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flecks-of-stardust · 9 months

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Stardust's Ranking of Rain World Custom Regions

It's late and I'm bored and I love mods, and if you can you should try some of them because this community creates some incredible stuff and you better appreciate that.

These regions are loosely ranked with an emphasis on my enjoyment, not necessarily the quality of the region, though those can be linked! I will clarify where necessary. You can use this post as a recommendation list, or you can just read my thoughts and reviews of various custom regions for fun or some shit. I dunno. For some reason I end up making lists a lot.

This post will be updated as I try more mods and as more mods come out. The post is current as of October 14th, 2023. Some regions have additional notes, which are elaborated on under the list. Also note that for the vast majority of these regions, I am talking about my experience going through them as Survivor. Additionally, assume all regions have a pup spawn chance unless explicitly stated otherwise.

Highly enjoyed, strongly recommend

Stormy Coast*^ — and another usurper with lots of room to spare. Stormy Coast is the most incredible region I've ever had the pleasure of playing. The atmosphere is just incredible, especially if you do as intended and revisit it across the timeline! The concept of Stormy Coast, its design as an abandoned shipping port, the changes as you move through time, the lore, all of it is just amazing. I just adore it. The music is also absolutely fantastic. I don't know how to describe the experience because it's. Quite literally indescribable, honestly, looking through it yourself. Go get it. It's just fantastic. I would recommend picking one slugcat from Hunter to Monk's time, and then visiting as the rest of the slugcats. (Also, fun fact: the creator of Stormy Coast is the same person who made Lush Mire and Undersea!)

Far Shore^ — I'm a little surprised to have to say this, but this supplanted Howling Rift as my favorite region very quickly. The overall design is just lovely. The threat music is amazing, and there's a lot to see because Far Shore is a very big region—one of the biggest available right now actually! It's hard to summarize what it's like going through it because different parts of it have such a different vibe; the above ground parts are somewhat like Shoreline, but with more options for traversal, while the below ground parts are sort of like Shaded Citadel (but cooler. I'm biased though, I like the horror aspect). Additionally, there's a certain part of Far Shore that really made it feel like I was playing the game for the first time again. No other region has ever tackled something like Far Shore has, and it's really an unforgettable experience. I recommend entering from the Pilgrim's Ascent gate! Additionally, and this might sound strange, but DO NOT play Far Shore as your first region. Go try some of the other ones on this list first, like Pilgrim's Ascent and Scorched District! It just works better that way, I promise.

Howling Rift*^ — this region is kind of like if you took Memory Crypts and made it as big as Shaded Citadel is, but with amazing music and a much more foreboding atmosphere. There is also an Underhang-like part with some of the most interesting (and difficult) platforming I've had the pleasure of playing in this game so far. It's definitely not going to be everyone's favorite, but it's my favorite. I recommend going in without neuron glow for the optimal experience. The Mark is unnecessary.

Coral Caves and Hanging Gardens^ — absolutely stunning regions, I loved the aesthetics and the level design. They use a mechanic that I haven't really seen in any other custom regions (except Lost Cranny, kind of), and it makes for some really interesting platforming. Hanging Gardens in particular also has some fascinating geometry, which I won't elaborate on because it's a delight to discover on your own! I will say though that Coral Caves in particular is definitely a little more difficult than some of the other regions on this list, but it's not unmanageable as Survivor. Coral Caves also boasts a unique world state for Saint!

Lush Mire and Undersea^ — technically not connected regions, though they share Shaded Citadel as a connection, but come on you have to play these two together. Hollow Knight fans in particular might enjoy these two regions; Lush Mire takes obvious influence from Greenpath and Queen's Gardens, while Undersea has a subregion that looks a lot like City of Tears. They both have gorgeous level design and are not super difficult. I would recommend having neuron glow for Undersea, and the Mark for Lush Mire. However, some people are experiencing issues with pipes breaking and trapping them in walls when Lush Mire is enabled. Mergefix I believe is one way to fix this issue? But so far there hasn't been a concrete fix.

