LogFAQs > #951171587

#31: Kyoko Kirigiri
Main Cast (Female) Ranking: 15/16
Survivor Ranking: 8/11
Ultimate Ability: Ultimate Detective
Actual Ultimate Ability: Ultimate GameFAQ

So I think this is the ranking where I lose the last shred of Danganronpa cred I had. The good news is that this should be the last bad opinion I have for a while. Kyoko was just someone that didnt resonate for me like she did for a lot of people. I always see here near the top of lists or at the very least towards the middle, but I just couldnt get into her as a character. The ending of Danganronpa 1 was rough for me because I was stuck with Toko who I hated, Byakuya who I did not like, and Kyoko who I also wasnt a huge fan of. Kyoko was definitely the least offensive of these three. I do not hate Kyoko, but she was definitely more bad than good for me and a lot of the stuff I did like did not come until near the end of the game when a large part of my opinion had already been formed.

My main problem with Kyoko though is she feels like she hampers pretty much everything else in the first game. Kyoko by necessity needs to be this super genius because of her ultimate ability, so it is always she that is figuring things out. Because of this, the entirety of the cast in the first game comes off like bumbling morons outside of a couple of characters. I felt like they wrote themselves into a corner by throwing the Ultimate Detective into the game and having her live to the end. It would be like if one of the characters in this cast was Sherlock Holmes, and because of who they are you need them to be like two steps ahead of everyone else so their character fits. It makes sense for her character for her to always be like hey you can figure this out Makoto you already have all the clues, but it doesnt make her a particularly fun character. I actually thinks Kyoko makes the rest of the cast worse just by her being around. The writers always need to figure out some way for Kyoko to be the smartest person in the room, and there are so many times she gets in the way of the game.

In a way, Kyoko is what takes place of the confirm and logic drive mechanics from the second game. They hadnt thought of that yet, so instead Kyoko just serves as an exposition drop in a lot of the cases. Rather than having us figure things out, Kyoko pops up once or twice a case to just spoil things. Theres a part in the third case where she just up and says what if Hifumi wasnt actually dead. Now, this is something I myself had figured out way earlier, but it wasnt something Makoto had figured out in game. And, instead of having him figure it out, Kyoko just rushes in and shoves him to the side so she can scream it at everyone who is listening. She does this in basically every single case (except chapter 5, I suppose) in the entire game, and it honestly gets annoying after a while. Shes like this Mary Sue that is great at everything and just keeps giving us the answers to things that wouldve been more fun to have been figured out.

Im also not a huge fan of her personality. I think possibly as a nod to Sherlock Holmes (or at least the old movie versions of Sherlock Holmes) she comes off as relatively personalityless. Shes kind of emotionless, this crime solving robot that doesnt seem to have any interest in things that arent related to murder cases. She does have little scenes where she shows some spark, so it isnt as though she is totally bland, but even outside of trials a lot of time she feels like exposition, the character. Shes there to tell you things in a very matter of fact way and chew bubblegum, and shes all out of bubblegum because it is made out of erythitol, xylitol, maltitol, isomalt, fructose, and ten other things she will slowly list off to you. It is strange she is an end game character, and yet I had absolutely no free time events done with her until I was in the post-game mode. I just wasnt particularly interested in what she had to say. I was assuming it would be something bland and passionless, and there were so many other characters Id rather hear from. Even characters I thought I hated, because at least that is some sort of emotional response rather than the dull dialogue Id get out of Kyoko.

There are also a couple of story related events I want to briefly go over to help support my Kyoko is more annoying than fun thesis. The first, and I admit this is petty, is the hissy fit she throws when you dont tell her about Sakura right away. She has spent the entire game holding secrets and being mysterious and the first time Makoto has a secret, she goes into high school scorned girlfriend mode and starts giving Makoto the silent treatment. Hes even like I just need to confirm something please wait because he is being a good person and doesnt want to out Sakura unintentionally, and Kyoko reacts like no greater indignity has ever befallen anyone in the history of ever. She spends most of the chapter sulking and refusing to talk to Makoto. Kyoko, I dont have time to deal with this shit right now. People are getting MURDERED and I cannot deal with high school relationship level drama. I expected lots of stuff in this game, but Kyoko pouting in the corner and posting passive aggressive Facebook statuses was not one of them.

But that isnt really what Im still irked about. No, what Kyoko needs to answer for is GETTING MAKOTO MURDERED OUT OF SELFISHNESS. Ok, I understand that there is more to it than just that and there is a certain sense of self preservation going on since Byakuya is being is usual overconfident self without knowing what the hell is going on. But still, the trial in chapter 5 (if you get the true ending) is Makoto basically going we should believe in Kyoko and Kyoko going yeah but maybe Makoto though. I know shes stalling for time because she hasnt figured out the case, but that doesnt change the fact she gets Makoto straight up murdered. She has no clue Alter Ego is going to show up to hero ball the whole thing, so she has to know that what she is doing risks getting Makoto killed. Monokuma ending things early obviously threw a wrench in her plans, which I might be more forgiving of if the end result was not a Makoto pancake. She couldve been honest with what was going on and where she was and why she and Makoto both have an alibi for part of the night, but she goes the be mysterious and vaguely hint hey it could be Makoto route of things which IS NOT COOL KYOKO MAKOTO DOESNT WANT TO DIE EITHER. Her reasoning is basically hey if I die we wont figure anything out which is 1) vain as hell and 2) probably true because everyone else drank the idiot juice to make Kyoko seem even smarter in comparison. But still, she has the choice of being honest and putting herself in more danger or trying to stall and putting Makoto in more danger, and she picks the latter and doesnt look back.

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Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."