Why Danganronpa Another Episode Is So Polarizing 

Danganronpa has a way of investing you in their characters and then making you absolutely infuriated at how they're written later

I’ve gotta say, if it weren’t for that egregious mini game, UDG would’ve ALMOST had a very tasteful and accurate depiction of a child r*** victim. Breaking down from a trigger word, the line about being abandoned, even her hyper-sexual demeanor (while I understand why it turned off a lot of people) is common in children who’ve been sexually abused on a regular basis as they’re attempting to normalize their experiences and lack the mental and social maturity to know that it’s inappropriate. Even her perspective on “adorable” girls needing to “know their place” could be Kotoko just mimicking her mother’s messed up beliefs, another common behavior of children that age as their parents are the main adults they have to model. If ONLY they hadn’t made that scene into a disgusting mini game that practically undid that depiction.

One fun fact about the English dub for this I think is worth noting is that the shirokuma/kurokuma/Junko VA similarity is preserved in a way only possible in the English version as in English Junko has 2 VAs that split up her personalities, Amanda Miller and Erin Fitzgerald. And in this game Shirokuma is played by Amanda MIller and Kurokuma is played by Erin Fitzgerald thus making them completely different but also both still Junko which I found very interesting.

Seeing how good junko is at manipulating people in this game makes it more grating how they just used mind control as her means of causing despair instead of the genius mastermind we used to think she was. Everybody at the time when the anime came was so looking forward to how masterful her manipulation was just to be greeted with the minimum effort.

I’d like to point out a detail I really liked. In chapter 3 (I think), Haiji tells Komaru and Toko an Aesop’s Fable about a war between birds and beasts and a bat that played both sides. But because he couldn’t get too close to either, in the end when there was peace, the bat ended up alone. That was foreshadowing chapter 5 when we learn that Towa Group played the sides of both hope and despair. But in the end, Haiji ended up with nothing, just like the bat.

2:11:24 Following up where you left off, regarding Monaca’s speech about pitying “weak”/disabled children, I’m someone who has Crohn’s Disease. It’s not the most traditional condition that one thinks of when you hear the term disability like in the cases of those with prosthetics or neurological disorders, but it falls under the same umbrella term. It’s made for just as many trips to the hospital over my lifetime, and I was diagnosed with it at the age of 2, now 21. It’s been as much part of me as my complexion or eye color, but then again is just as susceptible to if not discrimination, badmouthing due to instances like what Monaca portrays. All it ever takes to set back any minority group, is one louder voice that does something abhorrent. A person that either does have, or claims to have, a different sexual orientation or gender identity that hurts someone, opens the door for grifters to say the lgbt+ community as a whole is predatory. One person of color who gets involved in a petty crime, opens the floodgates for racially driven riots, etc. In my personal experience, I’ve never had someone say I was faking my circumstances for attention. The biggest issue I’ve had in recent memory with my experience as someone with a disability being challenged, was by a professor in my current junior year of university. I’m a music major, and I had a major surgical procedure done last July, and I’m still in recovery and need to be near the bathroom a lot. I’m using the bathroom 10+ times everyday right now, and several instances that interrupt my sleep, leading to sleep deprivation. It hasn’t been fun. So, as a music major, I need to take part in at least 2 ensembles before I hope to graduate next spring, and I thought this wasn’t a good time since I don’t want to be a liability due to my health (not being available for practices, stuff like that.) My professor kept insisting that I join an ensemble this semester, but I told him now was a good time due to my health, and he wouldn’t accept the answer I gave him initially, and even added me to a group chat for one against my own wishes. He thought it was a matter of me not having confidence in my ability, and while it is part of his job as a professor in that department to get students to join ensembles, I had a good reason for NOT taking part in one, which he ignored several times, until I emailed him with my school’s Office of Disabilities cc’d on the message, in which I apprised him of my entire medical history in the last year and why I couldn’t take part this semester. He accepted the answer only then, and still made it a point to reply saying I shared more information than I needed to, which is a complete lie, given that he wouldn’t accept any answer I gave prior to that. The whole exchange was handled really unprofessionally, and at best I think he was intentionally misconstruing what I was saying to get me to join an ensemble, and by extension disregarding the concerns I had for my own health. He hasn’t really believed in many health precautions the university set in place during the pandemic or vaccines as a whole though, so I think part of his perspective comes from someone who just doesn’t believe in most medicine, and who has never been as sickly by comparison. That’s my two cents though.

One of the most major things I have learned about Danganronpa during this retrospective series is that Danganronpa REALLY loves reverse typecasting celebrity voice actors

Following on from what you said about Monoca pretending to be disabled, I'm an ambulatory wheelchair user - most days I'll use a walking stick, some days crutches and other days my wheelchair. I can walk but it's often shaky and with poor co ordination. I get accused of faking it every so often because people see a wheelchair user's legs move and think that they've found one of the illusive fakers. If I stand up in tescos half the people think it's the second coming of Christ and the other half are on the phone to get my benefits taken away. It's tiring and frustrating and I'm so fed up of it being used as a trope. But in this case, I agree that it was maybe the only way for Monoca to survive in that house and the fact that no one questioned it shows that it wasn't outside the realm of possibility with what was being done to her. For a child to have the idea of faking a disability to stop being abused is horrific and shows that everything she went through was so much worse. So yeah, could I have done without one of the only disabled characters in this series actually just faking it? Yes. But does it make sense for this character? Also yes.

Personally, I think Kotoko’s scenes and descriptive backstory (should have been?) put there for child abuse awareness. These things really happen in real life, and many cases go unreported and/or unresolved (my mother has worked at a child abuse advocacy nonprofit her whole life, and I have first hand experience from way too many of my peers, so I very much know that it does happen irl). The humor about it is the unforgivable part, really. Kotoko’s “then why didn’t anyone help me” line is a phrase that comes up a lot in trainings and books I’ve read about this topic (and personally made me break down in tears when I was playing this lol). If the jokes about this abuse were gone, this would be a very impactful thing to put in the game, in my opinion. This whole game’s villainous theme is child abuse, and using a theme like that really gets the player thinking about a lot of important things, and, again if this was taken seriously in the game, would seal my admiration for the game.

I played the dub of this game, and fun fact Haiji Towa's VA is Matthew Mercer. Another Fun Fact: You can audibly hear Mercer's discomfort when delivering "that" line.

1:48:27 about that weird line Komaru says, in the original Japanese she says something different. She says “*Up until now*, he *seemed* so cool.” Like the entire line is completely different, she's saying that she thought he looked cool UNTIL he admitted to being a freak, not that he became more attractive after admitting it. I don't know why they fumbled the line so hard unless if they really wanted to make Komaru look worse.

Kodaka *after playing through the final build for the first time*: I may have gone too far in a few places.

Makoto: *installs Nord VPN into the Neo World Program* AE Junko: You weren't supposed to do that...

