Blog / A Student Out of Time

Title card created by tumblr user creepercraftguy

What if you had the chance to change everything?

Hajime Hinata, after the end of the Final Killing Game, has adjusted to a peaceful and normal life on Jabberwock Island alongside his friends and partners. That is until he lays down one morning and inexplicably finds himself thrown backward in time to the year 2012. Back to Hope’s Peak Academy before the events that lead up to the Tragedy ever happened. Armed with knowledge of the future, but back to his status as a regular guy, he resolves to change history and stop Junko Enoshima from destroying the world. Things most certainly aren’t going to be easy…

A Student Out of Time is a a Tumblr-based Danganronpa Ask Blog detailing the adventures of Hajime and his allies as they seek to change history.

Click here to read the story from the beginning.

Also, please be advised that this blog features spoilers from the canonical Danganronpa franchise as well as fan games such as LINUJ's Another series.

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Tropes in A Student Out of Time include:

• Adaptational Backstory Change:
  • Mikoto Itsuki and Nico Himuro from Danganronpa Re:Birth had their own backstories as Ultimate students in the original and dub adaptation. In this reality, they appear in one of Mikako's visions as future children of the Cuddle Puddle with Itsuki being Hiyoko's daughter and Nico (now called Kana) being Chiaki's daughter.
  • Kana Ise is also not an ultimate in this universe, just a girl with an interest in voice acting. She's also later revealed to be Chiaki's half-sister.
  • Misako Rokuhana, Kana's classmate in Danganronpa: Blowback, is much older and is her biological mother in this setting.
• Adaptational Heroism:
  • In their original story, Void was a terrorist group who (begrudgingly) participated in the Usturoshima Island Killing Game as undercover killers. But in this reality, after befriending Hajime and his team, along with being warned about Mikado's true nature, they become official heroes of the Quantum Crew.
  • Monaca Towa also joins the team after she's freed from her family and taken in by Kyoji.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: Many characters are considerably kinder than their canon counterparts. Hajime suggests that it's due to the world being in a Pre-Tragedy state, while the Tragedy was known for bringing out the worst in people.
  • Perhaps the biggest example is The Voids, who are all far more considerate to each other than they ever were in canon.
  • Kokoro Mitsume is also a much more thoughtful person, showing genuine regret for her actions and does everything in her power to try and reconnect with her daughter Mikako, as well as atone for what she did.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: By removing elements such as the Killing Games and the Tragedy and adding the efforts of the Quantum Crew, many characters have considerably better and healthier relationships. Of particular note are the Voids, who are considerably friendlier, more supportive and even snarky with each other.
• Alternate Timeline: As of now, there are at least five alternate timelines according to Umeko, all formed courtesy of time travel shenanigans. She clarifies they're not branching paths or alternate universes, but superpositions of the timeline, similar to an electron in the double slit experiment. These are:
  • The Tragedy timeline or OG Timeline, where everything got started.
  • The new timeline being formed by the Quantum Crew's actions throughout the story, which also includes glimpses around a decade into the future courtesy of Mikako. It's later properly introduced in Before and After, taking place in 2030.
  • Three different timelines formed courtesy of Hajime dying, twice to Kanade and once to Yasuke, and subsequently resetting. These are more like self-contained loops than actual timelines, however.
• Anachronism Stew: Generally averted. For the most part, references to events, media and products from past 2012 are made by Hajime, the Anons, other time travelers or people from 2030.
• Anti-Villain: Ui Kemuri, one of the Abusive Parents of the Warriors of Hope, is revealed to be this. The reason she neglected and emotionally abused Jataro was because he reminds her of the man who raped her when her guard was down. Ui was shamed and forced by her family to keep Jataro and provide for him while doing nothing to help her. The ongoing pressure mixed with her having to care for a child she never wanted led to Ui abusing Jataro and forcing him to wear his iconic mask. She admits to Iroha and Setsuka that she was wrong to have treated the boy like this and does want him to be taken care of.
• Arc Words: "Funny how that works" has been used several times throughout the story.
