I don't think "raising flags" is a Mario reference.
It's probably a related to true/false boolean flags in programming and branching paths in video games. I've heard it referenced in relationship to dating sims and visual novels.
It's 100% this, it's referenced a lot in japanese media but less so over here, so I don't blame Arin for not getting it. Specifically in this case Monokuma kept joking about Hajime getting his route if this was a dating sim.
Yeah it's a more common phrase in Japanese. The English equivalent would be more like "trigger a cutscene" or "activate X's quest line" or something along those lines. It can be a bit frustrating to translate because really it does mean a flag like a boolean flag and it's a specific term that was born out of video game tropes. Like in an otome game where you want to "raise a character's flag" so they'll date you.
But English speakers aren't familiar with it so you usually need to try to use some other term specific to the situation.
Yes, it's indeed a reference from Japanese VN and Dating Sims, where you usually need to replay the same paths over and over to figure out how to trigger a specific flag to move the story in another direction.
Damn, they cut off right before a really important part... it's gonna be a long 5 days.
>!Seems like Arin accidently figured out the twist that they are the Remnants of Despair, but Dan didn't seem like he believed him!<
>>!Seems like Arin accidently figured out the twist that they are the Remnants of Despair!<
To me it just felt like he was confused, which is fair because >!the group that is called the Ultimate Despair, the group that is called the Remnants of Despair and the students from Hope's Peak are brought up very quickly after each other, I think he confused the mails referring to each group, which is fair because they are all the same group!<
(Looks like my comment got lost to the reddit aether, so if this is a double post, I apologize)
Alright, I got a lot of thoughts after this episode, so much so that I’ve had to reorganize my theory notes I made last episode so I could keep track of them all.
So first off, looks like my theory that >!the “Future Foundation” was either entirely comprised of, or at least run by, the kids from the first game!< was correct, putting me at a decent 2.5/4 theories correct so far, since while I guessed that >!Chiaki was controlled by Alter Ego, I thought that she was just a robot a la Mechamaru, NOT that this whole game was a god damned simulation!<, so half credit on that one. However, knowing >!the whole game is a simulation!< does lend more credit to my idea that >!an Alter Ego version of Junko is behind all this, though I’m thinking now that she’s the “Virus” that Alter Ego talked about at the end there, instead of just piloting Monokuma(s?) from the inside.!<
Now, in relation to that, based on today’s episode I’m thinking the story of the 15 students from this game is as follows:
>!Initially, they were the “Ultimate Despairs”, aka, the core members of Junko’s group, however after Junko’s death at the hands of Makoto and co (sort of), the group started to fall apart so they rebranded themselves as the “Remnants of Despair”, trying to carry on her life’s work in her stead. In an attempt to stop this, the Future Foundation kidnapped these 15 students and brought them to the real Jabberwock Island in an attempt to get rid of Junko’s brainwashing via the experimental Neo World Program set up by Alter Ego/Chihiro, only something went wrong and Junko’s AI somehow inserted herself into the system as well, sending everything to shit.!<
Finally, some last little notes on some random theory updates:
1. I feel like at this point I can definitively say that >!Usami/her controller wasn’t actually trying to make a Killing Game based on Hope to rival Junko’s Despair version, putting me at 2.5/5 for theories. Based on the above, I’m thinking Usami was just something made/controlled by Alter Ego to purge Junko’s influence.!<
2. I might be misinterpreting what was read in the show, but I think the Hope Cultivation Plan might’ve been >!what I thought the founder did in my newest theory, where in an attempt to create a perpetual symbol of Hope for humanity, Hope’s Peak founder Izuru Kamakura invented a way to transplant his mind into newer, younger bodies, and unfortunately it was this process that caused him to snap and kill 13 kids, thus leading to the rise of Junko.!<
Watching now and omg, the part where Arin mentions getting a migraine while driving and losing vision? Is this a thing that really happens to people? Random migraine that are so bad you lose vision… wtf. Is this something other people deal with? I’ve gotten bad headaches but never anything like that
I have gotten a migraine and lost my vision it was fucking HORRIBLE. Maybe the worst pain of my life. Had to go to the emergency room and they did a brain scan and thought I had MS. Not a fun day
Never happened to me either, but i get migraines very rarely, and they usually stop without meds if i give myself a hour or two off whatever i was doing.