You: Look, I know you probably hate Monaka. Me, who loves Monaka and has blatant sympathy for her, despite her awful actions: Uh... No, I'm with you. I honestly, totally, completely believe that Monaka lied about that suicide attempt being a prank. I think she was genuinely trying to die, and just didn't want to admit that. She shows blatant suicidal thoughts in her diary and notes, I just can't believe that it wasn't genuine. I understand why people don't like her, but personally, I feel really bad for her. I think if there was one genuinely kind person in her life, things might have turned out better. If she met Makoto instead of Junko, for example. Or... really most of any of the other DR characters instead of Junko, who's kindness was only there to use her. Maybe I'm too soft, and if this was something that happened in real life, maybe I wouldn't be as forgiving, but despite Monaka being undeniably abusive, it's also clear that that behavior comes from Junko and all the other shitty people in her life. I may never fully forgive her for her treatment of Kotoko and Nagisa, but I genuinely feel bad for her. She's one of my favorites; she's undeniably fucked up, but I can't help to wonder how much being that way is truly her fault? (I mean, I think if any if us had Haiji as a brother, we'd be pretty fucked up.) Monaka is a product of abuse, and she isn't a pretty product. I get that no one wants to buy her because of that. But I still truly feel bad for her. I'm honestly really relieved that you aren't on the "uncritically hate Monaka" bandwagon. She's a child. She's an abused child who was manipulated by every single adult in her life, including Junko. What she's done is awful, perhaps not truly forgivable, but I don't think this was inevitable. I don't think Monaka was a inherently awful person before what happened to her happened. I don't think she was born as a bad kid. I don't think any kid is born as a bad kid. So, as someone who loves Monaka, thanks for your defense of her. I understand why people hate her, but I think you can hate her for her murder and treatment of the WOH, while still acknowledging her trauma and why she's like this.

WHY CAN'T DR HAVE A SINGLE GOOD CHAPTER 3!?

Sometimes I want to take this game from Kodaka and rewrite it because there's so much good stuff here that's marred by DR's strangely consistent botching of SA in particular. I can't be the only one who's noticed that, right? Of all the topics DR tries to cover, anytime there's a victim of SA (Kotoko, Mikan) they become a gag, often involving them put in a sexual position. With Mikan it was those incredibly annoying tripping scenes and with Kotoko it was showing her underwear and making the dumbass mini game. And with characters like TeruTeru, while admittedly a specific kind of gag character that's been normalized (for some reason), it similarly shows a lack of tact. Literally none of the sexual jokes made in these games are clever or funny at all. Sexual = Funny is such a juvenile way of looking at humor. The scene with Touko trying her damndest to be able to accept Komaru calling her Touko-chan was funny and lifted my spirits! And that was done without any weird incest or sexual jokes. Like that actually made me smile!! I don't get why they insist on dumping in badly thought out jokes when anything else could add some levity more efficiently. 😔

I've always considered Jataro to be my absolute favourite character of all time out of any DR game or any piece of media for that matter. He's so incredibly endearing as a character as well as his design. He's not discussed often and rarely even makes an appearance in UDG but when he does he's just so endearing and wonderful to listen to which credit is owed to both the original and eng VA's (the English va's work for Jataro is severely underrated she really turned it out tbh). There's really no other way for me to describe him other than purely endearing, for example he carries around an oxygen tank for no apparent reason, his character animations show him rocking back and forth slightly, his room smells like paint thinner (relatable) and he doesn't want to hurt the ice cream store I think it's an actual crime that no one acknowledges how genuinely adorable he is. Anyway I like Jataro Kemuri a lot!

Im not sure if Im the only one but I actually like the sarcastic additions of Komaru's voicelines in the English localization. It adds a lot of flavor to her persona and is hoenstly a pretty realistic way to talk to someone as weird and unhinged as Fukawa. Also her brother had flavors of sarcasm as well, so it makes sense for it to be a shared thing between them.

I just barely finished the game in time for this video! So before it’s posted, gonna put my thoughts really quick on the game! (I say really quick, but it’s a bit of an essay, readers beware!) Komaru and Toko are, unsurprisingly, the best part of the game. I love them as a dynamic, and seeing Toko try so hard near the end made my heart melt every time! The Warriors of Hope are also a big favorite of mine, they’re largely written *super* well as realistic kids with problems, and I appreciate that! (I work as a mentor for kids in rough situations at home/school, so I’ve come across kids who act like they do, to a lesser scale of course). I enjoyed the story and the moral, and came away understanding why people were a bit let down by certain aspects of DR3 anime, haha. But… I mean, there’s a reason the game took me like 10x as long to beat from any other DR game. I think *because* the kids are written so close to how I’ve met real kids, some of the portrayal… leaves much to be desired. I appreciate approaching difficult topics, but portraying things for laughs that should *not* was a common problem. I loved Kotoko, for example, but hated that EVERY scene with the MCs had to include a panty shot. And then there’s Haiji. The worst thing about him, in my opinion, is that the awful stuff just… doesn’t need to be there??? It’s literally mentioned like 3 times, always for laughs, and never impacts his character or his story. Just cut it, and he would have been a much more enjoyable character. Overall I really liked the game! But those scenes… they left me legitimately cringing away from the screen, or skipping dialogue just to get past it. I would love to play a sequel if it was handled a bit better, but I’m not sure I’ll replay the game any time soon. Maybe rewatch some scenes, but that’s probably it. And it’s such a shame! I love characters like Nagisa, Kotoko, Komaru, even Monaca! I’ve always been a Nagito fan, so seeing him and trying to piece together his plan was fun! And the moral ambiguity of the end conflict was really well done! But… I’d never be able to play again without just dreading when another problematic scene would crop up again…

She’s attacking the charging stun gun, overloading it

Speaking as someone with a disability (full disclosure, my disability is damage to the left arm, so not the paralysis Monaca claims), I can't say that Monaca's entire character sits very well with me, not just the fact that they're faking their disability. There's unfortunately a stereotype of the 'manipulative disabled person' in a lot of media, and 'faking their disability' is quite often a factor in that. It's not hard to see how it happens. Heroes tend to be physical, so to contrast that, the villain is often shown as intelligent and shrewd. How do you show they're not necessarily on the heroes physical level? Well, give them something "wrong" with them. At the end, when the hero is confronting the villain, how do you make the bad guy a threat? Surprise, they were faking the whole time! Unfortunately that tends to lead to the message that...well, disabled people are untrustworthy. Leeches upon society who manipulate people. Maybe they're even lying about their disability! This can be particularly troublesome for people with invisible illnesses like chronic pain, where what's wrong with them isn't inherently obvious. This sort of attitude is already prevalent in society (thanks capitalism) and leads to funding for services that are meant to aid them in..uh...living...gets underfunded and more and more hurdles are put into place for people seeking those services. To, again, live. Obviously I can only speak for myself, everyone has their own thoughts, and I don't think it's as bad as...whatever...is happening in Chapter 3. But it's a tired old stereotype that is reinforcing some harmful views of people with disabilities, and disappointing to see.

i never liked that the rubble falling on monaca seemed to imply that her legs were injured in the same way she was pretending, as if it was some kind of "karma" to become disabled. i think this is walked back (?) in d3, like. most things are, but i always felt icky about that. i agree with a lot of your thought on the game, and as someone who has had to defend children in other media for clearly being products of their environment, i appreciated how you talked about monaca!

