Danganronpa 3: Mirai Hen – 09
This was true in a lot of ways…
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Wow they really killed off a lot of characters this week. …It should be interesting to see if the robot’s death counted towards the remaining survivors. One would assume that she was part of it since she had the NG Code and everything, but Monaka was more of an observer who was there for the fun of it. I wouldn’t count out Danganronpa once again pulling out a 16th student scenario. |
Note the bottle in the corner
Well, Kirigiri had one the most tragic NG Codes of them all, but at the same time, maybe she’s not actually dead. They pulled this off with Asahina in the earlier episodes, so they just might do it again. I say this due to the bottle of Kimura’s medicine that Kirigiri had by her body when everyone woke up. It didn’t work with Bandai in the earlier episodes, but Kirigiri seems like the type who would try to investigate a way to survive beforehand, and maybe the medicine would work if it was present in the body before the poison was released into the body.
Of course, her words “no matter what” that she told Naegi before everyone went unconscious kind of indicate that she didn’t know if it would actually work or not. If so, then her sacrifice still means something if she didn’t know if she was going to survive. Kirigiri tried to push Naegi forward regardless, and she wanted him to move forward even if he indirectly killed her. So if she is dead, it’s a touching sacrifice to push Naegi forward because she believes in him. If she isn’t dead, then she wanted to do the same thing, but her logic skills saved her. I don’t necessarily think that it’s a cop-out if Kirigiri does survive since she seems like the second most likely character to come up with some way to survive. Kimura was first, but she was kind of occupied with Andou to do much.
It’s interesting how the OP seems to have meaning again though. Kirigiri’s death was her hanging herself, which seems to represent her suicide (sacrifice) of sorts for Naegi. Some of the other deaths shown seem to have meaning too, like Izayoi burning (while also in the typical crucifixion position), which kind of seems to reference his passion for Andou and sacrifice for her. If the theory about the characters committing suicide (I’ll talk about that below) is right, then Andou shattering also makes sense. Munakata’s sword can be seen in Sakakura’s death, and Gekkougahara’s shows that she’s hollow on the inside, maybe indicating her nature of being a robot/not a real person. Though there are a few I don’t quite get, like Kizakura’s (maybe that he was trapped in his promise to Kirigiri’s father?), Tengan’s, or Kimura’s deaths. Maybe Kimura’s will make more sense when the traitor is revealed.
There are two theories that I’ve read about that would be really interesting to see if they turned out to be true. One being the theory that the Asahina running around with Naegi is actually a Despair Yukizome (analysis here). This would bring in another spin off manga I haven’t touched called Danganronpa Gaiden: Killer Killer, where apparently the Ultimate Make-up Artist has the ability to make an extremely convincing corpse. Whether or not the body could fool Kirigiri is questionable, but it would definitely make Munakata’s despair rage/reaction to Tengan’s reveal make a lot of sense if it was Yukizome being the traitor. The make up would also probably explain how Yukizome could magically maintain Asahina’s darker skin tone as well.
The other interesting theory I came across was how the killer might not be running around murdering people, but instead the victims are killing themselves because of brainwashing messages over the monitors (analysis here). This throws Mitarai in the spotlight since it seems like these are his techniques that are being used, and he wouldn’t even have to be anywhere near anyone to make them happen. However, Junko could have perfected the suicide brainwashing over time, and passed them on to someone else to use to screw up the Future Foundation. She somehow makes the entire Reserve Course commit suicide (which I imagine will be covered in an upcoming Zetsubou episode), so just making one person kill themselves at a time would probably be easier to do. Mitarai certainly seems suspicious, but he doesn’t necessarily need to be the traitor. Plus if he was and Tengan knew, why would he send Mitarai off with Kirigiri? If Mitarai was the traitor, wouldn’t he try to interfere with the investigation? Though maybe Tengan wanted her to notice any weird behaviour Mitarai had in that case. Of course, this brings up the question of where the characters keep getting the knives from, to which, I really can’t think of anything.
In this case, Munakata’s weird behaviour would be him trying to kill everyone before they killed themselves out of despair. Because in his mind, that’s probably better somehow.
With how the latest Zetsubou episode ended, both Yukizome and Mitarai seem to have the most interaction with Junko, so they also seem like the most likely culprits and either of their talents could help with the scenario that Naegi is in. Mitarai could be setting up the deaths via brainwashing and Yukizome could have done other things. It’s also suspicious that as the Ultimate Housekeeper, how could she not notice a whole other building replica in the basement while cleaning? I guess the same goes for Munakata not noticing that the building he designed having one. Though maybe he had it designed on purpose (to confuse Despair or protect them or whatever) and then Despair just used it for their own purposes. Yukizome probably could have gotten the plans from Munakata, so that’s another thing that makes her suspicious.
