Something I didn't like was how little importance characters took to Ranmaru trying to overwrite himself with AI Joe, it all happened so fast and there wasn't even a reaction from Sara

If "Logic Route Ranmaru" is the worst possible person he can become, then i see "Emotion Route Ranmaru" is the Ranmaru who doesn't change, doesn't mature or change.

I wouldn't exactly call him a "good" person, but I actually like the idea that he's just a normal guy. Makes his death all the more tragic. We see how he could end up being a bad guy in the logic route, and yet we also see how he could potentially not take that path in the emotion route. If he were given a chance, he could've developed into a good person, and taking away that potential is the tragedy of death for characters like him. Death doesn't just take away who he is right at that moment, but also all future potential he had, making it bittersweet for players to see that he could've ended up as a better person in the emotion route.

I like the attempt to download the Joe AI because it further contextualized his actions in the logic route: he was always obsessed with Sara. He always wanted to be the most important person in her life. In the logic route, his plan was to kill everyone else important to her so he'd win by default, but in the emotion route, he wanted to literally become the guy she loves most. I remember, after 3B came out, a lot of Ranmaru's stans were blaming Sara for everything he did in the logic route, claiming that their "soft sheep boy would never." But he came up with the whole plan on his own before Sara indirectly encouraged him to do it! They just didn't want to admit that his crush was always obsessive, unhealthy, and creepy, which the emotion route thoroughly debunked. It could have been written better, maybe by him succeeding and accidentally hurting Sara more when she has to watch Joe die twice, but I still think it was a worthy addition to the story.

God, no matter the route, Ranmaru's story is just an absolutly depressive ride from beginning to end, huh. That's part of why he is my favorite of the dummies (and maybe my favorite character in the game, but that flip-flops all the time). But, truth be told, the biggest reason why I like him so much comes down to how realistically he develops, a true testament to Nankidai's writting style, and how much of my old (and current) self I see in him: his depressive lack of interests, motivation and his hatred of couples were things I've once shared; I have been in similar enough situations, attaching a lot of my sense of self to somebody I had a romantic interest in, wishing I was more usefull to them or to be a completely different person, someone they "actually loved". Nowadays, I'm mostly past this stuff, even if I relapse at times, my attachment to that person can still be a bit unhealthy, depression is still a daily struggle, but I've been capable of dealing with it all in a healthy manner. I feel at least part of that is owed to witnessing Ranmaru's story and realising why certain aspects of it were so relatable to me, I'm glad my horrible sheep boy exists. This was a fantastic watch btw!!! I literally jumped with excitement at the prospect of watching it when it popped up in my recommended tab, great job!!!!

I love Ranmaru so much, so seeing this vid in my recommended made me extremely happy. He’s a very relatable character to me and it’s nice to see a video that delves more into his complex character rather than just making light of his actions or just slandering him. It feels like a neutral standpoint which is very much needed in this fandom considering that this fandom either loves or hates him. Also, there was a deleted scene that took place in the tea room where Ranmaru admits that he just wants to be Sara’s “friend.” So when Sara says “My precious friend” it calls back to that scene and makes it more gut wrenching and powerful. I’m so mad Nankidai didn’t include it but what can ya do. Thank you for the Ranmaru content, this was a very enjoyable watch.

I think it would have been better if Ranmaru in the Emotion route actually succeeded in the AI transfer, and that we get to see Joe as Ranmaru. It would have been so confusing and conflicting to see Joe in Ranmaru’s body, knowing he basically offed himself for someone Sara loved deeply. Also Sara (and the player) would have tried so in the banquet not to kill Joe (again), adding extra stakes. And, well, Joe will still die. Think about how devastating that would be.

I’m so happy that someone took the time to fully analyze his character because he’s literally so interesting if you just look a little closer!! Also my favorite part about logic route Ranmaru is that even *Midori* was a little shocked by his actions💀

I’m partial to the logic route myself, but I really like this moment 19:30 in the emotion route. “I’m sure *you* can win.” It’s moments before his death that we get to see what kind of person Ranmaru could have developed into had he lived: someone capable of real selflessness. He realizes that his life is at risk but doesn’t mention it at all, and doesn’t for a second try to dissuade Sara from doing what needs to be done. For the first time since vowing to kill everyone else, he has a completely unwavering resolve. But this time, it’s not for his own sake. It’s not that he *wants* Sara to win (so that, by extension, he wins too) it’s that he *believes* she will. That difference is what makes it even more tragic that he dies - the audience and he himself know he’s sealing his fate with this line, but it hurts nonetheless. (Of course, this isn’t an entirely favorable version of Ranmaru either, as he’s still lacking a real sense of self, like you said. But it’s a step towards becoming a truly good person and maturing, one that he never ultimately gets to take.)

