Fanfic / Everyone's Brand New and Improved Killing Game Semester

Everyone's Brand New and Improved Killing Game Semester is a Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony fanfiction written by Nhitori, which began on October 23rd, 2017. It updates near-daily with approximately 1,000 word chapters and is an alternative Killing Game, in which the characters of the original work have had their talents shuffled around. As the title indicates, nothing ends up playing out even remotely the same way.

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Everyone's Brand New and Improved Killing Game Semester contains examples of:

• Abstract Apotheosis: Following Yumeno's death, Chabashira, Ouma, and others rally around her memory and call themselves "Yumeno's Angels".
• Activist-Fundamentalist Antics: The reason that Idabashi attempts to get away with murder.
• Adaptational Heroism: Ouma is markedly less of an asshole, and does not play up a comically evil personality throughout a majority of the story until Saihara is murdered, at which point he returns to his canonical Devil May Care attitude.
  • Shirogane though still ending up a murderer is not the Mastermind, which alone is an improvement over the original canon. She also turns out to genuinely love Kaede and feels regret over her actions, though she's still fairly manipulative.
• Adaptational Villainy: Whoever the Mastermind is, as they were not the Mastermind in the original canon. It's Angie.
  • Also Kiibo Idabashi, as he accidentally becomes an antagonistic figure in the third trial.
• Adaptation Personality Change: Everybody has a different talent and backstory, leading to mildly different personalities all around.
• Adventurer Archaeologist: Tenko Chabashira is one of these, but often lampshades it by saying that it makes sense that she would be an Adventurer Anthropologist, as having an Ultimate Talent does mean going above and beyond.
  • Under a similar heading, Shirogane subverts the trope in having the title of Ultimate Astronaut while actually being a scientist behind space travel, rather than somebody who truly aspires to go to space herself.
• A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Maki's programming regarding Asimov's Laws of Robotics.
• Alas, Poor Villain: The culprits of the murders.
  • Reversed in the first trial, as the culprit is already dead and nobody ever misses him.
  • Nobody holds Kaito's death against Maki, as the murder was out of her control and memory.
    • Though it's later revealed that Angie blames Maki, for being a robot to begin with.
  • Lampshaded by Akamatsu after the third trial, when she states that her tendency to believe in people over the law makes her, unfortunately, likely to overlook a murder and just mourn Idabashi's death, as well as continue her relationship with the surviving culprit. Everyone else has a fairly condemning attitude towards Kaede's way of thinking, but try to understand.
  • Arguably, the mastermind as well, since they're are part of the tragic Ultimates. Even more so because it's Angie, who we've seen the backstory of.
• All Men Are Perverts: Chabashira has this outlook or so it seems at first, until she admits that it was only a snap judgment, and she's actually quite fond of her male peers. Though she has a funny way of showing it.
• Alternate Universe: The whole story revolves around every one of the NDRV3 cast having their talents swapped. The swapped talents are as follows:
  • Shuichi Saihara: Ultimate Detective to Ultimate Artist
  • Kaede Akamatsu: Ultimate Pianist to Ultimate Detective
  • Rantaro Amami: Ultimate ??? (Ultimate Survivor) to Ultimate Inventor
  • Kokichi Ouma: Ultimate Supreme Leader to Ultimate Magician
  • Ryoma Hoshi: Ultimate Tennis Pro to Ultimate ??? (Ultimate Survivor)
  • Kiibo Idabashi: Ultimate Robot to Ultimate Supreme Leader
  • Tenko Chabashira: Ultimate Aikido Master to Ultimate Anthropologist
  • Gonta Gokuhara: Ultimate Entomologist to Ultimate Aikido Master
  • Miu Iruma: Ultimate Inventor to Ultimate Maid
  • Tsumugi Shirogane: Ultimate Cosplayer to Ultimate Astronaut
  • Kaito Momota: Ultimate Astronaut to Ultimate Entomologist
  • Angie Yonaga: Ultimate Artist to Ultimate Pianist
  • Maki Harukawa: Ultimate Child Caregiver/Ultimate Assassin to Ultimate Robot
  • Korekiyo Shiguuji: Ultimate Antropologist to Ultimate Assassin
  • Himiko Yumeno: Ultimate Magician to Ultimate Tennis Pro
  • Kirumi Tojo: Ultimate Maid to Ultimate Cosplayer
  • The Mastermind was also swapped. It went from Tsumugi to Angie.
