Danganronpa V3 Ending : The Conclusion that Killed the Series?

*Warning: Spoilers may induced severe case of despair or emptiness

Funny enough, those words won't reduce the coming murder

Credit: Pinterest

Ah.. Danganronpa or Bullet Rebuttal (literal English translation) or even Tolak Peluru (literal Indonesian translation) is an interactive visual novel game, a mixed up of Ace Attorney with killing games like hunger games. What makes Danganronpa interesting is not the visually cool class trial gameplay, but rather, the stories wether the character twist, motives, unraveling cases and of course, the truth behind the killing game, the biggest plot twist foreshadowed by vague hint in smart ways.

Playing Danganronpa first game to the end, left me that cathartic feeling where hope prevail and no matter what kind of despair awaits, the survivor of the killing games won't regret condemning their friends for their wrong and forget their survivor's guilt as a will of hope. The plot twist of the mastermind was also interesting... Though seriously, a lunatic pscyho character trope is too mainstream nowadays.

Playing Danganronpa second game to the end, on the other hand, left me with that "it's good this is just a simulation" and there is still hope those dead characters are able to live with the help of OP talent the main character got.

Playing Danganronpa shooting game spin off to the end, gave me yet another hope for what comes next.

Watching Danganronpa 3 The End of Hope's Peak Academy also gave me that big hope, especially when the characters from second game came back alive and tried to atone their sin. Oh how hillarious it is when Naegi Makoto met Komaeda Nagito, it feels like hearing a one person comedy.

And lastly! Playing Danganronpa V3 Killing Harmony to the end... Gave me... Emptiness. There is no glimmer of hope and stiffness of despair... Only.. Void. Empty. Nothingness. As the last epilogue flashes away, proving that there is, indeed hope left for the three survivors and the screen went dark.. I don't wanna touch this game anymore. I didn't bother to check the extra content after the game ends. I don't even want to replay or check the extra stuff. I immediately close the game.. Feeling empty... Then remember I still have Doki Doki Literature Club to play.

The gang.

Just, what the heck have I been playing all this time? What kind of conclusion is this? Sure, it's a good ending.. But... What? This game was made by fortress of lies and gave me that "MY WHOLE LIFE WAS A LIE" feeling until the end..

Is this what the game creator wants to achieved? To make people not feeling any hope from the ending nor plunging you to the despair bad end, but to void everything and killed the series?

Still.. The ending gave us a weird cliffhanging ending, typical Danganronpa.. But there is one point that I never understand, that is.. Well, this is what I'm writing! I'm going to point out some stuff regarding the plot twist, the ending, speculation, and... The mastermind last foreshadowing words.

The Plot twist: The Main Character and the First Murder Case.

Dat rack

Akamatsu Kaede. Yeah, at first, I was like, "Ooh yeah.. We got a hot blondie with bootie and beauty as the main character" and then "What... The.. F..?!" when I reached the middle of class trial of first murder case.

Ultimate Detective

The culprit... Turns out the main character we used.. She subtlely and sneakily conduct her misdeed right under our nose.. And then the main character job falls back to her sidekick, and for the rest of the games we assumed the role of seemingly meek Ultimate Detective, Saihara Shuichi solving the murder case and the truth behind the killing game.

The next five murder case is as usual, your everyday murder.. Nothing to be surprised for.. Though it serves rather importantly as foreshadow hint and clue towards the character background and the reason of this killing game.

Except fot the last class trial. No more murder, but after finding out some new clues, our main character found a new possibilities and answer toward the truth of this killing game and... The real truth of the first murder case.

It is a big surprise, cause they do a retrial on the first murder case and finds out the real culprit is not Akamatsu Kaede but rather, the mastermind behind the killing games. They got it wrong all this time and condemned to death their innocent friend!

The Truth of The Killing Game: The Thing that Killed the Whole Series.

During the playthrough and chapter intermission, bunch of foreshadow hint and clues are given out via fourth wall scene or a device called "flashback light", a Doraemon like tools to remember the wiped away memories. That makes you speculate, what really happened to them, to the outside world, to the connection between the past games. Here are some of the foreshadowing hint they gave out during the game:

1. A weird machine strapped on our main character's head. Making you think they're inside another virtual reality world or that machine wiped away their memories.

 2. The ultimate hunt. The characters remembered that they are running away from a mysterious organization, seeking to kill them.

3. The funeral of the 16 characters. This makes you think they are already dead (NANI) and they are just ghosts in afterlife playing killing games, reincarnated people or just dead people in virtual reality (again.. I really hated this kind of plot twist and foreshadowing)

4. The apparent doomsday. They remembered that bunch of giant meteorites fell to Earth, spreading new types of virus and killed humanity.

