Disasterronpa: Producing Hell Pre-Release Analysis
AV-Multifangan is back with a brand new fangan, and naturally I had to drop everything and make a pre-release analysis before the Prologue officially starts on the 18th! We even have a YT trailer (we're on YT now??? Holy peak), so there's even more to talk about than there was with DROS! Let's go!
What we Have
There's a bit less sleuthing around required for this one, as the trailer gives us most of the information we really need.
For example, I don't have to go around looking at dollar bills and roulette wheels to figure out the setting! The trailer just says DSR takes place in the Ultimate University. The description reads:
"Welcome to Disasterronpa, a new killing game inspired by the offiical Danganronpa trilogy! Riposte, the Ultimate Fencer, finds himself trapped inside Ultimate University with 15 quirky classmates in a killing game that appears to be going wrong at every turn. Will anybody be able to make it out with their lives?"
So, the setting is an university, glad we could clarify that and that there isn't any reason to doubt that claim :) (Hint: there is reason to doubt that claim, we'll get to it later).
As for the rest of the description, the classmates do get a bit quirky at av-multifangan, but I'm very interested in the claim that the killing game "appears to be going wrong at every turn." Maybe that just means people are dying and it's going wrong for the cast, but... it could also be that the masterminds are failing at actually doing a killing game. We'll revisit this when I talk about each character individually, so just keep it in the back of your mind for now.
Speaking of the characters, though, there's no need to go around trying to figure out names in the tags, they're all there! No last names, though, everyone's tagged the same way Mark was in DROS - First Name + Fangan tag, in this case DSR.
... Which is odd. Especially when you look over the names and... they're all words. Literally all of them. I know I joked about this in DROS, where the last names included Hall, Young, Bravo, Long, etc., but this is a little excessive! And the fact they're tagged like Mark makes me wonder... did everyone forget their real names? That'd be kinda crazy, but there's some sense to it. Everyone in the trailer is wearing name tags, possibly what would told them their names in the first place. Immediately, this would tell us there's an element of memory erasure, but that's not exactly uncommon in fangans. Interesting...
I already have questions as to why making these people forget their names would be necessary, so I guess it's doing good in causing intrigue, at least! Can't say much more here, but know that I'm going into this expecting these to be fake names. Gonna be extremely funny if they aren't though lol.
But the name tags actually hold another intriguing point. The characters seemed to be separated into four groups by the color of their name tags.
(Holy pixels)
Yellow, purple, green, and red. This is especially notable because of the pre-trailer countdown.
You might remember DROS having a 16 day countdown before release, where each day had an image related to one of the characters. DSR had something similar, but the countdown was only four days long, grouping up characters in familiar colors...
Hell, even the start of the trailer groups them up in fours!
The groups are all consistent, by the way. The name tags, countdown images and these silhouette shots all seem to match. Unless I missed something, which to be fair I might have.
What these groups mean... no clue! My first thought is that they might be arbitrary, at least in-universe (as in, there's thematic reasons accirax grouped them this way, but in-universe it was random). This would especially make sense if this is framed as a sort of game show, which would make sense with the "Producing Hell" subtitle, as groups in that kind of show are usually random. Of course, that's only applicable if this isn't actually an university, and there is no reason to doubt that claim :) (I swear I'm getting to it).
But of course, it's also perfectly likely that they're grouped by talent, or even some other reason like region of origin (?). The non-arbitrary idea could be supported by the fact that the countdown art present all the groups in a different way, possibly implying a deeper connection than pure chance. Yellow shows the characters' hands, purple gets eyes, green shows pictures in speech bubbles out of a mouth, and red has hearts. Maybe I could dismiss this as stylistic, if it weren't for the fact that these symbols all show up on the logo as well.
And before anyone brings it up, no, I have no idea why there's an egg there. It confounds me. It intrigues me. But I have no answer for what it means, so I'm just gonna leave it there for now.
So, there's definitely something there, but it may be worth it to discuss each character individually before talking a bit more about these groups.
Before that, though, one last thing. Although most information comes from the trailer, there is an interesting fact found in the updated FAQ.
Oh hell yeah. Never gonna say no to more content he he he >:) I was already excited before, but now you're telling there's so much going on that the story is long enough to warrant this warning? I smell Peak incoming.
With all that established, let's go character by character!
Apologies in advance for all the collage images having like 3 pixels total lmao.
Yellow Hands Group:
Riposte [The Protagonist]
Pronouns: He/him
Background Color: Dark Blue
Countdown Image: Rapier
Symbol: Fleur-de-lis
Intro Quote: "I can defend myself, obviously. As long as I keep a level head, I'll easily be able to make it out of something this non-threatening."
