Danganronpa: Rejuvenation is a Danganronpa fanfic written by the user Medio, taking place in a continuity seperate from the source material.
Centuries after the first killing game, humanity has rebuilt itself from the disaster and has continued life as normal. However, an elusive company known as Rejuvenation plans to do what the past left behind: re-establish the concept of Ultimates and train those with enough skill to reach that goal. Tsukiko Masayoshi receives a letter in the mail and, wanting to change the world for the better, accepts to become the Ultimate Sharpshooter.
However, what she didn’t expect was to be trapped in the school with her classmates, forced into the first killing game in centuries. With her dedicating herself to stopping the game and putting whoever succumbs to it to justice, it soon becomes clear that "justice" isn't something she can define so easily.
The story, as well as the characters' Free Time Events, are fully completed, and can be found here.
Tropes in Danganronpa: Rejuvenation include:
- A Day in the Limelight: Chapter 3 has the Aya interludes, where the focus is on the life of Tsukiko's second personality.
- The end of Chapter 4 has “[redacted]”, which focuses on Nakami making sure a part of his past remains buried, and the reveal that he ruined the final secret-exposing tape.
- Chapter 5 has "...Everything We've Got", which focuses on each of the remaining cast members investigating a previously-locked-off part of the school.
- A House Divided: The central conflict of Chapter 4. After the fact Rejuvenation was destroyed is revealed to the class, the cast is split into those who want to reveal the culprit's identity, those who see it as a ruse and want to dispose of any potentially-incriminating information, and those trying to diffuse the other sides. This leads to lots of in-fighting, until the sides are disbanded when the two figureheads are coerced into a compromise.
- Awful Truth: As Chapter 6 reveals, the class (as well as Aya and Nozomi’s side of the class) witnessed Ichika’s friend’s class get massacred, and were trapped from being able to save them. They later blamed Rejuvenation for it and went on to massacre them in retaliation, despite Rejuvenation being completely innocent of the crime. This is enough to send almost everyone still alive into a Despair Event Horizon.
- Bittersweet Ending: While the remaining students survive the killing game, they now know their past transgression and need to learn to live with them.
- Black Comedy: Despite the threat of death looming over everyone’s heads, the cast is quick to humorous banter between one another. Not even class trials are safe.
- Bland-Name Product: Two involving certain classmates: "Operation Fashion", the show Asami won and pushed her into stardom, is one of Project Runway, while Benjiro's company ZTM is a riff on TMZ.
- Breaking Old Trends: A couple:
- Despite the initial body discovery, Chapter 3 only has one victim. At least, it seems that way.
- Chapter 4 actually features two victims, something not even the class realized.
- Chapter 6 reveals that two masterminds are technically controlling the killing game, with one of them being the "traitor" trying to stop the killing game.
- Central Theme: Justice vs. Vengeance, and how each person interprets it.
- Chekhov's Gun: In Chapter 1, Saori escapes getting killed by Noboru by cutting him with a glass shard. Later, this item points her directly to the crime, since it was the only sharp object in the school and Noboru’s dried blood got transferred onto the rope when it was cut.
- During the start of Chapter 2, Tsukiko’s guns and ammunition are taken away from her by Benjiro, Yuuna and Haruto and Noriko, Ichika, and Hibiki, respectively. This information comes up in the trial, where only Ichika could have grabbed the ammunition used for the murder, as the other two never left the stage room.
- Chekhov's News: During the first chapter of the prologue, Tsukiko’s shown to be reading an excerpt of a newspaper article, which describes the assassination of an escaped prisoner. Said article is later discovered at the first crime scene, and the entire article is read out post-trial, revealing Tsukiko herself was behind the assassination.
- Clear Their Name: Chapter 1 paints Tsukiko and Chie as the biggest suspects for Noboru’s death, with the former lying about her whereabouts previously and the latter being in the perfect position to create the trap that killed them. Both are acquitted once Saori’s proven to be the killer
- Likewise, Chapter 3 has Hibiki be suspected of Asami’s death, due to the likelihood he was possessed to commit the crime, and seemingly all evidence leading back to him. It’s only due to a slip of the tongue by Misao that completely frees him of guilt.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Tsukiko and Asami attempt to do so on Koto during Chapter 3, with the latter believing he was behind her attacks and the former believing he'll kill otherwise. Misao stops things before they get too far, however.
- Cycle of Revenge: It turns out the entire killing game was based on this: after Ichika’s friend’s class was massacred before their eyes, most of the students ended up trying to kill Rejuvenation after blaming them for it. When people were massacred during that, Rejuvenation ended up taking revenge for the innocent people lost, putting their students in a death game.
- Dies Wide Open: Ichika’s body in Chapter 2, and Yutaka's body in Chapter 4.
