ᴄʜɪᴀᴄᴄʜɪᴇʀᴏɴᴀ [random thoughts]

.026

So I want to talk about something that's been on my mind. And that is what Danganronpa means to me as a franchise, right down to the characters, writing, and YouTube content. Because, and call me cheesy if you like, Danganronpa is basically the thing that saved my sanity last year (and has been greatly improving my mental health throughout this one already).

I know... most of you don't know what Danganronpa is. I know most of you won't even click on this due to my inability to come up with a good title (not to mention the fact that Wattpad is basically dead and nobody reads my stuff anyway). I also know that will probably end up hurting me later, but that's okay I have kins to comfort me now!

Anyway, why have I been so obsessed with Danganronpa lately? I mean, I got into the fandom back in 2014 or something and then dropped off, so why come back now?

The short answer is Kokichi, but the long answer is that I was pulled back into the Danganronpa fandom during a very bad bout of quarantine numbness and it sparked a passion in me I didn't realise I had. I've had video game obsessions before, but this is a whole new level, not to mention the fact that when this happened I didn't have any real passion for anything. It pulled me out of a really depressive state right when I needed it most.

"But Flora, you're a Makoto kinnie, why did you say the short answer was Kokichi?"

Well first of all people can kin more than one character and I am partially a Kokichi kinnie (please don't kill me). But second of all the reason I single Kokichi out specifically is because he was the character to lead me down the Danganronpa rabbit hole again. I hadn't seen V3 but something about his design just leapt out at me enough to watch a video compilation of some of his dialogue, and from there I realised I was obsessed. Kokichi's voice, as long as it's his usual tone, makes me smile and legitimately causes me to feel comforted and safe. And as long as I was obsessing over a Danganronpa character, it only made sense for me to start watching Danganronpa YouTubers, leading me to Aeris Akamatsu and DanganMandy.

"Oh, so you only like Kokichi because he got you back into Danganronpa? But any character could've done that right?"

Well, yeah. I don't think liking a character because they pulled you out of a depressive state is invalid. And it doesn't change the fact that it wasn't any character that helped me, it was Kokichi specifically. You can dislike Kokichi all you want, I'm not here to defend his actions. But the fact is this insufferably cute-looking pathological liar basically saved my life. Again, whether you believe he would want to if he was real or not is irrelevant, that is what happened and therefore he is a major comfort character for me.

I think this is the reason I believe so strongly in letting people like/kin the characters they feel that sort of connection to. Because I know firsthand how much it hurts to tell someone you like a character only for them to go, "Oh yeah I hate them because x, y, z," usually using examples that you already know. I know Kokichi isn't a very good person (even that is probably putting it mildly but I'm tired and can't think of better words). Almost every character in Danganronpa has done something less than moral, let's be honest, and yet I am still perfectly aware that Kokichi does some things that are worse than other characters.

So just let me like him because I'm not blindly defending him purely because I think he's cute or something, I am simply attaching myself to the fictional person that happened to be there for me when I needed a comforting presence.

Like I said, Danganronpa has helped me improve my mental health, and its characters in particular are to thank. Discovering my kins slowly but surely has helped me understand myself on a deeper level and as a result has also made me like myself a lot more. I see my all-in crushing on people who never notice me in Kazuichi. I see my constantly giving nature and lack of self esteem in Makoto and Chihiro. I see my sleepiness and love of video games in Chiaki. I see my desperation to distance myself from my own weaknesses or reality in general in Kokichi, Himiko, and Gundham. And thanks to DanganMandy, I see my own need to have Danganronpa in my life in Tsumugi.

So yeah, if you read this then thank you for listening to me ramble about how I use video games as a coping mechanism for my unstable mental state. I hope you enjoyed my ted talk, and remember to be nice to people even if they like a character you don't like.

Next time I see you will probably either be a random announcement author's note, unless I continue to procrastinate writing by recording a YouTube video or something.