Who gave David Chiem a sword (sorry the hair just looks similar to me xD)
Our protag boy, and the character venus wrote! A riposte is a quick and clever retort, and a name for a return thrust in fencing. A very fitting name for a character who is both our designated "no that's wrong" sayer, and the Ultimate Fencer! The latter is confirmed in the trailer's description, being the only confirmed talent so far. I wonder if he'd get along with Eden's Garden own Ultimate Fencer...
The fleur-de-lis is a fancy ornament that's usually seen to represent royalty and purity, among other things, and it seems pretty in line with Riposte's apparent cool head. With his focus on keeping a level head and possibly being some form of voice of reason, he's definitely a change from Ellis, that's for damn sure. Fun!
And while I'm really excited to see what exactly venus cooked up for this little guy, possibly the most interesting about him right now is that he doesn't find the situation all that threatening. That's what he says in his intro quote, at least. Is this an indication of the killing game "going wrong at every turn", because the participants don't feel too threatened by it? Or is this line spoken before the details of the killing game are revealed? We'll have to wait and see!
Keen
Pronouns: She/her
Background Color: Sky Blue
Countdown Image: Pen
Symbol: Magnifying glass
Intro Quote: "Well, there's no need to worry yourself over these concerns. Rest assured, I'll solve this puzzle."
A very "keen" mind indeed, Keen seems to be an Investigator/Detective/Puzzlemaster of sorts, what with the magnifying glass symbol and the footprint following in her intro. Her determination to solve whatever puzzle she mentions in her intro quote is probably indication that we're dealing with a strong contender for best trial goer here. Always love a smart queen!
Speaking of, I wonder if the puzzle she mentions is some kind of pre-killing game puzzle, a la Kill/Cure or Your Turn To Die. That could explain why Riposte doesn't feel that threatened by the situation, if this hypothetical puzzle is what he's talking about. They are both Team Yellow, after all, it's possible they'd start together if we're doing a Kill/Cure thing.
Her announcement post image shows her alongside Holiday and Foster, dealing with an abundance of trash in a pool. God knows what I'm supposed to get from this, other than maybe these three will become friends? Who knows. I also love the vibe she gives off in the sprites we have of her. I like the smart ones :)
Angle
Pronouns: She/her
Background Color: Pink
Countdown Image: G U N
Symbol: Skull in crosshairs
Intro Quote: "Ooh, is that why you carry a sword? I thought it was just for funsies. Swords are so awesome!"
Extra Dialogue: "Dibs! I don't even care if these are free or not!"
Girl I love your whimsy and good vibes but I need you to clarify whether you actually have a gun or not. Riposte definitely has a sword so it's not like extra weaponry is impossible, and I feel like I should know in advance if there's an actual risk of someone getting shot lmao.
Gun threat aside, I think I'm gonna like Angle a lot! She's already hitting the Vanessa peace sign pose in one of the sprites we have, and I certainly liked Ness, so that's a good start! She also gets the first in-killing game quote, with her calling dibs on something she's not entirely sure she's actually allowed to take. She seems jovial and pretty carefree, good for her!
In terms of talent, Sharpshooter seems like the most obvious idea. I mean, her name is Angle for crying out loud. She has a gun, an arrow on her hair, and her symbol has a crosshairs. Admittedly, that crosshairs also has a skull, which would point more to something like Assassin, but somehow I doubt she'd be so happy go lucky if that was her job. Hopefully. She might just be insane though, that could be fun.
The other idea is that she's some form of Weapon Master, since she shows interest in Riposte's sword, and her announcement monitor image shows her holding up a broken axe while being clearly upset. Maybe she's lamenting the loss of a cool weapon? It'd at least explain why she seems to think people might just carry around swords for fun lmao.
Speaking of that announcement image, she's seen alongside Cache and Tylwyth. I would like to see those three as friends, they seem like a fun trio!
Overall, Angle seems like a character I'll enjoy! We'll have to wait and see if she ends up being our angle... or our devli. I'm unfunny :D
Byway
Pronouns: She/her
Background Color: Lighter Sky Blue
Countdown Image: Letter
Symbol: Letter
Intro Quote: "I dunno... A lot of people would take issue with the lack of privacy, right?"
Oh god it's the third blue character in this group my color coding NOOOO- /silly
I find a sort of indescribable appeal to Byway, and by that I mean that I have no fucking idea why I find her interesting. She doesn't really tick any of my usual fave boxes, and yet I'm very interested in her anyways. I think it might be that one of my favorite Minecraft YTbers, Pearlescentmoon, was a mail lady in Hermitcraft S10, which is an absurd connection for my brain to make but here we are I guess.
