Main installments: Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc | Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair | Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School | Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony
Spin-offs: Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls
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Fridge Horror
- As awesome as it was to see the Ultimate Despair Remnants rampaging through the world, Gundham has a massive dose of fridge horror. What appears to be a scarf on his design is actually, at a closer glance, a massive snake. Remember what snakes are known for eating. Small rodents and other such mammals. It's not hard to work out what Gundham might have done with his beloved "Dark Devas"…
- Averted thanks to side: hope. His 12 zodiac generals are unharmed.
- Bandai's death for two reasons:
- He was "the ultimate farmer" . Meaning the guy who was most skilled at producing food for the despaired world is now dead.
- The coldness of the other branch leaders. Why? They are already used to losing people in the despaired world.
- Similarly to the first point above, Episode 6 reveals the ultimate therapist was dead before the game even began. That is not what you'd want to hear when the world has gone mad to the point of mass self-destruction.
- For similar reasons, Andou, Kimura, and Izayoi's deaths. There has to be a great demand for doctors, not to mention that kimura can make all sorts of concoctions, such as truth serum or drugs to increase your strength; she could likely produce substances to help with the mass insanity and effects of despair. Andou is able to make treats that have effects such as altering your mind, and even created a serum that would bring out the true nature of someone's heart in the analogy manga; her and Kimura combining their abilities would have enabled them to subdue the remaining forces of despair and deal with the mass hysteria that the incident caused. Izayoi may specialize in making weapons, but seeing how destroyed civilization is at this point, any "Ultimate" with the ability to build stuff would be very welcome.
- The way Aoi's fake death was arranged undoubtedly awoke some horrible flashbacks to Sayaka's death in Makoto's mind.
- While Munakata's Armor-Piercing Question to The Great Gozu in episode 2 seems simple enough; "Don't you recall how many of our fellows we lost to the fight against despair? How will you be able to face them again after you refused to stamp out despair at all costs?"; the reveal that everyone who was killed by the attacker was actually brainwashed into a despair-induced insanity so bad that they killed themselves makes that question much more disturbing in hindsight. Everyone else who died clearly had a reason that they would be driven to suicide. Chisa was already a brainwashed Remnant of Despair, so she was more or less just following orders. Seiko holds a lot of guilt over her inability to save anyone during the Final Killing game. Ruruka was clearly mentally unstable and anxious to the point of being unable to trust anyone, eventually culminating in her murdering the man she loved out of paranoia, which only degraded her sanity further. So what would make a Gentle Giant bodyguard with a high value of life and a strong sense of loyalty go crazy enough with despair to want to kill himself? The future Federation is the only organization battling The Remnants of Despair and their allies and they have clearly suffered high casualties. When you think about how loyal Great Gozu is to his comrades and his protective nature...chances are that, similar to Makoto, Gozu's brainwashing video was of all of his dead friends and allies from the Future Federation.
- Just think about it. You are a very loyal person who dislikes unnecessary violence and will go to great lengths to protect other people. Then, imagine that you are confronted by all your fallen comrades, many of who you likely witnessed die or failed to save, and that they are angry at you and blaming you for their deaths. And, on top of that, they are mad at you for not avenging them and protecting the rest of the Future Federation at all costs, even if it means killing your own friends. And it's also very likely that Chisa and Bandai are in there, as well. And they are angry about their deaths and hate you for not only not protecting them, but not caring enough about their deaths to get your hands dirty and stop the Killing Game… dang. The possibilities of what Gozu saw before his own death are rather horrifying, and it's only made worse by the fact that he was one of the few truly good people among a group of traumatized extremists and certainly didn't deserve it.
