WMG / Danganronpa TheAfter

Konoe was one of the victors of the past Killing Game

• We've only seen Tachihaki receive visions of his time in the previous killing game. But since we're only shown fragments of his memories, it's more than possible that Konoe was also part of the previous class and somehow managed to escape as a potential victor. Also, as a random bit of evidence, she cites strawberry ice cream as her favorite thing. Strawberry is pink. And do you know what else is pink in the world of Danganronpa?
  • Additionally, if you rearrange the letters of her whole name, you can also spell out the word Enoshima.
    • Rearranging her name actually spells out Enoshima Tateko, one possible romanisation of Enoshima Junko.

Kinji will take on a leader like role in later chapters

• Kinji's tarot card is The Emperor which is associated with authority and fatherhood. After Ryohei shows off his dark side and betrays everyone in the second trail, Kinji will step up as the new leader in the hopes of protecting the group and becoming a more stronger person. This in turn will result in him becoming something of a Team Dad to the others.

Miruku will die in the Fourth Chapter

• Apart from Retsu, Miruku comes off as a Big-Hearted Muscle student as she's the tallest girl in her group, is physically capable of apprehending any of the trouble making students, and has a caring heart through and through. It's easy to assume Retsu will most likely die in that chapter because of the canon trend but it's also likely that Miruku could die thanks to her matching the criteria.
• On the other hand, only would Miruku dying instead of Retsu twist a trend everyone wants broken in the canon series (eventually), but of Miruku is anything like Sakura, instead of getting murdered, she may sacrifice herself.

Ryohei will either pull a Heel–Face Turn or Redemption Equals Death near the final chapters

• While Ryohei has done a bang up job tarnishing his reputation among his peers by manipulating Miharu, using her as bait for a potential murder and declaring that he will make Tachihaki pay for his brother's death, it's still within reason to believe that he could redeem himself during the game. He still believes firmly in justice so it's possible for him to realize the errors of his way and attempt to earn the group's trust again. Not to mention how Danganronpa has dabbled with the concept of morally gray characters becoming more redeemable as the story progresses. So why can't the same thing happen to Ryohei?

TheAfter is based on various Fairy Tale Motifs

• There are several scenes and character moments that are subtle nods to classic fairy tales.
  • The fangame title combines the beginning and ending words of the phrases "The End" and "Happily Ever After". Both phrases are commonly used at the end of a fairy tale.
  • The first case contains multiple references to Snow White. Yukime is a girl with snow white skin, dark hair, and a heart of gold, much like the princess. She is targeted by Issei who share's the evil queen's narcissistic personality and is dead set on killing the girl over a petty offense. Additionally, Issei would disguise himself in order to lower Yukime's guard so he can kill her.
  • Tachihaki's energy drink is named "Drink Me"; this is a nod to the magical potions from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
  • The victims of the first two cases, who happen to be young maidens, were killed roughly When the Clock Strikes Twelve.
  • Ryohei stands out as a Prince Charming figure as he's portrayed as noble, righteous, friendly and a reliable authority figure the others could turn to for help. In the second trial, he turns out to be an evil prince figure as he exploited Miharu's goal for his own personal gain.
  • Near the end of the the second trial, the second culprit refers to Konoe, Tachihaki and Ryohei by fairy tale archetypes.
  David: The plot originally revolved around the poor "heroine" who abandoned her resolve, the "hero" who wanted to make justice prevail, and the "villain" who tries to prove his crime...How will this boring story end?
  • In the DR Change TheAfter special, Seiha ends up transforming into a pink hairball creature when he's transported into the alternate universe. He proclaims that the only way to turn human is for someone to kiss him, much like The Frog Prince.

Surviving Students

Figuring out who survives is hard to do. But hopefully there will be more then just three survivors like most Fanganronpas lately.

• Konoe - she's the protagonist and she does not deserve to die like Kaede.
• Chisa - after everything she went through in Chapter 2, Chisa deserves to survive the killing game as a way to throw her a bone at the end of the story.
• Retsu - as a way to break a hated trend, it would be fantastically satisfying to see a big guy student in a killing game survive and make it out alive.
• Coco - another trend to break. Being the class's Nonstandard Character Design student, you may except Coco to die. But her surviving would be a loath off the backs of anyone who wants a future game where the one who looks different ends up surviving the game. It would be nice to see a fashion-related Ultimate student who isn't evil.
• Tachihaki - He intends to make up for his mistakes in his previous killing game, even if it costs his life. But hopefully it won't have to call for that. He deserves to make it out of the game and live his life as a second chance.