The strangest reason I've ever had to be interested in a fangan character aside, Byway seems to be the Ultimate Mailwoman, or Post Office Worker, or something like that. It's a curious talent for sure, I wonder if it'll come into play in any way! Other than that, the few sprites we have of her make her out to be somewhat anxious, perhaps? A little hard to read her, but she doesn't seem like the most outgoing or confident person. The way she recoils at Hits trippping in her announcement art could support this read.
Her name is very interesting on its own, too. A byway is a road that not many travel on, which is an odd way to name a mailwoman. Of course, maybe she just goes on strange and lesser known roads to deliver mail as fast as possible, but I could also see the idea that she's adept at thinking outside the box and coming up with roads of thought that others wouldn't be able to see. She could be fun to watch in trial if that's the case!
As for her intro quote, there's some interesting implications there. Bringing up a lack of privacy could be an indication that the cast will learn they're being constantly watched by some audience early on, which fits with the subtitle of Producing Hell. Though, it could just be her talking about the cameras all around the school, the ones used to run the killing game. Who knows!
And with Byway, we're done with group Yellow Hands! So, anything we can gleam about the grouping from this? Well, I could try to spin it in a way to say that all of their talents involve some level of... action? Fencing and Weapon Mastery/Sharpshooting has the characters literally bearing arms, which can be extended to hands; a Mailperson who travels through byways might be used to doing some level of adventure-y stuff; and a Detective... might put themselves in danger following clues?
Okay yeah I'm mad reaching but I really have no clue. Maybe we should look at the other groups before jumping to conclusions? Seems like a smart idea, let's do it!
Purple Eyes Group
Hits
Pronouns: He/him
Background Color: Orange
Countdown Image: Camera pointing at a skateboard
Symbol: Laughing face
Intro Quote: "It's really not all that bad. I'm pretty sure I didn't break anything."
Let's pray to whoever we can that the masterminds are lenient with breaking school property, because Hits seems like the type of guy who might end up breaking stuff on accident lmao. My guy's defining trait so far seems to be "really clumsy," with the way he's slipping in both his intro and announcement monitor art. He even seems to be tripping in one of the sprites we have of him!
Speaking of the announcement art, I get the feeling he and Flare might end up hanging out a lot together, since they're both in the same monitor, the same "group", and Flare is clearly reacting to Hits' trip and fall in the announcement art instead of passively being in the same frame like other pairs. I don't know why I get the feeling from these two and not from Byway, who is in the same announcement, art, but to be fair Byway is from a different group so. This is kinda just a vibe check I guess. I mean, "the guy who gets easily irritated and the guy who's always tripping" sounds like the type of unlikely pairing these type of killing games tend to form. It's ultimately just a guess, though, I got no clue.
As for talent, Hits is an odd one. My first thought was something like Ultimate Slapstick Comedian or something of the sort, but while the laughing face of his symbol does make me lean towards comedy, the focus on cameras in his countdown symbol and his intro art make me think his talent has to be related to filming in some way. Not to mention, his name could be connected to viral "hits," which is kinda the only way I can connect that name to anything other than him taking a lot of hits out of clumsiness. It's possible we're looking at something like... Ultimate Comedy Youtuber? Ultimate Fail Compilation Creator? If the latter is true, I'd joke about this fangan being set in 2010, except I would then have to acknowledge his camera is notably old-fashioned so it's a notable possibility, and I don't really know where I'd go from there. So.
All in all, this little guy seems like he might be fun to have around, long as he continues not breaking stuff as he says in his intro quote! Now the big question is why his name tag is so close to his waist when everyone else's is over their hearts or right under their shoulders, but I can't answer that any more than I can answer the why of his Aidan-like fashion sense. Why are your sleeves two different colors what are we doing.
Flare
Pronouns: He/him
Background Color: Lime green
Countdown Image: Drone
Symbol: Drone remote (maybe? It looks to be what he's using to control the drones, anyways)
Intro Quote: "SUCKS TO BE YOU!!! I'm not gonna let your weird disease stop me from seeing everything I need to see!"
Flare seems to be the resident gremlin of the cast. You know the type; Hiyoko Saionji, Ace Markey, Shoko Otaki... Miu Iruma in particular comes to mind, with the combination of crassness and skill in tech. Indeed, this guy seems to be an Engineer/Technician/Inventor of some kind, possibly specializing in drones giving how much focus those get. Ultimate Drone Technician, perhaps?
