@Noqanky:
All meant in good fun, not to insult. The original post I made was just more than anything being sad that after an episode that I genuinely wanted to talk about because of the personal involvement it… uh, involved... the talk was more about pissing on literally everything about the show to the point where the entire gravitas was sucked out of the equation. And I guess in that sense it pulls me out of the experience where unlike the other games it's impossible to discuss the actual happenings of the show because of such a high focus from everyone on how bad it is instead of what the actual story is bringing
I'm not sure what else there is to discuss on the episode, since it was mostly providing answers we knew we'd get to the questions we had, like what was Chiaki's fate, how did the 77th class become despair, and was Chisa really turned evil. The lingering question in despair to me is what happened to Mitarai, and that doesn't really get addressed at all here.
! > In particular, I find it silly that you detract from the entire episode and situation of Chiaki because of the silliness of the dungeon and traps, like any of this is meant to make sense. I mean, seriously think about it… do any of the executions in the first game make any sense? Practically? Why would a school have all of this infrastructure at all, specifically tailored to kill and torture? Does it make sense for a character to be churned into fucking butter?
None of it makes any sense, but even with the absurdity of those situations the weight of death was always strong and a present case in all the executions, and perhaps you didn't feel anything because you were so busy poking "logistic" holes into the episode, but the entire Chiaki situation to me was pretty strongly and dramatically built. We're talking about someone literally being pit into the most despair-inducing situation possible and still walking through that hell for others.
Of course it makes no sense that she was still alive after being killed like that. But the final words to Hinata were needed closure on their interaction and something that has been hinted for a while as a matter we were to expect. You know what also doesn't make sense? Hifumi coming back to life to say Yasuhiro, or Makoto surviving a fuck-hundred feet fall into a dump and then remaining down there for god knows how long AND THEN Kyoko dumping herself too and surviving the fall unscathed.
! I recognize that silly executions are part of the series, and I've been trying to nail down just what it is that didn't work here for me. I think it's because I wanted a more dramatic scene for such a dramatic moment. The tone of Despair arc thus far has been darker than anything we've gotten from the series before: the first killing game which was a huge slaughter, Chisa being brainwashed (the shots of her eyes being pried open were pretty chilling), and that one student cutting his own head off. Putting Chiaki in a silly death maze after that just makes it feel so much less tense to me, like the series actually deescalated its violence at the moment that was meant to shock and horrify us the most.
! In the games, the tone gets established, and the execution is supposed to be kind of insultingly comedic to the murderer. That's the vibe I always got. I think I was able to suspend disbelief more in them because the situation was already ridiculous, and completely under the mastermind's control, where here in DR3 neither of those are the case. I had to suspend disbelief at Junko having a secret layer at all when the series shows us that she really hasn't been around for too long. Her lack of extensive preparations or refinement in her technique were made evident in the first killing game, where she just walked into the room, held everyone hostage and made them kill each other. I don't know how much later this episode takes place, but I don't think later enough for her to have any more control.
! > So yea, I do think there are points where I agree with people. Juzo is shit, there was nowhere near enough focus on the 77th class and the whole thing where they got done as a group instead of being individually twisted to their extremes as everyone expected. And I understand calling shit on those things, but the ones I'm seeing you deconstruct seem bullshit in comparison.
Like it being ridiculous that they all care about Nanami after playing games for only an afternoon, when they make it PAINSTAKINGLY OBVIOUS that they've shared sooooo many more experiences together since then. I mean, fuck dude, the whole ending is a collage of a million and one things they shared which we know are canon because of the fact Mikan had those pictures. It's a 12 episode manga and you wanted all of that to take part so that we could understand that they care for each other? That's nonsense to me. As far as storytelling goes that was a smart, concise way to sell an idea without spending a million shots on it. More concise and better than the time spent on a fuckton other dumbshit, like Nagito's bomb threat adventure.
! My argument here goes hand in hand with the lack of development the 77th class got. There was one episode designated as the 'everyone cares for Chiaki episode', and that's what makes it feel cheap to me. I think the bomb threat ep was a waste, too, and I think it could have been used to flesh out more of the class's interactions instead of telling a story mostly about different characters more important to the other arc. Obviously a bunch of this stuff is implied, but I don't think something so central to the drama here should be mostly implied. I can intellectually understand the connection and attachment they have, but not viscerally. It caught me offguard just how little I cared during the whole death scene, since I wanted to care.
! Honestly, by the way things are written in despair arc, it would have made more sense for Chisa to be sacrificed to make them despair, since she's the one who really brought their class together and had a presence that they all seemed to deeply care for as a group more than anyone else. They went on that whole 'field trip' to save her life. As much as I don't think Chisa's much of a character, she definitely had that role in the narrative. I think that problem again goes to how lopsided the storytelling in DR3 was towards the DR3 exclusive characters.
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@Nekketsu:
And same as Noqanky, you are pulling me out of the experience. If this biased and unreasonable negativity keeps going any further I'm just going to call it quits and enjoy the end of this ride all alone.
If you want an echo chamber, stick to Reddit.
I'm not gonna pull my punches, though, when something's bugging me in a franchise I care enough about to discuss at length like this.