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jareicanon · 11 months

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i was looking at mai’s design again just as you do and this has no relation to the mv, theories or anything really but I LOVE her shoes????

I used to have a pair similar to them (sadly they are old and broken and gone by now) but now i wanna go find similar shoes all over again

also unrelated i really love her design it’s just so pretty — but also not overly bright or complex (say, compared to levi’s stark blues and purples or ace’s red and orange).

In fact she’s almost muted, like she’s supposed to be this background character — which is what she was made out to be at the start, if not a mystery unknown character for us to solve — interestingly enough, who can blend into a crowd (thinking of min here who described her as “average” though that was probably more referring to her grades — though most describe her in those quotes according to what they noticed about her, not strictly about her looks and before seeing her title card the only hint to how she looked was teruko’s flashback scene) yet also stand out if she wishes.

Practical, maybe: she wears gloves (though I may be overthinking this, thank you kirigiri kyoko),

And: She is wearing what looks like a standard hope’s peak uniform.

(Actually. Nvm. This is an analysis post. I started writing this as a funni little drabble of: omg i love Mai’s design so much!!!! and it turned into this. ah well.)

No, but, whats interesting is if you compare the anime’s Hope’s peak uniform, you should note how Mai’s uniform appears to include a black blazer that she wears tied around her waist.

Why is this important you may ask?

In the anime, the talented students wore brown uniforms (blazers) while the reserve course students wore black blazers. In Min’s bonus episode, we see Mai is getting tutoring from Min, and I’m pretty sure she’s wearing a brown blazer?? Or she’s not and I’m misremembering, again, correct me if i’m wrong — I think it’s the lighting in that particular scene that’s making me think this).

Also, from Min’s episode, we can assume then that normal lessons take place within this new and improved Hope’s Peak’s Academy — or do they?

Of course Min would be taking lessons like any good student, that’s her talent, she’s got to nurture it. But why would Mai? Unless her “???” talent relates to academia, then it strikes as odd, as comparing to what we know of Hope’s Peak, Main Course students aren’t really strictly needed to attend normal lessons. So long as they hone their talents, they’re basically allowed to wander the campus and do whatever.

So unless the teacher figure Min speaks of acts in a similar way to Yukizome in forcing the class together to bond and experience their highschool (college?) years together, why is Mai doing regular school work? Why does she need tutoring, why bother keep up those grades at all? She doesn’t seem particularly on board or interested in studying, as Min shows, Mai is prone to distractions: she spends the bonus episode getting Min to talk about her origins (and why is that? That’s another thing I’ll touch on later when i remember to) and procrastinating from her studies (same, Mai).

But Mai could be a reserve course student trying to work for some sort of talent — and she’s lucky, because say, in their class, on most days, the Ultimate Student herself joins their ranks within their halls (because the main course doesn’t teach their students normal lessons, apparently in their buildings, so Min has to come down to them). And then Mai jumps to get to know her — or maybe that’s just something that happened over time, Mai just gradually drew Min closer, despite her being “average” in Min’s eyes.

Because there is something about Mai that has enthralled all (most? not sure where Teruko stands because all we know is Mai was searching for Teruko. Also Eden i’m unsure of, as it describes her calling a number — who’s number? why? i have so many questions on eden’s quote I can’t lie) of the cast into adoring her, and I’m guessing it’s nothing malicious — it’s just who Mai is. She’s clearly loved (if the quotes don’t convince you then the words in the mv pointing towards her should) dearly by the majority of the cast, and I think that’s just from her being her own self. She’s just one of those people who is just likeable. Someone who draws people in, who is approachable, who is someone who just had that sense of “you can rely on/trust them”

The “dearly loved” as opposed to Teruko’s “dearly unloved”.

And yes, Mai is an Ultimate technically as displayed by the “Ultimate ???”, but what if she wasn’t at the time of the bonus episode? What if she was a reverse course who then discovered or cultivated a talent (or, if similar to Hajime, was chosen for some sort of project? Was that what killed her? Is that the consequences she didn’t foresee in signing up to a program?). Maybe her talent was linked to how she connected to all the other Ultimates. Maybe the number of “???” translates to “God” as the same amount of characters as shown in a few quotes here and there (i think?? correct me if i’m wrong) in the mv. It would certainly explain their devotion they seem to have towards her.

Though, again, this is just speculation.

Another small note on the uniform: it’s simple. Almost shockingly so. It reminds me of Mukuro’s actually (in her first appearance — shirt and skirt alone) and how it almost suggests how plain she is, before you remember once again that she’s a part of something bigger — is something bigger (and in Mukuro’s case that’s Ult. Despair, but in Mai’s it could be the opposite).

And that’s something else — a wild left field guess i’ll touch lightly on here, but will eventually do something deeper on later — we all know about hope and despair and yadayada but I think, definitely, in some way shape or form, Mai represented Hope. She was the symbol of that class’ hope, if not bigger, yet she burned out far too fast and now her fate is uncertain. So either that hope flickered out too quickly (think side: despair Chiaki) and was killed in order to break the class and there was some great tragedy, or she was being built towards becoming that hope.

As in, she was a reserve course or something similar but started making changes around her, just by being herself, a natural charisma that charmed and delighted the people around her. She grew close to people and inspired them in turn. She was genuine, friendly and honest. People respected her for her authenticity; she was someone reliable, trustworthy, determined, kind. She was on her way into becoming an Ultimate — maybe she was granted it, and she was flourishing. Maybe she started to be pushed to hard, spread too thin — we don’t know yet. She was a little naive maybe, head in the clouds, forgetful (as shown in the bonus episodes from what I remember, again correct me if i’m wrong bc I haven’t rewatched in a few months), and so she didn’t think of any underlining threats — she didn’t think she was a threat to someone (the mastermind). She didn’t foresee the consequences to being such an open symbol of trust, a symbol of Hope, and she died for her lack of awareness. Or betrayal. Or however she died.

So i. terms of the “simple” design as I put it, it’s first used to throw you off. You don’t think much of her. She’s an unknown, sure, but because there’s nothing on her, you sort of dismiss her. When Mukuro’s face is revealed, there’s nothing really to suggest she’s a soldier, or a member of Despair. She is dressed in a shirt and skirt (highly impractical, thanks danganronpa), and you look at her and go “her? really?” and then you remember she’s potentially the mastermind or the one hidden somewhere in the school, watch out for her, and then immediately reevaluate her and her importance.

I think the same applies to Mai but in the opposite direction; Mai is — or was — the supposed symbol of Hope for this class, and at first she was nothing more than a mystery, but now we see her with the knowledge we’re slowly piecing together and we go “aha! it’s you! you’re the one they all love! (why is that?)” (i am also guilty of this i’m a mai akasaki truther i love her i too have been pulled into her charm). We sort of dismiss her at first and then we notice her, we see her, and we point fingers in delight because it’s her!! She’s important in some way for the plot!

We are already reevaluating her and how she fits into the storyline. What her fate is (or was), and how she links all the cast together. Maybe i’m wrong and she was a main class member. Maybe she wasn’t the symbol of hope. But this is just my evening rambles (and my procrastination in avoiding the tally5 thing bc goddamn i started to get really frustrated. so. i wrote this instead. you’re welcome??)

this was supposed to be a ramble about her pretty design.

sorry not sorry. oops.

I am fascinated by Mai. I don’t know if I’ve actually properly said that yet, and maybe it’s obvious (well, duh) but yeah!

if you read this far jesus christ thank you for sticking with me because I just started typing and now i have this: I was expecting this as much as you were, I wasn’t!

if you’re still reading,

here

you

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ🍪✧