i’m half-tempted to write an essay about danganronpa and its obsessive dedication to squandering the unbelivable potential it has as a story and murder mystery puzzle and put it in the collection of short stories and essays I’m workign on
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next update probably tomorrow cuz i was really busy today and am totally exhausted
and also im not doing the arts in the order im posting them so some of the later ones might be done faster
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Student Spotlight #4
Tsutomu Narinaga, Ultimate Painter
“I don’t want to talk to you now. I need at least eight hours at my easel every day.”
“A part of me wants to protect everyone. However… some of you make that very exaspariting. You aren’t entitled to my protection, especially not if you make jokes about homicide again. They’re not funny.”
A prodigy landscape artist who rose out of obscurity recently from the countryside, and rightfully so. His landscapes are hailed to evocatively capture the magic of the open air, no matter where it is. He is hailed as an eccentric genius, though equally complained about his abrasiveness in work. Based on the way he talks about his experiences curtly in the few interviews the media has managed to pry out of him, it’s been suspected that he has an eidetic memory. Nobody knows for sure, though.
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成永勉
*whistles*
I don’t know how realistic these names are, or even what the nationality of these names are supposed to be anymore, but that’s one impressive name. Both surname and given name.
Aside from this story being a death game, I know nothing about how it will unfold. However, I can only hope that he will heed the meaning of his name. Even if he is not likeable by the general public, as long as his character does not falter, he will be one of my favorite characters of this story.
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Man… I have a feeling he won’t be the protagonist of this story. Based on guts alone, I feel like the odds of him dying because of his personality is around 60%, whereas the odds of him becoming a killer (“in self-defense”) is around 40%. I do not like these odds…
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Student Spotlight #5
Nagi Ichiyanagi, Ultimate Assassin
“It’s everyone’s favorite little weasel, Yanagi! Ultimate Assassin gracing the stage, at your service~★”
“I didn’t ask you, bitch! I wonder why the academy scouted you, weren’t they worried you’d choke on your spit and die before coming? You’re so stupid, murdering you wouldn’t even be fun!”
A member of an indie pop idol group, she doesn’t seem especially notable or worthy of admission to the academy, especially since she’s not even her group’s lead. For that reason, I am assuming her talent is rather… unscrupulous in nature. The relative sparsity of governmental involving her makes it plausible that those papers and certificates were all forged. Regardless of the academy’s mystifying rationale for issuing awards for… more criminal talents, I intend to keep an eye on her.
If her identity is forged, I approve of her choice of name.
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y’know for someone whose identity as an assassin presumably isn’t public she does seem willing to tell it to people unprompted
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Blue-pink-white color scheme.
Hmmmm…
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ive solved it! she’s a greninja 
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or a sylveon!
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incredible
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thanks bestie
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oooughhh color pallete
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Oh [REDACTED_PROFANITY]. It’s an unreliable narrator –or rather, an unreliable synopsis. I doubted it before in Chen’s spotlight, but now I have to acknowledge the presence of a Scout.
With this knowledge, all cards are now off the table, because the only information that appears to be trustworthy are the quotes –which are easier to fake than the synopses!
Now I have to do everything from the top again!
- Tenshou Seiji. I see “angel” → She can (easily) be evil.
- Hoshinomiya Kaguya. Mastermind recipe à la Enoshima Junko.
[REDACTED_PROFANITY], my guts say it can’t be her, because (1) this background would’ve been too fitting of an evil character for it to be the case and (2) her quotes gives her the appearance of a lonely kid who wishes to reach the same stage as someone she holds in high regard, but (-1) because of the unreliable narrator and (-2) the fact that she is an actress, (0) everything goes out the window! She could genuinely be a mastermind like Enoshima Junko, because in DR the same expectation was subverted; Nobody expected “the seemingly dumb gyaru / fashionista” to be the mastermind, yet that was the over-the-top complicated truth! - Shinonome Chen. Narrator is shading her → She is good.
- Narinaga Tsutomu. Narrator failed to get details of his background → He is good.
Now. What the heck am I dealing with? Assassin. First thought: Inverted Harukawa Maki. Maki was introduced as SHSL Caretaker, when that was not her true talent. I feel like the same logic could -or rather, has to- apply here. (In fact, it would be weirder if it wasn’t.)
Information is an essential yet fickle thing. All warfare is based on deception. Ichiyanagi Nagi obviously gains a lot of attention, but what is her motive? My first thought was that this is a cover up because she is a bodyguard. I saw “idol” → my first thought was “I have seen this before”; it was in Hoshinomiya Kaguya’s synopsis. Maybe she is her bodyguard. She has the same gender and same background as Kaguya, so it wouldn’t be too difficult for Nagi to be around her.
She could also be an attention [REDACTED_PROFANITY] hacker, but as much as I underestimate the power of the academy, I don’t dare to think they are incompetent enough to not notice if a student were to enter their grounds illegally.
Based on Nagi’s second quote and other known characters so far, she will undoubtedly be incompatible with Narinaga Tsutomu. There most likely won’t be a case where the two hate each other enough to the point of murder, but betrayal would most likely happen if they were given the chance to do so.
What does Nagi have on her body? A dress that could cover weapons. A camera that could capture information of a scene of a certain time. High heels that could hide a small tool.
The first two makes sense if she were to be combat- and information-gathering-oriented. However, the last one… It’s not impossible, but the general image really doesn’t seem fitting. Though I suppose it would make a great cover to make everyone else think she is less of a threat.
