Danganronpa Amino Community Challenge - Blogs ☆

So as much as I enjoy drawing, I decided to try something different, and instead went for the blog challenge!

#DRAMMUBlog

Instead of just confining myself to characters, I went a bit further, and I think I have a good selection of characters, ships, and general links to the games, which I hope is okay :P

1) 'World so Cold' by 12 Stones - DR1/SDR2

To start off, a song that I think matches really well to the general 'killing games' (Especially DR1/SDR2) was 'World so Cold' by 12 Stones.

From the lyrics there's loads of possible links that I picked up, which really made me think of the gameplay for the first two games!

For example, the initial verse:  '...Fueled by the endless questions no one can answer, a stain covers your heart, tears you apart...'

These lyrics especially make me think of SDR2, in the first chapters, where ultimately the entire 77th class, and Hajime are pretty much clueless as to anything occurring, so obviously no one can truly 'answer' these 'endless questions,' even more so after Monokuma appears (Except maybe Chiaki, but ultimately she can't) and I think that the 'stain' could be comparable to each student which ultimately becomes 'the blackened,' in the killing game .

Leading onto this, a lot of the song's lyrics link to these 'endless questions’ I assume the 78th and 77th class would both hold, in their killing games, lyrics such as 'Who's to blame and where did it start' / 'How did you get here and when did it start' / 'What kind of world do we live in'

I think the first one is geared a lot more towards the second game, with the confusion regarding the Future Foundation, and where the 77th class mistake their (possible) allies as enemies, though to an extent, it can be considered that the Future Foundation ARE still their enemies, since it's mainly Makoto working in secret from the agency. Still, there’s no clear evidence on ‘who’ the class can really ‘blame,’ the idea of a traitor, and the ambiguity regarding who really sent them there doesn’t really get cleared up until the final trial. In the second game, Monokuma reveals a lot earlier (than the first one) that the class are missing year's worth of memories, leaving it in an vague state, as to WHEN exactly all of this started.

The second set of lyrics, 'how' and 'when' can also work for the second game, probably more than the first one, because of the sudden switch in locations, from the classroom at the start, to the island, to back at hope's peak, and the flicker of locations towards the final chapters do cause a lot of confusion for the survivors, so I think that set of lyrics also work especially well for Super Danganronpa 2, because their swap of locations so suddenly lack any feasible explanation!

With the last set of lyrics, 'what kind of world do we live in,' I think it's more applicable to the first game, when the group of survivors are informed their entire game has been broadcast to the world. For this part, it probably sparks a lot of questions for the students remaining alive, who'd obviously be concerned as to what kind of 'world' waits outside the school, one that wouldn't be able to stop the murder of High School Students from being broadcasted? Which insinuates something chaotic must have occurred, or that the mastermind has an insane amount of power (which is unlikely, since the students are informed it was only ever 16 high schoolers who entered the school ALIVE.) After discovering the world has ultimately been 'destroyed' after the mastermind appears, the questions probably further, since the group in the trial have no recollection of these memories, despite having lived through it. So I think the questions of 'what kind of world do we live in,' works really well for the closing chapters of Trigger Happy Havoc, because they really have no true what world they’re about to step out into in.

To link onto this, another good set of lyrics from the song I believe works well in comparison to the first two Danganronpa games is 'we all must be dreaming,' which I think is a really nice line. I think personally any 'normal' person (which arguable is probably only Makoto, since the rest are ultimates, and Komaeda in no way can be considered 'normal') in a situation that the characters find themselves in, would be in denial, kind of like Hagure, who thinks initially that everything in a prank. I'd probably personally think I was dreaming if I was suddenly throw into a killing game among my classmates, and it really helps to reflect how different the ultimates are from regular people!

There's a lot of lines in the song that have great links to hope as well, such as 'I don't believe that this world can't be saved,' / 'I don't believe men are born to be killers,'  These two lines are really great for reflecting hope, and I'd likely link these to Makoto, in the final class trial, in Trigger Happy Havoc, where he attempts to 'infect' everyone with his hope, so they can escape Hope's Peak. It really works perfectly in line with Makoto's hope and optimism, that shines even when despair seems to be the only option!