If I were the writer I would have had Komaru go back to the resistance base alone but Kotoko shows up with the rest of the Monokumas to level the resistance's base. Komaru realizing she played directly into the attackers' hands tries to stop the monokumas from killing as many people as she can but the battle ends up opening a sink hole in the crumbling building that Komaru narrowly avoids falling through by hanging onto bent support beams on the edge. Her grip slowly slipping as she desperately tries to pull herself up. That's when Syo "shows" up. Right when Komaru loses her grip Syo grabs her hand and pulls her to safety. Kotoko taunts the duo to face her in her own coliseum before leading to a fight with Kotoko. It wouldn't change the trajectory of the plot at all and on top of cutting out a disgusting and unnecessary sequence of events it would make the resistance becoming more violent more impactful since they lost a huge asset that protected them for so long and have become more desperate in wake of it's loss. It could also provide an avenue to show that Syo is starting to care for Komaru too. Perhaps when Syo first arrives she starts plowing through Monokumas and craking jokes in her typical fashion but when Komaru starts to fall she lets out a scream and Syo drops everything to dash to Komaru before it's too late, only narrowly getting a grip on her hand. She remains silent as she pulls her up and the silence is only broken when Komaru hugs her in tears. I dunno, if you guys have anything to add or if you would have done something different let me know in the replies!

I love Monaca so much, she's my 2nd fav Danganronpa character! She's a great villain and her actions are understandable looking at her background. Though I am biased towards loving evil children, my fav slasher is Bloody Birthday after all. She is more complicated than most think, and while she definitely isn't a good person and should take some responsibility for her actions she still deserves sympathy. The thing that really cements my hate for her family is that they didn't even bother taking her to a hospital, too worried about their image and own interests, they just gave her a wheel chair and were less physically abusive to placate her and keep making money off her.

I remember really liking this games story, but I completely forgot about the way the game's tone shifts in regards to Utsugi's trauma. That was a point in the game I remember reacting to with a lot of disgust at the time, so it's surprising that I straight up blocked it out until I saw this video.

After hearing Kotoko’s story, I think they could’ve gotten the same idea across AND given her better motivations by saying she was an emotionally abused and overworked child actress or pageant contestant. Her resentment for being called adorable would have to do with how she was forced to stay cute and presentable almost every waking hour as if that was her only purpose for being, and would be viciously chastised whenever she was not. Her motivations would be the most understandable and altruistic of the warriors, if still messed up, since her goal with the childrens paradise is not only to build a place where children will be safe and can have fun, but also to protect them from being abused, manipulated or taken advantage of like she and the young performers around her were. For her Killing the adults would not be her primary motivation, but from where she’s standing, a necessary step to ensure that theres absolutely no chance of them ever being able to threaten the children again. (EDIT) These motivations would also add a whole new dimension to Kotoko’s character in the story. She would be so focused on the awful stuff done to children by adults that she wouldn’t be able to see how awful kids can be to each other or how Monaca is abusing and manipulating them all, just like the adults she wants to protect everyone from. Little by little she would have her world view challenged until she was finally forced to see that she was wrong and the terrible truth that Monaca and Junko had been using her, the warriors of hope and the monokuma kids all along. Obviously, the story would have to change so that she knew a lot less about exactly what was going on, like many of the monokuma kids being brainwashed and forced to play along or that Monaca planned for them all to die.

So danganropa 3 anime is next? Okay! But I also heard a lot of bad things about it, like how they ruined Mukuro’s character, but I think it’s a good send off to the Main danganropa timeline, especially since a lot of fan favorites survived, I can’t wait for your retrospective on it! And please take of yourself, if you want to take a break it’s okay! You deserve some rest for all the hard work you did!♥️

The sewer bit with Shirokuma seems like it's just the swamp from LOTR. Guiding a definitely not evil character through a gloomy, uninteresting location.

*TW: This comment will have mention of SA and P*dophilia* You talked about this but I think this game embodies the problem Danganronpa as a series has. Which is that the game always feels the need to lighten the mood from the serious topics it discusses and then never fully address it. Kotoko's part in the game and Haiji's line about liking people younger are I think perfect examples of this. The game says that what Kotoko goes through is wrong and also makes it clear Haiji is a terrible person. However, the game makers almost feel like they have to suddenly make a joke so that the player doesn't feel too uncomfortable but it has the exact opposite effect because of how serious these topics are. The Kotoko chapter really suffers becuse I feel the game makers didn't want an entire chapter of heavy hitting SA talk but instead of having lighthearted moments not at all connected to SA they just decided to have "funny" SA talk. The Haiji line I feel like is supposed to be another point that Haiji is terrible and the game makers then decide that "Oh p*dophilia is another serious topic, quick make it a joke to soften the blow." and so it turns the scene from "Wow Haiji is despicable" to "Oh that wacky Haiji." which is disgusting. Another Episode has this to an extreme degree from the main three game entries but I feel they have it too. DR1's chapter 2 has this problem (on three different occasions), DR2 has this problem with some of the characters, DRV3 has this problem on some ocassions, hell ALL the men's fantasy scenes. DR does this where I don't think it is a problem like for example when someone dies and the survivors will have some jokey dialogue as a way to lighten the mood but it won't joke about the character's death but when it does it wrong it does it SO wrong. I feel Danganronpa has a real big problem with turning serious things into a joke until the final chapter. For some reason the final chapter of these games is the only time the series won't make light of the situation. I don't know maybe I'm looking too deeply but Danganronpa has always had me really has me angry with how many jokes it makes on some topics.

Your commentary is so thoughtful and valuable to me in looking back at this franchise. I was one of the people who had a break in faith with the game after the events of chapter 3, but in looking back, I think that caused me to leave some important thematic elements on the floor. I'm so grateful for your efforts in exploring and highlighting those things, while also never shying away from criticism either.

Another annoying part about the "possession" bit is, if you remove that scene and also every mention of it afterwards, then nothing changes. In the scene itself, Fukawa dismisses the incident as a sudden delirious episode. When Haiji appears in the torture room, Komaru forgets to mention what she learned to him in order to confirm it, and Fukawa still dismisses it. When Haiji makes the revelation himself, then the girls have a shushed exchange, out of anyone else's earshot, and it is ultimately dismissed. That whole Ghost, Possession and infodump did absolutely nothing for the plot.

