here's a big doodle dump of some danganronpa ships that have been on the brain recently + some mini headcanons about them.
I'VE BEEN WANTING TO DRAW SOME OF THESE MFS FOREVERRR i say that about every character i don't draw on the regular though so take it with a grain of salt. regardless these were fun i'll probably add this style as a commission option when i update my carrd in july
i'm like super curious if y'all can guess my favourite dr character based off these... might surprise you
i said it was my favorite piece of media that i’ve hyperfixated on since the tender age of 12 and have not let go of since. i didnt say it was a Good piece of media
- Wake up
- Breathe
- Junko
- M a r t y R o b b i n s
- 4:00 Dr. Phil
- I would let Judge Judy slap me
- gmod till like 3 am
- sleep
- repeat
this is how I imagine having a werewolf boyfriend looks like
Spreading the zakkura propaganda at a local boba shop
Been seeing this go around and it makes me so sad...
"Hinata was normal up until around middle school, and he was even excelling in classes and sports. But because of this, it worsened this idea in his head that he was someone special who could achieve his hopes and dreams."
And I think this makes Hinata especially tragic. It hits home for me and I feel a lot of normal people. Being good, but not good enough that it matters. Being the best in your class doesn't mean anything to the world. You're almost there but not quite yet. It's maddening.
I think Hinata's upbringing has a lot to do with it.
About the same level of canon-ness as this tweet, Spike said this about Hinata's parents.
I think Hinata thinks what he does mostly because of his parents. They consented to the Kamukura project after all. They were not happy that their son was just average. We see all throughout SDR2 that what Hinata wants isn't talent. It's to feel confident. That he belongs. Talent is just a means to that end. Because if he's exceptional, he'll have something that makes him worthwhile. That's what his parents taught him, directly or indirectly.
Compare it to the Naegi siblings. Makoto and Komaru do not envy talent. They are impressed by it, and they sometimes lement how normal they are, but it is no skin off their back. I think it's because they grew up happy. They clearly had good parents and a good life. Becoming the best wasn't either of their goals, because they weren't taught that's what it takes to deserve love.
It's tragic. Hinata was a perfectly average - above average even - person. But everyone around him wanted him to be more, so he wanted to be more.
SDR2 and DR3 both hint that he used to get bullied in school. This definitely contributed, I think.
Hinata didn't want to be himself, because he wasn't good enough as himself, and that meant he couldn't be happy. He knew what the Kamukura project would do to him. He didn't care. Because it was better than being himself.
You could call it arrogance. In part, it is. But all I see is a kid who was damaged by his upbringing trying to fix it all. If he was shown more kindness and love in his life by his parents or other adults, I think it would have turned out differently. If Hinata didn't have these values instilled in him from those around him and the world itself, none of this would have happened.
And considering he was just fine as he was, it's incredibly sad.
Technically true.
feeling pretty normal about zack fair as usual
what's updog?
I'm going to get straight to the point: Denji is perfectly right to want to suffer - it's precisely what he lacked in his 'normal' life.
To understand this, let's go back to the chapter.
Introducing Denji as a CSM wannabe right at the start of the chapter isn't as insignificant as you might think, because this chapter helps to differentiate between CSM and a CSM wannabe.
After all, Denji could very well be one, and chapter 150 makes it clear that the protagonist's dream is to be a CSM, so he literally wants... to be a CSM.
But in order to become CSM himself, we have to understand what CSM is. And that's precisely where the difference lies between a CSM wannabe and Denji as CSM.
Part 2 has repeatedly shown that 'CSM' has become a marketing product, an idol for young people, a source of detestation for others, like express usurpers who have taken to the stage. In short, CSM's identity began to become more diffuse, questioned to the point where it seemed to escape Denji. So what is CSM?
Well, let me ask you this: what's the first thing you think of when I mention CSM?
Most fans will cite the most traumatic and tragic chapters, shuddering at the mere mention of volume 9. There's your answer: suffering is the secret of CSM's identity.
But let's move away from this more meta side, and get back to the chapter.
I know that Nayuta being pushed aside and put in her place stung some people's hearts and it hurt me too! But Denji is right to push her away, cruel as that may seem. Because the complexity of Denji and Nayuta's relationship also lies in the fact that their relationship can have several negative sides.
Firstly, Nayuta is and remains the demon of control, a demon who can't help but have a hold, even over those she loves. And she has done this with Denji on one occasion: when she forbids him to see Asa again.
She forbids it out of a desire to protect him, fearing that Denji will be taken in by yet another girl. This reaction depresses Denji, but he regains hope by acting as CSM, motivated by Nayuta herself because CSM is admired and loved by people. The first instinct at this stage would be to think that this is a bit contradictory: why push Nayuta away when she's the first to admire and encourage CSM?
Because she hasn't grasped what CSM is all about either. I'll expand on that later, but for now, keep in mind that suffering is intrinsic to CSM. Even when she prevented Denji from continuing his story with Asa, she was preventing Denji from suffering, in itself, from experimenting. The same experience can be just as beneficial as it can be negative, and it's part of the game of life not to know the outcome of a relationship, otherwise you wouldn't go with others.