All that's pretty straightforward, but I gotta wonder about what his intro quote is about. Someone here apparently has some form of "disease" that inhibits Flare's ability to "see what he needs to see" (putting disease in quotes because I don't trust Flare's representing this correctly lol). Something to do with sight would seem like the obvious idea, but I lean more on something like a hearing problem that could hurt them if Flare uses his drones near them. Flare seems pretty rude, huh? No idea who the person with the "disease" could be, but my instincts say it could be Hits (if he's ultra unlucky a la Teruko Tawaki, he could have a number of health problems) or Tylwyth (as a shepherd, she probably lives somewhere without much nise, explaining how she lives with the hearing issue), but that's a complete guess, I have no clue.
The name is also notable. Although there's other meanings to it, when you hear "flare", you think of a flare that you shoot into the sky to draw attention. Although it's certainly possible that Flare might end up being able to call for help in some way, my guess is that this name foreshadows him "burning out" after "burning very brightly" for a bit. Maybe his rudeness will burn hot for a while, before he chills out after some kind of traumatic event. We'll have to wait a while to figure out how wrong or right I am, but my prediction's on the table now!
Final note, I mentioned that I didn't know if Byway being in the same announcement monitor as Flare and Hits would mean much, but it's worth noting that a lot of mail is delivered by drone. So. Maybe they'll talk about that at some point? If there's anything to talk about there? Lmao.
Tylwyth
Pronouns: She/her
Background Color: Gray-ish purple
Countdown Image: Herd of sheep
Symbol: Shepherd's crook
Intro Quote: "I'm sure that, as compared to you, a simple farmgirl like me wouldn't stand a *chance* in a test of wits. Brawn, either."
Gonna be real chat, this girl scares me a little. That's way too humble of an intro quote to pair up with that smug of a smirk. It comes off like she's enjoying being underestimated so she can kick ass when people least expect it. I could be misreading, of course, but all of her images depict her as pretty confident, so at least she's probably pretty competent.
The name doesn't help the fear. It seems to be a reference to Tylwyth Teg, which are Welsh and Irish fairy folk (Aos Sí). And while stories about the fae are wildly varied, they're usually not something you want to mess with. What little I could gather is that Tylwyth Teg can be nice to people they like, but they're also prone to kidnapping people and replacing them with changelings. So, yeah. I don't love how interested she seems in that broken sword in her announcement art when taking this all into account.
All of this is to say that Tylwyth is very likely to become my favorite character the moment the Prologue comes out! What can I say, I love scary women. Put down your CH1 killer predictions now; will the curse of my faves having that role happen a fifth time? We'll see!
Oh, also. I almost forgot, but she's obviously the Ultimate Shepherd or something to that effect. Everything from her countdown art, symbol, and the shepherd's crook she's always carrying would imply so. I'm gonna be really surprised if I'm completely wrong about this one lol.
Cache
Pronouns: She/her
Background Color: Dark purple
Countdown Image: Computer with a dollar symbol on it
Symbol: Ticket
Intro Quote: "Well yeah, I gotta know what I'm selling. How could I properly suggest the perfect outing for someone if I didn't even know what was out?"
Well, she seems chill! And probably very money-driven, taking her countdown symbol into account. Don't really have much more to say personality wise so far.
Talent wise, however, she's a bit hard to decipher. It seems like it may have something to do with assessing people on what to do in outings, if her intro quote is anything to go by. I get the feeling it's specifically movies, based on the "what was out" wording, but I'll leave it more general for now.
The idea that she gives people info to plan their days also fits her name. A computer's cache is a temporary memory that you can quickly retrieve information out of, so maybe the idea is that she has a lot of information about contemporary events and fun things to do in her head, and she can relay that to people so they know what to do. Maybe.
The question is what you would call a talent like that. Ultimate Event Organizer? Ultimate Outing Assessor? Maybe Ultimate Ticket Seller or something to that effect, taking her symbol and the tickets in her socks into account? Actually back it up why are we doing Ultimate theming in people's socks what-
In any case, Cache’s chill vibes and mysterious aura close out the Purple Eyes team, so we can go back to asking what the hell the deal is with said eyes. And… maybe it has something to do with show production? The series does have Producing Hell as a subtitle, after all. I don't think these people are actively working on the hypothetical show the killing game could be, I just think they might be paired based on what they could offer to the production of a show, if that makes sense.
The reason why I say this is that there’s a good through line of surveillance with the Purple Eyes team. Hits uses cameras in some way, based on his countdown art; Flare uses drones which can have cameras; and Cache seems to keep tabs on a lot of information for her job. Even Tylwyth fits here despite her lack of connection to technology, as a shepherd’s job consists partly of surveilling things, in particular sheep.
