Lurker > colliding

Mac Arrowny posted...

Everything you said about Shuichi in that post was negative. Why do you have him so high?

Good question. One, he's part of what I call "the friends trio," which I'll talk more about later. Two, he is a protagonist, so a certain amount of leeway has to be given in these types of games. He's obviously an important part of the V3 experience. Three, even if I don't think he was fully realized, the idea of him as a "truth" focused character, as opposed to a "hope" focused character, is intriguing.

18. Shuichi Saihara
Appears in: Danganronpa V3
Ultimate Identity: Detective
Endearing Character Trait: The Worst Ultimate Detective

Controversial call here, I know. Shuichi is an aggravating-loser-type protagonist, like Shinji from Evangelion or Young Simon from Gurren Lagann. Unlike Young Simon, he doesn't eventually triumph over his insecurities and turn into a hero. Unlike Shinji, he doesn't serve as total deconstruction of the genre or a metaphor. He's just a guy full of doubts who never really quite takes that next step.

While I like Kaede more than Shuichi, I don't think her early demise makes me prejudiced toward Shuichi. I gave him plenty of chances, but he insists on doing things that make me hate him. Part of this is intentional - I know - because of the theme of truth vs. lies. The truth hurts and that means you have to be a jerk. Still, he's not a particularly fun or interesting lead character.

Thanks to Chapter 6, we know he's not really an Ultimate Detective, so we really don't know anything about him. Sure, you could say that about all the characters in V3, but Shuichi feels particularly empty.

His character design is kind of interesting, but only if he's evil. As a good guy it doesn't really make sense. Finally, his voice acting is bad. All this means that Shuichi is the worst protagonist.

Next: *achoo*

19. Aoi Asahina
Appears in: Danganronpa
Ultimate Identity: Swimmer
Endearing Character Trait: Likes to eat

Donuts donuts donuts donuts donuts.Some quality voice acting with this one. HIna is a survivor who, even though she's not all that "important," is still endearing, unlike most of the survivors in these games. You're glad this one makes it.

There's not much here not to like: kind, attractive, funny, not super-smart but not dumb either. Hina's the total package when it comes to "best girl" material, even though she's not the best girl from the first DR.

As I talked about with Sakura, Hina's friendship with her was interesting in a sister/rival/friend/more than friends kind of way. Also, Hina's "plan" was actually kind of smart. The only reason it didn't work was because of some nonsensical "it's on top of the glass" explanation.

She's a fun and pleasant character. I don't know what else to say. Sorry, I've got Gordon Hayward's broken leg stuck in my head. Maybe I'll add more to this at some other point, but probably not.

Next: A main character appears.

that's such a flukey injury too. cavs dude just bumped him a little and the leg just snapped like a twig

oh god i'm gonna be sick

that injury was so gnarly

his leg was like, turned the wrong way around

20. K1-B0
Appears in: Danganronpa V3
Ultimate Identity: Robot
Endearing Character Trait: Calls out Robophobia wherever he sees it

K1-B0 is maybe the most disappointing DR character in history, yet he's still better than all these other wastes of memory. I say "disappointing," because his design is pretty cool and he was in a lot of promotional material for V3. I guess he ends up being "important," but like everything else, Chapter 6 kind of ruins it.

Pre Chapter 6, K1-B0 is a surprisingly one-note character. He says "robophobic" a lot, he gets assaulted by Miu, he has humorously quotidian special powers. They're funny jokes, but there's something about them that just makes it lame... like dad jokes or something.

My favorite K1-B0 moment, aside from the cheap tingles I get from his scene with Miu, is when his hair antenna drops off and he temporarily becomes awesome. I realize I'm falling into V3's trap, which is that I want him to end up being the embodiment of hope that his hair says that he is. But I mean, if he isn't that, isn't he just kind of a waste? If the whole point of V3 is to say that fictional lives matter, do they really if they end up not having any type of purpose or goal? Once again, V3 sacrifices satisfying character development for commentary on fictional media and audience involvement in fanbases. I guess what I'm saying is he shouldn't have died at the end.

I expected so much more from K1-B0. But I guess I shouldn't have expected such development from a robot.