Pilgrim's Ascent and Scorched District^ — intended to be played together and very seamless in the integration. Really cool designs for both regions, in particular PA personally. Did you like Pebbles' broader superstructure or the Exterior? Well I have good news for you. SD is also a fun mix of superstructure-like parts and more Metropolis-looking rooms, and it also has a unique end of cycle effect. Neuron glow isn't necessary for either region, but it would probably make certain parts easier for some people. Definitely have the mark for SD though.

Drainage System Plus^ — the coolest vanilla region expansion I've seen so far. It at least doubles the size of DS and adds a ton of complexity to it, as well as some secrets. It was like exploring it for the first time and it was amazing. Some paths got a little tricky to navigate, but largely I had a lot of fun, and there's generally bubble weed around where you'll need it. I believe it is also fully compatible with Saint's world? So it's technically DS+ and UG+. There may be mod conflicts with DS+ in some cases though.

Hallowed Grotto^ — a very creative concept for a region, featuring unique world changes for every, and I mean every, slugcat. Yes, even Inv. The region itself isn't very big, but that's because each slugcat has a unique version of it. Neuron glow could be nice, but definitely go in with the Mark, and I recommend going once as every slugcat. It is probably better to explore this region in expedition mode to prevent you from restarting your entire save.

Enjoyed, would recommend

Neuron Forest^ — a pretty small region, but a very lovely one! If you like iterator aesthetics and are looking for a calmer experience, Neuron Forest has plenty of that to offer. It is, however, Saint exclusive, but for what it is, it works pretty well. There are also some secrets to be found here, so make sure to check every room! (Also, the creator is on Tumblr! Vela if you see this, hiiiii)

Marshland Wastes — nifty, plant filled region that feels a bit like a more flora-filled Garbage Wastes with Shoreline elements, in a sense? It's hard to nail down. I don't know if I'd call it particularly unique (though it's been a while since I played it), but it's still really well designed and overall fun to play through. There are some really memorable moments though, and personally I really like the crossover room(s). That's just me though. Mark not necessary, neuron glow maybe helpful?

Five Pebbles Expanded* — another expanded vanilla region, which mostly combines pre-Rivulet Five Pebbles with rooms from The Rot. It's done really well though, and there are some aspects to it that are unique to Ex5P. It's nice seeing Cystic Conduit rooms in his superstructure before it rotted so badly. Also! You can enter the cell chamber! It doesn't kill you though, or at least it didn't when I played it, which was a bit disappointing. I was hoping to become fried slug. Do note that the Cystic Conduit rooms have not been changed to be more friendly for other slugcats, nor does any bubbleweed spawn, so uh... have dev tools ready.

Expanded Industrial — and another expanded vanilla region! I liked the new rooms quite a lot, the aesthetics blend in very well i think. It adds a surprising number of rooms with water in them, I will say? But i think it works out overall. The map was broken when I played, I don't know if it's been fixed, but I think it's still worth checking out. Unlike EXSU, EXHI kind of adds a bunch of rooms that don't connect as much to the vanilla rooms, as far as I've noticed, so it's like getting a new subregion of rooms rather than a mix of them. Still, it's pretty cool!

Expanded Outskirts — and yet another expanded vanilla region. It's not as extensive as DS+ I don't think? But it still adds a ton and the room designs are really neat. Certain rooms were a little strange to me? ExSU adds a lot of routing complexity in a way that I like, and now that the map is repaired, it's a lot easier to navigate. It is also fully compatible with DS+! Playing with both mods enabled gives you... three? Four gates? Into DS, which is kind of wild. It also appears I missed a new gate into Industrial Complex!

Timeless Conservatory/Quiet Gardens — a small new region connected to Pebbles' can. It's got a bunch of new screens since I last played it, as well as a subregion for Pebbles! It's very creative, I like it. Currently it's still fairly small, and it doesn't seem like there's any lore pearls in there, but it's a pretty region with some cool aesthetics. Good for a quick play. Mark not required, and I went in with neuron glow but the glow seems to be forcibly disabled in certain rooms?

