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She/Her, 17 (Danganronpa, Twisted Wonderland, Bungo Stray Dogs, The Case Study of Vanitas, Genshin Impact, Dungeon Meshi, so on and so forth)
Today marks the 14th anniversary of DR2’s release. I had not prepared any artwork and was not planning to post anything in particular, but Kodaka shared this retrospective, so I thought I would take the opportunity to add some context based on what I know:
After Danganronpa was released, its sales did not grow as much as initially hoped. We were told that there would be no sequel, and at the same time, the team members were assigned to different projects and scattered.
I had discovered how much I enjoyed creating an original work, so I did not want to join another project. I was wondering what to do and even considering quitting when the opportunity to write the Danganronpa Zero novel came along. I appealed directly to my boss and somehow managed to continue working on Danganronpa.
ダンガンロンパ発売後、当初そこまで売上が伸びずに「２は作らない」という事を告げられるのと同時に、チームはそれぞれ別のプロジェクトに割り振られてバラバラに。
僕はオリジナル作品を作る楽しさに目覚めてしまったので、他のプロジェクトに入りたくなく、どうしようかな…辞めようかな…と思ってるところに、ダンガンロンパゼロの小説の話がきたので、上司に直訴し、なんとかダンガンロンパの仕事を続けられた。
As Kodaka explained, it was not actually Spike that first came up with the idea of publishing Danganronpa Zero. A publisher called Seikaisha (星海社) contacted him through a direct message on Twitter. Kodaka apparently assumed at first that it was a suspicious solicitation from a vanity publisher, but the person who contacted him, Katsushi Ota, was actually an extremely accomplished editor who had worked with Nisio Isin, Kinoko Nasu, and Ryukishi07.
Ota had no previous connection to Kodaka. He happened to discover Kodaka’s Twitter account and decided to reach out to him, and that contact ultimately led to the publication of the novel. This was discussed in an interview about Danganronpa Zero, which is still available online:
The interview contains a lot of fascinating information, so I think it is well worth reading even through machine translation!
Incidentally, Yoichiro Koizumi, who is writing the new Slayhem route for 2x2, also began his career as a novelist after winning a newcomer award from Seikaisha. Kodaka later asked him to write Ultra Despair Hagakure for DR:AE and the story for Danganronpa Gaiden: Killer Killer. After they had worked together several times, Kodaka invited him to join when Too Kyo Games was founded. That is how Koizumi came to work alongside Kodaka for so many years.
Meanwhile, Danganronpa continued to sell gradually, and before I knew it, we were talking about making a sequel.
そうしている間にダンガンロンパはジワ売れし、いつの間にか2を作る話になってた。
DR did not initially reach its sales target. According to an interview included in the Danganronpa 1・2 Reload art book, it appears to have sold only around 24,000 to 25,000 copies at first.
When the original planning team, including Kodaka, first proposed Danganronpa within the company, people opposed the project on the grounds that even a successful adventure game would only sell around 40,000 copies. In the end, the game really did not sell particularly well at first.
However, as Megumi Ogata also mentioned in episode 8 of Dangan Radio, DR reportedly placed first in a December 2010 ranking of the most enjoyable games chosen by video game store employees. Recognition like that helped its sales gradually increase over time.
According to an interview in the DR2 art book, the decision to make the sequel had been settled by March 2011. Since DR was released on November 25, 2010, it seems that they watched its performance for about four months before deciding to begin production on DR2.
The Danganronpa script took about six months to complete, but I think 2 took around a year. Even so, I could only work that quickly because I was young.
ダンガンロンパのシナリオは6ヶ月くらいで完成したけど、2は１年くらいかかったかな。それでも若いからやれたスピードだけど。
The DR2 script was genuinely unfinished until the very last moment. An interview in the DR2 art book explains that there were occasions when Kodaka went to the office early in the morning on the very day of a voice recording session, printed the script he had written himself, and personally carried it to the studio.
As a result, several cast members have said in interviews that they had not been able to read the script beforehand and only saw it for the first time when they arrived to record. Takako Sasuga, the voice of Monomi, was one of them. In episode 2 of Super Dangan Radio, she said that she first read the script at the recording session itself.
It is true that the script took around a year, but Kodaka was also writing Danganronpa Zero at the same time as he was working on DR2. I imagine that was another reason it took longer.
None of the staff could understand the Chapter 4 trick, so we struggled with it and even built models.
4章のトリックはスタッフの誰も理解できずに、模型など作って苦戦した。
This story comes up in almost every interview related to DR2. My personal favorite version is from the DR2 art book interview. Kodaka emailed the Chapter 4 script to the entire staff, and Komatsuzaki responded, “It was entertaining. I did not understand the trick at all, though.” I love that anecdote. 😂
I initially entrusted the Chapter 5 trick to another planner, but three months later I came up with the current trick, so I overturned everything. I am sorry about that. But creators are willing to accept hardship and wasted effort for the sake of an interesting idea, right?
