https://youtube.com/watch?v=wonOw6YTFjQ
Hey guys, I found Kokichi'a embarrassing song that he sing together with his DICE members lol (Miu Iruma)
You're a shit singer!
I didn't sing this! If I'm going to karaoke, I'm busting my chops proper! Go big or go home!
What's your karaoke song?
Toxic, Brittany Spears.
...Can't tell if you're being serious or not, but I can defo see that...
Are your characters fucking in spite of The Horrors, or are they fucking because of The Horrors?
There is a third thing to consider.
love you horse girl ouma (also yes this is more post game kichimomo)
hehe….greeeeen
Right before the Promised Day transmutation, Father goes through his sacrifices talking about how poetically just Truth is in its punishments. Ed, who’d only wanted to regain his bearings and family, had his leg taken as well as his last remaining family member. Al, who wanted the warmth of his mother’s touch, had his body taken. Izumi, who’d wanted to see her child again, had her reproductive organs taken. Roy, who’d had his sights set on the top in order to reform Amestris, had his eyes taken. And Father doesn’t talk about Hohenheim, but following this line of logic, Hohenheim had wanted knowledge from Father, and gained it at the expense of everyone he’d ever held dear.
Ed rejects this Truth on the principle that Roy hadn’t opened the portal of his own volition so it’s senseless to say he deserved punishment. But it goes deeper.
Earlier on, Ed told Envy he understands–Envy is jealous, because humans have loved ones who are always there to pick them up, to bring them back, to pull them through, to support each other unequivocally. And this breaks Envy. When Roy tells Wrath the same, Wrath can only respond with how infuriating it is. Pride and Greed, at other moments, are shaken when a human suggests there’s value in the love and support of another person. Ling berates Greed about forsaking his human friends. Al challenges Pride’s relationship with Mrs. Bradley, and Ed challenges the lack of love and care he receives from Father.
And they’re right to be shaken, because THAT’S what disproves Father’s interpretation of Truth. Yes, Ed lost his leg, but Winry gave it back. Al had his whole being taken, but Ed cared enough to pull him out. And eventually, got Al’s true body back too. Izumi couldn’t have kids, but she got to raise the Elrics. Roy lost his sight, but Riza became his eyes, and Marcoh healed him. And he was restored so quickly because, as Ed pointed out, it WASN’T just for Roy to be punished as they had been. Hohenheim suffered under immortality watching all those around him die, but in the end he got to die loved, with family to succeed him.
Truth punishes. Father was right about that. But Truth is fair. Truth gives the chance to fight back. Truth lets people atone, and pull through, and get back up, through the aid of those who love them. Truth understands human nature, and lets people find absolution through genuine selfless love. Truth was THRILLED that Ed would give up his door to rescue Alphonse. “That’s it! That’s the right answer! You’ve won! Take him home!” Because Ed revoked pride and arrogance and selfishness and chose love, humanity, family. It absolved him, absolved Al. That is Truth.
And the completeness of this Truth, that there’s room for redemption and value in humanity and strength in caring for others, that it’s not just a force to punish humans foolish enough to strive for things beyond possibility, that’s what scared the homunculi more than anything.
To play the role as the villain Kokichi doesn’t really have to do much all he has to do is tell the truths that hurt and reflect the traits the characters hate about themselves right back at them.
Oh Kaito you’re afraid that you can’t adequately protect your friends let me put in a situation where you physically can’t.
oh Maki you’re afraid of your assassin talent being revealed to the group let me out you publicly.
Oh Kaito your illness is affecting your hero persona and don’t want anyone to know because you don’t want to seem weak let me pick and prod at that and reveal it to everyone including your sidekicks who you desperately try to maintain a strong face around.
oh maki you’re afraid of/ hate the side of you that has no morality and hurts people with “no” reason I’ll become that.
oh you guys are afraid after Kaede’s death about the killing game and now that Kaede’s many attempts failed and there’s seemingly only one way to escape and working together didn’t work let me reinforce that holding hands and singing kumbuya isn’t the answer and will do nothing but lead you down the same path Kaede was taken down.
