#thoughtpost

1. the Intro Scene

we get two "versions" of the intro scene where kaede first finds herself in the academy and meets shuichi. one at the very beginning where they're "normal" students:

and one not long afterward where they're "Ultimate" students:

one very noticeable thing about both of these versions is that other than the updated outfits, they play out nearly identically. in fact, throughout the entire scene where kaede meets shuichi and right up until just before the monokubs first appear, much of the dialogue, descriptive text, and voice clips for both of them are exactly the same. almost to the letter.

even the things that aren’t exactly the same are still very, very similar.

(this one also strongly supports that the students’ names are their real ones and not false ones fabricated for the killing game despite tsumugi’s suggestion to the contrary)

things only begin to truly deviate when kaede "remembers" a piano melody she thinks will help shuichi calm down. but even then, her attitude and her way of speaking are still very much the same as before. in fact, it was so eerily similar that when I first saw them, going into the game totally blind, it made me extremely suspicious that some kind of trickery/manipulation was up regarding everyone’s “talent”.

2. The "Meeting Everyone" Scene

this is the only scene in the entire game where we ever get a chance to look at the "real" (with heavy quotation marks) characters before their memories are altered, and everything happens so quickly that most of them aren't given any real focus. most of the spotlight in this scene goes to kaede, shuichi, and the monokubs. the rest of the students either don't speak at all or speak so little and so sporadically that we can't get any real grasp on what kind of people they actually are.

except for miu.

3. Just Miu.

it seriously deserves its own bulletpoint because one single line is all it takes to see that normal schoolgirl miu

is not the Least Bit Different from legendary inventor miu.

4. the audition videos, and the ambiguous nature of Danganronpa itself in-universe

tsumugi presents these audition videos to make the remaining students believe that their current feelings, personalities, and entire sense of “self” are all a lie.

but I think there are two important things to consider with these auditions...

numero uno: the fact that they are just that, auditions.

all of the characters wanted to be part of Danganronpa, so they came before the judges and put on a performance for them.

when people audition for things, they exaggerate the truth, play themselves up, even tell outright lies if they think it will get them accepted. the same way you would lie or tell half-truths on a resume or in a job interview to get a good job.

numero dos: the emphasis on the fictional nature of Danganronpa.

the Danganronpas of the past were implied to be fictional, so the applicants to this “ultimate real fiction” may well have believed that this would be the same. Fiction. an Act. a Mock-up, if you will. in other words, it’s possible that the people auditioning did not believe they or anyone else would be in danger of actually dying.

this puts many of the “depraved” things they said in their audition videos in an entirely different light, doesn’t it?

and finally...

5. some particular lines from Tsumugi

in chapter 6 tsumugi (as chiaki) says these lines to you that I feel are important:

this may seem like another form of cruel deceit at first, but if you take some time to think about these lines.

if these were the talents assigned to everyone, and if these were the talents that best “suited” them... then isn’t it reasonable to believe that their “normal” selves were the same, or at least similar to, their “exaggerated” Ultimate selves?

this is further driven home by one particular line from kaede, as far back as the prologue:

it’s such a brief, easily forgettable line, but at the same time it feels so important.

the “real” kaede may not have been the Ultimate Pianist, but who is to say she wasn’t still passionate about the piano?

and it’s the same for the other “Ultimate” students. they may not have truly been the “Ultimate” at their talent, but who is to say that they weren’t still devoted to that talent? that they weren’t still Passionate about it? and that it wasn’t still Important to their overall identity?

...

and that concludes my analysis.