work harder. The imposter has a pretty amazing line here with "I wouldn't dig through his browser history, but you can't beat [Teruteru] Hanamura's cooking. People flake out and let you down, but carbs are always there."  And as the imposter leaves, an airplane arrives.   Meanwhile, somebody else arrives at the airport by taxi, leaving an entire purse behind as payment. As the girl arriving steps out of the car, the driver remarks that it must be his lucky day, and after driving away, the girl says that he jinxed it.  What does she mean by that? Well, with the car driving, suddenly, the purse starts ticking...  ...and BOOM! Who would be so insane as to just randomly blow up a taxi?  Iiiiiit's Junko, motherfuckers! Now, I need to get this out of the way early. You'll see when I put together my dub showcase video, or maybe you've already heard about it, but as far as the dub is concerned, Junko is the absolute top of the mountain. You see, I've always thought that the ideal voice for "Ultimate Fashionista" Junko would be a valley girl voice, especially since she's just putting on that talent as a facade, so it would be perfect to obfuscate her analytical talent by acting like a stereotypical ditz on the outside. Well, here they did it. And boy loving howdy did they get into it. I'll have to try hard to not just put every single line from Junko into the video, because she is perfect. Like, full blown "hey Becky, let's go to the mall and buy some shoes" valley girl. There's also a bit of a running undercurrent with the dub that makes you think "you know, parts of this could pass as an Abridged parody", and Junko is about to take that to another level.  We then shift to narration being written on screen and spoken by Junko in a much more serious tone as she waits for somebody to arrive.  That somebody being Mukuro, her sister and other half of the Ultimate Despair. Mukuro asks what Junko is doing, and she replies in her valley girl voice that she's writing the narration.  We then immediately go back to serious Junko voice narration, which she speaks out loud while writing it down.  So on the ride from the airport, we're introduced to a sort of new dynamic between Junko and Mukuro.  Junko is constantly trying to kill Mukuro.  And Mukuro loves it. She just dodges anything Junko throws at her...  ...including a grenade, which she just casually kicks into her champagne glass and tosses out the window. Basically, Mukuro gets off to despair like Junko does, and the thought of the despair Junko would feel seeing Mukuro's corpse is something Mukuro loves thinking about, it seems.  There's also a thing with Junko really not liking the way Mukuro smells. Anyway, Junko has asked Mukuro to show up because they both got scouted for Hope's Peak, and Junko is so ready to gently caress some poo poo up. To quote: "This place is so far up its own rear end they actually call it the high school of hope."  Meanwhile, we're back with Ryota and the imposter, and Ryota seems to be putting a bit too much into his project, judging by the look on his face.  He flashes back to the abuse he got back in school, and how drawing was his only solace as a kid. The imposter tells him that he needs to pace himself...  ...and Ryota proceeds to fall over, muttering about how he wants to save the world with his art. The imposter decides he needs to do something quick.  So he passes Mikan off outside Hope's Peak...  ...tells her he needs her right now...  ...and then just carries her off while Mikan yells about her life being about to turn into a late night cable movie.  However, as you might have figured, he just took Mikan because he needed her to take care of Ryota, who's overworked himself and has a case of malnutrition. Mikan asks about what exactly is going on with the two of them, and the imposter tells his story.  Basically, at the beginning of the school year, he would notice strange noises outside his room at night, those being Ryota stumbling out of his room, unsure of when exactly he's eaten the last time, with him then collapsing out in the hall.  The imposter - currently in Byakuya form - brings Ryota back to his room and talks to him about his status as an imposter. Basically, he needs a new identity, and given that Ryota would just chain himself to his desk and draw every waking moment if he could, the two are in a situation where they could help each other out - the imposter takes over Ryota's identity on the outside, allowing Ryota to concentrate on his art unimpeded.  Mikan being Mikan figures that her stumbling onto this conspiracy means that this is the part where she gets killed. When the imposter assures her that she's not going to get killed...  ...she instead shifts to this being the part where she shows how grateful she is...  ...though the imposter puts the kibosh on that pretty quick and says that he trusts her.  This causes her to be incredibly grateful to the point of tears of joy, since people trusting her isn't exactly a feeling she's used to. The imposter tells her to have more confidence in herself.  