I CAN’T WAIT FOR OT. I USUALLY SEE NOTHING ABOUT THIS PART ON RU-vid

One thing I believe this game excels at is portraying all different kinds of abuse through the warriors of hope, and ultimately how each of their abuse molds their characters. *Masaru Daimon- physical abuse:* Masaru was the best at physical sports and running, and was called lil ultimate P.E. He made himself the hero and self appointed leader, since he like many believes both aren’t afraid of anything. All of this is because his father always beat him. Whenever he showed fear or weakness, whenever he accidentally got police involved when he failed to steal alcohol, or whenever his dad would just be blackout drunk, he would always receive beatings. He wants to present himself as a strong leader, so that not just he, but all the other kids don’t have to experience that kind of fear again. *Jataro Kemuri- emotional abuse:* Jataro was portrayed as not very bright and kind of pathetic, believing he’s hated by everyone, even the kids. All this is because his mother made him believe he was a worthless, pathetic, hideous monster that no one should ever care about. She did this because he was actually born with a beautiful face, one she was jealous of. So on top of everything she made him believe, she also forced him to wear a stuffy mask all the time, since she made believe his face was actually so hideous that anyone who saw it would suffer. All this turned him into a slow learning and self hating boy, who no longer even understands the difference between love and hate. *Kotoko Utsugi- sexual abuse:* Kotoko was a natural born child actor and singer, who in the warriors of hope, always was dramatic and expressed her hatred towards adults, specifically pedos. This is because since she was always very cute, grown men, such as people involved in productions she was in and even her own father, always took advantage of her. But it didn’t stop there. Her mother made her come with her as a pair for… unspeakable things. Everyone also always said they would be gentle with her. Because of this, she now gets triggered by the word “gentle”. It’s become so bad, she’d rather get beaten up or even killed. It’s a very sad tale. *Nagisa Shingetsu- psychological/mental abuse:* Nagisa may have been called lil ultimate social studies, but he excelled in all subjects. He was the most serious of the group, always focused on making the logical decisions and creating their children paradise. But of course, there’s a reason for all this. His parents constantly forced him to spend all his time studying, even injecting drugs into him to keep him awake and vigilant. At school wasn’t easy for him either. His father was a teacher there, and always used him as a subject for psychological tests. To his parents, he was nothing more than a human Guinea pig. He also thought that when he finally killed his parents, he broke free from their hold on him, but he couldn’t have been more wrong. Due to his parents’ pressure, he always was expected to do more and more, have high expectations. Because of this, he feels like he needs everyone to have unreasonably high expectations for him, ultimately creating for himself an awful vicious cycle of pain. *Monaca- child neglect:* Monaca is definitely the least sympathetic of the group, but there is some reason behind her actions. She was constantly ignored by her father, who was the CEO of Towa group, along with the rest of her family and pretty much everyone else. This constant neglect let her crafty and sinister mind take off, making everyone believe she was crippled, making her own robots in secret, learning how to manipulate others to bend to her will, even pulling a prank on the others to kill themselves. Her craziness was truly brought out when she met “big sis Junko”, who gave them all a purpose. And when Junko died, Monaca led the warriors of hope, and we see just how much power she has over them. She takes advantage of their past trauma, by letting Masaru build himself up, making the monokuma kids boo Jataro and cheer for the main characters, using Kotoko’s trigger word to break her down, and twisting Nagisa’s feelings of devotion and self worth. All this because there was no one good to give her attention and love, and because of that, became one of the most terrifying characters in the series. *(okay I may have screwed up her backstory a bit, but I find it very complicated, so don’t @ me)* These are all amazing portrayals of abuse and all make for five amazing and underrated characters. It’s, um, debatable how well they were handled in the future arc of DR3 *(especially Monaca),* but here, they were portrayed as big deals and are the best part of Ultra Despair Girls. Also, these kids need some ice cream *(except Monaca)*

I just want to say that I have watched all your danganronpa retrospective videos this pass two days and I recommended them all to my friend and she watched them too and now we are talking about danganronpa like when were in high school. Thank you so much for the experience, we love you.

So I have adhd. And it effects my life greatly. Back in highschool if I wasn’t on medication I’d be close to failing my closes, when on medication I got nearly all A’s. So while I can’t talk for those with physical disabilities, I understand deeply being accused of faking it. Because I was intelligent and because of the harmful misinformation and stereotypes on adhd, people believed I couldn’t have it because I was smart. Constantly I dealt with “it’s not that hard.” “Use a planner!” “You aren’t trying”. I got detention in middle school for constantly forgetting to bring a planner. The only detention I ever got in my k-12 education. I’ve had teachers lose my assignments and blame it on me, forcing me to dig through the turn in box to find my project and prove I turned it in. My parents are very supportive but do not understand what it means to have adhd. While they do vouch for me against dickheads and remind me that I’m smarter then I think, they don’t understand the less known effects outside of forgetting. Time blindness, getting stuck and not being able to do anything, rejection sensitivity. they understand that I deal with that but don’t understand the severity. And because they don’t have adhd, they never will. And it sucks because I have never seen a genuine portrayal of adhd that wasn’t a joke. The closest is luz from the owl house, but she’s not specifically adhd. Just coded as neurodivergent.

I'd love to hear your critique and analysis of the Zero Escape series sometime! It's another one of my favorite series from Spike Chunsoft. It's an interactive (somewhat survival horror) visual novel like Danganronpa, though it focuses more on puzzles, escape rooms, and branching timelines. In my opinion, I hold it in an equal, if not, a higher regard to Danganronpa, and I'd love to see more discussion on the Zero Escape Trilogy.

PINNED: Go to NordVPN.com/NezumiVA to get a 2-year plan plus 1 additional month free with a huge discount! Just be sure to use the coupon code "NezumiVA" at checkout! And for the *comment question* - what is _your_ favorite spinoff title to a franchise? *EDIT: By the way, yes, I understand what I missed about the stun gun bit in Syo's boss battle now,* you don't have to comment about it lol.

The impulse to react to this game's big moral conflict with the almost fitting child-like response of "But they started it!" is constant within me, possibly bcs it for once feels like a valid response here and something that seems lost on these adults (feels weird to write when you are one) YOU started this That sentiment isn't applicable when made on adults but these aren't adults, they're children. It's childlike bcs that's the depth of which a child's mind acts and they (especially a neglected and traumatized child) unlike an adult can't go much deeper than that

Man, hearing Komaru's aches in her apartment hits different after 2020

These essays/reviews are so expertly well made truly amazing quality. can’t wait to see a video on V3

As someone who never had the chance to play UDG, thank you for this! An amazing retrospective as always, and I cant wait for more.

1:13:56 I'd actually have to strongly disagree with you here. As a survivor of similar circumstances to Kotoko and someone who has done an excessive amount of research into the subject, her actions are extremely similar to my own and many others' at her age, although obviously she took it much further because she had no threat of consequence. Speaking in a precociously sexual manner, mirroring behaviors and thoughts of one's abusers, sexualizing oneself, and wanting to exact one's revenge on others by subjecting them to the torment they themself went through are all examples of somewhat common that CSA can have on a child, and while I'm not in support of many of the decisions regarding the handling of sexual assault made by the creators of the Danganronpa franchise, and I'm also not dictating whether or not it was generally handled well or not, Kotoko's vengeful assault of Komaru and her use of sexual language (and, in the same vein, Mikan's "accidents") are realistic effects of the sexual trauma she went through, especially considering the situation she was in. Children who have undergone sexual abuse can and do exhibit these behaviors, and while things like COCSA are definitely not okay and have to be dealt with, waving those behaviors off as just the sick fantasies of perverts and distasteful fanservice that doesn't happen in real life further stigmatizes CSA survivors and discourages victims from speaking up and getting the help they need. It _is_ acceptable to write about because it _is_ a real thing that happens to real children. The _actual_ issue is the way it's presented. The producers play these behaviors for comedy rather than for the sad horror that they are, and that's where the real issue lies.

I love the story of this game (I can't speak on gameplay since I only experienced it through let's plays) but man do I hate some of those scenes. Like, it makes me uncomfortable I had to tell someone "no, me being mad at the kotoko scene isn't me mad at the inclusion of her trauma" and that the scene wasn't needed. This game really hurt me emotionally (referring to when the story was amazing) and I cried alot lolol. This game effected me so much I had to stop watching someone's let's play because they were laughing everytime the kids talked about their trauma 👁️

I really, really appreciate the trigger warning for chapter 3. It is so well done and well explained. Thank you for that.

I actually forgot how much that ending hit me so well. I always remember Chapter 3 of this game as the kind of "that's what the game was like" but it's so much harder to actually remember that there WAS a good game buried under that horrible mistreatment of its material at times.