Next: Dough or doughnuts. There are no fries. (speaking of dad jokes)

Recap:

Box of Tissues
48. Hiyoko Saionji
47. Leon Kuwata

Monkey Paw
46. Mahiru Koizumi
45. Celestia Ludeberg
44. Korekiyo Shinguji
43. Teruteru Hanamura
42. Ultimate Imposter
41. Sayaka Maizono

Secret Boots
40. Tsumugi Shirogane
39. Hifumi Yamada
38. Kiyotaka Ishimaru
37. Peko Pekoyama
36. Mondo Owata
35. Angie Yonaga
34. Akane Owari
33. Tenko Chabashira
32. Kazuichi Soda
31. Gonta Gokuhara

Rose in Vitro
30. Sakura Ogami
29. Kirumi Tojo
28. Nekomaru Nidai
27. Himiko Yumeno
26. Yasuhiro Hagakure
25. Sonia Nevermind
24. Mukuro Ikusaba
23. Ryoma Hoshi
22. Mikan Tsumiki
21. Chihiro Fujisaki

New Tier Unlocked: Eternal Friendship Bracelet

People who are trying to change the narrative into "girls complaining about being flirted with by ugly dudes" are the problem. Everyone I know who is posting under the metoo hashtag had legit traumatic experiences - perhaps not physical assault or rape, but things like groping, stalking, and persistent harassment. And people who think that these aren't problems need to examine what it is they're arguing.

21. Chihiro Fujisaki
Appears in: Danganronpa
Ultimate Identity: Programmer
Endearing Character Trait: Comes back to life as a computer, gets killed again

Chihiro is a hard character to rank. I feel like his character is one of the most important to the overall themes of DR: AI, artificial worlds, deception, and despair. When he creates Alter Ego, he does more than simply create an AI for himself: he sets the mold for DR2 to occur and sets up a ton of references and themes in V3. If an AI can have emotions, then so can fictional characters I guess.

That being said, I don't really like him very much. Surprise gender swaps are not high on my favorite list of twists. I will grant that this particular gender swap was not as obvious as games like P4 or the Ace Attorney series.

So I'm conflicted - Chihiro is obviously important, but he dies really early and becomes relatively boring after that.

Next: New Tier Unlocked! And speaking of AI's...

Sceptilesolar posted...

Janus5k posted...

Sonia/Gundham is the best couple in the series

Even if this is true, I really think that's almost entirely because Gundham is great.

This. There's a reason Gundham hasn't appeared on this list yet.

I guess "presence" is relative. She's certainly made to seem suspicious, and she's probably the best survivor of DR2, but she's not a particularly well-rounded character I feel. I will say her dialogue is often very funny.

Best couple? Slow your roll.

bump

22. Mikan Tsumiki
Appears in: Danganronpa 2
Ultimate Identity: Nurse
Endearing Character Trait: Bandages hands

Mikan can be polarizing, I take it. Her voice is annoying and her personality leaves a lot to be desired. I like my DR female characters to have a little self-confidence. As a fan-service character, she's a failed one (her scene in the kitchen is just groan inducing). Save it for the professionals, Mikan.

In daily life and trials, Mikan is just kind of there. She'll occasionally have something interesting to say, but she's mostly there to be the butt of jokes.

Still, this doesn't change the fact that Mikan is one of the only Ultimate Despairs to get some hint of a backstory within the game of DR2. Learning of her past marked a strong turning point in the game, and to me, marks the beginning of the best stretch of chapters in the DR series. One of my fan theories was that she and Hajime were in a relationship and that the person she was talking about was actually Hajime. Knowing it was just Junko worship was a tad disappointing.

Next: It's a trap.

23. Ryoma Hoshi
Appears in: Danganronpa V3
Ultimate Identity: Tennis Star
Endearing Character Trait: His misshapen body

Imagine Teruteru except edgy and badass. Now, instead of thinking that that's a bad idea, imagine that it's actually an idea that magically works. Ryoma has moments where I feared him, pitied him, and admired him all at once. He's another character that I thought would last longer than I thought. Alas, Ryoma dies at the hands of Kirumi, in what is commonly acknowledged as the worst chapter in V3.

It's corny, but I liked Ryoma's backstory. As a tennis fan/player, I certainly have fantasized about braining people with well-placed serves.

A lot of Ryoma's appeal is probably the juxtaposition between his voice and his appearance. That's a relatively simple, but pleasing, gag.

Next: Here Comes Fan Service (part 1)

pray for rodgers. pray for colliding.

more later today

I got a buzz goin, so I'm not gonna post anymore tonight, but thanks for reading my dumb opinions ya'll

tcaz2 posted...

I mean Gonta's death for me was more like 'well that sucks for him but thank god I don't have to deal with him in the story anymore because he isn't funny or interesting'

I'll take someone who is an asshole over someone that is stupid any day of the week in a story.

He was basically just a slightly less bad Hagakure.

