Hello guys, for those of you wondering,the chapters are ready, but I do need to create a title picture forthem and drawing new characters isn't easy. Hopefully, it should bedone sometime this month. For now, I'll entertain you guys by talkingabout each chapter of No Escape. Don't worry, I won't go intoany spoiler territory, since I'll only be going over chapters alreadyposted. Think of it like a commentary of the story. I will start withthe Prologue and yes, I am including all three parts to it fromKeebo's, Kaede's and Kumuchi's point of view, since all of them areall a single prologue in three parts.

As you know, this story was inspired bythe Future Arc of Danganronpa 3 and Ultra Despair Girls.I will be honest, at the time when starting this story, I had notfinished either of them. I had only watched about 5 episodes worth ofthe Future Arc and at least three chapters worth of Ultra DespairGirls through Let's Plays. I have gone farther since in UltraDespair Girls, so I will eventually finish the game and perhapsthe Future Arc. Because I never intended on placing any charactersfrom Danganronpa 3 that didn't exist in Danganronpa 2or 1, I wasn't that all concerned in finishing Danganronpa3. To be honest, I found the game mechanics in Ultra DespairGirls to be better and more suspenseful than in the Future Arc ofDanganronpa 3, but that's mostly because the killing game inthat anime was fit for anime and not for a game. Because Danganronpa3 knows it's an anime and not a game, it focuses more on theplot, characters and animation and less on the killing game, comparedto Danganronpa the Animation that focused more on the killinggame, while neglecting the characters and plot in the process(personally, I found turning the game into an anime to be a bad idea,but would be lying if I said that I would've been a Danganronpa fanwithout the anime, since it was the anime itself that got me into thegame in the first place).

Because I am writing literature, I canadd a bit more to the killing game, besides you will die if youbreak this or that rule. While I am aware that it will never belike the actual game, it's not to say I can't add anything that couldwork from a gaming and literature standpoint. For instance, thestudents can still use monopads to check out everyone's informationand forbidden actions they already know, but they can't use it tosave a game or keep track of what gifts, items or whosoever underwearthey have collected. If anyone has collected items, they will storeit in a bag or backpack of some sort. I will go into farther detailsof supplies and restocking when I discuss Chapter 1, but let's justsay that the items each team or team member is able to carry willbecome very important to the story, including the limitation per teamand person.

The other conflict is Shuichi. He hasto linger in the shadows without anyone knowing he's alive, notcounting those that weren't aware of his death or existance.Each forbidden action targets each character psychologically and whatmade them a threat in the previous game. For Kaede, she used a simplemachine mechanic, using objects to trap the Mastermind. Monacaweakens her by preventing her from attacking anyone or defendingherself using objects. Keebo was at his peak when he used his roboticfunctions to destroy the school, thus Monaca used that as a forbiddenaction for Keebo. For Kumuchi, as Kokichi, she used lies against theMastermind to the point of manipulating both the Mastermind andMonokuma. Because of how unpredictable Kumuchi has always been,Monaca considers her a much bigger threat than Shuichi. Speaking ofShuichi, his strength often came from others around him. His friendsgave him courage and the will to press forward. Without his friends,Shuichi would fall into Depression. Monaca knows this and by givingShuichi the forbidden action of never revealing he's alive, she'sslowly driving him into madness.

So, as you can imagine, the idea behindthe forbidden actions is to slowly drive each character into Despair.It would be like instead of Kyoko's forbidden actions being "Mokotosurvives by the third turn" or something like that, it would be"not taking sides." Because Kyoko has always believed inremaining neutral in all cases, to go against that motto would begoing against her principle and way of life. This is what makesMonaca one of my favorite Danganronpa villains. She is an expert oftorturing her victims psychologically to the point where by the endof the game, the characters are never the same person they were oncebefore. You can understand why Kumuchi is a sociopath and why shewould choose to leave Earth and DICE. To her, the farther she is fromMonaca, the less torture she will ever have to face for the rest ofher life.

Now, one character I would like to talkabout is Kaito. I've noticed a lot of misinterpretations of Kaito'sand Kokichi's relationship. Neither character hates the other andKaito believes in Kokichi as much as he believes in Kumuchi inchapter 1. How Kaito works is that he believes in people he knowspersonally. He has known Kokichi long enough to believe in her whenshe told him that she wasn't the Mastermind. The reason he believedit right off the bat is because Kaito had always believed somethingwas off about Kokichi being the Mastermind. It didn't feel right tohim. Kaito's the kind of person that is aware something is off, butdoesn't know what. That is the hunch he's talking about whenhe says he doesn't believe insert character is the murderer.It wasn't the fact Maki wasn't capable of murder, but he felt thiswouldn't be the way she would go about it. It was the same withGonta, that he felt Gonta would confess, like Kaede did in the firsttrial, if he murdered Miu. Kaito didn't take into account that Gontamight've placed the cord in the wrong slot. Through Shuichi, Kaitohad learned that even faith in his friends alone can be just as muchof a flaw as it is a strength. Neither of Kaito's friends are God, sorelying on faith alone in your friends or loved ones would be likecrossing a crooked bridge.

hunch he's talking about whenhe says he doesn't believe insert character is the murderer.It wasn't the fact Maki wasn't capable of murder, but he felt thiswouldn't be the way she would go about it. It was the same withGonta, that he felt Gonta would confess, like Kaede did in the firsttrial, if he murdered Miu. Kaito didn't take into account that Gontamight've placed the cord in the wrong slot. Through Shuichi, Kaitohad learned that even faith in his friends alone can be just as muchof a flaw as it is a strength. Neither of Kaito's friends are God, sorelying on faith alone in your friends or loved ones would be likecrossing a crooked bridge.