- "Eureka!" Moment: During Chapter 1's trial, Tsukiko lamenting over how the victim "missed their chance to help" leads her to realizing the killer: Saori was the only person in the gym's search group who "missed their chance" to go through the gym passage, lingering and grabbing the poster used to find the chute.
- Fission Mailed: In Chapter 5, Noriko ends up deceiving the class hard enough to create an incorrect vote, almost getting them executed. However, Monokuma ends up being overridden to stop the execution and giving them one more shot.
- Gory Discretion Shot: Tsukiko never gets to see Noboru’s dead body once the object crushing them is removed. According to Chie and Hibiki, she was lucky she didn’t.
- Grand Theft Me: Chapter 3's motive: a second personality has been placed inside of them, which will slowly overtake their bodies the longer time passes.
- Hoist by Their Own Petard: The first murderer, Saori, gets hit with this big time. First, their own eyewitness report, something they were smug about, pointed them directly in a room that could be used to flee the crime scene. Then, the glass shard they used to cut Noboru and prove a point with comes into play, with it being the only possible object used to cut the rope.
- Hope Spot: After Tsukiko breaks the USB the group finds and refuses to trust any of them, Nakami manages to die her paranoia down. However, this is quickly ruined by Noriko re-entering the room and exposing Nakami’s past to everyone.
- Hypocrisy Nod: In a meta sense. When Monokuma is talking about the second motive, he uses an example about a prime minister needing to return to their ruined country. When someone points out how unrealistic this is, he points out how Saori started a rebellion, Hibiki works for the government, and Chie and Benjiro have their own thriving businesses.
- I Never Said It Was Poison: What ends up tipping off Tsukiko that Misao's an imposter during Chapter 3, albeit for reasons outside the murder itself: Misao couldn't have watched an unreleased film made by an all-in-one director, and shouldn't have knowledge about it to begin with unless her second personality was told directly about it.
- Impartial Purpose-Driven Faction: Nakami, Koto, Yuuna and Ryou end up developing a peacekeeping faction during Chapter 4, to help counter the in-fighting involving the secret-exposers and the secret-keepers. However, it's clear they aren't 100% neutral, as Koto and Nakami lean towards hiding information and Yuuna attempts murder to keep her own secret.
- Ironic Death: Noboru, a student who lived away from modern civilization for most of his life, was crushed to death by a piece of technology.
- Karmic Death: Saori’s motive for murder was to try and kill Tsukiko, who they thought was the mastermind thanks to her past as a vigilante. So during the execution, when they finally give in and decide to go out on their terms, Monokuma shoots them to death.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: During Koto’s first free time event, he’s cynical of the concept of Tsukiko hanging out with him. As he sees it, she’ll just hang out with him until there’s nothing left to know, then ditch him to start over with someone else.
- During Chapter 2’s investigation, Haruto refuses to give Tsukiko an explanation for a clue she found. However, he encourages her to look into it, telling her to picture herself as the lead detective in a sea of potential murderers. She points out how this isn’t exactly difficult.
- Mythology Gag:
- When Ryou mopes about his shortness in his first free time event, Tsukiko tells him that there’s a tennis player way shorter than him.
- When explaining Chapter 2’s motives to the class, Monokuma explains that people would do crazy things to escape and fix what was ruined in the outside world. He uses an example of a prime minister who murdered someone to fix their country, describing Tojo’s motivations in Danganronpa V3.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: As stated by Monokuma, the first murder likely wouldn’t have happened if the students didn’t snoop around where they weren’t supposed to. It was during this search that Saori realized Tsukiko’s bullets connected her to Neon Justice, setting in motion the actual motive for murder.
- Person of Mass Destruction: Chapter 2 introduces the Ultimate Executioner, a mysterious figure who both racked up a sizable body count and is the main suspect behind a second killing game.
- Recurring Element: Several of the murders have one:
- Chapter 1 has the death of characters set up to be important to the narrative, as both the supposed-deuteragonist Noboru and rival Saori end up killed during the chapter.
- Chapter 2 has a character’s past influencing their death, with Ichika being manipulated into a fake suicide pact (and killing herself once it fails) due to hers.
- Chapter 3 has a double murder (despite what it initially seems like), as Misao is killed by Asami, and Asami is killed by the person possessing Misao’s dead body.
- Chapter 4 has the token muscular character dying, as Yutaka’s killed by Haruto due to playing a part in Benjiro’s death.
- Chapter 5 has the death of an important character, with Tsukiko being shot in the head by Hibiki after nearly killing her entire class.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: The class was right to suspect Rejuvenation of being the masterminds of the killing game, but not because they were an evil company; they were actually taking revenge on the students for killing most of the staff, despite them being innocent.
