Danganronpa 3: Zetsubou Hen – 06-07
Time for the (apparently) obligatory Ogata Megumi character shower scene
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I kind of knew what to expect, but I’m thoroughly satisfied with the amount of despair that Junko’s introduction into this arc has brought. The changes in the OP are cool too. |
There was a really obvious palette shift in the OP animation. Of course, this comes after Junko has arrived, and it makes a lot of sense since things are getting really despair ridden now. Ever since she arrived, things have been going pretty badly for Kibougamine, and it’s no wonder since Junko isn’t wasting any time with her plans. She obviously planned some things, but a lot of other elements of her despair domination just seem to fall into her lap, like with whatever is going on with Mitarai. It’s interesting to note that the anime finally revealed her true talent though, with her being the Ultimate Analyst. This certainly explains why almost everything she does seems to work so well for her. Sure it’s a little simple to just say “oh, Junko can make any ridiculous plan work because she’s just super good at analyzing everything”, but the Ultimate talents have proven time and again to exceed realistic expectations.
Junko’s obsession with despair (and her actions to try to convince Kamukura to come to the dark side) makes a lot of sense now though. With her true talent, it makes sense that she would get pretty bored when everything goes exactly as she expected it to. …Though of course, she also takes things to extremes in her quest for despair.
Kamukura certainly seems to play a large role in her plans. She went to a lot of effort to contact him and try to win him over. And while he doesn’t seem to be totally for despair yet, he also isn’t antagonizing the sisters either. Maybe since they’ve framed him now for the murder of the student council, he’ll show some kind of initiative. Later, he is the one to sabotage the reform program that Naegi puts the Ultimate Despair class through by installing AI Junko, so he does seem to fall under her influence at some point. Though that might just be him believing that despair will keep him entertained or something as opposed to worshipping Junko like other characters do.
Seeing how dedicated they are later, it’s interesting that the (future) Ultimate Despair class doesn’t seem to be playing a huge role in Junko’s plans at all right now. If anything, it’s Mitarai that seems to be playing an integral part. It’s unfortunate that Junko has gotten a hold of him, since his animation techniques seem to double as really really effective subliminal messaging. If Junko could change his animations from hope to despair (which seems like her plan), then that would explain how the whole world fell under the influence of despair. Unfortunately, he doesn’t seem to have realized that he’s currently helping the wrong side of things. To be fair though, Kirigiri’s father also apparently never noticed that Junko was evil either (despite her being extremely bold in this arc), since he decides to keep her around in the school for the events of the first Danganronpa game to happen. Or maybe there are other circumstances around her inclusion that need to be revealed still.
Junko using Mitarai’s talents for despair seems like the most likely thing that’s going to happen, this might explain Mitarai’s concern about spreading hope like Naegi does in the Mirai Arc. If Mitarai was a main cause of despair spreading in the past, he would probably want to correct things in the future. Though how he survives the apocalypse should be interesting to see.
Compared to the kind of murder games shown in previous Danganronpa games, the killing game between the student council members just seemed… crude. In the first game, there was the element of choice in whether or not the students decided to kill each other or not, even though there were still the threat of loved ones being captive and whatnot. Plus it was for more intellectual in the the murderer had to at least be smart about it to not get caught. Following that, even with Junko’s punishments, the deaths were at least ironic and therefore, thought out. What happened here was just pure violence. A lot of it was super unnecessary too, like the couple that was going to kill themselves anyways getting murdered.
Though that being said, the goal here was that this was a trial run for future killing games, and it seemed to be for framing Kamukura. The message Junko was trying to send here was kind of the same as the first Danganronpa (something like “yay despair”), but at the same time, this is different since she wanted to spark a reaction. I’m sure that Junko enjoyed the killing since it was despair-filled, but because the deaths were so violent, that probably upset the students even more. The Kamukura project was a harsh truth on it’s own, but the Reserve Course probably feel even worse if they think that Kamukura set the murder spree up all by himself.
But I suppose it was about time for things to be revealed since the amount of things that Kibougamine was covering up was getting pretty ridiculous. Two murders is maybe a little understandable since it was within the Reserve Course students, which the school doesn’t seem to care that much about from what they’ve shown. Hajime’s experiment was also kind of isolated in that it only really involved him. It wasn’t an ethical experiment at all, but it seems easier to cover up than an entire class murdering each other. It’s also silly that they tried to cover up the disappearance of the trustees that Junko has now presumably murdered. Maybe covering up one could be seen as an okay idea, but now that the numbers are going down steadily, one would think that it’s less of a problem about the public and more about saving their own lives since they (plus the guards) are obviously getting picked off pretty easily. Plus how did the school plan on covering up that a large portion of the student body decided to kill each other? “Oh sorry, the student council has gone on vacation for the rest of forever” isn’t really a believable explanation. So maybe it’s kind of a good thing that things have come out in the open. …Though maybe only if it could have revealed it to the public in a way that wasn’t playing into Junko’s hands.
