LogFAQs > #938188502

This one deserves a bit more effort put into it, imo.
Plot Twists:

10. Chiaki was a real student
The lone DR3 moment on the list, because Future is really bad, and Despair is just kind of a slice of life anime and doesn't really bring any new plot developments to the table. Except this one. You see the class and that Chiaki is part of it, which doesn't make any sense at all, given that she's just an AI in DR2. As you watch more of the show and think more about it, you realize something awful is going to happen eventually, it's just a matter of when and how, and because of that sense of dread, I think it barely deserves a place in the list.

9. DR1 students lost multiple years of memories, oh by the way the world has ended over that time
The first time I played DR1, this plot point did not sit well with me at all. I like my motivations grounded in reality and Junko did not provide anything like that whatsoever. Everything was spiraling completely out of control and I just had to sit there and accept that this is where the story is going and I couldn't do anything about it. However, this single plot point is the basis of the entire series, and I've come to appreciate it for what it is.

8. Chiaki and SSJ Hajime Deus Ex Machina their way out of the Neo World Program
By all means, the ending of DR2 should not have happened. At least in the way it actually did. It's 100% anime bullshit and I don't care because I fucking love it. It makes no sense and I don't care, inject that anime nonsense directly into my veins baby!!

7. The DR2 cast are the Remnants of Despair
It's not a terribly grand reveal, but it sheds light on a looooooooot of questions that DR2 leaves in its wake as it treads along. Why was Mikan so fucked up when she caught the Remembering Disease? Why was the organization that trapped the kids on the island full of nice, caring people? Why did Nagito try to kill all of his classmates? And the answer to every one of those questions is one single plot point. We were actually the bad guys.

6. Hajime is just a no-name student
The entire time you are stuck on the island, one of the major mysteries you are trying to solve is who exactly you are. Over time, it gets less and less important, but as soon as the traitor's identity comes to the forefront of the plot, so too does Hajime's identity. And then all of a sudden, the one person who can rub it in better than anyone is the one to drop the bomb on you. It's not a glamorous answer, but it's one that makes a lot of sense, and just introduces new questions to the main story.

5. Never mind, actually, Hajime is the mastermind and also the Ultimate Hope
Just kidding, Hajime is the one behind bringing Monokuma and Junko into the Neo World Program and starting the killing game. Also he knows how to do everything, and is superhuman. Except he's not actually that way in the NWP because reasons. And his name is Izuru Kamakura, look don't question any of this too hard. As Junko herself says, "you should never make the last character who appears in a detective story turn out to be the mastermind", but in this case, it's actually you, just........ your alter ego that you don't know about yet? It's complicated, but the way the game handles the reveal is fantastic. "I'll explain it until you do understand! You're Izuru Kamakura you're Izuru Kamakura you're Izuru Kamakura you're Izuru Kamakura you're"

4. Sayaka was trying to frame Makoto
It's certainly not the most complicated case, and DEFINITELY NOT a hard case to guess the culprit, but I will always have a place in my heart for Case 1-1. It begins the trend of all Danganronpas that all case 1's have some truly massive shit to drop on you. Slowly realizing over the course of the trial that your assistant has been getting close to you just to use you and everyone else to escape this place is some goooooood shit.

3. Nagito didn't actually kill himself
I spent a good 60% of Case 2-5 expecting an end result of suicide. All the evidence pointed to it, and we had no one left in the cast that I felt was capable of murder. But nope! Turns out the victim is a truly twisted individual and forced the character who had been trying the hardest to stop every murder in the game to commit one of her own. Watching the remaining cast spiral into despair at the thought that one of them was guilty and they had no way to tell which one is my favorite 40-ish minutes of trial in the entire series.

2. DRV3 is all bullshit
Not gonna lie, my first time through this case, I hated it. I hated that everything I'd done over the course of the game was for less than nothing. It felt so bad to know that nothing mattered and everything was fake. But maaan, the more I went over it and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that is a fucking genius plot twist. I cannot think of any twist in any other game that has left me as thoroughly speechless as this one did. And this isn't even the top twist of the game!

1. Kaede is the culprit
No single moment in the series, and perhaps all of video games, has left me floored quite as hard as when I picked the right culprit in case 3-1. I was so confused at the time. "Oh, it really is Shuichi? That's weird how we've been going out of our way to say it's not him. Wait, no? Then it's Miu? OK game, I'm confused, there's literally no one else it can be. Shit, time's running out, let's pick ourselves and get the gag answer out of the wHAAAAAAAAAATTTT"

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
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