An analysis/critique on the severe sidelining of Ojima’s PTSD and how it should’ve been handled instead
With all the stuff that’s been happening recently with tetro and now with people allowing themselves to properly critique the writing and especially the lackluster portrayal of mental & physical illness of the such I figured I should add my own two cents.
Ojima’s portrayal of mental illness is kinda conflicting to me as it’s like… fine? Well it’s a lot better than some of the trash fire in blue. The main problem I have with Ojima and mental illness is just how unexplored it is with his character (especially the maladaptive daydreaming), but I will say there are definitely scenes focusing on his trauma which still stand out as really good portrayals. And like he’s lucky to be one of the few tetro characters who wasn’t completely beaten down for expressing hope to heal and recover and actually had the opportunity to do so.
Now just a few things I want to get out of the way first. As always I don’t have any experience with PTSD or anything relating to Ojima’s trauma so everything I’m saying is based off research I’ve done into the topic.
Secondly I am going to be assuming Ojima has Complex PTSD more specifically. He’d have to have CPTSD over regular PTSD as CPTSD stems from long term severe (often childhood) trauma, often in which escape feels unlikely or impossible, rather than a single traumatic event. As well Ojima does share the additional symptoms associated with CPTSD, such as feelings of worthlessness and being permanently damaged, emotional/angry outbursts, trouble with relationships, difficulty experiencing positive emotion, and such. I’m assuming that in confession game when it was said he was diagnosed with PTSD, it’s specifically that was what he was diagnosed with, as he kept dropping out as well as CPTSD can be quite hard to diagnose. I did go into more depth on this subject here so go check that post out. I will be going back and forth between using CPTSD and PTSD in discussion, when referring to symptoms that overlap in the two conditions and as well from viewing the story in how it was likely initially written. So I hope this doesn’t get too confusing.
To get to my main point, Ojima’s CPTSD is something that I just feel very disappointed in how it was portrayed, or more so lack thereof. We never got a single mention of his condition after it was initially revealed in confession game. Hell not even any terminals, staffside, or word of god content ever bring up his PTSD again. The only thing I can think of is Ojima expressing some symptoms here and there which honestly with everything feel unintentional as it is. It’s like his CPTSD was just tacked on in the very beginning as a trauma condition he has then completely forgotten about. Despite how much of a heavily relevant aspect of Ojima’s character it should be.
One of the main symptoms surrounding PTSD and CPTSD are relieving the traumatic event in one’s mind. Such as intrusive thoughts/memories, frequent nightmares, night terrors, and flashbacks which can vary in intensity and duration. The frequency of flashbacks occurring can vary depending on what type of trauma and situation lead to the disorder. But from what I’ve seen it can range from multiple times a week to multiple times a day. More on flashbacks specifically, a flashback is when a person experiences senses and emotions relating to their trauma and feels they are reliving the moment. This can include seeing images, hearing/smelling/tasting certain things, and feeling physical sensations such as pain and pressure. And as well feeling strong, painful emotions felt during the trauma. Another sort of flashbacks are emotional flashbacks (which are particularly common in CPTSD), where a person purely feels emotions felt during the trauma, such as fear, hopelessness, guilt, ect. Sometimes people who have emotional flashbacks don’t even realise they are having a flashback. From an outside view flashbacks can appear as the person suddenly having a shift in attitude and acting disconnected, to them acting out in distress, to them completely losing awareness of current surroundings and acting out as if the trauma is happening again. PTSD flashbacks are often triggered by reminders of the trauma they experienced. Ranging from seeing people, places, discussion of stuff relating to the trauma, thinking certain things and experiencing senses such as sight/smell/taste/sound/touch related to the trauma.
So with all this out the way on flashbacks and back to Ojima. We have never seen or heard about him having a flashback in canon despite how common it is in CPTSD. This is very unrealistic because of that and forgets about what should’ve been a crucial part of his character. For him to not have a single flashback during the 36 days pink takes place over, as well as the daily life reports in his terminal not including it makes me think his PTSD was simply forgotten about and portrayed very poorly. Especially since Ojima has been in situations which realistically would’ve caused him to have a flashback. Such as early on in chapter 1 Hiroaki suddenly grabbing his arm would’ve in all likelihood caused some sort of flashback or strong negative reaction from Ojima considering his past. But what we saw instead was just him acting mildly annoyed by his antics and not a single sign that this could’ve triggered very traumatic memories for him. This is the example I think about the most but others include how he was mentioned to be afraid of the dark when Hasegawa bought up his profile. Yet we only saw Ojima display some light distress to the darkness in chapter 4 as well as it never being bought up again, if this is assuming this fear is related to his CPTSD. Even other triggers that would realistically be related to his abuse such as sudden yelling does not show any reaction from him. As well as triggers that may be very specific to his situation. One incredibly missed opportunity I think about a lot is how Ojima is said to have a specific trauma with being accused of lying, which realistically would be a big CPTSD trigger for him. But the only time when this was bought up again was Ojima acting distressed when he was drunk and going on a small tangent about how he’s not a liar bought on by himself. Which is especially jarring since tetro is a danganronpa fanseries where pointing fingers at people and accusing each other is one of the main staples of it, and you’re telling me Ojima wasn’t accused of lying once? It would’ve lead to great character exploration for him and if his CPTSD was actually treated with respect shown that side of him as well.