YES YES YES YES IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS!!!!!!! Literally ranmaru is such a complicated character and people just give him so much shit bc they dont look at the details behind his character and im tired of it!!! This video is amazing thank you so much for this. Also I wanted to add for the yandere thing: no, he really isnt a yandere. His violence doesnt come from love or jealousy or obsession, it comes from a desire to survive and absolute desperation in a situation in which he is literally already doomed and has one (1) thing/person that he cares about and wants to protect and actually might be able to. In a deleted scene in which sara and ranmaru actually plan to kill people together (if I remember correctly) she asks him what he wants to do with her after they escape and he says that he just wants to finally have a friend to spend time with. Ofc the romantic symbols with the red string of fate and them holding hands are present and relevant, but when asked, Ranmaru literally just wants a best friend. Definitely not a yandere. Thank you.

Also one more thing- i dont think sara's motive for killing shin was out of hatered. That was shin's assumption and sara didnt have the heart to tell him he wrong before his death was my interpretation

To me, Ranmaru and Kurumada are parallel characters. Two men with deep character flaws that they can't overcome. And they'll keep heading downwards if you don't pay attention to their inner struggles and help them. It's just that with Kurumada, the attention will help him develop to the positive. With Ranmaru, it simply helps him not develop to the negative. You have these parallel stories between the routes where you can see both outcomes for them when they're partnered with someone that wants to help them grow and one where they don't. It's just that with Kurumada, you only realize this depth if he develops into the positive, and with Ranmaru, only when he develops into the negative. The characters may seem bland or boring if you don't have the context from those routes. So yeah, Ranmaru seems more bland in the emotion route. But that's at the sacrifice of Kurumada getting more depth, while it's the other way around in the Logic Route. So I don't see either character's depth as an argument to prefer either route.

I can't even begin to describe how much I love this video. You did a great job with diving deep into ranmaru's character and who he really is. What he feels and how much it affected him. This was a really well scripted video and if I could like it twice I would. Also as someone who went with the logic route as my main route, i NEVER once hated ranmaru for what he did. I was so annoyed at Alice dying but at the same time getting to see that part of sara that sou had created was very important to me. Sou was always afraid of how sara got everyone on her side and was deemed a leader from the beginning. Not only because he saw her survival percentage but because he saw through her. He has seen someone like her before and that being midori. Yet what he didn't know is that he ultimately ended up creating the part of sara that he was afraid of most. Sou had a dream about Sara killing him. He was afraid of her. Yet sara he was afraid of, was created because of him due to the joe Ai he created. Ranmaru is a direct effect to that since sara was letting her true colors show. One thing notable thing I loved about this route is Qtaro's speech to sara after Alice died. It really gave him even more character before he departed that very chapter. It was a gut punch. And like you mentioned Alice got his karma, but he also got reunited with his sister at last. Part of me thinks that this was his salvation. No matter how you look at it, the yabusames' story was tragic. Built on a fake murder that split their bond. In the end it was somewhat the best ending for them.

This is such an incredible analysis of his character. I have always been insanely impressed by nankidai’s writing and I really appreciate you for bringing how truly great it is to light. This video did make me sad about his death again though (lol). Ranmaru is my favorite character because of how complex he really is. Thank you for this.

I always feel bad for characters in death games like this

Oh my god this is a great analysis of him! I never really thought about Ranmaru more in depth until this video so I gained a new appreciation for him and his writing. Nankidai’s character writing always continue to impress me lmao Thanks for the great video!

Personally, I feel like Ranmaru in the Emotion Route, if he had succeeded, would only make his death more impactful. I agree with your statement. Tbh I feel like there would be nothing to be lost if Ranmaru had succeeded, because if he did, then there would only be more praise, but if he failed, then he would still just be some average joe who dies unceremoniously, like the other dolls.

