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Character Analysis Of 'DanganronpaGoodbye Despair'

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Danganronpa: Goodbye Despair treats the player to a similar introduction to the player character with the narrator and everyman, Hajime. Much like Naegi, Hajime notes that he is very different from his exceptionally talented peers. He notes, “The truth is, my circumstance is a little different than that of my peers…I’m not so special that I *have* to introduce myself…I never wanted to admit how painfully ordinary I really am” (Danganronpa: Goodbye Despair). Hajime’s situation in regards to his attending Hope’s Peak Academy is very much like his counterpart’s situation in the first game, Hajime is a normal high school student with no talent to call his own. However, instead of winning his way into the school, Hajime attends Hope’s Peak’s …show more content…

Nevertheless, Hajime’s anxiety does not drive the player away from him, but pulls them in, because is complements his everyman characteristics. Due to the fact that Danganronpa: Goodbye Despair is a sequel, it is very likely that the player has already played through the first game. The player knows exactly what is going to happen to the characters trapped on the island, even if the characters are not exactly sure themselves. The player knows that Hajime’s anxiety is warranted and mirrors the player’s own anxiety about when the action of the game is going to start. If Naegi is the everyman character for the player of the first game, new to the series and optimistic about saving all of the characters from the killing game, then Hajime is the veteran player, realistic and ready for the worst.
However, due to the fact that Naegi and Hajime are both characters within the Danganronpa universe, not just avatars, both of them go through changes along Danganronpa’s spectrums, which causes contradictions in their characters. It is important to note both Naegi and Hajime are male characters, even though the series is marketed towards both male and female players. This initially puts female players at odds with both potential avatars. However, the series works to remedy this, through building in contradictions to the basic masculinity that Naegi and Hajime present. Danganronpa starts this breaking down of masculinity with Naegi

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