“Eyes in the dead still water
Tried but it pushed back harder
Cauterized and atrophied
This is my unbecoming
Knives in the backs of martyrs
Lives in the burning fodder
Cauterized and atrophied
This is my unbecoming”——Starset-Unbecoming
My initial inspiration came from these lyrics, which made me think of armchair strategists who only grasp the brutality of war when confronted with a river of blood on the battlefield. I chose an anti-war theme, but I lacked the ability to depict an entire conflict. Moreover, large-scale warfare struggles to convey its true brutality. So I narrowed the scope, focusing on two protagonists—two inexperienced young women who had never faced life-and-death separation. Only after one paid the ultimate price did the survivor, driven by hatred, realize that the people around her were flesh and blood.
Regarding the world-building, I have also set the external era as a time of war, serving as an amplified version of the tragedy experienced by the two girls featured in the story. While players won’t be made aware of this broader historical context during gameplay, I will document this background in supplementary pages outside the game.
Research
About “school war”：
Battle Royale
The so-called BR Act is designed to train young people to overcome all kinds of difficulties in adversity,and thus to acquire the ability to survive with resilience.
BR Act is done by sending students to uninhabited areas that are restricted by their range of motion.Each student is given a map,food,and a variety of weapons to kill each other until the last one is left.The time limit was three days.
With a command from the commander,the massacre among students kicked off.
I drew inspiration from this film for the setting of limiting survivors in a school war and having students engage in mutual combat within the campus to create a small battlefield.
About the setting of The School：
Danganronpa
Hope Peak School is a private school that gathers top-notch high school students from all fields.The pro tagonist,Miaomi Cheng,was originally just an ordinary Japanese high school student,but was selected as a “Ultimate lucky” to enter the school.However,what waiting him was the mysterious figure who claimed to be the principal ,” Monokuma”,who told the students,”Once you come in,you must wait for a lifetime .If you want to graduate and leave,just kill each other.”
I drew inspiration from this game for using schools to screen students.