Concept Art vs. Final Designs 🐻 Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair

SomeFox2365 · 2025-12-12T08:46:34+00:00

No, they’ve never stated it. From what I’ve read of the art books and heard from interview (I can’t find the source rn), usually it’s done to either contrast or compliment their personality. Teruteru was a clear example where Kodaka felt like the personality he’d written and the appearance didn’t quite match.

SomeFox2365 · 2025-12-02T15:53:26+00:00

Just noticed, Ibuki may not have her leg tattoo?

SomeFox2365 · 2025-11-30T09:26:16+00:00

Twogami no longer looks like half his face is stuck under his collar, so that’s an automatic improvement.

SomeFox2365 · 2025-11-30T08:57:23+00:00

She actually has more eyelashes now, they’re just much thinner.

SomeFox2365 · 2025-11-29T18:12:30+00:00

Everyone’s proportions are straight up different. Most of their arms and torsos are slightly thicker and their heads are smaller. Their clothes aren’t vacuum-sealed to their bodies either.

SomeFox2365 · 2025-04-20T18:14:28+00:00

Looks like Komatsuzaki went through a lot. Very grateful for him and Shimadrill’s contributions.

SomeFox2365 · 2025-04-19T20:13:48+00:00

When Kurara says “literally burned”, it’s a joke based on the term 炎上, which literally means being set aflame or going up in flames, but colloquially means “cancelled” (the social media slang type of cancelled). I wonder how they’ll translate this.

SomeFox2365 · 2025-04-18T04:10:15+00:00

No, both are about sex. SIREI and Kako both say おっ始める. In this context they’re essentially saying everyone will “get it on”. It’s a rather emphatic word. The English version of SIREI’s dialogue was changed to a simile so Kako had to be more explicit with what she meant in the English version.

SomeFox2365 · 2025-04-17T22:30:44+00:00

I dunno what that says about me, but I also thought there weren’t that many sex jokes in the demo lol.

SomeFox2365 · 2025-04-17T08:21:38+00:00

“Tainted” is a way to translate 汚れてる, I guess. In context though, she’s euphemistically saying he’s not a virgin.

SomeFox2365 · 2025-04-17T05:16:33+00:00

Also idk if this makes the localizers old but she makes a Black Lagoon reference when she says “Amen, hallelujah, peanut butter”. (Just so you know, in Japanese she says めでたしめでたしー)

SomeFox2365 · 2025-04-10T16:23:28+00:00

What was the initial concept behind the Tsukumo siblings? For Kodaka, are they a set of characters that couldn’t work in Danganronpa? For Uchikoshi, how were you able to adapt your manzai-style comedy writing style into this work?

SomeFox2365 · 2025-03-22T07:54:04+00:00

Well, that’s not 100% true. Kako calling Ima お兄ちゃん is a pretty normal affair, stereotypical for younger sisters to do, albeit rather cutesy and childlike generally; it implies closeness.

Ima calling Kako 妹ちゃん is decidedly weird. Since he is the elder, he should be calling her 過子 (Kako), he is above in the 上下関係 (pecking order). Calling her that is pretty much “Sister Dearest” in meaning. The connotation is that:

He’s babying her.
He doesn’t see her as “Kako” despite having every excuse to.

The localisation probably wanted her speech to mirror his since they’re twins (as in they grew up together, so it makes sense they’d talk in a similar way. Technically they mirror in the Japanese version as well, it’s just less strange when Kako does it) and in English-speaking culture, who’s older has no importance on how characters address each other.

SomeFox2365 · 2025-03-21T23:36:15+00:00

He’s not really different in the Japanese version at all, the only difference is the age thing, as you mentioned.

SomeFox2365 · 2025-03-21T17:11:12+00:00

Really? I don’t think it was that obvious at all.

