The "Truth" is in the Eye of the Beholder

Which path will you choose? (DanganRonpa V3 Analysis Blog run by Tricky. Not spoiler free. Read pages before interacting.)

[unweavinglies]

I have decided to retire this blog for good. However, it is not because I am bored of V3...

It is simply because I am condensing my blogs into one fandom blog.

I will be reposting the Ao3 Versions of my theories (and creating more Analyses) of V3 over on my new fandom blog @liarvibe.

If you've enjoyed my theories and analyses, feel free to follow me there! I'd be happy to see you.

Anyway, I'll see you on the other side.

[liarvibe]

Analysis on: The Executions of Danganronpa V3: Kaede Akamatsu

Good god this took me literal hours!

Anyway to sort of jumpstart my new blog, A NEW THEORY FOR YOU ALL! That's right, I'm dropping the UnweavingLies professional shtick and being absolutely batshit insane.

I'm just kidding xD The theory itself is (mostly) serious, I'm just so brain dead from working on it for so long today that I'm gonna just fall over now.

Anyway, enjoy!

[unweavinglies]

Read This Before you Go On

Hello. This blog is very old.

I have recently regained an interest in DRV3 and if the urge strikes, I may write up more analyses again. However, I am currently focusing more on fanfiction and fanart at the moment, so that may be very few and far inbetween updates.

More about the blog

My Personal Blog

My Sprite Edits Blog

[unweavinglies]

Hey there! Just letting you know that your pages are unaccessible, I can't access them through web or mobile

Hi, sorry for the wait.

I only have one page on this blog (The rest are links), and when I view it through the desktop, it seems to be working just fine. I'm assuming you are referring to my blog on a mobile device, though, so I have... attempted to try and fix it.

Does it work now?

[unweavinglies]

I don't think it has, so I'll be adding a link to the page to a pinned post.

[unweavinglies]

Hey there! Just letting you know that your pages are unaccessible, I can't access them through web or mobile

Hi, sorry for the wait.

I only have one page on this blog (The rest are links), and when I view it through the desktop, it seems to be working just fine. I'm assuming you are referring to my blog on a mobile device, though, so I have... attempted to try and fix it.

Does it work now?

[unweavinglies]

Sorry to have been so quiet here.

Aside from working on a fanfiction project, I also have joined a fan translation project for V3. I'm not doing much translated as I am mainly transcribing for the others, but you can watch my adventures over @rubberduckyrye under the tag "Translation Adventures"

I may make some notes/theories on the translation project when it's in progress/finished, but yeah.

[unweavinglies]

Well I originally logged on to this account to reblog my haphazard analysis/theory on Kirumi's character (and I still will in a moment) only to get these messages in my DMs:

Now, I normally fine with individuals not agreeing with me--I've stated multiple times that I encourage people to think for themselves and come to their own conclusions.

However.

If there is someone belittling my analyses/theories for content, that is a matter of disrespect.

You can disagree with me. You can think I am wrong. I do not care.

But if you are going out of your way to include my analyses in your content to belittle it, then you are not a theorist or an analyst by nature.

Please do not use my analyses for your malicious content.

To anyone who follows me: If you all know who is doing this, please tell me. I want to try and speak to this person and ask them politely to not use my theories or analyses for their content any longer if they are going to continue being malicious about it.

[unweavinglies]

An update on this: I misunderstood the situation. It seems like it was just a commenter dismissing my theories and analyses, and not someone making malicious content out of my posts.

Mystery solved.

[fairyryearchive]

Rye's Ramble Analysis/Theory On: Kirumi Toujou

Okay so this is gonna be VERY haphazard and nothing like what I do over at @unweavinglies so bear with me, but after I was reminded that Salmon Mode and Kirumi's LSE excisted, I looked into those and like. Holy shit why were none of these character details in canon--or even in her FTEs?

These details change Kirumi's characterization so DRASTICALLY.

Analysis Exhibit #1: Self hatred/Self Deprecation--AKA there's TRAUMA in this Bish

Kirumi is really hard on herself when she makes the most. Nothing burger mistakes. She even suggests that Shuichi could berate her in any way he saw fit because of how "bad" she thought the mistake was--and even implies that she deserves it.

This is not something someone who has a stable self image thinks.

People who have a stable, positive self image are more likely to go "Oh! Whoops, anyway--" over berating themselves for not knowing someone prefers green tea over black tea.