Enjoyed, wouldn't readily recommend

Lavish Knack — this one's weird. It's a pack of several custom regions, all interconnected, but when I played it only one of them had full backgrounds and foregrounds. The rest were very... bare. It was kind of funny though. Some of the design choices are also a little peculiar, though thankfully, not typically in a way that makes platforming or traversal difficult. It did have one specific mechanic that I really liked, some strange pipe launching thing, but it was used only in one spot. Most of my enjoyment was from baffled laughter at how this region was designed admittedly. I wouldn't call it a bad region, it's just a little funny going through it at times. The Mark won't be necessary for Lavish Knack, though neuron glow might help in some parts of it.

Aerial Arrays*^ — this one will ah... not be a favorite of many people, I think. I found it interesting, and I enjoyed the platforming, generally, but. Um. It is. Pretty cursed. In several ways, and in ways that a lot of people won't like. Some of the camera transitions are a little rough, some of the design choices are a little... peculiar, and some tiles are a little bare in a way that's a little noticeable if you're really looking at the aesthetics, but considering this is the dev's first region? It's pretty damn impressive. It's pretty well made too, imo. It also boasts a surprising number of unique pearls, two of which uh. Are pretending to be white pearls. I'll... leave that for you to figure out. Do note that some parts of Aerial Arrays are bugged right now, but I've given the dev my feedback and they'll be pushing a hotfix for bugs soon. The Mark is not necessary, and you can skip grabbing a neuron since there's neurons in Aerial Arrays.

Washroom — rather small region, but it was pretty neat. There's not much to it, but I think it achieves its purpose well. It made me feel like laundry as I was going through it. A surprising amount of worm grass was in the region though. Mark and neuron glow not necessary.

Lost Cranny — possibly the smallest region available at the moment, but considering it was made in just three hours, I say it's pretty damn impressive. The map was unfortunately broken when I played and I'm not sure if it'll ever be fixed, but truthfully the region is like. 8 rooms? So. It's hard to get lost anyways. Short and sweet, imo. Could be worth looking at, and Balagaga said the region might get expanded if people are interested, which could be interesting. Also, this region is Monk exclusive.

Did not like, would not recommend

Expanded Leg — full disclosure, this is mostly a me thing, but ExLeg was eh. I already don't like the Leg, so I don't know why I went into it expecting I might enjoy it. (I do know. It's because of PA.) It's just... Leg. But the other side of it. I will say though that some of the platforming in ExLeg feels even less clear than in the vanilla Leg? But maybe that's a skill issue on my part, I dunno. If you like the Leg you might like ExLeg, but I wasn't a fan personally.

The Tower (not the Daszombes one) — this one wasn't particularly interesting to me. It was basically just pole hell, and some of the design was... eh? The camera transitions were also a bit jank imo. Very much not my thing. Some rooms were pretty though, and it's also the dev's first region, so I have to cut them some slack.

Honorable mentions

Fortunate Development — not fully a region mod, but it cleans up the rot from all of Pebbles' superstructure. It was bittersweet to play through this, and I enjoyed it, but ultimately it's just Pebbles. Still worth checking out though imo. I don't think this one is compatible with Ex5P? I'm not sure though.

The Tower (the Daszombes one) — I actually have not watched most of Das' content, and certainly not the Iterator Logs, so I was very out of my depth when playing through this. it seems interesting, I just have no context for any of it. It was heavily unfinished when I played it though; one room would be fully designed, with foreground decor and lighting and stuff, and then if you go through a pipe, you end up in a bare room with literally nothing but the geometry. It was jarring, but also clearly unfinished, so I can't judge it too hard. If you like Das' stuff, you might be interested in this.

Additional notes

* These regions have some fairly intense flashing in some parts:

The Underhang-like section of HR has electrical storms like vanilla Underhang, but they're far more intense and far more constant than what Underhang gets. It also has a pretty strong particle effect in a good bunch of rooms; it made my game lag in some of them. Honestly HR just has a lot of eyestrain-y graphics in general, which is a huge shame because it’s basically my only complaint about it.

Ex5P has Primary Cortex rooms that still feature the (harmless) green lightning, and that too can get pretty flashy.