Speaking of everyone being underwater now, Andou killing Izayoi was kind of a waste. Not that anyone knew the entire situation, but it’s still sad that she really didn’t have to kill him to survive. Though in his final interaction with Andou, at least more about his character was shown. He didn’t have that notable of a personality, but he certainly can compete with Kizakura with his sacrificial nice-guy death. Who knew that his dedication to her went that far. As for Andou, she was kind of pitiable in the end. Her (kind of) best friend was murdered, she killed her lover(?) when she didn’t really have to, and her death was pretty brutal.
Sakakura died too, though maybe he was less pitiable. He was kind of an asshat. Though if Sakakura loved Munakata or something (thus explaining his dedication to Munakata and the hints of jealousy towards Yukizome), that kind of makes things more tragic. Either way though, Sakakura didn’t seem like he had anything to do with the mastermind, since his lines about using this opportunity to cleanse the Future Foundation didn’t seem like it had anything to do with the traitor’s motives.
Munakata isn’t really redeeming himself though, seeing how he killed Sakakura for (seemingly) no reason, and then blaming despair for the murder. Hopefully when the traitor is revealed, they’ll give Munakata some sort of profound reason why he’s been acting like a jerk for the entirety of the season, but who knows. At least Mechagahara kind of kept him busy and away from Naegi for a bit.
Wow things were pretty intense this episode. With the body count increasing, it’s getting harder to figure out the culprit (and there’s always the possibility that they could be dead already). Plus Danganronpa has had mysteries that are pretty unsolvable until the actual trial, so maybe the clues that the episodes have given aren’t quite what they seem. …Maybe they can pull off Hagakure’s prediction that everyone will be alive and happy in the end, but that seems extremely unlikely right now.
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
I can see why you were so eager to get to this, going by your mention in the recent Zetsubou-hen post. The Future Foundation building sinking into the sea was an unforeseen development that increases the tension but really, that ending this episode was unpleasant.
I don’t mind any of the other survivors but Asahina and Kirigiri were the two I didn’t want to see die at all. And the show knew it well when it made Asahina unwillingly play possum. But Kirigiri’s demise definitely looks like the real deal, unfortunately. Naegi is all good since he has the protagonist’s plot armor and is not likely to end up like Akame ga Kill’s Tatsumi.
I’m not so sure about that possibility. As much as I want it to be, it seems unlikely. Asahina got away because she was used to mess with Naegi’s head and her NG Code wasn’t violated. On the other hand, Kirigiri’s NG Code was very specific: “Passing the Fourth time limit with Makoto Naegi alive” and its conditions were met. So unless the contents of that bottle was somehow something to dull the poison’s effects, I’d have to declare her dead based on her appearance sharing similarities to the other poisoned victims. As a result, it makes Kizakura’s efforts to keep his promise end in vain. If anything, she died in her sleep. So she may have not felt any pain.
Going by the look of Andou’s corpse, she must have had quite a brutal death and with her eyes wide open, it was in a manner that had her conscious.
I’m one who, on and off, observes characters when they’re swallowed up by various parts of human nature based on the situation and environment. Andou’s betrayal to Izayoi shows just how far people would go for the sake of self-preservation. A chilling aspect to pause on. Outsiders would likely find such behavior appalling because they’re not in it but surely they’d be singing a different tune if they were in her place. Though, good for her Izayoi didn’t mind being betrayed.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
On your first theory, that’d have to be a very convincing fake because looking at her, saying Yukizome wasn’t dead would’ve been impossible. Not to mention Munakata stabbing the corpse through the chest with his sword. No way a normal person can come back from that.
On the second theory, it begs to ask who’s chosen to be attacked, when and how the aftermath would be presented. Had Asahina actually died a few episodes back, that would’ve been such a damning scene for Naegi that everyone else would get tunnel vision and just go after him.
Through Kirigiri’s deduction, the building’s big enough to hold doubles of rooms, like everyone being moved to the double of the conference room after getting hit with the sleeping gas. Not much of a shock if turns out there’s a secret room with knives and other weapons. No was aware of the room that had an underwater view.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Honestly, Munakata is a lost cause. Ever since the whole ordeal started, I haven’t been able to understand his motives even once. At this point, a benefit to all if he were to be killed right away. He’s shown to be beyond reasoning.
As for Sakakura, I say good riddance. In my opinion, he was a character with irredeemable traits and due to such, I certainly don’t pity his demise. The guy was an asshat from start to finish and for another nail in his coffin, whether he knew it or not, he was the major reason Hajime involved himself in the Kamakura Project from Zetsubou-hen.