• Armor-Piercing Response: When Kana attempts to shame Chiaki because she at least had parents by asking if she was ever bullied for being a bastard child, Chiaki's response leaves her quiet and forces her to confront the fact that whatever happened between their parents doesn't have to affect them.
  Chiaki: …I got bullied for a lot of things. For being autistic, for being a gamer, for being too quiet, for being too stuck up when I just didn’t know how to talk to people.
• Ascended Fridge Horror: The story does this a lot with many aspects of Danganronpa lore. For example, you remember Kotoko's backstory? Thanks to that, she's contracted HIV.
• Author Appeal: The moderator and LINUJ are big fans of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. So you can expect a good JoJo reference from the characters every now and then.
• Audience Participation: This being an ask blog, each post is made by readers and anons asking questions to the characters to answer as a way to either gain insight on a given character or to move the story along.
  • During the Twisted Sister Aftermath Arc, the Quantum Crew is in civil war over whether to mind wipe the restrained Serial Killer Kanade or to use an alternative method to deal with her. At Hibiki's suggestion, the group decides to hold a voting poll for the readers to determine what to do on the matter. The voting results in favor of erasing her memories.
• Bad Future: The Tragedy is effectively this to the people of 2012.
• Bathos: During the climatic battle of the Storm Arc, Mr. Utsugi ends up running into a brick wall that was painted ala Looney Tunes gag thanks to Iroha.
• Bland-Name Product: After getting an extra job at a grocery store, Akane pays a visit to Farbucks.
  • Also ZigZagged in that companies like Twitter and Youtube are still mentioned by name.
• Big Damn Heroes: After Honoka Owari is nearly kidnapped, Teruko's crying and honking on their car horn alerts Mondo to the scene and he rallies the Crazy Diamonds to save her.
• Bittersweet Ending: The Puppetmaster arc ends this way. While the group is able to stop Maverick before he kills anyone, it comes at the cost of Hajime falling into a coma for who knows how long and Kana taking a bullet wound to her chest, with a chance she may not pull through.
• Both Sides Have a Point: During the Storm Dissipates Arc, the topic of Chiaki stealing money from her parents along with participating in dangerous missions to support the cause of the Quantum Crew fall into this. On one hand, it was wrong of Chiaki to steal millions of yen from her parents' account without telling them. Even if it was for a noble cause, she was still lying to them and putting herself in great danger. But on the other hand, Chiaki genuinely believed that her parents wouldn't care due to their extended absences along with their track record of breaking their promises of spending more time with their daughter.
• Calling the Old Man Out: A recurring conflict for many of the Quantum Crew members and their friends involve standing up to parents and family members who were abusive, negligent or morally corrupt as a way of showing how far they've come with their development.
• Can't Take Anything with You: Because it's only the consciousness moving through time, Hajime and the other time travelers can't physically bring anything back, having to rely on their own memories and knowledge of the future instead. Umeko even explains that this is due to there not being enough power to make a wormhole sizeable enough to move atoms through time.
• Cast Full of Gay: Most of the cast falls somewhere on the LGBTQ spectrum.
• Character Death: Kana, a rising voice actress and Chiaki's sister, is killed after the events of the Puppetmaster Arc and is considered the first official casualty of the series.
• Christmas Episode: During the holiday season of 2020, the blog holds a Mistletoe Arc that features the Cuddle Puddle, the Quantum Crew, and other characters being tasked with kissing one another.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: This is said to be what Maverick does to any dissenters at his island retreat. Kana claims that Yuki has to take painkillers everyday just to sit down. Subverted in that these claims turn out to be lies that were created in order to lure Hajime and Chiaki into a trap. However, it is still implied Maverick did something to Kana as she begs for him to not hurt her again.
• Connected All Along: Chiaki is revealed to have a connection with the Voids and Akane. Specifically, she's a Child of Utsuro, someone who was blessed with his Divine Luck.
• Crossover: Is eventually revealed to be not only a sequel to Danganronpa 3, but also a crossover with LINUJ's Danganronpa Another series.
  • And if that wasn't enough, Season 2 introduces characters from Danganronpa Re:Birth as Cuddle Puddle descendants and Kana Ise, the Ultimate Voice Actress, from Danganronpa Blowback.
