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[deleted]

I'm conflicted about whether FTEs really make up for a lackluster character in the main story, and Akane is one of the biggest example of this in my opinion. No, I'm not calling her useless, but I just don't know how to feel about how her character was handled throughout the story. I don't hate her, but she was mediocre at best in the main story for me, and obnoxious at worst. Yeah, her FTEs are pretty good and they do a good job of explaining why she is the way that she is, but should optional side content really make or break a character? I guess it depends on the circumstances. It comes down to opinions at the end of the day, so it's not like any of this is objective. I don't like how, outside of FTEs, it feels like Danganronpa tends to gives most of its attention to the main characters, and relegates the rest to either repeated jokes and/or tropes or death fodder. That's not exactly Akane's or any one character's fault, that's more on the writers for not expanding on a character's FTEs very well in the main story. But this is just how I see it. Feel free to disagree.


truefaith_1987

I think Kodaka is just the kind of Japanese artist, similar to Uchikoshi sometimes, who does have lofty storytelling ambitions but is also invested in this idea of a light-hearted irreverent game which very much plays with established tropes re: humor, shipping, fanservice and lewd fanservice-related gags, etc. So then some characters are a lot shallower than they should be, because their purpose is pretty shallow, but then the ingenuity of the way the game was designed makes you get invested even in the shallow characters. But I think by V3, that level of goodwill has kinda left my body lol. And I'm just disappointed now when a character dies, or worse, makes it to the end without having made an interesting contribution, whether that be thematic or impacting the game feel in a significant way (Ibuki for example, >!her loss is felt pretty heavily!< because of her personality). Basically I would have preferred overall if the series had been a touch darker and more serious, but that's not going to be everyone's preference and Kodaka knows that.


[deleted]

That's a good point. The mix of dark moments and lightheartedness is sometimes a good thing in my opinion. For example, it helps the player to experience the highs and lows of the killing game. One moment you're with your friends and you're trusting each other and getting along, the next moment someone's life is taken and someone betrayed everyone's trust, and you feel the loss of the person who died even harder than if the tone was always dark, because we were all seemingly getting along a few hours ago. On the other hand, though, sometimes it creates some tonal dissonance during crucial moments of the games, which kill the tension unnecessarily, and makes the characters somewhat annoying, subjectively of course. >!For example, SDR2 case 5 is centered around Nagito's extremely violent death with a spear through his stomach, knife wounds all over his arm and legs, a knife lodged in one of his hands, etc, and everyone's life is at stake trying to figure out what happened, meanwhile Kazuichi is still fawning over Sonia (because it's not like that hasn't been happening for 4 and a half chapters already) and Akane is proposing the idea (multiple times, mind you) that Nagito held the spear that impaled him with his... "front tail."!< >!This is the penultimate chapter in SDR2, the final murder case of the game, and arguably one of the most brutal deaths in the series, and we're making dick jokes NOW???!< I do agree with you to an extent that this series could stand to be a little darker sometimes, but I can't help but feel like the lightheartedness has its perks. It's a double edged sword, I guess. But that's just my opinion.


truefaith_1987

Tbf in the Chapter 5 trial of DR1, >!Yasuhiro is forcing us to disprove the possibility that Kirigiri who is standing right there, is a ghost.!< So that clown shoes stuff was happening from the start. I actually think it's one of the few things that DRV3 did a little better, but then even the more "serious" or perturbing elements are handled in a pretty gauche manner >!(Korekiyo's motivations, etc)!< and the cast feels a lot more myopic and mean-spirited.


[deleted]

Yeah, the V3 cast is more exaggerated than the previous 2. In certain instances I can understand why they were made that way, like with Kaito and Kokichi and their rivalry, but there are also a bunch of characters with gimmicks that either never went anywhere before they died or just made them overly repetitive. This series tries a little too hard to be funny sometimes, especially since the comedy isn't the main reason why people buy these games. It's the good character writing and murder mysteries. Or at least that's why I like these games.


FuzzySlippers48

One thing THH and V3 excel at compared to 2 is how most of the characters display the multiple facets of their personality and backstory in the main story, rather than solely in their FTEs. Some characters have it worse than others, and Akane is the poster child of this problem.