５章のトリックは初めに別のプランナーに任せてたけど、3ヶ月後に僕が今のトリックを思いついたので、ひっくり返しました。あの時はごめんね。でも面白いアイデアの為にする苦労や無駄は厭わないのがクリエイターだよね！
Kodaka has repeatedly told this story as a joke, so many people probably already know it. The “another planner” he is referring to was Shun Sasaki.
Sasaki was the main person responsible for Dangan Island, the bonus mode in DR2. He later became the director of DR:AE and DRS, and also played an important role in DRV3.
He was not involved with DR:THH. According to an interview in the DR2 art book, after playing the completed game, he became determined to work on Danganronpa himself. He personally approached Kodaka and asked to be added to the team, which is how he joined the staff starting with DR2.
Sasaki proposed around nine different trick ideas for Chapter 5, but Kodaka rejected all of them and rewrote the entire trick himself. Despite that history, Sasaki clearly has a great deal of affection and respect for Kodaka. In Danganronpa Kodaka, a book collecting columns written by Kodaka, a member of the publicity staff identified as K says that Sasaki always tells people, “Kodaka is an incredibly kind person.”
In other words, I think Kodaka can keep using this story as a joke in so many different interviews because he and Sasaki genuinely trust each other.
I think Sasaki is someone with an extraordinary amount of determination and love for Danganronpa. He had no previous experience creating mystery tricks, so he worked hard by reading mystery novels and studying how to construct them. Even after going through the experience of having every trick he devised rejected, he continued supporting Danganronpa. After Kodaka left Spike Chunsoft, Sasaki served as the development director of DRS and helped carry the series forward. Personally, I believe DR fans should appreciate him much more. 🥺
After release, unlike the first game, I think it sold fairly well from the beginning. I do not remember very clearly anymore. I suppose the memories I have written here will eventually disappear as well...
発売後は1の時と違って初動から結構売れてた気がする。もうあんまよく覚えてない。ここに書いた記憶もじきになくなっていくのでしょう……
According to records published by 4Gamer.net, DR2 sold 69,000 copies during its first week, which means it sold more than twice as many copies as DR:THH initially did: https://www.4gamer.net/games/117/G011794/20120801070/
According to an interview in the Danganronpa 1・2 Reload art book, DR2 had sold around 180,000 copies by approximately the time Danganronpa: The Animation finished airing. The anime began airing in July 2013.
Looking back, the period after DR2’s release really was an incredible time for the rapid growth of Danganronpa’s popularity. Many of the merchandise items released around then are fascinating to look at now. I only wish I had had more money at the time... 🥺
That is everything! I hope at least some of this additional context was interesting to read.
Context for anyone who is wondering: Lamine Yamal's parents won an UNICEF raffle for a charity photoshoot in which Barça players posed with kids, and 5 month old Lamine happened to get 20yo Messi. Which is like. Literally insane
random question: do you have any favorite headcanons for any drv3 characters? (specifically kokichi but HEADCANONS ARE HEADCANONS, TELLME EM ALL >:3)
Naturally!!! I'm actually working on a little series of "refs" for some V3 characters where I'm putting a lot of my headcanons that involve their physical appearances. And then there's some stuff I still want to save for future writing.
But here's some random bullets pulled from my headcanon doc for now! Mostly Kib & Kokichi...
K1-B0
I have an OC for the protoype of K1-B0 (the one that injured the professor). His name was K1-A (Kiia) and Kiibo was taught to view him as his deceased older brother until he was old enough to learn that they actually lived in the same body.
K1-B0's voice comes out of speakers, but it isn't a text-to-speech sort of thing. Instead he has a constant background process that calculates his voice based on the position of his tongue/lips/mouth and a couple digitally simulated muscles for 'sending air' and 'contracting vocal folds' etc. Nerve signals he sends to those "muscles" don't do anything but go into these audio calculations. This is why he can make nonverbal sounds like screams, 'oof's, and breathing pretty naturally. But if something foreign is involved it won't affect his voice - eg if you put a hand over his mouth, his voice wouldn't come out muffled. Basically, go look at Pink Trombone (https://dood.al/pinktrombone/).
^^^ He isn't very conscious of how his voice works, so when he tries to sing he reads all this stuff about "using your air" and tries to create sound physically by sending his hand-dryer air through his mouth. That's why it's awful and makes Shuichi throw up.
Instead of fans he's cooled with tubes of blue coolant. If he was murdered this is what I'd draw for his blood.
The processes that keep his body functioning (analogous to our heartbeat etc) are separate from the processing unit in his head. They take place in an "autonomic processing unit" or APU which is in his chest.
It takes him like at least 10 seconds to go from standing to sitting or sitting to standing, balance is difficult for him in general.
He doesn't experience disgust, attraction, or cuteness (things I see as biologically based that I don't think his programmers thought of). He has a good sense of what is considered attractive or cute due to socialization. He's a little more clueless about what's considered "gross" because people don't like to talk about these things, but he starts to learn during the killing game.
He didn't have a gender but upon reflecting during the killing game he starts to identify as male. Likewise, he didn't have a sexuality but started to figure it out with Miu later. He's kind of okay with she/her but would be offended by people using "they/them" for him because he thinks it's robophobic at first.