  • During Season 2's Puppetmaster Arc, Governor Fujimori, the father of Ayumu Fujimori from Danganronpa Re:Birth makes a non-visual cameo as he comments on the current events.
• Cult: The Puppetmaster Arc involves the Crew discovering that random citizens are being manipulated into running away to live at the Sunny Days Resort, a tropical worry-free paradise organized by Maverick Storm. The Crew is understandably terrified with what he intends to do with so many citizens and must race against time to stop his cult scheme.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Sonia vs Kanade. It quickly becomes one sided in the former's favor. Even the narration describes it as one sided.
• Darker and Edgier: The Danganronpa franchise was pretty dark as it was, but this blog takes it a step further by focusing on more mature themes and analyzing dark content. As of now, such themes include strong language, alcohol, smoking and drugs, bullying, harassment, blood, violence, sex and sexual situations, physically, psychologically, and sexually abusive relationships involving children, teenagers, and adults, attempted suicide, characters suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, traumatic flashbacks, incest, kidnapping and human trafficking.
• Depopulation Bomb: Hajime makes it clear that the total deaths from the Tragedy were at least 3 billion in total.
• Early-Bird Cameo: During the Pratical Exams arc, Makoto, Komaru, Byakuya, Aoi, Yuta, Mondo, Mikako, and Yamato are all seen reacting to Kasugano's first broadcast.
• Engineered Public Confession: In the Concert Arc, Hajime manages to trick Kanade Otonokoji into revealing her history as a Serial Killer and how she purposefully targeted people who were close to Hibiki in the hopes of mentally breaking her. This would result in her reputation going down the toilet and the police going after her.
• Everyone Went to School Together: Many parents and family members of the group have been attendees of Hope's Peak, most notably Class 49, which included Shinji Kasai, Tenmei and Harumi Nanami (the latter in the Reserve Course), Hitoshi Koizumi, Kyoka Mioda and Emina Nijiue.
• Faking the Dead: In order to keep the police from tracking Kanade after her memories are erased, Kyoji sets up a fake corpse and plants it near a building that exploded to ensure that they'd declare her as officially dead.
• Fairy Tale Motifs: The Sunny Days Resort has been compared by the Crew to "Pleasure Island" from The Adventures of Pinocchio. A secluded paradise run by a sinister villain who encourages the visiting youth to indulge in fun activities while drinking and doing drugs, all while forgetting about their worries and responsibilities.
• Feminist Fantasy: The entire blog and story can be seen as more feminist compared to the actual franchise. More than 64% of the characters are girls/women who are actively involved in the story arcs and each have their own depth personalities, talents and goals. The relationships between them, both platonic and romantic, are thoroughly explored as the girls consistently support one another. It's also worth mentioning that Hajime, Gundham and other heroic guys are more respectful and appreciative of the women in their lives while the main antagonists are always portrayed as in the wrong for their misogynistic beliefs.
• Their First Time: Both Hajime and Hibiki and Sonia and Gundham have theirs in New Year Cheer.
• Fix Fic: Essentially one for the entire Danganronpa franchise.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Season 2's Equinox Arc features Hajime being challenged by Leon Kuwata to a friendly basketball game, only to lose to him. This sets up for how the challenges of Season 2 will be much harder for Hajime and his friends compared to the past season.
  • While Chiaki and the Cuddle Puddle are hanging out at her mansion, she discovers a pamphlet for a tropical island getaway in her mail. A few arcs later, we learn in the Connections Arc that it's actually a trap created by Maverick Storm in order to brainwash people into joining his island cult.
  • Sayaka Maizono's involvement in the plot as one of the other time travelers is very subtly foreshadowed by several things that are just a little off. First off, Monochrome Answer was written before reuniting with Makoto. Second off, Sayaka progressively got more and more personally involved in the situations related to Kasugano, starting off with charity performances for the chaotic situations unfolding and ending up with her performing at a charity gathering she has no reason to be at. And lastly, if only people who were alive when Hajime and Yoruko were sent back can be time travelers, then how is Sora here?