Meanwhile, somebody else familiar has arrived at Hope's Peak, and he's pretty impressed!  And Junko's not far behind with Mukuro, narrating to herself again and getting excited about how they're going to blow the powderkeg that is Hope's Peak sky high.  Junko also doodles a little familiar design.  Finally, we find Hajime in an empty room, ready to undergo the procedure.   He remembers how Juzo beat him up, and how he last met with Chiaki.  He gets strapped into some strange machine that will make the Kamukura Project happen...  ...and as it closes, he again thinks of Chiaki, his thoughts basically saying that he's doing this so he can be the hero of his own story and hold his head high next to her.  And on this not at all ominous shot...  ...and this totally not ominous title card, we end the episode. poo poo's not going to get better from here on out, folks. Next time, on Future Side, things aren't exactly wonderful either, with another dead body showing up, and Kyosuke being Kyosuke. Also, some old friends make an appearance! What the gently caress just happened?: Chisa goes through her time at the Reserve Course, and it sucked, but she found information on the Kamukura Project, though she needs an ID from one of the trustees to investigate further. When Chisa returns to her class, they have a big party ready for her, organized by Chiaki, who basically became the centerpiece of the class in the meantime. We also meet the real Ryota here, basically cooped up in his room working on his anime with the imposter having taken over his school life and caring for him. Also, Junko and Mukuro arrive at the scene, having enrolled at Hope's Peak and ready to gently caress some poo poo up there. Finally, Hajime undergoes the Kamukura Project procedure.
|
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2019 22:08
|
|
|
Oh, apropos of nothing, here's something I wanted to post for a while now that we've been done with UDG: A translated lyrics video for Let's Play With Monokuma. The lyrics are... something special.
|
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2019 22:47
|
|
|
- I feel like Chisa fast forwarding through her time at the Reserve Course felt a little lame. We're getting all this talk about how it's not bad to be normal, but then Chisa's just like "Teaching normal kids sucks." Or, at least, that's how it came across. It could just be that she misses her goofball class, or it could just be that being the type of teacher that draws knives on people isn't going to win you points in a regular school. Regardless, it doesn't feel nice. - I think that Koichi mentions that he just scouted Celestia/Taeko recently in that office scene. - DR2 Chiaki was a girl who didn't always have the answer and tried her best to be a pillar of faith among people she was technically lying to just because she didn't want them to die. And she wasn't always successful at it! DR3 Chiaki is just a nice, pure girl with no flaws or shortcomings whatsoever and everyone worships the ground she walks on and she probably poops rainbows and cinnamon rolls. Boring. - Maybe it's a later episode, but I think that a character from Danganronpa Zero walks by in the background when the Imposter leaves Ryota's place. It's the chubby kid who's a creepy weirdo. I think he's the Ultimate Spy or something? - I have some problems with Junko in DR3. Her introduction is not one of them. Dub Junko, while it caught me off guard initially, winds up being so ridiculous that it circles back around to being good. Not to mention that the voice actress almost seems to be channeling the Ghost Stories dub at times.  - Mukuro, meanwhile, having a weird, pseudo-incestuous fascination with her sister I can do without, though. - Junko makes a very good point about Hope's Peak! - Also, the point where the Imposter kidnaps Mikan is a little funny. I don't know how the dub changed the line, but he takes her to see Ryota and she gives her diagnosis. And then the following exchange is something like "By now, you're probably wondering why there's two of us." "N-no, it's okay, you don't need to tell me th-" "It all started one night." "Ehhh..." - Also, why is the Imposter Byakuya at this point if he's not at HPA? Blueberry Pancakes fucked around with this message at 08:01 on Feb 28, 2019 |
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2019 00:47
|
|
|
Dub Junko is absolutely the best thing.
|
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2019 01:21
|
|
|
Dub Junko is fantastic yeah. Also look at our boy Juzo go working with his friends to uncover a conspiracy, as if they could stop him from getting what Chisa wants. I think I actually have more issues with Mujuro then Junko in DR3, but that’s because the original Mukuro based IF is such good characterisation for her. I also do still have issues with Junko in the future, but right now her trying to kill Mukuro is funny if feeling a bit over the top.
