Danganronpa V3 Controversy - A Response to a Past Article

Written by Shiggins

For more context, click here: Should We Be Pissed?

A few months ago, Danganronpa V3's story was leaked online and, as much as I tried to avoid it, the internet refused to bow down and made sure I got spoilers. After reading about it, I got quite a disturbing surprise and so I posted the article you can read above. However, I also pledged to make a response to the article when V3 officially came out in the UK, and so here it is. Was I wrong? Was I right? Was I left? Let's find out!

Side note: I may or may not do a full review on the game soon. You may or may not comment on that.

Note: FULL SPOILERS BELOW. DO NOT CLICK THIS ARTICLE UNLESS YOU ARE FULLY PREPARED FOR SPOILERS ON DANGANRONPA'S ENDING.


First of all, let's talk about what the ending actually is. After surviving all the class trials so far, the last few characters make it to the final word battle against Monokuma to discover who the mastermind behind all this is, and why they have been forced to participate in the Killing Game. They quickly come to the conclusion that the villain is actually the "Ultimate Cosplayer" Tsumugi Shirogane and she is working for Team Danganronpa.

Pointing!

It turns out that the entire "Makato Naegi" storyline is fictional in V3's reality. A popular series that people enjoyed years ago, and "V3" is the 53rd season of the Danganronpa franchise. 53 Killing Games. 53 sets of 16 students. And the characters in this are fictional too, because of a device that gave them false memories and personalities. They aren't Ultimate Students. They are just normal people turned into fictional characters for this game.

What follows is a lot of terms you could easily read on TV Tropes, including self-referential mocking of past plotlines and even calling Ki-Bo an "audience surrogate". Past characters make cameos in the form of Tsumugi's cosplays, and the protagonist Shuichi starts to have a breakdown as he is told this horrifying truth. Eventually, Ki-Bo becomes the "Ultimate Hope Robot" to battle Tsumugi's Despair, but Shuichi rejects both of them as he would prefer just to end all the Killing Games because of how much suffering there has been.

Hahahaha... Awkward! And if only.

At the end of it all, Ki-Bo's memory is erased and he becomes a literal representation of the audience where his decisions are made by voting surveys. Tsumugi insists the audience want the Killing Games to continue on forever and ever, telling the character that they say phrases like "I've been a longtime fan for years! They owe me!" or "This ending sucks. It's too meta". Admittedly, that element is quite clever. There are many audiences out there who demand more from the people they claim to love, and who will scream in outrage if they are disappointed in any way. (One such example happened recently when Rick and Morty fans harassed the newest writers because they were female). So in some respects, I was vividly impressed with how balls-to-the-wall V3 went with satirising audiences. And I did appreciate that the ending result wasn't one that portrayed the majority of the audience as monstrous. In the end, they vote for the survivors to be saved. So while Tsugumi was right, and some fans surely screamed out and just demanded more and more, I did like that they went out of their way to make it so that people did actually care about the characters of the franchise and weren't just watching this because they want to see countless deaths. I know I play these games because I love the characters and story so much.

To be quite blunt however, I think the ending is trying to be too clever. I really feel like they could have left the original games by themselves, and just had Tsumugi be a fan of the original Killing Games and Junko so wants to recreate the feeling and thrills. Having the two casts of characters become fictional and making "Team Danganronpa" the villains behind all of this... That's a bit too much. I admit to some cringe there.

And while I admit to loving the franchise, I feel like it might have been a bit too self-loving here. Once or twice, I wasn't sure if the game was being satirical or smug as it referenced how many fans love Danganronpa... Maybe that's just me though. It might have just been trying to imply that all fiction has its fans, and all fiction can leave an impact on someone.

It took him 6 chapters, but the robot finally became a real badass.

The final cutscene however really did a lot to help. It puts everything into question, and makes you wonder if what you heard was truth or lie. And in the end, that's what makes me feel a bit better. It's portrayed in a way that says Tsumugi was lying, as she said many things that actually don't fit with many other facts we've been told throughout the game. In the end, were we being tossed about? Was this bizarre ending just another plot by the evil villains?

So I suppose the final question is... was I wrong? A little bit. I think so. A little.

I'm not being proud or anything. The ending was so bizarre and so strange, that I'm almost unsure of what exactly was going on right now. My mind is still fresh from this. I'm going to have quite a few sleepless nights, mulling this one over... but I will say this; It got me talking. I've played many games that I finished and put down immediately without any reaction whatsoever but this one... This one is going to ride me for ages. My brain is looking about the place. I'm probably going to look back at this article tomorrow and want to make changes. And then change it again and again...

What was your experience with V3's ending? Sound off in the comments below! 

"My mama always said... life is like a killing game."

Shiggins:[Admin]
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Born under the stars of the Dark Gods, Shiggins owns the power of the Great Eye and is utterly magnificent in his omniscience. If you dare to discover more about someone as great as him, then go ahead. And to all my friends and family members, YOU are wrong and I should be disappointed! Not the other way round!,. You can find out about him or ask him stuff on ask.fm/shigginsishere or go to his tumblr page http://otakugajeel.tumblr.com/