• Formula-Breaking Episode:
  • During the Family Feud arc, Iroha and her sister Akemi decide to settle their differences in a Yu-Gi-Oh! match. Most of their half of the arc consists of a series of moves not unlike the anime.
  • The Black And White Christmas arc is an anthology focusing on the different adventures everyone goes through during December.
• Godzilla Threshold: In the Before and After Arc, Umeko from the original timeline states that the technology needed to send Hajime, Yoruko, Sora and the fourth traveler back in time would require a godly amount of power. This would prove difficult as the world was still recovering and Umeko is aware that the current leaders would not approve of such a gamble. Fortunately, she and her team were able to find the one person who could perform such a miracle: Yuki Maeda, the current holder of Divine Fortune.
• Hard Truth Aesop: The story has a few examples.
  • Trying to atone for what you feel is your responsibility can end up hurting other people too. Many times, it's someone selfishly trying to soothe their guilty conscience through some deed and not actually to put things right.
  • While you should strive to help others, you can't fix everything or save everyone. You'll destroy yourself if you try.
  • Being a better person and changing your ways is hard, but it's beyond important.
  • The future isn't guaranteed to be better. If you want it to be, you need to work on making it better.
  • Your personal problems will never stay completely personal. They hurt other people just as much as they hurt you, if not more so.
  • Every action, no matter how seemingly small, has consequences that will affect the world at large. You need to be prepared to live with that and face whatever happens as a result.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: During the Puppetmaster Arc, following Maverick Storm's threat to kill every one of his hostages if Kasugano doesn't reveal and then kill himself, the Quantum Crew's reputation takes a major hit, with Kasugano even becoming public enemy number one.
• Human Traffickers: The Quantum Crew's foes in the last few arcs of Season 1.
• If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!: One of the major themes of The Price of Fate arc, where the group learns Tsumugi Shirogane and Takeharu Mizuta, two of Junko's followers, will eventually be responsible for the deaths of their families, their children, many of their grandchildren and well over 53 killing games in the future. The issue becomes a major point of contention between Hajime, who firmly believes in this trope, and Nikei, who adamantly believes Violence is the Only Option.
• In-Series Nickname:
  • Hajime has taken the name of "Kasugano" when making his public declarations against enemies of interest.
  • Hajime's team of heroes is referred to as the "Quantum Crew".
  • Hajime and his lovers have dubbed their relationship as the "Cuddle Puddle".
• In Spite of a Nail: Despite their efforts in rewriting history, the Crew does worry that history is fighting against them by creating scenarios for them that lead to the designated events they try desperately to avoid. They call this the "Ankle Effect" after Hajime ends up spraining his ankle while trying to prevent Natsumi and Honami from killing each other via Twilight Syndrome.
• Inspector Javert: Tsurugi Kinjo, the boy who would become the Ultimate Police Officer, becomes this as he doesn't approve of Kasugano's vigilante-esque agenda and how he takes justice into his own hands.
• Insult to Rocks: During the Mistletoe Arc, after an anon expresses disappointment that they can only request people kiss as he wanted to make Haiji kiss a sewage pipe, Monaca claims that would be mean to the sewage pipe as it has a vital job.
• Let's Split Up, Gang!: The Hide and Seek Arc involves the Quantum Crew breaking into two teams to look for Genocider Syo and the missing Monaca Towa.
• Lighter and Softer: After the hell they've gone through, the Equinox, Normal Days and Connection arcs all provide some much needed down time. For the most part, at least.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Zigzagged. In the first arcs, Hajime and the founding members of the Quantum Crew do everything in their power to keep their time travel mission a secret from everyone, in fear of jeopardizing their lives and creating unnecessary paradoxes. But with each arc, they end up recruiting more members who learn of their secrets and decide to help them. During the Twisted Sister Aftermath Arc, Chiaki decides that it's better to inform more people so the Quantum Crew can be better prepared to face any challenges that come their way. So after her big meeting, the entire Class 77-B, Chisa, and Juzo are fully informed of their ultimate mission.
• Meaningful Funeral: A funeral is held for Kana at the beginning of the Before and After arc.