|
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2019 01:56
|
|
|
Hobgoblin2099 posted:Also, why is the Imposter Byakuya at this point if he's not at HPA? He was disguised as Byakuya at the start of DR2, so he was dressed just like that before he started at Hope's Peak. Him needing a new disguise was probably because either Byakuya was scouted for the next year already, or the imposter thought that he would be soon.
|
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2019 02:49
|
|
|
BlazeEmblem posted:He was disguised as Byakuya at the start of DR2, so he was dressed just like that before he started at Hope's Peak. Him needing a new disguise was probably because either Byakuya was scouted for the next year already, or the imposter thought that he would be soon. Good point!
|
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2019 03:30
|
|
|
TheMcD posted:We end up in March. Not sure why we get a specific month here, but whatever. March is the end of the Japanese school year, which is why the next class is showing up.
|
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2019 04:08
|
|
|
I don't think Mukuro gets off on Despair. I think she just likes Junko being happy, and despair happens to make Junko happy in a weird way. Added on the attempts on her life are clearly not serious. (Cause as we know when Junko actually decided to murder her, she did not see it coming at all.) AKA she is fine if Junko comes at her from the front, but not a backstab. MonsterEnvy fucked around with this message at 05:02 on Feb 28, 2019 |
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2019 04:59
|
|
|
There's something kind of sad about that when you put it that way. Junko didn't even respect her sister enough to try to seriously kill her.
|
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2019 06:26
|
|
|
TheMcD posted:Oh, apropos of nothing, here's something I wanted to post for a while now that we've been done with UDG: A translated lyrics video for Let's Play With Monokuma. The lyrics are... something special. Hahaha, this is something else for sure.
|
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2019 07:54
|
|
|
Oh hey, I was right. Episode 5 features a cameo by Danganronpa Zero character Yūto Kamishiro, the Super High School Level Secret Agent. That his appearance isn't commented on in episode (or even in TheMcD's write-up) is kind of funny given that one of his key character traits is being overlooked for his lack of presence. Given that he's a perverted weirdo, that's probably for the best! 
Blueberry Pancakes fucked around with this message at 08:06 on Feb 28, 2019 |
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2019 08:03
|
|
 We begin our next trip to the Future Side with a sea monster!  Oh, wait, it's just Yasuhiro. He's still outside doing Yasuhiro things.  He decides to take a look into the future...  ...and sees everybody surviving and living happily ever after, proudly declaring that everything's going to be alright to himself. ...well, there is that whole 30% accuracy thing. So, I guess we can now figure out how many people are going to survive - 30% of the original number.   Back inside, Kyosuke has saught out Chisa's corpse, and that causes him to shift into flashback mode.  Here we are at the graduation ceremony for Kyosuke and his crew.  The three have a bit of wistful graduation talk, and Kyosuke then brings up that the management for Hope's Peak needs an overhaul, and that's why he's going to be working towards building an overseas campus, with the plan being to take the helm at Hope's Peak after that campus finds success. He also promises jobs for Chisa and Juzo at his new Hope's Peak, and is generally very confident that his plans work out.  And boy, look how that all turned out.  Kyosuke then stabs his sword into Chisa's corpse because sure, why not, and then says farewell to her. So apparently stabbing you with a sword is just how Kyosuke says goodbye.  We then cut to Makoto. Note another use of the overhead shot with a piece of the ceiling missing. Also note what seems to be a massive pool of blood over on the left. Makoto wakes up, and...  ...yeesh. That is not a pretty sight to wake up to.  Makoto predictably freaks out and is then accosted by an old friend with a sword.  Now, if you saw the dead Kyoko and wondered "is this another fakeout" then have that question immediately answered with "yes". Makoto can't tell, but we can, given that Kyosuke here very clearly doesn't look like he actually looks right now, meaning this has to be some sort of dream or something. Kyosuke and Makoto have another philosophy-off, essentially reiterating the same points they've been iterating before about hope.  Oh, and then Kyoko's corpse tells Makoto that that ("that" being Kyosuke's last statement about words only being good to rally rabble to a lost cause) is the nature of reality. Because dream sequence. As a side note, Future Side sure has some grisly shots. There was a pretty nasty shot of Kazuo having had his throat slashed out that I decided to skip.  