Part 61: Episode 1 - Future Side, Episode 1: Third time's the charm

Alright, so we begin our journey of wonderment with somebody in handcuffs, who is revealed to be good old Makoto, who is of course best known for being Komaru's brother. Can't remember if he did anything else important, really.



Anyway, Makoto is being arrested for treason, and is being told this by... this guy. We'll get an introduction later. Also, this guy calls Makoto "my boy", which sounds as awkward as you think it would.



One scene change later, and we're given a voiceover talking about The Incident and the Remnants of Despair. This is mostly just information we already know.



We also get some shots of the Remnants of Despair, which is great, because I'm pretty sure we never actually got to see those characters from their time in their despair form. So we have Kazuichi building giant Monokumas.



Teruteru doing... something with food.



Gundham leading an army of animals.



The Ultimate Imposter probably doing some sort of spy stuff and running through gunfire (and looking graceful as all hell doing it).



Sonia apparently turning her country into a fascist dictatorship of despair. Also, Mahiru is there to take pictures!





Hiyoko and Ibuki are performing at some sort of despair festival.



Nagito, as we know, pledges his service to the Warriors of Hope.





We have Mikan being Mikan.



Next, the voiceover talks about Future Foundation. We'll be meeting all of these characters later.



They're facing off against Fuyuhiko, Peko and an army of mobster Monokuma guys.



We also get to see Akane and Nekomaru making an appearance.



Basically, nothing really *happens* in the scene though, it's just showing us the Remnants and the Future Foundation people facing off.



Also, Izuru gets to show up and look all mysterious. Anyway, the voiceover talks about the conflict between Despair and Future Foundation turning favorable for Future Foundation with Junko's death, but the Remnants are still out there fucking shit up.



And we have a title card of sorts.



And then we get an actual opening.



It shows us the main characters that are going to be involved, and there's probably some sort of symbolism going on here with giving us a shot of the character being dead as well, but I'm just going to skip over this.



We are shown this, which surely isn't ominous at all.



And then we have our proper title card.



Helicopters are flying to the swanky as all fucking hell Future Foundation headquarters.



Inside, we have a big meeting going on. Get ready for a character roll call.



The subtitles introduce the characters for me, so that's handy.



Well, at least in part. The other guy is the Office 3 director and a former Hope's Peak scout, Koichi Kizakura.



The left one is always the first the subtitles introduce. The other two are Office 4 director and former Ultimate Pharmacist, Seiko Kimura, and Office 6 Director and former Ultimate Boxer, Juzo Sakakura. Kazuo says that this meeting is being held because of Makoto's betrayal.



The other one is Office 11 Director and former Ultimate Farmer, Daisaku Bandai. Also, his voice is super, super high and it's really freaking me out.



Ruruka points out that if somebody were to attack this place right now, they could take out the entire Future Foundation board in one swoop, which is a reasonable suspicion to have that's totally not going to become true in this single episode.



Kazuo doesn't think there's any reason to worry, the island doesn't show up on any official maps and the building was constructed with security in mind.



Juzo gets ticked off about the Remnants still being active and Kazuo not really doing something about it. It's around this time we're also introduced to Daisaku's main "thing": He loves sayings. Sayings like "a dancing wolf needs sake". Sayings that don't make any fucking sense. He even says that they're not supposed to make sense. Then people get into an argument about his voice, which is way too high for his size and stature. During this, we're also shown somebody making their way up an elevator...



...and into the room.



He then just straight walks onto the table because he doesn't give a fuck I guess.



He talks about how Kazuo seems to be losing his edge as chairman with his inaction, but then shelves the topic in favor of talking about the actual topic at hand - Makoto.



We're shown the Remnants he kept secret from Future Foundation for his Neo World Program project. I think Teruteru might show up in my nightmares tonight.



Chisa seems to notice something about that group.



Meanwhile, Makoto arrives at this place via helicopter, and is greeted by Aoi, Kyoko and Yasuhiro. The meeting wonders about why Makoto would have chosen to protect these Remnants, and considers that maybe Makoto was a mole for the Despair after all.



Makoto then arrives at the meeting...



...and quickly gets handcuffed over Aoi's objections. Juzo says something about it not being anything personal and not having a choice...



...then promptly punches Makoto into the gut...



...and the face, over Makoto being a traitor.



Aoi protests and gets a knife almost thrown in her face as a warning from Sonosuke and Ruruka.



Gozu intervenes on the side of Makoto - or at least on the side of "no punishment before a proper trial".



Kyosuke wants to continue with the trial, but Kyoko protests, saying that Makoto is in no condition to testify. Kyosuke agrees, wanting Makoto's testimony to be reliable, and allows him to recuperate, adjourning the meeting.