This is put well, I think. I wouldn't think he fills the same role as Hagakure within V3, but I didn't feel like Gonta brought much to the group, honestly.

24. Mukuro Ikusaba
Appears in: Danganronpa
Ultimate Identity: Soldier / Despair
Endearing Character Trait: She dies twice.

So to answer someone's earlier question - yes, I'm ranking Mukuro. At least in the games, we never truly see "Mukuro," just her impersonating Junko. I like how the game includes easter eggs that clue us into her true identity, like with her preferred gifts and some of her comments (her referring to her magazine shots as being photoshopped, for example). Her "why me?" when she gets speared takes on added layers when we realize that she was actually an accomplice / friend/ sister to the mastermind.

She's up this high solely for the major twist in Danganronpa's last chapter, which is just... really good. Of course, it wasn't that hard to figure out, once you saw the fake nails and the wolf tattoo. Still, it's weird to think back to DR and think about how shocking it was that Junko was the mastermind and that the earlier person we met wasn't actually Junko. A well done twist that didn't feel like an asspull.

I like to think that Mukuro wasn't as into despair as Junko was. That she liked and admired Junko and was kind of into despair, but not into the idea of dying as the ultimate despair. That way, what happens to her is tragic, rather than corny. More on despair when we inevitably get to Junko's write-up.

Next: You need me to throw balls at you guys? I got all kinds of balls.

25. Sonia Nevermind
Appears in: Danganronpa 2
Ultimate Identity: Princess
Endearing Character Trait: Likes guns

Sonia is a pretty decent survivor, all things considered. Like most of the DR2 survivors, she doesn't really have much presence. What puts her ahead of people like Kazuichi and Akane is her interactions with other characters: her weird chemistry with Gundham, the way she shuts down advances from Kazuichi and Teruteru, even the way she's kind to that piece of garbage Hiyoko. Sonia is like a teammate who's not that special on their own, but makes people around them better.

She's also a walking talking Nirvana reference, so that doesn't hurt either. Truly a worthy heir to the four devas of destruction.

Next: Don't go thinking yer so bad just cause you wuz in SOLDIER.

26. Yasuhiro Hagakure
Appears in: Danganronpa
Ultimate Identity: Clairvoyant
Endearing Character Trait: Terrible at trials

Unpopular opinion: I like Hiro. He's stupid, clueless, bungling, unimportant, random and great. Unlike Kazuichi, he's actually legitimately funny at points. This is due largely to his ultimate ability, which is tied distinctly to the occult. His random story about the UFO and his hamburger... like... what? Why is this happening? This is a serious moment!

And this dude is just so bad at trials. It's like in 9/10 non-stop debates, Yasuhiro is going to say something stupid to object to. It's great. This despite the fact that he's "involved" in nearly all of them. The point is, everyone would've died in Danganronpa if not for Hiro's sheer stupidity.

I hope he never dies. Also, his mom is hot (that's the only thing I remember from UDG - I memory wiped everything else).

Next: Smells like teen waifus

Nyeh....

27. Himiko Yumeno
Appears in: Danganronpa V3
Ultimate Identity: Magician (Mage)
Endearing Character Trait: Donkeylips

No one saw this coming, right? Himiko lives to the end, despite all appearances. Himiko has got "random murder victim" written all over her. And perhaps that what she would have been, were it not for Tenko's timely intervention.

Himiko's ok, I guess. She has her fans and she has her haters. Her voice acting, like many V3 characters, is not good. You get what they're going for with her whole "disinterested" monotone schtick, but it's hard to hear at points. Once she gets more positive near the end of the game, her voice acting and her character improves.... almost magically, you might say.

I don't blame her for being difficult during Chapter 2 - it's cliche for "magicians to never reveal their secrets" but it's also expected. The trick itself was almost disappointingly simple, but I guess that's part of her character - that she's a master of dumb tricks. My favorite HImiko moments were probably in Chapter 4 regarding the appearance of her sprite.

So yeah, OK character, but I'm not clamoring for a Kaede's Twin/Himiko UDG2 anytime soon.

Next: 40% of the time this character is funny 100% of the time.

LapisLazuli posted...

OK, if Iruma is this low over so many awful characters we haven't seem yet, this list really is over.

"No! That's Wrong!"

28. Nekomaru Nidai
Appears in: Danganronpa 2
Ultimate Identity: Team Manager
Endearing Character Trait: Robots need to **** too

Iruma lives to **** and **** another day. Up next is Nekomaru, aka Mechamaru.