- The fact that he stabbed out his own eyes before he died also has some pretty unsettling implications. First, he just wanted to get rid of the image of whatever it was that was tormenting him. The second option is even worse; he realized what was going on and was trying to put out his eyes to stop the brainwashing because he wanted to live, but ended up getting driven to suicide anyway. Option two also possibly has an even darker side to it when you stop and consider what happened beforehand. Before the second sleeping phase, everything had pretty much gone to heck, with everyone suspecting each other and focusing on their own survival. Gozu clearly planned to protect Makoto, Aoi, and anyone else who ended up in danger, from being murdered because of the Foundation's paranoia. If he was able to realize what was really going on during his brainwashing video, then it's quite possible that Gozu was able to remember what had happened before-hand. In that case, he would have realized that if he died, Makoto and Aoi would have no one one else, aside from Kirigiri, on their side and would likely be killed. If Gozu was able to realize what was happening to him as he killed himself, that would mean that he possibly remembered what was going on and was trying to stop himself from being killed because of his desire to protect his allies. Can you imagine the utter horror of trying to stop yourself from committing suicide against your will, all while knowing that people that you had promised to protect would be in danger if you died? To the point of actually gouging out your own eyes with a knife, but still dying despite your efforts? Imagine the sheer terror and fear that you would feel in your last seconds of life knowing that, not only were you dead, but that now the allies that you were trying to protect were in danger and could be murdered and that you were totally helpless to do anything for them… and you figured out what was really killing people, but were unable to tell anyone about it, which would mean that more people would probably die?
- Andou, Kimura, and Izayoi all got expelled from Hope's Peak, right? Well, we haven't seen anyone from the 76th class alive post-Tragedy, until now, with these three. And the 76th class would have attended Hope's Peak during the Tragedy's early days. It's entirely possible that Junko or the Remnants slaughtered ALL of the 76th class, and the only reason that these three are alive right now is because they were expelled before the bodies started hitting the floor.
- Episode 11 seems to more or less confirm this as many of Hope's Peak's Ultimate students were killed by the brainwashed reserve course students, with only the 77-B Class, 78th Class, and only a few Ultimate Students outside these classes left alive.
- As if her students becoming Ultimate Despair wasn't enough, with Chisa being transferred to the Reserve Course, she'll get to witness the First Killing Game and then watch them commit mass suicide on Junko's request. It's no wonder she's mellowed out so much between arcs.
- Good thing that she's just acting mellow but is smiling with despair on the inside.
- While it's muted to the audience, whatever Tengan says about the traitor/the attacker is enough to shock and horrify Munakata. What the hell could he have said?
- What he said is that there is more than one attacker, and the everybody has "the potential" to fall to despair and be the attacker. Unfortunately, Munakata is not exactly stable himself.
- That's actually reasonable to drive him insane because of what Tengan said. Just think about it. You and your comrades were trying so hard to completely destroy despair, and then you just know that everyone who is supposed to be on your side (including you) have the potential to fall to despair. Tengan's statement likely broke Mutakata's hope to completely destroy despair, since everyone on his side (include himself) has potential to despair.
- What he said is that there is more than one attacker, and the everybody has "the potential" to fall to despair and be the attacker. Unfortunately, Munakata is not exactly stable himself.
- The ending of episode 6 shows Hajime's eyes are still red and he still thinks things are boring, which could suggest a lot of things.
- Concerning the Remnants of Despair. We already know they're responsible for the murder of many people (including their friends and families), countless terrorist attacks, coup d'etats, and wars. However, Killer Killer also states that they're responsible for "countless crimes in all forms possible." Which means they could also be responsible for things like widespread arson, cannibalism, rape and sexual violence, and possibly even nuclear attacks. All from this group of high-school students we've come to know and love.
- Which also makes for a Fridge Tearjerker. Let's assume Hajime, Fuyuhiko, Sonia, Akane, and Kazuichi still have all their memories from in the Neo World Program, the comatose students all wake up with their memories as well, and they all manage to get off the island. Then what? Where could they possibly go? Everyone they were close to is dead, their homes are gone, the world is in ruins is because of them, and everyone utterly despises them. And how badly might the guilt of it all affect some of them when they learn the true scope of their actions?
- Bonus points: how exactly do you think the Ultimate Chef killed his mother?
- When Chisa is reading through the details of the Izuru Kamukura project, one of the tabs is the "Parental Consent Form" from Hope's Peak's Department of Affairs. When translated to English, it states that the subject's parents/legal guardian "hereby acknowledge and consent to any and all surgical, medical, or psychological measures that may be performed on (Hajime) while in the custody of the school." Hajime's parents actually agreed to this procedure.
- Putting it a step-further, not only are Hinata's parents either uncaring or scummy enough to sell their son out to horrific experiments, but he's shown to have no friends besides Nanami, a fact supported in a flashback in Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair to his time in Kodaka High. It's entirely probable Nanami was the only person who truly cared about him.