Her whole LSE is about how Kirumi feels like her romantic love for her master would be a bad influence on him--that she needs to leave because her feelings are bad and wrong and--

She doesn't feel like she deserves her feelings to be validated.

People don't just come to the conclusion that their feelings are invalid all on their own--often more than not, this is a huge red flag for trauma--neglect and abuse coming to mind. Kirumi was definitely put in a situation where she believed that her feelings weren't just hindrances--but bad influences, that her feelings weren't valid at all. Combined with the above point, it's pretty clear that Kirumi may have even been yelled at for making mistakes as a child. There was definitely verbal abuse from how willing she was to let Shuichi have at her for her mistake, and her feelings being things she associates with negativity or being invalid suggests that she was often scolded for having feelings at all.

I think her maturity is a mask for her insecurities and potential trauma, and her hard-working nature is the result of thinking she needs to make herself useful to others by any means necessary in order to feel worthy of praise--maybe even worthy of living.

Kirumi even protests to the idea of Shuichi (her master) seeing her as an equal--a sign of dehumanizing herself.

With all that being said--

Her protest is never completed, but considering how Kirumi views herself, it's VERY likely that she would feel like if she doesn't clean the place up, then she isn't worthy. I think that this line can be interpreted in a variety of ways, but I see it as her trying to say "When you clean, I become useless."

And like.

Her whole LSE is her beating herself up about how she doesn't know how to prepare konjac.

All of these signs point to some kind of verbal abuse or severe neglect--more likely the former over the latter. I'm not exactly sure who abused/neglected her, but the signs are very much There.

It's possible her adamant dislike of being called mom or being referred to as "motherly" stems from this very-likely abuse, but that's more speculation and it's as equally as likely that she just simply finds it degrading. Either way.

Analysis Exhibit #2: People Pleasing (Struggling to Say No)

Kirumi has a very distinct inability to say no to most "reasonable" requests. I specify "requests" because it ties into the points above and how Kirumi sees herself.

Here, she is blatantly stating that if Shuichi is requesting her to watch this documentary then she will. Despite her very clear dislike of bugs, if she is told that it is a request, then she will complete that request, much to her distaste or discomfort.

The fact that Kirumi declines the offer if it isn't a request shows that despite her nature to please, she really dislikes bugs. She wouldn't be polite and watch the film with Shuichi due to how much she hates them.

This is also shown here as well:

She does, of course, have boundaries she will not cross, as shown here:

But she outright states that "Maids have the right to refuse requests."

Except she only goes by this motto when the request is extreme in nature, like if she feels that she is being objectified or sexualized... or told to take a hecking break.

She even says this:

Suggesting that, rather than just flatly telling Shuichi "No, I'm NOT burning this place tot he ground, are you out of your mind?" She asks him to "retract his statement." She asks him to hold the power over her, telling him that she would be willing to burn an entire building for him simply if he had a good enough reason for his "request" but also telling him that he has to be in control here. He has to retract his statement, she cannot simply refuse.

Analysis Exhibit #3: A "Go Don't Stop" Kind of Girl

Kirumi does take breaks, but she struggles with resting quite a lot.

Firstly:

Kirumi's likes and dislikes line up with her chosen profession--being a maid. She likes cleaning, but hates resting. With everything else above, I'm personally convinced that Kirumi more so likes to feel "useful" and dislikes to feel "useless." So if she works, she is considered "useful" to those around her.

Even when in a kidnapping situation, she is thinking of the others care and comfort:

While I'm sure Kirumi has escape on her mind, she is also trying to make accommodations for everyone else at the same time. Serving everyone else is just as important to her as escaping with her own life--something I'll further address in a moment, but for now:

This girl literally comprehend when someone just wants to hang out with her and talk to her as a person. Everything is about her being a maid, and she makes it pretty clear that her status as a maid comes before all else.

Now, about her life...

Analysis Exhibit #4: A Maid's Selfless Devotion (Verses the Trolley Problem)

Kirumi chose to die with everyone else whent he time limit was running out.

Despite there being no strings attached, despite there being a young man offering up his life for the others to take, everyone--herself included--refuses the offer. Why? Because in that moment, she is serving everyone in that group, to her detriment.

While the "We'd rather all die here than kill someone" sentiment is unspoken, there is proof that Kirumi is going with whatever the group as a whole wants:

Implying that, had everyone chosen to die at the time limit, she would have done so as well. It's more likely that she and everyone else would die fighting rather than sit back and let their deaths happen, but her life coming to an end was a very real possibility that she, as a very intelligent and logical person, weighed against everything and decided that saving herself via murder was not worth her own life.

