Seems like you have finished so i just need to say this:
Just, at EVERYTHING its trying to do, it hits it. And thats something that cannot be said about most of the other media in this franchise (not saying one is better over the other btw, thats a separate thing)
Like, it does its job of being THH's prequel. It goes into more depth with Kyoko and her father's relationship, it gives more insight into the destroyed classroom and what happened, it explains the massive plothole(?) of how exactly Junko was able to steal class 78's memories, it gives a better look at how exactly Junko was able to take over HPA. It gives so much context and answers to things the first game didn’t have the time to properly explore.
It does its job of setting up for SDR2's twist (as you are supposed to read it BEFORE the second game btw (it also released in 2011, a little under a year before SDR2)). It sets up the HPA is corrupt, that the staff dont care about its talentless students. It gives us the info that Kamukura and Junko are working together, and thats WHY the founder's portrait is in the funhouse. It also preps us for the twist, and why it feels so out of left-field in the game if you didn’t have the context of DR0 before. (I could make the argument that thats why both hajime and izuru share design elements with yasuke, because of the whole him pretending to be izuru thang but thats mostly speculation on my part lol)
But, most importantly, it gives us more depth into JUNKO. Something we lost in order for the first game's twist to happen. Ryoko is such a fun character, my lil goober, and such an interesting aspect to Junko that people either do not know about or think is solely Yasuke's creation (it is not, thats very clear in the novel). To think, that the girl that burnt the world down, was deep down a silly lil redhead with a weird crush on her childhood bestfriend is literally the best way Kodaka could’ve took her character. Its so funny but so fucking tragic, to fall in love with this protagonist and realize she was doomed from the start.
anyway sorry for the ramble, i love Ryoko and Yasuke and their story so much
NO RAMBLE AWAY THANK YOU FOR SHARING. i loved DR0 and honestly i may reread it again very soon because i miss Ryoko and want to spend more Quality Time with her.
i have so many thoughts about DR0 so here's a few scattered ones as i slowly wake up this morning:
DR2 has SO MANY MORE DR0 references than i realized
i would have taken an adaptation of this over DR3 tbh. like hands down
i feel bad for everyone involved in this event. even Kamishiro. yes, really
i also, personally, see Ryoko as not at all separate from Junko. to me she is representative of Junko's soul and past, and when she fades away it's not so much Ryoko disappearing as a person but Junko symbolically chucking away anything that gets in the way of her worldview. she is not Yasuke's creation i agree
(i headcanon, as i've said, that Ryoko is basically how Junko was as a kid, just a little less bratty. i also tend to think that Ryoko Otonashi is Junko's real name or close to it)
(and i did tear up when Ryoko "crumbles." i like to think that Ryoko and Junko, for a moment, both existed at once there. both were sad she had to go.)
Ryoko being so sweet and bubbly and not wanting to actually kill anyone causing her trouble is such a HUGE. HUGE. HUGE. signpost to Danganronpa's themes.
and Junko musing that she may lose, i like to think, comes from the fact that she knows she's wrong somewhere. deep down, even Junko...who is shown to be self-hating...is just a little goober who loves Home Alone and thinks she can below up Kyoko Kirigiri with her mind.
Ryoko being weirded out by Makoto??? forget the intense foreshadowing in that scene. Ryoko picking up on his energy??? he's pure without the use of neuro-tech???? incredible
the chapter where Junko is kicking the shit out of Matsuda's corpse should be required reading for all DR fans. it humanizes her so much. my headcanon that she is constantly in the throes of this wild psychic pleasure-pain and is like, spiritually suffering, seems to be more or less supported here
the last chapter where Junko and Mukuro are talking also provides a TON of subtle clues as to their relationship. it totally comes off like Junko STILL being so bitter that big sis Muki ran off to the military and left her all alone for a few years ha
so there's my ramble in return !! what a fantastic yarn. so tragic. so good
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