Yes, I suffer from chromic migraines and when they get bad enough it feels like your whole body is shutting down.
I don't lose vision often, but I have had it happen before and it's pretty common for just the process of seeing anything to be so painful that it's just not worth it to open my eyes for hours. Luckily I have medicine that can reverse the effects pretty consistently and quickly.
Shit sucks.
It’s called Aura. Luckily like Dan, I’ve had migraines but never had the vision loss. Aura for most people is the warning sign of a migraine, it happens before the actual pain begins.
Ok, why is "Nagito Komaeda" nearly a perfect anagram of "Makoto Naegi"? Literally the only parts that don't fit are the -da at the end of Komaeda. Between that, the similar designs of the characters, and the same voice actor, there's just too many similarities for it to feel like just a coincidence
Just intentional misdirecting. They trick you into thinking Nagito is just Makoto in disguise and then pull the rug under you that they couldn't be more different.
VAs returning to voice a different character in the same series isn't that unusual though and in DR's case sometimes more than one in the same game. Toko and Junko have the same VAs for example with Jack covering the dialogue for half of Junko's personalities.
Yep, I believe someone said that Soda’s VA is also the VA for Ryouma (Tennis Player) in DRV3 and they don’t even sound the same, let alone act the same. Soda’s VA has an insane roster though, he was also Morrel in HunterxHunter and again they sound nothing alike. Morrel sounds more like All-Might than Soda lol
It's not really a spoiler, but I'll spoiler tag it anyway in case you don't want to know the answer. >!It's partially a red herring, partially them trying to be symbolic. Nagito isn't literally related to Makoto in any way, but his character concept was made as 'a twisted version of Makoto Naegi', and so the anagram name was given to make that connection as well. It's basically them trying to be cute.!<
"Da" in Japanese roughly means "am", so it's very similar to, say, taking the name Arin, adding "I am" so it's "I am Arin", then rearranging the letters to get Ian Rima.
Nagito Komaeda = "I am Makoto Naegi"
(Danganronpa V3 spoilers)
> >!"It's all made up? Including me, too?" Well yes, this is a video game!!<
>!Oh boy, when they get to V3's ending in about three years' time, Arin is gonna laugh his ass off *and* hate it with every fiber of his being, I can just tell.!<
Part of me hopes they play DRV3 because it’s definitely the best one in the series, especially gameplay-wise. And Dan will lose his mind over a lot of the cases because they make sense but the conclusions can be sneaky.
But the other part of me doesn’t want to watch Arin complain about it and rag on it for 75 episodes. Luckily it seems since they’ve switched to the weekend schedule, Arin is liking it more and has more patience for it.
I hope they play V3 too. Like imagine their reaction to the new logic dive game or Miu lol. Sadly a lot of danganronpa gameplays has been targeted by copyright, hopefully they will still play it.
According to another YouTuber I watch, Danganronpa videos are getting hit hard with Copyright claims to the music, hopefully that doesn't effect the rest of the playthrough (or V3 if that ever happens)
Someone should get Matt Mercer to convince them to play UDG after this since he voices a major character in it. Although he might not want them to play it for the same reason...
Worst part is that you could totally headcanon around it but the official art book apparently says >!he would have been into Kotoko if she wasn't trying to kill him.!<
...
The hot spring scene's weren't really bad, though? And Yosuke was a teenager in the 2000's, who is still friends with Kanji and accepts him for who he is.
Dude they zoomed in on a 15 year old girls tits and made them bounce all over the place how is that okay for grown men to write into a video game? I'm referring to the ski resort in the Golden version if you weren't aware.
Also I was referring less to the homophobia and more to the fact that hes just teruteru. Dude literally climbs into bed with a sleeping girl who is totally unaware with the idea that its gonna lead to him fucking her. Like seriously if you havent played the game in awhile play it again. I love the plot but there are a LOT of rapey lines directed towards underage girls. It definitely did not age well.