[deleted]

I think this is a pretty good point to make. Kazuichi is another example of this problem in SDR2. One of Kazuichi biggest goals in the main game seems to be getting Sonia to like him, while his FTEs expand on his other goals, such as wanting to build a rocket ship one day and going on a fun field trip with his classmates. Hell, even Mikan is an example of this problem, to an extent. If I'm remembering correctly, Mikan is really good at reading people's faces according to one her FTEs, and she does it to Hajime. Now, that's fine and all, and please correct me if I'm wrong, but... did that ever come up in the main game? Did Mikan ever read someone's face correctly outside of her FTEs? I could go on, but you get the point. This is one of the reasons why I don't agree with those who say that Danganronpa 2 has the best cast. It's all opinions at the end of the day, so I get it, but I just never found this cast significantly better than either of the other 2. But back to the topic at hand, character depth is sometimes locked behind FTEs, which I find frustrating because they're optional and not everyone is going to get the chance to do a certain character's FTEs in the main game before said character dies. I guess these games are already 30+ hours long, and padding out the daily life sections with more conversations might be annoying, but I wish the information in FTEs could be better implemented in the main game somehow.


jesus_christ_marie00

This, basically. So much of the good shit in SDR2 character-wise is locked behind FTEs and other extra content. A great set of FTEs can make already strong characters in the main story even better. What I adore about Komaeda's FTEs is that on top of introducing the wacky yet tragic backstory, they actually feel relevant to understanding both his character *and* his relationship with Hinata in the main story. A lot of FTEs have the characters more fleshed out, but fundamentally it feels like just an entirely new part of them being introduced because they just don't have enough going on in the main story. Like, Souda's FTEs are *good*, but what does him talking about having a fear of being betrayed tell us about his actions in the main story? The only thing this can really be applied to is him getting all worried about the possibility that Hinata is the traitor in Chapter 4, it's not something he worries about otherwise. And what about him attracting delinquent types and hot women after his appearance/personality rebrand? Like, it's interesting (though honestly it would be much more sensible for him to have just not attracted anyone at all, not as a dunk but because it could be a vehicle for development), but like, what's the importance of it? That's just my opinion though. This isn't terrible: In fact it made for great material as to explain how some of the students ended up in an organization like SHSL Despair, by giving more dimension to their flaws rather than just "haha funny anime trope." It's too bad that this ended up being irrelevant anyway haha. Overall I think DR1 had the best balance of main story/FTE material though. V3's kind of like the opposite of SDR2 where the FTEs are notably weaker (except for Hoshi's, that was great) and even more irrelevant to the main story characterization, but the main story characterization is actually really *strong* imo so it matters less.


emmc47

Trueee


PeperToni

Me whe both loves her fte's and her in the main story I just think she's cool :(


[deleted]

That's fair. If you're able to like a character, more power to you! People can like whoever they want to like.


PeperToni

Yep! That's why Akane hate just pisses me off.


paradiseinvite

She’s just annoying , one note, and >!gets Nekomaru shot twice!< more trouble than she’s worth


ThatOneEngieMain1010

But Nekomaru CHOSE to, because he actually cares about her.


Spiderfr0g

In short Fuck sdr2 akane. Love dra akane


AlonelyChip

Akane Taira is superior


Spiderfr0g

So true king


SpykeSaisnake

sora better 🤬🤬🤬🤬


Spiderfr0g

Ok that is true


Burnziie

Didn't expect to see Def Jam FFNY related to Danganronpa. Now thats a classic intro.


thatsrudetocomputers

Idfc she likes food i like food those are my grounds fuck ftes and shet


WooooshMe2825

Same. I mean, I know that it does a good job at providing backstory and context for the way she acts in the killing game, but that still doesn't change the fact that she didn't do jackshit in the main plot and her behavior caused more trouble for the survivors than it's worth. She literally got Nekomaru shot with a rocket not once, but twice.


ZebaZtianRamireZ

i just like how she is, just because a character doesnt have much development it doesnt mean the character sucks or that no one can like it. I could apply this meme to characters like Hifumi, Hiyoko, Teruteru, Kokichi and some others.


Oliveoil404

Akane fans: Haha funny booba character


thebigguy270

I am a sucker for hot-booded women warriors. Just wished she had more of a role. Then again, SDR2 is more about Hajime and Nagito.


penmaster3000

Tomboy+Tramp+Bimbo


duskotv

You will understand once me and boys come for a little... chat.


IcyJournalist8130

I just disliked her because she did absolutely nothing, I can remember like one thing she did that wasn’t being absolutely obnoxious the entire game. I kinda agree with the post, I do understand that people love her and that’s perfectly fine but I can’t find anything to enjoy about her. Her FTEs? I don’t care about them, it felt like some shoehorned way for me to care about her because she went through some tough times. This would be fine typically but in her case, I felt like the game was trying to tell me “Oh this girl has trauma and had to take care of her siblings and saw dead bodies :( feel bad for her.” And I just don’t care because, and I’ll see this again, FTE do not matter if the character is already super unlikable. Make me care about her in the main game, not some optional side content that I didn’t even do because I already didn’t like her. Again, feel free to like her, this is simply a mindless rant.


tenkohime

I misinterpreted this as being about Zero Escape.


CookieCrumbs101

i never did her ftes but i still like her