He learned to use a lot of robot words even though he doesn't have any particular reason to use them. For example talking about "logic" all the time, "I'll save that to my memory bank" & referring to remembering something as "getting a hit." And my personal favorite, saying "100%" with seemingly no basis.
He's a philosophical zombie. Not a very generous headcanon but I find it interesting.
Kokichi
Physically speaking, he looks extremely plain and forgettable. I draw him with like two freckles to emphasize how unremarkable his face is. He doesn't like having markings on his face/body though because it makes him feel less like a 'blank slate.'
He has 0 sense of identity and is generally very unhappy with life. I think that unhappiness would be much more obvious outside of the killing game, because the game gave him a sense of purpose that he normally lacks.
^^^ There's very few things he considers to be constants/part of his identity, and everything else he considers part of some facade or another. What I have written is this: liar, smart, crazy (mentally ill), crazy (zany), gay, & a couple moral beliefs. But whatever those things are, they're the only things he's prideful about.
He thought Kirumi's murder scheme was pretty well-planned and it inspired him to create another murder where the body was destroyed.
Right before he died, he couldn't help turning his head away/hiding his face against the platform. So the press hit his shoulder first and then the side of his head.
Non-despair: When he's older he has generally decided to act more agreeable, but he's restless and misses the days when he got to be a giant prick as god intended. He does something dramatic to upend his life several times a year, just in a way that's less destructive to other people.
Kokichi is the Ultimate Lucky Student for this class. He just took the liberty of making up another talent for himself.
Alternative older crack headcanon: he wasn't scouted as the Ultimate Supreme Leader, he's like the Ultimate Glassblower or some shit like that because he got into the Ultimate program by lying his ass off and the evaluator was impressed enough with his commitment to the bit that they let him in.
Another crack headcanon: Kokichi is a heavily revised version of an OC Tsumugi made when she was 12 for a Komaeda selfcest roleplay forum (I call it "the Maedaverse"). He was Komaeda's little brother who had terminal Liar's Disease.
Shuichi
He's great at solving cases because he can't stop thinking about them for weeks on end until they're solved with 99% certainty. He loses massive amounts of sleep and his grades drop slightly during these times.
Sometimes he'll dig up old cases and solve them from scratch, then check this against the real verdict to affirm that he didn't wrongfully accuse someone years ago and that he isn't a stupid idiot who does everything wrong.
Shuichi's uncle sent him to a counselor when he was ~7 years old because he was getting unreasonably anxious about his parents being overseas for the first time. This is the same counselor that he and his uncle sometimes refer clients to --- Shuichi always wonders if counseling will really help them, because it didn't do much for him back then.
He never understood how his parents could get so caught up in their love for each other that they neglect him, but for a brief moment when he's with Kaede, he gets it.
He's straight, and then later a lesbian.
He's not attracted to Kokichi, but is slightly jealous of Kokichi's “lithe body” (which is a phrase he says twice for some reason). These thoughts make him uncomfortable and confused, but he attributes that to the fact that he doesn't like Kokichi hitting on him (also true!).
Crack headcanon me and @cloudysonder have: The random "no that's wrong!" "that's true!" "that's not true!" that you can make him say throughout the game are his verbal tics. This is why everyone knows to ignore them and continue the conversation as though nothing happened.
Himiko
She mostly socializes with younger kids since they're less judgmental about her mannerisms (and more likely to shower her in praise), so she's used to having an easy time making people believe her "real magic" spiel. It's just having a very low success rate in the killing game because everyone here is her age.
^^^But also her master told her never to "ruin the magic" and she adheres to this strictly.
She became massively depressed around age 10 for no apparent reason, which made people pretty unsympathetic to her. Then she was bullied in middle school. She was probably bullied in elementary school too but she didn't actually notice that happening because it wasn't overt yet.
She and Kiibo explore religion together postcanon.
Also postcanon, she's a lot more liberal with her interpretations of what Angie and Tenko would want for her than the others are with their lost friends (especially Shuichi who worries about distorting Kaede's image).
Other
Tenko always loved cats as a kid. She still wears that pink collar + bell because of this, and despises any insinuation that it's sexual.
Tenko would also dress less femininely after she unpacks some of her hangups on gender. Currently she views girls wearing boys' clothes as "giving in to the enemy."
Crack headcanon(?): Kaito is secretly really weak. Team DR gave him all the astronaut smarts he needs, and the *memories* of being yoked, but they didn’t pick an actor who was athletic because they knew they were going to poison him. So he just sits down to do 100 pushups with Shuichi the first night and suddenly realizes he’s made of noodles.
I love posting updates at like 10pm - 1am because I go to sleep and wake up to an absolutely FLOODED inbox full of lovely comments from people in different timezones. It genuinely feels like this
my fave greek history story to tell is that of agnodice. like she noticed that women were dying a lot during childbirth so she went to egypt to study medicine in alexandria and was really fucking good but b/c it was illegal for women to be doctors in athens she had to pretend to be a man. and then the other doctors noticed that she was 10x better than them and accused her of seducing and sleeping with the women patients. like they brought her to court for this. and she just looked at them and these charges and stripped in front of everyone like “yeah. im not fucking your wives” and then they got so mad that a woman was better at their jobs then them that they tried to execute her but all her patients came to court and were like “are you fucking serious? she is the reason you have living children and a wife.” so they were shamed into changing the law and that is how women were given the right to practice medicine in athens
Back in June 2025, a question occurred to me: “Do people with certain personality traits gravitate to certain OB boys?” This led me to create a survey to try and get to the bottom of things.
