Part 62: Episode 2 - Despair Side, Episode 1: Hello Again, Hope's Peak High School

So, let's get into the other side of DR3. The Despair Side. And what does it start with? Well, a black screen. And we get Chisa saying "Aw, bummer. Guess I died."



We find Chisa in some sort of movie theater, watching her own death while eating popcorn. She talks about how she was there for some critical moments before she died, and how she was also there for The Incident. She goes on to talk about the Remnants, and how before they were the Remnants, they were just her students.



All their lives, fated to intersect at Hope's Peak Academy. A story of hope that turns to utter despair. This will be the lead-in to the events of The Incident.



And with that, we get our opening.



This one has a far happier feel than the one for Future Side, for obvious reasons. Of course, it still has its share of foreshadowy stuff, but I'm not going to go into detail on it, because I'm really not the type to analyze this.



At the end, we're shown a mysterious silhouette with cat ears. I wonder who that could be?



We begin our episode proper with Chisa being named assistant homeroom teacher for the first group of the 77th Class by Jin Kirigiri.



You know, rocket man from the first game and Kyoko's dad.



Koichi shows up here as well, being a talent scout and teacher. He contributes to Chisa's assignment by loudly belching because he's got a hangover and struggling to not vomit. Chisa loudly declares how ready she is, hits her chest so enthusiastically she almost injures herself, and bolts off to her class.



Koichi and Jin talk about how it was Kyosuke's influence that got Chisa this job. Koichi also brings up that it seems like Kyosuke is angling for the headmaster's job.



Meanwhile, Chisa greets her new class and finds, er, meager attendance. I don't think we need to re-introduce the DR2 characters - we've already done that with the recap I did, like, way back when. Go check that out if you need a reminder.



When Chisa brings up that she's their new homeroom teacher, Hiyoko says that she looks like she'll be fun to break. Chisa retorts by bringing up that she doubled down on health insurance before taking this job. Looks like she's prepared. Fuyuhiko brings up that Koichi is their homeroom teacher, but as we know, he's a bit indisposed right now, with Chisa saying that he's probably vomiting as we speak.



Mikan shows up late, claiming it's because she fell down.



She then proceeds to fall down in her usual manner again.



Chisa wonders where all the others are, and it turns out that those that are there are probably all that are going to show up. Attendance isn't too important at Hope's Peak compared to honing your talent, so basically nobody shows up. Chisa is, uh, not impressed with this class.



So she decides to engage her Ultimate talent in an attempt to whip this class into shape.



She declares them a bag of rotten oranges for giving up on their classmates and their youth like that, which gets a reaction out of everyone - except Sonia, who has no idea what oranges are.



We even get a just wonderful looking orange as illustration material.



Chisa *really* gets into this to an almost frightening degree. She talks about how even rotten oranges can make good marmalade if you have enough of them - Mahiru doesn't think it works like that, and I think I agree.



Sonia, however, is also really into this, saying that that kind of camraderie is what she was looking for when she enrolled here.



Fuyuhiko, on the other hand, isn't too into the prospect of "being friends with you sons of bitches".





So Chisa decides to take it up a notch. Fuyuhiko isn't impressed, declaring that she doesn't have the balls to hurt him.



However, when she fakes cutting his fingers off, it scares the shit out of him and convinces him that yes, she does have the balls. So, with the group relatively unified, Chisa leads the way to find the other class members.



Our trip first takes us to the mens' room, which has Sonia really excited about the prospect of being in an authentic Japanese mens' room.



Suddenly, the ground starts shaking and keeps shaking harder, like approaching giant footsteps. Mikan compares it to Jurassic Park...



...and then the door blows open, sending Mahiru and Hiyoko flying, accompanied by a mighty shout of "MORE LIKE JURASSIC SHIIIIIIT".



Chisa *somehow* managed to protect everybody from that blast. And who is the source?



Of course, it's Nekomaru.





He, uh, caused some damage.



With Nekomaru recruited to the party, our next stop is the cafeteria.



Sonia calls for the chef, and...



...of course, Teruteru immediately answers the call. Sonia asks for a meat dish.



Teruteru then loses himself in innuendo, as is his wont...



...until Chisa puts a stop to that.



Of course, being tied up by a woman in an apron is something Teruteru loves as well.



So the reigns get handed over to Nekomaru, though Teruteru "can work with that as well".



The class is, uh, mildly horrified by this turn of events.



The next target is Akane, who has taken to parkouring all over Hope's Peak, which has landed her on the roof of the main building. So, what's the plan? Well, she smells meat.



And boy, she loves that.



Turns out the group has laid out some bait for her...





...Chisa then sends out Nekomaru like he's a Pokemon...



...the ensuing combat causes explosions all over the campus...



...prompting a snide "the building's shaking more than usual today" from Koichi.



The plan works, though, even if Akane had to be crucified to get her under control.



The next one on the list is Kazuichi, who seems to be working on one hell of a machine, with him to compare for scale.