When I first met Nekomaru, I thought he was terrible. Then the toilet hijinks of Chapter 1 happened and I thought "OK, he's not terrible. He's funny, but whatever." Then the training with Akane, his "death," the fight with Gundham, and his overall positivity happened and what can I say, this dude is inspiring. The Ultimate Team Manager.

Goes to show, you can't always judge a DR character by their cover. Everything about this dude is solid. Reasons he's not higher: Not a huge fan of his character design or voice acting, and his best moment is overshadowed by a person yet to appear on this list.

Next: It's not a trick, Michael. It's an illusion.

29. Kirumi Tojo
Appears in: Danganronpa V3
Ultimate Identity: Maid
Endearing Character Trait: Also maid.

At the beginning of V3, I predicted that Kirumi would be one of the survivors. I thought for sure the game was giving us to her as an obvious red herring. Everyone expects that someone will just order Kirumi to kill someone else, and she would do it, because she's a maid. There's no way DR would be that obvious. What actually happens is a little like that, but with a healthy dose of crazy.

I liked Kirumi, even though I've never quite understood the maid fetish. In the first and second cases, she actually reminded me of Kyoko, gloves and all.

I don't particularly care for her murder plot. It's somehow both extremely simple and maddeningly complicated. I don't really understand why she felt the need to rig up a crazy ropeway just to try to pin the blame on Himiko's magic show.

What I really don't like is the "prime minister" twist. Unless this is Team Danganronpa making some pointed commentary about the Japanese government, which I suspect is the case, I don't get it. I think her character would have been just fine if it was just her former family or something giving her an order. Then again, she's just a fictional character in the world of Danganronpa, and thinking of it that way kind of makes the twist make more sense.

Her execution is probably my second favorite of the series.

Up next: I. Need. To. ****.

30. Sakura Ogami
Appears in: Danganronpa
Ultimate Identity: Martial Artist
Endearing Character Trait: Protein fiend

Sakura's all about those mad gains. She and Akihiko should develop their own line of protein shakes.

I didn't find Sakura particularly likable, but it's hard to deny her importance in the first DR. She's smart, evidenced in how she immediately recognized the need for someone to watch the bodies. She's obviously very strong, evidenced in her grotesque character design. She's a loyal friend to Hina and overall a positive contributor to Daily life.

She's the "traitor" of the first game, meaning that she was supposed to kill someone in case no one bit on the motive videos. Thankfully, Sayaka kept her from having to do that. Instead, she chooses to resist Monokuma, challenging him to a fight. Putting aside that "fighting" Monokuma doesn't really make sense, she realizes that the best way to resist Monokuma and protect Hina is to take her own life in the series' first suicide.

Next: The servant will become the master.

Somewhat necessary recap:

Box of Tissues
48. Hiyoko Saionji
47. Leon Kuwata

Monkey Paw
46. Mahiru Koizumi
45. Celestia Ludenberg
44. Korekiyo Shinguji
43. Teruteru Hanamura
42. Ultimate Imposter
41. Sayaka Maizono

Secret Boots
40. Tsumugi Shirogane
39. Hifumi Yamada
38. Kiyotaka Ishimaru
37. Peko Pekoyama
36. Mondo Owata
35. Angie Yonaga
34. Akane Owari
33. Tenko Chabashira
32. Kazuichi Soda
31. Gonta Gokuhara :(

New Tier Unlocked: Rose in Vitro

31. Gonta Gokuhara
Appears in: Danganronpa V3
Ultimate Identity: Entomologist
Endearing Character Trait: He's a gentleman

"Oh no, not Gonta! How could you not like Gonta? He's such a natural force of goodness, someone inherently honorable! He's like a grown-up child who wants to help his friends!"

Yeah, those are exactly the reasons why I don't like Gonta. Sure, he's a nice dude. He's a great dude, in fact. I'd be bros with Gonta. We could go to school together all Encino Man style. Him being nice doesn't make him a good character though.

Gonta was raised by wolves and is now somehow the ultimate entomologist in the fictional world of Danganronpa. He is super strong and super dumb. How he became an entomologist without knowing how to speak in complete sentences, I don't know. To be honest, I thought the whole "I'm dumb" schtick got old by chapter 2. If this guy had ended up being one of the survivors, I probably would've ranked him lower out of sheer frustration.

Thankfully, all that stuff with Kokichi happened. Yes, Chapter 4 was sad and at the time it happens, you really don't want it to be Gonta. You want to be able to figure out that it actually was Kokichi and the whole "program that Kokichi will freeze" thing will be found to be false evidence. For these reasons, I feel like the feelings in Chapter 4 were more the result of anger at Kokichi and less feeling sad for Gonta.