• Men Use Violence, Women Use Communication: Both subverted and inverted. While the characters usually try to resolve issues without needing to resort to violence, it's actually the women in Hajime's group tend to actually do the fighting, though both genders have competent combatants.
• Mental Time Travel: How time travel works in this setting. It takes too much energy to send back physical matter, but data such as a person's mind or the code for an artificial intelligence can be sent back.
• Minor Crime Reveals Major Plot: In Season 2's Old Ghosts Arc, Mikan confides with her friends and lovers about the abuse she endured from her mother. She would also explain that the witch has strong connections with many police officers who indulge in seeing pornography of minors and permitting child abuse. This would lead to the Crew figuring out how to expose not only Mikan's abomination but also a good chunk of the police force.
• Minovsky Physics: Time travel is explained as being the result of tachyons, a hypothetical particle that always moves faster than light, causing it always move from the future to the past. Umeko theorizes that this forms the basis of time travel by carrying information backward as well. While fictional, a lot of time and detail is put into explaining temporal mechanics, such as its movements through matter, the signals it emits and how it interacts with the brain. Most importantly, physical matter can't be sent back in time, but information can.
• The Multiverse: While it hasn't been confirmed yet, Yasuke Matsuda theorizes that Hajime is creating new timelines everytime he dies and activates his Reset Button. This has some grim implications being that while Hajime may venture into a new timeline when he dies, his friends from the old timeline are left behind to deal with the same problems and antagonists without Hajime and how those that died in a past timeline are officially dead. After the events of the Twisted Sister Arc, the boy ends up breaking down in tears because of this dark revelation. Turns out to be subverted, as there's only one timeline toward the future and it can be altered by changing events. Other timelines do exist, but they're distinctly separate from the one Hajime and the Quantum Crew are part of.
• Musical Theme Naming: Arcs that prominently feature Kanade follow this pattern.
• Nothing Is the Same Anymore: Thanks to Hajime and the Quantum Crew's efforts, history changes more and more with each arc.
  • Twilight Syndrome: Natsumi and Sato are alive, and Hajime calls off his participation in the Kamukura project.
  • Practical Exams: The truth about the Warriors of Hope and their families is made public, Nagito receives treatment for his dementia and cancer, Ruruka and Seiko's friendship is repaired and their expulsions along with Sonosuke's are prevented, the world meets Kasugano, and several HP teachers are fired, leading to Kokoro Mitsume and Yoruko Kabuya joining the staff.
  • The Concert: Kanade Otonokoji is exposed and arrested for her crimes, while Hibiki is taken in by Class 77-B.
  • Recovery: Kokoro reaches out to her estranged daughter, Mikako, and the two begin the process of repairing their relationship. Akane and the Void plus Setsuka officially join the Quantum Crew. Sora is revealed to be a time traveler, and is currently inside Akane's head chip.
  • The Storm: The parents of the Warriors of Hope, as well as Haiji Towa, are arrested after Kasugano foils their human trafficking plot, then sentenced to five years in prison. The Warriors themselves are taken in by the Quantum Crew.
  • Hide and Seek: Toko Fukawa agrees to enter a care facility to receive treatment for her Dissociative Identity Disorder, effectively ending Genocider Syo's murder spree. Monaca, now artificially aged up to look like a teenager, goes to live with Kyoji. Umeko also fires up her long-range detector and learns that at least two other time travelers are active in Japan.
  • Twisted Sister: A massive prison break devastates much of Tokyo, Kanade undergoes Death of Personality courtesy of Yasuke and is taken in by Kyoji, Maverick Storm escapes jail, and Class 77-B, along with Chisa and Juzo, all learn about the future. Also, courtesy of the butterfly effect, Kanata Inori is set to join Class 78.
  • The Puppetmaster: Chiaki finds out not only does she have a half-sister she never knew about, but she was also born as a result of Divine Luck; her mother was in the hospital where Utsuro was born and was affected by his first miracle.
  • Before And After: Akane and Chiaki make contact with the kids from 2030 for the first time and now the Quantum Crew has a concrete list of objectives.
  • Family Feud: Hiyoko's mother Maiko finally stands up to her abusive, controlling, bigoted grandmother, cutting ties and promising she and her husband Kohaku decide to be a much bigger and more positive presence in Hiyoko's life.