I would go into farther detail aboutKaito's relationship with Kumuchi or Kokichi, but since I am onlytalking about the Prologue, this is as far as I will go. I do plan ongoing very deep into their relationship. The same will go forKumuchi's relationship with the rest of the team and Shuichi, thoughKaito, Miu, Keebo and Gonta have a lot more history with Kumuchi. Youcan already guess the reason why from Chapter 1. You can be sure Iwon't disappoint.

There are a lot of things to go into,but since I will only comment on what's happened in the Prologue, Iwill finish by explaining Kumuchi's cross-dressing. I will get intoher reason for it later on in the story, even hint at the reason, butI will confirm that it isn't because she enjoys dressing up as amale, acting like a male, being trans or even for the same reasonChihiro cross-dressed. Part of the reason is very similar to theanime Romeo X Juliet where Juliet cross-dressed as a matter ofprotection against those that sought her life. Kumuchi's life hasbeen continually at stake to the point where if she existed intoday's world, she'd be under a Witness Protection Program. Now,because this is Danganronpa and takes place in a world destroyed byDespair, DICE is the only kind of protection Kumuchi is evergoing to get. Imagine living in a world where you're 8-10 years oldand every person over the age of 17 was continually after your life.Kumuchi is inside a ship where nobody knows about her past, but ifshe were to live in Towa City dressed the way she is, every adultwould see her as a target for rape, beating, torture and murder, ifnot sold into sex trafficking. Pretending to be a boy makes Kumuchiless of a target, since boys are more hyperactive and trouble whenused as target practice, especially as teenagers.

It's not to say Kumuchi doesn't enjoybeing a girl or being girly. Believe it or not, I enjoycreating little girls or female characters that act feminine orgirly, because it's often underrated and seen in a vain light. One ofthe things I love about anime is how much they value femininity andbeing girly. Kaede is the most feminine and girly character in theDanganronpa universe, followed by Sonia Nevermind. These two girlsare some of the strongest characters, showing beauty outside andinside. Soda didn't fall for Sonia, because she was beautiful, girlyand a Princess. He fell for her, because of her beauty she showedthrough her actions and outward appearance. Same with Kaede. Nobodyfollowed her, because she was girly and played classical music, butbecause of her inward strength and beauty. There's a reason most menare attracted to femininity. It isn't about the dresses or makeup,but about the grace and inward beauty that comes along with it; theability to hold your tongue when you're angry or bring peace by asingle word.

It's not to say Kumuchi doesn't enjoybeing a girl or being girly. Believe it or not, I enjoycreating little girls or female characters that act feminine orgirly, because it's often underrated and seen in a vain light. One ofthe things I love about anime is how much they value femininity andbeing girly. Kaede is the most feminine and girly character in theDanganronpa universe, followed by Sonia Nevermind. These two girlsare some of the strongest characters, showing beauty outside andinside. Soda didn't fall for Sonia, because she was beautiful, girlyand a Princess. He fell for her, because of her beauty she showedthrough her actions and outward appearance. Same with Kaede. Nobodyfollowed her, because she was girly and played classical music, butbecause of her inward strength and beauty. There's a reason most menare attracted to femininity. It isn't about the dresses or makeup,but about the grace and inward beauty that comes along with it; theability to hold your tongue when you're angry or bring peace by asingle word.

Unfortunately, femininity has beenlooked down upon throughout the years and considered vain. Manylittle girls today consider femininity to be the same as vulgarity orslutty. This is why I love how Danganronpa shows a clear differencebetween the two. You have Miu, who is a very vulgar, nasty andperverted girl, while Kaede is a very feminine, graceful girl. Bothare blond-haired girls and wear a lot of pink, but when comparing thetwo, it's no competition which one is more beautiful. Same with Tokoversus Komaru Naegi. It's not to say there aren't any unfemininegirls that are beautiful, beauty comes in all shapes and sizes, butbecause femininity is often ridiculed, they're often placed under anegative stereotype.

For Kumuchi, I wanted to place her as acharacter that never experienced femininity and unknowingly longs forit. Even though she doesn't like dressing as a girl, it's not becauseshe hates femininity, but because she's never tried it. It's like achild tasting food they've never tried before. They're never going tolike it, because they've never tasted it and it looks weird. Itdoesn't mean Kumuchi won't enjoy it and will act like thestereotypical genderbent tomboy. I've always been a rebel ingenderbending my male characters and having them act more femininethan their male counterparts to give them more uniqueness. This way,they can feel like their own character and not a clone of their canoncounterpart with boobs. I've ran into way too many fan fictions likethat and I hate it, because it takes away the creativity and ideasyou can use with making a canon character the opposite sex. You'renot making a clone, but your own character based off of the canoncharacter. Also, using the same name the canon character has for yourgenderbent character is just weird. I mean  Kokichi is a boy's name forcrying out loud! Look up an actual Japanese female name! There are aton of them that rhyme with Kokichi!

Anyways, that is all I can reallycomment on about the Prologue. There honestly wasn't a lot, since thePrologue was mainly the introduction to the game before everyone runsout, then ending with Kumuchi and Shuichi sneaking into the boy'sbathroom. It was still interesting to talk about how I planed thePrologue and what I was going for with the characters. I will beupdating the next three chapters very soon, but I need to create atitle picture for each of them and it may take a while. I will try toget them done sometime this month. Until then, I hope you enjoyedthis.