Makoto then actually wakes up. Turns out everybody there with him, that being Aoi and Miayabot, are OK. Makoto then immediately wrecks the mood by saying that somebody must have been killed by the attacker.  Kyoko, Koichi and Ryota are all fine, too. With Kyoko apparently having finished her investigation of Gozu's corpse, gaining whatever information out of it - she's not one to share, after all - she suggests they move on to find the third victim.  En route, Koichi wonders just how many bodies Kyoko will need to check before she figures this out and makes some snide comments about detectives. When Kyoko calls him on that, he just says that he has a friend that really hates detectives and it probably rubbed off on him. He also suggests it would do Kyoko some good to break out of that logical mindset every once in a while.   Kyoko is not impressed, and makes a point of going a different direction to Koichi, who, as you might remember, just kind of added himself to their group.  Kyoko and Ryota round the corner, and Ryota freaks out. Did they find Seiko?  Nope! Turns out Sonozuke bit the dust too! Rest in pieces, Sonozuke. You were... a guy. You liked sweets, I guess.  Koichi then shows up and asks that the other two follow him for a bit. Ryota says they don't have time for whatever it is, but, well...  ...they can make time for this. Both of them were killed by a single knife wound to the chest. I don't think we ever really established how Chisa or Gozu died beyond a generic "they got pretty hosed up".  Koichi tries to get some information out of Kyoko after Ryota runs off to vomit, but they're then interrupted...  ...by Ruruka, who begs them to help her.  Meanwhile, Makoto and Aoi are trying to hook Miayabot up to the surveillance system so she can find the next victim.  With that, they find Kazuo's corpse.  Makoto doesn't take it well. It doesn't help when Miayabot brings up that Kazuo's wounds were caused by a katana, meaning that it wasn't the attacker, but Kyosuke who got him.  So, with Makoto nearing a mental breakdown about how people keep dying and how everything he does is pointless...  ...Monaca is enjoying a delicious-looking dessert. She decides that Makoto needs a bit of cheering up and starts hacking on her keyboard.  This has Miayabot spring into action, giving a motivating speech about the infectiousness of hope, and she says that she wants to give back a smidgen of that hope to Makoto.  She then shows that Kazuo has some pretty good writing for somebody literally dying from having their throat straight up slashed, with his dying message being "I entrust the hope of the world to you.". Makoto figures it can't be addressed to him, but Aoi disagrees, and says that while it might be a heavy burden, he won't have to carry it alone, since they're there to help him out.  That cheers Makoto up, with him saying he has to stop thinking like a lone wolf and that they'll get through this together as a team.  Monaca is... not impressed: "Sounds like he wants the girls to solve his problems for him... freakin' loser. If something that cheesy can put him back on his feet, his head must be like totally empty! To think a whiny little tool like this got the drop on Junko! Way to set an example, Big Sis!" Monaca is basically here to shittalk. I approve.  With that done, the topic changes to how they stop the attacker. Aoi suggests punching him in the face, but thinks better of it, given her forbidden action, and says that she hates this game. This causes Makoto to think about what Kyosuke said to him earlier about him only being able to succeed in the first killing game because it had rules, and how there are no rules in the real world, a statement that I thought was stupid to begin with given that they are literally in a game with rules. For some reason he only thought of this now. Anyway, his big plan is to shut the game down - everybody is free to leave if they can. Even if they don't have any exits right now, they can just make their own, and the rules don't say anything about doing that.  Miayabot then suggests hacking into the monitoring room to get a connection to the outside world and using that to get into contact with the rest of Future Foundation so they can assist with making an exit.  Then, in what is probably my favorite little gag in this anime, Aoi praises Miayabot... by calling her a "warrior of hope".  This freaks Monaca out, who thought she was found out for a second. Anyway, the group has their plan set.  Meanwhile, Kyoko is checking out Sonozuke's corpse while Ruruka freaks out. She begs to be let into their group, though she admits she can't really do anything. Introspection! Anyway, they reluctantly let her in. Ruruka then wants to move to a different room on account of not wanting to be in the room with Sonozuke's corpse, to which Kyoko basically replies "gently caress no, I got detective poo poo to do". She convinces Ruruka to not freak out about it by saying she wants to avenge Sonozuke's murder.  