While on the topic of Makoto, I think there’s other parts of the song that work really well, in comparison to him as a character. My favourite line of the song, ‘An innocent child with a thorn in his heart,’ I think would work great with Makoto! I think to start off he was a very naive, or maybe just overly trusting, character, and it almost gave him an innocent personality (especially in the animation!) I think with this, and his optimism, even when everyone betrays him, and he is nearly executed for no reason, he remains so trusting towards everyone, which I think really paints him as an innocent character! The ‘thorn,’ in my opinion, sounds like a metaphor for weakness, in which case, I’d say the weakness of the innocent is experience, and knowledge? Ultimately, the fact Makoto has to witness murder, and ends up being the first person to find a body most of the time there is a murder (one even being in his shower, which he then has to use, and sleep next to,) I’d say this could be the ‘thorn’ or the weakness that threatens the almost innocent, naive personality Makoto initial paints for himself.

Despite this, this sentence does work for the majority of the cast, especially the blackened, who work perfectly in regards to the metaphor of 'an innocent child with a thorn in his heart.' I think all of the students are initially rather innocent, other than obvious choices, like Fuyuhiko and Mondo, but then students that succumb to Monokuma’s wishes, and commit murder, almost end up tainted, which could lead to an alternative interpretation of the lyrics, however I prefer to use then for Makoto alone, and not the general collection of students.

There is a lot of lines to the song that work for Super Danganronpa 2, some for the general storyline, and a handful that work nicely alongside Komaeda Nagito, the Ultimate Luckster of the 77th class! For example, ‘you cannot rewind,’ is arguably one of my favourite lines of the song to use, when dealing with Danganronpa. It works so nice, in the brief seconds of the final trial, where the scene swaps to the beach, and everyone is seemingly ‘alive’ and in an ‘eternal game utopia,’ and I think that these lyircs work really nice, with Chiaki, and her persistence that the survivors shouldn’t loop. Alongside this, there are other lines that work nicely for the ‘game reset’ scene, such as ‘never, never, never, never, never do this again.’ / ‘How many times must you fall to your knees?’

Finally, the parts of the song I could relate to Komaeda Nagito appear mainly towards the final stages of the song, with lyrics such as, ‘are you sane?’ / Is there a cure for your sickness, have you no heart?’ / There is a sickness inside of you.’ While discussing Nagito’s cannon illnesses does generally destroy my soul, I do think of him when I hear these lyrics. He’s often mistook as borderline insane, both in his lack of regard for his own life, and his obsession with hope/despair and the balance of them, and these lyrics really work well to reflect him as a character. I think the ‘have you no heart’ part works really nice, as he seems to lack any remorse at the executions, after trials, and seems to only care about the hopes of those alive, that the weak hope of the dead wasn’t much of a sacrifice to lose. So this does make him seem a little unempathetic, or maybe not even human at some points, but it does clearly show how much hope controls his life.

That concludes my analysis of the song in regards to Danganronpa.

2) Broken Souls, by Blacklite District! - Sakakura+Munakata.

While the song has a very minimal number of views, it's an incredible track, and I’m really hyped to write this analysis, in the hopes of helping them improve their fanbase! They’re a really great group and I wish them the best of luck in the music industry! Now, this song..it would legitimately be the soundtrack to Juzo + Munakata’s life.

(Gross sobbing for Sakakura.)

I think it's wonderful and some of the lyrics work perfectly for the two of them!

For starters:

‘I’ll stand in line, I’ll do the time, commit the crime.’

‘I’ll break away, I’ll stay a slave until the grave.’

‘I could not tear us apart.’

These lyrics in particular work fabulously, to display the juxtaposition in Sakakura’s actions, in his devout loyalty to Munakata, and yet also his betrayal. I think Juzo would probably do anything for Munakata, he was willing to kill anyone, and used his last ounces of strength to save him, so I feel this these lines are very appropriate. For example, ‘I’ll commit a crime’ and ‘I’ll stay a slave until the grave,’ work perfectly. Juzo would probably commit any form of crime, if it was either on Munakata’s order, or in a bid to protect him, much like how he is bent on killing Makoto initially, simple because Munakata finds him suspicious. Willing to commit murder with no evidence at all. Equally, I think Juzo and his blind loyalty, and ultimately his final actions work nicely along the times of ‘I’ll stay a slave until the grave,’ because even his final actions are still done for the benefit of Munakata, even after said male stabbed him. I think his ‘betrayal,’ so to speak, in lying about Junko’s affiliation with despair, works really nice alongside the lines ‘I could not tear us apart,’ because despite everything, Juzo doesn’t want to lose his friendship with Munakata, even if it means lying to him, and letting the world fall into despair, just to stay close to Munakata’s side (in fear he’d be pushed away if he ever found out.)

