Someone I know IRL has recently started replaying Trigger Happy Havoc and has been talking excitedly to me about it all week, so I've been thinking a lot about this game lately! Just today we were talking about the revelation that Sayaka was planning to kill Leon all along - IRL!friend had completely forgotten that detail, and I myself remember being pretty shocked when it was revealed in game. I've since considered Sayaka one of the stronger characters in Trigger Happy Havoc, and I'm still disappointed by how little screen-time she ended up having. I for one would have loved to know more about what she sacrificed in order to become an idol.
Leon's crush on Sayaka is blatant and cute and I ship them a tad. Actually, I ship all the Trigger Happy victims with their killers (I have the softest spot for Celeste/Hifumi), so it surprises me that I only ship one of the victims in Goodbye Despair with their killer.
I too am very weak for easily angered but soft-hearted characters who make terrible choices - especially if they end up feeling gravely remorseful once they realize the severity of their choices. What happened between Mondo, Chihiro, and Daiya (and also Ishimaru, to an extent), was awful. Chapter Two did get to me! It would be one of my favorite chapters were it not for the whole Genocide Jack spin, which was such an unenjoyable distraction and arguably a waste of time. /end rant
His 'let's build bonds with each other by eating together every morning' idea was an excellent one [...]
Yes! And in all honesty, this idea of Ishimaru's ^ is exactly why I've personally never had a problem with his asking the others to call him "Taka" - it fits with the part of his character that is enthusiastic about creating bonds with the others. Ishimaru may be a stickler for rules and regulations, but even before the killing school life begins, he displays a passionate interest in teamwork and cooperation. I've always read his insistence on having the others call him 'Taka' as his way of fostering a bond between him and them - a bond which would encourage them to get along with him and therefore engender teamwork. Ishimaru is absolutely the kind of person who would recognize the social power of nicknames, in much the same way he recognizes that eating breakfast together creates a bond between people. So I personally have never had a problem with the nickname "Taka".
On the subject of names... I absolutely get why folks prefer to call Byakuya "Togami", but I for one can't call him that, since I associate the name "Togami" more with the corporation than with Byakuya himself. Likewise, I prefer to think of the Ultimate Detective as Kyoko rather than Kirigiri, as my brain's already assigned the name "Kirigiri" to her father, the headmaster.
Overall, I like the official localization of the first game, but I will not hesitate to fault it for that particular round of Hangman's Gambit is terrible (no, schizophrenia is not DID!). I also found Makoto's tendency to use "me" rather than "I" (i.e. "Me and [other character] did [X]") super annoying. But the localization of the second game was a significant improvement.
I've never considered that Chihiro's story might be read as a trans male's story, but thinking about it now, this interpretation makes sense, too!
I've never been sure of how much I like Togami, but I think I've warmed up to what a colossal arrogant arsehole he is. It possibly helps that he reminds me a tiny bit of Light Yagami, although Light's better at putting on a socially acceptable façade.
You're not alone. Byakuya's been reminding me of Light since we were first introduced to him. ("He's Light Yagami with glasses," I wrote in my notebook, when I first played Trigger Happy Havoc. "He's a megane'd Yagami.") I'm so inclined to think this was intentional; not only does he look like Light, and sometimes acts like him, too, but their family names sound so similar. I mean. Togami? Yagami? I mean, really.
I think the second game's lack of any detective character might be another reason why I prefer it to THH! In Trigger Happy, you have Makoto scrambling to figure out what Kyoko has already figured out; but in the second game, everyone's working together to work everything out, and I love that.
no subject
Leon's crush on Sayaka is blatant and cute and I ship them a tad. Actually, I ship all the Trigger Happy victims with their killers (I have the softest spot for Celeste/Hifumi), so it surprises me that I only ship one of the victims in Goodbye Despair with their killer.
I too am very weak for easily angered but soft-hearted characters who make terrible choices - especially if they end up feeling gravely remorseful once they realize the severity of their choices. What happened between Mondo, Chihiro, and Daiya (and also Ishimaru, to an extent), was awful. Chapter Two did get to me! It would be one of my favorite chapters were it not for the whole Genocide Jack spin, which was such an unenjoyable distraction and arguably a waste of time. /end rant
His 'let's build bonds with each other by eating together every morning' idea was an excellent one [...]
Yes! And in all honesty, this idea of Ishimaru's ^ is exactly why I've personally never had a problem with his asking the others to call him "Taka" - it fits with the part of his character that is enthusiastic about creating bonds with the others. Ishimaru may be a stickler for rules and regulations, but even before the killing school life begins, he displays a passionate interest in teamwork and cooperation. I've always read his insistence on having the others call him 'Taka' as his way of fostering a bond between him and them - a bond which would encourage them to get along with him and therefore engender teamwork. Ishimaru is absolutely the kind of person who would recognize the social power of nicknames, in much the same way he recognizes that eating breakfast together creates a bond between people. So I personally have never had a problem with the nickname "Taka".
On the subject of names... I absolutely get why folks prefer to call Byakuya "Togami", but I for one can't call him that, since I associate the name "Togami" more with the corporation than with Byakuya himself. Likewise, I prefer to think of the Ultimate Detective as Kyoko rather than Kirigiri, as my brain's already assigned the name "Kirigiri" to her father, the headmaster.
Overall, I like the official localization of the first game, but I will not hesitate to fault it for that particular round of Hangman's Gambit is terrible (no, schizophrenia is not DID!). I also found Makoto's tendency to use "me" rather than "I" (i.e. "Me and [other character] did [X]") super annoying. But the localization of the second game was a significant improvement.
I've never considered that Chihiro's story might be read as a trans male's story, but thinking about it now, this interpretation makes sense, too!
I've never been sure of how much I like Togami, but I think I've warmed up to what a colossal arrogant arsehole he is. It possibly helps that he reminds me a tiny bit of Light Yagami, although Light's better at putting on a socially acceptable façade.
You're not alone. Byakuya's been reminding me of Light since we were first introduced to him. ("He's Light Yagami with glasses," I wrote in my notebook, when I first played Trigger Happy Havoc. "He's a megane'd Yagami.") I'm so inclined to think this was intentional; not only does he look like Light, and sometimes acts like him, too, but their family names sound so similar. I mean. Togami? Yagami? I mean, really.
I think the second game's lack of any detective character might be another reason why I prefer it to THH! In Trigger Happy, you have Makoto scrambling to figure out what Kyoko has already figured out; but in the second game, everyone's working together to work everything out, and I love that.