With that connection made, is it possible that Yellow Hands are meant to be stage-hands in a way? If Angle really is a Weapons Master and not a Sharpshooter despite what her name implies, she might have experience creating prop weapons. Byway works under the idea of delivering materials maybe, and we can say that Riposte’s strength as a fencer would be useful for a stage-hand, being a bit lenient on him if venus was the one coming up with his talent. Unfortunately, Keen is still weird, but I find it really hard to find any way to connect Fencer, Sharpshooter/Weapon Master and Detective/Investigator in general, so maybe we can get away with calling Keen the organizer of the stage-hands?
…Yeah this is still ass. I’m trying, okay? xD Let’s see if we can gleam anything else from the other teams!
Green Mouths Group
Alabaster
Pronouns: He/him
Background Color: Brown
Countdown Image: A piece of parchment, a pen, an urn and leaves
Symbol: Pencils
Intro Quote: "It's my destiny to use the skills that were Given to me in order to lead us to a more blessed future."
I want to preface this by saying I’m not actually sure I gave the Green Mouths the correct countdown images lol. I gave this one to Alabaster because of the pen, but it’s very possible that he’s actually supposed to get the one that shows people praying, and that the one I gave him is actually Tie’s, with the idea that he’s writing contracts or something. Or even Starburst's. Because I’m not sure, I’m not gonna be able to talk about it much, sorry :(
That aside, Alabaster is definitely giving off Angie vibes with his clear art talent and religious talk! At least, that’s the impression I get from his talk of destiny, blessed futures, and the capital G in Given. Plus, alabaster is a material used not only in sculpture and architecture, but also used in boxes to hold perfumes and ointments, which apparently shows up in Bible passages notable enough to be referenced in The Binding of Isaac (my metric of how relevant any given passage is lmao). The Angie vibes are good in my book, I like Angie :D
This possible Ultimate Artist (or similar) seems to have a pretty positive attitude, and his announcement art shows him alongside Starburst and Tie. I’m gonna guess they will talk a fair amount, as all three are part of the same group. They seem like a fun pairing! They’re seen handling food that is clearly in bad condition, which I can only hope isn’t going to be too much of a problem. If it is, though… yep, this cast may have it rough.
Not much else to say, just curious how his religious beliefs may come into play. Given my love for Amane from the Milgram Project, I’m sure I’m gonna end up liking him a lot! :D
Haven
Pronouns: He/him
Background Color: Orange
Countdown Image: A pristine living room
Symbol: Mitten
Intro Quote: "Even if it has to be a school for whatever reason, it doesn’t need to look this garish! Like, it’s not that hard to add a rug!”
Extra Dialogue: "If they're gonna kidnap us or whatever, they could at least put us in better digs. Like, you don't wanna damage the goods before you sell them off, right? Not that I want anyone to think of me as livestock."
Alright, there's a lot of lore going on here, so let's get the character himself out of the way quickly. Haven seems to be a no-nonsense type of guy, an Ultimate Housekeeper/Cleaner or something to that effect, and his announcement art shows him with Bind and Peep, so maybe they can be seen together on occasion. His name speaks of a safe and paradisiacal place, which makes sense with his apparent talent; he makes places a haven of cleanliness (?).
Now, the big stuff. First, he's the second character to get extra dialogue. In this case, he's complaining about the clothes the participants are wearing, which is normal enough. He seems like the designated Killing Game Complainer, a sort of vehicle for the audience to hear about every issue the participants have with the killing game without the filter of wackiness other characters might apply. His choice of words is... probably not important, this is likely just a throwaway line in the middle of the Prologue. However... maybe we should keep in mind the comparison of the participants and livestock when there's a Shepherd around. It's way too early to be throwing around mastermind accusations, but it still sorta calls to Tylwyth's surveillance connections, maybe.
But his intro quote is perhaps even more curious. What does he mean by "even if it has to be a school for whatever reason"? Surely, if they're going to an university, it should look sorta like a school, right?
This line is the reason to doubt the claim we actually are in an university, the one I alluded to before. Even though the setting is called Ultimate University, this line heaviily implies it's not any university these people signed up for. What this line could imply is that the killing game takes place in a game show or some other context of variable presentation, and that the mastermind is actively choosing to make it an university. Could this be like DROS, where there's inspiration taken from the canon dangan killing game(s)? Or is there some other reason the setting is framed like an university? We'll have to wait and see!