I think there’s a lot of lines that would mainly work towards the two, the first lines are also really great, ‘I wanna live, I wanna die, I wanna see, I wanna go where all the broken souls go.’ I think the ‘see’ pun is amusing, to use for Munakata..because RIP Munakata’s eye 2k16. On a more serious note though, I think that the two are rather opposite in their desires, from the time they split up. While Munakata obviously wants to continue living, even if he must kill everyone else, it appears as though Sakakura has practically given up on life, using the last of it to aid Munakata, such as chopping off his hand, when he was already suffering from a loss of blood. I think these actions were done, with Sakakura knowing full well he probably wouldn’t survive. So, in this scenario, Sakakura is ‘I wanna die,’ and Munakata is ‘I wanna live.’ I think both of them are pretty ‘broken souls,’ Sakakura for obvious reasons, considering Munakata stabbed him when he was trying to confess something he’d been keeping a secret for years, and Munakata because the two closest people he had in the world died. So both were pretty broken towards the concluding episodes of the Future Arc.

Moving on, ‘I wanna kill, I wanna feel.’ I reckon it's mainly Munakata that wanted to do the killing, Sakakura just acted based on Munakata’s orders or thoughts. Alternatively, it’s Juzo who wanted to ‘feel,’ in my mind, since he plucked up the courage to tell Munakata, even if it backfired, whereas Munakata cut off all emotional ties, going as far as to stab his best friend, simply for the sake of ‘hope.’ Another set of lyrics that work well for the pair, ‘even if you’ve done a little wrong in your life, don’t stop the fight, hold on.’ When I hear these lines, I mainly think about when Munakata realises what he’s done, and goes running to Sakakura, who's in the process of turning off the power, to save the surviving of the future foundation, and I think it's a really angsty line to use for that situation, but it just feels so appropriate. In reverse to this, ‘even if you think we can’t be saved, it doesn’t matter anyway,’ works well for Sakakura, who keeps pushing himself onwards, in the hopes of saving Munakata, even after they seem to be in an utterly hopeless situation.

Lines I would like to be cannon about Sakakura/Munakata?

‘We live to fight another day, We will fight forever.’

*Gross distant wailing for Juzo*

That concludes my analysis of the song in regards to Sakakura/Munakata.

3) Let the Flames Begin - Paramore - Komaeda Nagito.

Now, not all this song works, but there is lyrics to it that I think work beautifully for Komaeda! Or Makoto, but mainly Komaeda!

Now, anyone who's a big enough fan of Komaeda, or just generally interested in character backgrounds/pays attention ect* knows he’s not the healthiest person, and I don’t mean with his obsession with hope, I mean physically, biologically, like the whole dementia/lymphoma thing (which is great for soul destroying angst fics.)

So, from the song, I think some lyrics work nicely for Komaeda’s character, based on such things, as well as the awareness he has of their past as despair, after completing the death room. For instance ‘what a shame we all became such fragile, broken things.’ I think this works nicely, because not only is Komaeda himself a rather fragile person, both physically and mentally, I think the rest of the 77th class and Hajime probably had a hard time, after initially waking up from the simulation. I think this is generally agreed to be a perfect time for angst fanfiction, and the aftermath of the ‘game’ likely took its toll on everyone.

‘A memory remains, just a tiny spark.’ This also works nicely, because there’s the whole issue of memory loss, and ultimately all they is the tiny, likely boring, fragment of their lives before Hope’s Peak, and thus, this is all this have left, and even after waking up, there’s no true evidence to suggest they ever regained memories of their time at school, which is rather sad.

“Somewhere weakness is our strength.’ I think Komaeda isn’t a strong character at all, he’s very dependant on hope, and believe solely in this and his luck cycle, it’s almost like a curse, I guess. A cycle of bad luck, good luck, despair, and hope, and I think without hope or his luck, Komaeda would be a rather empty person, he’d have nothing to believe in. Put this alongside his nature to simply not care about dying, I think Komaeda is really a fragile character, but with a smart, yet broken mind, from the effects of luck. Though in the Killing School Trip, his hope and luck do become his strength, allowing him to succeed in the death room, and all the other things that went according to plan.

