SHSL Survivors 2-6

Happy Holidays everyone!!!! I’m so excited to finally show y’all the finished animation! 🎄🎁❄️

I hope everyone has an absolutely wonderful holiday season!

shhhhhhh sleeping protags..........

they’re fun to color

Starfall~ I recently got a BlueSky account for those who also wanna follow me there :) https://bsky.app/profile/yuumeiart.bsky.social

Curly again

Tha bois☀️🌱

Well, I know I’m bit late but here again an another analysis on Makoto ! This time, it’s a short one so I’ll put here, just below, enjoy ! If some people wants to put it on the Danganronpa reddit, all they have to do is ask me, maybe I would do it myself but I don’t think so. Here’s my gift for the anniversary !

Japan Society and Makoto Naegi

Through Makoto, we could see a critic of the Japanese society. Indeed, as we know the Japanese society is very repressive against people that want to differentiate from the ordinary folks. Japan is an extreme collectivist country that put the common good above the individualism of its citizens. While it has its great advantages, it also comes with a cost which is the repression of the individual.

This repression of the individual leads to the conformity of the society where being normal or ordinary is good. Any attempts so as to try to be out of the norm are viewed as bad, inadequate and inappropriate as it’s not the good thing to do. There exist a moral superiority which is still present in Japan. To put the common good above anyone else is what is taught from the beginning of the life of the Japanese people. The education do all in order for children to conform and to take the road of normalcy.

It’s easily observable when someone quit the enterprise he worked with to work with another. Much people have difficulties to exit their company and it’s viewed in a bad light to do so because you « betrayed » the company and you aren’t loyal to your former company.

Effectively, loyalty is also a key quality in Japan. But their is also the fact that Japan had one of the highest suicide rate estimated at 24.90% per 100 000 habitants in 2009-2010 which was already high before but coupled with the arrive of its worse recession, explains us how stressfully and tough it was.

We have also the phenomena of Gyaru or Hikikomori which show a will to break that conformity and to rebel against this society that restrain its citizens’ ego.

Now that have put a relatively basic context, I can use that context for Makoto. I think, and it’s pretty obvious, that Danganronpa at least for his two first games, is a critic of the Japanese society, especially THH where much characters have problems that concern Japan society. It’s fairly observable with Makoto in the prologue. He presents himself as an ordinary person which is for the moment, a basic description that many main protagonist slice of life character describe themselves. But there is something more in Makoto’s description of himself. Throughout his presentation, he insists on how ordinary he is and how he is so unremarkable that he is more average than the average guy. Do you see where I’m going ? Makoto Naegi in the prologue, is a perfect representation of the ideal of the Japanese citizen in Japanese society! He is normal, polite and loyal but especially normal. Like said before concerning the Japan society, normalcy is viewed as a great quality which is what ironically Makoto describes himself to be. Not to a normal degree but in an extreme degree. He fits all the case. Even if he said that he is more optimistic than the other people, that optimism isn’t shown at all in the 1st chapter except for one time which serves to highlight that his optimism does exist. He is also humble.

Moreover, like said before he has accepted that normalcy, it’s who he is. The fact that he has accepted that only confirms what has been told before. While there is some truth in what he said about himself some aren’t totally true but I’ve already analyzed this so I won’t do it here. Notice that he hasn’t talked about his luck at all, which seems to be suppressed in order for his description to fit the ideal of the Japanese society.

But throughout the story, we see different characteristics of Makoto, even in Chapter 1 where many aspects of his personality is shown whether be bad or good. Those aspects deviate from what’s described initially from Makoto. His lack of rationality, his more aggressive, impulsive side, anxiety and self-depreciation but also his lack of confidence in himself which makes him have a skewed view on his action that he considers as normal but aren’t really normal or ordinary. We can suspect that he has that sort of view because of the impact of the Japan society which restrained the flourishment of his personality, his ego.

As we progress in the story, Makoto becomes more confident, and takes a major role for the cast to survive during the trials. Not only that but his optimism nature is much more present compared to the first chapter. It illustrates a contrast between what he was supposed to be and what he describes himself to be and what he is in reality in THH. He was supposed to be a normal person, the ideal of Japan society. So to be average, discreet and shy is what he should have been but it’s the contrary that was shown to us. Not only his presence becomes pivotal to the plot but his impulsiveness, intelligence, confidence, luck and optimism but also his will to honor the death of his friends, makes him extraordinary. All of what he thought that he was, was in fact not totally true. And everything comes to a grand final where he becomes the ultimate hope, a talent beyond others ultimates, a talent extraordinary. What he thought he was, was just more than the fragments of his true self.

But what was the thing that allowed him to break from his chains ? The killing game itself. Indeed it’s this killing game that enabled him to become what he becomes in Chapter 6. The killing game is what’s break society, here the Japanese society. HPA becoming a symbol of despair is not only important for the narrative but also outside of it as HPA represents the Japan society itself. Its collapse signify not only the death of society but also the death of normalcy and the end of the imprisonment of the individuality of the person and let the true desires of people exist. Secrets, money, close people, betrayal. All of these are use as a tool to show their real persona.

In a way, Makoto didn’t change or develop during the game. Quite the contrary, he was freed from society and was allowed to show his true self. Everything, he stored, all his aspects of him, become unlocked in this killing game who reveals the true nature of everyone. So narratively, we could say that he did change and become more confident but if we adopt another angle, it was more a release of what he truly was.

brain hurts too much, turn it off 🤕

Kinda building a team

Oh no!

Everyone turned into the characters/monsters they dressed up as!🪄🎃👻🔮

Dreams about fish, includes power, prosperity, wealth, personal growth, and fertility.