This, of course, changes in chapter 2:

Because Kirumi is led to believe that her life, her service, is the only thing keeping a whole country safe.

Whereas before Kirumi's loyalty to the group was so solid that she didn't even fall to the temptation of murdering someone to escape, when she is presented with what is essentially the penultimate Trolley Problem, she goes and chooses the path that has the fewest casualties. Her choice between the V3 cast VS the entire nation of Japan is a very logical choice, almost a no-brainer. She even convinced herself that Ryoma was offering up his life to her after she confessed to him that she had too many reasons to escape from that hell of a school. He turned his back on her--and logically, he would never have done that if he had any self preservation left in him. That is her logic, her reasoning, her excuse to make her crime less egregious to herself and the others--but she had too much on her shoulders. She did what she thought needed to be done, and that was that.

Final Notes:

I'm not gonna lie, I came into this not expecting a whole lot.

From what I remember when I did my initial research on Kirumi, I thought that she had very little character to her. She was a Maid and that Was It. And it's sort of true--in canon and even in her FTEs, she's portrayed as nothing but a maid.

But her LSE and her Salmon Mode paint a slightly different picture of her--one of a lonely, neglected, abused girl who thinks extremely little of herself if she's not being useful. Someone who was taught that her feelings were rotten things and invalid, things that would only hinder other people and their potential. She works and works and works just to prove to herself that she's worth it. That she's as useful to as many people as she physically can be. She struggles with casual conversation, probably because she can't imagine anyone would want to talk to Kirumi Toujou, the person, and instead needs Kirumi Toujou, the Ultimate Maid for her services.

I think that this information being in extra game modes and buried under canon (plus a more accessible bonus mode) that did absolutely nothing for her character, I think Kirumi gets a bad reputation as a character who's got nothing else to her. Like I don't blame people who missed this information and/or thought nothing of it--in isolation, it's hard to pick up on/easily overlooked in favor of the characterization she got in the main canon story and even her FTEs.

I used to think that Kirumi wasn't much of a character--but now, I realized that's very, very wrong. She's more than just a maid! But you have to dig around and put the pieces together to actually see what's behind that perfect mask of hers.

[unweavinglies]

Well I originally logged on to this account to reblog my haphazard analysis/theory on Kirumi's character (and I still will in a moment) only to get these messages in my DMs:

Now, I normally fine with individuals not agreeing with me--I've stated multiple times that I encourage people to think for themselves and come to their own conclusions.

However.

If there is someone belittling my analyses/theories for content, that is a matter of disrespect.

You can disagree with me. You can think I am wrong. I do not care.

But if you are going out of your way to include my analyses in your content to belittle it, then you are not a theorist or an analyst by nature.

Please do not use my analyses for your malicious content.

To anyone who follows me: If you all know who is doing this, please tell me. I want to try and speak to this person and ask them politely to not use my theories or analyses for their content any longer if they are going to continue being malicious about it.

[unweavinglies]

This isn't meant to be a full analysis or anything, but there is something interesting about V3 that I don't think anyone's ever really talked about--and that is how strange the First Blood Perk is.

While I personally don't subscribe to the "it's all fiction!" interpretation of V3, if this interpretation was the truth and Tsumugi wasn't just saying nonsense at the end... then why does this motive exist at all?

Fandoms like Danganronpa are all about the tropes and thrilling murders, class trials, and executions. To deny a class trial is to also deny an execution, which are two of the three main components that fans of the franchise adore so much. Why rob them of one case's worth of content? It would just leave fans disappointed.

If you are like me and don't subscribe to the theory that it's all fiction, then this motive is still strange. Why allow someone to escape after killing someone? What is the point of that? You could argue that if the Secret of the Outside World is real that the motive just leads the culprit to their doom anyway, but... I always found it strange, considering that in the previous games, it was always imperative that a murder be punctuated by a class trial and then an execution. It was basically essential to DR1, as it not only showed the world that their final bits of "hope" were killing each other, but to also show the mastermind torturing them to death.

In V3, however, they just casually offer to throw it away--of course alternatively they don't actually do that for the sake of the actual franchise, but the question remains:

Why does it feel like V3 just wanted the killing game to start? It's almost as if the game is meant to kill these particular students.

[unweavinglies]

Something on Theorizing

I'm sorry if this doesn't wholeheartedly make sense, I'm sick but this has been bothering me for a bit.