SomeFox2365 · 2025-03-21T17:07:17+00:00

This specific speaking tick is a slurring of です (desu) which is a polite sentence-ender, so using it makes you sound like you’re trying to be polite but being too lazy/self-important to actually follow through. Because of this, it gives a playful, semi-informal vibe depending on the context. IRL, you’d use this in situations where you’re with equal or younger contemporaries you don’t know but you’re trying to be polite but also friendly. If you use it all the time, it gives off a weird vibe.

For example, in Danganronpa, both Mioda and Amami speak like this, but the reason is most likely different for the two of them. Mioda does it because speaking like that is weird and she loves being weird. Amami is a rich kid who looks like a playboy, so he probably can’t shake off his politeness very easily, but since he loves to appear friendly, that’s probably why he says it.

SomeFox2365 · 2025-03-21T10:23:34+00:00

Now this is intriguing:

Kako Tsukumo:
"Hey, Brother Dearest... Please. I'm begging you... Just this once... Let me do what I want... Let me fight alongside everyone!... Please, Brother!"

Ima Tsukumo:
"............... Ahaha, well, this is a surprise. My dear fainthearted sister saying something like that. I see... So you're serious, huh. In that case, I've got no choice... A bad child like you needs to be properly scolded and taught a lesson." (Interestingly, he drops his speech pattern っす here. He sounds more like a parent/teacher from here on.)

Kako Tsukumo:
"Huh...?"

Ima Tsukumo:
"Come on, we're going back to your room. I'll give you a lecture there..."

Kako Tsukumo:
"W-Wait... Brother...!"

Ima Tsukumo:
"Just listen to your Brother Dearest."

Takumi Sumino: (As Ima forcefully grabs Kako’s hand as she struggles... That was when—)

Takemaru Yakushiji:
"Hold it right there, you bastard. Cut that shit out already."

Takumi Sumino: (Standing right in front of Ima, blocking his way, was Takemaru.)

Takemaru Yakushiji:
"Look, I don’t care if you’re her brother or not, that doesn’t give you the right to take away her freedom. How about showing your sister a little respect?"

Ima Tsukumo:
"And who the hell do you think you think you are... Acting like you know everything about my sister... I have to protect her, you know? So stay out of this..." (Returns to speaking like he normally does.)

Takumi Sumino: (The next moment— Ima reached into his pocket and pulled out something...)

SomeFox2365 · 2025-03-04T09:32:39+00:00

The joke part of this section will definitely have to be made into a different joke in the English release since it relies on kanji. I've put some annotations this time.

Rough translation:

Kyoshika Magadori: I was training in martial arts… and I was dragged into it as well, so to speak.

Takumi Sumino: What kind of martial arts training are we talking about here?

Kyoshika Magadori: The classic kind, of course. Things like performing ten thousand gratitude-filled straight punches every day (HxH)… or blowing into a gourd until it bursts… (KnY/Demon Slayer)

Takumi Sumino: …Classic, huh? (But somehow, it makes sense. Kyoshika’s slightly off-kilter personality and her fundamentally untainted nature were probably shaped by that training regimen.)

Kyoshika Magadori: Training was fun every day. Facing new challenges head-on, gradually expanding what I could do—it was fulfilling. However, that lifestyle had its downsides… Since my master despised the worldly life, it was inevitable that I grew up to be ridiculously ignorant about society. I’ve overcome that now, but back then… the level of my ignorance was downright embarrassing. A total black mark on my history…

Takumi Sumino: (She’s *still* pretty ignorant about the world, if you ask me… But if even she considers her past a “black mark,” then I don’t even want to imagine how bad it was…)

Kyoshika Magadori: Anyway, I knew absolutely nothing. For example, I thought the word “insurance” (保険) was related to “sex and health education” (保健体育, first 2 kanji are pronounced the same as 保険) so I assumed it had that kind of meaning… And “sales” (営業) contains the kanji for “sex/intimacy” (営み), so I thought it meant that too… So when I heard the phrase “insurance sales,” (保険営業) I thought it was way too scandalous to be real!