‘My pain and all the trouble caused.’ I think Komaeda caused a lot of trouble, even from before the first death. Manipulating Teruteru, planning murder first, his taunts (which he arguable couldn’t control) about Mahiru to Hiyoko, when he had the despair disease (after Mahiru’s death) his attitude to Hajime after finding out he had no talent, and his crafting of an ‘unsolvable trial,’ all caused trouble, or issues on the island, he was a general nuisance and was usually the best candidate and most likely culprit for anything that went wrong, but on the flip side, I do feel sympathetic for him, in the way he puts himself at the bottom of the hierarchy, and has little care for his own well being. ‘My pain,’ is a lovely part, because I can’t even begin to comprehend Komaeda’s suicide/murder, the fact he sat and did all that to himself, calmly, without bailing is enough to make my cry inside for him. I think that he basically had no care for his own life, but the pain it must have caused him, to do that to himself, fully aware the final result would be his death is something that makes me very emotional.

The following line works perfectly with the above paragraph though, ‘I believe that there’s hope.’ Komaeda’s actions were done to eradicate the Remnants of Despair that he gained information about, after completing the death room, and his intention was to let only Chiaki live, since she was the only one who was not despair. So his actions were all done in the name of hope, and so, relating to the paragraph above, I think these two lines work the best in the entire song, in comparison to Komaeda’s character, mainly presented in Super Danganronpa 2, but also in the Despair Arc, where he once again lies his life on the line for hope, (In attempting to shoot Junko/getting shot by Izuru.) Hope crafts one of Komaeda’s main traits, and is one of his reasons to live, as few as there may be.

That concludes my analysis of the song in regards to Komaeda Nagito.

4) War of Change - Thousand Foot Krutch - Hinata/Makoto/Kaede.

This one had a few lines I think work nicely for the Main Character, mainly Hinata, but it would work for Makoto for an extent, and maybe for Kaede (though I can’t say for sure until I get to see more of her character.) So I’ll write this for Hinata!

‘I want to live like I know I’m dying.’ I think this works best for Komaeda in all honesty, but Hinata does do some actions that show his rather ‘daredevil’ like tendencies, such as running into situations without properly thinking about his own well being or reputation, such as running to the Titty Typhoon after witnessing the video of Mikan, posing as Ibuki, or peeking on Mahiru and Hiyoko. He does have a sort of ‘yolo’ attitude at some stages, and doesn’t waste opportunities presented to him.

‘Is it true what they say, that words are weapons? Cause I got ten in my pocket.’ This is a great line, it makes me think of when you fire truth bullets, and that's why I think this song works lovely for the main characters, because they use words in the form of weapons (bullets) and it’s one of my favourite comparisons.

“There’s a war going on inside me.’ This works nicely for Hajime in the final trial for the School Killing Trip, or after Chiaki’s execution in the Despair arc, both scenes show the internal battle between Hajime and Izuru. In the Despair Arc, its Izuru with the control, though some of Hinata’s personality, or memories, or just SOMETHING is seeping through, considering Izuru cries, and displays emotions, something he was constructed to not have, so that’s one sign of emotional turmoil within the Izuru/Hajime sphere. The second, being when Hajime ends up seeing slight memories of Izuru’s encounter with Komaeda on the boat to Jabberwock Island, and is horrified at both the appearance, and just generally the fact that the person he saw is himself. He refuses such a thing, obviously, and this again shows the ‘war’ going on inside of Hajime. There’s also a third time such a thing is seen, though it is very minor. In the Hope:Side, when Hajime first encounters Ryouta, he utters the words ‘How boring,’ and does give off the impression of Izuru for a split second.

And I think even after the simulation, a part of Izuru likely still remains within Hinata, ed by the fact he still has one eye as red. So there's always a ‘war’ going on inside of Hajime, or at least I perceive it as that way.

That concludes my analysis of the song in regards to Hajime Hinata / Izuru Kamukura/Makoto Naegi/Kaede Akamatsu

5) Get Scared - Deepest Cut - Komaeda Nagito/Komahina.

This song also works really for Komaeda Nagito, and if you really want to delve deep into meanings, you could probably drag Komahina from the lyrics, kicking and screaming.

So you can probably already tell Komaeda is one of my top favourites in the entire fandom, among the ranks of Umezawa Aiko, Nagisa Shingetsu and Byakuya Togami, so it isn’t really that unexpected that I am doing another song on him...maybe it’s because I can just hear him in so many lyrics, he’s a really interesting character!