So something I want to address is, the true nature of theorizing and what not. I think it's something that people often do not understand about Fan theories and theory crafting in general.

So I want to reiterate this point and hope to describe what I mean in hopes of getting people to understand it.

In short: If your Fan-theories don't read like at least a little like fanfiction, you're doing it wrong.

Allow me to elaborate:

When I have said in the past that the narrative is a spider's web of interpretations and I only hold a single thread of it, I mean that human beings are fundamentally imperfect. No single person in the world is going to understand a narrative the best--not event he author themselves, due to how imperfect we are as human beings. Everyone has grown up with their own unique experiences and biases, their own culture and customs. The moment you take your first breath, you are an imperfect human being with bias.

This is also true for the authors who create stories--because they are imperfect creatures like the rest of us, no story will ever be able to 100% convey it's message and themes. Some people will wildly interpret a core theme of a story beyond what the author had intended, because the biases of the author and the biases of their readers can vary so greatly.

And readers may take notice of things the author themselves never accounted for or thought about--an example of this happening (aside from this just, being a part of my own experiences as a creator) is when Toby Fox wrote a tweet expressing confusion as to why he created the character "Onion-san". A fan then came to interpret Onion-san's character to show how Monsters in the world of Undertale put on a mask of happiness, but are suffering from the cramped space and overpopulation for such a small space. How hard it was for Monsters to move to the city, and how hard it was to just live underground.

It was clear that Toby himself hadn't thought of this--because the prompt was his own confusion as to why the character existed.

So yes--I argue that even the creators themselves don't know their own work as well as fans think they do, which is why I almost never consider Word of God to be canon--because people change over time, their biases shift and curl, and the person you are now is now the same person that you were yesterday.

So if a creator cannot be expected to 100% know their own creation, themes, and what not, how can a fan know that?

The truth is--they cannot, and it is sheer arrogance to assume that your interpretation of canon is better than those around you. It reads, to me, that you have not come to the realization that you are indeed an imperfect being with bias, that you assume the world revolves around people who think just like you. You are not a theorist, you're just someone trying to win a competition that cannot be won because it does not exist. You bask in the pride of being "right" when everyone else is "wrong" despite your own imperfect nature.

Once you let go of your own arrogance, however, things about theorizing change drastically. You can appreciate things you don't agree with more, you can find love in your own work instead of hatred and spite, and you just more easily enjoy things overall. You can have fun with your own interpretations, discuss it with friends, laugh about it--and then, and only then, can you find your single thread of interpretation. Because you cannot find a thread in a tangled mess of a web if you aren't truly aware of what you're looking at--and you cannot see the web of a narrative if you are wearing a blindfold of arrogance.

And because you single thread of interpretation is inherently biased to you and you alone, that's why it should read as a creative outlet, like a fanfic, over something scientific or factual. You have your own biases, which means your own mind is going to read into something and read it differently than someone else. Theories can and should be creative, individual, and hell--even crazy, if you really want to just have fun with it.

So yeah. Those are just my thoughts.

[unweavinglies]

@bef369

I don't think that his personality really changed (don`t take this as if I say your theory is incorrect, I'm just sharing my point of view) I think he did believe it and at the same time didn't. That's one of the reasons for why he asked Monokuma's help. Not only to get rid of Miu but also if Monokuma agreed to help him just because thing will be more interesting then his theory of a public would be rigth and the outside world being destroyed could be a lie.

Okay. I've been sitting with this reply for a few hours now, because I genuinely do not know how one is supposed to respond to this within context.

You replied to this ask with these words, and while talking about your own personal interpretation isn't inherently suggesting that mine is "incorrect", it is a little tone-deaf to the ask reply itself, and the way you worded it.

Because while you are being kind about it--you are still suggesting my interpretation is wrong. Which is fine, I don't mind if people disagree with me. I'm not here to convince you. I'm not here to say my interpretation is the end-all, be-all interpretation and the only true canon. I'm only here to showcase the very specific thread I am pulling from a narrative that is essentially a complicated spider's web, and not everyone is going to agree with my conclusions. I actually encourage different points of view and people coming to their own conclusions. If people agree or disagree with me, then so be it.

However--to make this reply on that specific ask is ignoring what I had said about how the Chapter 4 Mercy Killing Plot has been a point of contention for me, and how people constantly tell me that they "think differently" or outright say my interpretation "is wrong" and go so far as to try to find "plot holes" just to justify themselves.