This started to make you speculate that the outside world is dead and they are in some kind of shelter.

5. Ultimate ???, Amami Rantaro's weird scene. Saying he/everyone wanted this killing game and this is not his first killing game.

HONESTLY this is the most confusing foreshadowing cause it contradicts all of the above hint. Why? Because from what he said, it is most likely that the killing games they played are just, in fact, something out  from hunger games story. A government program for game of killing and they are just a participant, willingly joined and wiped of their memories. But then, how could you explain that doomsday scene, the funeral, and the ultimate hunt? Weird huh?

6. The mastermind appeared, explaining practically everything... And turns out it is the ultimate supreme leader, Ouma Kokichi. He revealed that the outside world is dead because of the meteorites and the virus it brought... Then this academy is a space shuttle for the last surviving immune-to-the-virus people to find a new planet.. But as the evil mastermind, Ouma Kokichi hijack the space shuttle to go back to Earth and insert Monokuma to play the most tragic despair inducing killing games for the last mankind.

7. They remembered they are the students of the rebuild Hope's Peak Academy.

8. Monokuma weirdly strict to the rule character. Why bother sticking to some rules when they are just plainly playing killing games with the last surviving human?

Unless... Someone is watching this. But outside world is dead? Then why?

Really, I missed this train of thought when they revealed about the foreshadowing human extinction.

9. Lastly... A place to conveniently make a flashback light. That Doraemon-like gadget they used througout the game to recall their forgotten memories, as i said way above.

....And in the end number 5 is the right conclusion, supported by number 9.. The rest are just RED HERRING. Lies. Maybe that's why the main theme song called "Beautiful Lies"

So the truth that killed the series is... They are just playing variety killing show (already running for 53 seasons) that inspired by a fiction work called Danganronpa, which they willingly applied to before their memories wiped and written. YES! In this game, danganronpa is just a game/anime. All of the foreshadowing hint about doomsday, virus, the last human on earth are just lies. All the things they remembered is not memories they remembered, rather, fabricated memories implanted to them to mimic the danganronpa fiction world into their life. Even their talent, characters stories, motives, everything.. Was just a made up memories.. A lies. A fiction.

THE ULTIMATE REAL FICTION.

So much breaking the fourth wall hm? So.. What will you do when you just know you are participating in a dead game with fabricated memories and setting? What will you do, knowing everything, including your existance are just made up stories, watched by numerous people outside?

Typical Danganronpa games usually relied on HOPE. Yup.. One of the surviving characters won't lose hope and tried to affect everyone. But then the mastermind revealed that HOPE is just the voices of the audiences of the show. What will you do then? Grasping on that false hope? Or fall to the despair and continue the killing games until it's over?

From past experiences, Hope of course. But this time, nah. Our main character, Saihara Shuichi realized that despair exists because of hope and vice versa. If they continue with hope, two of them survived, while the rest stayed and continue the next season of killing game. If they continue with despair, only the mastermind punished but the rest of them have to continue the killing games until 2 people left. Both sides sounded so wrong, so what is the best option? There must be, right? Of course.... To choose neither. To void. They will all die together, reminding the audiences hope won't prevail, despair won't be induced and the killing game will end in the 53rd season.

Saihara Shuichi's voices somehow reached the audience and everyone including the mastermind and Monokuma, dead because they chose not to vote during the voting time. But really? In the epilogue, it turns out three of them survived, appearing from the rubble, proving that maybe, the audiences want them to live.

Then they set their feet to the unknown outside world.. Foreshadowed by the mastermind last words.

The Epilogue: Cosplaycat Killing.

Really... What does the mastermind saying? She said that word right before her punishment time and didn't explained much.

She can't cosplay non-fictional character. Lies?

Saihara Shuichi quoted that word right before stepping out of the world and that might be cue that, Hope's Peak academy and remnant of despair, might really exist.

Who knows... The mastermind, aka Shirogane Tsumugi, could very well be lying, cause of the very core of this game, is all about lying.

One thing for sure... V3 killed the world that danganronpa series created. Don't get me wrong though, it is not a bad twist.. But still... It doesn't left that hopefulness feeling from the previous games.. That feeling of wanting to replay your games and look forward to the next series.. I still prefer if the real plot twist is that last human on earth red herring.

PS:

Ya know... I never thought Hayashibara Megumi voiced Saihara Shuichi... I thought she never voiced a boy before, only cool women like Faye Valentine, Ayanami Rei, or Haibara Ai.