Aerial Arrays' upper part is full of slug zappers. Yes, seriously. They flicker on and off. If you dislike RTA because of the visual flashing effect, you'll want to avoid playing Aerial Arrays, because they're unavoidable.

Stormy Coast is, well. Very stormy. There's lightning effects in most outdoor rooms, and they're unavoidable.

None of these mods have a config menu to reduce or disable the flash effects, so be careful if you're sensitive to flashing. The mod No More Flashes may help with some of these, but not all.

^ There is at least one unique lore pearl in this region.

Note that Undersea's pearls currently do not give the correct dialogue. Wrayk (the dev) has been notified of the issue, though fixing this hasn't been a priority for him as of late. Additionally, any Saint timeline pearls are currently unreadable by Moon, but the dialogue is available on the mods wiki(!).

& The review for this region is currently outdated, due to there having been an update to the mod since I wrote the review.

#rain world #hi main tag. go play mods. they're incredible #before anyone asks: yeah these are ranked in roughly 'most enjoyed' to 'least enjoyed' order #but the categories are more accurate than the exact order #region ranking #<- that is for me to find this post again #three of myrmice's regions are on here. that's how you know they make amazing stuff

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thenewfuture · 8 months

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Ranking the Masterminds of DanganRonpa and Fanganronpas

Hey everyone. During this break, I wanted to do some fun rankings that have been scrambling around in my brain for a while now. And the first one we got is ranking all of the DanganRonpa Masterminds.

The real true culprit behind their respective killing games, the ones forcing everyone to kill and distrust one another. The big final boss!

Quick rules to explain the process here:

-While their core character will be taken into account I will primarily be ranking their status as a mastermind first and foremost obviously. How they handled their killing games, hiding their identity and motivations for doing so.

-Only masterminds from fangans I have seen will be ranked, so if there's any one you don't see here it's most likely because I haven't seen it, so don't bother asking.

-Oh, and one final thing of course...The following will contain massive spoilers for the main DanganRonpa series, and certain fangans, take with your own risk.

#8 Akira Tsuchiya and Narumi Osone

DanganRonpa Rebirth holds a special place in my heart; it was the first fanganronpa I had heard about being a big April Fools joke, but soon I discovered the fanmade rework and dubbing for this project known as Rebirth Voices. Remaking the series in a new way with new twists, new class trials, and of course new-ish masterminds. I say new-ish because Akira was the original mastermind of Rebirth vanilla while Voices added Narumi as an extra mastermind.

And while I do indeed like Rebirth and its cast, the masterminds here leave a lot to be desired... And maybe that's because the series was cancelled before their roles of masterminds could get rolling, but these two aren't much compared to others. While we may never know what could have been, I will instead rank them based on the outline the Rebirth Voices crew provided.

So first Akira is your basic despair-filled mastermind fare. Influenced by his grandma's teachings of despair, made him the next generation of despair, and said grandma was killed by Kego and he wanted revenge, yada yada yada. Like I said, standard fare. And in Rebirth Vanilla, I hear he made it so Ayumu never really had any bad luck which is...a thing I guess.

Compared to him however, Narumi is......interesting... So she was in a rights group for Ultimates but lost her dad due to riots and so....joined Akira to make a killing game for.....f-for the sake of hope and.....and intended for Ultimates to be seen as saviors just like back then-

What the Nagito Komaeda, Hope Bagel Bullshit?!

Like....like why?! What? What for any of this?! I kinda get that in order for them to make this series they couldn't just have Akira be the mastermind, but seriously, what kind of reasoning is that?! And in chapter two, she used a corpse of one of her siblings to save Kego by have him swap places with him; WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN?!

Maybe I'm blowing this out of proportion because like I said, the series is cancelled and maybe they could have salvaged this storyline, but as it stands; these two don't have going for them and as a result, DanganRonpaRebirth seemingly ends right back where it started; as one big joke no one talks about anymore...

#7 Tsumugi Shirogane

Oh man guys! Are you ready? This is it, a new chapter for the DanganRonpa franchise, a killing game without Junko Enoshima to be a part of us! Sounds spectacular! How could they fuck this up?

