published on January 8th, 2023
Following up on my “findings” about Fuyuhiko originally having been meant to be the robot character in Danganronpa 2, I have been thinking about the swap in Fuyuhiko and Nekomaru’s designs a lot more than usual.
Something We (the hivemind /j) have talked about a lot before is the fact that Nekomaru’s design doesn’t match with his backstory. As much as there were attempts to explain it among fans, there is a disconnection between Nekomaru’s extremely muscular body and his supposed inability to train nearly enough to achieve it.
With confirmation that “Fuyuhiko was meant to turn into a funny retro-style robot”, it is my belief that the ONLY reason Nekomaru is that big is to match his subsequent robot design.
In case that’s unclear - here are just two examples of how Fuyuhiko’s early designs matched the large robot design.
(There’s even one with a face and demeanour much more similar to Nekomaru, but just showing the fairly well known design swap isn’t what this post is about.)
But what makes me bring up Nekomaru’s ill-fitted appearance is this: his early designs were definite attempts to show a less stereotypically healthy body.
Although I recommend checking out his gallery page on the Danganronpa Wiki for more examples, here are concept designs that show Nekomaru with either a chubby or unhealthily skinny body.
(“Oh I don’t know why, but I think I would have also really liked him if they went with the long hair design” is a thought that somehow crossed my men-with-long-hair obsessed mind.)
This wasn’t meant to be a long post, I ended up just wanting to show these pictures. What I’m trying to showcase here is this: Nekomaru’s early designs portrayed him with a body that matches his backstory.
As such, I don’t believe there’s any good reason for his final muscular build other than the role swap between him and Fuyuhiko. I doubt there’s a very solid in-universe reason, other than an excuse at best.
I’ll conclude by adding, for the sake of anyone who may happen not to know, clear evidence that they just completely swapped his and Fuyuhiko’s design: this is the “team manager”.
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Did I make a mistake when pasting this? Please contact me.
Something We (the hivemind /j) have talked about a lot before is the fact that Nekomaru’s design doesn’t match with his backstory. As much as there were attempts to explain it among fans, there is a disconnection between Nekomaru’s extremely muscular body and his supposed inability to train nearly enough to achieve it.
With confirmation that “Fuyuhiko was meant to turn into a funny retro-style robot”, it is my belief that the ONLY reason Nekomaru is that big is to match his subsequent robot design.
In case that’s unclear - here are just two examples of how Fuyuhiko’s early designs matched the large robot design.
(There’s even one with a face and demeanour much more similar to Nekomaru, but just showing the fairly well known design swap isn’t what this post is about.)
But what makes me bring up Nekomaru’s ill-fitted appearance is this: his early designs were definite attempts to show a less stereotypically healthy body.
Although I recommend checking out his gallery page on the Danganronpa Wiki for more examples, here are concept designs that show Nekomaru with either a chubby or unhealthily skinny body.
(“Oh I don’t know why, but I think I would have also really liked him if they went with the long hair design” is a thought that somehow crossed my men-with-long-hair obsessed mind.)
This wasn’t meant to be a long post, I ended up just wanting to show these pictures. What I’m trying to showcase here is this: Nekomaru’s early designs portrayed him with a body that matches his backstory.
As such, I don’t believe there’s any good reason for his final muscular build other than the role swap between him and Fuyuhiko. I doubt there’s a very solid in-universe reason, other than an excuse at best.
I’ll conclude by adding, for the sake of anyone who may happen not to know, clear evidence that they just completely swapped his and Fuyuhiko’s design: this is the “team manager”.
Bring me back to the essays list
Bring me back to the index
Did I make a mistake when pasting this? Please contact me.