This isn't about me being right or wrong, or my pride being injured by people who disagree with me--this is about how I've had a bombardment of anons disrespecting my boundaries and insisting on trying to discuss (and to disprove) my theories.

To try to open a discussion about the Chapter 4 plot on a post where I'm clearly talking about how exhausted and exasperated I am from having to defend my own headcanons about it by malicious individuals is extremely tone deaf.

So please refrain from dragging me into discussing the Chapter 4 plot. I'm not in the headspace to discuss alternatives to it.

[unweavinglies]

Sorry to leave and then come back to reply to an anon like that. I actually came on here to joke around about how I've been swallowed up by my own DRV3 AU but my mood is a bit soured now.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

[unweavinglies]

I’d like to ask a question about Kokichi’s character in Chapter 4, specifically with him seeing the “Truth of the outside world.” Yes, it was a big shift in his character to suddenly want killing, but I’m not entirely convinced that it was because of him losing his mind from seeing the outside world. I think at least some of it was a facade to make others think of him as a bad guy/the mastermind; to make his Chapter 5 character more believable so his plan would work. What do you think?

Well, I'm not here to convince you one way or another.

My theories and personal interpretations are just that--personal interpretations and theories. The narrative is web of interpretations and I only hold a single thread of it.

To me, personally, I think Kokichi's behavioral shift is far too drastic, going from "I'm going to beat this killing game" to "I'm going to become a blackened and kill someone", to plotting with Gonta to mercy kill the whole class. I think this jump has only one true source--the madness of seeing the end of the world you and your fellow classmates have been killing each other over.

I know it's a difficult feeling to imagine--but that's probably why you think differently than me. I cannot fathom what it's like to see the end of the world--and how I personally would react to that, aside from pure devastation. I don't think any human being can truly comprehend what "the end of the world" would look or feel like--which is why the concept often appears in horror plots and the sort. I don't think our brains can truly comprehend becoming an endangered species, the world we knew to be suddenly inhabitable, to be on the brink of death and demise and know that everything you once loved has already left you behind.

So I ask you this as my answer: Do you really think that any human being on this earth could handle the end of the world?

My answer to my own question is: No. I don't think any human could mentally handle seeing what Kokichi saw--and that's why I don't think his "I am the Mastermind" plot is the cause of his personality shift during chapter 4.

It just doesn't make sense to me.

I'm sorry if this comes off as curt or rude--but the amount of asks I've gotten specifically about Chapter 4, and about my Mercy Kill Theory, with the sentiment of "Oh your theory must be incorrect, somehow", is far too grating on me. Never the mind asks that go and try to find loop holes to prove the theory wrong, but I digress--that is neither here nor there.

[unweavinglies]

Hello!

I'm curious if you have any recommendations regarding analysis blogs or just any piece of analysis! It doesn't have to be danganronpa specifically I just really like reading any.

Have a good day!

I actually only have one person I know of who I'd recommend.

@jacksmusesdrv3

Jacks is a good friend of mine who puts a lot of effort and care into her theories. She uses a different literary criticism than what I use, so her theories are vastly different than my own--but never the less are they great introspection of the text and overall good reads.

I'm sure Jacks will also have more recommendations for you as well. I think she is more connected to other theorists--or at least, has seen other theories.

Still.

[unweavinglies]

Tsumugi said danganronpa was all fiction and the outside world was so peaceful it was hooked on killing games; Junko said the world was ruined and the outside world was so full of despair that leaving the school would guarantee death BUT we later saw how Junko mixed in lies with the truth. So, extending the logic, the world wasnt all ruined, so dangan wasnt all fiction and not all the audience was supportive of ultimate real fiction... but to what degree do you personally think Tsumugi lied?

There is a lot of speculation when it comes to the true nature of Tsumugi, TDR, and V3's message and concept as a whole.

I tend to lean towards not doing speculative theories as they are that--speculative--and a lot of my own personal speculative theories I end up using for creative projects. So I am hesitant to say what I think is really going on with V3 as that pertains to a creative project of mine.

As for to what degree I personally think Tsumugi lied... it's difficult to describe. I think that she lied quite a bit--but not completely. Yes and no. Sort of like... lying by omission, as well as the usual lying.

There is no one true answer to V3's mystery, as it was left open ended--but that does make for fun theory crafting, doesn't it?

[unweavinglies]

I am turning asks back on for now. However, if I get any more weird asks, it's going right back off.