クラシカリ · @Klashikari
2nd Oct 2017 from TwitLonger
#DanganronpaV3 Divisive End Analysis (massive Spoiler!) #Danganronpa
Danganronpa V3 (DRV3) ending was definitely divisive and it isn’t really surprising: if someone were to take everything revealed in Chapter 6 at face value, it leads to some conclusions that not a lot of fans would be willing to accept:
-Danganronpa 1 (DR1) and Super Danganronpa 2 (DR2) are de facto considered as fiction, and by such standards, Danganronpa V3 basically condemns both aforementioned games as completely fictive in the Danganronpa universe.
-The use of in-game audience in DRV3 obviously draw a direct parallel between some ruthless and creepy fans and the actual fans in real life. Because of this, a lot of fans aren’t too pleased by this because not only the plot implies the RL fans are bunch of crazies, but the characters themselves de facto “call them out”.
It is worth noting that Kodaka and other people of the staff were aware of the nature of the ending. It was revealed in a mynavi interview that they expected (some) fans to be disappointed by the ending at first, but they were confident some of them would like the ending regardless.
So, what’s the actual issue, and why do I think the ending is much more complicated than that? Let’s see.
Chapter 6 had a ton of merciless revelations thrown at the survivors, namely the fact that everything was forged for the sake of a killing game shown to an audience (which explains the original sub title of the game, みんなのコロシアイ新学期, Everyone’s New Semester of Killing). The word fiction (and by that extent, fictional characters) were used so thoroughly that it completely invalidates the ordeal of the characters in the game. Worse, it actually completely negates the story of Naegi Makoto, Hinata Hajime and their classmates.
But what are the actual pieces of evidence of that? This might sound an argument coming from a fan in denial, but if we consider the context, there is a lot of things that don’t make sense at all.
Let’s go back to Shirogane Tsumugi’s revelations: she claimed that Saihara Shuichi and the rest of the students were in fact normal people but were freaks who loved the Danganronpa TV show, which in turn was based on video games, DR1 and DR2 (henceforth stating both are fictional works within Danganronpa universe). Because of this choice, they were simply “overwritten” with forged personality, memories and talents to suit the setup of the DR TV show. Of course, the survivors didn’t take that revelation well and Shuichi decided it is best to kill the game itself instead of prolonging it with the usual Hope VS Despair.
Now, let me ask you something: were Tsumugi’s claims the complete truth?
I believe it isn’t the case, far from it. While there are various points that make sense with V3 narrative and presentation, there are a lot of inconsistencies, which in turn could shed a new light to DRV3 plot as a whole.
First: let’s assume Danganronpa is indeed fictional within its own premise. This means that the concept of Super High School Level talents is also fictional. That fact alone doesn’t contradict anything at first glance, because we know Team Danganronpa (TDR) could use whacky technology to replicate the fictional world of DR (Monokuma, Monokubs, nanosized monokubs with a camera, the Academy etc). However, since that part is forged, this means that Tsugumi’s talent is also forged, be it partially or completely.
Because of this, there is a certain part that doesn’t make any sense with her revelations and this assumption: Tsugumi’s cosplay restriction.
By her own words, Tsugumi stated that she cannot cosplay a non-fictional character, otherwise, she suffers from some hive breakout.
However, Tsugumi revealed that every student is the product of TDR forgery in order to create the 53th season of DR… Isn’t that contradictory? Regardless if the students had the same name as their original normal person counterpart, the point stands that their talent is a forgery. Because of this, “SHSL Pianist, Akamatsu Kaede” doesn’t exist, and it is confirmed by Tsugumi own words.
Because of this, we have a huge contradiction here: either Tsugumi’s “non-fictional character cosplay” allergy is a lie, or everyone being fictional character is a lie.
The most likely and logical conclusion is that allergy was the lie, as a lot of pieces of evidence confirm the presence of TDR and their game (the logo outside of the world, the livestream, Keebo’s vote etc).
Some of you might think that doesn’t matter, but it actually does, quite a lot.
Tsugumi’s shattered everyone’s will by showing them a “recording” of Shuichi, Kaito and Kaede passing an interview for the DR game. What’s actually odd with these interviews is the way they were recorded: similarly to Case 5 murder, the camera angle is unnatural to say the least, but what’s even more strange is the environment. In fact, the characters were standing in a room that had very similar floor appearance than… Tsumugi’s cosplay lab.