Oh, I'll tell you how. Maybe it starts with having a story so gut-punchingly meta it basically hurts any form of theorizing and creation of any fanwork and community building, also pull the rug under the players' feet and into a ice cold pool of water so many times they develop psychological trust issues along with hypothermia, and to cap it all of, have the mastermind be so, FUCKING, BORING!

I'll go into my feelings about V3 as a whole another time, but for now I'll just stick to talking about Tsumugi, and oh my word, is this girl a whole bag of nothing true to her word. Like, I should feel something she's revealed to be the mastermind just like Shuichi was, but I just don't. I should feel some sort of betrayal and anxiety from the sheer thought that it could be someone we spent so much time with over the course of the game, THIS IS WHAT MYSTERY GAMES LIVE FOR, and yet that feeling never comes with her. You know why?

Because Tsumugi has nothing going for her.

Name me something she did over the course of this entire game. Anything, anything at all, anything of note. Go ahead, I'll wait. I'll be right here.

...........................

You can't think of anything can you? Not one single solitary thing Tsumugi has accomplished. Not one character moment. None, hmm?

"Well she was apart of the Bugs Meet and Greet" So were other characters and even Himiko and Tenko had a funny moment in there, next. "She was in Angie's students council group" Again, so were others and that cult accomplished a grand total of nothing as a result, try again. "That...that one cg in her Ultimate lab" You're addicted to porn. "Oh, what about that one time in the NWP with Shuichi" That moments amounts nothing more than establishing an alibi for the two of them and even when it comes into question the lie Shuichi told to get Kokichi to cough up his involvement, Tsumugi sweeps that shit right under the rug. Meaning this whole game, the mastermind has left virtually no impression until the very end. Do you realize how messed up that is!?

For out the entire duration of the killing game, Tsumugi has thing of note, "being so plain" It's her whole schtick.

Plain plain plain. Plain plain plain plain. Plain plain plain plain plain plain. Plain. Plain Plain Plain Plaaaaaaain.

Plain, plain plain plaaaaaain

Plain!

PlANE!

PLAINE!

PLAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIINNNNNNN!!!!!!!!

And it wouldn't even be that bothersome, if we were SHOWED how she was plain. I think this video goes into detail why Tsumugi just saying she's plain doesn't work too well. Because all she's doing is saying it. No examples whatsoever about this phenomenon. In Fire Emblem Awakening, there's this character Kellam, who has many supports dedicated to how he doesn't stick out and how others easily don't see him, Tsumugi doesn't have that. In Blowback, Akeru is so good at being a silent and invisible ninja, that hardly anyone sees or hears her, Tsumugi doesn't have that. Even Makoto, Komaru and Hajime, admit to themselves and others that they are so ordinary to others based on the things they like; Tsumugi gets none of that!

Why can't Tsumugi be shown being plain and forgotten? Be shown taling and being ignored by others, being shown that she heard or witnessed an event or conversation and wasn't noticed because she's so plain and inactive. Or be shown wearing something ridiculous and no notices her at all. Show, not tell, people, show, not tell!

Another thing I want to address real fast is how many think that Tsumugi is dangerous because she helped the killing game go on for like....53 seasons. And like.......no. At least I don't think so. Tsumugi kinda gives off the vibes that she was just an intern at TeamDR and was given the chance to participate in a few killing games, and mastermind the V3 one. But apparently fucked up so much that she ended the series in its entirety. Oops. In the pregame world that V3 is trying to tell, I just get the vibes that Tsumugi is just a massive DanganRonpa fan and nothing more.

We could had great things coming from having a brand new mastermind this game, but if we were just gonna get stuck with this bluenette plain Mary Jane here, I'd rather have it be Junko for the 53rd time honestly. At least then it'd be consistent.

#6 Kazou Tengan

Hey guys, DR3 sucks.

*Wooing and clapping ensues from the audience*

Thank you, thank you. Good, now that I've gotten the easy bait out of the way. Onto Tengan.

I will give props to the DanganRonpa 3 team, it's not Junko Enoshima again; let alone a young girl this time. But an old man. Okay....okay...it's different at least. Why did he become a mastermind in the place?