Gonta has a couple other interesting scenes, like the "insect meet'n greet." Probably the thing I like the most about Gonta is the ironic sadness of the fan-service scene with Miu in Chapter 2, knowing now that he kills her later on.

Next: New Tier Unlocked. Select Your Fighter.

If you don't like Nagito and Byakuya I don't know what to tell you. You're just objectively wrong, sorry.

32. Kazuichi Soda

Appears in: Danganronpa 2
Ultimate Identity: Mechanic
Endearing Character Trait: Charmingly Dumb

Look. I don't know why I like Kazuichi more than Tenko. I know it's wrong. I'm trying really hard to think of particular times Kazuichi was useful or funny, and I just can't do it. Tenko had that great friendship with Himiko and did genuinely admirable things. Kazuichi has a truly terrible character design and the only truly memorable thing about him is his pathetic crush on Sonia.

So if you want to go ahead and reverse these two, that's fine. I'll grant you that Tenko is better. But what if this list is meant to be, in true Danganronpa style, meta? The disappointment you now feel knowing that I like this waste of breath Kazuichi more than the somewhat interesting Tenko is the same disappointment you felt at the end of DR2 when this idiot survives and Nagito and Ibuki don't.

"No, that's wrong!"

I'm sorry.

Next: colliding no understand what people see in this dude.

33. Tenko Chabashira
Appears in: Danganronpa V3
Ultimate Identity: Aikido Master
Endearing Character Trait: Good faces

How very like a degenerate male to not understand the greatness of Tenko and vote her 33rd!

Tenko is V3's "athletic girl" character. I found the man-hating stuff a bit obnoxious, to be honest. It's one thing to have an anti-male gimmick, it's another to have the gimmick manifest in exactly the same phrase every time. I just think there was more they could have done there. In other words, the way her personality manifests itself in the script makes her seem more boring than she should be.

Of course, there's more to Tenko than just hating dudes (though not much). She was good in Chapter 3. The revelation that she was faking being a member of the Student Council is something that I should have seen coming, but somehow still surprised me. The way she stepped in for Himiko during the seance was also a fairly heroic moment, even if she didn't think of it that way.

So yeah, generally a good person, but also kind of bland. I also really dislike her character design aside from the pinwheel scarf. However, she does win the award for best facial reactions in V3 - and probably the series.

Next: Thinking about it now, I probably should have ranked the next person lower.

34. Akane Owari
Appears in: Danganronpa 2
Ultimate Identity: Gymnast
Endearing Character Trait: Breasts

Not to be a stickler for realism in a Danganronpa thread or anything, but there's no way a person can be as stacked as Akane and be an ultimate gymnast. Gymnasts are petite rubber bands of muscle. Akane is.. um... quite healthy.

It took me an embarassingly long time to realize this, but combine Aoi and Sakura and you get Akane. This has to be intentional. I can appreciate that kind of in-universe referentiality - even though it's obvious, it's a good throwback. That being said, what that leaves us with is a character who takes Aoi's appetite and Sakura's strength and doesn't really generate anything new. She was at times funny, at times fan-service. The rivalry/attraction (?) with her and Nekomaru was neat.

Akane is the first survivor to appear on this list, which means that she's the most boring person to survive a killing game. Congrats! You managed to make it through while contributing relatively little.

Edit:
Next: The next choice might make you mad, I Kid you not.

Sceptilesolar posted...

I wish Kirigiri and Naegi were gone already. Bland as hell, getting by only because they're main characters.

Stay tuned.

uhhh, anybody out there?

Revenge of the Sith is not good, ya'll. It's definitely the best of the three but it's still a mess.

35. Angie Yonaga
Appears in: Danganronpa V3
Ultimate Identity: Artist
Endearing Character Trait: Only Atua Knows.

Let's talk about Angie.

First and foremost, she is super annoying. Let's get that out of the way. Her poses, her voice, her constant deferring to Atua... she's just the worst. She's the Ultimate Artist but she may as well have been the Ultimate Cult Leader (in fact, I was half expecting that revelation the entire game).

In case 3, when she gets Himiko, Gonta, Tsumugi and even K1-B0 to "convert" to the Church of Atua, I thought the game was going to reveal she had some sort of brainwashing power through hugging. This revelation never comes. I guess the cast of V3 are just suckers.

