V3 and it's themes.
Hello.
I know this topic is a bit of a random lens to discuss this game. But I feel like Danganronpa as a franchise keeps being downplayed in terms of legitimate theme discussion and I wanted to rectify it a little bit. Because I think it has things to say, even if it can be a bit awkward in how it says it.
In particular I want to point use V3 to explain how it explores Post-Truth.
Post-Truth as a concept is both philosophical and political. Though for the sake of not causing conflict, I shall focus on the philosophical angle.
The general idea goes that objectives truths are hard to pin down. Because all human beings have their biases, and our perceptions are easy to fool. It probably wouldn't surprise most of you that this concept is tied to post-modernism; a movement that seeks to highlight the instability of meaning, truth, as well as grand narratives that we tell ourselves as a society.
Post-Truthism in reality is several ideas together about what truth is, and why we struggle to agree on any given truth that is presented to us.
Part of it is linguistic bias and definitions. We can be very deceptive by our use of definitions in order to justify a whole host of truths.
For example let's take the concept of a cat. I can define a cat in multiple ways, a pet, a predator, a carnivore, a mammal, etc. And then I can chose one of these definitions to dress up my statements; "a carnivore attacked a person," carries a different meaning in comparison to, "a cat scratched the leg of a human."
Even if technically, both statements may be true.
V3 explores these concepts in many ways. Many characters bend and obfuscate aspects about themselves, using technically true statements. Such as Korekiyo and his insistence on "sending friends to his sister".
Kokichi is the most blatantly tied to the theme of this work. Lies is his entire thing, and he pushes the protagonists, Shuichi and Kaede to consider that truth may not always be the most moral action. Because in this story, truth and lies are very unclear, which basically reduces everything into information. And this information ends up only having value if it's considered as an element that will bring a reaction from others.
Saying, "I saw this person kill someone" brings no value, if nobody cares.
And since all of the backstories and memories are made suspect, it's all a question of information and reaction to this information.
Tsumugi takes this concept a step further and brings in the role of fiction. Fiction isn't necessarily about lying, but it is often a lot of information being used for the sake of entertainment. Middle-Earth isn't real, but people still enjoy reading about it, and it would be strange to say that Middle-Earth is a lie.
Tsumugi exists to bring down the idea that there is a truth to be found, that the grand narrative of Hope vs Despair is meaningless and fictional.
But of course, fiction doesn't necessarily mean the lack of meaning. Truth doesn't mean "good" and lies doesn't mean "bad". And the complexity of these concepts is in my opinion the overall point of this game.
Even Angie I believe has a role in the themes, as she is all about beliefs. Lies, truth, fiction and such will not result in anything of value, unless someone at some point believes in the information they are given. Regardless of if it is truth or not.