Prolly looking too much into this but once you place Kaede on the protag place in trial (imgurDOTcom/5qOi7dk) you get Mukuro, Akane & Tenko at the same place as athletic (tho not the strongest) girls. Progeny Togami, royalty Sonia & oracle Angie. Sakura & Kiibo sacrificed themselves (similiarly to Chiaki & Ryoma) and were the last classmate deaths. Gundham and Ouma wanted to save others. Also troublemakers Mondo, Nagito and... Shuichi, hm. Tho no Monokuma opposite of Kaede ofc, unlike for others
(x) I made more images of this for clarity’s sake- plus it’s slightly motion-sick inducing concentrating on the rotated image, orz. (Originals here):
That’s interesting! And I just love where Ouma is on both of them- he showed interest in Kiyotaka’s rousing speech in TDP, and his speech about sharing the secrets in DR1 was a direct mirror for Ouma’s actions in the Meet and Greet. Plus as you said, Gundham and his convoluted plot in Ch4 is a mirror for his own, including the ‘supreme leader of evil act’ covering that it was for the greater good, and someone ‘becoming a sacrifice’. Though speaking of sacrifices, Fuyuhiko too tried to sacrifice himself- though not for the same kind of reasons, and it didn’t carry through. Kiibo indeed did blow himself up in the effort to help, though of course we didn’t see his remains. Hm.
While Kaede isn’t opposite a mastermind so much, she and Hajime are opposite of some major figures (well, imposter of one in the case of Twogami, but still an ‘unknown’ at a point in the game), and a shadow Prime Minister - effectively a ‘double’ - seems to be one of the biggest players in V3′s history. What’s more is that they’re also influential leaders, and the protagonists all have to reckon with their effect and influence (or lack thereof) on others.
As for Shuichi, I am wondering if this could do with organisations and positions- Nagito was from a well-off (noble?) family not dissimilar to Shuichi, and had a bizarre situation with his innate talent while Kirumi noted that Shuichi had some untapped potential in him. Meanwhile Mondo was the leader of a large gang and had to deceive others as a big part of attaining that, while Shuichi’s situation of becoming a detective - something driven by his uncle, make of that what you will - could have led into driving the Ultimate Hunt, if his lab indicates. All of them end up with positions as leaders... in a fashion, with Nagito effectively leading as a rival and... attempting to cause group deaths. Hmmmm.
Tsumugi looks interesting too- matching with Leon, who was effectively dragged into another’s plot first, and Peko, a ‘tool’ who took initiative to act on her own. Two opposing situations there, but I found it curious how on meeting Tsumugi in TDP, Peko zeroed in on her suppressing her presence like it’s more plain than it actually is. Although if she matches up with Leon being stuck in a situation against her will, it’s symbolic of her being trapped, too. Whatever way the ball rolls for Tsumugi (hah) she’s a tool of TDR now, although if she was also an international spy, she had more use of suppressing her presence in the past.
I’m getting carried away a little but it does make me wonder how much of the placements is accidental or no - since it would be very difficult to effectively do double placement like this, and impossible to really place everybody in kind - but I think it’s still worth a look because you never know. Plus it’s fun to speculate on it with regard to the characters more on the forefront, aha
(Following on from here)