Me: I hate Danganronpa Also me: *watches Nezumi's retrospectives over and over again for catharsis*

Personally it took me until fifteen years old to quite comprehend the finality of death, even in fiction. Until then it seemed excusable because superheroes mow down hundreds of bad guys on the battlefield all the time, so it must be no big deal. Plus I was raised to believe in the afterlife and such so I generally didn't understand the concept of someone's existence ending. So I can't really find it in me to blame the kids at any point - at their age, I would've had no fucking idea what I was really doing.

Out of all the Danganronpa series, Despair Girls is by far my most favorite of them all, it feels different from the others, real character development, suffering, and Komaru's resolve to keep struggling in a hell where evil reigns supreme and hope is lost. I adore Toko and Komaru's friendship so much.

You’re so awesome Nezumi! I love your content in general cause you’re so good at retelling stories in a way that makes you feel the same emotions as you felt while playing it. I’ll admit ultra despair girls is messy with a lot of parts I’ve purged from my memory, but it’s heart is in the right place for the most part. The anime certainly gives people more of an appreciation for it since the game is actually cohesive narratively. Now speaking as a disabled person I honestly kind of like Monica’s reveal. It’s scummy, but I can understand why she did it. When I was in elementary I was pretty manipulative cause I knew people pitted me due to my disabilities and surgeries. Teachers and peers liked helping me cause it made them feel good. When you’re that young you don’t have a lot of power aside from cuteness and cuteness is partly attributed to pity. Course I grew up and learned not to manipulate others into doing my work for me, but it’s hard not to be tempted. It’s a tough balancing act figuring out what you can do and what you need help with and sometimes in order to get that help, usually from institutions, you have to act more pitiful and weak than you actually are so people will consider you in need of help. Monica probably saw this too. Lesson of udg don’t underestimate kids cause they’re more observant and clever than you think they just don’t typically have to tools overpower you.

I must say your videos amazing on all fronts. You improved from segways to presentation and probably on my favourite of all writing .I started watching your videos around 500 subs ,and they always let me look at a certain subject again with a new perspective , learn new facts . Thanks to all of these great things i can watch 3 to 5 hour videos without pausing . It gives me the same good feelings that the games from this series give of.

one of the gripes I have when 2d characters go to 3d is the seemingly random desaturation of colors. Maybe it's intentional to make them look more realistic, but for me it just looks awkward and would be better off if they kept the saturation the same., especially in this game where your subjected to both the 3d and 2d versions at once. One thing I think they could've changed to make the gameplay and visuals better is being first person with wolfenstein esque visuals (more polished obviously) with better movement abilities. Not only would this be a neat callback to the other games, the game would just look better and arguably play better since you don't have to worry about cruddy physics or movement. It does lose a bit of that cinematography but honestly this isn't the n64 days. If a game isn't capable of being cinematic while looking good they probably shouldn't be cinematic. Also the cutscenes play out like v3 where multiple people including you are on screen at once.

Do I think the way they handled Kotoko was done well no but is it also semi realistic to have the victim also commit the acts of the abuser unfortunately yes it is. That of course doesn't make the way they handled that concept alright but it is something a child abused in that sort of way can do. It's just that sort of thing is so hard to write well and really needs to be taken more seriously. Because I do think addressing that children can do that to another child is a conversation to be had I just think it was handled very poorly.

Someone might already have said this, however, the reason why the hacking gun works on Toko is because it's actually working on the taser she uses (hence why her hp bar is the batteries) to switch to Sho/Jill/Jack/Syo, now, when it comes to why she "flinches" when you hit the taser that's because...yeah

DR and its mishandling of SA and related themes aside, my biggest issue with this game is that it feels so pointless, though that's mainly because of the anime tearing down what this game had built up in favor of a filler episode that felt like they suddenly remembered UDG halfway through production of DR3 and threw together an episode to tie up that loose end. As an aside, I remember when the game was new and that Izuru cutscene was being shared around. The fandom's cries of "OMG IT'S IZURU" were a sight to behold.

As much as some of the themes are pretty well done the rest is too much to keep going at least for me

Toko and Komaru's friendship is the best part of the game!😍🥰❤️

Oh, excited for this one!

As someone that stopped in the midst of chapter 2 (I think I stopped RIGHT before the ch.2 boss), I never got to the bit about Monaca's faking her disability. That said, as someone with a disability that kept me in a wheelchair for several years (after years of physical therapy, I managed to make due w/ a cane), I can say I don't really have too much issue w/ the twist that her disability was fake. I do really think that what you brought up about the implications that they believed her so wholeheartedly says a lot about her situation and the unseen event that would have led to that (you can't really just fake having no working nerve-endings in your legs in a way a doctor can't notice, so she likely was never taken to an actual physician to hide the event's details). I've personally never dealt with people accusing me of faking my condition (I do have friends that have though), but I personally choose to lay the blame on that on the people in question actually saying stuff like that. If you've dealt with that often enough, I can understand it being a touchy subject (my interactions w/ other people died once I wasn't able to go out as often because of my legs), so I wouldn't judge anyone harshly for that in the same way I wouldn't judge an abuse victim harshly for disliking depictions of their abuse. It's horrible that we can't just go about normal lives w/ either stares of curiosity or accusations for something out of our control. Either way, that's just my 2 cents. I am curious to see if I might continue that playthrough again someday, but as w/ all things with UDG, my feelings on doing so are even more mixed now more than ever.

i have DID and a physical disability similar to monaca which affected me around her age so i feel like i have a unique perspective on how disability in this story should have been handled. it’s impossible to find an accurate and respectful portrayal of a character with DID, it currently does not exist in any media form. toko and sho definitely fall under that category but i find myself loving them anyway. even with the issues i really enjoy that we get to know the two of them and they are more humanized than many other horror or murder stories with characters with DID. this game could have been a huge opportunity to change a lot of the dialogue about DID and mental illness but they completely missed it. with monaca as well, i enjoy her storyline and that she was faking her disability because i come in with the context of already being a similarly disabled person. having someone fake smth that altered my life so significantly and to use it to hurt others is despicable and makes me understand her mental state even more. for those coming in without understanding disability activism and the harm of faking this idea goes over their heads. the way i think this should have been handled is by connecting both toko and sho’s story to monaca. DID is incredibly stigmatized and many moments in this story such as the novels found around the place w/ toko’s responses to them could have been educational. elaborating on toko and sho’s difficulties with life when they are so stigmatized for smth they can’t fully control as others expect them to be able to do. it also could have addressed if anyone ever thought toko and sho were faking and go into how rare it is and how horrible it is to fakeclaim a system or anyone with mental illness or disability. with that background, monaca’s moment could have been so much more impactful bc of toko and sho’s response, and because the audience is already well versed on how this impacts disabled people

im gonna be honest. UDG was the introduction to Danganronpa that made me such a huge fan of the series overall. It's sad that people don't notice it all that much since I thought it was such a good game, not to mention it still does add onto the story, and is kinda a bit of what's going on outside meanwhile the two are in an inside setting y'know?

This video perfectly captured my feelings on UDG It's simultaneously my favorite and least favorite entry in the DR franchise

I didn't see that Homestar Runner clip coming, but I appreciate it.