With another suspicious ceiling shot, we cut back to Makoto and the gang.  Miayabot brings a new meaning to the term VLAN and hooks up with Future Foundation on the outside...  ...and hey, it's Byakuya!  We get some new insights. For one, Byakuya and the rest of Future Foundation had no idea there was another killing game going on. Turns out the whole thing about this one being broadcast was just a lie. Byakuya also says the Remnants don't have the wherewithal to pull something like this off, but then remembers something - a Future Foundation peacekeeping squad is en route to "a certain island", but none of the other branches have been informed of that. That certain island? Jabberwock Island, where the survivors of DR2 are still hanging out.  The plot thickens further, as the peacekeeping squad answers directly to the vice chairman - Kyosuke. Seems like regardless of how the whole "trial" thing went, Kyosuke had intent to just roll into Jabberwock and take out the DR2 survivors, since they're Remnants and all. Byakuya sees some sort of connection between the events Makoto is in and this peacekeeping squad, essentially implying Kyosuke is the mastermind or at least working with them, and he doesn't like it, so he deployed his own forces to where Makoto is. He'll also let Toko into the loop, and Aoi says it's time for the 78th Class to reunite. Makoto then adds that they're forgetting someone...  ...but it's not hard to forget Yasuhiro, who has now taken up fishing.  Byakuya gives them a little finishing pep talk about how this isn't a good time for Monokuma and Kyosuke, and that he'd rather go swimming with sharks than make an enemy of Makoto, Kyoko and Aoi, before ending the call.  With the call done, Byakuya tells his men to get moving, and one of his agents asks why he didn't tell them about Miaya. After all, Makoto said that Miaya was the one that facilitated the call...  ...but they have already found Miaya's corpse on the outside. Byakuya says that since they're dealing with an imposter here, he'd rather not expose them while they're so close to Makoto. He thinks it's better to let them be and focus on the mastermind instead. The agent asks if Byakuya doesn't believe the imposter is also the mastermind, and Byakuya figures that with the Remnants' weakened state, that might be, and there's only one that could be it: Monaca, who is still hiding out somewhere in Towa City.  Fortunately, they already have somebody in the field.  We then cut to Toko, absolutely terrified. What is she terrified of?  Komaru! And she's armed with shampoo! Turns out that in the long run, Toko's lack of bathing does become a bit of a problem, and Komaru is ready to change that.  However, they get a video call...  ...causing the ensuing scuffle in the bathroom to fall apart as Toko immediately runs for the call, since it has to be Master Byakuya. Komaru decides to shelve the plan for now.  We then get a bit of a roll call over the credits as Makoto talks about how they can survive if they all work together and all that jazz.  Yasuhiro somehow actually managed to not gently caress up and caught some fish...  ...Komaru and Toko gear up - note the spiffy new fingerless gloves Komaru picked up...  ...and Byakuya takes off in a helicopter.  And in the end, we see a fleet of ships heading for Jabberwock Island, with an old friend standing there awaiting them. And what does that old friend have to say about this situation?  "Boring." And that's the episode! Lots of intrigue going on now. Next time, we'll be back to the Despair Side to see how the class life, Chisa's investigations and Junko's plan develop. And next time on the Future Side? It's the Ultra Despair Girls episode. Aw yeah. What the gently caress just happened?: We find that both Seiko and Sonozuke are dead. Makoto gets really down about the murders going on, but Monaca/Miayabot cheers him up and develops a plan to contact Future Foundation on the outside by hacking into the monitoring room, which they do. They talk to Byakuya, who thinks that Kyosuke could be involved with the mastermind and also tells us that Kyosuke is sending a force to Jabberwock Island, probably to wipe out the DR2 survivors. Byakuya sends his own force to the building where Makoto is. What he doesn't tell the others is that they know the real Miaya is dead and therefore the one with Makoto has to be a fake. Byakuya thinks Monaca is behind this and calls up Komaru and Toko in Towa City to send them into action. Meanwhile, Kyosuke is being brooding, and Kyoko does detective poo poo.
|
|
|
#
?
Mar 2, 2019 23:13
|
|
|
I don't recall feeling particularly negative about this episode, Kyoko fake-out and further proof of Miaya being a wasted character aside. In fact, I think this was the episode of Future that got my attention and hyped me up for the rest. Too bad it's all downhill from here. 
|
|
#
?