I’m still curious where Danganronpa Zero fits in to all of this timeline-wise, since every other side story that they’ve come out with has fit into Danganronpa 3 somewhere. But for now, watching Junko’s plans work themselves out is rather fun to watch. I’m looking forward to how the Tragedy works out of course, but I’m also hoping that the anime goes into how Kirigiri’s father sets up the safe house for Naegi’s class. Or even if it shows how Junko sets up her own plans at the same time.
About Karakuri
University student and the one at Metanorn who's known for wearing glasses. Likes blood, insanity and plot twists, but also plays otome games and adores cute romance anime. It balances out... somehow.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Episode 06: Seriously, when will humans ever learn engaging in human experimentation eventually leads to unpredictable and devastating consequences? Nothing but truthful when it’s said people are the architects of their own destruction.
@Kara: If you remember the 11th episode of Seraph of the End/Owari no Seraph’s first when Yuu went berserk, there’s dialogue between Ferid and Guren that highlights exactly what’s said above.
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Going by the modified OP visuals, I’m guessing it’s a sign that Hajime hasn’t been completely overwritten by Izuru. If so, he’s become a prisoner in his own body.
Izuru himself isn’t exactly what I expected. Even if artificially, being endowed with virtually every possible talent, one would’ve assumed he’d be consumed by megalomania and try to conquer everything. However, his interactions with Junko show the polar opposite. Looking from his point of view, with everything predetermined, engaging in anything would be boring due to knowing the outcome, therefore nullifying any motivation.
A puzzling matter is how the school board members would’ve explained to the public how they found such a “prodigy”. A massive, air-tight cover-up would definitely be needed.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Maybe if Junko hadn’t interfered, maybe the experiment could have worked out the way that the school had intended it to though… But of course in this series, if something is going to go wrong, it probably will.
Hmm, I’m not sure if Hajime is quite a prisoner in his body. He did welcome the experiment, and then in the 2nd game, it was more like the two of them kind of fused in a way (though it was pretty vague) and before that it was more that it was just Izuru running the show.
Haha right about the finding a prodigy thing though. I really don’t know what they could have done, but they certainly seemed to be wasting his potential anyway when they just kind of shoved him in a dark room for Junko to find him.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Episode 07: This was without a doubt Zetsubou-hen’s best entry to date. Most of it was already great by itself but that massacre between the student council members had me awe (Even if there was pink blood splashing around). A trial run for future killing games though that one being unrestrained due to the absence of rules. If anything, it tries to show how easy people can break under duress. Start with one and a domino effect will follow.
If Junko is to be described in one word, it’s “anarchist”, a thrill-seeking one at that. It fits her to a T as despair is a major part of anarchy itself. Being an analyst, let alone a super analyst means making observations from an outside perspective, so it wouldn’t come as a surprise if she’s made preconceptions on humanity while becoming detached that enables her to be so ruthless.
The way I see it, those who end up like her (At least in anime, as far as I know) would mostly come from a combination of being gifted and antisocial. So far, if it’s not for using people in her schemes, Mukuro is the only person Junko interacts with and she has her completely under her thumb. Not to mention predetermining a handful of things would surely bring irritating boredom, leaving that person desperate to stave it off. “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop”, indeed.
Feel free to call me twisted if you so wish but I can honestly understand where Junko’s coming from with her love for despair. Peace and harmony are ideal but can become routine and boring to the point someone might consciously or unconsciously do something to disrupt it. Though I wouldn’t do anything she would. I personally have a love for watching shows where people are pushed to their wit’s end and break mentally while blurring moral lines. Peaceful and calm being such tediously boring factors are why I never acquired a taste for the “slice of life” genre.
Mitarai’s ambition to help people through anime is admirable but his methods should be considered a violation of ethics. He flat out said what he was using to create his anime were basically brainwashing techniques. It’s dangerous to have something like that, especially with any unsavory people around.
There’s a limit to how much power and influence an organization should have but if they’re capable of pulling anything off, they will. Remember, they made the 20 people Mukuro killed disappear. How would the school cover up the student council members’ deaths? Maybe come up with a new time sensitive excuse every time the previous one’s about to expire, depending on how it’s sold. That would be for the public but then there’s the concerned parents to worry about.