I'm an artist called "Himiko_Ghost" from Brazil. π§π·πβ€οΈ(*οΌβοΌ)οΎ || I'm just here to share my ideas, art, stories, and AUs (and see posts, mainly Naekusaba or My Dear Makoto Naegi). || Some of the fandoms I'm in: Dangaronpa, OMORI, Jibaku Shounen Hanako-Kun, Mairimashita Iruma-Kun and The Henry Stickmin Collection.
This is a statement I've heard many times before, and I think it's one that's both technically correct and also technically incorrect.
But overall, I think this is a statement that kind of ignores the nuance of what the "brainwashing" actually did or even the themes of the series. Because of that, I decided to make this post to clear up some confusion about this subject and explain my thoughts on it.
What the "brainwashing" actually is
For starters, no, brainwashing in Danganronpa does not turn them into mindless zombies and get rid of their "free will." I wrote an entire post about brainwashing on its own and the many misconceptions abut it. While there are some things I'd change or update now, I think overall it's pretty solid. The main reason I'm making this post though is to fill in a piece that I should have filled in then. But if you understandably don't want to read that massive post right now, I'll go over it again here.
The way the Despair video works in both Danganronpa Zero and Danganronpa 3 is that it uses subliminal messaging to strengthen the emotions that you are already feeling by watching the video. It does not "create despair," it amplifies it.
"'She just wanted to stir up the pent-up emotions of the Reserve Course. She got the Ultimate Hope involved in the whole thing for that sole reason, and then incited them all⦠No, it wasn't something simple like incitement⦠it was brainwashing.'
'Brainwashingβ¦'
Pain, along with violent itching, brought up that scene in my mind.
The monitor's visuals I had seen beyond the Monokuma Heads in the underground facility. Crushing heads, cut-up faces, agonizing screams, the Mutual Killing's red lumps of flesh."
-Referring to the despair video Ryoko watched in Danganronpa Zero
Notice how the phrases "incited" and "pent-up emotions" are used. Once again, this is because the subliminal messaging doesn't make you feel things, it amplifies what the video itself makes you feel.
This doesn't contradict Ryota's description of brainwashing, note how he describes it as "influencing" the viewer's brain, not controlling it.
This is also why I put brainwashing in quotes earlier, because Ryota says it's not just brainwashing, brainwashing techniques are just a part of it.
This is the whole reason why Junko needed to kill Chiaki in the first place, she needed a video that would make them emotional enough for brainwashing to have an actual substantial effect. If she just used the student council killing video, there's a chance they'd be able to resist it like Chisa or Ryoko did.
All the despair video did was overload them with feelings of despair, causing them to crave it as a way of coping with the despair that was just unleashed onto them.
The despair video did not:
Turn them into mindless zombies
Make them love or worship Junko
Remove their free will or ability to make decisions
All the video did was make them crave despair, how they went about it was entirely up to them. Like Nagito, for example, he gave into the despair by hating Junko, but he was never a mindless zombie.
In fact, I think even being able to resist the videos effects at all kind of implies that the video isn't forcing you to give into temptation. It gives you urges, but that's all. The Ultimate Despairs chose to give into their urges of despair. They also chose the methods of which they went about bringing despair. The video wasn't mind control, it doesn't have the technology to turn you into a mindless servant. In that sense, the despair video did not remove their autonomy and they still chose their actions.
Big fat massive however...
While it is true that their ability to choose what to do remained, the fact is that they only made the decisions they made and got their despair urges in the first place was because they were brainwashed. So it is also true that the person at fault isn't them, it's Junko and her video.
And that's the point, it isn't their fault that they made those choices. Some may say this is because Kodaka wanted to make them more redeemable, but I just completely disagree because it was always like this.
Makoto refers to them as victims at multiple points in Danganronpa 2, even saying that they were brainwashed and have the ability to go back to normal. Danganronpa 3 didn't make them more "blameless," it emphasized a theme and point that was there since the start.
Dialing it back
Themes of guilt and blame are things that have always existed in Danganronpa. I already mentioned how Danganronpa 2 refers to the Ultimate Despairs as victims, but there's plenty more examples of this.
Such as Ryota in Danganronpa 3. Ryota is threatened with his classmates' lives and is forced to develop the despair video for Junko. Would you say Ryota's at fault?
Of course not, and I doubt the anime wants you to believe that way either. But that doesn't stop Ryota from feeling this way. He's a victim, just like everyone else. A victim who was forced to make a choice that he now regrets.
Alternatively, we can look at Juzo as well. He was blackmailed with his biggest insecurity used against him, completely unaware of the despair that would soon follow. While you could argue he's more to blame than the others, the point is just like them, he was forced into a situation where he couldn't choose. He wasn't responsible for Junko's actions, but he still feels as if he was. He's a victim too. A victim who was also forced to make a choice that he now regrets.
This isn't a theme exclusive to Danganronpa 3. I already mentioned how it applies to Danganronpa 2, but it's been there since the first game.
When Chihiro feels at fault for judging Leon, Makoto tells them that it isn't their fault. Nor was it Sayaka's or Leon's. Even though they chose to kill, it was only because of the situation. It was the mastermind's fault, not theirs.
The big point
The big point throughout the series is that the many actions we see throughout the series are done so due to the situation these characters are forced in. From the very start, it's been established that the blame should go towards Junko, not her victims.
Guilt is a running theme in Danganronpa, even more so in Danganronpa 3. That's why the anime emphasizes it, showing us Junko's victims and how they were effected but also making it clear that even though they made the wrong choices, they only did so because of Junko.
Danganronpa 3 didn't make Class 77 "blameless." Saying so implies that the series wanted you to blame them in the first place.
What Danganronpa 3 did was emphasize the point and theme the series had been setting up for a long time. This is a story where Junko is the bad guy and these are her victims. This is how it is in the last entry, this is how it's been since the first game.
So yes, Class 77 chose to to give into their despair obsessed urges. Ryota chose to help make Junko's video. Juzo chose to lie about Junko. Chihiro chose to judge their classmates. Sayaka and Leon chose to attack. But they only made these choices because they were put into unavoidable situations by Junko.
It's not about who here is more guilty than the other, the fact is they're all victims of Junko at the end of the day. They were never supposed to be blamed, implying that Danganronpa 3 makes them blameless misses the point entirely.
You can say whatever you want about whether or not brainwashing is more or less interesting than the idea of Junko somehow manipulating 15 individual students that she doesn't care about in less than a year to turn them into despair super terrorists willing to hack off body parts and kill their own family, but at the end of the day I think saying that the brainwashing ruins the themes of Danganronpa 2 is just kind of incorrect.
Mukuro is so good at shooting. She hits Makoto right on target. (My art btw)
NAEKUSABA IS MY FAVORITE DANGARONPA SHIP. β€οΈβ€οΈβ€οΈ
This is just a drawing that I made with a base. I did it when I was visiting my grandma. I kind of like it. I'm going to try to make more drawings of the couple, because I need more content of them. I imagine that all of us fans of this couple need it in this year of 2026.
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