Now we have results of our findings!! The Tumblr post you're currently reading only includes our findings, discussion, and credits. Some graphs, tables, and charts are included here, but not all of them, since Tumblr posts have a 30 image maximum. To read the full paper (which is ~50 pages), please see this Google Document.
Summary Statistics
Total number of responses: 1263
By Gender:
67.6% female
6.7% male
16.0% non-binary
9.7% other
By Age:
40.9% are between 13-18 years of age
40.3% are between 19-24 years of age
15.8% are between 25-30 years og age
2.4% are between 31-36 years of age
0.6% are older than 37, with the highest age noted being 42
By Region:
54.9% from North America
20.0% from Europe and Central Asia
14.1% from East Asia and Pacific
8.7% from Latin America and Caribbean
1.1% from Middle East and North Africa
0.8% from South Asia
0.4% from Sub-Saharan Africa.
By Keeping up with JP:
64.5% play EN
26.3% play both EN and JP
9.2% play JP
By Knowledge of Japanese:
96.4% do not know Japanese
3.6% know Japanese
By Main Source of Translation:
35.3% use video translations
32.5% use the EN game
21.0% use written translations
5.5% use summary threads
3.0% use machine translations
2.6% use word of mouth
By Years Playing:
12.6% five years
7.9% four years
32.5% three years
21.5% 2 years
13.8% 1 year
11.8% less than 1 year
By Story Quality:
34.1% rate it Excellent
53.9% rate it Good
11.8% rate it Okay
0.2% rate it Poor
By Relatability (to OB boy):
72.6% say yes, OB boy is relatable
27.4% say no, OB boy is not relatable
Most frequently selected favorite OB boy:
Leona (18.4%)
Riddle (17.4%)
Malleus (16.8%)
Idia (16.3%)
Azul (11.6%)
Vil (10.5%)
Jamil (9.0%)
Most frequently selected LEAST favorite OB boy:
Leona (17.5%)
Jamil (16.3%)
Azul (16.0%)
Malleus (15.3%)
Vil (13.3%)
Idia (11.5%)
Riddle (10.0%)
When evaluating our data, we must keep in mind that it is largely representative of:
self-identified women (~68%)
those aged 13-18 (~41%) and 19-24 (40%)
those from North America (~55%) and Europe + Central Asia (20%)
those who play EN (~65%) or both EN and JP (~26%)
those who overwhelmingly do not know Japanese (~96%)
those who mostly use video translations of the JP game (~35%) or play the EN game (~33%)
those who mostly keep up with JP updates (60%)
those who have played Twst for two (~22%) to three years (~33%)
those who rate the Twst main story “good” (~54%) or “excellent” (~34%)
those who say the OB boys are relatable (~73%)
In other words, this survey is NOT representative of the Twst JP fanbase or even of the international fanbase; it is concentrated on the lens taken by the young English-speaking women of North America and Europe/Central Asia.
Methods, Results + Discussion (Personality of Respondents vs Favorite OB Boy(s))
The method of collecting responses we used is known as convenience sampling, which gathers data from participants who are the easiest to reach. We, the researchers, sacrifice random and representative selection for speed and cost-efficiency.
To measure personality traits, we asked that each participant take the Big 5 or Five Factor Model (FFM) personality assessment and provide their resulting overall scores across 5 dimensions. Those 5 dimensions, commonly referred to by the acronym OCEAN and each existing on a spectrum, are as follows:
Openness (to experience) — measures imagination, curiosity, and willingness to try new things.
Conscientiousness — measures goal-directed behavior, planning, and self-discipline.
Extroversion — measures how much an individual is energized by social interactions.
Agreeableness — measures empathy, willingness to cooperate, and ability to trust in others
Neuroticism — measures emotional instability, such as anxiety, hostility, and impulsivity.
We chose to use the Big 5 because it is widely accessible (i.e. free to the general public), widely recognized, and, most importantly, widely researched. Many languages and cultures use this test, leading to Big 5’s validity and reliability to be demonstrated many times over in several peer-reviewed studies. It is considered the “gold standard” in personality psychology.
For the purposes of this report, we will be using a significance value of 0.05. In hypothesis testing, the p-value is used to determine whether an observed result is likely due to chance or a true effect. 0.05 will be our marker, or threshold. In this case, a p-value HIGHER than 0.05 means the results are not statistically significant (i.e. these results are due to random chance). A p-value LOWER than 0.05 means the results are statistically significant (ie these results are due to a true effect, NOT random chance).
We determined that this data set has homogeneity of variance and for normality. For the oneway ANOVAs, we only considered the characters that respondents marked as their favorite (1). This was done for every dimension. Where relevant, Fisher’s LSD multiple comparison test was used to determine if the difference between two scores within the same dimension were statistically significant.
