Farewell to all Futures
(Yes, there are spoilers.)

For those who didn’t follow the game, Natsumi Kuzuryu is introduced.  She is Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu’s (the Ultimate Gangster) younger sister and is the self-proclaimed Ultimate Little Sister. Her part in the show was cut extremely short. I was hoping we’d get to see her for a couple more episodes but then again, this is a show about Despair. I am pretty stoked to see more of the events around Twilight Syndrome.

So, while I have your attention, does anyone have any thoughts regarding Natsumi’s murder? Do you think Sato is the murderer?

Here’s why I believe she isn’t:
-Mahiru and Sato refer to an incident that happened in their junior high school Photography Club.
-Mahiru and Natsumi got into an argument and Sato stepped in
-Sato has a scar on her arm, but does not say where the scar came from.  Instead, she says “Later that night…” with no further detail. She never explicitly states that it came from Natsumi.
-Sato and Mahiru both believe that “It must have been that person.”
-When Hajime asks Sato for the truth, she complies with the story that Natsumi was murdered by a suspicious intruder.  She then goes on to say, “Or it must have been a suicide.” To me, this suggests that she didn’t know the details of the murder.  If she had been the murderer she would have known that it wasn’t a suicide.
-Sato is murdered.

These fact can also work against me.  Sato is certain that Natsumi plans to harm Mahiru. Sato also becomes very distraught when she realizes that Hajime knew that Natsumi wouldn’t kill herself.  It could simply be Sato trying to reassure herself that she made the right choices. Or she’s trying to hold on to the idea that she deserved to die?

In addition, do you think the Kuzuryu’s murdered Sato or do you think it was “that person”? Please share your thoughts in the comments!

Episode 3 really highlights the tension between the reserve course and the main campus of Hope’s Peak Academy.  Reserve course students are viewed as “talentless” and there’s this stigma attached to them since they are  paying to attend such a prestigious school.

The relationships between the Ultimate’s and Reserve Course students is not portrayed as one of equality.  Mahiru (the Ultimate Photographer) and Sato (a reserve course student) have a great friendship, however, Sato is more obsessed with Mahiru’s talent rather than her person.  Sato says, “You are the photography clubs Hope”. The analogy is used twice, by Natsumi and Juzo, that reserve course students cling to the Ultimate students like crap on a goldfish.

This aspect of Danganronpa is pretty critical to the rest of the show.  This is a battle between Hope and Despair and the reserve course plays a major role in The Incident.  The envy for talent, the lust for talent, and the hopelessness of never being able to enter the main campus makes it that much easier to be manipulated by Despair.

Juzo also makes his appearance.  This time he is the Head of Security.  While he definitely comes off as an asshole, he has good intentions.  Hajime knows quite a bit about Natsumi’s death, but investigating it further could put him in harms way. While Juzo has somewhat decent intentions, I think he is what pushes Hajime to participate in the experiment.  Being told that he is a useless cog and brushing Natsumi’s death under the rug simply because she was a reserve course student is infuriating.  Hajime will have Artificial Talent and become an Artificial Hope.  But Hajime also mentions that he is “empty”.  This hollowness makes him susceptible to whoever is willing to influence him first.

I’m still curious to see who is behind what makes Hope’s Peak Academy rotten.  It couldn’t all be Junko, could it?

I really love the relationship between Hajime and Nanami.  I still think that Nanami is a real person, not an AI because I don’t think an AI could blush like that!

Leave your comments below!