The lyrics mainly work in a sort of estranged Komahina relationship, or just their general experiences in Super Danganronpa 2. For instance, ‘I hate you more and more each day,’ works nicely, because even though initially I think Hajime and Nagito did have a fairly okay relationship, after the first trial, this slowly drifts apart, from Nagito roasting Hajime over his lack of talent, to the disagreements and whatnot that occur between the two in trials henceforth. Summarily I think these lyrics work nicely for the two, and Nagito in particular does grow to see Hajime as on a similar level to himself (which is obviously lower than everyone else,) even if Hajime is ittedly somewhat different.

‘My circumstances look so gray...the knife is planted in my back.’ I think he means hand… but okay. (Cries) But on a more serious note, this does work for Komaeda in his whole suicide-murder case he sets up, and I think in the situation he was in his circumstances would look gray, obviously, if you’re holding onto an elevated spear, waiting to die… but these lyrics do work nicely, and unfortunately so, anything even remotely despairing or self-harm sounding always reminds me mostly of Komaeda which is never fun.

‘Please don’t forgive me, I can’t forgive myself.’ This goes out to all the Komahina/Komanami shippers, because all I can envision here if Komaeda’s last moments before his ‘death’ in the simulation, and while he could be apologizing to Hajime (as my inner Komahina fangirl wants it to be,) it’s also possible these words could be alternatively read as him apologizing to Nanami, maybe because he knew his luck would betray him (since Komaeda was aware of the ‘traitor's’ identity) or simply because it was likely to cause despair if everyone else died but her, or the fact she’d be unawarely responsible for the death of a classmate. Either way, this is honestly one of the best lines in the song to use for Komaeda angst moments.

‘I fake the smiles on my face, you know the best ways to bring the worst outta me.’ Are another set of lyrics from the song which I like to use in juxtaposition with Komahina, and general Komaeda. I don’t think half of Komaeda’s smiles, or facial expressions are true, I think he fakes a lot of what he does, and in the trial for Nidai’s death, Komaeda acts a lot worse than normal towards Hajime (after finding out about his lack of talent,) and such ‘you know the best ways to bring the worst outta me,’ works perfectly for this moment!

That concludes my analysis of the song in regards to Komaeda Nagito/Komahina.

6) I miss the Misery - Halestorm - Mikan Tsumiki/Junko+Mikan.

I really enjoy this song! I did originally plan on using this for Komahina, however I think my inner rarepair trash wants to write this for Junko/Mikan or Mikan solely.

It’s great, and generally very despair orientated in its lyrics, so it works well for the section of the despair arc, in which Mikan is basically under Junko’s spell.

‘I miss the bad things, the way you hate me, I miss the screaming, the way that you blame me.’

Mikan, despite not being herself, and under the effects of despair, was ultimately portrayed to enjoy the occasionally harsh treatment by Junko, and would find pleasure from despair. I think that if the 77th class awoke and regained their memories of their despair days, without falling back into despair, a small part of Mikan would ‘miss’ Junko’s treatment, since Mikan fell into despair twice, and summarily would probably feel slightly closer to it, in some ways. A lot of Post-SDR2 Fanfiction has Mikan awake from the simulation initially as despair, and while some write her to get over this, some end up killing her off. I think these work nicely in showing Mikan’s closer ties to despair than the rest of the class, despite it not being canonical work.

‘I don’t miss you, I miss the Misery.’ These are another nice set of lyrics, because I feel as though ultimately Mikan wouldn’t particularly miss Junko, if she fell back into despair, it's more like she’d just miss a source of despair, she’d have to go out and cause it herself, which I guess isn’t the same. I don’t think Mikan when despairing was attracted to Junko, but more to her despair, and her obsession with it.

‘I tried but I just can’t take it.’ If I’m honest, this bit reminds me more of when they are in the simulation, and Mikan gets the ing disease, I think some part of her amnesiac non-despair self probably put up a fight against despair, maybe a small fight, but one regardless, before ultimately surrendering to her old self. ‘I dare ya to call my bluff,’ this works nicely within the trial, where Mikan tries to use her typical frail and rather meek personality to her advantage, however in the end, her despair becomes evident and she is defeated. I think this is great, because it was all a bluff! ‘I’d rather fight than just fake it,’ this also works nicely for the same reason, because Mikan doesn’t just hide her despair, she acts on it! ‘We’re at our worst, I miss the feeling of pain.’ Mikan’s awareness that they are all despair would probably relate to these lyrics, because she knows everything they’ve done for a brief moment in the simulation!