Of course he doesn’t other things to get under the groups skin but in general the V3 cast already hates the truths about themselves all Kokichi has to do is reflect them and bring those fears and insecurities to the surface he doesn’t inherently lie to hurt he just exposes what they refuse to face.
The v3 cast have a very weird relationship with the truth.
Despite claiming to value it and clinging to it like a life buoy in the uncertainty of the killing game they constantly run from it whenever faced with a truth that’s unsatisfactory to them they do the equivalent of a child covering their ears and singing loudly so they don’t have to hear what someone else is saying they call it a lie or a trick by monokuma to tear them apart even when it’s a truth they have to confront.
like Kaede being the culprit they reframe it and say that it was Kaede’s valiant effort to save everyone from the certain death and not that she set up a trap to kill someone and at the time they believed did kill someone the truth is softened and reshaped into something easier to live with.
Which is why Kokichi is the antagonist in the groups eyes he holds up an unflattering mirror to the groups and forces them to confront hard to swallow truths they would normally run from.
The irony is brutal the V3 cast idolize the truth until it wants something from them.
What makes this hypocrisy so dangerous is that it’s mostly invisible to the group themselves most of them genuinely believe they are choosing truth when they brush off Kokichi or another “lie” told to them by the game and monokuma when in actuality they’re just choosing the option that makes them feel better so they can keep their hands over their ears pretending like their friends aren’t killers or friendship is the way to end the killing game.
Truth to them is acceptable when it preserves hope unity or self image and a lie when it threatens those things.
Take Maki’s assassin reveal the group immediately believes it and turns against her but when it comes to Gonta as the killer they refuse to believe it until all the evidence is overwhelming or Kokichi’s plan to sacrifice himself to save them they completely disregard it. (They not being all just majority)
This is why Kokichi becomes unbearable to them not just because he lies (they all lie) but because he refuses to participate in their willful ignorance and moral denial.
What makes it worse is how stubborn a lot of the cast can be especially when it comes to things they believe in and for some avoiding the truth and refusing to confront reality holds together the very fabric of their identity.
In the end the V3 cast doesn’t fear lies they fear truths that would force them to confront things or change and Kokichi isn’t “evil” because he deceives them but because he refuses to let their selective honesty and cherry picking go unchallenged.
Kaito’s narrative foils are really interesting because they’re like taking Kaito and splitting him into two separate extremes.
Tenko is his outfacing self the heroic brave strong reckless luminary of the stars the one who who leads the group along with his brashness and his hot headed personality.
Kokichi on the other hand is the parts of Kaito that stay hidden the lies the facade the self awareness that things aren’t going to work out the way he wants them to Kokichi mirrors the way Kaito hides his illness his fear and his sense of powerlessness behind bravado.
Kaito kind of sits in the middle between the two not simply one or the other but blending their approaches to become something like I mentioned before while he jumps to protect Kaede and drags two introverts into the light he also hides his illness and fears from the group because what they don’t know can’t and won’t hurt them and works with Kokichi on a plan to end the killing game for good before going back to his roots and acting on pure emotion by stepping out of the exisal and accepting his fate.
Kaito isn’t Tenko or Kokichi and that’s the point he can’t fully replicate Tenko’s heroic certainty nor Kokichi’s control and emotional detachment instead Kaito’s protection is tangled up with his own need to prove himself his stubbornness prioritizes action over reflection and his drive to be the hero can unintentionally hurt others even when his intentions are pure.
What Kaito can do is something neither of them manage to sustain genuine connection (in the killing game). Tenko protects people but struggles to be understood by them Kokichi protects people but refuses to let them truly know him Kaito for all his flaws builds relationships that are reciprocal part of the reason why his influence lingers even when he makes mistakes.
so Tenko + Kokichi doesn’t automatically equal Kaito.
In the end Kaito’s narrative foils share attributes with him that make him up but are missing one key one that makes him Kaito highlighting his good qualities he blends the strengths of Tenko and Kokichi while adding something only he can a protection that moves through belief and genuine care sharing his light with the people around him so they can shine on their own.