- Or, even worse, it's entirely possible that Hope's Peak didn't fully inform them of the grittier details, and they just thought it would be a normal operation. Their son was pretty obviously depressed, and they might have thought the "psychological measures" would involve helping him overcome that. Maybe they're expecting to hear from a happier Hajime any day now.
- Monaca's line of Nagito making her into an adult can be interpreted in various ways... none of them are particularly nice, but one of the ways it's been interpreted is that he raped her. The scarier thing is that it's plausible, considering Nagito believes the ends justify the means, so if he thought it would eventually bring hope, he'd probably do it.
- Nagito's behavior becomes more and more erratic over the course of the series. In the Despair Arc, he goes from class oddball to wannabe terrorist (albeit one who banks on his luck to ensure everyone's safety) to an utter disregard even for his own self-preservation (what possessed him to get on another plane?). Which makes sense, as without the Neo World Program to compensate for his deteriorating health, his dementia has to be advancing as the storyline progresses. He really is losing the ability to judge consequences — chances are, that part of his brain is not in a good way by now.
- At the end of Episode 7, Kizakura promises Jin that he will look after Kyoko if something ever happens to Jin. Imagine how horrible he must have felt while watching the 78th class's killing game.
- Don't need to imagine. We actually get to see him looking dejected as he tried to rescue Class 78 from the Killing School Life.
- On this same note, imagine how he must have felt watching the very opening to the killing game — the execution of his best friend.
- Imagine how he must have felt watching the bad ending play out (i.e. Kyoko being executed) in that version of events!! The poor guy needs a hug!
- Luckily, Bad Ending is heavily implied to have only happened in Makoto's imagination.
- During the first killing game, Izuru spent most of it just quietly observing the other students killing each other. What makes this disturbing is that Izuru actually has the ability to stop the game at any time. If he really wanted to, he could easily dispatch the Despair Sisters, convince the other students not to go through with it, or just knock out the more unhinged students. But with all his talent, he decided to do nothing. It really drives home how much Lack of Empathy Izuru has for people compared to Hajime.
- It's not even his fault, either. The Hope Cultivation Project ripped out his ability for basic human empathy, so he literally can't feel an obligation to help them even if he wanted to.
- The first killing game was definitely one of the most disturbing events in the franchise. Out of all the killing games (except possibly the Final Killing Game), this game has the least likely chance for survival. What makes it even scarier is that Junko could've easily made all the killing games just like this one, but decided to make the later games much more theatrical, which could allow more than one participant to survive.
- As if the events of Side:Future Episode 8 weren't bad enough, consider this. It's been heavily hinted that something happened after everyone fell asleep for the first time (the missing kunai mark on the wall Kirigiri notices is a big one). With this in mind, it's highly likely that the fear for her life that drove Andou was for complete and utter nothing.
- Andou's secret weapon, a mind controlling candy, puts everything towards everyone she ever interacted with in a whole much more disturbing light. She said she can't trust anyone that won't eat her candy, so a reason why she might not fully trust Seiko is because she knows that she can't fully control her like with Izayoi. Therefore, that might mean that she doesn't want anyone around her that she can't convince to do her will by using the candy, taking her Manipulative Bitch qualities up to eleven. And while on the subject, her relationship with Izayoi. How much of it was real? Their entire relationship might be completely based on him being drugged and doing her will, or even being so addicted to her sweets that it borders Stockholm Syndrome.
- Also, imagine if Junko had gotten hold of Andou's mind controlling candies. They are much easier to produce and distribute, which means that Junko could have possibly driven the entire Academy into Despair very easily...
- Fortunately, it's later shown that she genuinely did love Izayoi, and he her. So that might take some of the horror off.
- On the topic of Izayoi, his Forbidden Action was “putting food in his mouth”. In other terms, he can’t eat. Even if Ruruka didn’t kill him, it’s possible he could have starved to death before the game ended.
- Junko is not a sociopath; her "despair fetish" is basically sado-masochism taken to a psychotic extreme. Her talent reinforces that by making her perfectly aware of how much suffering her evil actions will cause...and because she is capable of empathy, she feels (deep down inside) guilt, self-loathing, and grief over that suffering. She knows the consequences, she feels the cost. Even though such emotions in normal people stop them from doing further evil and seek redemption, Junko can't stop doing evil because she is addicted to her own emotional pain as well as everyone else's. Thus, her capacity for empathy makes her more evil, not less. That is fucked up beyond compare.
