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Jimmy is not outwardly antagonistic towards Daisuke. The only time he gets close to this is during the birthday party. And remember, he lashes out at everyone during this scene. If anything, what he says about Daisuke is pretty tame in comparison to the things he says about Curly or Anya.

His rapport with Daisuke is always somewhat friendly. He has a nice conversation with him right at the beginning of the game, 2 months after the crash, where they joke amongst themselves. Jimmy tells Daisuke to not let Swansea get to him. Keep this in mind for later.

When Daisuke gets drunk off the mouthwash, he tells Jimmy about insecurities that he has presumably not told anyone else. We can say that he’s only telling Jimmy this because he’s intoxicated, but I think it speaks to the relationship the two have.

One thing to note about Daisuke is that he trusts Jimmy, and after the crash he’s basically the only one to do so. Swansea is plastered 24/7 and very clearly doesn’t respect him, and Anya. I don’t even have to explain that one.

But Daisuke still remains by his side, and Jimmy takes full advantage of this.

Let’s check back on that line I mentioned earlier, where Jimmy tells Daisuke to not let Swansea get to him. Jimmy wants Daisuke to think higher of him than Swansea, and presents himself as a kinder individual who Daisuke can trust. It’s a small line but it speaks volumes about their relationship.

We’re skipping forward to after Daisuke’s death (don’t worry, we’ll talk about it). Daisuke and imagery surrounding him appears the most out of any of the crew, mayyybe second to Curly. We see his personal items, his grave repeated over and over in a graveyard, we see him run away from the camera, his face appears when you try to turn around, his body is in a coffin, we crawl through the vent and we see the axe buried in the side of the wall around it.

And it’s because Jimmy feels the most guilt about how Daisuke died. Because it’s entirely his fault and he recognizes it. These hallucinations are purely guilt speaking.

Jimmy knew, on some level, what he was doing.

He knew that he was manipulating Daisuke, though I do think he still liked him at least a little. He knows that this death is entirely on his hands.

Ok, let’s jump back to before Daisuke dies (we’re skipping around like the game now!). This is where that manipulation idea comes into play.

Jimmy doesn’t tell Daisuke what’s going on. Jimmy knows that Anya has locked herself into medical and is going to kill herself. But when Daisuke asks what’s happening (by the way, he asks Anya this question) Jimmy cuts in and immediately brings up Curly. He makes it seem like Anya is going to do something malicious towards Curly and there’s no time and she can’t be convinced and they have to go go go.

And we see why he does this. Daisuke, throughout the sequence where you roofie Swansea, keeps repeating that they should just talk to him. But if they just talk to Swansea and Anya, then Daisuke will find out about the fact that Jimmy raped her. Jimmy can’t have this because, as I said earlier, Daisuke is the only one left who still completely trusts Jimmy. So he has to keep that information from him.

(I want to make a seperate post where I talk about why Anya also kept this information from Daisuke, so i'm leaving this point here).

Finally, let’s talk about the thing Jimmy says right before Daisuke enters the vent. I think that this is the most telling exchange when it comes to their relationship (take a shot every time I say their relationship and you too can pass out in front of utility).

Daisuke is nervous, for obvious reasons. And Jimmy, the figure who has been supportive (“don’t let Swansea get to you”) and friendly, turns around and uses the insecurities that Daisuke brought up previously to coax him into the vent.

When Daisuke is drunk, he tells Jimmy that he believes he’s not good at anything. And right before the vent, Swansea tells him he’s not a good mechanic either. This clearly upsets Daisuke on some level based on his reaction.

This is just a precursor to what Swansea says right before Daisuke dies, but Daisuke doesn’t know that. It’s a topic for another ramble.

Jimmy was present for all of this, and tells Daisuke that he’ll make everyone proud, he tells him everyone is counting on him. He’s using these insecurities to get Daisuke to do something insanely dangerous.

And I think, based on how often Daisuke appears in his hallucinations, Jimmy knew what he was doing. He knew he was being manipulative.

When Daisuke is bleeding out, Jimmy realizes how badly he fucked up. He’s panicked and trying in vain to comfort him, but internally he knows this is entirely his fault.

I see a lot of fan content where Jimmy is outright mean to Daisuke, and that’s just not really how they are portrayed in the game. Jimmy mistreats him, but he doesn’t do it in an incredibly obvious way. And that’s just good storytelling baby.