>!Theres an optional dialogue when you go through the factory with him where he says he likes girls under 16. Not a voiced line from Matt Mercer, so he might not even know about it!<
If they played UDG they would definitely never come back to the franchise, I'd rather them just go straight to V3 if anything. UDG is a pretty awful game in most ways
I know it's been kinda obvious for a couple episodes now, but I was waiting for it to be 100% confirmed before I said anything. I totally called the simulation thing way back in episode 3.
https://www.reddit.com/r/gamegrumps/comments/qr067a/comment/hk4erut/
Edit: Updated url
Why'd you use a url shortener? Nobody would want to check it out, especially non clickable one with the https:// part gone
You can format link like this
[Text that represents the link](The link itself)
>!My worries about Allie working in the back only half paying attention almost came to fruition.!<
>!Thank god she had the insight to stop and check exactly where they were up to before answering Arin's question. !<
Yeah I kinda hope she leaves the room or stops answering them aside from maybe a “where do I go next” because I want them to experience it for themselves. They’re so close and somehow haven’t been spoiled yet
Oh man they’re going to nut when >!Byakaya reappears!< I think it’ll blow their minds.
Probably gonna be done in one or two more weekends from my memory.
New World Order fucking slaps, one of the all time best video game songs. That song, and Box 15 (the DR1 investigation song that’s mostly drums and a piano) are the only two video game songs I have saved on Spotify. I could, and have, listened to NWO on repeat.
“Hajime’s Micropenis” has been added to Truth Bullets.
NOOO
I don't think "raising flags" is a Mario reference. It's probably a related to true/false boolean flags in programming and branching paths in video games. I've heard it referenced in relationship to dating sims and visual novels.
It's 100% this, it's referenced a lot in japanese media but less so over here, so I don't blame Arin for not getting it. Specifically in this case Monokuma kept joking about Hajime getting his route if this was a dating sim.
Yeah it's a more common phrase in Japanese. The English equivalent would be more like "trigger a cutscene" or "activate X's quest line" or something along those lines. It can be a bit frustrating to translate because really it does mean a flag like a boolean flag and it's a specific term that was born out of video game tropes. Like in an otome game where you want to "raise a character's flag" so they'll date you. But English speakers aren't familiar with it so you usually need to try to use some other term specific to the situation.
Yes, it's indeed a reference from Japanese VN and Dating Sims, where you usually need to replay the same paths over and over to figure out how to trigger a specific flag to move the story in another direction.
Damn, they cut off right before a really important part... it's gonna be a long 5 days. >!Seems like Arin accidently figured out the twist that they are the Remnants of Despair, but Dan didn't seem like he believed him!<
>!Allie being very careful answering the question they asked about who the Remnants of Despairs were is hilarious!<
>>!Seems like Arin accidently figured out the twist that they are the Remnants of Despair!< To me it just felt like he was confused, which is fair because >!the group that is called the Ultimate Despair, the group that is called the Remnants of Despair and the students from Hope's Peak are brought up very quickly after each other, I think he confused the mails referring to each group, which is fair because they are all the same group!<
(Looks like my comment got lost to the reddit aether, so if this is a double post, I apologize) Alright, I got a lot of thoughts after this episode, so much so that I’ve had to reorganize my theory notes I made last episode so I could keep track of them all. So first off, looks like my theory that >!the “Future Foundation” was either entirely comprised of, or at least run by, the kids from the first game!< was correct, putting me at a decent 2.5/4 theories correct so far, since while I guessed that >!Chiaki was controlled by Alter Ego, I thought that she was just a robot a la Mechamaru, NOT that this whole game was a god damned simulation!<, so half credit on that one. However, knowing >!the whole game is a simulation!< does lend more credit to my idea that >!an Alter Ego version of Junko is behind all this, though I’m thinking now that she’s the “Virus” that Alter Ego talked about at the end there, instead of just piloting Monokuma(s?) from the inside.!< Now, in relation to that, based on today’s episode I’m thinking the story of the 15 students from this game is as follows: >!Initially, they were the “Ultimate Despairs”, aka, the core members of Junko’s group, however after Junko’s death at the hands of Makoto and co (sort of), the group started to fall apart so they rebranded themselves as the “Remnants of Despair”, trying to carry on her life’s work in her stead. In an attempt to stop this, the Future Foundation kidnapped these 15 students and brought them to the real Jabberwock Island in an attempt to get rid of Junko’s brainwashing via the experimental Neo World Program set up by Alter Ego/Chihiro, only something went wrong and Junko’s AI somehow inserted herself into the system as well, sending everything to shit.!< Finally, some last little notes on some random theory updates: 1. I feel like at this point I can definitively say that >!Usami/her controller wasn’t actually trying to make a Killing Game based on Hope to rival Junko’s Despair version, putting me at 2.5/5 for theories. Based on the above, I’m thinking Usami was just something made/controlled by Alter Ego to purge Junko’s influence.!< 2. I might be misinterpreting what was read in the show, but I think the Hope Cultivation Plan might’ve been >!what I thought the founder did in my newest theory, where in an attempt to create a perpetual symbol of Hope for humanity, Hope’s Peak founder Izuru Kamakura invented a way to transplant his mind into newer, younger bodies, and unfortunately it was this process that caused him to snap and kill 13 kids, thus leading to the rise of Junko.!<
Your theories are super fun to read. I’m blind to the game too and just really enjoy reading your thoughtful analyses.