- This is entirely plausible, seeing as how Danganronpa Zero shows that she genuinely did love Yasuke Matsuda. He was the most important person in her life, but she brutally killed him, emotionally tormented him in his last living moments, and beat his corpse until it was a bloody pulp, to the point where she hated herself and was so ridden with despair and guilt that she wanted to die… and at the same time, all those feelings absolutely thrilled her. (Also, she killed her sister in Trigger Happy Havoc for the exact same reasons.)
- A massive case of this is created with Side:Despair Episode 8. Tsumiki's coldblooded murder of Mioda and Saionji in Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair? Something she had no real will in.
- Which also implies something else: the Remnants of Despair murdering their friends and families, mutilating their own bodies, triggering The End of the World as We Know It, and setting up a plan to get themselves killed in order to resurrect Junko? Yeah...
- And all this is confirmed in Side:Despair Episode 11. You're welcome.
- To add to that: One wonders how sound of mind Ikusaba is by the time the series comes around. She has known Enoshima since birth while Enoshima managed to turn Tsumiki in a matter of weeks. Imagine what could happen if she had years.
- Considering her reactions to Junko's attacks and insults, some certain interactions on the roof, and the number of rooms for the 78th class being 15 yet the number of people being 16, we can pretty much guess.
- And let us also add the fact that some of the Remnants actually had sex with Junko's corpse. Squick doesn't even begin to describe it.
- Which also implies something else: the Remnants of Despair murdering their friends and families, mutilating their own bodies, triggering The End of the World as We Know It, and setting up a plan to get themselves killed in order to resurrect Junko? Yeah...
- More of a Fridge Tearjerker, but we also learn what Yukizome's forbidden action was: letting Munakata die. Remember how much she talked about him at the beginning, how much she dedicated her life to him, and how she said she'd be willing to die for him? Seeing the current situation and how forbidden actions have affected close relationships, like that of Ruruka and Izayoi, it's not hard to imagine her going out of her way to protect him even during his slow descent into madness. And the fact that Munakata kills Juzo suggests even that might not have kept her safe. Maybe it's better that she was the first to go.
- Back to Fridge Horror territory with The Reveal that Chisa was a pawn of Junko the whole time and was manipulating Munakata into becoming despair-filled. If Munakata died, the plan would fail, which means the NG Action kills Chisa for her failure. Her death might've even been the first stage of the plan.
- The whole And I Must Scream aspect of Junko's brainwashing is already terrifying and likely intentionally done to cause the victim more despair. You're forced to watch yourself commit all kinds of atrocities, including torturing and killing loved ones, while your true self is unable to do anything about it. All the reserve course students that committed suicide were forced to experience having their own body kill them while they themselves don't truly want to die.
- It's just as terrifying if you believe that the brainwashing left the class still with their free will, just now believing that despair is synonymous with pleasure. Imagine yourself being forced to watch one of your closest friends get brutally killed, while you can do nothing but watch helplessly...before you begin to relish in their gruesome fate. You don't want to feel like that and honestly do feel horrible about losing them. Yet, the pleasure to feel that despair is too much to resist and, despite everything telling you not to go through with it, you continue until you are in too deep to back out… and you don't want to. Bonus points is that the murderer of said friend is right with you the entire time having got away with it scot-free and slowly convinces you that not only is what you're feeling normal… but encourages it! Given what you went through during your lifetime, and soon you find yourself so enamored with your 'savior' that you're willing to deep whatever they say… even destroying the world. All in the name of despair…
- In episode 9 of Side:Despair, the lobotomization that Mukuro did to poor Chisa looks disturbingly similar to the images of the Izuru Kamukura project that were shown during the final class trial of SDR2. This would make sense as Junko would have gotten the data from the project at this point. If the procedures really were the same, just slightly altered, this would mean the Izuru Kamukura project didn't just turn Hajime into Izuru, but it also had a large role in turning Class 77-B into Ultimate Despair.