Mar 2, 2019 23:22
|
|
|
Personally I’ve never really had an issue with Future Side beyond it being kind of boring and wasting some neat character designs, there’s other problems that will come up later but of the two halves I think it’s the better one. I do however have huge issues with Despair Side and think it’s actively bad for the overall Dangan Ronpa Narrative.
|
|
#
?
Mar 3, 2019 02:43
|
|
|
So Funimation has a great working relationship with Cherami Leigh, Komaru's VA in the games. But do they go with the woman who voiced Komaru for literally hours of dialogue in the canon video game? Of course not, to stay consistent they go with Alexis Tipton, who voiced Komaru in Makoto's video for literally one line of dialogue in their dub of the DR1 anime. Absolutely baffling stuff. Not even the original games kept the same Komaru voice between DR1 and UDG.
|
|
#
?
Mar 3, 2019 06:59
|
|
Hobgoblin2099 posted:Too bad it's all downhill from here. How can you say that - all the best parts are still to come! SoundwaveAU posted:So Funimation has a great working relationship with Cherami Leigh, Komaru's VA in the games. But do they go with the woman who voiced Komaru for literally hours of dialogue in the canon video game? Of course not, to stay consistent they go with Alexis Tipton, who voiced Komaru in Makoto's video for literally one line of dialogue in their dub of the DR1 anime. Absolutely baffling stuff. Not even the original games kept the same Komaru voice between DR1 and UDG. Yeah, the rollercoaster of VA choices is a pretty intense one. It gives more of an impression that they were really just loving around with the dub, especially with the existence of Dub Junko. Not that that's a purely bad thing, mind. It sure as gently caress created something memorable. And hey, Monaca's VA is the same, so I'm happy.
|
|
|
#
?
Mar 3, 2019 22:05
|
|
|
I figure you're taking a break, but do we also need a new page before the next update?
|
|
#
?
Mar 10, 2019 09:36
|
|
Hobgoblin2099 posted:I figure you're taking a break, but do we also need a new page before the next update? I'm not a big proponent of the "new page theory", as it were, given that I've had LPs that are far less populated than this one in which getting to new pages would be an absolute chore. So while you could initiate a discussion why Monaca is the god-queen of Danganronpa (just an example), it's not required. As a bit of an update - I've been dealing with an intestinal bug for about four weeks now, and last Wednesday I figured "gently caress it, this isn't getting better" and just straight went to the hospital with it, which is where I'm still at, and which is why updates have slowed. I might be able to start working on things again today now that I've had my laptop brought in and the antibiotics are dealing with most of the problems well.
|
|
|
#
?
Mar 10, 2019 16:46
|
|
|
Oof. I hope that gets better.
|
|
#
?
Mar 10, 2019 16:54
|
|
|
Seriously, feel better dude.
|
|
#
?
Mar 10, 2019 19:36
|
|
|
What's up, intestinal bug buddy? Hope you get better soon, this poo poo ( ) sucks.
|
|
#
?