Given his love for Sonia, he's relatively easy to get to the group, but, uh, he's got a bit of a problem in the smell department.



To the point that Sonia just ends up further and further away every second or so, causing Kazuichi to really freak out.



Chisa tries to comfort him...



...with mixed success.



Our next stop is the, uh, animal shed.



Gundham, as is his wont, makes an entrance like a supervillain, with bats literally swooping down on the others.



He gives his destruction spiel, but doesn't actually need to be convinced to join up, so that's the scene.



The next stop is the music room, where the doors are vibrating. Why are they vibrating?



Oh nothing special, Ibuki is just giving her usual "death metal with a flame thrower guitar" performance.



"Let's stick it to the man!"



"By attending class!" And that's it for this scene.



Next up, we're going to pick up Peko.



Chisa is not really impressed by Peko's reflexes. She admonishes Peko that while her job is important, she also needs to go to class, which freaks out Fuyuhiko because nobody is actually supposed to know about her job. Now that we've only got three people left, Chisa talks about how great all the growthful experiences they're going to have will be.





Then Teruteru gets himself splatted onto the wall by Chisa for a predictable "part of me is growing right now".



Next, the group is looking for somebody outside.



Kazuichi remarks that he doesn't like that guy, since whenever he shows up, his day goes to hell.





And as if summoned, he gets run over by a truck that just shows up out of nowhere.



Meanwhile, a familiar face laments how unlucky he is - he put in 1000 yen into the machine, pushed the button, and no drink.



Then, the truck lands right on the machine...





...triggering a lucky hit that just spits out a whole bunch of drinks.



Chisa picks up Nagito, and that's our scene.



The classroom is now looking quite a bit fuller. Only two left, but the class is now really beat.



Noticing the dust in the classroom, Chisa decides that she'll go find the other two alone if the rest of them cleans up.



Kazuichi asks if they haven't suffered enough...



...and is quickly reminded that no, they haven't, things could be a lot worse. Chisa heads out...



...and the class gets ready to clean.



Mikan does her thing.



Meanwhile, Chisa finds herself here, in particular at a "Mitarai"'s place. She knocks at the door, and...



...hrm. Boy, Ryota sure slimmed down over time. So yeah, this is obviously actually the Ultimate Imposter.



So, with Chisa knocking down his door, he tries to make an escape through the window, but...



Moral of the story, don't try to ditch your teacher. Because she can apparently teleport.



So, with Chisa dragging the Imposter along by his leg (quite the achievement given his size, really), we have only one classmate left to get.



Meanwhile, Hajime is standing outside of Hope's Peak.





He's not exactly content with his situation as a Reserve Course student.



And then somebody runs into him and just kind of stops while video game sounds play.



Awkward silence ensues. Yes, we are indeed looking at Chiaki here. But how can that be when she was an AI in DR2? Well, we're going to find out.



Chiaki moves to continue walking, but when Hajime recognizes the game she's playing, she really fangirls out and we get some love interest seeds being sown.



Chisa then shows up, still dragging the Imposter along. She recognizes Hajime as a Reserve Course member, and gives Chiaki an explanation on what the Reserve Course is.



The Imposter then tries to bail, and Chisa quickly recaptures him.



Hajime then has a bit of a mental crisis about his lack of talent. Chiaki retorts that while he doesn't have a talent, that's not the be-all-end-all, and he has a lot more freedom than they do - he can do whatever he wants, all she has is a pile of video games.



Chisa comes back with the Imposter, grabs Chiaki, and makes her way to class again. We get some more love interest seeds with Chiaki waving goodbye to Hajime, and we're back to class.



The class, now fully assembled, isn't too thrilled with the prospect of showing up to classes, but Chisa gives a speech about the importance of memories made with classmates and that kind of thing, which gets people fired up.



And even Chiaki takes a look away from her game for once.



We then cut to Chisa talking with somebody on the phone about her first day.



That somebody is Kyosuke - trust me, he's that little guy there - who is currently busy at a construction site, which is planned to be an overseas location of Hope's Peak Academy.



Chisa talks about her memories of Hope's Peak and how they met there to end the episode.



...well, not quite. We get a post-credits stinger this time. People in a shadowy meeting room, mysterious!



Well, not quite so mysterious. Since we have the knowledge of what happens later, we know that this is the selection process for the whole Ultimate Hope project that would birth Izuru Kamukura, meaning that he took what Chiaki told him and either interpreted it completely wrong, or just flat-out ignored it. Oh Hajime, you cad. Anyway, that'll be it for the first episode of Despair Side. Next time, it's back to the future to really establish this killing game we've got going.

What the fuck just happened?: Chisa is made homeroom teacher for the 77th Class, the class that consists of the DR2 characters. Class attendance is very low, so Chisa takes everybody along to collect the rest of the class. Shenanigans ensue. Hajime, as a Reserve Course member, runs into Chiaki and the two seem to have a burgeoning friendship. Hajime is selected by a mysterious committee to be the test subject for the Izuru Kamukura project to create artificial talent.