- After murdering Juzo, Kyosuke tells him, "You know why" and curses Despair. Fans initially assumed that Kyosuke was acknowledging his own paranoia, but then episode 10 of Future reveals that he was actually referring to Juzo's failure to defy Junko's coercion. Blaming simply "despair" instead of Juzo may have been a twisted form of respect, a way of showing that he either doesn't blame Juzo for being weaker than despair/Junko or doesn't believe that Juzo helped her of his own free will. (Probably the former, given that soon after he accepts the "weakness"/compromises/compassion Naegi showed by protecting the 77th Class.)
- Episode 10 of Despair also revealed that Juzo was in love with Kyosuke, and afraid of him finding out. He may have interpreted Kyosuke's "you know why" as him discovering his secret and being disgusted by it, something that hits way too close to home.
- It's actually worse than that. Munakata has no way of knowing the whole truth of what happened and technically never really found out that Juzo lied to him; he just connected the dots between Junko plunging the world into despair and Juzo claiming that she was innocent of causing the first killing game, and came to the conclusion that he had to have lied. That makes it worse because that knowledge is open to multiple interpretations. Juzo could have been on her side all along, Junko could have been so intelligent that she was able to cover her tracks and trick him into genuinely thinking that she was innocent, he could have had his memories erased or altered or been brainwashed to forget discovering her, or she could have plunged Juzo into despair so that he willingly sided with her. From what Munakata says while he stabs him, it seems like he is going with the option of his friend having fallen into despair against his will like Chisa had, but the fact is that he doesn't completely know that Juzo actually had anything to do with covering for Junko, he just suspects it, and then decides to murder his best friend out of paranoia. Munakata does get a bit of leeway in that he had pretty much had a full-on mental breakdown at this point, but the fact remains that he was willing to kill his friend despite not totally knowing for sure if Juzo actually had purposely covered for Junko or if he had been forced into it against his will and/or knowlege.
- Episode 11 of Side:Future reveals that the Despair video that causes its viewers to commit suicide takes the form of Monokuma Theater. That heavily implies that Junko during the first and second games was trying to get its players to kill themselves.
- A video that compels its viewers to commit suicide? Where else could something like that have been used? Oh yeah, the Reserve Course. This is confirmed in episode 11 of Side:Despair when Junko sends the very same Monokuma theater video from Side:Future episode 11 to all the Reserve Course students' cell phones.
- What does Makoto's despair anime-induced vision consist of? Him being confronted with Kyoko and the other dead students of Class 78, who tell him he should've been the one to die instead. Makes you wonder just how much guilt and self-loathing Makoto might be carrying underneath his kindhearted exterior.
- Among the four killing games, the final killing game is unique in that it is Unwinnable by Design, confirming Munakata's belief that Despairs do not follow rules. This also leads to Fridge Brilliance over why Juzo goes to shut down the power instead of helping to destroy the monitor: he probably realized that disabling everything is the most feasible (if not the only) way to take off the bangles and "win" the game.
- Learning that Tengan was a remnant of despair really puts a disturbing new interpretation on his final message. "I entrust the hope of the world to you." As in "I entrust it to you...to crush it," perhaps?
- Even worse, actually. The message was for Mitarai. Tengan wasn't a Remnant of Despair, but he was a dark mirror of them, and he set up the entire game so that he could push Mitarai to use his videos to brainwash the world into having hope. And nothing but hope.
- While Chihiro and Mondo's interactions at the end are heartwarming at first, they become harsher once you put some thought into it. A common theme throughout the series is that memory wiping cannot remove subconscious feelings. Chihiro in DR1 believed that Mondo would help him, because subconsciously, he knew that Mondo had done so before. And that turned out so well for them both.
- The fact that Munakata never reached Juzo before the former's death has lots of unsettling implications for Munakata's mental health. Juzo died thinking that Munakata hated him and had abandoned him, but still loved him and was relived to know that Munakata would make it out alive. Munakata clearly regrets his attempted murder of his loyal friend and, giving how messed up he clearly is after losing everything, he quite possibly thinks that Juzo died angry and cursing him for his betrayal, when that wasn't the case at all. While he was sad about being abandoned to die alone, he also died content and happy because he finally managed to do something right and felt that he had atoned for the fact that he was more or less complicit in destroying the world. He also still loved Munakata dearly and totally forgave him for causing his death. But all Munakata knows is that he clearly betrayed his friend, and that Juzo was clearly destroyed by that betrayal. He notes that Juzo died with a big smile on his face, but can only speculate as to what his last moments were like and hope that he wasn't smiling because he lost the will to live and wouldn't have to deal with the state of the world anymore. Seeing how messed up he already is by the time that he is seen wandering off after the end… the idea of Munakata thinking those sort of thoughts and what they could do to his already fractured mental state is not pleasant.