- Sacrificial Lion: Noboru and Saori. The former was implied to be the deuteragonist, while the latter was portrayed as the main rival.
- Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Chapter 4’s murder was caused by Yuuna trying to protect her real identity as the Ultimate Drag Queen. However, it ends up being revealed to everyone during the trial anyways.
- Ship Tease: All over the place. Outside of those used for quick jokes:
- Ichika is affectionate to Koto, despite everyone (including Koto) hating the idea. She acts as his personal translator for a short while, happily gives him her device so he can communicate again, and outright tells him how much she admires him in Chapter 2. It’s noticeable that while Koto is quick to insult her, he also gets flustered at her kindness. Even after Ichika's killed by him, she's the one having to convince him to go through with it, with him feeling so guilty about it that he voluntarily executes himself, then pulls a Heel–Face Turn with Misao's help.
- Chie softens considerably when around Hibiki, constantly giving him the benefit of the doubt, trying to get him to believe in himself more, and blushing over him during various points in the story. Meanwhile, while Hibiki's painfully oblivious to her feelings, he shows her a similar level of respect. It's notable that, even after it's revealed Chie was the secondary mastermind and erased Hibiki's memories of her, that she regrets having to hurt him to keep their mission going, and that Hibiki still believes she's capable of good long after seeing her true colours.
- Shout-Out: During Chapter 2, Monokuma tries to convince Tsukiko to try and punish Chie, since she blocked off the hallway passage. After she refuses to kill her, he suggests for her to throw a horse head in her bed.
- During the same chapter’s investigation, Tsukiko finds Haruto in the stage room, who states he’s looking for ghosts, wondering if he'll see the ghosts of their younger selves endlessly waiting for the girls upstairs.
- Suicide, Not Murder: The main debate of Chapter 2: Did Ichika kill themself, or did a second party ambush them while visiting? It turns out both are correct: she was part of a suicide pact, but was tricked into being the only person killed in it.
- Talent Contest: A central plot point in Chapter 2: Ichika decides to run a talent show in order to boost morale, thanks to the motives. Several people participate in it, Tsukiko included.
- Tragic Mistake: Mixed with A Tragedy of Impulsiveness, but Chapter 6 reveals that Rejuvenation never actually caused the massacre of Ichika's friend's class, and that the students ended up killing innocent staff members because of it.
- Villain Reveals the Secret: The motive of Chapter 4: two secrets will be revealed each day, with the students being forced to attend the announcement of them.
- Villainous Breakdown: Happens on several different occasions:
- Despite remaining cool and collected after initially being accused of Noboru’s murder, Saori quickly loses her temper the more she’s cornered, eventually threatening to kill the others if she’s voted for.
- Double Subverted with Koto. After being exposed as Ichika's killer, he happily gloats over his crime. It’s only after he learn that he wasn’t technically the culprit that he breaks down.
- Finally, Chie loses her composure twice during the final trial: once when the class keeps accusing Rejuvenation of being an evil company, and later when Koto ends up shutting off the mass execution she wanted them to atone for their crimes with.
- Wham Episode: Chapter 5 has “And Justice For All”, which has two major plot points: Nakami having his past revealed, with him specifically killing fifteen people sometime in his past, and Tsukiko being driven to so much anger at the injustices around her that she tries shooting them all to death, officially putting her into Villain Protagonist territory.
- Wham Line: A major one appears at the end of the first trial, where it’s revealed Tsukiko isn’t exactly the most trustworthy person:The only thing that links them to their crimes is their form of execution. During the dead of night, they would strike their target dead with a series of neon pink bullets.
- After the end of the second trial, Hibiki rushes into the execution area after the culprit’s been killed. When the others follow him and wonder just what he’s doing, they learn the following:
TSUKIKO: Hibiki, calm down. I know this is probably hard for you, but it's too late to do anything.HIBIKI: No it isn't! Koto survived that execution!- During the fourth trial, Tsukiko deduces something about the suspected killer:
TSUKIKO: Admit it, Yuuna. You're actually the Ultimate Drag Queen, aren't you?- After witnessing a dead body get put through an execution, Nakami delivers possibly the biggest one in the story:
That... was Tsukiko. - Whole Episode Flashback: Every "Chapter ???" veers from the main storyline this way:
- Chapter 2's opens up on an unknown party giving tips to the class on how to survive.
- Chapter 3’s is a broadcast being sent out, with the person issuing it crying out for help as an unknown assailant slaughters their associates.
- Chapter 4 has a monologue from Nozomi, the personality that murdered Asami the chapter prior, explaining her time at Rejuvenation.
- Finally, Chapter 5 consists of a conversation between Nakami and Tsukiko, with her pressuring him into joining an unknown cause with her.