As someone who dropped the game after chapter 3, seeing your perspective on the later parts of the story and how good it is made me want to pick it up again and give it another chance. Great retrospective Much love

Something I wonder about UDG is like... It has so many cutscenes! To the point where when I look it up on RU-vid, the first result for me is an 11 hour "movie" of mostly just the cutscenes. So what I wonder is like... Couldn't they have just made it an anime? Would that have been more expensive? Did they not get the approval to do it? I'm really curious. They even had some actual 2D animated scenes throughout the game. So I wonder if they wanted an anime, couldn't get it, and decided to adapt it to a game? Hrm...

A fun fact about the big robot bosses: If you shoot them with Dance, they'll actually dance, allowing you to get in some extra shots or help aim. Something to note about Kemuri is his representation of Neglect. When Daimon "dies" Monaca is quick to say it's up to Kotoko and Nagisa to help her make paradise, actively ignoring Kemuri even though he's in the room. Normally in the coliseums each Warrior's symbol is put on display on the walls, but in Kemuri's coliseum, his symbol is crossed out with Xs. Even the children start actively Booing him and cheering for Komaru.

With the main line Danganronpa games, I usually just give some caveats about the content but can still recommend them. You hit nicely on the casual creepiness that leads me to tell people to just skip UDG and read a summary if they're absolutely curious. Also, thanks for skipping over the novel unlocked after beating this. While I liked Hagakure getting a chance to be competent, the stuff with Leon's cousin is just another reason to tell folks to skip.

moral of the story - burn all money shitty joke aside - thank you for the retrospective. it's quite a treat to get to know a game that one couldn't play because of mental disability

Several Things! 1. Great job as always on this video! I really like how you organize your videos, and you make many great criticisms too! 2. You’re right about the OST always hitting. I absolutely love the Warriors of Hope’s battle theme. 3. One element I wish had been touched on in UDG, was the Remnants. I get why they aren’t, as their inclusion would directly spoil the plot-twists of DR2 for players who may play the games in the wrong order, and Nagito and Kamakura’s inclusions in this game are really just as a nod to that. I just wish we got to see more of them, like as invincible enemies chasing you through different areas of Towa City. Mikan does make an “appearance” in one of the earliest areas in a hospital I think, but only as an Easter-egg of her DR2 sprite on a bulletin board. There’s a Pinterest post and a video here on RU-vid of an artists that came up with designs for nearly all of them in the UDG Artstyle! However, I can’t find any designs for Teruteru, The Imposter, Hiyoko, and Nekomaru for this concept. Guess we’ve gotta be grateful for what we got tho~ 4. I hate how Mikan and Kotoko both suffer from the same issue in their chapters. I’ve never endured SA fortunately, and I don’t know a fraction of the pain many who endured it go through everyday, but I do know that the fetishization shown in both of their “punishments” is completely uncalled for. The innuendos could hardly pass in Mikan’s case, but there’s no excuse with all the panty shots and perverse stuff with Kotoko. 5. Last thing, regarding the exchange between Makoto, Komaru and Toko in Ch.3, I just thought about regarding Toko...we’ve gotta remember her split memory with Jack. Unlike the other survivors of the first killing game, she wasn’t conscious 24/7. The few times she was conscious were when she saw the bodies before fainting, or her peers were yelling at her to switch to Jack for evidence. One can argue, not remembering everything that happened could be a luxury, but it’s really just the opposite, since she hardly ever had the full picture of what was going on (in and out of the trials) when the situation they were in was already so desperate, Fukawa had it especially rough in DR1. She wasn’t really close to many of the survivors either, as she said she doesn’t even consider any of them real friends, and fawns after Togami despite how he verbally abused her, so she didn’t have anyone to vent to even after their killing game came to a close, and was just bottling everything up. And so it makes sense why during Makoto’s exchange with the Ultra Despair Girls, recounting the first killing game in Hope’s Peak, she just breaks down. To only have a few images of the corpses of your former classmates ingrained into your mind, and a bunch of missing memories, it’s no wonder now - much less before - why Fukawa can be so cynical...Heck she was absent during the second half of the final trial in Trigger Happy Havoc, when Enoshima asked the survivors if they recalled the Tragedy. Poor Fukawa🥺😭. But that’s why I’m glad she got a chance to shine in this game. And it was great to see her forge a stronger and considerably healthier relationship with someone besides her unrequited one with Togami. And a final completely unrelated note: I also have a head cannon of Komaeda in this game. I’d like to think - with the way Komaeda and the rest of the Remnants operate (at least after seeing their dynamics in Danganronpa 3’s Despair Arc) - that Komaeda wanted to go with the rest of the Remnants wherever they went to spread Despair, but none of them wanted anything to do with him even in Despair Mode. I’d imagine they all went in buddy systems, (Sonia/Tanaka/Souda, Owari/Nidai, Kuzuryu/Pekoyama, Tsumiki/Mioda, Saionji/Koizumi, Imposter/Hanamura.) Either that, or even in their Despair forms, he manipulated the other Remnants and made them so uncomfortable that only Kamakura, could even remotely tolerate being near him…and then Komaeda convinced him to go on a big gay date to Towa City to spread Despair. This obviously doesn’t hold up since DR2’s Chapter 0 has the interaction between Komaeda and Kamakura, where Komaeda doesn’t recognize him, but I argue that Komaeda’s so unstable (having his admiration for Hope and disgust for Despair) that he occasionally blackouts and forgets the latter, and this is the first time “Hope” him had an audience with Kamakura. And MAAAAAAANNNNNNNN, do I love those biting quips from the Junko AI to Kamakura in the final cutscene. To me, it represents how Hajime and Junko are currently both ghosts (figuratively for the former/literally for the latter) of their previous selves. Junko’s dead, yet her AI tries to hold the torch of her former legacy as the Ultimate Despair, and Kamakura - despite being the Ultimate “Ultimate” without a human heart and emotions - is beginning to waver, and his former host is regretting his actions. Every word the AI even utters to him, is a cold reminder that Chiaki is dead, and all her former classmates are now wanted murders, and essentially war criminals. And what a narrative this is to tie into DR2, and Hajime and the rest of Class 77’s atonement. Not perfect by any means, but okay.

As a disabled person (mental illness ranging from ADD, PTSD, Depression & brain injury plus Physical disabilities ranging from seizures to Migraines to Functional neurological disorder to IBS and arthritis and joint deformities) I can say that I understand where Monaka is coming from, even if "faking" disabilities gives the stigma that everyone is faking theirs. My family and friends all have horrible backgrounds of abuse, which didn't exactly lead to the most perfectly good mentally stable home life for myself, so I can understand the toll it takes on a child when they're not in a stable home. Kids do what they can to survive. Mental illness was rampant in mine, hence my PTSD. I did anything I could to get everyone to always like me, despite their mental illnesses making them say and do things that were horrible. I used my pain to better myself and do whatever I could to ensure others didn't suffer like I did. And, my situation was nowhere near as bad as these kids' situations were; yet I get that what they went through completely changed their mindset and how they viewed adults and others. They went the darker route that victims go down, where they want revenge or to make others suffer like them because it wasn't fair; where they let their pain destroy their lives and who they are. Monaka's history clearly messed her up. And, being a child, she's way too young to know any better. The adults in her life are to blame for how she is acting. Sure her actions are bad, but take into consideration that these are elementary school children thus Monaka is a bit too young to really be held responsible for her actions. She needs to be given a better life and situation so she doesn't need to hide from her abuse and trauma; so she can stop being scared and using the wheelchair to "shut people up". In this situation, despite understanding that faking disabilities is wrong, I wasn't mad because I understood. This situation wasn't so black and white like most normal situations are, hence my lack of "anger". If anything, I just hope people learn from this how much mental illness and bad backgrounds can affect people and to give empathy/sympathy for those in bad situations. At the end of the day, support is the best thing you can do for someone. Even if a single stranger cares, that's one person that cares for someone in a life full of hell; one shining light in darkness.