Openness:
The Openness scores were not significantly different from each other (p-value=0.2858). The scores were generally clustered together without one being an outlier.
Those who ranked Jamil as (1) were the highest in terms of Openness (mean=89.98, sd=8.79)
Those who ranked Riddle as (1) were the lowest (mean=87.50, sd=8.97).
Using Fisher’s LSD multiple comparison test, we can see that Jamil likers and Riddle likers were significantly different from each other in terms of Openness scores (p-value=0.0271).
Since the Openness scores were not statistically significant, this means fans of all OB boys were roughly the same in terms of Openness. This makes sense, as the concept of Twisted Wonderland itself invites curiosity and imagination for a world that reinterprets classic Disney characters. Those attracted to Twst’s world and characters would have to be open to a decent degree to get invested and stay invested.
If we examine the two characters who are notably different from one another, Jamil likers were the most open and Riddle likers were the least open. This reflects the personalities of the two OB boys. Jamil desires his freedom and can act unhinged when he lets himself cut loose, whereas Riddle is notoriously uptight. Fans of these respective characters may share these characters’ respective traits, which would explain the scores.
Neuroticism:
The Neuroticism scores were statistically significant from one another (p-value=0.0074). At least one of the scores was different enough from the rest.
Those who ranked Idia as (1) were the highest in terms of Neuroticism (mean=90.96, sd=13.83).
Those who ranked Leona as (1) were the lowest (mean=86.13, sd=13.91).
Using Fisher’s LSD multiple comparison test, we can see that Idia likers were significantly different from Vil (p-value=0.0464), Azul (p-value=0.0130), and Leona (p-value=0.0003) likers in terms of Neuroticism scores.
Leona likers were significantly different from Idia, Riddle (p-value=0.0033), and Malleus (p-value=0.0366) likers.
Idia likers scored the highest in Neuroticism, whereas Leona likers scored the lowest. Again, I believe this reflects the tendency for fans to gravitate to characters that are similar to themselves. Idia is extremely anxious but can swing between periods of extreme confidence and extreme meekness. Leona, on the other hand, can usually keep his cool and does not act impulsively; he plans for the long term.
Agreeableness:
The Agreeableness scores were significantly different from each other (p-value=0.0449). At least one of the scores was different enough from the rest.
Those who ranked Malleus as (1) were the highest in terms of agreeableness (mean=89.80, sd=11.87).
Those who ranked Jamil as (1) were the lowest (mean=86.14, sd=12.04).
Using Fisher’s LSD multiple comparison test, we can see that Malleus likers were significantly different from Riddle (p-value=0.0087), Vil (p-value=0.0099), Idia (p-value=0.0052), and Jamil (p-value=0.0122) likers in terms of agreeableness scores.
Jamil likers were only significantly different from Malleus likers.
Malleus likers scored the highest in agreeableness, meaning they are the most empathetic and willing to cooperate and trust in others. Jamil likers are the opposite, having scored the lowest. This, too, reflects the characters, whom the fans may see themselves in. Jamil is highly distrustful of others and assumes the worst of them. On the other hand, Malleus can be on the naive side and there’s a whole subplot in the main story about how he overcomes loneliness, learns to be more open with others, and makes new friends. He is also shown to be empathetic, especially when he relates to others’ loneliness (like in Endless Halloween Night; he was sad for the ghosts who had missed the party).
Extraversion:
The Extraversion scores were significantly different from each other (p-value=0.0142). At least one of the scores was different enough from the rest.
Those who ranked Vil as (1) were the highest in terms of Extraversion (mean=63.52, sd=13.41)
Those who ranked Idia as (1) were the lowest (mean=59.32, sd=13.17).
Using Fisher’s LSD multiple comparison test, we can see that Vil likers were significantly different from Azul (p-value=0.0218) and Idia (p-value=0.0031) likers in terms of Extraversion scores.
Idia likers were significantly different from Vil, Riddle (p-value=0.0056), Malleus (p-value=0.0135), and Leona (p-value=0.0141).
Riddle likers were significantly different from Azul (p-value=0.0437).
Vil likers scored the highest in Extraversion, while Idia likers scored the lowest. Vil, being a celebrity, is constantly in the public eye and interacting with fans, whether indirectly (social media, films, etc.) or directly (in-person events). Additionally, his character revolves around the idea of beauty, being seen, and being confident in outward expression of his gender. I could see this pulling fans who similarly want to be seen or to express themselves in the same ways that Vil does. Idia, meanwhile, tends to keep to himself and be a loner, which may attract fans who behave similarly.
Conscientiousness:
The Conscientiousness scores were significantly different from each other (p-value=0.0142). At least one of the scores was different enough from the rest.
Those who ranked Azul as (1) were the highest in terms of conscientiousness (mean=76.94, sd=13.68), while those who ranked Idia as (1) were the lowest (mean=71.98, sd=14.30).
Using Fisher’s LSD multiple comparison test, we can see that Azul likers were significantly different from Riddle (p-value=0.0428), Leona (p-value=0.0308), Vil (p-value=0.0188), and Idia (p-value=0.0009) likers in terms of conscientiousness scores.