And that's what Nayuta has done, the demon of control has a happiness that's enough to be two, it's a demon that risks being alone so much that a single loved one is enough to make her happy. But that's Nayuta's idea, not Denji's.
I'll come back to this a bit more, but for the moment I'm still going to follow the chapter. Denji almost comes to thank Barem and the others for burning down his house and his pets, but he's also aware that morality is being undermined and even talks to Pochita about it. And that's fascinating.
Even though it may seem horrible, the loss of his animal family allows Denji to realise that he needs this suffering in his life, for many reasons. If Kishibe judged Denji as a man made to kill demons, it's because suffering makes him gloat, because it's the most intense experience he's had in his life.
Transforming himself into a CSM is a way for Denji to confront suffering; he has even internalised it since he was a child, making his body suffer to pay off his debts.
CSM is a creature made for suffering. When Aki became possessed by the Gun Devil, CSM was the culmination of Denji's suffering, his demonic form killing his brother. Just as Denji transformed into Pochita was saved by a dying Power.
The foundations of Denji, Aki and Power only consolidated Denji's relationship with suffering. This double facet, between love and suffering through grief. Pochita is another example, because becoming CSM was followed by an experience of mourning, the loss of Pochita who had merged with him.
Suffering is as intrinsic to all species as are death and love because suffering is the result of both, the love we have for others is the cause of our suffering when they die.
CSM is this universality, with Pochita sacrificing himself to prevent Denji from dying, suffering every time the cable is pulled. And instead of fighting it, CSM uses it as the engine of his chainsaws. When Nayuta says that this is not the time for chainsaws, she wants to prevent her brother from suffering. But Denji understands that it's precisely when he's suffering that it's time to be CSM.
Having your head and arms brutally chopped off hurts, fighting demons hurts, in short, transforming into a CSM physically hurts and must hurt. Imagine having a cable cut in half across your torso: it hurts, so why pull it? That's why Denji IS CSM, because it's when it hurts that he realises he wants to be CSM?
Hybrids don't exploit this pain, demons like the Eternity Demon are even afraid of it, and that's what explains CSM's superiority: suffering exalts him and he uses it as a means to fight. When Quanxi cut off the weapons' heads, it was enough for them to admit defeat, while Denji calmly puts his head back on, not giving up the fight.
Weapons can't die, but they can see others die, just as suffering can't escape them either. Either they see themselves almost as demigods, as prophets, or they can see themselves as great knights out to save the world.
Denji knows how to exploit his nature; he drinks blood at the slightest opportunity, tries to devour like a demon and is not afraid to use it, unlike the other hybrids. (Quanxi is an exception)
As the spear weapon starts to provoke CSM by saying to really scare them, CSM exploits being sliced in half. Suffering is the fear of weapons.
The whole thing also has a symbolic force, because we've been trying endlessly to cut Denji in two, his human life on the one hand and his life as CSM on the other. Cutting CSM in two won't do him any good, all he has to do is pull his cable.
But above all, the comparison with massage is a very good one, because it sums up life, this combination of good sensations and not-so-good ones. This is precisely what pitted Denji against Makima, that bad films or bad facets of the world and humanity must exist.
This time, part 2 doesn't boil down to this ideology; what Denji is saying is that to live is also to suffer, to be happy is also to have been unhappy. All these things are not mutually exclusive, they go together.
That's why Denji wins against the weapons, because he won't fight against the suffering they'll put him through, he'll use it to the full, knowing that behind it all there'll be a good feeling. And that seeing the positive side even in pain is nothing other than hope.
Denji himself says that life is a superposition of all these facets. There are things we may never get over, but they don't stop us from moving forward. That's why this chapter is incredible, because Denji doesn't accept suffering as a demon when he's fighting, he wants to accept it in his life too, Denji's life, he has to experiment without Nayuta's permanent approval.
Denji has lost many people close to him, including his pets. It is precisely through their loss that he wants to suffer. Because suffering is the privilege of the living.
Chainsaw Man is nothing more than 2 entities reunited to survive together.
CSM's laughter is symbolic of this, and chapter 151 made an explicit reference to chapter 82 when Makima starts laughing despite the paroxysm of suffering for Denji, who has just seen Power die. What Fujimoto does is bring together the previous antagonist and the protagonist, to bring out the essence of his work.
Both Makima and Denji laugh despite the horror of the situation as the mask finally comes off, Makima presents her plans and Denji realises what Chainsaw Man is. In short, laughter is the symbol of letting go, as the mask finally comes off. And all this sums up Chainsaw Man, this confrontation between comedy and tragedy, this strange association.
Readers, don't fight the suffering of the characters either, you're reading CSM precisely because of it. You want to suffer just like CSM. So have fun with it.
interesting fact i have titanium in my spine
A personal blog, this is as eclectic as my Spotify playlists.Zakkura, shigadabi, danganronpa, csm, Poppy the singer!I draw, I write, I game.Aroace, sex-pos., 21+, Taurus, INFP 9w8You can find me at: lunapony3 (ao3) and suumer1bolt1 (twt)
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