Now just a little side tangent which is somewhat related I just didn’t know where to put it. I find it very strange of how nonchalantly Ojima reacted to when he found out he was made drunk against his will several times. As for someone like him, being taken advantage of while heavily dissociated and barely even having a vague recollection of something bad that happened would likely hit too close to home. Especially since his maladaptive daydreaming developed to protect his mind from traumatic experiences, but as well leaves him physically vulnerable. So Ojima finding out someone directly took advantage of him being spaced out and unresponsive to hurt him and him not remembering would’ve realistically caused a much bigger reaction. As well a possible CPTSD trigger of similar situations happening in the past when he realises bad stuff happened him when he was dissociating. Even in the current plotline where Hasegawa manipulated Ojima into thinking he can hurt people while daydreaming. Ojima getting drunk while daydreaming and proceeding to act out in ways where he isn’t of a sound state of mind would’ve really hit on the beliefs he had about himself about that time. As well as he was very concerned about hurting Hiroaki, I really feel like he should’ve had some reaction to finding out that he was getting weird with him while drunk and making him uncomfortable, even if it really wasn’t that bad.
Flashbacks aren’t the only aspect of PTSD/CPTSD as well. Certain other intrusive memories can manifest in different yet similar ways such as nightmares and night terrors. Often times these nightmares as frequently as several times a week. PTSD nightmares involve reliving the traumatic experience through distressing dreams, and can disturb a person’s sleep by waking them up in panic in the night. Night terrors can present themselves through kicking and thrashing in one’s sleep, screaming, and sometimes hurting themselves in the process, although these are less common than regular nightmares, and most of the time aren’t even remembered in waking.
Ojima’s sleep disturbances from CPTSD are something that really should’ve been shown in the series yet weren’t even hinted to. Often times he rooms with Hiroaki or switches rooms with him and tends to fall asleep in each other’s rooms. With how early Ojima came to learn about Hiroaki’s insomnia from this there should’ve been some point where Hiroaki saw him experiencing a nightmare. Especially in chapter 5 where after defence game they were kicked out of their dorms and the two of them slept in the art room (and that one time on the balcony) after that. Ojima should’ve experienced a night terror at least once during the duration of the game. It’s something I always thought would make an incredibly good scene.
Think of this; in the dead of the night the other students hear screaming and thrashing coming from Ojima’s dorm. Believing that another murder is taking place. They rush over to find Ojima by himself, flailing around violently in his bed, yet still appearing to be asleep. The more the others try to wake him the more he kicks and thrashes, hurting himself and others in this moment of distress. And as soon as it started, he goes back to sleep like nothing happened. In the next morning when Ojima properly wakes up with no memory of what happened. One of the other students comes into his room and asks what happened last night out of concern. It hits Ojima that it happened yet again, but this time in the killing game. Exposing his most sensitive side to everyone else without knowing about it. Realising that everyone saw it and will view him differently. He shuts himself off from everyone else for the day, and locks himself in his room.
Going back to the primary symptoms of PTSD, hypervigilance/hyperarousal is a big one. To be hypervigilant means you’re constantly in an alert state, scanning for threats and never feeling like you can take your guard down to stay safe. It’s often very stressful to live like this as you never can truly feel relaxed. As well as relationships with other people can be soured from an innate distrust and fear of betrayal. Including what would be safe spaces to others still feel like you have to be on guard in. Hypervigilance can cause a heighten startle response and may overreact to sudden movements, sounds, ect.
To be more specific in how hypervigilance affects relationships and connections. It can be hard to form proper bonds with people while constantly being alert and scanning for potential signs of betrayal and may even “act first” and try to distance themselves from the person from this belief. Especially within CPTSD it can make trusting relationships very difficult to form. Anger outbursts and guilt afterwards after a particular situation where the person acts out of suspicion can occur a lot and severely hinder relationships. When someone has lived their whole life being hurt and betrayed by people, feeling distrustful and alert around others can feel only natural.
Going back to Ojima, there has been a few indications of hypervigilance in his character specifically with all the times he gets startled by Monomoko’s sudden appearance. Although part of me believes from everything else we’ve seen in his character this wasn’t written as an intentional symptom of his PTSD. One thing that bugs me quite a bit is how little distrust and difficult sustaining relationships was shown. Both in his hypervigilance and additional CPTSD symptoms. Very early on into the series Ojima formed a strong bond and trust with Hiroaki. And I will mention that by saying this I am not implying that people with CPTSD cannot have close and trusting relationships with other people, only that for it to have happened so fast (especially within a killing game) feels unlikely to me. Ojima and Hiroaki's relationship does have a lot of bumps in it but almost all the time they come from Hiroaki's paranoia and impulsiveness rather than showing Ojima's hypervigilance in their relationship as well and how he could also have an innate distrust of Hiroaki. They can still latch onto each other early on, but Ojima's perspective on having shaky relationships and distrust due to his CPTSD really should've been shown. As he realistically wouldn't have trusted Hiroaki so wholeheartedly early on, but still could've grown to that level the more he bonded with him. In which if Ojima's struggle to trust Hiroaki was portrayed him eventually being able to would've been a very empowering message.