• Arc Villain: Idabashi during the lead-up to and occurrence of the third trial.
• Asshole Victim: Shinguji's painful suicide.
  • Also Tsumugi's punishment of imprisonment within her lab, at the mercy of any of her peers, for the remainder of the Killing Game after she is not executed.
• Bad Samaritan: Whoever the Mastermind is has still been helping and befriending the other characters. Could also be considered Bitch in Sheep's Clothing.
• Because I'm Good At It: Ouma's explanation for why he became a magician, and later, why he let his manager blackmail him into sexual favors in order to keep getting gigs.
• Beetle Maniac: Kaito Momota is one from his very introduction, comparing the beauty of beetles to the beauty of stars.
• Better the Devil You Know: Part of the reason why nobody wants to escape the Killing Game.
• Big Bad: The Mastermind, Angie.
  • Big Bad Wannabe: The Mastermind may not be as responsible for the deaths as they are in other Danganronpa works, as no murder has actually been committed as a direct result of a Monokuma Motive. The executions also seem a bit less painful than they ought to be.
  • Non-Action Big Bad: The Big Bad seems to be slacking on encouraging murders, based on the nature of the motives delivered.
    • As it turns out, the motives weren't all created by Angie. Korekiyo and Kaede both helped mastermind the motives.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: The culprit of the second case turns out to have been compelled against her will to kill somebody by the programming of her robot body.
• Buffy Speak: Some of Angie's dialogue when she tries to talk about serious things is... special.
• Characterization Marches On: Usually a bad thing.
  • Ouma goes from an annoying but nice guy, to generally tolerable, then plummets back down to a chaotic nihilist.
    • Ouma also admits that he had no will to live before the Killing Game, but after meeting Saihara he's motivated to survive. Even after Saihara's death, he states that he won't give up and die like the old him would have.
  • Akamatsu seems to be an upstanding, optimistic detective until the moment when she offers to kill somebody just to keep Shirogane's secrets from being revealed to everyone. She continues slipping from this point, overlooking Shirogane's own murder she wasn't executed for just because she has feelings for her.
    • Shirogane herself, despite becoming a murderer, doesn't actually change very much in this situation.
  • Chabashira slowly loses her grip on the optimistic front she displays to the others in an attempt to keep their spirits up, especially around Akamatsu. Gokuhara seems to be the only one who can distract her if she starts slipping.
  • Amami actually experiences a positive bit of character development, resolving to "stop running away, and stop just making plans to run away" after having crossed his Despair Event Horizon following Maki's execution.
• Chekhov's Gun: An important part of any Danganronpa.
  • A big one is the near inaccessible flashback lights placed after the third trial. The following events are as a direct result of these flashback lights:
    • The one placed in the end of the Death Road of Despair results in Tenko killing Gonta in a misguided attempt at protecting the others from the outside world by having them executed by voting wrong.
    • The one on the roof is used as proof to conclude that the mastermind and Monokuma aren't necessarily working together.
    • Finally, the fact that Angie was trying collect them and show everyone was used to convince everyone that she was the mastermind.
• Conditioned to Accept Horror: Basically every character, out of necessity of being in the Killing Game.
  • Subverted by Kaede. She mentions that despite being a detective, each body she sees starts affecting her more than the last.
• The Conspiracy: Future Foundation seems to be this after the third trial. Ultimate Despair also receives mention.
  • Maki's scientists who sent the update which caused her to commit a murder may be this.
• Corrupt Church: Angie's backstory turns out to be a subversion as it wasn't the church that was corrupt, but the previous oracle who was her teacher.
• Corrupt Politician: What Future Foundation wanted Idabashi to become. In a way, he fulfills their wishes in the third trial.
• Crapsack World: Every student within the Killing Game seems to feel that the outside world is a representation of a Crapsack World, down to having no motivation to escape ahead of Monokuma's promised three years because even a Killing Game is better, for some, than the tragedy of their normal lives.
