*busts down the door*
YOOOO
FELLOW DANGAN RONPA FANS
I JUST CAME IN TO SAY
THAT YOU GUYS NEED TO RESEARCH JAPANESE CULTURE BECAUSE THERE’S A TON OF CHARACTERIZATION AND IMPORTANT STUFF THAT YOU WILL MISS BECAUSE YOU’RE LOOKING AT IT FROM A WESTERN POINT OF VIEW RATHER THAN THE INTENDED EASTERN
BECAUSE THERE IS A TON OF STUFF THAT MAKES NO SENSE TO FOREIGNERS, BUT IS INCREDIBLY DEEP AND IMPORTANT IN REGARDS TO CHARACTERIZATION THAT CAN ONLY BE PICKED UP IF YOU’RE FAMILIAR WITH JAPAN
FOR EXAMPLE, ALL YOU SOCIAL JUSTICE WARRIORS AND GETTING YOUR UNDERGARMENTS TIED IN A KNOT BECAUSE OF CHIHIRO’S GENDER AND THINK IT MEANS HE’S TRANS AND THAT THE BULLYING EXCUSE IS BULLCRAP AMONG OTHER THINGS
WELL GUESS WHAT
JAPAN HAS *DIFFERENT SOCIAL ISSUES* WOWEE WHAT NEW INFO
AND AMONG THOSE DIFFERENCES IN SOCIAL ISSUES IS BULLYING
FROM WHAT LITTLE I KNOW OF BULLYING IN JAPAN IS *VERY* DIFFERENT FROM OVERSEAS
AND IT ALSO GETS MUCH, MUCH WORSE
CHIHIRO’S FEAR OF BULLYING IS 100% JUSTIFIED, AND THE FACT THAT HE TURNED TO PRETENDING TO BE FEMALE TO ESCAPE WAS ACTUALLY ONE OF THE SAFER OPTIONS GIVEN THE CIRCUMSTANCES
NOT TO MENTION HOW JAPAN HAS VERY STRICT IDEAS OF GENDER ROLES AND YOU *HAVE* TO FOLLOW THOSE IDEAS
CHIHIRO DIDN’T, HENCE WHY THE BULLYING OCCURED
HIS ENTIRE BACKSTORY AND MOTIVATION MAKES SO MUCH MORE SENSE IF YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH JAPANESE CULTURE AND SOCIAL ISSUES WHY ARE YOU ARGUING ABOUT CHIHIRO’S GENDER FROM A WESTERN VIEWPOINT WHEN IN ORDER TO TRULY GRASP IT YOU HAVE TO BE NECK-DEEP IN JAPANESE CULTURE
YOU CANNOT
UNDERSTAND CHARACTERS
LIKE CHIHIRO
UNLESS YOU UNDERSTAND JAPANESE CULTURE AND JUST HOW BAD THINGS CAN GET DUE TO HOW JAPANESE SOCIETY IS SET UP
AND THERE’S ALSO KUZURYUU TOO - THE YAKUZA IS *NOT* THE SAME AS THE MAFIA, IF YOU WANT TO UNDERSTAND HIM YOU HAVE TO BE FAMILIAR WITH YAKUZA CULTURE AND HOW IT AFFECTS JAPANESE SOCIETY
AND MONDO - MONDO’S CORNCOB HAIRDO AND OTHER THINGS MAKE *SO* MUCH MORE SENSE IF YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE BOSUZOKU SUBCULTURE IN JAPAN
AND DON’T EVEN GET ME *STARTED* ON JUNKO AND TE GYARU SUBCULTURE
Yamada is also deeply rooted in Japanese nerddom but I’m sure if you’ve been an otaku this wrong you’ll know all about it. You’re still going to want to research more to FULLY grasp it.
But yeah, the Dangan Ronpa franchise is one that is DEEPLY rooted in Japanese society and culture, and a Westerner will NOT be able to truly understand certain characters and just how screwed up they are unless they’re familiar with it. The fact the game is just so overtly Japanese is one of the reasons it probably would never have been localized for release overseas - you WILL need a MASSIVE textbook on the inner workings of Japanese culture to fully understand it.
So yeah, before you make another stupid text post on Mondo’s hair, or go on and on about how Chihiro is canonically trans whilst looking at the situation from a western viewpoint rather than the intended eastern (Japanese, specifically) POV, I HIGHLY recommend that you make some sort of course on Japanese culture so that you’ll know if you REALLY have your facts correct, or if you’re dead wrong because you lacked the proper knowledge and looked at it from an incorrect viewpoint.
Because given how radically different eastern and western culture is, you WILL want to understand want to understand Japanese culture before you start getting all worked up over something that is a genuine cultural difference that makes more sense from a Japanese viewpoint than it does an American.