There's one last thing I want to talk about here, and that's the situations presented in Haven's and everyone else's announcement pictures, in a more general sense than I have been. Stoves burning, weapons breaking, wires snapping, food rotting, pools getting dirty... the sheer amount of misfortune presented is quite impressive! This seems to further suggest that the killing game "going wrong" is a failure of the mastermind to keep things orderly. Of course, the living situation could be a mess because the people running the game are maliciously sabotaging the cast, but the description makes me think they're simply incompetent.
It's certainly an interesting setup for a killing game, as we're more used to seeing masterminds who have their shit more or less together, with only small bouts of incompetency here and there if any at all. Think Monoquin from DROS, who despite having certain issues that become very apparent by the end, manages to run the killing game pretty smoothly for a solid four chapters or so. Or MonoTV from DRDT, whose incompetence is a running joke, but who still has its serious moments, like the end of the Prologue. Of course, it's impossible for me to know right now just how competent or incompetent the DSR game runners really are, but it's definitely something I'm excited to learn!
Tie
Pronouns: He/him
Background Color: Dark aquamarine
Countdown Image: Handshake
Symbol: Tie
Intro Quote: "I'd be remiss to pass up an opportunity to meet with some of the nation's most prominent up-and-comers."
I'm gonna be real, I hadn't fully processed that the names were likely fake when Tie first came up in the trailer, and needless to say I was a little baffled at his name being literally Tie. At least most of the others sound kinda cool, this one's just silly xD
And Tie himself seems to be a silly person. Pretty animated to be meeting quite a few famous people, Tie appears to be an Ultimate Businessman or something bureaucratic like that, what with his business cards and his... suit and tie, I guess. I don't have much else to say about Wolfgang Akire's long lost cousin, other than I find his sprite where he's pointing at the audience kinda funny. "I want you to give me all your money"-ass sprite lmao.
Starburst
Pronouns: She/her
Background Color: Pink
Countdown Image: People in prayer
Symbol: Clapperboard
Intro Quote: "I'm not sure how much surviving on a desert island or dating someone is a "profession"... but, I guess learning from professional dancers counts."
...Yeah I have no idea what Starburt's countdown image is supposed to be, I'm just kinda doing process of elimination because giving her this one seems a bit more reasonable than giving her either Tie's or Alabaster's, even though I really feel the praying people might be meant for Alabaster lol.
If you thought my brain making weird connections was gonna stop at Byway, well, you were wrong! Starburst's hair and green jacket reminds me of Charlotte from the Silver Eyes FNAF trilogy- she even wears something on her wrist like the mainline version of Charlie! And, well, mainline Charlie is my favorite FNAF character, so I'd say we're off to a good start!
An even better start when you consider how nice and positive Starburst seems to be! I like her vibe, including how she's able to keep a smile even when watching a worm crawl out of an apple in her announcement picture.
As for talent, her symbol certainly implies a connection to audiovisual media, and her intro quote points in the direction of Ultimate Reality Show Contestant and things of that nature. Certainly an interesting talent to have in a fangan that seems to have some game show imagery! I can practically smell the mastermind allegations...
Though, interesting note about her intro quote: she refers to what I've been calling her "talent" as a "profession". It's thus very possible DSR uses different terminology from canon, making the Ultimates' titles professions instead of talents. Not much to say on that front, just an observation.
And with Starburst done, we're done with the Green Mouths! We ask, then, do they fit the "production pipeline" idea I brought up before? Well, maybe! I'd argue the mouth imagery could refer to the marketing side of things, giving the green group the responsibility to "get the word out there," per say. Starburst appears to be a celebrity of some kind, which can draw eyes to a show. Tie can handle business deals and the like, while Alabaster would be in charge of creating things like the logo and promotional artwork. Haven... is the mandatory odd one out, but I guess you could argue keeping the sets presentable is important for a show's image.
Overall... this is a bit better than the "stage-hand" idea, at least. Let's just move on to the Red Hearts, so we can see what they have to offer in this discussion!
Red Hearts Group
Peep
Pronouns: He/him
Background Color: Light orange
Countdown Image: A notebook next to a monitor and keyboard, with a poster (?) in the background
Symbol: Warning sign
Intro Quote: "I-I mean, I really admire everything you have done. You're, like... so talented, and-"
I don't know if I should think of Peep as a silly little guy, or a massive creep. His little smiles and "touching fingers" sprite practically scream "silly little guy", but come on, the guy's symbol is literally a warning sign, that has to be at least a little worrying lmao. His intro quote paints him as someone's fan, and while that could be sincere and innocent admiration, the binoculars trip a couple stalker-y flags. Also, he's called fucking Peep. My guy needs a PR agent, stat.