- As heartwarming as it is to see the remaining Remnants Of Despair wake up from their comas, consider this — even if things work out for all of them, they still have the blood of many innocents on their hands. They will be forever haunted by their time as Ultimate Despairs, in the form of their dead loved ones that they killed and the fear and hatred they will face in the outside world. Even then, Chiaki, one of their closest friends and their beloved classmate, is dead. Meaning that they will never be truly reunited. Also, seeing that they decided to take up the blame for the Final Killing Game, it's likely that they may not be able to go back to civilization again.
- Is it truly good that Class 77 decided to take the blame for Tengan's Killing Game, which more or less ended the Tragedy? After all, The Parade, which directly led to the Tragedy, started because the Hope's Peak Academy decided to cover up their human experiment and the killing game. In this light, the Tragedy ended with another cover-up. Even worse is that unlike last time, we do not have nameless old men to blame, but instead the same characters that we grew to attach and love, one serving as our own avatar, in the name of hope.
- Why are the Remnants of Despair love Junko so much even when she killed Chiaki? Remember that to an UD, gaining pleasure from despair means to go all in on something you don't want to happen. In the Remnants' case, it's more than likely that they do despise her for what happened, but because of their condition, they instead fawn over her to the point of hurting themselves and destroying the world. Just for that feeling of despairing pleasure…
- Also counting as a Continuity Nod, considering Mukuro replaced Junko in the Killing School Life in order to obfuscate the mastermind's identity, she had to replicate her personality as well, including the voice. Both are done with complete accuracy as Despair Arc wholly solidifies the case to be, yet according to Junko by Trigger Happy Havoc's last class trial long after Mukuro is executed and mutilated, Mukuro was too inhumanly inept for society to even welcome her to successfully replicate the Ultimate Fashionista herself as their body and mind were separated from one another with a wall, in spite of how much time Mukuro spent cooperating with Junko on her ideas (over 10 years). Despair Arc refutes the crux of this proclamation of Junko's entirely, giving her role as the main antagonist of the series more honorability.
- Imagine if Juzo hadn't stopped Makoto from killing himself and Kyoko woke up to find out that Makoto had died. Furthermore, it was Kyoko who made the discovery that the participants were killing themselves, so if Kyoko found out that Makoto had died in the killing game, she'd know for sure that her dear friend had killed himself.
Fridge Logic
- In Side:Despair Episode 4, it's shown that exams at HPA are basically talent shows, with students demonstrating their talents. While this makes sense for some, questions start to arise on how this applies to talents that are either far more abstract, like Good Luck, or just titles, like Student Council President. It's especially galling with Togami, Sonia, and Kuzuryuu, whose "talents" are basically down to them being heirs to rich and important groups. What's Togami supposed to do, show his bank account?
- Ultimate Lucky Students probably get a pass when it comes to the practical exam, unless the reason that Komaeda is not expelled is because his display of luck qualifies him to pass with flying colors. Students like Naegi are probably just asked to list lucky things that have happened to them within the year and similarly, students like Togami and Sonia would probably list achievements and accolades earned while at Hope's Peak so far. Also, presumably, the regal manner in which Sonia would present herself would earn her an automatic pass.
- It was probably all a publicity stunt anyway. Why else would they bother televising it? Any student whose talent wasn't particularly showy could probably get away with giving a speech or interview.
- Actually, Togami mentions in one of his free time events that he's already made a fortune in day trading. It's entirely possible that he used that to pass an exam. If his class ever had time to take an exam anyway.
- Part of the reason for Seiko and Ruruka's falling out is that Seiko cannot eat sugar and therefore could not try Ruruka's sweets, which made her feel useless. It never occurs to either of them that Ruruka could easily make a sugar-free candy.
- Seiko also started wearing braces at some point in her life. Sugar (or any kind of food, but mostly sugar) will build plaque on her teeth. There's also certain kinds of foods that will break her brackets. If anything, she has to be more careful of what she eats.