Next, we get Kyosuke and Chisa in a different room. Kyosuke demands she take a break, and we get some hints from Chisa that the two are closer than Kyosuke would let on. She wants him to take a break as well, but he just kind of waves it off, then wants to tell her something, but thinks better of it and just tells her to check on Makoto, which she then heads off to do.



Kyoko and Aoi talk about how they're going to be suspected as co-conspirators as well. Kyoko thinks that Aoi doesn't need to get involved, since Kyoko is Makoto's boss and Aoi is from a different branch, but Aoi insists on helping.



Meanwhile, Chisa treats Makoto's injury. Chisa brings up that she used to be a teacher once upon a time, and that she actually taught the same people Makoto protected. Chisa asks Makoto about why he protected them, and he gives a Makoto-like answer of them not being born that way and them having hopes and dreams in the past, that kind of thing. Chisa says that while that's not wrong, there are some crimes that are too serious to be forgiven like that, and that you can't kill the Remnants with kindness. That you need people like Kyosuke that are willing to do the right thing. She then asks Makoto if he could try working together with Kyosuke and maybe try to see things from his side.



Kyoko exits the bathroom where she had been talking with Aoi, and runs into somebody who's acting suspiciously fidgety.



Ryota was here for the meeting, showed up late, and then didn't want to just barge in, so he's just standing outside the door fidgeting. However, suddenly, an earthquake happens!



This causes Aoi to lose her footing and open a bathroom door trying to hold on to something, revealing...



...corpses!



Meanwhile, Yasuhiro is outside, having not been allowed to take part in the meeting. I guess when your job is comic relief, you're kind of expendable that way.



He decides to use his crystal ball to see Makoto's future, and it looks kinda like an attack helicopter.



And, well, that's because it is an attack helicopter, and it's shooting missiles at the building, which was causing the "earthquake" we had earlier.



Everybody's coming together in the meeting room to survey the damage. Turns out all of the entrances are completely buried under rubble and all the elevators are out. Suspicions immediately fall on Makoto, who gets held down by Juzo as a security measure. Kyosuke tells Chisa to contact HQ for help and that they'll wait for security, but...



...turns out the corpses Aoi found were security. So they're all dead. Communications are also down, as Chisa can't get through to HQ.



Then Ryota shows up with the least appropriate "sorry I'm late" ever. Kazuo seems confused he's here.



Gozu tries to give a sort of motivational speech about how this room is filled with the best of Future Foundation and they'll clear this up no problem...





...which then immediately gets interrupted by Monokuma-brand sleeping gas grenades. Chisa and Kyosuke have a little moment of him trying to rush over to her and all that, but the entire group conks out pretty quick.



When they wake up, the room finds itself quite a bit worse for wear...



...and Makoto notices he's now wearing a strange wristband that shows a timer. Hrm.

We then hear a strange laugh which is *supposed* to be familiar to us, but, well, isn't. Voice actor changes are fun. The screen in the meeting room turns on to show...



...Monokuma!



Makoto, uh, isn't taking it so well. Monokuma then goes on to talk about how the Remnants are having a bad time thanks to Future Foundation, and he's here to thank them... by having them all kill each other. Yep, it's time for another killing game. Makoto gets his righteous fury on about how they're not going to kill each other, but Kyosuke suddenly notices something - Chisa is gone.



The blood splatter on the table with blood actively dripping on it might be a hint. Monokuma says that he should've mentioned it earlier - the game has already begun!



And as it turns out, Chisa hasn't been doing too well since everybody fell asleep. The chandelier she got stuck into falls down...



...leaving her corpse spread out on the table.



Kyosuke isn't taking it well at all and is harboring doubts about himself in his inner monologue.



Monokuma then directly addresses Makoto and declares that this will be the final showdown between hope and despair - "every story has an end, and this will be ours" - to end the first episode. He also tells Makoto to gird his loins for the showdown. Like I said, the dub is special in parts.

So, anyway, that's the first episode. The characters have been vaguely established, the conflict is established, and we have our first corpse. Next time... well, next time we're going to completely shift gears, since we're going through this in release order, meaning that next, it's the first episode of Despair Side, where we will join the future Remnants of Despair in their school life!

Except, wait a minute. Basically, after a few updates, readers expressed having some trouble following, and it was requested I do short summaries to help people out. So that's what'll be happening at the end of every update.

What the fuck just happened?: Makoto ends up on trial for betraying Future Foundation after the stunt he pulled with the Neo World Program back in DR2. Things get interrupted when the building they're in is attacked, leaving our group of characters trapped. Monokuma shows up and says a new killing game will happen. Chisa ends up killed.