• Crowd Pleaser: Kokichi Ouma's Traditional Vaudeville Magic Show is an example of Ouma being a crowd pleaser Until it turns out that throwing a magic show was the catalyst for Maki's programming to force her into committing murder
  • Miu Iruma is also an example of this trope, pledging her service as a maid to everyone around her and offering to do anything they want, even sexual favors. As later revealed is a very good thing for Miu, nobody takes her up on this offer.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: So far, only Shinguji's suicide and Idabashi's execution truly fall under this heading. Depending on when Saihara died during his murder, his may also qualify. Maki's execution was not especially horrifying, as she was a robot, and all other victims have died in fairly pedestrian ways.
  • Angie's execution as the mastermind is now a part of this as she is forced to play Chopsticks with Monokuma as threads are pulled tighter against their bodies. When the song is finished, all the threads are retracted, leaving cuts across their bodies, and they slowly bleed out. A giant stone falls and crushes them both before they can bleed out.
• Cuddle Bug: Chabashira is a very physical person Which nearly creates a rift between her and Angie, when grabbing her shoulders gave her a panic attack.
  • Ouma is this, but only towards Saihara.
  • Angie is actually very snuggly herself, but states that she can't have her 'shoulders,waist, or kneecaps' touched. This is due to her piano teacher trying to sexually assault her.
• Darker and Edgier: When compared to the original NDRV3, this fic has far more angst, lampshaded by stating that all characters were specifically selected for the Killing Game as "Tragic Ultimates". The backstories in this work are much more in line with the backstories of SDR2 than they are their source material.
• Dark Mistress: After continuing her relationship with Shirogane following her failure to be executed for a murder, Akamatsu could be considered this. Downplayed, in that Shirogane isn't a horrible person.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: Following the third trial, Akamatsu loses her hold on the hopeful protagonist archetype, becoming deeply flawed and losing the trust of her peers.
• Decoy Protagonist: In a surprising turn of events, Shuichi Saihara, who up until this point was a main protagonist with Kaede, becomes the the first victim of the Chapter 3 case and the protagonist role reverts to Kaede and surprisingly, Angie.
  • Happens once again, this time with Angie as she is actually the mastermind.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: Invoked during the second trial, when Ouma's alibi is that he and Saihara "slept together", sleeping in the same room, the previous night. While actually an innocent statement, the other characters don't see it that way.
• The Dog Was the Mastermind: Like most Killing Games, the Mastermind is somewhere among the main cast.
• Driven to Villainy: Any culprit, and likely the Mastermind as well, have harsh and tragic pasts that the Killing Game only exaggerates. Confirmed for the mastermind when it's revealed that it's Angie, who we've already seen the past of.
• Driven to Suicide: Shinguji invokes this at the very beginning of the Killing Game, killing himself and taking Yumeno down with him before having the chance to get killed by anyone else.
  • Following Maki's execution, Amami attempts to kill himself out of guilt and hopelessness, having crossed the Despair Event Horizon. However, he turns it around to Character Development after Angie saves his life.
  • Both Ouma and Chabashira invoke this trope regarding their lives prior to the Killing Game.
  • Angie admits to Amami she contemplated it after she'd been sexually assaulted.
  • Gonta was theorized to have committed suicide after seeing the flashback light at the end of the Death Road of Despair when he's found dead under the floorboards on the fifth floor.
  • Both Kokichi and Angie are willing to be victims in Chapter 5 because they lack wills to live after their experiences.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Since the Mastermind is revealed to have the Ultimate Talent of Ultimate Judgment, not Ultimate Despair it's safe to assume this trope applies.
  • Since it's Angie, we know they have standards.
• Fan Nickname: Kiibo Idabashi has been nicknamed "Kiishimaru" as a result of his swapped talent personality's similarity to the first game's equally fervent Moral Guardian.
• Fool for Love: Ouma falling for Saihara; He invokes the trope audibly following Saihara's death by saying 'only an idiot would fall in love in a place like this.'
  • Akamatsu also lampshades this when, despite saying she hadn't fallen for Shirogane, she's terrified of losing her.
  • Amami and Angie try to avoid this by promising each other that they won't love each other. It doesn't exactly work.
• Friend to Bugs: Kaito Momota, as the Ultimate Entomologist, is this. As is Amami, who cares for the abandoned bugs following Momota's murder.
• Freudian Excuse: Idabashi's murder attempt is a direct result of his poor upbringing to be a Despair-fighting supreme leader.