"He became brainwashed by watching a despair video given to him y Chisa" ......Huh....? O-Okay, I guess... H-His motivation for the game at least...?

"He wanted Ryota to use his talent to brainwash the world into hope" ..................huh.....? What...what....what the fu-

This seems like a last minute decision, like they just chose a random name out of a hat or flung a dart towards a spinning wheel. Of all characters they could have chosen to be the mastermind of the final killing game, all the Future Foundation Heads, and all past characters leading up to this point. They choose...Tengan... Why, exactly? Up until this point, Tengan has been a side character, his only moment of note is kicking Juzo's ass(to the praise of many), and fighting with Kyosuke. Again, none of this sets him up to be swayed towards despair. Even after his death he's rarely talked about, suppossedly left a dying message in his blood, but again, even then, Tengan leaves little to no impact on this story.

He shows up so few times in Despair Arc for him to matter, and like I said, does very little in Future Arc. So it really is like they just chose him randomly. And so unlike my huge rantings about Narumi and Tsumugi at their roles of being the mastermind, Tengan doesn't even warrant enough to invoke any emotion out of me. He's just mastermind simply cuz...that's all. It says a lot about this series when even Kodaka doesn't like that the anime made Tengan the mastermind. But in any case, if we can take away one thing from this dissapointing mess; it's that NicoB was right once again with his crazy bullshit predicting powers.

#5 Izuru Kamukura

Top five baby, woo!

Now Izuru is interesting because, even though he techinally counts as a mastermind, he really......isn't in the grand scheme of things. Let me explain...

He is the one to plant the virus into the Neo World Program, that much is true, but in DR2 we're simply told about his actions and technically don't even get to meet the guy face to face. So one could make the argument that is really was just Junko, again. It wasn't until Despair Arc of DanganRonpa 3 that we truly get to see Izuru's character and what he's like. And I do like Izuru as a character, I think he's incredibly interesting. But as a mastermind....eh...

Izuru is neutral, let's just get right to the chase, Izuru is true neutral. He could care less about any ideals of hope or despair, he just lacks any empathy or any human emotions for that matter and just wants to go with whatever doesn't bore him. He's not overly edgy, evil, dark story, Shadow the Hedgehog person that most portray him as. He really is.....just neutral about everything. He only goes with Junko because she proved to him how unpredictable despair can be, which is why if literally anyone else got to him first, like Chiaki or Chisa, maybe the Tragedy wouldn't have occurred!

Wow guys, could you imagine that. What if we treated Izuru as an actual person, and not some lab experiment. Fascinating!

Izuru was quite literally a means to an end for Junko Enoshima, and I've feel like we've just scratched the surface of his potential. But as it stands, Izuru isn't really evil just misunderstood.

#4 Utsuro and Akane Taira

There is quite a lot to talk about with both Utusor and Akane, so I'm just going to break them up first.

-4a. Utsuro.

Utsuro is....fascinating to me. There are time where I like him more than Izuru; a much more interesting and relatable backstory, a proper hand in the story he derives from, and we do see him emerge at the final trial of DRA rather than just others talking about him. And then there are times....when I don't like him as much as Izuru. It's no surprise that DRA is literally just DanganRonpa 0.5, with A LOT of characters and trials mimicking the first game and even pulling from UDG and DR2. "A somewhat demigod bored of the world helps out Junko Enoshima just to see what despair is like and helps her achieve her goal" Golly, where have I heard that before?

And to make matters worse comes his innate ability, what he's known for; Divine Luck. Unlike Izuru who has multiple talents and therefore has many abilities at his disposal to take care of any and all threats that could come his way, Utsuro just has luck. And not just any luck, mind you. Luck so strong it nearly bends reality itself like the Netflix's Live Action Death Note movie to make whatever Utsuro wants, when he wants it. And therein lies the problem.

Utsuro's Divine Luck is so great, you can ask literally how he did anything and the answer is simply: Divine Luck did it.

"How did Junko's plan go so smoothly?" Divine Luck did it.

"How did Utsuro swap places with Yuki so easily?" Divine Luck did it.

"How did Utsuro get so much food and money when he was alone and starving?" Divine Luck did it.