- There's also the fact that there really is no such thing as "sugar-free" candy.note
- No they probably wouldn't have. Artificial sweeteners and naturally occurring sugars are very different molecules. There's a reason diabetic people are told to eat one over the other.
- They never explain what about Seiko's medication interacts with sugar. Most food you eat will eventually break down into sugar. note Even diabetics can have sugar in very low quantities. I took Andou's reaction to be that if Seiko is so talented at pharmaceuticals, why not make a medicine that does not interact with sugar? She sent Seiko on all of these missions to keep making more and more complex drugs, and yet she couldn't make a drug that would let her eat sweets. I think she was testing her on purpose, not just using her.
- A pretty huge one in Side:Future Episode 7; how the hell does Monaka not know the mastermind's identity? Gekkougahara's a robot, logically she wouldn't be affected by the knockout potion and thus she would see exactly who's committing the murders and what happened to the building. Unless she's lying out of spite (which would be in-character), it's a pretty big Plot Hole.
- The mastermind and killer aren't the same person? Seems pretty simple.
- How would Monaca know that? Unless she was working with the traitor (which, given her abandoning of the whole "Hope versus Despair" thing, isn't very likely) or one of the attackers WMGs is true, she would have no real way of knowing.
- There is a good chance the killer is a remnant of despair. It isn't so unlikely for her to know who in Future Foundation isn't what they seem, and still keeping quiet, since her only objective is to observe Makoto for a while.
- The reveal that the victims all committed suicide clears this up.
- The mastermind and killer aren't the same person? Seems pretty simple.
- How do the bracelets work? It's possible to think of some things, like Makoto's could sense change in motion and location, Kirigiri's could sense Makoto's status, but there are some that simply don't make sense on how they would know if the NG code was broken, even more considering that this time, the mastermind is likely to not be able to actually see anything. For example, how would the bracelet know if someone stepped on Kimura's shadow, or that Izayoi had food in his mouth?
- Related to the above: There's no way Tengan is monitoring the bracelet. Or how Monokuma "hack" Usami.
- It is entirely possible that the NG Bracelets work by scanning the mind and body through a network. Kyoko's would be tailored to receive Makoto's biodata. Makoto's would check his endorphin levels and muscle movements that denote running, or is tailored to scan all the hallways for Makoto's movements. Asahina's would be tailored to scan for blunt force trauma. Kimura's might be scanning her mind for the thought of someone stepping on her shadow, or is connected to the cameras to scan for anyone in her shadow like Makoto. Gozu's would check for chest pressure exceeding three seconds. Kizakura's for the tendons on his left hand. Munakata's hands twisting or pushing a knob or the cameras detecting an open door. Ruruka's would go off like a house alarm. Bandai's would scan for dread or sorrow which sends chemicals through the body. Juzo's would detect contact of his knuckles. Tengen's would go off when the left side of the brain goes off upon a question (liars are known to look left when making up a story), Mitarai's would go off when the same side of the brain fires up as well. Izayoi's are connected to his taste buds. Yukizome would be connected to dread or sorrow like Bandai's.
- It isn't even necessary that all of the bracelets work: the first NG code to be broken was "Witness violence between participants", which given the tense situation and enmity between some of the characters was pretty much guaranteed to happen first thing after waking up - and this specific poisoning might have been done remotely by the mastermind while everyone else's focus was on aforementioned violence. After this, the participants would not dare breaking their own NG codes (sound familiar?) - especially since the mastermind WANTED one of the participants to survive (the fact that this person was dragged into the killing game in the first place is a whole another problem); it would also explain how the NG code would be triggered by Ryota using his talent - not at all. Which makes even more sense when you consider it might have originally been designated for Hagakure and this psychological trick would have worked just as well for him. Not to mention Tengan wouldn't even need a working bracelet since he was the mastermind. The rest of the bracelets would need to work as outlined above by using biodata and cameras.
- A minor one, but her profile from the game states that Mikan dislike's "big things". Why is her weapon of choice in Side: Hope a comically large syringe?
- Maybe character growth, showing that she's overcome her fears, or is at least able to put them aside to help her friends. Maybe she still has remnants of despair inside her; after all, she reverted back to Ultimate Despair right before her execution and was likely still in that state when she went comatose, so maybe she, unlike the others, wasn't fully healed of it.
