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Why Chisa Yukizome is one of Danganronpa's most brilliant characters, and is overlooked. (An in-depth character analysis thread)
Chisa was the only one we saw that was able to resist the brainwashing. Mukuro had to perform a forced lobotomy on her. Even with this, she still held on to any hope that she had left-that last hope being Kyosuke. She succumbed, but it's important to acknowledge her willpower. +
Of course, you know what happens. Chisa becomes an ultimate despair and dies in the final killing game. We find out that she did some pretty messed up stuff. But that's not all there is to it. So much more was going on with her. It's easy to miss. +
Here we get a glimpse of Chisa's regular personality as a despair. Fake smile, hiding thoughts, ect. We can assume this is how she acted most of the time after being brainwashed. When you compare it to the old Chisa, it's plain to see how un-genuine her action are. +
However, there are times when she seems to snap out of it. When Juzo hits the table, specifically with a loud bang, she makes this shocked expression, as if she were woken up. No one is looking at her at this moment, so she's not acting. +
Her expressions also seem to become more focused and genuine when her students are a topic. I assume she only started making these sorts of expressions once she found out about Makoto trying to protect them. Speaking of that, her conversation with Makoto is vital. +
At the beginning of this scene, she's still clearly in her fake everyday persona, but once her students are brought up, her expressions start to appear more genuine. Knowing that she's a remnant herself, Makoto's mindset clearly intrigues her. +
This is an interesting question coming from her, because she's just like them. It's as if she's asking "why would you protect people like me?" Clearly she is intrigued by Makoto and how he sees people like herself. I also believe this was Chisa's last genuine smile. +
I want to side track a bit here to say taht since she became a despair, Chisa had been manipulating Kyosuke. Asking him to "please eliminate despair" which ultimately prompted Kyosuke to go through what he did. All because she loved him. The love was twisted. +
Chisa's initial plan was to cause Kyosuke to go mad and destroy the future foundation, taking it down with her. That's why she gave Tengan the video in the first place. I think it needs to be understood that she is the true mastermind of the final killing game. +
Kyosuke going mad is why the foundation continued to crumble. The reason Chisa made her death so extravagant was just to make sure he was pushed over the edge. Quite twisted, isn't it? But at the end of the day, Kyosuke didn't end up completely losing it. Why? It was Chisa. +
Think about what it was that caused Kyosuke's development. There were two things. Makoto's persistence in trying to reason with him, and the pictures he found on her body. Chisa is responsible for both of these. +
He recalls a time he found picture's on Chisa's body where she grinned having just killed kindergarteners. The message seems almost exclusively addressed to him. Before this, he had no idea she was a despair. +
Why would she leave these photos on his body? To cause him despair? Likely. But it's odd. Because these pictures are what led to him coming to terms with Makoto. Speaking of Makoto, let's go back to that conversation Chisa had with him. +
Chisa acknowledges Makoto's hope, and that it's a different type of hope than Kyosuke's. She has always believed that Kyosuke is the hope of the future (which is why she wanted to drive him mad), but here she encourages the two to work together. +
These two things are what ultimately lead to Kyosuke's realization, and Makoto and Kyosuke working together. If those two had never come to terms, the foundation would have completely crumbled. But that's what Chisa wanted, right? So why did she do that? +
Hearing Makoto want to protect her students made her realize that there was hope for people like herself. She loved her students more than anything and she never stopped loving them. She loved Kyosuke too. And she loved hope. She resisted despair for hope. +
It was a change of plans. By planting these seeds of hope that would bloom after her death, she ensured a hopeful future, undoing all the damage she had done. She saved Kyosuke from herself. And she also saved the foundation from total collapse. And she saved her students. +
Did she have to die for this to work? Likely. As a despair, she had no problem dying. It's ironic, because Kyosuke sends her to stand right next to the monitor. Could she have known about the video? I think she might have suspected it. She went and stood by it willingly. +
She knew a killing game was going to happen. She had likely been planning to let herself die from the start. Though, at this point, I think she knew she needed to die. If anything, it would only assure her plan's success. And she knew she might try to hurt someone again. +
In one final act, one of hope and despair, she sets up an elaborate death. One that would cause Kyosuke great despair and prompt him to go mad. But also would cause hope to prevail. A dramatic scene filled with contradicting intentions. +
We saw what the video causes. All of their regrets, coming to haunt them. It must have been so painful for her. Even if she got some sort of pleasure out of it from being a despair...it must have been maddening. The tears in her eyes and the expression on her face are horrific. +
Now, onto What The Housekeeper Saw. In the afterlife, Chisa sits in a theater, observing events that are happening after her death. She also tells us her story. In a way, this makes her the protagonist of Danganronpa 3.
At the beginning of this film, she asks if it has a bad ending, and hints at it not being one. Al the end of the film, when Junko tells her that all hope is gone, she stands up, smiles for the first time, and declares that hope is just beginning. This is incredibly clever. +
From the beginning to the end of this film, she's already died. She's already set everything up. That question was ironic, because she already knew what was going to happen. She knew that hope was going to win. That's why she stood up and smiled. +
This is one reason why remnant of despair characters are my favorite to analyze. I find their thoughts and views so interesting! Take remnant Nagito for example. I believe he and Chisa were very similar remnants in terms of the way they thought. +
In the hope arc, it was revealed that the A.I. helper manifested itself as Chiaki because everyone shared a love for her. Though Usami was programmed, I think it's likely that everyone's subconscious got manifested into Usami too. Chisa protects her students no matter what. +
Now that Chisa's story is over, let's talk about the wonderful things she did. She brightened the lives of so many people. She truly was a beacon of hope. +
Chisa was the reason that Hajime finally realized that life was more than talent. We see him visiting her body and thanking her for all that she did. +
Chisa never once gave up on Chiaki. She brought Chiaki out of her shell and created something really beautiful and full of hope. +
She united the 77th class. Their bond would go onto become something that was more powerful than even death. +
Chisa did not think that ANYONE was worthless. No matter what. +
She was a wonderful and loyal friend. +
That's the end of this thread dedicated to my favorite character in the entire Danganronpa franchise. I hope you understand and appreciate Chisa more after reading this.