Wonderful video! I had no idea what Ultra Despair Girls was about, but I certainly wasn’t expecting this!

2:26:00 - 2:26:13 Bro put their whole Nezussy into that.

Nah, I heavily disagree about Kotoko. There's an occasional bit of awkward humor with her, but she's an *immaculately* conceived and emotionally crushing character whose trauma well and truly does hit you like a truck. And I think the minigame, weirdly implemented as it is, is very darkly effective, as it does convey a lot about her desire to regain control over her trauma by inflicting it on others (and because she likes to pretend that it doesn't bother her anymore by putting on a superficially cutesy mask) and her resentment of Komaru for being "cute and adorable" like her but not having to suffer through any of the things she had to. So much about her is incredibly visceral and powerful. Is it heavy? Is it blunt and direct? Yes, but I genuinely believe her story is better for it and it leaves an impression more than most other video game stories that attempt the same thing. I wouldn't change much about her, other than some of the bothersome visual gags as I said, and even then I simply don't believe they're enough of a problem to damage her character or what the rest of the game was going for with it's themes of child abuse and the lasting damaging effects it has, because when it works, holy shit it works. When her mask of superficiality drops and in a moment of pure, unbridled rage she angrily asks why no one saved her from her torment, or when even *that* layer drops to reveal the scared, vulnerable child just quietly begging to be freed from her trauma, even if it means dying, these offer some of the most emotionally powerful moments of the entire franchise, and that's a very high bar for a series like Danganronpa. And getting back at and foiling the plans of the person that exploited that trauma for her own gain was additionally very satisfying. I think it's pretty apparent that a lot of thought went into her characterization, it's...other aspects that sort of surround her that don't hold up quite as well. But again, they don't bother me that much because how good the good parts are. I do agree making Haiji a pedophile was very...stupid and pointless though because aside from him saying it that one time it literally never comes up again. It'd be one thing if it added a dark undercurrent to his relationship with Monaca (though I wouldn't like that either honestly), but the game's writing never once even so much as implies that. Honestly, it almost kind of ruins him because it's genuinely impossible to talk about Haiji without mentioning it, despite being an irrelevant part of his character. I will say though, ironically, this game didn't make me care for Toko that much more than the first game did. Like, by every reasonable metric, it's obvious her character progression puts her leaps and bounds ahead of where she was in DR1 but...Iunno, I just wasn't particularly invested in her individually. Honestly, I cared much more about what her relationship with Komaru added to Komaru herself, who I actually just adore on every level. Second favorite protagonist of the franchise, easily (after V3's protag), I think she's just a better Hajime. The biggest problem I had with Hajime is that the most important and interesting aspects of his character are barely present until the final chapter, and until then he basically just feels like Makoto again, for the most part. Komaru has a very clear and defined character journey from the get go, and the resolution is incredibly satisfying as a result. Also she's just a huge, cute goof, which I appreciate

I wonder why the dude is trying to kill the only thing he's attracted to

1:18:50 "With the Demon Hunting prize money, I'm gonna buy a stork so Monaca and I can have a kid!" How is this mid-boss banter?

1:56:09 I love you so much for this bit

1:03:54 actually there's evidence suggesting he got back up and walked away. as his body dissapears when you go back down. which is... uplifting if the game did a better job hinting at it

I saw this video in my recommendations back when it was first dropped but forced myself to put it off because I was still playing the game. But now that I've watched it, I have to say I loved every minute of it! I don't agree on all the main parts, but the ones we did agree on made me very happy. (i.e. Kotoko's mistreatment, how horrible the Towa family is, those goddamn puzzles being nightmares at times) I especially appreciated the special attention you gave to Monaca's character, since I loved her in the game and struggled to fully explain why. You did a great job doing so though! Looking forward to working through the rest of your Danganronpa retrospective now and what you make of V3!

If I was put into the adults in that situation I don't think I'd be able to handle it and give it into the hatred they had for the children.

1:34:08 - Well, yeah. You really did miss one thing: as Toko explained at the beginning of the chapter 1, she can now control the time Genoside Jack will be in control. How? By tazing herself with the stun gun. *And the longer or stronger she tazes herself, the longer Genosider will be in control* . As she said, "And depending on how much shock I give myself...". So. Durning the battle, Genoside Jack is trying to make herself live as long as possible by tazing herself while in battle. You can't hurt Genoside Jack with megaphone gun, that's true. But you can stop her from tazing herself with shooting at electronic machine the stun gun is, effectively shortening her "lifespan". And that what's you doing durning the battle - you just trying to live long enough for Genoside Jack to revert back into Toko. And the clothing part... While i do still think that it was a bad idea, i think that it had it meaning beside cheap fan-servise. As we already know, Toko didn't want to kill Komaru. And Genoside Jack new that and probably didn't want to kill Komaru too. But she had to "imitate" a battle for Nagito, at least, while giving Komaru a chance to win and escape. If you didn't noticed, first 5 or 6 attacks doesn't hurt you at all! Because Genoside Jack isn't even trying to actively hurt you. But she imitates a battle by... well... ripping your clothes. You starting taking damage only after she destroys your clothes. It would be probably better if the clothes became just more "damaged" the more hits you take, to the point of "tattered rags". But still, "removing clothes" wasn't just a fan-servise. And about Kotoko's thing... In all honesty i... think that it was specifically made the way it was?.. Don't get me wrong, those things are disgusting to say the least, but i don't thing it was made with any jokes in mind. What i want to say is in my opinion, it was a delibirate choice to make those parts as awfull, dirty, loathsome and untactfull as possible. Sometimes you just can't say "this is bad" by *not* showing *WHY* it's bad. Every human being in the world at least once in a lifetime did something that's considered "bad": crossed the crosswalk at the red light, punched or insulted someone, or just touched a hot kettle as a child when parents told you not to. And not because we was never told not to do those things, but because sometimes it's just a human nature to doubd some given information and believe in your experience. So in my point of view, those suggestive language Kotoko used and her "mini-game" with Komaru is just an extent of her trauma. She probably heard that languagу durning those... "sessions". And as a child she probably saying them without any filter either just because, or she doesn't care. Or she does this to mock her father and her situation as a coping\hating mechanosm. Or that could be just the extent to her trauma altogether. Anyway, i thing all that Kotoko sequence was made for us to see HOW bad this could be for the traumatized person. So bad that the wictim can sometimes not to realize how they prodding their own wounds. So bad that sometimes the victim want's to revenge the same way they were traumatized. So bad, that those feelings and pain become a defacto normal state of the victim. Because with Masaru, Jataro, Monaka or even Nagisa we... we never actually see the *inside* of ther trauma. We only saw the outer shell of it, the consequenses. But Kotoko? She was the only one with deep flashback. She was the only one who freaking tried to harass someone he same way *she* was harassed. Making all other kids traumas not in the face, but decent at least, while making the only actually deep trauma uncomfortably *bad* in a disturbing sense? I don't think Chunsoft could make that mistake by accident. I think they made it specifically scary and polarizing to see just HOW badly their trauma actually was. I wouldn't say that the execution was the best, but i still think that it was made on purpose with good educational intentions, rather than just stupidly spoiling the entire chapter for a bunch of gags. Anyway! The video was awesome, and i'm really glad to see you didn't skipped the game entirely. I agree, this game really is polarizing, as you just said, but i like it either way. I always trying to fing a good side to every game i play, because there's rarely a game without some thought in it. Thank you for your incredibly hard work and fantastic videos! You're the best! :)

I have a tip for fighting Monaca's robot controlled by Kurokuma. Use the burn bullets and you can easily hit all of the weak spots using the rapid fire. The boss was extremely easy once I figured this out, and it makes those bullets a bit more useful!

