Hey, you.
Yes, you. You, reading this
sentence right now. Stop. Shut up.
Listen.
This post is going to contain spoilers for Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony. Everything up to the first class trial -- and
a little beyond that -- is up for discussion.
On top of that? This post is
going to contain spoilers for Danganronpa
in general, so that anything and everything from the first game, second
game, and Ultra Despair Girls can and
will be mentioned casually. (Not the
anime, though, because I haven’t seen it…yet.)
Also, do me a solid: don’t go into anything after, during, or before the
second trial, i.e. who becomes the next victim and/or who’s the killer. We’re all struggling against spoilers
together.
Okay?
Okay. So let’s --
NO, I’M
SERIOUS. STOP IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE
SPOILED ON ANYTHING.
Okay. So
let’s talk about this game for real now. It'll be a hoot.
For those who know the Danganronpa games, the initial setup should sound pretty
familiar. Sixteen superlative high
school students -- dubbed the “Ultimates” because of their excellence in one
specific field -- are abducted my largely-unseen forces and locked into a
sprawling habitat. For what reason? That’s not exactly clear; the important thing
is that, under the orders of stuffed bear/robot Monokuma, the Ultimates are
forced to take part in a killing game.
The killer who dupes the class into pointing fingers at the wrong
culprit escapes while the others are all killed, but the reverse is true if the
class rightly fingers the so-called blackened.
I can’t help but wonder about the setup this time,
though, because something different happens as compared to the other
games. Our first look at this batch of
Ultimates has them believing that they’re normal high school students -- not
the Ultimate Pianist, Ultimate Artist, or anything of the sort. Their costumes are different, too, and their
eccentricities have been filed down to a nub.
It’s not long before that changes by way of Monokuma’s
subordinates/”children” -- the Monokubs -- restoring everyone’s
seemingly-stolen memories and doing a soft reset of the killing game. Still, it kind of makes you wonder.
In terms of the plot? The fallout from that hasn’t appeared just
yet, but knowing what kind of game this is -- and knowing storytelling in
general -- Danganronpa V3 wouldn’t
have started like that without a reason.
So while I can’t prove anything yet, and I’m assuming I’ve got this
entirely wrong, my current theory is that one of the big reveals is that even
if the Ultimates had their memories restored, the Monokubs botched the process
and gave the Ultimates the wrong talents -- and by extension, the wrong memories. So the Ultimate Detective running
around? Maybe he just thinks he’s that,
but the truth is that he’s the Ultimate Tennis Pro. I have my doubts about that theory since
we’ve got an Ultimate Robot in the cast; then again, the current Robot has done
a lot of talking about it, and not doing robot
stuff, so we’ll see.
The bigger issue is more thematic than
anything. DR has always put its super-talented students front and center
(with the exception of Ultra Despair
Girls, albeit to its detriment), and these characters have been informed
heavily by their talents. The idea that
this new cast is a bunch of sad sacks without their talents is sobering; the
idea that this new cast might be wandering around with the wrong talents is even worse.
If I was the Ultimate Writer in this canon, how much would my talent
impact my personality given that it could be/would be the end result of
coalesced, transformative past experiences?
Would any elements outside of it be corollaries to the crux of my
existence? How much of me would cease to
exist without a talent to serve as the foundation? Shit, how much of that is true now, for me and for others?
…This is a depressing train of thought. Let’s talk about what really matters.
I don’t know if it’s clever of Spike Chunsoft to
load up this franchise with faux dating sim elements (a la the modern Persona games), or cynical, or downright
evil. No matter what word you choose for
it, I’d still say it’s a stroke of genius.
On one hand, you’re being coerced into interacting with characters to
power your protagonist up and gain special skills to use during the gameplay
segments. On the other hand, it’s a way
to dupe players into forming bonds with the cast -- so that when the bodies
start hitting the floor, the deaths will take on even more meaning than
before. Also noteworthy: because of the
nature of the game, there’s a hard time limit in place to bond with your waifus
and husbandos of choice. You never know
who’ll die next, so you have to make every moment count.
As my brother would say, there are some real
bangers and some real hangers. While the
cast on average seems solid overall, there are some characters I’ve got zero
interest in, both for the dating sim aspect and their place in the story. I’m waiting to be proven wrong vis a vis
certain reveals in the story that I strongly
suspect are on the way, but for now?
There are some characters that lean so strongly on their gimmicks (i.e.
anime clichés and archetypes) that they contribute little to any scene…as if to
have them wave the death flag at full mast.
Who you see as a banger and who you see as a
hanger will vary, of course. But for
me? Of the guys, I’m super-down to hang
with Korekiyo and Kaito. The former (the
Ultimate Anthropologist) looks like a fusion between Vega and Dragunov; despite his
clear intelligence and appreciation of the arts, he’s so dedicated to acting like a creeper that it warps around and makes
him more endearing. Meanwhile, Kaito
(the Ultimate Astronaut) is basically Kamina minus his mech. Hot-blooded, brash, loud, straightforward,
and the like; plus he’s a fan of space, which I can resonate with. 10/10, would become space bros with.
