Part 77: Episode 17 - Future Side, Episode 9: You are my reason to Die

Back on the Future Side, we're greeted by Monokuma! He says that our mental capacities are probably about the size of a gnat's, so...



...this entire episode will be dedicated to recapping the previous eight!



...actually, he's just kidding, though there will be a short summary. So we're skipping that part, because it's hardly recapping anything at all, anyway - it's like a minute long. The only highlight is Monokuma calling Byakuya "Glasses McDorkface".



So anyway, when we last left off, the building wasn't exactly doing so hot.



Inside, Ruruka gets tossed around and presumably knocked out while Juzo isn't really fazed by it.



So Juzo manages to open the secret passage, and inside he finds...





...well, something! Looks like we're doing the old Virtue's Last Reward shuffle - turns out all this time we were assuming our characters were in a specific place, but actually, they're somewhere else entirely! Underwater, in fact!



After the opening, we rejoin Kyoko and Ryota, having run away from the room Juzo and Ruruka were in. Ryota asks Kyoko why she's so sure the secret passage was a trap, and Kyoko responds that while it would have led to the building's exterior, they wouldn't have been able to leave - alive, anyway - because they're underwater. Now, how did she figure that out?



As we see Juzo walking around in the room he just entered and finding... cabinets? Servers? Something, anyway - Kyoko explains that they are in fact in a carbon copy of the original building they started out in, positioned exactly under the original. She figures they were moved when they fell unconscious after being gassed at the beginning. Ryota can't imagine why somebody would go through the effort of doing all that, to which Kyoko replies that it would make sense if the aim was to confuse people.





The thing that tipped her off that something was wrong was that at one point, Aoi had a knife thrown at her that got lodged in the door. Later, after they woke up again, the mark from that weapon was gone. Her reasoning as to why exactly somebody would stick them into the ocean is that whoever was behind it probably wanted to keep outsiders from intervening. All this has her figuring that Kyosuke is probably involved in this in some capacity, given that the construction of this building was his pet project and all.



Speaking of Kyosuke, he's still dealing with Miayabot, who has gone into Dr. Octopus mode, I guess. Man, Monaca builds some rad as fuck battle robots. Danganronpa mecha game spinoff when?



However, Kyosuke deals with the problem relatively easily. We also get some voiceover from Kyosuke talking about how despair has taken everything from him, and that he wants to eradicate despair so that nobody else has to suffer the way he did, that kind of guff.





In the broken down husk of Miayabot, Kyosuke finds some sort of tablet that seems to be Miayabot's CPU. It also has some information on the different participants - here, we get to see Great Gozu's forbidden action, and it also shows Chisa's forbidden action before Kyosuke tears the device out and pockets it. Chisa's forbidden action is "Kyosuke dies". Actually, while we're at it, let's have a recap. Here's everybody's forbidden actions as we know them:

Makoto: Running in the hallways.
Aoi: Getting hit with a punch or kick.
Kyoko: Currently unknown, and I don't believe there were any hints towards this at this point.
Kazuo: Answering a question with a lie.
Gozu: Getting pinned for a three-count.
Koichi: Opening his left hand.
Miaya: Turning to the right.
Seiko: Having her shadow stepped on.
Juzo: Punching someone.
Ruruka: Allowing somebody to leave the building/game area.
Daisaku: Witnessing violence by the participants.
Sonosuke: Eating something - or rather, putting food in his mouth.
Chisa: Allowing Kyosuke to die.
Kyosuke: Currently unknown, though one could take a guess, there were enough hints to get close enough for government work. If you want a hint from me, here's one: Kyosuke's forbidden action has come up for him several times already. Take a look back at past episodes and you might spot it.
Ryota: Currently unknown, and I don't believe there were any hints towards this at any point.

So we're three out from knowing everybody's forbidden actions.



And Kyosuke then uses his fire sword to cut Miayabot in half for good measure. RIP in pieces Miayabot, you were rad but too powerful for this world. Kyosuke talks about how the actions he's taken aren't wrong, and that he will become hope. Sure, pal.



Then Juzo shows up with what is basically a "oh hey, you got one".



And as the two walk off together, we get some voiceover from Kyosuke saying that no sacrifice is too dear for his purpose of defeating despair. Uh oh. Juzo better watch the fuck out.



Back with Kyoko and Ryota, Kyoko suggests finding Makoto and the others, to which Ryota says that he can't imagine Makoto being much help. This then has Kyoko talking about how great Makoto is. And in the midst of her wistful reminiscence, they find themselves interrupted...



...slightly awkward.



So, the four get together and talk about Kyoko's discovery/theory that they're currently underwater. Makoto then starts moping about the idea that Byakuya might have gotten himself hurt because there might be traps at the actual building where he was going. He also brings up the point that somebody was going to die because of him, though Kyoko immediately shoots that down as something he shouldn't worry about. He also mopes about not being useful to anyone in this place.



This has Kyoko giving him a pep talk in regards to how infectious his hope is and how they need him and his words in this situation. She also makes a point of taking one of her gloves off before taking Makoto's hand.