Mar 10, 2019 20:10
|
|
 We begin our next episode with Hajime undergoing the Kamukura procedure with some voiceovers of Hajime talking about how poo poo talentless people are and some guy from the trustees wondering if Hajime was the right guy, with a scientist responding that his old personality got wiped out, so it's not an issue anymore.  And Izuru then comes out, already looking like the Izuru we know. This therefore means that being infused with talent literally makes your hair grow to massive lengths. I never would have guessed.  After the opening, we cut to Chiaki hanging out at the Reserve Course, moping because Hajime isn't showing up at all.  We get a flashback of Chiaki talking to Chisa about Hajime, with Chisa giving a fairly dodging answer that Hajime is doing fine and not saying anything specific.   Chiaki then repeats this waiting at the Reserve Course for loving months, eventually giving up.  We then cut to our main class packing together their stuff. Peko picks up something for Fuyuhiko and the two don't have their usual distance between each other for a bit, even bickering like a married couple for a bit over who carries what.  Ibuki notices this.  Like, really notices it.  Like, REALLY notices it.  And when Ibuki notices something, she's going to let you know it, by God, so she makes it clear to everyone she thinks those two acting chummy all of a sudden is extremely weird. People start talking about how Fuyuhiko and Peko might be falling for each other, with the two of course being dismissive of it.  And of course, Teruteru has to be Teruteru about it, leading to him finding himself flying through the air courtesy of Ibuki.  Hiyoko then asks if a rabbit in a cage is trash she can throw away, which Gundham doesn't think too well of.  The rabbit then shits in Hiyoko's face. Chisa's absence from the class is brought up, and it's mentioned she's over in the faculty moving her stuff.  However, we instead find her getting a trustee's ID card from Juzo for her investigation. Juzo also brings up that security is on edge because one of the trustees has gone MIA.  Chisa then has a moment swooning over Kyosuke, saying that she'd die for him. Juzo replies to that by saying that he'd die for her as well, and Chisa heads off.  Juzo has a bit of a moment then, realizing once again that in their power trio, he's just the third wheel.  We then have a scene with the class and Chisa in a new Hope's Peak building they just moved into. Nagito's absence is brought up, and Chisa says that he'll be joining the class again soon. The class's reaction to this is apathy at best and Chisa chides them for that.  Our next scene is Chisa sneaking through the building at night. It seems like there's only a skeleton security crew around, despite the whole thing with the missing trustee. Mysterious.   She lets herself into a keycard locked room and starts searching.  The office she's in belongs to this guy, who is also the trustee who vanished. And where is he now?  He, uh, is a bit indisposed right now. Also, the familiar execution music is kicking in, which really, REALLY doesn't bode well for him.  Somebody else seems to be preparing some sort of food.  Iiiiiiit's Junko!  She talks about how using familiar things in torture makes them so much more despairful, and how much worse the trauma is when you use one of the many everyday objects that seem harmless but could indeed be used as a weapon.   And we are then left with the implication that this poor bastard is going to get his eye scooped out with a spoon. loving hell, Junko.  Meanwhile, Chisa finds herself stymied by a password.  However, turns out the trustee wasn't so great with password security.  This lets Chisa into the system, and she finds some documents on the Kamukura project. We then get a description of the project, which we ultimately already know. She also learns that the project has been put into action and they're now testing as to how successful the creation was. Chisa is not too happy about learning Hope's Peak is into human experimentation on the side.  Meanwhile, Mukuro is busy slaughtering her way through Hope's Peak guards at some other location, and Junko is busy shittalking Mukuro for doing so and shunting all the cleanup work on her.  The two end up at a retinal scanner that Mukuro can't get through with the card she has.  But Junko was prepared, having been "allowed" to "borrow" something from a trustee.  So, what are the two looking for?  It's Izuru!  And Junko could not be more excited, practically fangirling out over him.  We then cut to Kyosuke chatting with Chisa on the phone about the Kamukura project, which has Kyosuke using the line "they're trying to Frankenstein a Deus Ex Machina", which sounds absolutely amazing. Chisa says that the information has not yet leaked, and Kyosuke brings up that a leak wouldn't even be the worst case - the worst case would be somebody turning Izuru hostile, which could cause hope itself to fall apart. Well, I think I know somebody that's planning on just that. Kyosuke tells Chisa to essentially go full paranoia - trust nobody except Juzo, and don't even consider saying the name "Kamukura".  And back with Junko, we are given one of the utterly immortal lines of this dub, with Junko shouting out her joy with a mighty "Kamukura, Kamukura, yas queen!". The valley girl voice just makes it all the better. It's truly magical.  Izuru is... not impressed.  Junko fangirls a bit more, but seems to have an ulterior motive...  ...namely, killing him to send the world into despair.  It doesn't go well.  Mukuro also finds herself casually brushed aside when she attempts to attack. Izuru talks about how this is boring and nothing they do has any meaning. Looks like Hope's Peak accidentally put in the nihilist gene when they should've put in the hope gene. Junko talks about how despair isn't supposed to be monopolized, but shared, and Izuru says that logically speaking, there is no emotion less essential than despair. Junko then dares him to explain logically how she found herself in this position - namely, with Izuru's foot on her back. Izuru knows of Junko's super analysis abilities and can't understand why she'd be here trying this, knowing full well that there was no chance of her succeeding.  This is Junko's opportunity to bring in her idea of despair as the great unknown that throws cold logical analysis in the trash. She gives her whole spiel about how hope is basically just status quo and boringness, whereas despair throws everything into unpredictable chaos, yadda yadda, we've already heard this from her in earlier games. She makes a deal out of how the side of hope is essentially just going to supply Izuru with nothing but even more boredom.  The alarm goes off, meaning that security knows somebody's breaking in, and Junko gives one more wild-eyed pitch to Izuru for despair...  ...to which Izuru responds by shoving his foot in her face. However, we know how this story ends.  In the next scene, we have... drawing stuff.  We're suddenly back with Ryota and the imposter. Ryota talks about how he's hit "the experimental phase" with his project, though he won't go into detail what that means. Meanwhile, the imposter insists that Ryota continue to go to a hospital until the doctor gives him a clean bill of health.  Next, Junko wakes up at the school infimary.  She is greeted by a disappointed "oh darn, you're not in a coma" from Mukuro. Mukuro ended up covering for Junko, saying that she fell down the stairs, which wasn't a hard sell given the heels Junko wears.  When Junko asks what happened with Izuru, we get a flashback. Izuru tells Mukuro to tell Junko that he'll be waiting for her here. It also seems like Izuru didn't tell anyone who broke in, since nobody seems to know that Junko and Mukuro were there.  Junko then immediately gets up and starts heading out over Mukuro's protests.  And on the way out, she passes by Ryota, but then suddenly stops...  ...grabs him, and asks him for his name.  Upon being introduced, she joyfully embraces him and says that in her head, she keeps hearing the words "despairfully fateful encounter", and that closes out the episode. So, the intrigue continues to develop as Junko starts putting the pieces to her plan together. What part will Ryota play in her system? Only time will tell! But first, we'll have to head back to the Future Side. Next time: The best episode. The BEST episode. What the gently caress just happened?: Hajime undergoes the Kamukura procedure and becomes Izuru. Chisa gets a trustee ID card and finds out about the Kamukura project, giving this information to Kyosuke as well. Meanwhile, Junko also finds out about Izuru and breaks into the Hope's Peak facility where he's being held with Mukuro, planning to kill him. Killing him goes south, but Junko sees an opportunity to convert Izuru to the side of despair. She doesn't outright succeed, but doesn't really fail either, with Izuru saying he'll be waiting for her. En route back to Izuru, Junko runs into Ryota and ominously declares their meeting a despairfully fateful encounter.
|
|
|
#
?
Mar 11, 2019 21:54
|
|
|
The end of this episode is what made me finally decide that, basically, Junko is just a plot device, and any discussion about her character and motivations is pointless.
|
|
#
?
Mar 11, 2019 22:06
|
|
|
Junko's relationship with Mitarai is a thing I have very strong opinions on, but the why will have to wait until we see how things develop.
|
|
#
?
Mar 11, 2019 22:49
|
|
|
TheDavies posted:The end of this episode is what made me finally decide that, basically, Junko is just a plot device, and any discussion about her character and motivations is pointless. I thought this was known from the first game. Like it's made clear from game 1 that she is just completely insane.
|
|
#
?
Mar 12, 2019 00:05
|
|
|
MonsterEnvy posted:I thought this was known from the first game. Like it's made clear from game 1 that she is just completely insane. Yeah, but she's insane in a funny way. Until she's not. But even then, she still kind of is.
|
|
#
?
Mar 12, 2019 00:29
|
|
|
The food Junko's making is curry, of course, because scooping out an eyeball with a spoon wasn't bad enough. Gotta spice it up a little.
|
|
#
?
Mar 12, 2019 07:20
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 19, 2024 05:11 |
|
The easiest way to interpret Junko is just as a literal force of nature. She has no true motivations, she just exists, and she's here to gently caress poo poo up.Bloody Emissary posted:The food Junko's making is curry, of course, because scooping out an eyeball with a spoon wasn't bad enough. Gotta spice it up a little. I almost figured that was the case, because you'll also note that the trustee's password is "curry rice", as shown on the note on the top left corner: So I suppose it's only fitting that she would prepare his favorite food for that extra despair.
|
|
|
#
?
Mar 12, 2019 09:31
|
|