That concludes my analysis of the song in regards to Junko/Mikan / Mikan.

7) Any other way - We the kings - Komaeda Nagito.

I really love this band but they’re not huge, and that’s a shame!

A lot of their songs are really nice and would work great, but this one is one of my favourites, so I decided to use it! You guessed it…. This one is also for Komaeda Nagito! I have a slight obsession with him, and I guess he’s the easiest to find in song lyrics because the stuff I listen to typically correlates nicely with his character. But equally it can be Komahina, because we’re all secretly Komahina trash…

Anyway! Lyrics like ‘up against the world,’ work nicely, because when he was back in school, I think Komaeda was ultimately up against his own world, in Hope’s Peak, most people disagreed with his ideals, and he summarily had to battle through his time there alone. As I recall, they mistake him for Mikan at one point, and seem disappointed it is him and not Mikan, and so he is up against his world, in school. Once they become despair, he is once again up against the world, who try to believe in hope, and overcome despair. Then, after the simulation, he once more is against the world, in the 77th Class + Hajime’s ploy to place the blame of the Future Foundation Killing Game on their own shoulders, to atone for their sins.

‘Between love and hate,’ This kinda of makes me think of Komaeda and Junko, where he hates and resents her, for her despair, and yet loves her, due to the brainwashing and the despair he plunges into. At one point, I believe when he speaks with Izuru, he mentions how he both loves and hate sher, and these lyrics work nice there. Alternatively though, they do work for Komahina. Because there are stages when the two seem really close, such as the closing of Hope:Side, the opening chapter of Super Danganronpa 2, and the free-time events the two share, contrasted with the roasting Nagito directs towards Hajime, as the ‘Ultimate Reserve course student,’ and his taunts to him after finding out he has no talents at all. So they do have a love hate relationship, as far as I see! (That’s the best kind…)

‘They can hardly wait to watch the hero fall.’ My mind thinks mostly of when Komaeda learns the truth about himself and his classmates, in the simulation, I think Hinata is the ‘hero’ and falling would probably be reverting back to despair. Those ‘watching’ would be the classmates and himself, who would witness such hope becoming despair once more, kind of like a performance, all just to gain more despair. I think it’s a really nice set of lyrics!

‘You could give me hell, give me death, fire through my veins, dancing on top of the flames.’ That’s definitely Komaeda, and his lack of care for his own well being, if his death can bring about hope, and eradicate despair.

‘Feel the poison now, slipping through my skin. I’m not giving up, but I’m giving in.’ Okay these don’t need an explanation if you’ve seen Komaeda’s murder trial… these words were probably made for him… Like I can’t think of anything more accurate. He most definitely isn't the type to give up, at all, though he would give in, like he willingly gives into despair, because he knows hope can overcome any despair. There’s also the following lyrics which work nicely for it, ‘I will fan the flames, until my dying breath,’ which works on two levels, since he started a fire to make sure no one could interrupt, but also to ensure someone murdered him, but equally, because his death kept things going, instead of a stalemate, with no death, no escape. Right up until the end, and even arguable afterward, through the videos he made, Komaeda was the ringleader of events, manipulating things as he wanted them, only being betrayed by his own luck. If Komaeda had planned such a thing earlier on, and without the interference of his own luck, he’d be a scary opponent!

That concludes my analysis of the song in regards to Komaeda Nagito/Komahina.

8) Send them off - Bastille - Komaeda Nagito/Hinata Hajime/Izuru Kamukura/Komahina.

Anyone who spends more than ten minutes around me will know Bastille is one of my favourite British bands, and one of the few groups who sing in English that I listen to frequently. This song is off their new album and I think it works nicely, around Super Danganronpa 2! I think it works best for Hinata and Komaeda, and once again, this shall be centered around them!

The song incorporates some spoken lines within the song, as does the majority of their songs, No Angels uses extracts from the film Psycho, and lots of their songs pay homage to old classical films. Despite this, the words are still included on official lyrics, and so are counted as part of the song itself. At the start the words ‘It was a slight on my honour, so he deserved it,’ come from an Italian 70’s sci fi film. Continued on from this, ‘but we’re talking about the most brilliant mind this world has ever seen.’ This starting sentence literally screams Izuru, after all, he is Ultimate Hope, and the most brilliant mind mankind has. It screams Izuru to me every time I hear it, and It’s just a really nice starting phrase!