Idia likers were significantly different from Azul and Malleus (p-value=0.0229) likers.
The conscientiousness scores were statistically significant, meaning respondents are different in their goal-directed behavior, planning, and self-discipline. Twisted Wonderland is a free-to-play gacha game, in which players can earn currency to roll on banners by completing various tasks. However, there are limited ways for players to earn this currency, especially if they have been playing for years. This incentivizes paying money to acquire more rolls, which funds the game. Because banners–particularly event banners and birthday banners–are limited time, this feeds into FOMO (fear of missing out), furthering the pressure to not save or plan for future banners, but to spend on the current one. This data seems to suggest that fans of some OB characters (such as Azul) are better at long-term planning, including saving rolls for gacha banners, than fans of other characters (such as Idia).
Azul likers having the highest conscientiousness score makes sense, given that this is also true of the character. Azul often schemes and prepares for situations far in advance, and a perfect example of this is his ascension to dorm leadership. He implies that he worked hard to get into the good graces of his previous dorm leader to earn the recommendation to succeed him.
Idia likers are the least conscientious, but my best guess as to why this is the case… maybe his explosive and sudden anger? Or his ability to tackle any problem on-the-spot with the skills currently at his disposal? Perhaps it’s that he prefers to maximize efficiency?
By highest percentage:
15% of Jamil likers ranked Riddle as their least favorite OB boy
28.4% of Riddle likers ranked Leona as their least favorite OB boy
22.9% of Vil likers ranked Azul as their least favorite OB boy
23.3% of Idia likers ranked Vil as their least favorite OB boy
19.1% of Jamil likers ranked Idia as their least favorite OB boy
17% of Leona likers ranked Idia as their least favorite OB boy
28.3% of Jamil likers ranked Malleus as their least favorite OB boy
Most common rankings
When Riddle was ranked 1 (n=218), the most common OB Boy chosen at each other rank was:
2: Azul (22.5%)
3: Azul (19.3%)
4: Idia (21.1%)
5: Vil (21.1%)
6: Malleus (22.5%)
7: Leona (28.4%)
When Leona as ranked 1 (n=230), the most common OB Boy chosen at each other rank was:
2: Jamil (23.5%)
3: Malleus (20.0%)
4: Riddle (20.0%)
5: Riddle (22.2%)
6: Azul (21.3%)
7: Azul and Malleus (19.1% each)
When Azul as ranked 1 (n=145), the most common OB Boy chosen at each other rank was:
2: Riddle (24.8%)
3: Vil (20.7%)
4: Malleus (22.8%)
5: Vi (20.0%)
6: Leona (22.1%)
7: Leona (27.6%)
When Jamil as ranked 1 (n=113), the most common OB Boy chosen at each other rank was:
2: Leona (22.1%)
3: Riddle (27.4%)
4: Leona (23%)
5: Idia (21.2%)
6: Idia (23%)
7: Malleus (28.3%)
When Vil as ranked 1 (n=131), the most common OB Boy chosen at each other rank was:
2: Riddle (26.7%)
3: Malleus (21.4%)
4: Leona (22.1%)
5: Azul (21.4%)
6: Idia (22.1%)
7: Azul (22.9%)
When Idia was ranked 1 (n=204), the most common OB Boy chosen at each other rank was:
2: Malleus (26.5%)
3: Azul and Vil (19.6% each)
4: Riddle (20.1%)
5: Azul (20.6%)
6: Jamil (23.0%)
7: Leona (21.6%)
When Malleus was ranked 1 (n=210), the most common OB Boy chosen at each other rank was:
2: Idia (26.7%)
3: Riddle (24.3%)
4: Vil (21.4%)
5: Jamil (22.9%)
6: Jamil (24.3%)
7: Jamil (23.3%)
The trends observed are:
Riddle likers usually also liked Azul
Riddle likers usually disliked Malleus or Leona
Leona likers usually also liked Jamil
Leona likers usually disliked Azul
Leona likers are conflicted about Malleus; some like Malleus while others consider him to be their least favorite of the OB boys
Azul likers usually also liked Riddle
Azul likers usually disliked Leona
Jamil likers usually also liked Leona
Jamil likers usually disliked Malleus or Idia
Vil likers usually also liked Riddle or Malleus
Vil likers usually disliked Azul or Idia
Idia likers usually also liked Malleus or Vil
Idia likers usually disliked Jamil or Leona
Malleus likers usually also liked Idia or Riddle
Malleus likers usually disliked Jamil
Overall comments on personality + favorite OB boy:
Noting the important differences between highest and lowest scores:
Jamil likers scored high in Openness
Riddle likers scored low in Openness
Idia likers scored high in Neuroticism
Leona likers scored low in Neuroticism
Malleus likers scored high in Agreeableness
Jamil likers scored low in Agreeableness
Vil likers scored high in Extraversion
Idia likers scored low in Extraversion
Azul likers scored high in Conscientiousness
Idia likers scored low in Conscientiousness
The trend seems to be that one’s favorite OB boy correlates with shared personality traits. This is observed over 4 (Neuroticism, Agreeableness, Extraversion, conscientiousness) of the 5 dimensions of the Big 5 personality test, with the remaining 1 (Openness) being insignificant, as the concept of Twst itself depends on the fans to have an open mind to begin with.