Atua, and Angie herself, were both built up to be rather nefarious forces. One reason I like Chapter 3 of V3 is the division of the gang into factions, one explicitly fascist and the other more freedom-centric. I thought for sure that Angie was evil, but it turned out she was just really creepy.

In light of the ending, you can look at back at certain Atua prophecies as actually being true, notably that Rantaro's killer was in the hidden room. So that's cool.

But she's just so annoying, oh my god. I was happy when I opened the door to her lab and saw that she was dead.

Next: A living, breathing "If they mated" offspring.

To be clear, I don't feel sorry for you. Should've placed out of this if it's so boring!

As an English teacher, those questions sound really bad. Never ask questions that can be answered with a yes or no.

First-year composition is really in a bad state. This is what happens when universities move away from literature and instead embrace rhetoric.

36. Mondo Owata
Appears in: Danganronpa
Ultimate Identity: Biker Gang Leader
Endearing Character Trait: That hair.

I only watched Jojo for the first time this last summer, so I didn't realize that Mondo was a walking talking Jojo reference the first time through. I always associated that hair with Kuwabara (YYH). I guess in the end there's not that much difference between them: they're all delinquents, they all have great hair, and they're all deceptively simple characters.

Mondo's backstory and attitude in general is pretty whatever. He's pretty much just an angry idiot in the first case and in the second case he's too busy being a culprit to be helpful. However, like I talked about in Taka's post, I enjoyed their rival - turned - brother relationship. I also thought the dynamic between he and Chihiro was interesting. The game did a good job of illustrating the confusion that was going through Mondo's head when Chihiro asked to be "strong." So yeah, there was a bit more to him than stereotypical delinquent, which bumps him up a little bit.

One thing I never understood was the "Crazy Diamond" pickaxe. Is that just a pun or what? Why does he have a pickaxe?

Next: Not your typical student council president.

Bonus Ranking: Trial Mini-Games

13. Any of the rhythm stuff - Particularly bad in V3.
12. Mind Mine - Why? Just why.
11. Psyche Taxi - Our sweet, innocuous, snowboarding game gets replaced with this misogynist crap.
10. Rebuttal Showdown - Great idea in theory, but swiping/slashing like an idiot while cycling through truth bullets sucks, A LOT.
9. Mass Panic Debates - These were all easy, except for K1-B0's at the very end of V3, which was way too hard.
8. Improved Hangman's Gambit - Not only not improved, but at points maddeningly difficult.
7. "Absorbing" comments in NSD - I'm glad this aspect was removed. Always more tricky than it needed to be.
6. Original Hangman's Gambit - Whatever.
5. Hangman's Gambit v. 3.0 - It's either super obvious or so specific a phrasing that you lose half your influence trying to figure it out.
4. Non-Stop Debates - Consistently fun. Pros always let them cycle through at least once.
3. Lying/Back Routes - Great idea. Excited to playthrough again and find more of these.
2. Debate Scrum - These needed to be more difficult, but pretty epic/satisfying.
1. Logic Dive - So good that Ace Attorney basically copied it.

Back to the character list tomorrow.

37. Peko Pekoyama
Appears in: Danganronpa 2
Ultimate Identity: Swordswoman
Endearing Character Trait: Red eyes

Before V3 came out, I would have told you that Peko's execution was the best in the series. Not only for what it is, but for its actual importance to the story itself. Now that V3 is out, it's still a great execution, but not the best - or second best.

Peko's got depth to her behind her rather pedestrian design. DR2 is short on genuine "feels" at the beginning, but her commitment to Fuyuhiko was both surprising and believable. The sense of loss is well-earned. It's a shame those crazy kids couldn't make it work! Before V3 came out, I would have told you that she and Fuyuhiko were the most tragic romance. Now that V3 is out, it's not the most - or second most.

I have my problems with Case 2 itself - the videogame sucked, I didn't care about the victim, and the whole "stand on the sword" thing seemed very implausible, but Peko herself was good. Except for the Sparkling Justice stuff. In fact, her adopting the persona - while a nice throwback to the first DR - was kind of out of character, stupid, and pointless in the end.

She also, as far as I know, starts the recurring motif of me feeling awkward as the game harps on girls taking dumps. Before V3 came out, I would have told you that she is the female character most likely to talk about her dumps. Now that V3 is out... yeah, you get the point.

Next: Don't make fun of his hair... that wouldn't be a great idea.

38. Kiyotaka Ishimaru
Appears in: Danganronpa
Ultimate Identity: School Morals Committee? Hall Monitor?
Endearing Character Trait: Generally a good dude

I really didn't plan on ranking Hifumi and Taka side-by-side; just a fortuitous coincidence that the series' first double-murder victims are both here, smack dab in the not-quite-middle.