  • Die Free and Live Hard: Tsurugi's best friend/future boyfriend, Kouhei, is saved from being blown up by a bomb set up by terrorists paid for by Tsurugi's father Juu. Juuu also reveals himself as an Ultimate Despair to his son and those accompanying him, which gets his hand shot off by his son, and his head blown off by Megumi.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: After Hajime makes his first appearance as Kasugano at the Practical exams and exposes some of their secrets regarding the Warriors of Hope, Hope's Peak replaces much of their staff after questioning who could've leaked it all. These replacements include Yoruko Kabuya and Kokoro Mitsume, both of whom prove to be some of Kasugano's most valuable allies.
• No Periods, Period: Averted. In the Black and White Christmas arc, Akane reveals she's currently on hers when questioned by Nikei if she's sterile.
• Oh, Crap!: Everyone has a moment like this when they realize that the fourth time traveler is not only most likely evil, but also has the knowledge of who's important in the original future and is seemingly trying to get rid of them.
• One Degree of Separation: Quite a few examples. Some highlights include:
  • Junko is acquainted with Emma Magorobi, who she's known for a couple years
  • Harumi Nanami, Chiaki's mother, was in the same hospital Utsuro was born in, where his Divine Luck cured her infertility.
  • Mayumi Tamon, Class 76's Ultimate Archer, went to middle school with Mahiru and Sato before Natsumi arrived. Her older brother Hideyoshi is also part of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police alongside Tsurugi and Sasaki.
  • The majority of people in Class 49 are ancestors of the characters from Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony.
  • The prostitute that Kyoji hired also happened to be Himari Matsunaga, Peko's birth mother, who (unwillingly) works for the Holy Salvation Society, who'd later go on to turn Maki Harukawa into an assassin.
• Original Character: A few examples, most of them from Class 75, including Umeko Hayase, the Ultimate Quantum Physicist; Kyoji Nakamura, the former Ultimate Geneticist, and Maverick Storm, the former Ultimate Social Expert.
  • There's also Sayuri, Itsuki, and Kana, the future daughters of Hibiki, Hiyoko, and Chiaki respectively.
  • There's also Damian Miraz, a friend of Aiko Umesawa.
• Parental Issues: A grand majority of the Quantum Crew members have a negative perspective when it comes to parents as many of their own have either been abusive, neglectful or not around to care for them. It also doesn't help that one of their first antagonists were the abusive parents of the Warriors of Hope. And even after meeting genuinely decent parents like Chiaki's mom and dad, most are convinced that it's just a cover and it takes a good while to accept them.
• Parental Obliviousness: Subverted. As of the Storm Dissipates Arc, a majority of the parents from the Quantum Crew and Class 77-B are made aware of the high level antics their children have been getting into the past few months.
• Peggy Sue: The entire story starts with Hajime and at least four others being thrown backward in time from March 14th, 2017, to the year 2012, before the beginning of the Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic event in Human History.
• Polyamory: On Jabberwock, after everyone woke up, Hajime entered into a five-way relationship with Mikan, Mahiru, Hiyoko and Sonia, the latter of whom was also in a relationship with Gundham. Along with saving the world, other plotlines feature Hajime becoming romantically involved with them once again. It eventually comes to include Chiaki, Gundham, and Hibiki Otonokoji. While Mahiru seemed interested, she ends up in a relationship with Sato.
  • It's also mentioned that, after the Final Killing Game, Makoto Naegi married Kyoko and Aoi. His current girlfriend, Iroha, mentioned that she wouldn't mind entering this type of relationship with not only those two, but Sayaka and Mukuro as well.
  • Sonia mentions that polygamy is legal in Novoselic and many past queens have taken multiple husbands.
• Refuge in Audacity: Damian lampshades how Hope's Peak wide range of students leads to things like an archer, a mortician and a dog trainer in the same school, with the former two in the same class.
• Reset Button: Downplayed. After Hajime dies by the hands of Kanade Otonokoji, he finds himself traveling back in time a few hours before his death. He eventually discovers that he has a tattoo of 9 dots on his back which basically represent extra lives. If he were to die, then he can be sent a few hours back before his designated death. Despite this discovery, Hajime doesn't like it as much since he can still feel the sensations of his death and would prefer not to die so easily.