Back with Kyosuke and Juzo, the two exchange information as to who got killed. Juzo finds himself somewhat put off by the fact that Kyosuke seems to straight up not give a shit that Seiko, Sonozuke and Koichi kicked the bucket. He then finds himself even more put off by the way that Kyosuke just blatantly goes "Kazuo's dead too, and I killed him", though he tries to play it off smooth as that just being part of the plan of purifying the Foundation. First the Foundation, then the world.



To that, Kyosuke gets kinda suspiciously wistful, talking about how Juzo has been at his side for years, all the stuff they've accomplished, that kind of stuff. Kinda sounds like, say, Juzo has a terminal illness or something like that that he doesn't know about and won't make it to that "then the world" phase. He also talks about how he believes that he is the one that can change the world and that his conviction never wavered. Juzo says that his conviction to support Kyosuke has never wavered, either, and Kyosuke agrees that he'd have never made it this far without Juzo's support.



Juzo gets kinda freaked out by this sudden reminiscence period and says that he has something he needs to get off his chest.



Kyosuke replies by shoving his fire sword straight through Yuzo. Yep. That just happened.



The dying Juzo can only ask why.



And all he gets as a response is "you know why". Fucking amazing.



RIP our boy Juzo. Turns out there was somebody who could remotely control him.



And Kyosuke walks off, cursing despair for making him kill Juzo. Kyosuke seems like the guy that would blame getting stuck in traffic on the way to work on despair. Or stubbing his toe.



Back with Makoto and the gang, they've also been doing the same thing I've done by collecting the forbidden actions they know. They also talk about Kazuo and his message to Makoto.



Also, Ryota looks at his phone in a way that must be important or they wouldn't focus on it. Either that, or it's another red herring.



We then cut to Ruruka stumbling through the hallways and eventually falling to the ground in a sitting position.



Turns out she was present when Kyosuke cut up Juzo, hiding. She then talks to herself about how everybody gets betrayed eventually and how she did the right thing back then...



...back then being when Sonozuke was trying to open the secret passage, as we see in this flashback. The two have a talk about betrayal, Sonozuke reassures Ruruka that he'd never betray her, that kind of stuff.



Ruruka then goes in for a kiss...



...and uses that to pop one of her sweets into Sonozuke's mouth, and, well...



Yep.



Ruruka tries to explain that she just can't take the risk that he were to betray her...



...but Sonozuke just goes right back in.



He tells her that he understands, and that he still loves her.



We cut back to Ruruka attempting to block the door to the room she's in with some rubble, visibly straining while doing so. Turns out we're back at that time again - the time limit for the round is almost up.



She then stumbles and falls down.



She's not exactly in a good frame of mind right now. She keeps telling herself that everything will be alright as long as she stays alive, that she can make a lot of new friends once she gets out, and that it will be easy to stay alive if she just never lets anyone betray her.



Back with the main gang, they're also busy blocking the doors to the room they're in, with Aoi doing most of the work. Kyoko brings up the point that whoever the attacker is, they seem to have complete control of the building, so really, a barricade isn't going to do much good.



Kyoko then asks Makoto to promise that whatever happens next, he doesn't turn his back on hope, and that he doesn't forget that she's always on his side. Makoto gets into his hope mode with that, saying that there's no way they can lose.



And, with that, it's time for sleep. The next thing we see is...



...fucking hell. Well, RIP Ruruka. You were kind of a massive evil fuck, but it seems like there was something in your past beyond that incident with Seiko that fucked you in the head, so I guess you're not completely evil.



Also, here's another ominous hole-in-ceiling shot.



Makoto wakes up, and it seems like everyone's still alive. Uh, though, if you look closely...



...something doesn't seem right. Yep, looks like Kyoko legit died this time, not from the attacker, but from her forbidden action. And what was it?



Yep. What Monaca said was entirely right - because of Makoto [being alive], one of the survivors from the DR1 killing game is going to die.



Makoto, uh, isn't taking it well. Neither are the others, for that matter.



And in the midst of them trying to come to terms with the fact that Kyoko is dead, Kyosuke takes this opportunity to use the intercom to shittalk Makoto some more, talking about how his platitudes are useless, and how it's time to settle once and for all whose hope is greater - Makoto's or Kyosuke's.



Makoto is then reminded of what Kyoko said to him just earlier - to not turn his back on hope, and that she is still with him, and Makoto seems ready to settle this. That ends this episode.

Next time, on the Despair Side, things go downhill incredibly rapidly. It will not be pretty. Also, Junko has what is probably the best moment of Despair Side.

What the fuck just happened?: Juzo enters the secret passage but just finds a room that shows him that they're currently in a building that is under water. Kyosuke destroys Miayabot and finds a device that has all of their forbidden actions on it. Kyoko and Ryota team up with Makoto and Aoi. Juzo joins up with Kyosuke but then gets a sword shoved through his chest by Kyosuke for some reason. We get a flashback showing that Ruruka killed Sonozuke by moving one of her sweets into his mouth during a kiss, triggering his forbbiden action. Ruruka then ends up killed by the attacker during the next sleeping period. Furthermore, Kyoko ends up dead because of her forbidden action - going past the fourth time limit with Makoto still alive. Kyosuke then uses the intercom to declare the final battle between Makoto's hope and Kyosuke's hope.