My favorite Taka moment is when he gets really into Monokuma's morning workouts. He might be taking instruction from a homicidal bear, but Take plays by the rules! Even though Taka is meant to be a straight-laced stick in the mud type, I thought he was kind of cool too. For the first two chapters he genuinely seems like a good leader.

His friendship/rivalry with Mondo was really well executed, I thought. From their competition in the steam room to them being all smiles at breakfast the next morning, I found their bond quite endearing. Mondo's guilt and execution in the following trial hits him like a ton of bricks (or a weight, I guess) and I won't lie - I felt bad for the dude.

His evolution in the next chapter as a kind of Mondo / Taka hybrid was kind of strange. I don't really get what they were going for there. Was he really possessed? Was he crazy? We'll never know, because he ended up getting merc-ed by #39.

Up next: Spirit of Justice.

The last half of the Chapter 4 trial saves it, but I would agree that 2 and 4 are lulls. 3 was decent I thought.

39. Hifumi Yamada
Appears in: Danganronpa
Ultimate Identity: Ultimate Board 8'er
Endearing Character Trait: Extremely Fat

You all can stop wondering when this guy will show up. Here he is, the Ultimate Fanfic creator. The most striking thing about Hifumi is his weight, clearly. With DR characters, there's always one on the cast that makes you question whether or not they are the same species. Hifumi is like the unholy spawn of Robotnik and Candy Kong. His grotesque character design adds to the overall shock of his murder: the images of him in the nurse's office and in the art room are lasting.

Aside from killing Taka right when he started to get interesting (classic DR move), Hifumi doesn't contribute much. Like I mentioned in Celeste's write-up, he has a brief recurring gag as her slave. His infatuation with Alter Ego is both amusing, pathetic and terribly sad.

So why exactly is Hifumi all the way up at 39, when he's basically useless? If Hifumi is not particularly likeable, he is memorable to me in a way that earlier people on this list aren't. He also serves his function - to be annoying comic relief - for half the game.

Honestly, I probably just like the way he says "Mr. Naegi!"

Up next: Say it ain't so, bro!

I've heard people talk about how bad the giants offense is but holy crap they are so bad

pretty good game

Nothing makes me happier than Roethlisberger throwing 5 ints. Get bent, rapist.

Unnecessary recap:

Box of Tissues
48. Hiyoko Saionji
47. Leon Kuwata

Monkey Paw
46. Mahiru Koizumi
45. Celestia von Ludenberg
44. Korekiyo Shinguji
43. Teruteru Hanamura
42. Ultimate Imposter
41. Sayaka Maizono.

New Tier Unlocked: Secret Boots

40. Tsumugi Shirogane
Appears in: Danganronpa V3
Ultimate Identity: Cosplayer
Endearing Character Trait: Occasionally, but rarely, makes a reference that I get

Last chance. If you haven't finished ALL of V3, get out now.

For 5 out of 6 chapters, Tsumugi is the worst character of all time. She's not helpful, she's not funny, she's not (very) fan service-y. She's plain. That's the whole point of her, to be the ironically plain cosplayer. Okay, whatever, she's Sonia except not funny. Next.

Then in the last chapter, we find out that she's the mastermind (I told you to leave). That our beloved Kaede actually failed to kill Rantaro and that she actually finished the job. It's a great reveal that should be one of the defining moments of the series. Except, it isn't - for reasons that can only be explained by getting into a long, drawn-out debate over the ending twist of DRV3.

I really don't want to get into the V3 ending, because I honestly don't care about it too much. People are either going to like it or they're going to hate it. It is what it is. Personally, I don't like it, because I really don't like anything that goes overtly meta. All that I'll say here is that instead of having a satisfying character arc for Tsumugi, we get a deconstruction of the series itself. Tsumugi is abruptly replaced with a stand-in for Team Danganronpa. Great job writers! You took what was a pretty good story and skipped over writing a satisfying ending in favor of a metafictional gesture. I'm so glad you were here to remind me that I was playing a fictional story.

Tsumugi uses her cosplay skills to great effect in the final act, and that's kind of cool, but again... where is Tsumugi herself? What is her character? Ironically, in making her "real," Team DR essentially replaced her character with a philosophical debate that really isn't as interesting as they think it is. Therefore, there's some weird disconnect between the Tsumugi "pre-Junko cosplay" and the Tsumugi afterwards, who ends up getting crushed by debris in the most anti-climactic death scene in the series.