On the ladies’ side? Without question, my top pick of the bunch is
Kirumi (the Ultimate Maid). I know that
maids in Japanese media tend to fit a certain niche -- not even Persona 5 could escape the black abyss
of pretty girls paid to call you Master and do your dirty work -- but damn, Kirumi is so cool. There’s more to her than just a servant
forced to wait on others; in fact, it seems like her personal arc is about
teaching her not to live solely for
others. Beyond that? She’s classy, intelligent, and the
implication is that she’s a costume change away from being a super-soldier. Badass.
The runner-up for me is Miu (the Ultimate Inventor); she’s a
foul-mouthed trash talker with an ego the size of a blue whale…that is, until
you call her out and she becomes a quivering coward. It’s a gimmick, yeah, but I’m down for it. (I also appreciate that in her portrait and
sprites, her eyes are perpetually wobbly as if she’s on the verge of tears.)
With all of that said, hunting for waifus in this
game is pretty much pointless. Why? Because this game has Kaede Akamatsu, the
Ultimate Pianist…or should I say, the Ultimate Waifu.
SPOILERS. COMING.
NOW. THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO ESCAPE.
YOU’VE BEEN WARNED.
In stark contrast to other protagonists in the
series, Kaede quickly takes center stage and passionately pushes the others to
hold onto hope (another franchise theme).
She’s a natural-born leader in that sense, or at least one in Fiction
Land where she firmly resides; she’s idealistic, she’s fervent, she’s brave,
and more. Underneath it all, her drive
comes from a simple place: she wants to end the killing game so she can bond
with her new friends and enjoy a peaceful high school life. She doesn’t try to trade blows with Monokuma
(because that’s gone…poorly in the
past), but she doesn’t have to. Her
hope, and the ability to inspire it, becomes her strongest weapon.
So naturally, Monokuma uses that against her.
It’s at this point where I have to hit the pause
button. Yes, I think that Kaede is a
good character -- and I’ll keep explaining why in a minute -- and that she
qualifies as one of those mysterious, elusive “strong female characters”. But the question worth asking is an obvious
one: what does that really mean? Fans
have been begging for ages, and creators have tried to provide; at this stage
in the game (i.e. reality) not everyone is going to clap and cheer when
presented with another damsel in distress or fanservice-laden insert. You’ve got to do more.
Answers to the question are going to vary from
person to person. But for me? It’s pretty simple. Yes, it’s important to make a female
character -- or any character -- with positive traits like courage, or wit, or
the ability to handle a fight. (To be
clear, though, fighting ability =/= character quality.) At the same time, you’ve got to put in the
work to make them characters. A female
character that is strong or ideal or positive and nothing else is hardly a character at all, let alone
strong. That’s why you’ve got to have
balance. You’ve got to give them
weaknesses, too. Negatives. Flaws.
This is what makes Kaede a compelling character,
even before the first body is found. She
willingly becomes a symbol of optimism and inspiration for the other Ultimates,
and gives exactly the lines you’d expect from her: “Everything will be fine if
we all work together!” And “As long as
we don’t give up, we’ll beat the bad guys!”
It’s actively used against her; by building up the Ultimates, she leads
them into a no-win situation (represented by a platforming minigame, of all
things) where they endure countless death traps for hours. As a result?
The pain of failure plunges the Ultimates into far greater despair than
if they’d ever tried at all, because Kaede set them up for an even bigger fall.
I don’t begrudge her for it, though. Even though she realizes the error of her
ways, it doesn’t stop Kaede from thinking she had the right idea -- the crux of
it being that she wants to help, support, and even nurture the strangers she hadn’t
even known for a week. Her earnest
effort to be there for the other Ultimates may reach an obsessive level, but in
exchange, every word that comes out of her mouth comes from a real place. Her multiple asides to Shuichi -- pep talks
to help him become more confident -- are so ridiculously heartwarming that even
I felt breathless from my side of the
PC monitor.
It might have
something to do with the fact that Kaede’s VA is Erika Harlacher, who
was the voice of Ann Takamaki in Persona
5…who,
as you may recall, was my waifu in that game. Alternatively, I’m starting to suspect that
ever since Mercy debuted in Overwatch,
I’ve developed an appreciation of
blondes.
In any case, Kaede’s flaw is more than just a
minor talking point. It ends up shaping
the narrative in the best and worst way possible. See, Shuichi comes to the conclusion that,
among the Ultimates this time around, there’s a mastermind who’s either working
with the baddies or piloting Monokuma as he/she sees fit. It’s something anyone who’s followed the
series should expect at this point, given that multiple Ultimates in multiple
games haven’t exactly been truthful about who they are or who they have
relationships with (Junko being the most triumphant example). Kaede and Shuichi work together -- and
separately from everyone else -- as part of a secret mission, wherein they’ll
end the killing game before it starts by stopping the mastermind.
It doesn’t work.
And how could it, given that it’s before the first class trial? Another Ultimate gets killed in the library
where Kaede and Shuichi set up an elaborate trap to catch the culprit in the
act. Because of it, the killing game
claims its first victim -- Rantaro, who didn’t even know what his Ultimate
talent was -- and the others are forced to figure out whodunit. Kaede is still keen to try and find the
mastermind, and the player is by default.