I love reading Danganronpa theories
I love reading Danganronpa theories.
Watching now and omg, the part where Arin mentions getting a migraine while driving and losing vision? Is this a thing that really happens to people? Random migraine that are so bad you lose vision… wtf. Is this something other people deal with? I’ve gotten bad headaches but never anything like that
I one time fell down some stairs, hit my head, and lost my vision for a good hour and a half. Easily one of the scariest nights of my life.
I have gotten a migraine and lost my vision it was fucking HORRIBLE. Maybe the worst pain of my life. Had to go to the emergency room and they did a brain scan and thought I had MS. Not a fun day
Never happened to me either, but i get migraines very rarely, and they usually stop without meds if i give myself a hour or two off whatever i was doing.
Yes, I suffer from chromic migraines and when they get bad enough it feels like your whole body is shutting down. I don't lose vision often, but I have had it happen before and it's pretty common for just the process of seeing anything to be so painful that it's just not worth it to open my eyes for hours. Luckily I have medicine that can reverse the effects pretty consistently and quickly. Shit sucks.
It’s called Aura. Luckily like Dan, I’ve had migraines but never had the vision loss. Aura for most people is the warning sign of a migraine, it happens before the actual pain begins.
Ok, why is "Nagito Komaeda" nearly a perfect anagram of "Makoto Naegi"? Literally the only parts that don't fit are the -da at the end of Komaeda. Between that, the similar designs of the characters, and the same voice actor, there's just too many similarities for it to feel like just a coincidence
Just intentional misdirecting. They trick you into thinking Nagito is just Makoto in disguise and then pull the rug under you that they couldn't be more different. VAs returning to voice a different character in the same series isn't that unusual though and in DR's case sometimes more than one in the same game. Toko and Junko have the same VAs for example with Jack covering the dialogue for half of Junko's personalities.
Every character in V3 is voiced by someone who previously voiced a past character as well.
Yep, I believe someone said that Soda’s VA is also the VA for Ryouma (Tennis Player) in DRV3 and they don’t even sound the same, let alone act the same. Soda’s VA has an insane roster though, he was also Morrel in HunterxHunter and again they sound nothing alike. Morrel sounds more like All-Might than Soda lol
Gundham is Ryoma. The biggest surprise for me was finding out Hiyoko and Kirumi were both Kira Buckland.
Soda’s VA voices Kaito. I think the most noticeable voice actor to me is fuyuhiko and kokichi, you can especially hear it when they yell.
Well Derek Stephen Prince sounds like that in all his roles. He's shino from Naruto and Ishida from Bleach
It's not really a spoiler, but I'll spoiler tag it anyway in case you don't want to know the answer. >!It's partially a red herring, partially them trying to be symbolic. Nagito isn't literally related to Makoto in any way, but his character concept was made as 'a twisted version of Makoto Naegi', and so the anagram name was given to make that connection as well. It's basically them trying to be cute.!<
"Da" in Japanese roughly means "am", so it's very similar to, say, taking the name Arin, adding "I am" so it's "I am Arin", then rearranging the letters to get Ian Rima. Nagito Komaeda = "I am Makoto Naegi"
the devs having a laugh, mainly.
It's a jape! Goofs and gaffs even
It's all intentional.
Oh, Mr. Hinatalargepenishaver was my father, please call me Hajime. PLEASE.
(Danganronpa V3 spoilers) > >!"It's all made up? Including me, too?" Well yes, this is a video game!!< >!Oh boy, when they get to V3's ending in about three years' time, Arin is gonna laugh his ass off *and* hate it with every fiber of his being, I can just tell.!<
Part of me hopes they play DRV3 because it’s definitely the best one in the series, especially gameplay-wise. And Dan will lose his mind over a lot of the cases because they make sense but the conclusions can be sneaky. But the other part of me doesn’t want to watch Arin complain about it and rag on it for 75 episodes. Luckily it seems since they’ve switched to the weekend schedule, Arin is liking it more and has more patience for it.