Leona was most often chosen as the favorite OB boy, and Jamil was the least often chosen as the favorite OB boy. It’s ironic, because both Leona and Jamil are the top two most often cited as the LEAST favorite OB boy(s). Leona seems to be a point of contention among respondents; he is simultaneously liked and disliked.
Results + Discussion (by Other Metrics)
Favorite OB boy by time spent playing Twst:
Those who have been playing for 5 years or more showed a preference for Idia
Those who have been playing up to 4 years showed a preference for Riddle
Those who have been playing up to 3 years showed a preference for Leona
Those who have been playing up to 2 years showed a preference for Malleus
Those who have been playing up to 1 year showed a preference for Malleus
Those who have been playing less than 1 year showed a preference for Leona
Inexperienced players seemed to like Leona or Malleus, which is interesting given that Leona notoriously has a disliked main story book early on and Malleus has little relevance early in the story. Based on the word analysis, it seems like many people were initially drawn to Twst due to the visual appeal of Malleus and Leona.
Fans of 2-3 years have been playing for about the same length of time as EN has been out. This is around when we’d anticipate the preference for Malleus and Leona transforming into more of an appreciation for their characters, as 2-3 years is time to acclimate to the latter parts of the story.
Players of 4 and 5 years like Riddle and Idia, respectively. This may be because, deep in the story, they are very important characters. Riddle has a substantial segment towards the end which adds more depth to the nature of his family, earning him much attention and empathy from fans. Idia plays a pivotal role in saving the day in book 7.
Favorite OB boy by region:
East Asia and Pacific: Idia with 18.7%
Europe and Central Asia: Malleus with 20.8%
Latin America and Caribbean: Leona and Idia with 18.9% each (color only reflects Leona)
Middle East and North Africa: Vil with 28.6% (small sample size 4/14)
North America: Riddle with 19.2%
South Asia: Leona with 30% (very small sample size 3/10)
Sub-Saharan Africa: Malleus with 40% (very small sample size 2/5)
The most popular character varies by region due to cultural values and traditions differing. For example, Europe + Central Asia have lore about spirits, fae, and/or dragons, which may boost Malleus’s popularity, since he is a dragon fae.
By age:
The most popular OB boy for ages 13-18 is Riddle
The least popular OB boy for ages 13-18 is Jamil
The most popular OB boy for ages 19-24 is Leona
The least popular OB boy for ages 19-24 is Jamil
The most popular OB boy for ages 25-30 is Leona
The least popular OB boy for ages 25-30 is a tie between Jamil and Vil
The most popular OB boy for ages 31-36 is Azul
The least popular OB boy for ages 31-36 is a tie between Jamil and Vil
The most popular OB boy for ages 37-42 is Riddle
The least popular OB boy for ages 31-36 is a tie between Leona, Azul, Jamil, Vil, and Malleus.
It’s possible that minor fans (13-18) like Riddle due to relatability; children may relate to not enjoying having a helicopter parent micromanage their life (preferring to rebel or leave the situation) and may sympathize with Riddle’s situation.
Leona is liked by ages 19-24 and 25-30, and that may indicate a “maturation” of the fan. He has ambitions and the skill/talent to realize them, like the fans who are now adults and are preparing for or have careers at this point. These adult fans may also relate to his stance on children (as studies show that adults are now having families later and later in life) or respect his involvement in politics, as they are now at the age where they are actively thinking about how it affects them.
Jamil in general may not be liked because (given that most responses come from the west), the ideas of filial piety + carrying on the family legacy and staying trapped in an abusive system are a challenge for westerners to understand. These are more normalized concepts and practices in the east.
Vil may not be liked by 25-30 year olds because this age group is aging and/or getting to a point where they do not care as much for aesthetics (which Vil is big on). They are generally more focused on adult responsibilities rather than putting all their energy and effort into looks like Vil does.
I will not comment on ages 31-36 and 37-42, since the sample sizes for those were too small.
By relatability:
All the OB boys were viewed as more relatable than not relatable. However, Jamil (63 vs 50) and Vil (75 vs 56) have the smallest gaps between “relatable” and “not relatable”. This may be because not many fans can relate on a literal or direct level to being trapped in servitude or being a famous but typecasted actor/model/celebrity. Idia was rated the most relatable, with a gap of 181 vs 23 (relatable vs not relatable). This may be because fans relate to his anxiety, which, as you’ll see in the word analysis portion, frequently comes up in reference to him.
