For the Anti-Naezono Crowd (Who Is Sayaka?): Page 5
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Contents Profile: Page 3 For the anti-Naezono crowd (Who Is Sayaka?): Page 5 For the anti-Naezono crowd and general character depth (School Mode): Page 103 The Mask: Page 103 Sayaka and Her Family: Page 132 Did the Motivational Video Really Mean that Much: Page 137 Why Sayaka’s Plan Was Flawless: Page 171 Was Sayaka Thinking of Makoto in Her Last Moments: Page 205 Is Sayaka Psychic: Page 213 And now I gotta show ya. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkFdW2p1bM8 (Heh. But seriously, that’s unfitting music...switch to something else.) Alright. No more messing around, though. I think we know why we’re here. First off, I’m an open Sayaker, so I’m going to know what I’m talking about here. Just getting that point out at the forefront. Second, if this counts for anything, I initially thought Sayaka Maizono was a “meh” sort of character without anything special going for her and quite a few things going against her. She was very average, and that was because I first saw the DR anime, Danganronpa: The Animation, when I was introduced to Sayaka. I didn’t hate her or particularly like her, and even watching a LP of the game didn’t do much to change my opinion of her. She definitely wasn’t “Hifumi” level, but she wasn’t as badass as Togami or Kirigiri or as layered as Celes or Sakura. But then I went through the game and I started noticing some things. She was much deeper, much more interesting, more complex than she seemed. Of course, it only lasted one chapter. But it was...“intriguing” to see what I was finding out nonetheless. So, I finished the game and enjoyed the rest of the cast of course—then went through it again, making sure to cover Sayaka’s free-time events and story dialogue extra-perceptively. I could tell there was something more to them than what it seemed...people really wanted to make the most of the short time she was here. As if her impact was supposed to go far beyond that one chapter. ... ...well, after three times through the game, my stance on Sayaka is that she has the best character development of any character in fiction. And considering it all happened in one chapter? She’s perfectly written. Perfectly. Written. Again, this isn’t supposed to make you change your mind about how much you like her. But since no one really understands her character at all, it’s a clarification that’ll prove to you she’s the most elaborate character we’ve had so far. Probably the most elaborate character we’ll ever have as well. And one of the most well-written characters in fiction, period. —lastly, I didn’t proofread this. So, if your the type of person whose never made a mistake in there life typing and hates to see other’s making mistakes...it should go without saying that this isn’t for you. Profile Name: Sayaka Maizono Age: 17-20 Date of Birth: July 7th Blood Type: A [lot] Weight: 108 lb. Height: 5’5’’ BMI (useless): 18.0 Chest Size: 83 cm. Sign: Cancer Favorite Color: Pink (well, her custom fuku ribbon and underwear are) Junior/Senior High Schools: Nekuroroku (3 years)/Nekuroku (0-3 years)/Hope’s Peak Academy (2 years) Title: Ultimate Idol Just a note: I normally go with the in-game text for quoting (shout-out to UnderMybrella for transcribing all that like an ace), but when I’m lazy or wanting a better-sounding tone I’ll c/p orenronen’s LP dialogue. It’s pretty much the same thing, only he apparently translated the Japanese version himself. Quite well, I’d say: a true DR vet. And last, I just want to give a shout-out to bamboo-woods, whose Naezono Tumblr page showed me more inspirational content than I can even think of right now, lol. I know I wouldn’t have been able to do this if not for these guys. Also...if you don’t like evidence and facts, quotes, or clarifications, this again won’t be for you. So leave. For the anti-Naezono crowd (Who Is Sayaka?) I’ll be starting off pretty blatantly with the concept of Naezono. No need to drag the super awesome intro out any further. But I do need to give a clarification for Naezono: that’s Maizono and Makoto’s canon relationship. A lot of people don’t understand it at all; and before I go talking about Maizono’s downfall and betrayal, etcetcetcetc, I need to get into the main relationship her character revolved around. The relationship that shaped a good 50% or so percent of her character development. And so, you’ll find out most of what you need to know about her general personality in this section alone. Sound good? Alright. Let’s start with the obvious: what the game explicitly provides (and don’t worry; I won’t just be making up nonsense in this thesis). She and Makoto recognize each other from middle school, and she had an eye on Makoto every day after he helped a crane that got lost and wandered into the school pond (as she says in her first free-time event). She wanted the chance to get to know him in private but never got it due to fans and groupies crowding her: "(Sayaka) But it’s kind of strange, you know? I never thought I'd get a chance to really talk to you like this. All through middle school, you never talked to me. In fact, you never even looked at me." "(Makoto) It's because you were like a celebrity. I couldn’t just go staring at you... ...Wait? How did you know I never looked at you?" "Because I looked at you all the time..." "...Huh?" "I always searched for an opportunity to start a conversation." "A chance to... start a conversation with me?" "But since I always had so many people around me, we ended up graduating without saying a word. That was one of my biggest regrets." "But... why me of all people?" "Do you remember our first year of junior high, that huge bird wandered into our school pond." (Now that she says it, I think I remember that incident...) "It was that bird that always shows up in Japanese fairy tales. You know what I mean, the turtle once every million years, the bird once every thousand..." ([Makoto] A huge bird that got wandered into the school pond during our first year... I think it might've been...) "(Makoto) It was a crane. It just walked right into the pond." "(Sayaka, retroactively surprised) That's right! That's what it was. It was so big, the teacher had no idea what to do. But you led it into the forest behind the school. You helped it find its way out..." (Well, only cuz I was already in charge of taking care of the animals at school. They made me do it...) "I should have said thank you then, but...is it okay if I do it now?" "Thank me...?" "I'm that crane, you see. I've come to return the favor. Here, let me make you a cloak..." "Ehehe. Just kidding!" "Yeah... I got that." "But it’s not a lie that I was moved by what you did." "That’s why I wanted to try and talk to you just once. I just never thought it would be in this kind of circumstances..." (Yeah. If we’d met again at a train station somewhere downtown, that’d make for a nice dramatic reunion... But instead, it’s this weird school.) “(lol) Maybe, but still... I’m sure you’ll help me find my way out, just like that crane. You’ll save me. It’s just intuition, I know, but I still believe it.” (I’m going to save her...?) “I’ll do my best, I promise that. I’ll make sure it’s more than just intuition.” That comparison to the adage of the crane weaving fabric can be taken in a few ways, but it really was a joke. To lighten the mood for her a bit before she got serious again right after. And by "dramatic reunion," Makoto simply means getting to talk as they should've then (after all, he never knew her outside of a distant fan’s perspective). Notice how Sayaka slyly reads his mind—again— and he doesn’t even notice this time. Anyway, here we see Maizono admitting when they're alone that she'd *always* been thinking about him and how they could find time to talk to each other in private. Makoto, on the other hand, was a fan of hers like virtually everyone else, but he never paid her any mind because he assumed she was too high register for him and never noticed him anyway. Since Sayaka was never given any time to herself, she graduated without getting to speak to him. Though she regretted that until they finally, genuinely met in high school, the point is she thought of him and tried to speak to him for so consistently long (three years) because she had a strong interest in him. Was that captivation back then? Probably not, but it was definitely admiration. In this case, there's only a thin line between the two. There's one real reason why Maizono was so struck by Naegi from that point on after his action, and her past reveals why: "(Makoto) Well..