Something Important About Hinata...
The way Hinata speaks in the Japanese version of SDR2 is a big deal for his character, and what contrasts him so well from Naegi Makoto.
Before we jump into that, I must briefly explain how Naegi talks, as it is integral for the comparison.
Naegi is very mild-mannered. His self-pronoun of choice is ボク (Boku) in Katakana. While the only self-pronoun in English is I/me/my, Japanese has many, all written in different ways, and these pronouns tell you a great deal about the character's personality.
In this case, what does this say about Naegi?
Naegi using Boku as opposed to Ore - another male pronoun - shows he's very mild-mannered. Boku is more polite than Ore is, and makes him appear more soft, polite, and less boyish than a number of his other male classmates who do use Ore.
Boku can be written in Hiragana ぼく, Katakana ボク, and Kanji 僕. So why Katakana for Naegi? What does it show?
It can show many things, but in Naegi's case, it emphasizes that he, above all else, is a teenager. Yes, all his classmates (minus Hagakure) are, but when I say it emphasizes this, I mean it shows he embodies what a teenager is. He's young, but he's not a kid. He's a little awkward; he's not fully mature in how he reacts to the world yet. He's hip and trendy, and maybe a little moody. Combine this with Boku, and you are told all you need about Naegi out the gate as soon as he says "My (ボク Boku) name is Naegi Makoto": he is a mild-mannered growing boy, probably up to date on the latest trends, probably a little awkward and soft-spoken, nicer than most males his age, and maybe even a bit naive.
These are all things that we learn to be true as the game goes on, but just by his pronoun alone, we can tell these things about Naegi.
Furthermore, there are different styles of speech, such as what particles you use. Some are more masculine or feminine, some speech styles are more rude. In Naegi's case, he uses gender-neutral particles, once again hinting at his mild nature.
Hinata is the opposite. We can tell from the get-go based on his self-pronoun.
He uses 俺 (Ore) in Kanji.
As said, Ore is more rude and man-ish than Boku. Right out the gate, the audience knows Hinata is going to be more rude, boyish, and assertive than Naegi.
His particle choice, compared to Naegi, also is mostly masculine, and he employs ruder speech options. Again, this paints Hinata as someone much more outspoken, forceful, and meaner.
This was no accident. In fact, it was a core part of his character, stated in the SDR2 art book:
"No, that's wrong!"*
The boldness of this catchphrase is truly what makes Hinata who he is. Each time he says it in a Class Trial, it feel more self-assured than the last. In the last killing game at Hope's Peak Academy, the protagonist was a well-behaved, un-masculine person, which caused some issues, and he was even criticized at a point for being "too arrogant for Naegi-kun". Kind men are fine and all, but for a protagonist, I want someone a little more fired-up!
*In English, both Hinata and Naegi's phrases are translated the same. However, Naegi says sore wa chigau yo, while Hinata says sore wa chigau zo. Yo is gender neutral, while zo is masculine and can sound ruder, hence this being the line that "Makes Hinata who he is".
Using Kanji for a self-pronoun in a character signifies many things. In Hinata's case, it tells us he's intelligent, mature for his age, probably acts more grown-up and pragmatic than boys his age. It can also be a sign of being dignified, almost noble-esque. For example, Togami also uses 俺.
But...it's strange, right? Because while Hinata is smart and is more pragmatic, he is also pretty obviously still your average teen. In fact, it's something he laments: he's painfully normal.
So...should it not be オレ, Ore in Katakana?
After all, almost every teen boy protagonist in media uses オレ, or a form of it (like Goku, who uses オラ Ora, a "Southern" version of Ore, still in Katakana). Would it not make more sense for Hinata to then use オレ?
I actually don't think so.
Besides personality differences that could warrant the use of Kanji, I think the usage of Kanji is most purposeful as a subversion of expectation. Like I said, generally speaking, most teenage male protagonists uses オレ. Pick up any shounen, and the protag will likely be using オレ.
In my opinion, by using 俺, the same self-pronoun, just written in a different script, it imparts something very small but very noteworthy to the audience: something is off about this otherwise normal teenager.
Hinata talks about how he's painfully normal, but then, why not the painfully normal pronoun?
Out the gate it gives this off feeling. Ever so slightly, something is wrong with the guy that shows he's not as normal as he claims.
And then, Chapter 6 happens.
It's incredibly clever foreshadowing, all just by changing how the character says "I".
To add on...when Hinata underwent the Kamukura project, they truly ripped everything from Hinata, including how he speaks.
While Hinata uses 俺 Ore, Kamukura uses 僕 Boku in Kanji. I've already explained both Boku and Kanji script, so you can probably put them together. But in short, it shows Kamukura is far more mild, less assertive and less masculine. He is intelligent, regal, far above everyone else, but is polite.
More interesting is the way Kamukura speaks. He talks closer to Naegi, using gender-neutral particles instead of rude or masculine ones. However, he is even more polite than most characters, as he uses Keigo.
Keigo is "polite speech", and as it suggests, makes a character sound polite and formal. Characters like Tsumiki and Sonia use it.
In Kamukura's case, this makes him sound...like an academic paper. He is mild-mannered, he is polite, he is intelligent. The way he speaks gives the feeling of a reporter on the news, a scientific paper, an essay - someone who is there to relay information, not his feelings or opinions. Which is funny, seeing as he can't help but give his opinions in calling everything boring. I think that contrast shows, despite Hope's Peak's best efforts, Kamukura is still human.
It is still a far cry from Hinata, who's manner of speaking alone exuded so much personality, so much feeling, and a whole lot of self-expression.
Finally, I'll cap this post off with a fun fact: Kamukura probably was never going to have red eyes.
This is just a theory, but there is interesting pieces of evidence to support this.
In all versions of SDR2, early beta sprites are used for nearly every truth bullet. If a truth bullet is using a character sprite (such as a testimony truth bullet), it most likely is using an early version of the sprite by accident. This can be seen with Souda, Sonia, Nanami, Tsumiki, Komaeda, etc.
With this pattern in mind, here is the truth bullet with Awakened Hinata on it:
Beyond the fact he's missing the red eyes, you can tell it's a very early version as his shoulder and hair aren't as spiky as they should be.
They hadn't quite edited the sprite yet. But, I find the lack of red eyes interesting when compounded with a strange piece of merch I talked about here.
I won't repeat the details as you can check the post out if you'd like, but I will show the photos again.
Considering early beta versions of sprites are sometimes mistakenly used in Danganronpa merch (and other beta sprites were used in this merch line, such as Komaeda's), this makes me assume this, too, is a beta Kamukura sprite, and he was originally intended to have Hinata's eye color.
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