…oh, there’s also a scroll that she is using as a hairpin. It’s funny. It reminds me of a ninja’s scroll, but I suppose it could be a weapon in disguise.
一柳菜葱
One willow and “a type of water hyacinth”.
…I am finding nothing useful other than the fact that the third kanji could be replaced by water. I don’t think her (fake?) name matters that much to me. At worst it’s some inside reference that I don’t know about.
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I feel like this should be 天照光一, which -now that I see it- is funny. “Heaven illuminating light.”
Never mind. She is most likely an only child.
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Student Spotlight #6
Ranmaru Mitsukai, Ultimate Classicist
“The story of Galanthis is very interesting, actually. As opposed to other tales of classical punishment due to hubris or things typically labeled as morally evil behaviour, Galanthis was punished by Hera for simply lending aid to Alcmene, someone who is herself portrayed as not at fault. It… oh, you… just wanted to show me that cat, right? …Sorry for making things awkward.”
“You… want to talk to me, Ms. Hagekawa…? I’m sorry, I… You should spend time talking with the people who are actually talented.”
The child of the aristocratic, continental Mitsukai family, Ranmaru has grown to become a reclusive individual. Unlike many historians, their career is that of a political advisor—since proving their worth unofficially for their family members, they’ve been hired by some prominent city-level politicians as an aide for decision making. They’ve been avoiding public appearances for the past year or so, so everything strikingly new about their appearance in these academy scouting records is of immense interest to me.
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Rambling nonsense
Greek mythology. Shy. Mildly afraid of awkwardness. Getting lost into their own world. Inferiority complex. (Reminds me of fricking Komaeda Nagito…) Could possibly have disassociative identity disorder. [REDACTED]. Advisor. Political advisor. Why classicist? What is classicist? No matter; non-combatant. [Disagree. Appearance. Seals.] Fashion? Ritual? Wound? Concealment. (No interest. Start kanji analysis.)
水海鸞丸
Water, sea, [mythical bird], round.
…the more I delve into reading these names, the less I feel like this is modern Japanese. Like, if I had to guess, then I would say this is located near a Chinese embassy in Japan. Either that, or we’re dealing with Ancient Japan, when they were more active in loaning Chinese characters –because who the heck would give their child the kanji of a mythical bird instead of something like orchid (蘭)!?
Haa… I dunno. There was a city named Mizukaido that is pronounced as Mitsukaidou-shi (before it merged into Jousou-shi in 2006), but… just like how 今 (ima; now) and 日 (hi; day) form 今日 (kyou; today), I don’t know whether the first two kanji will also form the same pronounciation as the full thing.
Also, I noticed while messing around with google translate how みつかい was being translated as “founder”, and when I directly googled it, it gave me a link to the wikipedia of christian angels (御使い).
Speaking of wikipedia, according to it the sighting of luan (鸞) is a symbol of peace, and the mythical bird itself is often mistaken as phoenix or roc. Also, [REDACTED].
Yeah, uh… I am not feeling much from this character. Like, I like their trait of getting lost into their own world, and I like their design, but that’s about it.
The inferiority complex gives me Nagito PTSD (despite me never having played DR2), and their forte appears to be politics, which is a subject I heavily avoid.
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Student Spotlight #7
Misaki Amaishi, Ultimate Dollmaker
“I’m called a dollmaker, but I mostly make plushies. What are my goals…? I’ve been wanting to find a poster to put on my walls, now that I’m out of my house. Right now, they’re empty.”
“I need to become someone who can save people. Until then, I can’t stop working.”
Known for his high quality designer plushies, he works frequently on both his own projects and commissioned projects to sell. He can emulate a large range of styles, from realistic to stylised to fantastical, and people who have tons of money are eager to throw it at him. As one of the less famous Ultimates, not much is known about him—through his continued enrollment in school and the amount of time he must be dedicating to his work, he likely doesn’t have much free time to be documented.
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Rambling nonsense
Dollmaker. *sees a plushie that’s similar to snowe’s current profile picture* *laughs*[REDACTED]. Dreamcatcher. Purple thread. Similar to that of Mitsukai Ranmaru. Except not red, but purple instead. Pretty. Purple coat reminds me of Momota Kaito from DRV3.
天石魅咲
I am proud of being able to understand the first two kanji. Thank lord my efforts of learning Japanese were not in vain. (But also: I still hate it. Genuinely, (this) part of me still wonders why I even bother learning it at such a slow pace.)
TIL 天石 is a legitimate family name, and is pronounced as Amaishi. (I knew it could be pronounced that way, but it could’ve also been Tenseki. TMYK…)
Huh… Curious. Not only does the third kanji replace “beauty” with “bewitching”, it also has the kanji of “demon” in it. (Which, I ironically talked about approximately a month ago.) “Surely this isn’t some foreshadowing to some incoming disaster.”
Not sure what he meant by the second quote. Saving lives by making dolls… I guess with emotional support? Other than this, there really isn’t much to say about him. He just sounds like any normal person who happens to get mentioned by whichever scout is giving “us” these reports.
Speaking of which, who are “we” anyway? Or rather, who were these “spotlights” meant for? I doubt it’s the academy themselves, since the scout spoke to the reader as “someone who doesn’t belong to the academy” in Ichiyanagi Nagi’s synopsis. So… is the scout an amnesiac, or a spy to some evil mastermind?
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We currently have 7/15 spotlights, and with each new spotlight I am getting more and more confident about this guess.
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