"How did Tsurugi survive getting shot point blank at his temple?" Divine Luck did it.

"How did Akane survive with her wound and nearly drowning in the ocean?" Divine Luck did it!

"HOW DOES THE DAMN SUN AND MOON RISE?!"

WHO CARES?! ANAKOS DID IT! DIVINE LUCK DID IT!

It really gets worse in SDRA2 when basically all of Void, Mikado especially, are just sucking his dick dry essentially because emo demigod boys are just that damn hot. It really is a coin flip on whether I like Utsuro or not.

-4b. Akane Taira

Now onto the hyper energetic and emotional side to our blank and emotionless trouble maker.

Akane Taira I can say is much more fleshed out and interesting compared to her master. First off, her story of being lonely and on the streets forced to make ends meets by doing jobs as a maid is honestly really sad and compelling. She's Yuki/Utsuro's main support throughout the killing game and helps him on many occasions. So to ultimately reveal her true nature by the end of chapter five is such a gut-punch to my emotions. (Take notes, Tsumugi!)

That being said; there isn't really that much different compared to what we've seen of Akane previously and her despair persona. Just that she's really acrobatic and horny, I suppose... Which isn't really bad thing I'd say, she gets the jobs done well.

Her legacy spreads and haunts the Kisaragi Foundation in SDRA2, Akane has left a lasting impression on the surviving trio that the mere thought of her coming back sends them into shivers and willing to do anything to prevent that from happening, and you can mainly see it from how they treat Sora when they finally come together. But Akane is mainly following orders and whatever Utsuro wants, so like Izuru if Utsuro was just found by literally someone good, I'm sure Akane would've turned out fine as well.

And the interesting thing about Akane is much like how others are hurt by Akane's betryal, Akane has come to grow close with her classmates as well. She wants Master Utsuro back but at the same time she doesn't want them to die either. She has a heart, she's compassionate, she understands, she empathizes.

These two are really quite something, and I do like them. But there are things about these two that hold them back for me and just shy away from making the top three.

#3 Junko Enoshima

Here she is everybody! Junko-MotherFuckin'-Enoshima! The bitch that just keeps on coming back! The one that started it all!

Junko has a rep for coming back so many damn and being ludicrously tied to DanganRonpa's man lore and literally every other's story. Started the Tragedy, blackmailed Juzo, basically groomed the Warriors of Hope and leaned demigods like Izuru and Utsuro to her cause, all so flawlessly that one would call her a "Mary-Sue" in any other sense. So with all this in mind, why is she so high on the list?

Well, one of the reasons is that most of the other candidates SUCK! And the other is that......she just works.

Junko Enoshima is shallow, incredibly so. She causes Despair, just for the fun of it. She has no sad or tragic backstory, no reason to this other than cause she can. She is despair incarnate, causes Despair for Despair's sake, and there's nothing more to it than that.....and that works.

Sometimes, you don't need a relatable villian for your story. Sometimes, a bitch just evil. And that's fine. There's nothing wrong with that.And because she works so well it good explain why she keeps coming back. She's the Bowser to our Mario, the Dr. Eggman to our Sonic the hedgehog, the Ridley to our Samus Aran, the Xehanort to our Sora. We've peaked with her and there can hardly be any other villian to replace her. And with a story as wacky sounding as DanganRonpa, a hammy and almost cartoony villian such as her can only live in this strange world.

Junko works when you just stop thinking about her. Her motivations, her character, her personality, they all answer for the simple sake of despair. Like I said, incredibly shallow like a Saturday morning cartoon villain. But they're typically the best and most impressionable villains around.

#2 Monaca Towa

Pickle Satan!

I said we've peaked with Junko and none can really compete with her as a mastermind of a villian for this series, and I do mean that. But Monaca Towa here just may come close.

She's like Junko in almost every possible way. Sociopathic nature, manipulates people psychologically, and uses others like tools with no remorse for her actions. Saying Monaca here is FUCKED UP, would be a huge understatement of the century. But on the other hand, unlike Junko; you can kinda understand where Monaca is coming from. Abandoned by her birth mother to live with her abusive father and step-brother who obviously don't give two craps about her and make her know it. And apparently the treatment is so bad, when Monaca shows up one day with a wheelchair, they don't question why. Telling, isn't it?