The song initially starts with a lot of lyrics that could be compared to Izuru, rather than Hinata. ‘I’ve got demons running round in my head,’ which honestly, I can see Hinata still being there faintly in Izuru’s mind, and all these worries and what not he had, all the emotions, still being there, but not enough to affect him (except in points like where Chiaki dies.) I’d honestly say Izuru is one of the most likely people to have said ‘demons’ running loose in his mind, he’s done a lot of wrong doings, and yet he probably wouldn’t feel remorse to such things.’ They feed on insecurities I have.’ This is more Hinata-centric, as far as I can tell, before becoming Izuru, he didn’t feel as though he fit in, and there’s that one point in SDR2 where he dreams of his school days, briefly, and displays his insecurities and his worries at what people around him  think of him. I think despite not really being emotive pre-Izuru either, he had a lot more worries and fears, than Izuru obviously did.

In the Hope:Side the 77th class and Hajime wish to atone for what they did, making the video pinning the blame on them for the Future Foundation Killing game, and stopping Ryouta from brainwashing the world with fake hope. I think after waking up from the simulation, Hajime probably felt this way, all the way up to Hope:Side, as though he’d done something terrible, even if he didn’t really have any control in the time in which he was Izuru, and can’t be blamed wholly. Komaeda was probably unlikely to feel this way though, I see him to be the type that wouldn’t apologize for anything, not for trying to kill someone first on the island, manipulating Teruteru, trying to kill the survivors, and let the traitor line, he wouldn’t apologize for any of it, as far as I’d like to believe.

‘Soak the ropes with your holy water, tie my down as you read out the words.’ I kind of envision Komaeda’s ‘death’  at this stage, because I think he’d see his actions as eradicating despair, so it’s almost as though the ropes truly are soaked in ‘holy water,’ because they’re intended to help him from backing out, and to help hope! ‘Won’t you exorcise my mind?’ Works nicely too, because obviously they’re suffering from amnesia, and don’t their despair, or their school life, and since Komaeda finds this information, and knows something is wrong with their memories, it's almost as though its despair that’s corrupted and invaded their minds! To Komaeda this is obviously really bad, since he’s very into hope, strong hope being the one to survive, weaker hope getting crushed, and what not. So these lyrics work nicely, I reckon he’d not want his mind to be in the state it is for a prolonged time period, since there’s no real way for him to reverse the effects.

‘Close these green eyes and watch over as I sleep through my darkest of dreams.’

When I said it worked for both Hinata and Komaeda, those lyrics played a big part. Both of them have green eyes, though Komaeda’s wiki page say grey-green (like myself) both do have green eyes. It could be interpreted as a metaphor, sleep being Komaeda’s death, and he's simply using sleep, like you would to a child. Occasionally people will just say death is like sleeping, so I read those lyrics as a metaphor for death. Whether it's Hinata watching over Komaeda, or Komaeda watching over Hinata, is a debatable thing.

The song also uses another speaking extract, ‘your mind lives in a place somewhere altogether different, it lives in a world where feeling simply cannot be defined by words.’

Honestly, I love this. So much. Because technically their minds ARE in somewhere altogether different, a world filled with despair and hope, mixed with chaos and death, somewhere the simulation takes them away from, but they aren’t truly there! So this bit works perfectly. Then moving on, a ‘world where feelings simply cannot be defined by words,’ is beautiful too, because I think that sometimes it isn’t words that display hope, but actions, such as Makoto moving forward even after Kirigiri tripped her forbidden action, or Hinata not giving up in fighting in trials, despite learning of his lack of talent. Though words do work as weapons, the feelings they feel in such a despair riddled game, and world can’t really be summed up by words, there’s no words for anything they live through. The world they are in, that they helped create is something completely different to our own, and isn’t something that could be easily comprehended or explained.

That concludes my analysis of the song in regards to Komaeda Nagito/Hinata Hajime/Izuru Kamukura/Komahina.

I was really excited to write all this, but then to the end I procrastinated up to the last moment, because that’s the sort of person I am! But generally this was a really nice challenge! I was kinda of bored of drawing after Dangantober, so I did a blog, even if this seems to be the most popular choice! Best of luck everyone and if you read all this thanks so much you fabby star! <3

- ☆ BETA Nagito Komaeda ☆ / △ Ava △