#dr2.5

In the game, at one point Hajime asked Nagito what’d happen if he never had his Ultimate Luck, and Nagito responds with how he’d probably be living “a boring, peaceful life, with no hope and no despair”. The wording of this caught my eye, especially since he used the word “peaceful”. To me, it’s almost like he yearns for a peaceful life like that, especially since he thinks of his luck talent as worthless, not to mention all the trauma caused by his luck. Taking this into account, it makes sense as to why the OVA was the way it was.

Also in the OVA, his bad luck brings others good luck. I find this shows a fascinating combination of his outward desire to be a “stepping stone for hope”, and a deeper desire for those close to him to have good luck, seeing as how usually, his bad luck brings misfortune to everyone close to him (i.e. his parents).

These are some of my thoughts, but am I getting an accurate reading on this? Anything I got wrong? I figured I’d ask the resident Nagito expert!

First of all, thank you, you flatter me haha! Secondly, I’d say that’s the basic gist of it! On a subconscious level Komaeda despises talent. the Ova specifically gets this point across very clearly by stating it not once, not twice, but three times.

The way you express your thoughts about his words when he talks about his life without his ultimate luck reminds me of a lyric in Zansakura -zanka- to be honest.

It’s not the exact same, but the way it reminds me of it is that it seems like both here and there he is shown to be expressing yearning for an ordinary, or more so peaceful, life.

The Ova is the most straightforward statement we get about his feelings towards talent, more so than any other appearance of his. Komaeda has basically tricked himself into devotion to talent because it helps with him with his coping mechanism that has become obsessive, unhealthy, and absolute to him. Well, falling for hope’s peak propaganda that talent is hope obviously adds to it too. But to put it simply Komaeda doesn’t actually like talent, however he’s tricked himself into thinking he does because of his coping mechanism with hope, and how it helps him have something to cling to so he can justify his misery in his head. Komaeda never has truly admired talent. Komaeda is a person who craves stability, who needed a reason to live. His black and white views with talent, and by extension hope, provide a coping mechanism to give him a sense of purpose, a sense of stability, and a sense that his suffering isn’t all meaningless. His admiration for talent is a lie he’s created for himself that ties into his coping mechanism. He has lied and tricked himself into his devotion for talent because it’s the only way he could find to keep himself Alive. But in the lowest stratum he’s safe, in this reality he doesn’t have to lie to himself. That’s the reason we get the most blunt expressions of distaste for talent from him only in the Ova, he’s not lying to himself in the Ova.

I think the way Hope is shown with how he barely even knew of it as a concept in the Ova is pretty interesting alongside this. On one hand, Hope is technically another lie he tells himself, another part of the obsessive coping mechanism, but on the other hand the concept of Hope in their world is actually a quite complex force of good. Hope in their world when separated from talent, so basically removing Hope’s Peak’s propaganda, can combat despair, lead to happiness, and lead to stability. these are all things that Komaeda values! I think the reason Hope is represented this way in the Ova is because it’s trying to express that while he does feed himself lies and false Hope as part of his coping mechanism he knows that believing in true hope in their world is still worth it. So you could say that, the entire reason he has warped his beliefs and formed this coping mechanism at all is because of that yearning. His yearning for a peaceful boring life, a life filled with stability and happiness.

When it comes to luck I had honestly never thought of the stepping stone sentiment before, I think it’s an interesting interpretation to it. But yes, basically the luck cycle being swapped is to symbolize that he wishes those around him could have his good luck while he thinks doesn’t deserve the good luck as much. I also find it interesting that even there where he’s he still has his luck cycle, I think this signifies that his luck cycle is such an engraved fundamental part of him that he cannot imagine a reality without it.

The simplification of all of my rambling, and more so interpretation of everything discussed here is this:

Komaeda accepts that Hope = Talent but he despises talent. Komaeda has lied and tricked himself into devotion to talent due to his coping mechanism that has formed from his tragic life. His coping mechanism is made up of black and white views that help him have a sense of purpose, sense of stability, and a sense that his suffering isn’t all meaningless. He feeds himself false hope as a part of the coping mechanism that is filled with black and white views, however Hope is a real thing in their world so he knows subconsciously that true Hope is worth believing in. Komaeda subconsciously yearns for an ordinary life filled with stability and happiness. In the Ova his luck cycle is reversed which represents a desire for good luck for others. I believe it also represents how he thinks he does not deserve his good luck and would much rather give it to everyone else, especially since his luck usually ends up in everyone he loves dying. His luck being so prominent in the lowest stratum, where he is in a world where he is safe, goes to show that his luck is such a fundamental part of him that he cannot fathom a reality without it.

hi nagito oomf lol There's a lot with Nagito I could talk about. I think he's a great villain/antagonist in Danganronpa 2 and Ultra Despair Girls and I think he's great In Danganronpa 3 and 2.5 as well. Honestly I don't think he has a single bad appearance in the series.

It's difficult to pinpoint a single thing about him, but in my opinion he's the best antagonist and one of the best characters period in the series.

🏝️ 《 PREORDERS ARE OPEN! 》 🏝️

『 It's all coming together! 』

✧ The Future is Ours: A KomaHina/KamuKoma fanzine, featuring 48 contributors in illustration, merch, and fic, has LAUNCHED! ✧

✧《 OPEN APRIL 28 - JUNE 25 》 ✧ SHOP - kmhnzine.bigcartel.com

✧ Bundle information can be found here! ✧

✧《 CREDITS 》 ✧ animation & video editing - @komqtose (twitter)

✧ graphics - @shojostyle + @meshimeow (twitter)