While she's immensely smart of her age, she still is just a kid. Throwing temper tantrums when things can't go her way and using her cute looks and status as a child to trick others into working for her. She is vile, Chapter 4 will make you know this with what she did to Nagisa. And was already showed signs of being heartless when she nearly got the WOH to jump off the school rooftop, remember, this was BEFORE Junko showed up.

Monaca was perfect to be a complete mastermind, Ultra Despair Girls set her up to be the next Junko Enoshima, and when she finally comes back in DR3....they just throw it away anticlimactically and send Monaca into space.....sure I guess... Though it is kind of funny in a way, like she did not DR3 so much she yeeted herself out of the plot. I respect it.

I do like Monaca being as unsympathetically as Junko, but there are times when I do want her to be better, she is still just a kid after all. It's not her fault that she grew up in a shit environment. But then again, that's what makes Monaca so fascinating. There are many sides and many layers to dissect her, to pick a part bit by bit, it's intriguing to me.

It's with these reasons why I think Monaca is an amazing mastermind going by the main series timeline. .....Buuuuuutttt....if we were to include fangans into the mix. I think one does beat her.

#1....Mikado Sannoji

Behold, ladies and gentlemen! The master of dimensions the pleaser of crowds, Mikado Sannoji; Charming Magician!~

Mikado checks every box for me. Cool design? Check! Great personality? Check! Hammy? Check! Unrentlessly eeeevil? Checkity check check!

I do believe it was a stroke of PURE, GENUIS to unviel Mikado as the mastermind in the early prologue. Like, HOLY SHIT! The mastermind's right there! Oh my god! What a fucking twist to start off with!

Mikado is so charming with his eccentric personality and unhinged abilities as a magician, that for like two chapters you kind of forget he's the mastermind!

Like look at him! Look at this silly dude!

So funny, so witty, so goofy!

So, waitwaitwait, go back-

Waitwaitwait, this isn't right. Go back, go back!

OHMYGODGOBACK!!!

...ahem....like I was saying. even though Mikado is silly, I don't think he's so silly he ruins the narrative. It's a perfect balance if you ask me.

The mysteries surrounding him and his power of the other Void members are not to be trifled with. He's the boss for a reason folks, don't forget it. But because he was revealed so suddenly there are at times a lot of humorous moments with the cast where they either ignore him, kick him out of activities, or just straight up tell him to die.

And what I like most about is....finally...FINALLY GUYS....it's a mastermind....WITH NO RELATION TO JUNKO ENOSHIMA WHATSOEVER!

WOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! WE DID IT! WE CAN HAVE A GAME WITHOUT HER! FUCK JUNKO ENOSHIMA! HE DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT BITCH! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

...I mean he does kind of copy her plan to use the Neo World Program, but Mikado could not literally give a fuck about Junko. He's all about that Divine D as I said before.

If there's one thing I can say I don't like about Mikado, its that once chapter 6 rolls around he just becomes another typical, "human are inferior to my AI genuis. Gwahahaha" stereotype that kind of kills his whole magician he vibe he had going. And his plan literally factored on him not even thinking that Akane would be the one to have Divine Luck when she emerged from the ocean. My man has linear thinking. If you pointed this out to him I'm pretty sure he'd explode.

But despite all that, Mikado is clearly set on his goal and will stop at nothing to achieve it, and DAMN NEAR SUCCEEDS I WILL ADD! He won the chapter 5 trial and everyone would have died had the Kisaragi Foundation not intervened, by all accounts, Mikado won. That is INSANE! And I love SDRA2 for breaking the molds of past DanganRonpas! With all that said, I tip my hat to the AI magician.

Mikado Sannoji is my favorite mastermind, personally.

-Mod

#the new future #mod freeze #ranking #danganronpa #super danganronpa 2 #danganronpa 3 #danganronpa ultra despair girls #danganronpa another despair academy #super danganronpa another 2 #danganronpa rebirth

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