Ultimately, I can’t really make a call on that until I see him in action, and even then I suspect the question of how innocent his admiration is might end up being a long standing mystery. As in, he’ll appear nice enough in the start, but we’ll always have the lingering threat of his possible stalker-ishness in the back of our minds. Or I’m being paranoid and he really is chill, who knows.
As for who he's talking about in his intro quote, my money's on either Starburst, Hits (only suspected celebrities) or Bind (because of the way he looks at him in the announcement art). Possibly Alabaster, I could see him having a following. We'll have to wait and see to be sure, though!
Then, we have the biggest question in this cast. What in the hell could Peep’s talent possibly be? Probably something to do with his fanatic behavior, so… Ultimate Fanatic? His alert symbol could potentially have something to do with being “alert” of when celebrities do something or another, so maybe his profession is something along the lines of an Ultimate Journalist? Thinking of gossip magazines and the like.
It’s… hard to pin anything down with him lmao. Fanatic and Journalist are my best guesses, send them in, and let’s see how wrong I am when the series starts!
Bind
Pronouns: He/him
Background Color: Red
Countdown Image: Ambulance next to a burning house
Symbol: Plus sign/medical cross
Intro Quote: ”Hey there; I haven’t checked in with you yet. How are you feeling? Have you seen anything strange?”
If anyone’s deserving of being a Red Heart, it seems like Bind might just be the one! His intro quote already has him asking about someone else’s wellbeing, so he’s clearly a caring person. Plus, everything else about him suggests his talent/profession is that of the Ultimate First Responder! I’d say Firefighter since we see him using a hose in both his intro art and announcement monitor, not to mention the burning house in the countdown, but the medical cross that is his symbol and the ambulance in the countdown art makes me want to be a bit more general than that.
“Bind” is an interesting name, too. There’s a good amount of ways to take it. For one, there’s the very literal fact that binding wounds means bandaging them, tying into his assumed medical skills. There’s also the expression of being “in a bind” when you’re in a difficult situation, so as a first responder, Bind can get you out of a bind… I guess. Finally, he might have a role in binding the group together, as his caring attitude should help smooth out conflicts when they arise.
Overall, it seems like Bind will be a pretty positive presence to have in this killing game, so I’m excited to see how it plays out!
Foster
Pronouns: She/her
Background Color: Dark Green
Countdown Image: A panther in the jungle/forest
Symbol: Panther face
Intro Quote: ”Something’s always the matter. And yet, most people don’t seem to care.”
Okay I was worried about Angle bringing a gun but I really hope we’re leaving the panther home at least. There’s no chance in hell the series ends without someone getting mauled otherwise :,)
Panthers aside, Foster seems pretty straightforward. Caring, clearly, but in a bit more demanding of a way than Bind, where she wishes people cared about things as much as she does. If her intro quote didn’t make her caring nature clear enough, we also have her announcement art, where she’s helping Holiday take trash out of the pool. The focus on eliminating contamination makes sense, as her talent appears to have something to do with fostering animals, fittingly enough, so… Ultimate Foster Caregiver? Something like that, at least. Cool talent/profession! Always a good sign when someone loves animals :)
I… don’t have much else to say. Cute kitty :) Please don’t take it into the killing game :)
Holiday
Pronouns: She/her
Background Color: Purple-ish pink
Countdown Image: Plane flying over a forest
Symbol: Plane
Intro Quote: ”I’ve traveled pretty much all over the world. Our planet is a really beautiful place, y’know…?”
Hide the ThornRings, ‘cuz we got a Holiday in the picture! (/ref) This sweet looking lady appears to be an Ultimate Traveler of some sort, what with how much she seems to love exploring the world. I would maybe have given her Pilot if it weren’t for the suitcase in her intro art, but as it stands, Traveler (or adjacent) it is! I don’t really have much else to say yet; she looks nice, I like that she’s helping Foster clean the pool in the announcement image, and I love her positive attitude. It’ll be fun watching her in the game!
With that, we close out the Red Hearts, and… well, the idea of the theming for the groups I mentioned before is kinda falling apart.
See, the Red Hearts all obviously make a lot of sense as… well, hearts. Peep loves celebrities just as much as Holiday loves the world, and obviously hearts are representative of love. Meanwhile, Bind and Foster care for people and animals respectively, and you can easily connect hearts to healing and care.
