Danganronpa 52: Despair From the Heart
is a Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony prequel fic by MewMewChann_Writes starring Rantaro Amami and focusing on the events of his first killing game.
Please note spoilers for Danganronpa V3 will be untagged.
Danganronpa 52: Despair From the Heart provides examples of:
- Abusive Parents:
- Rantaro's father verbally abused him, burned him with cigars whenever he talked back, and once shoved him down a flight of stairs, breaking his leg.
- Yuuma's mother abused her and conditioned her into pretending to be a boy, all because she wanted a son and not a daughter.
- Jasper's parents take the cake, having abused their child so severely they snapped, killing them both and burning the house down. In Chapter 34, some of the physical abuse is gone into in a bit more detail: a flashback implies their mother regularly used a knife to punish them, and it’s revealed most of their torso is covered in burn scarring from their father’s punishments.Jasper: Father’s favourite way of punishing me was with lighter fluid and a match.
- Adaptational Superpower Change: Tsumugi's talent here is being the Ultimate Confectioner rather than the Ultimate Cosplayer.
- And Now for Someone Completely Different: Jasper replaces Rantaro as the POV character for the majority of the third trial.
- Big Damn Kiss: Subverted. Kokoro attempts one in Chapter 29 while Rantaro is having a breakdown and gets reamed for it.
- Cast Full of Gay: As mentioned on the creator’s Tumblr blog, over half the main cast is LGBT: Rantaro and Miko are bisexual, Jasper and Kaoru are gay, Rikona is a lesbian, Amai is asexual, Ahmya is aromantic and asexual, and Yuuma just identifies as queer.
- Closed Circle: As per usual for Danganronpa. This time it’s a school, not unlike the first game.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Four are introduced at the end of Chapter 2: Specs, Flora, Izu and Slade.
- Dies Wide Open: Kaoru dies with their eyes wide open. Rantaro makes a point of closing them at the start of the investigation.
- The Ditz: Amai.
- Empty Chair Memorial: A crossed-out portrait of each dead student is placed in their podium in the trial room, just like in the games.
- Guyliner: Both Rantaro and Haruto are explicitly stated to wear makeup.
- Immoral Reality Show: Carried over from DRV3.
- Important Haircut: Sachiko gets one after the fourth trial.
- Rose-Haired Sweetie: Downplayed. Amai has pink highlights in her hair and is very sweet.
- Rube Goldberg Hates Your Guts: The first murder is accomplished with a Rube Goldberg device.
- Tiny Tyrannical Girl: Rikona. She’s about the size of a third-grader and acts like a spoiled princess.
- True Blue Femininity: Kokoro is the deurotagonist and a girly girl, and she has blue hair, blue eyes and wears a blue and white outfit.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Ayano. Shot at Dawn reveals part of why she started studying physics was to try and please her neglectful parents.