• Sadistic Choice: Hajime and Chiaki's parents are faced with one when they learn about their work in the Quantum Crew and why they are doing it. Either A. they force their children to stop their work, keeping them safe, but that guarantees that The Tragedy will happen, since Junko isn't defeated yet or B. they allow their kids to continue with what they are doing, but risk seeing them get hurt like Kana.
• Speak in Unison: Chiaki and Kana both nervously talk at the same time when they learn that their parents are coming to Storm's island to come rescue them. In spite of their worries, they break down laughing over how ridiculous it was.
• Set Right What Once Went Wrong: The goal of the mission isn't just stopping the Tragedy, but stopping every bad event in the Danganronpa timeline.
• Share the Male Pain: After Hiyoko gives a Groin Attack to Maverick Storm, Kyoji comments that even he felt that.
• Sharing a Body: An interesting case occurs with Akane Taira and Sora. Thanks to receiving a microchip being installed in Akane's brain, Sora is able to speak with her whenever she wants. The two don't mind the situation since they see each other as sisters but Sora does get weirded out by Akane's perverted thoughts.
• Shout-Out: This being Danganronpa, it was inevitable.
  • As mentioned above, there are many to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
  • The blog's title and methods of time travel directly reference the H. P. Lovecraft novel The Shadow Out of Time
  • The method of time travel are also very similar to SHIFTing in Zero Escape, which Hajime and Chiaki both acknowledge at one point.
  • Akane keeps emergency bacon stashes all around the school.
  • When Class 77-B learns Hajime is Kasugano and about the Tragedy future, Ibuki asks if they've been digging up new conspiracies and asks if the Freemasons, Illuminati and Naixatloz are also involved.
  • During The Puppetmaster Arc, while debating whether to go back to save the hostages right away or shut down the radio jammers to contact everybody for backup, Kana suggests they use Divine Luck. Taira tells her that's not how Divine Luck works.
  • Kana sings the Shrek 2 version of Holding Out for a Hero while the heroes battle Maverick's forces.
  • During the Clouds Pass Arc, Kotoko mentions that she and her friends played Yu-Gi-Oh!.
  • During Juu Kinjo's self-proclamation as a hero of justice, Setsuka snarks about him pulling out a killer notebook while he's at it.
  • As part of Junya's humiliation, Sora hacks the speakers to broadcast an announcement written by an anon which turns out to be a version of the infamous Moon rant from Real-Time Fandub.
• Shown Their Work: The mod has taken the time to research the more serious mental disabilities such as Dissociative Identity Disorder or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
• So Proud of You: When Chiaki's parents learn about just what their daughter has been up too, they are beyond proud that she's become a hero.
• Solar Punk: 2030 has this aesthetic.
• Something Only They Would Say: When Sora is revealed to the Quantum Crew, Nikei is skeptical if that's the real one. She proves herself by repeating her last words to the survivors of her Killing Game.
• Spared by the Adaptation: The Quantum Crew is hoping to invoke this by preventing The Tragedy to ensure the survival of not just their friends and loved ones but for the millions who would have perished from the Despair Wars.
  • A more straight example would be Daiya Oowada. He survived his "man's challenge" with Mondo but is now destined to live the rest of his life as a paraplegic.
• Storming the Castle:
  • The titular Storm Arc features the Quantum Crew raiding the warehouse district where the traffickers are hiding and holding their friends prisoner.
  • The crew attempts this again during the Puppetmaster arc when they plan to storm Maverick Storm's island, but it turns out to be a trap, forcing most of them to turn back, other then Hajime and Chiaki, who were already on the island and Akane Taira, who was knocked overboard.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: The death of Kana Ise. When shot in the abdomen by a hollow-point round, Only a Flesh Wound is absolutely not in effect: she loses a lot of blood and has to have her ruined intestines replaced, which takes time and weakens their body enough for septicemia to set in. Despite the best efforts of everyone at the hospital, Kana has very little chance of survival and dies when the infection reaches her lungs.