• Freud Was Right: Anytime two characters get involved, the others tend to make assumptions beyond the truth.
  • For example, It was pretty clear that people believed Saihara and Ouma to have gone farther with their relationship than they did.
• Functional Addict: Shirogane is revealed to have been this prior to the Killing Game. She has a relapse in Chapter 4 that leads to her and Kaede getting locked in her lab until the trial.
• Good Girl Gone Bad: Kaede Akamatsu after the third trial, due to her utter refusal to abandon Shirogane, the culprit.
• Hanging Judge: Possibly the Mastermind, as they've been stated to be called "Ultimate Judgment".
• Hates Being Alone: Tsumugi Shirogane. due to her abandonment issues relating to her stepbrother.
• Hates Being Touched: Angie Yonaga though only in regards to her shoulders, waist, and kneecaps. These are the places she was touched when the previous oracle on her island tried to sexually assault her.
• Hate Sink: Korekiyo Shinguji serves as one for the audience and characters. Subverted after his backstory is revealed. He was killing for his sister, but not to send girls to her. He was killing people associated with despair in her name.
• Heroic BSoD: Before Akamatsu completes her change to a Good Girl Gone Bad, she experiences one of these upon her discovery of Saihara's corpse.
• Hope Crusher: Monokuma at least. Possibly the Mastermind as well. Nope, the Mastermind is a Well-Intentioned Extremist Dark Messiah for Hope.
• Hope Is Scary: An integral part of Danganronpa.
  • Specifically invoked by Chabashira when she and Akamatsu believe they are going to die underground. Chabashira asks if hope is even something real, because she can't remember experiencing it in the outside world, and wonders if hope was something made up just to make despair worse.
• Ho Yay: Very present especially between Ouma and Saihara.
• Kill the Cutie: Yumeno is the first to die, in all of her adorableness.
  • Also applies to Saihara's death.
  • Can arguably apply to Angie's execution, even though she's the mastermind.
• Les Yay: Quite present.
  • Angie occasionally seems to flirt with Chabashira, prior to a minor rift forming between them.
  • Akamatsu is distracted by Miu's short skirt. Shirogane even rats her her out at the picnic in Chapter 5.
  • Shirogane and Akamatsu just won't stop.
• Long-Lost Relative: Shirogane describes her backstory of having an older stepbrother who mysteriously disappeared several years before the Killing Game. That's because it was Ryoma, who was participating in his first Killing Game.
• Misery Builds Character: Applies to every character, given their backstories as Tragic Ultimates.
  • Also applies to Chabashira, as she admits prior to the third trial that before the Killing Game, she never valued her own life.
• Mood Whiplash: A standard of Danganronpa, as it flips between intense despair during and just after trials, before returning to shenanigans until the next death. However, with each trial the tone over the shenanigans does grow less and less uplifting.
• Moral Event Horizon: When Shinguji engineers the death of Yumeno in the first trial.
  • Also applies in part to Shirogane escaping execution for her murder of Tojo in the third case, though it's only a majority of characters who hate her, rather than all of them.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: When Ouma withholds Monokuma's Letter intended for Idabashi, it may or may not have led to the death of his own boyfriend.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Gokuhara may fall under this trope, as he speaks in broken patterns and claims not to be very smart, but sometimes says the one thing to make the trial progress, and has very good people skills. Especially when it comes to dealing with Chabashira's moments of despair.
• Obliviously Evil: When Idabashi kills Saihara, his overall goal is to kill everyone there in what he believes to be a mercy kill, thinking they'd all been infected with Despair Fever.
• Oh, Crap!: When Akamatsu and Chabashira find they're trapped underground, and completely expect to die there.
• Pedophile Priest: While not a priest, Angie was sexually assaulted by the previous oracle on her island.
• Sanity Slippage: Chabashira went completely nuts when she and Gokuhara saw the flashback light at the end of the Death Road to Despair. She was crazy enough to kill Gokuhara in an attempt to "protect" everyone by getting them killed at the trial. Kokichi snaps her out of it by pointing out how she's being no better than the people hurt them all in the first place.
• Tragic Villain: Idabashi, as he genuinely believed he was doing what was best for his friends.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Idabashi falls under this heading during the third case, in which he becomes motivated to mercy-kill all of his peers due to his own despair and the despair he perceived in them.