Imagine this alternative scenario: you reveal Tsumugi as Rantaro's true killer. There's an abrupt break. You assume the role of Rantaro in DRV2. You reach the same sort of conclusion there, where Rantaro and Tsumugi become sacrifices. You return to Shuichi and reach the same sort of "abstain" solution that the current ending reaches. This makes Tsumugi seem like more of a villain and is less preachy.

Tl;dr: Boring for 5 cases, still boring despite being the mastermind.

Next: "Mr. Naegi!"

41. Sayaka Maizono
Appears in: Danganronpa
Ultimate Identity: Pop Sensation
Endearing Character Trait: She's psychic.

Sayaka's death in the first chapter really sets the tone for the rest of the series. At first, you might think she's going to be the Maya to Makoto's Phoenix- she is psychic, after all. These thoughts are quickly dashed, not only by her early murder, but also by the fact that she died after a botched attempt at becoming a killer herself. Sayaka's death establishes that "no one is safe," and that if you start having feels for a character at the beginning of the game, chances are they're not gonna make it.

Sayaka is okay, I guess, but she basically exists solely to serve that function. She was the first person to act on a motive video, so I guess that's another way she fits into DR lore. The world may never know if she actually remembered/liked Makoto or if she was using him. Which is fine - Makoto dodged a bullet with that one.

Next: A new tier is unlocked, and the rains in Spain fall gently on the plain.

43. Teruteru Hanamura
Appeared in Danganronpa 2
Ultimate Identity: Cook
Endearing Character Trait: Nosebleeds

You're right - this guy probably shouldn't be ranked higher than characters who survived long enough to form legitimate friendships and relationships like Mahiru and Celeste, but he is. Though he was only around for a single case, his gimmicks are extremely memorable, due almost entirely to the high quality of his voice acting. From sexually harassing Sonia to devolving into a deep-south babbler, listening to this guy speak is a delight. His killing of Fat-kyuya is basically due to a mental lapse in judgment.

Let's not sugarcoat it though - Teruteru's a bad dude and I feel bad about liking him. You could also probably guess from looking at him that he's not long for the killing game. A weird, misshapen dude under three feet tall with messed up eyes... probably won't see another one like him in DR ever again, amirite?

But while were here...

42. Ultimate Imposter
Ultimate Identity: See above
Endearing Character Trait: He's Byakuya, but he's fat

Think back. You've finished Danganronpa. Byakuya is your favorite character, because you're a man of taste. You can't stop thinking about DR. You want more. You need more. You await news of a sequel with baited breath. A character trailer is uploaded to the youtubes. You watch and you relish in the new characters, the new gameplay additions, and the new... Byakuya?

I don't quite remember what my thoughts were, aside from "that's obviously not Byakuya." However, the gag of fat Byakuya was executed well, I thought. They played it so that it could "conceivably" actually be Byakuya, caught up in another killing game. It was just a great moment for the fans to see a Byakuya who was at once so similar to and so different from actual Byakuya.

That being said, glad he's dead. There wasn't much to the Ultimate Imposter in the original game. I know he has a sizable role in the anime, but again, didn't watch it and don't really care to.

Next Up: I know what you're thinking...

44. Korekiyo Shinguji
Appeared in Danganronpa V3
Ultimate Identity: Anthropologist
Endearing Character Trait: N/A

Kiyo's best moment is when he silently seethes while Kokichi fiddles around in his ultimate lab. Other than that, this guy is just straight up discomforting! I guess the team deserves some recognition for crafting such a weird dude.

Also, I actually really enjoyed figuring out his murder plan (or at least, the one he originally planned to do to begin with and not the one he improvised). The atmosphere was suitably creepy, what with the magic circles and hanging wax effigies. It was a cool moment in the series, having a murder be committed during the investigation for a prior murder - a variation on Celeste's plan, if you will. I think the game missed an opportunity though - imagine if the gang finds Kiyo guilty for Tenko's murder, but someone else had killed Angie? Then the group would've had to live with Kiyo knowing he straight up killed someone and got away with it. I'm just saying... it would have been interesting.

Why is Kiyo so low? He's a flat character. He fits the model of "highly creepy suspicious looking character" but unlike others, most notably Gundham, there's nothing else there. He actually is exactly what he looks like - which some might say is refreshing, but I'll stick with boring. The incest/sister stuff thrown in at the end is tacked on and whatever.

Next: You're gonna have to take a really close look below my belt to see who's next.