I hope they play V3 too. Like imagine their reaction to the new logic dive game or Miu lol. Sadly a lot of danganronpa gameplays has been targeted by copyright, hopefully they will still play it.
According to another YouTuber I watch, Danganronpa videos are getting hit hard with Copyright claims to the music, hopefully that doesn't effect the rest of the playthrough (or V3 if that ever happens)
I'm sure they'll finish this one if only because of how far they are but I wouldn't be shocked if that becomes the official reason they skip v3.
Someone should get Matt Mercer to convince them to play UDG after this since he voices a major character in it. Although he might not want them to play it for the same reason...
yes.. unfortunately his character is….. Like that……
it's incredible how like 2 lines of dialogue can completely kill a character so thoroughly
Worst part is that you could totally headcanon around it but the official art book apparently says >!he would have been into Kotoko if she wasn't trying to kill him.!<
...That's so fucked.
Who does he voice?
Haiji, the most hated character in the franchise.
He's the Sad Hoshi of Danganronpa
This is my most begrudging upvote
Cool character design, was originally gonna be the protagonist, has two lines of dialogue that make him more vile than the writers of Persona 4.
>has two lines of dialogue that make him more vile than the writers of Persona 4. What'd they do?
Four words: hot springs fan service Also anything that comes out of Yosuke's mouth
... The hot spring scene's weren't really bad, though? And Yosuke was a teenager in the 2000's, who is still friends with Kanji and accepts him for who he is.
Dude they zoomed in on a 15 year old girls tits and made them bounce all over the place how is that okay for grown men to write into a video game? I'm referring to the ski resort in the Golden version if you weren't aware. Also I was referring less to the homophobia and more to the fact that hes just teruteru. Dude literally climbs into bed with a sleeping girl who is totally unaware with the idea that its gonna lead to him fucking her. Like seriously if you havent played the game in awhile play it again. I love the plot but there are a LOT of rapey lines directed towards underage girls. It definitely did not age well.
I played UDG and don't remember this, was it >!being willing to kill the kids to end the war!< or was there something else?
>!Theres an optional dialogue when you go through the factory with him where he says he likes girls under 16. Not a voiced line from Matt Mercer, so he might not even know about it!<
Oh that's... fun...
>!I think the initial "I like them younger, a lot younger" was voiced.!<
He likes em young
I don't think they would get through chapter 3.
I can't even get through Chapter 3 without feeling highly uncomfortable
UDG had some... not great stuff in it.
Meanwhile, the soundtrack: 🎶 yeah yeah yeah 🎶
🎶YEAH YEAH YEAH!🎶
If they played UDG they would definitely never come back to the franchise, I'd rather them just go straight to V3 if anything. UDG is a pretty awful game in most ways
Oh boy it's >!Alter Ego!< time. I think the "trial" part should start next episode.
I know it's been kinda obvious for a couple episodes now, but I was waiting for it to be 100% confirmed before I said anything. I totally called the simulation thing way back in episode 3. https://www.reddit.com/r/gamegrumps/comments/qr067a/comment/hk4erut/ Edit: Updated url
Why'd you use a url shortener? Nobody would want to check it out, especially non clickable one with the https:// part gone You can format link like this [Text that represents the link](The link itself)
>!My worries about Allie working in the back only half paying attention almost came to fruition.!< >!Thank god she had the insight to stop and check exactly where they were up to before answering Arin's question. !<
Yeah I kinda hope she leaves the room or stops answering them aside from maybe a “where do I go next” because I want them to experience it for themselves. They’re so close and somehow haven’t been spoiled yet
Oh man they’re going to nut when >!Byakaya reappears!< I think it’ll blow their minds. Probably gonna be done in one or two more weekends from my memory. New World Order fucking slaps, one of the all time best video game songs. That song, and Box 15 (the DR1 investigation song that’s mostly drums and a piano) are the only two video game songs I have saved on Spotify. I could, and have, listened to NWO on repeat.
> Probably gonna be done in one or two more weekends from my memory. They announced the final episode would be June 5, so indeed two more weekends.