Results + Discussion (Word Analysis)
Frequently cited reasons as to why respondents liked or disliked certain OB characters include:
Character’s personality/arc/background
Character’s design
Personal attachment for a particular Disney film
Relatability
Like more/less compared to the other OB boy options
First exposure
Factors unique to each OB boy were:
Riddle:
+ Likes Alice in Wonderland/Heartslabyul aesthetic
+ Relatable relationship (with mother)
- Preferred calmer characters
- Boring (compared to the others)
Leona:
+ Complexity; need to be able to read between the lines
+ Actually cares about others
- Book 2 makes him look bad
Azul:
+ Fun to watch his interactions with others
+ Love glasses and/or moles
Jamil:
+ His dynamic with Kalim
+ Enjoy his dynamic with others
+ Interesting/well-written
+ Voice
- Don’t like manipulative people
- Dislike his OB design
Vil:
+ Well-written
+ Resonate with him always being in second place
+ Breaks gender norms
+ His ethics and dedication
- “Rubs me the wrong way”
- Dislike the way he treats others and/or Epel
Idia:
+ Social anxiety (is relatable)
+ Fun to draw
+ Love his relationship with Ortho
- Cringe
- Not into otaku characters
- Boring
Malleus:
+ Relate to his fear of losing people and/or change
+ Like dragon and/or fae characters
+ Relationship/dynamic with Yuu/MC/Player
- Not interested in his role in the main story
- First Halloween event (I assume Endless Halloween Night, which is actually the second event?) made him look bad
Key Recurring Phrases
Depression
Leona: 29 mentions
Idia: 11 mentions
Anxiety
Azul: 1 mention
Idia: 24 mentions
Autism
Vil: 1 mention
Idia: 2 mentions
Malleus: 10 mentions
Yuu/MC/Player
Riddle: 4 mentions
Leona: 11 mentions
Azul: 3 mentions
Vil: 5 mentions
Idia: 6 mentions
Malleus: 24 mentions
(Gap) Moe
Riddle: 1 mention
Leona: 2 mentions
Malleus: 2 mentions
Cute
Riddle: 20 mentions
Leona: 5 mentions
Azul: 7 mentions
Jamil: 2 mentions
Idia: 12 mentions
Malleus: 18 mentions
*PLEASE SEE THE FULL RESEARCH DOCUMENT TO SEE CHARACTER WORD CLOUDS (and other charts/graphs/tables); Tumblr posts have a max image limit of 30 so it is not possible for us to include all images.
Specific points in the main story and/or events weighted Leona and Malleus down. Certain character dynamics enhanced or tore down a few OB boys (for Vil, it’s Epel; for Jamil, it’s Kalim, for Idia, it’s Ortho). Some most unique character traits were a big pro or con as well. For example, Vil’s breaking of gender norms was loved.
Yuu/MC/Player was often mentioned as a reason for liking Malleus. Malleus likers placed high weight on Malleus’s involvement and acknowledgement of Yuu in the main story.
Notably, diagnostic terms such as “depression”, “anxiety”, and “autism” (or variations therein) were frequently recurring for certain characters. Fans attributed these diagnoses to certain characters and cited relatability. For example, Leona had the most mentions with “depression”, Idia had the most mentions with "anxiety", and Malleus had the most mentions with “autism”.
Riddle was most frequently described as “cute”, but Malleus was a close second (2 less mentions). No one called Vil cute.
By maximum/highest word count in open-ended questions section:
FAVORITE
Malleus (963)
Leona (642)
Idia (606)
Jamil (599)
Azul (391)
Riddle (261)
Vil (231)
LEAST FAVORITE
Malleus (587)
Jamil (479)
Vil (460)
Azul (266)
Leona (167)
Riddle (149)
Idia (143)
By average word count in open-ended questions section:
FAVORITE
Jamil (61)
Leona (57)
Vil (48)
Azul (45)
Riddle (44)
Idia (44)
Malleus (43)
LEAST FAVORITE
Malleus (55)
Vil (44)
Jamil (39)
Leona (34)
Azul (33)
Idia (31)
Riddle (25)
Jamil likers had the average highest word count (61) when explaining why responders like him, followed by Leona likers’ average (57). Malleus likers had the average lowest word count (43) when explaining why responders like him.
Malleus dislikers had the highest average word count (55) when explaining why responders dislike him. Riddle dislikers had the lowest average word count (25) when explaining why responders dislike him.
In terms of individual responses with the highest maximum word count for favorite character, that distinction goes to a Malleus liker (963), followed by a Leona liker (642), an Idia liker (606), and a Jamil liker (599). A Vil liker had the lowest maximum word count at 231.
The characters with the highest maximum word count for least favorite character, the top three are a Malleus disliker (587), a Jamil disliker (479), and a Vil disliker (460). An Idia liker had the lowest maximum word count at 143.
We can conclude that:
Jamil likers talk the most on average to explain why they like him
Malleus likers talk the least on average to explain why they like him
Malleus dislikers talk the most on average to explain why they dislike him
Riddle dislikers had the lowest average word count when explaining why responders dislike him.
Malleus likers can yap for the longest to explain why they like him
Vil likers can yap the least to explain why they like him
Malleus dislikers can yap for the longest to explain why they dislike him
Idia likers can yap the least to explain why they dislike him
Weaknesses and the Future
Please see the full document for the complete list. No research project is perfect, and certainly not this one! If we were to do another project like this in the future, we'd take the limitations of this one into consideration.
tangentwithtanner
romaincrisis
vaporwave
pixelskylines
yousharknotpass
areudirty