The issue isn’t with these four being hearts, necessarily, it’s more so that they’re making me lose the thread on the others. Hearts aren’t really connected to TV show production, so you would have to stretch this at least as much as for the “stage-hands” idea. You still have the Purple Eyes as surveillance and Green Mouths as communication if you squint (and sorta do a mental backflip to justify Haven being there), but I have now officially ran out of ways to bullshit a connection between a Detective/Investigator and a Mailperson which also connects with a Fencer, not to mention a Sharpshooter/Weapon Master, so the Yellow Hands are an issue. Still, it’s one I don’t really know how to answer, so I’m gonna leave it like that and just wait to see if the Prologue clears anything up lmao.
And with that, we’ve talked about everything there is to talk about!
… Except for the One Frame, of course.
The Ominous Eighteen Circles of Doom
Hey accirax why are there eighteen circles on my screen? And who the fuck is Sunny???
Indeed, this one frame of the trailer shows us a mysterious seventeenth student hiding somewhere in the school, and a staticky circle which… could mean nothing, or could mean something, who knows.
Starting with Sunny, I'm guessing he's probably this one person in the foreground of the announcement art who is submerged in shadows.
And if I can be bold for a moment, I suspect we’re looking at the mastermind of the killing game. He’s unlikely to just be a regular participant, given he wasn’t introduced in the same way as the others. And in fangans, if you’re not a participant, you’re probably a mastermind.
I could, naturally, be wrong. Especially since the one line we have of Sunny isn’t particularly mastermind-y, and also the guy’s called fucking Sunny. It’s sorta hard to imagine him being evil with a name like that lmao. Not impossible, though, and we need to keep in mind there may be incompetence afoot, so it’s not out of the question that the mastermind might not be immediately threatening.
Speaking of the one line we have of him, “protecting the innocent would never be a mistake”, huh? That's an odd line to come from a guy who is not participating in the same way the others are, especially when coupled with the expressions of concern, distress and/or skepticism the actual participants show. It's near impossible for me to actually guess what's going on in this scene, but let's give it a go.
First, what's the deal with the static circle? Possibly it's the conspicuously missing mascot, censored for spoiler reasons. However, it's strange that the trailer would refuse to show the mascot of all things, so that doesn't feel super likely. I think this game probably doesn't have a mascot in the traditional sense, again because the trailer would probably show it if it existed. So, the circle is probably... just another person? The static makes me think of a corpse, more accurately. Assuming this is the Prologue/chapter 1 (everyone else looks alive enough), we might be in a sort of Eden's Garden situation where there's a mock trial in the Prologue for the cast to learn what the killing game is all about. This could also be the puzzle Keen mentions in her intro quote. Whether this static circle is just a blank mannequin which exists solely for the mock trial, or is a sort of narrative ghost a la Cara Koskinen/Mai Akasaki, I have no clue.
As for what the context of the line is, I assume Sunny is part of the discussion in this mock trial, and his words are related to it. Let's say, for example, that Static Person died defending an innocent; it would make sense to say "protecting the innocent would never be a mistake" in relation to that. It's only one option of many, I obviously can't say anything 100%. Why the apparent mastermind is saying something so out of line with mastermind behaviour... I have no clue.
I could see other options, though. Maybe Sunny is part of the organization team, but he's not actually evil. He thought they were doing an innocent reality TV show, and got backstabbed by Static Person, who is the one actually doing the masterminding. In that case, Static could be talking through speakers, thus not being physically present in the room, explaining why the hell they're covered in static. Sunny is asked how he feels about his choice to go against the actual mastermind, and cue the line.
...Too crazy? Well, I hope the ridiculous shot in the dark I just took illustrates that there are probably infinite ways to reach a scene like this, so speculating on it is kinda silly right now. Thus, I'll leave it here, and wait for clarification in the trial!
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And with that, I've covered everything I wanted to cover about the Pre-Prologue content! I hope it was entertaining enough! I'm very excited about Disasterronpa, as you can probably tell, and I look forward to following along with it.
By the way, I'll probably do the thing I did with the last chapters of DROS for my First Impressions posts, where I drop everything about a chapter in one post (and God save the Tumblr limits lmao). I will still leave comments in the YT videos with my main takeaways of each episode, so there's a way to tell how far along I am, and also for algorithm purposes lol. So... look forward to that, I guess!
Speaking of looking forward, I'll cap this off by saying what I'm most looking forward to. The new format is fun, especially with how much wonderful art we've already gotten thanks to it; the mystery of Sunny and Static intrigues me, and I have a lot of questions about the setting and the groups; I really wanna see what Riposte's inner monologues look like (assuming he's prone to them like Ellis was), and just seeing venus play in general will be interesting, not to mention accirax writing more than one character. As for said characters, I'm excited to meet Riposte (protag privilege), Byway, Tylwyth, Angle, and Alabaster the most, but all of them look super awesome!
That's all from me for now! See ya'!
