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Needless to say, Leon's complete emotional breakdown (and then death) changes this.

When exposing Mondo for Chihiro's murder, Makoto is displayed looking firm, but not truly angry. There are beads of sweat running down both sides of his face, showing that this is an effort for him. This time, he is fully aware of the fate that awaits Mondo, and while he has to seal this fate in order for himself and everyone else to survive, he takes no pleasure in it.

When exposing Celeste for Taka and Hifumi's murders, you see his eyes closed and a pained expression on his face. He didn't want to do this again, which is why he had pleaded with Celeste to just confess everything beforehand. He is tired of being the one to fully expose his friends so that they will be voted to their deaths, as well as constantly having to acknowledge in doing so that his friends murdered other friends. It's always a reality that he hates facing.

And when exposing Hina for covering up Sakura's suicide, he just looks done.

He doesn't know whether Hina will be executed for what she did or even what Hina was trying to accomplish in it, all he knows is that exposing the truth behind awful things his friends have done and watching those friends break down is a wretched, painful experience.

But then, we get the last Closing Argument.

HOLY SHIT. Do you see his eyes? Makoto is PISSED. He's gone full circle and then some, since this is way angrier than he looked at Leon! The Mastermind is the one who caused all of this pain for him, and in calling them out directly by name, that pain shows very visibly.

He's a pure soul so he doesn't want even Junko dead, but he does very much want her to face justice....even moreso after learning the truth about he and his friends' memories and how all of the killings that have transpired are essentially on Junko for doing that to them.

YOU FUCKING KNOW IT MAN!!!! (apologies in advance because you said "a few" and i turned it into walls and walls of text... 😛)

hmm ok so when i first experienced dr1 i think i was generally indifferent to him at first, didn't feel too strongly either way besides Logically Believing something to the effect of "what he did was wrong but he is ultimately not at fault for the situation he was placed in nor is he terrible/irredeemable by a long shot" (basically what makoto's opinion was! and which is still my general opinion on his actions in canon, albeit with a loooooot of asides :p)

then, because i was hung up on case 1 like crazy (giant makoto & sayaka fan from day 1) i delved a little more into his character... reading FTEs, going over canon dialog... and the slow realization dawned on me... that he's literally me, like straight up. 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

if you put aside the whole "he died like immediately! what even is there to him!" thing and read into what is shown of his character ingame, you find some shit that imo is INTENSELY real.

he presents himself like he's hot shit, assertive and initiative-taking and letting NOTHING stand in the way of his dream, but in actuality? he lets people walk all over him and caves under pressure against his own wishes all the time, because he has no other choice. freedom of choice is just not something he was ever granted much of. "i didn't WANT to do this, but i HAD to!" is a sentiment leon repeated long before it came into play at the conclusion of the first trial.

i have no idea if it's as prevalent nowadays, but a misconception that i saw frequently crop up in old discussions is that leon's new dream to become a musician and get away from it all is what he REALLY wants and what would REALLY be good for him... but it's not! no matter how cool it sounds, how idealistically he dresses it up, it is something that he is pursuing out of spite for his old life, seeing an opportunity to finally escape from his confines and rashly jumping at it, starved for novelty and grabbing at any he can get.

his stated reasons for wanting to be a musician boil down to the same fundamental fact that he is controlled by others; this time, he's doing it to be popular, to get the attention of that girl at the salon who was clearly trying to get him to go away lmao. by doing that, he's not proving that he won't be controlled and limited and imposed upon anymore like he THINKS he is; he's just being controlled in a different way, driven by the need to seek validation from others.

at the end of the day, it's not that he wants to get away from baseball; he wants to get away from all the things that come WITH baseball. constant impositions, being forced to partake in activities when he doesn't feel like it or that he finds unpleasant, having to go along with "tradition" and make sacrifices for something he was pressed into doing in the first place... all because he happened to have some kind of affinity for it. because others noticed his talent and made it His Entire Thing against his will, what could have been an enjoyable hobby/activity became a complete ordeal for him, inherently confining.

i won't bore you with a full spread about my own life and woes, but all this is stuff i can relate to immensely as someone who struggles with defining myself outside of what others say i SHOULD be, compulsively needing validation from others, having my skills and inclinations picked up on by others and forced to be My Entire Thing when i just wanted to draw and play toys man 😭😭😭 every time i write about leon i guarantee you it is from a place of knowing

also, there's plenty of other funny and/or super real bits from leon that are easy to pick up on once you're looking, like how he is a massive oversharer even during first meetings...

how he is not necessarily the best with names...

how he gets attached to others and trusts them EXTREMELY fast despite having anxious tendencies and playing at being guarded (which is not only evident from the fact he met up with sayaka, alone, in the middle of the night, in a room he knew was soundproof, after murder motives were distributed, but also from his interactions with makoto! bro really goes from "ARE YOU TRYING TO GET ME ALONE TO KILL ME??? MY FANS WILL GET YOU!!!!" to)...

also this bit from his heart event will Always be famous to me. #naeleon

PLUS.

i love his relationship with sayaka so so so so so much. they are the adam and eve of danganronpa. they are water and fire as complimentary yet mutually destructive elements. they are clearly drawn to each other in every circumstance they find themselves in and this dooms them both in the end. this is me DRAMATICALLY CUTTING DOWN on all i have to say about them. does anyone even care how insane they make me? does anyone understand?