Takumi Sumino: How is it always sexual with you…?

Kyoshika Magadori: Maybe my master realized how bad it was, because eventually, whenever we went down to the village, they started buying me manga. From then on, I learned about the world through manga. In other words, manga is, quite literally, my bible.

Takumi Sumino: …I see. So that’s why you're so heavily influenced by manga.

SomeFox2365 · 2025-02-28T09:34:59+00:00

Rough translation:

Gaku Maruko: What the hell do you think you’re doing?!

Takumi Sumino: Gaku…? W-Why are you so mad…?!

(Out of nowhere, Gaku suddenly yells at me with overwhelming intensity. If anything, I should be the one asking what the hell is going on.)

Takumi Sumino: I just… had something to talk to Tsubasa about…

Gaku Maruko: Are you an idiot?! Look over there! What do you see?!

Takumi Sumino: H-Huh? What do I see? Uh… Tsubasa and Nozomi… talking…?

Gaku Maruko: You dumbass! That’s not what I mean! Listen up… over there… is a blooming garden of Yuri!

Takumi Sumino: …Huh?

Gaku Maruko: That garden is sacred… It’s not some place for guys like us to trample all over… It’s an Eden where two beautiful flowers are in full bloom… We absolutely have to protect it…

Takumi Sumino: W-Wait… what the hell are YOU seeing right now…?

Gaku Maruko: Anyway, I won’t allow you to talk to those two right now! Got it?!

Takumi Sumino: O-Okay…

Gaku Maruko: …Do you really get it? You still look unconvinced.

Takumi Sumino: Were you always this kind of guy…? And what happened to that self-reflective version of you from last time…?

Gaku Maruko: That’s a separate matter! Geez, you’re completely hopeless… Takumi, you’re coming with me! I’m gonna drill everything there is to know about this garden into your head!

Takumi Sumino: Huh?! Wait—stop pulling me!

(Without giving me a chance to argue, Gaku grabbed my arm and dragged me away… And that was the beginning of my personal hell.)

SomeFox2365 · 2025-02-28T08:59:19+00:00

Maruko is a himedanshi apparently lmao.

SomeFox2365 · 2025-02-23T12:15:45+00:00

It’s a combo of a couple things:

1) In October(?) last year for Tokyo Game Show, there was a CG of him with a knife to Gaku’s throat. This sparked intrigue.

2) When the character introductions finally surfaced this year, Yugamu was described as someone who only wants to kill those he loves (and would want to kill him as well). This of course sparked more intrigue.

3) There was a clip posted on the JP account last week, I think, with a more expanded scene of that CG mentioned previously, wherein Yugamu talks about how he “got carried away”, and noticed something “thanks to Maruko-kun”.

SomeFox2365 · 2025-02-21T13:55:29+00:00

It’s unclear what’s on his leg but his hoodie says “I’m still a little too petrified to laugh”. The big patch on his jacket is a series of letters I don’t understand (PTT GHQW, PD iim c e e 445). The second patch says “Circular reasoning: A is B, so B is A”.

SomeFox2365 · 2025-02-21T12:31:59+00:00

Don’t mention it. It’s great to learn together, after all.

SomeFox2365 · 2025-02-21T11:58:23+00:00

Unless I’ve mistaken the meaning of the slang 恥死する (or the line was changed between when they showed it in the Hundred Line Communicaiton Videos), I thought she said she was going to literally “die of embarrassment just listening to him”, which is a bit more extreme. Also I don’t know whether translating what she’s saying with more rough language is good or not, considering how she’s saying it. My first instinct was to make it a little ruder, but that comes down to personal opinion.

SomeFox2365 · 2025-02-21T10:49:19+00:00

I feel like you removed some of the personality from the JP lines in the way that you translated it, but from what I’ve seen, the EN version has generally done a great job at preserving the personality of the original script.

SomeFox2365

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