• Tangled Family Tree: Best showcased here, which shows not only the Cuddle Puddle, their parents and relatives, but also their future kids and even grandkids.
• Tarot Motifs: A majority of the Quantum Crew members use codenames based on tarot cards.
• Temporal Mutability: Mainly a Type 4, but with elements of both 2 and 3 as well. It's possible for history to be changed, but a series of inconvenient coincidental phenomenon- dubbed the "ankle effect" after its first appearance lead to Hajime tripping and twisting his ankle- will happen and try to keep history on its original path, with its severity seemingly proportional to the importance of the event. However, if the event is changed, then history will carry on in a new direction. These new changes and their butterflies also don't seem to produce ankle effects of their own.
• The Time Traveller's Dilemma: Discussed at several points. Hajime and his allies are aware that, as horrible as the Tragedy future is, a lot of good people were there, and they're essentially erasing the events that would lead to a lot of people becoming heroes and having families of their own. Later on, when Umeko confirms that her future self is the one who invents time travel, she concludes that once they've changed enough aspects of the timeline, the Tragedy future and everybody living there- including the original minds of the past versions of Hajime, Yoruko, and the fourth time traveler- will be overwritten by the new future. In the most likely scenario is that they'll all be erased from existence; the only things left will be the minds of the time travelers themselves. While Umeko is broken up about it, she and the group accept that it's still for the best.
• The Reveal: In the Old Ghosts Arc, we finally learn the identity of patient 8702: Ryoko Otanashi.
• Thou Shalt Not Kill: Hajime and his allies adamantly refuse to kill anyone in their quest to change the future. Later on, especially in season 2, the trope is both discussed and deconstructed:
  • On the one hand, it's tempting to say that they have to be better than their enemies, and it's understandable given how traumatized many of them are from seeing death, especially Hajime, Yoruko, and Sora. And importantly, given their precarious situation with the law, killing criminals could lead to their downfall. However, not only can they not save everyone, but in some cases, death may be the only option; some people simply can't be redeemed and death might actually be preferable for others.
  • Brutally exploited by Tsumugi in the far future as the 2030 team explain during the Price of Fate arc. In detail, due to Hajime being such a good person his (and the Quantum Crew’s by extension) Thou Shalt Not Kill policy rubs off on the Kisaragi Foundation and they refuse to kill Tsumugi when they try to apprehend her, she then uses this to outsmart and kill them all and cause Danganronpa V3
• Time Travel: The core theme involves Hajime unwittingly traveling back to the past. It's eventually revealed that he isn't the only time traveler.
• Truth in Television: As many characters and askers point out, Hope's Peak was founded in the 1930's, at the height of the Empire of Japan's prominence. The school's elitist attitude and eugenicist practices involving Reserve Course students bring to mind the atrocities carried out by Unit-731. Rather than something unique to them, the school simply seems to have quietly carried these beliefs into the 21st century.
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: No one really seems to have a problem with the anons talking to them and either helping or criticizing them.
• Wham Shot: The Cuddle Puddle family tree shows stuff that, for the most part, readers already knew, until revealing that their granddaughter is none other then Kaede Akamatsu.
• Wild Card: The unknown person in the raincoat who appears in the Puppetmaster arc. At first, it appears that they are on Maverick's side due to them seemingly stalking Makoto, but they also were the one who warned Ayame and Kiriko about the mob around Hope's Peak. With them being revealed to be Kyoko, they are now known to be on the side of heroes.
• A World Half Full: 2030, aka the better future shaped by the Quantum Crew is a nice example. On the one hand, there are still societal issues, climate change has progressed to a serious point and there's a time-travelling conspiracy at work trying to undermine it all. On the other hand, the world is slowly healing from the upheavals that took place during the 2020's and has become much more technologically advanced and eco-friendly. In addition, it's become something of a Free-Love Future, where Japan allows people to have multiple partners and even children from them, all of whom are legally recognized.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Mikan gives a speech to Hajime when he starts getting down on himself during The Storm Dissipates, telling him that even if some people have gotten hurt due to his actions, he's made so many others' lives better.

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