But as it turns out, the first culprit is by far the hardest to pinpoint
in the entire franchise to date.
The first killer is Kaede.
The protagonist.
You.
Like, I actually took hits to my life bar that I
didn’t need to because the very concept A) hadn’t crossed my mind, and B)
seemed impossible. I’d subconsciously
ruled it out because…hey, she’s the protagonist. We’ve been following her since minute one of
the game. If she actively tried to kill
someone, we’d be the first to know, right?
Well, the answer is yes and no.
The truth is that even though Kaede and Shuichi worked together to
create a setup and nail the mastermind, they had two different plans running in
tandem. Shuichi’s setup was there solely
to get the mastermind on film and give the duo evidence to convince the other
Ultimates. Kaede’s setup, on the other
hand, was much more lethal; minor bits of dialogue reveal that she used a shot
put ball, rearranged books, and the vent connecting the library and a classroom
to roll the ball until it could fall on Rantaro’s head, fatally wounding him.
But why, though?
To be clear, it didn’t necessarily have to be Rantaro. It just had to be whoever was lured into that
specific spot thanks to Kaede’s planning and tampering. She did it so she wouldn’t just capture the
mastermind or get him/her on film; her reasoning was that if they just killed
the mastermind outright, then they could move on to brighter days. He/she deserved it for threatening to put
them through hell, or “it was the only way” or some other excuse. Kaede’s overwhelming desire to protect and
nurture, and live according to her ideals, ended up doing her in. It’s her eternal reward for trying to play
the mama bear.
Now that begs the question: if Kaede, the
protagonist, ends up biting it -- and biting it first, Rantaro aside -- then
who’s the protagonist after that? Isn’t
the game over? The answer is no. Shuichi steps up mid-trial to become the new
leading man. Not only does he become a
(slightly) bolder character, but afterward he takes off his hat to reveal that
he has the mainstay of every DR lead:
an ahoge. So I guess the truth is that Shuichi is and
always has been the real protagonist of DRV3;
it just took time for him to step into the spotlight. By extension, that means the devs willingly
lied to us from the outset, all for the sake of the big reveal.
Now you know why I threw up those spoiler
warnings.
Before she goes, Kaede ends up giving Shuichi and
the others something special. She
doesn’t bother to fight against any accusations once the leading role switches
to Shuichi (although mid-trial he has to convince her that she didn’t act
solely out of malice or turned into some irredeemable monster). And when all’s said and done, she ends up
giving her motive to the others. Crucially,
she imparts on the other Ultimates a will to fight on -- to believe in hope,
the future, and everything she believed
in, so that they can overcome Monokuma and despair. Granted it’s probably not going to work out
because there’s still dozens of hours of game left, but the sentiment is there.
Here’s the thing, though: when the reveal
happened, I was about ready to drop DRV3.
The reveal left me shocked, stunned, and a little
bit butthurt. I was ready to ride with
Kaede from start to finish because she was such a cool character. I thought I’d get to be soul sisters with
Kirumi. I thought I could space bro it
up with Kaito. I thought I could walk up
to people asking “What games have a strong female character?” and then point
directly at this game with both fingers, and motions fierce enough to shred my
muscles into confetti. Then it turns out
Kaede, of all people, is the first killer.
Not only that, but her execution is the most painful to sit through yet,
partly (if not largely) because it’s happening to a character who deserved
better than what she got.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that it was a mistake to kill
Kaede off. I would have loved to keep playing as her, without a
doubt, but I understand that the devs had a divine plan in mind. But you have to understand my gut reaction to
that turn of events. When the Ultimates
were all sorting everything out, and Shuichi put the pieces together to make
that happen, my first thought was “WELP, that’s it. Kaede’s totally fucked.” And she was; as per the rules, a
correctly-accused killer gets killed in turn. Prior to that execution, a specific thought
ran through my head: “This is awful. I
never want to play this game again.”
Then ten seconds later I thought, “I can’t wait to
play it again.”
You know, I’ve played a lot of games. Plenty of them have been good. Plenty of them have been awful. But it’s not often that I have a character,
story, or game at large that can draw such a massive reaction out of me. No, scratch that; it’s not often that I have
a game that can draw such despair out
of me. And not your standard-fare
despair when you play something terrible and can’t believe money went into it;
I’m talking about intentional despair. The pain, the sorrow, the anguish that arises
from the tale before you; I’s not something that comes easily. But against all odds, I can confirm that DRV3 is one of the rare few that excels.
Kaede may be gone, but she won’t be
forgotten. Even if the time we spent
together was criminally brief, it was packed with meaning -- for Shuichi, for
the Ultimates, and for the player most of all.
She crossed the line for a noble cause, which is a definite rarity in
this franchise. But even when you look
past the murder and the big reveal it’s hard for me to deny that, no matter
what, Kaede is absolutely a strong female character.
Pour one out for the Ultimate Pianist.
There. Now
watch your back, Monokuma. I’m comin’
for that ass.
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