I can't thank you enough for doing this retrospective! UDR is just something that I cannot play on my own with all of its downright disgusting handling of some topics but I've always been intrigued by it. Your ability to summarize, analyze, and entertain is impressive! I'm looking forward to whatever you put out next.

I feel like I want to forget it ,but I also don’t want to

The way you handled the scene of Fukawa helping and protecting Komaru at then end made me tear up, it hit me to hard /pos

Thank you for covering one of my favorite games of all time, it was an amazing video!!!

Your commentary is sublime. I have extremely mixed feelings on this franchise. Despite all the good Danganronpa has done for me, I’m extremely bitter towards this title. And your videos are the first place I’ve found someone willing to fearlessly criticize things that she enjoys. There’s a prevalent mindset that you have to love everything about a series or hate every bit of it. That’s not true, and your videos show that wonderfully. I experienced Danganronpa by watching playthroughs. I spent the whole thing resentful and critical of its treatment of female, neurodivergent, or dark-skinned characters. I was deeply moved by its messages of hope, and the metaphors you alerted me to. I was determined to watch everything, every collectible, every cutscene, every free time interaction. But I couldn’t. I have never been one to skip certain scenes. I’m very grateful for trigger warnings (thank you for yours!) but have never really needed them. But Jesus, That minigame made me gag. I didn’t know what I was in for. It didn’t let me know what was coming. And the fact that it expected the audience to ENJOY disgusted me. This video is very cathartic. I want to finish watching these games. But I want someone to be more aware than this “self-aware” game about its deep flaws. Thank you.

Great video, and I don't mean to nitpick bc you put such effort into these videos and I don't want to detract from that, but wheelchair users prefer not to be referred to as "wheelchair bound." Wheelchairs do not bind people, they allow them more freedom of movement. V minor critique, and I'm looking forward to watching this several times over, along with your other videos. If anything jumps out to me I'll add my lil quibbles in a thread below but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

this game is fruity and i love it. why are they comparing byakuya to komaru so much? bc it’s fruity. the head petting and telling how they can depend on each other? fruity.

ahh, i remember trying and failing to watch an lp of this game bc the gameplay loop was super unengaging to me, but I'm glad i did bc i probably would've gotten legitimately ill if i'd stumbled upon the csa bits being played for laughs. I can appreciate the things dangan ronpa games have to say and all, but geeez..... anyway, thanks for the video, I've really been enjoying these and I'm excited to watch any upcoming ones. that little mention about p5 reminded me that i was thinking to myself the other day that i'd love to watch a video series like this about the persona games - maybe something for the distant future if that seems like something you'd wanna do? no pressure ofc, it as just a thought and i tend to enjoy whatever you upload regardless of what its about

This was another good retrospective!! I have actually never watched or played UDG. And I don't think I will ever. I might. I don't know. Fromt he looks of what I heard from this video, I will probably not like it as much as the other games and stuff. But it was nice hearing your perspective on it. And damn, what a game this is. And I mean in a weird way. The game is kinda good but has so many stuff that just makes the game bad. I'm rather interested with the concepts and the idea brought to the table with this game. Like the focus on childhood trauma and everything. That's actually very interesting. But yeah. As always good job NezumiVA. And I can't wait to see your thoughts and perspective on the anime that is Danganronpa 3. I can't wait. And the collab will be a sick addition as well!! Good luck with the next video. And I will be looking forward to that very much!!

I think the worst part about the Monaca and Kotoko situation is the fact she wasn’t ’gentle.’ She did the same thing with Nagisa (I’ll say not as bad but still horrible to happen)

Great video, as always. I do have a quarry and a request... At episode one (or part 3 of this video) you've voiced your disgust about an incest joke Fukawa made. While I agree that it's a vile thing to insinuate, I think it was a way (clearly not the best way) to show Fukawa's growth. In chapter one, Fukawa clearly distrust (eh) Komaeru. She thinks badly of her, as a means to an end, and thus has no problem assuming the worst of her. It's a similar moment to chapter 3, when Monokuma revealed the motivation, where she suggested to round up the poor people, the most desperate for money, because she assumed they'd be more willing to kill for it, before Sakura had shut her down. While DR1 showed us Fukawa is willing to let some people into her life, she still harbour ill toward the general environment. Komaeru is initially the worst partner she could ask for, since Fukawa hates popular cute girls like her the most. In short, I don't think the game invoked incest as a joke, but to show how Fukawa is vile at the start of the game. However I do have to agree that it's not the best way they could handle it. Which leads me to my request (or question): are you planning to cover the other short novel? Like Danganronpa IF was included in DR2, a short novel was included in DR:UDG - Episode Hagakure (not sure if that's the name, but I'll refer to it as such). It's a novel about Hagakure Masahiro bumbling around Towa city, finding an interesting character that explore this controversial subject slightly better IMO. It the novel is similar to UDG in the sense it's developing Hagakure the same way Fukawa was developed. Besides, it's quite short. I hope you can talk about that too, either in the IF video or a separate one. But if you disdain the subject too much for that, I'll understand. Anyway, thanks for the vid, and good luck on the next one!

its always so funny when villians are like "do you hate me now" like in this game and pein from naruto as when naruto responds by becoming a fox demon and screaming like a T-rex

Once again, fantastic video!! Your discussion of the first two games was already really amazing, and I’m glad you decided to cover this one despite its more… problematic nature. Everything was really well put and well handled, (can’t thank you enough for the trigger warning at the start of chapter 3) and your thoughts/opinions on this game are really interesting! Great work all around :]

I love UDG! I tend to watch others playthrough rather than play it myself. The controls aren't the best and it works better as an anime than it does a game in my opinion. Still love it though. Toko/Syo has been my favorite character since the first game so getting a game that focused a lot more on her character development was nice.

Your DR videos are fantastic. As someone who discovered and has been powering through the series only this year, it’s enlightening to hear the thoughts of someone who has been into the series since well before the games were even localized for the west. Looking forward to hearing what you have to say about the rest of the series!

Thank you so much for these videos everything I could have ever wanted and more

I genuinely like this game and while it does have many flaws, I see it as a welcome addition to the series.

Honestly, UDG is what I wish DR3 Despair Arc was in terms of backstory with Junko and the Remnants. But of course, refined and polished

Great retrospective! Love that the gameplay elements, potential symbolism & plot of each chapter were all included ☺️☺️

im so mad this didn't show up in my notifs IM SO EXCITED