With what I’ve concluded above, it isn’t out of question for her to be able to cosplay them (or simply create forged videos with the help of TDR).
Furthermore, there is another contradiction with that claim: the fact they were selected. A certain scene shows them realizing they were selected for DR game in the gym before being turned into SHSL students…
However, that scene is in direct contradiction with the very first part of the prologue of V3 (which, similarly to DR1 and DR2, show the students in their real environment before shit hits the fan): Kaede and Shuichi had a very similar personality than their “SHSL student” persona, but they didn’t have a clue what happened to them. They also mentioned they were kidnapped.
Once they joined the rest of the students, Rantaro figured out there are 16 students, and then the Monokubs showed up.
Note that Rantaro was convinced of his hunch once he saw them, while Kaede was shocked, not by their appearance but by their NAME. She was frantically mentioning that point several times before their memories were wiped. What we can conclude with that scene is that Kaede knew about the Monokubs but only by name… Strange isn’t it? Why would someone so crazy about the Killing Game not realize about the setup immediately? Why shocked?
On the flipside, when the Monokubs talk about SHSL talents, Kaede’s reaction was plain and simple: she believes she has nothing that would warrant such name. Meaning she know about SHSL stuff, yet didn’t realize about the Monokubs immediately?
All those questions point to that conclusion to me: Tsugumi explanations regarding the game was correct to a certain extent, but blatantly lied about the world. Simply put, the Danganronpa Reality TV Show isn’t something that is broadcasted to a wide audience, since both Rantaro and Kaede were reacting in a cautious way (learned that from rumors, probably). But this also means that the students weren't there with their own free will and the fact the SHSL talent do exist.
That conclusion has a huge impact on the so called “meta ending that nullify everything in the franchise”. It is actually the opposite: V3 uses lies in attempt to paint a ridiculous situation as the truth. And that truth is basically despair inducing, be it for the characters, but also the audience assuming they are DR veteran fans.
With that conclusion and Shuichi’s last deduction in the epilogue, it means that not everything is fiction. Simply put, the pieces of evidences and conjunctures point out that the Kibougamine’s arc wasn’t a fiction whatsoever. Instead, if we consider the world of DR as something consistent, it means that the original world is still affected by the remnants of despair (which would explain a cult to the DR Reality Show), and that normal students are abducted to recreate the atrocities Enoshima Junko orchestrated.
This is why Tsugumi’s last revelation is important: instead of turning fiction into reality, she stated she “copied” someone and failed just the same. By that confession, we can conclude she was trying to copy Junko all along (which explains the countless similarities of V3 with DR1) and as Shuichi said, she didn’t really have any reason to lie at that point of the game.
That being said, there is no indication how close V3 is tied to DR1 and DR2 in term of setup. It could be right after the anime of DR3 or a distant future, who knows.
I think that clears up the whole issue of “meta invalidating the whole DR universe”.
As for the other issue at hand, I believe the whole deal with in-game audience VS real life audience is merely a tongue-in-cheek stunt that doesn’t have to be taken seriously.
The whole struggle with the students were simple: they couldn’t afford their lives to be wasted for a plain game and let the tragedy cycling again.
But what’s extremely important with that ending is that, it isn’t a matter of proceeding with more killing game and whatnot. It is all about the character. The real player, by making sure that everything fails at the end of the trial means that they are -WITH- the characters in order to convince the in-game audience to stop this (the game allow the player to play normally, but as the person in charge of Shuichi's action, you DELIBERATELY sabotage Monokuma's attempts to salvage the trial). As such, the ending puts way more emphasis of the player will to protect the remaining survivors. That also demonstrates that the player still considers the characters as persons, and not just fictional characters you can send to the gallows for shit and giggles.
As such, I really believe the end of the game doesn’t undermine the player’s role in the franchise. In fact, it shed light to the consideration the fans have for the characters first and foremost. Because of this, I don’t believe Kodaka and his team tried to “call out the fans”, to the contrary.
Of course, I might be wrong, but I believe V3 wasn’t created to betray the fans or undermine the franchise as a whole. Instead, it is even more food for thought for the fans, instead of just focusing on Hope VS Despair.