Even outside of his relationship with Hiroaki, Ojima’s relationship with the other characters should’ve been explored more. One big critique with Ojima’s character is that he rarely interacts with the other students. In the story this does make sense considering his CPTSD, but it doesn’t feel to be intentional as we never got to see his perspective of why he primarily hangs out with only Hiroaki. An exploration into Ojima’s hypervigilance couldve been very interesting considering he was trapped in a killing game where the only way out is through murder. What would’ve initially been an instinctive feeling of being on edge could’ve turned into something much bigger. And in this scenario Ojima doesn’t have to show it super visibly and be outwardly distrustful and panicky. Hypervigilance doesn’t show itself so obviously and he can still try to be altruistic as is a large part of his personality yet be on edge. He can still try to help be a leader early on because he genuinely does want to help everyone but keeping people at an arms distance. And when Hiroaki comes to him and starts latching onto him. They still hang out and are friends early on and have their connection (especially with the trait of Ojima believing he’s much closer with people than he actually is). But still have Ojima show distrust in their relationship and may lash out at times.
Now one last thing I want to talk about is the specific additional symptoms that come with CPTSD. These include difficulty regulating emotions, having shaky relationships, being emotionally numb, feeling a lack of positive emotions, feeling a persistent sense of shame/guilt/hopelessness, suicidal thoughts or behaviours, physical symptoms such as headaches, nausea, ect, and negative self view and esteem. Only a few of these symptoms were only hinted at every once in a while and could have been written only because he’s supposed to be a more stoic character rather than an intentional symptom of CPTSD. But there is one thing that sticks out to me a lot. We actually do see a lot more of Ojima’s symptoms in [Bruise] when he discusses his trauma, although whether this was intentional or not is unclear. Even despite everything else [Bruise] has always stuck out as a very good and accurate portrayal from what I’ve seen. Quite a few of Ojima’s quotes from there can very much be interpreted as symptoms of CPTSD.
“You didn’t let him break you. Y-you- you escaped, you got home, you- …Y-You fought back. And look at you now, y-you- you’re so brave, you’re so confident, you’re so strong now. How did you do it?”
This line reads to me a lot at a heavy feeling of admiration and envy and comparison to his own experiences. Potentially feeling shame and guilt over not being able to fight back and escape.
“…I- I don’t know how you can just do that. How you can just- …just decide to be strong. I-I feel- so fucking small, a-all the time, i-it’s like- …I-It’s like I’m infected.”
A big trait of CPTSD is feeling permanently damaged or worthless and feeling inherently different from people. Ojima’s description of feeling “small” and “infected” here really reads to me as such. The ICD-11 describes this as:
“the individual may feel guilty about not having escaped from or succumbing to the adverse circumstance, or not having been able to prevent the suffering of others.”
This is exactly what Ojima presents in these two quotes when he reminisces on his trauma. And as well with the final quote that fits everything I just said:
“I don’t know how to feel okay again. I don’t know how to feel strong after that. I don’t know how to stop feeling like I don’t belong in my own fucking body anymore.”
Hopelessness can play a big part in CPTSD. You may feel as you’re permanently broken and can never change or get better. To me, [Bruise] is the pinnacle of what Ojima’s character could’ve been. Even if CPTSD wasn’t intentionally written into this scene it still comes out as an accurate portrayal of his experiences and real life. Unfortunately, this is the only time we really got to see this part of Ojima. Ojima’s symptoms with his CPTSD were never bought up, never even hinted at.
I really think Ojima’s CPTSD was handled very poorly and essentially forgotten about by the narrative. It’s an easy fix as well, just take into consideration what Ojima’s triggers and symptoms are and where they sound come up in the story. Especially since CPTSD symptoms are heavily affect people’s ability to function in their daily lives, this should’ve been a much larger part of his character than it was. As well as giving an accurate representation to this condition, properly showing this side of Ojima would give a lot of insight into his deeper thoughts and backstory. Especially since he doesn’t like talking about that stuff, have it be shown if he doesn’t want to tell.
I’d very much like to hear you guys thoughts on Ojima’s CPTSD and my analysis here as it’s something I’m passionate about researching with his character. Especially since this was written as a warmup/reference to my main Ojima rewrite.
I’ll also put a bibliography here of the sources I used to link to more stuff regarding CPTSD:
Cleveland clinic on CPTSD:
Mind UK on PTSD and CPTSD:
Ptsduk on the similarities and differences in PTSD and CPTSD:
Ptsduk on understanding PTSD flashbacks and triggers:
Mind ease on what a PTSD flashback looks like to an outsider:
Charlie health on PTSD night terrors:
Bright quest on PTSD night terrors:
Ptsduk on PTSD hypervigillance:
