published on June 21st, 2020
I feel like Mahiru is one of Danganronpa’s most underrated characters. Of course, her development isn’t necessarily on par with a bunch of other characters who lived much longer than she did (with DR3′s “rushed” side and how many characters it had for such a short anime, I feel like including it would be unfair - everything DR3 Twilight Syndrome told us had already been at least insinuated by SDR2′s), especially as SDR2, as awesome of a game as it is, doesn’t do as great of a job of balancing its characters as its prequel, imo at least.
She was, however, written with the same intent as any other DR character- she’s the main character of her own story (and I’m not talking about the popular headcanon that she could have been the protagonist here). While she may have died early, only having been a headstrong but kind-hearted young girl as far as the main story went, Chapter 2′s motive explored her backstory and the very reason for her death brings up what makes her so strong... through very banal words, in fact.
(Props to @/miodaislifemiodaislove on Facebook for bringing this scene back to my attention) Out of context, this screenshot very much gives off “people die when they are killed” vibes but that’s just what makes her a protagonist in our hearts. Within context, though, this is a pretty Hot Take. Thanks to DR3, we now have an idea of how close Satou and herself were, and the sadness she felt when she lost her. SDR2′s second motive pits Mahiru and Fuyuhiko one against the other through the sheer idea that remembering what happened will make the both of them want to use the Killing Game to get revenge for the loved one they lost. However, Mahiru decides to talk things out with Fuyuhiko.
At this point in the story, Fuyuhiko hasn’t even considered becoming friendly, if memory serves me right at least. Mahiru has to be aware how dangerous meeting with him is, especially with the knowledge that the game informed him of her involvement in Natsumi’s death, but she decided to risk it anyway. She never planned to kill him (a very honest Fuyuhiko tells us that much)- even though the game had informed her of Fuyuhiko’s involvement in Satou’s death. Simply because she strongly believes that revenge is wrong. These aren’t just words she says- she’s convinced of it. She could have hidden in fear, or called for help, but Mahiru decided to take the matter into her own hands... and most likely trusted in Fuyuhiko enough to believe she had a chance to knock some sense into him. No matter how unfriendly the guy was, she believed in him to be strong in that sense- and she might have been right, but she was unfortunately unaware of Peko’s relationship to him and her upbringing.
Looking into what happened in Chapter 2 does, in fact, tell us a lot about Mahiru’s personality, her strengths and weaknesses. The kind of person she is, more than on a surface level. With her family life in mind, I find it very interesting how independent she’s willing to be despite her sweet personality (more so portrayed in DR3 than SDR2, again, if memory serves me right), and her will to believe in giving people a chance... It hits hard, bro.
I feel like Mahiru is underrated because a lot of people dismiss her as “useless” (when they don’t hate her for being sexist which is a whole other topic and, imo, misconception about her characterization) and because people who do stan her are often dismissed as “fanboys/girls” who just happen to have a thing for girls like her. In truth, I feel like even though SDR2 sometimes failed to balance its characters’ time in the spotlight, Mahiru was very intelligently shown to us and she is one of the few early-game victims to have been properly explored before dying.
Mahiru isn’t useless. Thinking about her protagonist potential- I wonder just how popular she would be if she’d been the protagonist up until her death, similarly to Kaede. Her being a victim would immediately make it all the more tragic.
In any case, SDR2 dates back a bit to me now, and I’m glad to be able to give myself a refresher on what happened and what makes the characters I love the interesting little bastards they are. I would love to have time to replay it someday and look into early victims/killers with a lot more depth.
Reblogged on July 22, 2020 with this addition: I just thought about this, but Mahiru’s decision to take matters into her own hands could also be looked at this way: even though she may not have remembered the actual events, Twilight Syndrome showed her that a tragedy occured because of her inaction at the time. Similarly, DR3 showed us that she kept avoiding her problem with Natsumi while Satou was the one to actively want to protect her at all times. This time, Mahiru decided to take action herself by facing Fuyuhiko in order to avoid yet another catastrophe.
She was trying to learn from her past mistakes, and being as brave as she could.
Thank you for giving my old Mahiru post some love again. I remember this one! And honestly I thought it had more notes than it did. (Proof that tumblr overwhelms you with the notes on your posts.)
I don’t hold it (the post) in such high regard today. I think it’s pretty plain, but maybe that’s because I take this point of view for granted. I think the meat of it is exploring how Mahiru put trust in Fuyuhiko in that moment… Especially as a girl who repeated that she couldn’t trust men to do shit… And how brave it made her look. In the heart of action, and possibly because she was faced with her own mistakes, Mahiru’s convictions led her to not only put on a brave face but also to believe in Fuyuhiko.
I like that Mahiru is a character who doesn’t shy away from telling others the truth to their faces. It’s a realistic trait that a lot of people will read as being aggressive, confrontational and such, but from Mahiru’s point of view comes from a place of believing in others. I believe that if I tell you the truth you can learn from it and change. I believe in you enough to face you, and not to abandon you.
One main aspect I’d correct about this original post is my misremembering that the very sweet, much softer aspects of Mahiru’s personality aren’t shown in DR2. It’s true that she was more of a softie in DR3, which can be explained not just by the story not having too much time for her, but also by the different setting that led her to behave in different ways. Meeting new people in a life or death situation doesn’t exactly put the same pressure on you as… high-school. However, I think it’s very obvious that Mahiru is presented with this “tsundere” aspect - a very surface level iteration of the trope, which contrary to what a lot of Danganronpa does, does not exaggerate her traits and instead portrays a fairly realistic teenage girl who doesn’t want to admit her feelings. One of the arguments I’ve had about Mahiru that I feel the strongest about is one in which I had to point out that Mahiru’s teenage girl experience is very relatable to people who have been teenage girls in the past - from not wanting to admit when you have positive feelings, to feeling pressured to be more responsible and mature by the men raising you, which both go hand in hand. And within this portrayal, Mahiru is presented as particularly soft. She has a strong sense of needing to be helpful, she blushes easily, she’s passionate about seeing people’s smiles and once you get her to lower her shield, she’s a very sincere individual. The exploration of her sincere wants possibly makes her look like even more of a softie than she was in DR3.
(Ooooh noooo this is turning into another long pooost, from my cellular telephooooooone)
Ultimately, I’m just trying to comment on that old post I wrote. So I’ll point out that if I sat down to actively write about Mahiru nowadays, I would most likely shift most of my focus to the unfortunately very common perception that “she hates men soooo bad”. It’s one of those takes that feel like a direct attack to my person - contrary to any random disagreement or misconception of a fictional character, which doesn’t affect me personally - because it takes a very realistic depiction of something teenage girls are put through and insults them for it. Not just that, it also uses those feelings as an excuse to argue against feminism, with the usual “feminists hate men” argument. I don’t think it’s fine that I have to sit here and randomly see some new user on a Discord server tell me that this experience that comes directly from the misogyny we endure is instead women being the sexist ones! And how many times will this user soon reveal that “actually I never did Mahiru’s FTEs. I didn’t even know she talked about her dad.” “Actually I just saw a Let’s Play in 2015 and haven’t seen the game since.” Not playing the game fully is not a moral failing, but I think there is a lot to say about how this reputation was put on Mahiru’s back and how willing so many people were to accept it.
I’ll make a quick mention of it, since I recently replayed the game… Mahiru never hates men. Like that’s straight up not a thing. (I’d bring up “Were you thinking of Tenko?” as a joke but the same people that argue the way I mentioned above will say she is in fact WORSE than Tenko in that regard. Huh?) Mahiru calls out the guys’ bullshit to their face and has little patience for it - this has nothing to do with hating men and is in fact just a result of being more emotionally mature. So like, she’s literally right for it. The more negative thing she actually does is assume that men can’t take care of themselves. She is to some extent proven right when she notes that Hajime, for example, doesn’t have the habit of looking after his clothes - but Hajime, being a resident Decent Person, defends his position that he can take care of it himself. In saying that, not only does he defend his own ability to be responsible, but he also doesn’t put that burden on Mahiru. Although Hajime is like that, Mahiru explains that she is used to having to look after her irresponsible father. The one man who raised her. Her reference for what men are like. This man is a useless bum, so when she meets other men, she expects the same (and puts the burden of responsibility on her own shoulders! She’s literally so nice about it!) - this is NORMAL. This HAPPENS. Please please please extend some patience towards teenage girls for once in your life. This is literally her dad’s fault. She will learn. She does learn. She just needs some time to adapt. We’ve all had misconceptions based on the way we were raised as teenagers. She is a growing girl, and this is a common result of the way girls are mistreated. The narrative that Mahiru hates men is actively a label the patriarchy needs to put on these representations of girls to ensure that it keeps power over them - and so many people, regardless of gender, are playing right into it.
And if you want to say that it’s not that deep, you’re right! This is extremely surface level. Mahiru’s real personality is extremely easy to find out about, and the treatment of any woman who calls men out as a man-hater is extremely common. None of this is deep because it was bound to happen. But the second someone tries to explain it, you assume they’re making things too deep, because you’re facing the deep-seated things YOU have to unlearn.
Anyway BONK amirite
Bring me back to the essays list
Bring me back to the index
Did I make a mistake when pasting this? Please contact me.
She was, however, written with the same intent as any other DR character- she’s the main character of her own story (and I’m not talking about the popular headcanon that she could have been the protagonist here). While she may have died early, only having been a headstrong but kind-hearted young girl as far as the main story went, Chapter 2′s motive explored her backstory and the very reason for her death brings up what makes her so strong... through very banal words, in fact.
(Props to @/miodaislifemiodaislove on Facebook for bringing this scene back to my attention) Out of context, this screenshot very much gives off “people die when they are killed” vibes but that’s just what makes her a protagonist in our hearts. Within context, though, this is a pretty Hot Take. Thanks to DR3, we now have an idea of how close Satou and herself were, and the sadness she felt when she lost her. SDR2′s second motive pits Mahiru and Fuyuhiko one against the other through the sheer idea that remembering what happened will make the both of them want to use the Killing Game to get revenge for the loved one they lost. However, Mahiru decides to talk things out with Fuyuhiko.
At this point in the story, Fuyuhiko hasn’t even considered becoming friendly, if memory serves me right at least. Mahiru has to be aware how dangerous meeting with him is, especially with the knowledge that the game informed him of her involvement in Natsumi’s death, but she decided to risk it anyway. She never planned to kill him (a very honest Fuyuhiko tells us that much)- even though the game had informed her of Fuyuhiko’s involvement in Satou’s death. Simply because she strongly believes that revenge is wrong. These aren’t just words she says- she’s convinced of it. She could have hidden in fear, or called for help, but Mahiru decided to take the matter into her own hands... and most likely trusted in Fuyuhiko enough to believe she had a chance to knock some sense into him. No matter how unfriendly the guy was, she believed in him to be strong in that sense- and she might have been right, but she was unfortunately unaware of Peko’s relationship to him and her upbringing.
Looking into what happened in Chapter 2 does, in fact, tell us a lot about Mahiru’s personality, her strengths and weaknesses. The kind of person she is, more than on a surface level. With her family life in mind, I find it very interesting how independent she’s willing to be despite her sweet personality (more so portrayed in DR3 than SDR2, again, if memory serves me right), and her will to believe in giving people a chance... It hits hard, bro.
I feel like Mahiru is underrated because a lot of people dismiss her as “useless” (when they don’t hate her for being sexist which is a whole other topic and, imo, misconception about her characterization) and because people who do stan her are often dismissed as “fanboys/girls” who just happen to have a thing for girls like her. In truth, I feel like even though SDR2 sometimes failed to balance its characters’ time in the spotlight, Mahiru was very intelligently shown to us and she is one of the few early-game victims to have been properly explored before dying.
Mahiru isn’t useless. Thinking about her protagonist potential- I wonder just how popular she would be if she’d been the protagonist up until her death, similarly to Kaede. Her being a victim would immediately make it all the more tragic.
In any case, SDR2 dates back a bit to me now, and I’m glad to be able to give myself a refresher on what happened and what makes the characters I love the interesting little bastards they are. I would love to have time to replay it someday and look into early victims/killers with a lot more depth.
Reblogged on July 22, 2020 with this addition: I just thought about this, but Mahiru’s decision to take matters into her own hands could also be looked at this way: even though she may not have remembered the actual events, Twilight Syndrome showed her that a tragedy occured because of her inaction at the time. Similarly, DR3 showed us that she kept avoiding her problem with Natsumi while Satou was the one to actively want to protect her at all times. This time, Mahiru decided to take action herself by facing Fuyuhiko in order to avoid yet another catastrophe.
She was trying to learn from her past mistakes, and being as brave as she could.
published on July 30th, 2023
Thank you for giving my old Mahiru post some love again. I remember this one! And honestly I thought it had more notes than it did. (Proof that tumblr overwhelms you with the notes on your posts.)
I don’t hold it (the post) in such high regard today. I think it’s pretty plain, but maybe that’s because I take this point of view for granted. I think the meat of it is exploring how Mahiru put trust in Fuyuhiko in that moment… Especially as a girl who repeated that she couldn’t trust men to do shit… And how brave it made her look. In the heart of action, and possibly because she was faced with her own mistakes, Mahiru’s convictions led her to not only put on a brave face but also to believe in Fuyuhiko.
I like that Mahiru is a character who doesn’t shy away from telling others the truth to their faces. It’s a realistic trait that a lot of people will read as being aggressive, confrontational and such, but from Mahiru’s point of view comes from a place of believing in others. I believe that if I tell you the truth you can learn from it and change. I believe in you enough to face you, and not to abandon you.
One main aspect I’d correct about this original post is my misremembering that the very sweet, much softer aspects of Mahiru’s personality aren’t shown in DR2. It’s true that she was more of a softie in DR3, which can be explained not just by the story not having too much time for her, but also by the different setting that led her to behave in different ways. Meeting new people in a life or death situation doesn’t exactly put the same pressure on you as… high-school. However, I think it’s very obvious that Mahiru is presented with this “tsundere” aspect - a very surface level iteration of the trope, which contrary to what a lot of Danganronpa does, does not exaggerate her traits and instead portrays a fairly realistic teenage girl who doesn’t want to admit her feelings. One of the arguments I’ve had about Mahiru that I feel the strongest about is one in which I had to point out that Mahiru’s teenage girl experience is very relatable to people who have been teenage girls in the past - from not wanting to admit when you have positive feelings, to feeling pressured to be more responsible and mature by the men raising you, which both go hand in hand. And within this portrayal, Mahiru is presented as particularly soft. She has a strong sense of needing to be helpful, she blushes easily, she’s passionate about seeing people’s smiles and once you get her to lower her shield, she’s a very sincere individual. The exploration of her sincere wants possibly makes her look like even more of a softie than she was in DR3.
(Ooooh noooo this is turning into another long pooost, from my cellular telephooooooone)
Ultimately, I’m just trying to comment on that old post I wrote. So I’ll point out that if I sat down to actively write about Mahiru nowadays, I would most likely shift most of my focus to the unfortunately very common perception that “she hates men soooo bad”. It’s one of those takes that feel like a direct attack to my person - contrary to any random disagreement or misconception of a fictional character, which doesn’t affect me personally - because it takes a very realistic depiction of something teenage girls are put through and insults them for it. Not just that, it also uses those feelings as an excuse to argue against feminism, with the usual “feminists hate men” argument. I don’t think it’s fine that I have to sit here and randomly see some new user on a Discord server tell me that this experience that comes directly from the misogyny we endure is instead women being the sexist ones! And how many times will this user soon reveal that “actually I never did Mahiru’s FTEs. I didn’t even know she talked about her dad.” “Actually I just saw a Let’s Play in 2015 and haven’t seen the game since.” Not playing the game fully is not a moral failing, but I think there is a lot to say about how this reputation was put on Mahiru’s back and how willing so many people were to accept it.
I’ll make a quick mention of it, since I recently replayed the game… Mahiru never hates men. Like that’s straight up not a thing. (I’d bring up “Were you thinking of Tenko?” as a joke but the same people that argue the way I mentioned above will say she is in fact WORSE than Tenko in that regard. Huh?) Mahiru calls out the guys’ bullshit to their face and has little patience for it - this has nothing to do with hating men and is in fact just a result of being more emotionally mature. So like, she’s literally right for it. The more negative thing she actually does is assume that men can’t take care of themselves. She is to some extent proven right when she notes that Hajime, for example, doesn’t have the habit of looking after his clothes - but Hajime, being a resident Decent Person, defends his position that he can take care of it himself. In saying that, not only does he defend his own ability to be responsible, but he also doesn’t put that burden on Mahiru. Although Hajime is like that, Mahiru explains that she is used to having to look after her irresponsible father. The one man who raised her. Her reference for what men are like. This man is a useless bum, so when she meets other men, she expects the same (and puts the burden of responsibility on her own shoulders! She’s literally so nice about it!) - this is NORMAL. This HAPPENS. Please please please extend some patience towards teenage girls for once in your life. This is literally her dad’s fault. She will learn. She does learn. She just needs some time to adapt. We’ve all had misconceptions based on the way we were raised as teenagers. She is a growing girl, and this is a common result of the way girls are mistreated. The narrative that Mahiru hates men is actively a label the patriarchy needs to put on these representations of girls to ensure that it keeps power over them - and so many people, regardless of gender, are playing right into it.
And if you want to say that it’s not that deep, you’re right! This is extremely surface level. Mahiru’s real personality is extremely easy to find out about, and the treatment of any woman who calls men out as a man-hater is extremely common. None of this is deep because it was bound to happen. But the second someone tries to explain it, you assume they’re making things too deep, because you’re facing the deep-seated things YOU have to unlearn.
Anyway BONK amirite
Bring me back to the essays list
Bring me back to the index
Did I make a mistake when pasting this? Please contact me.