Something that I don’t a lot of people talking about is how suspicious his Victim Video is Like, for some reason, you cannot buy it, also, we know nothing about what happened to him, he is likely the victim of the White room, especially that when the video start, he himself look like he just woke up, but, yeah, unlike all the other character, he was already wounded and bleeding out (he probably died due to blood loss considering his behavior)

i see people angry at calling him a yandere, honestly im not 14y old anymore to call him yandere, but the thing is: he definely was in love with Sara, he wanst killing people just for HIM win/lives but he cares (and loves) so much sara that he would do this plan, also he puts Joe IA into himself...all that for Sara likes him. Hes not just trying to survive, in his ref sheet character ssays his searching something for being passionate, problaly he felt love really deep for sara and turn her in his passion as whole i dont think i like the term yandere but he definely have some love sick thoughs

I chose sou's route as my first chp 3 route since I really like sou to the point I don't mind facing a more brutal route to have him alive (tho it turns out not to be as brutal as people made it sounds like) And it's indeed a correct choice for myself, the build up of Ranmaru's actions in this route is just so good, I can feel the way sara "persuaded" him has some tricks in manipulating, but your video analysed it so well. I also learnt more about him in the other route, but I guess I'll still prefer logic route Ranmaru

Sara said Shin that she hated him, but I don’t think it was true, she probably said that bc that would be easier for him to accept

I’m really sick rn but watching this has made feel better !! Great video I like Ranmaru more now C:

I don’t know how I should connect this all together, (words, I am kind of lazy) but here are pieces of why I think Ranmaru didn’t directly kill Keiji. At the beginning of the chapter, Midori jokes about everyone having to kill Keiji, stating “did I make your heart skip a beat, miss Sara?” (Or something like that) This was Ranmaru’s first impression of Sara’s relationship to the other survivors. I think just like with him having disbelief he is a doll, deep down he doubted doing this for Sara, causing his paralysis, aka fearfully procrastinating Keiji’s execution. I would compare this kind of logic to the guilt of pulling the lever in the trolly problem. Even though pulling the lever would yield better results, many people would find themselves paralyzed. He didn’t want to do this to Sara. While this argument lacks full logic, it makes sense when we remember that Ranmaru is still a ‘noob’ to murder. No matter how determined he was, it is impossible for the average person to be fully mentally equipped to kill. (Call back to how many people say they would pull the lever in the trolley problem, but in real life recreations, I am thinking about the one by Vsauce, most people find themselves unable to pull the lever. Another example is a lot of the survivors having a hard time trying to kill Midori directly) Sorry if this doesn’t make sense or is hard to understand, but yeah, I think Ranmaru didn’t have the same conviction to murder as the video suggested. Thank you for reading, let me know what you think.

Big thanks for the video! Actually I hated Ranmaru after I played 3-1B Logic Route for the first time. Since then I forgot some moments of the game. I was replaying YTTD recently with my friend and we choose to play Emotion Route. I finded myself to feel very loving towards Ranmaru even before I saw him in game. I didn't knew why I was reacting at him that way and I didn't remembered why I hated him in the first place. How nervously I chuckled when I was reminded what he has done in the Logic Route, ha-ha... I plan to replay the Logic Route and I think my affection towards Ranmaru will change after that, but for now I love him very much. It's like I put myself before little window and until I will see the murder with my own eyes, he didn't do the thing that shocked and hurted me so much.

Theory time: 3C will have a majority vote where the objective is to cancel it, it works but Keiji is the sacrifice and since he gets no votes he has to die. But then Ranmaru appears out of nowhere and saves him. This is because JoeAI convinces him to upload his conciosness to help in a different way, have his doll self helping the way he can "with his heart in hand" and that if he can't find value in himself, rely on his friends to see the qualities in him he cannot see. So Ranmaru learns to rely on his friends and that his friends can rely in him.

Omg I can seriously not believe how little views this video has!!!! Ever since I first saw chapter 3 Ranmaru has always been my favorite character and I’m happy to see so many of my viewpoints articulated here!!!! I love the way u describe things and I love to see some logic route appreciation lol … subscribed!!!! :D

I loved him so much, i relate to him in many cases but i still didn't cry when he died 😭 idk what's wrong with me, i cried like heck when joe died, maybe Ranmaru's death was just very anti-climatic??? like everyone didn't even really react but to be fair, they were in the middle of a death game and had to save Gin so they didn't have time to mourn 🥲 im just praying that in the next chapter it would be revealed that no one actually died and that they're all alive though it's very highly unlikely 🥲💔

26:17 I love this video as a whole and love the deep dive done here, but at this time I believe it is pretty clear that she doesn't kill him because she hated him. She immediately follows up with asking Miley not to kill her ally. One of the most interesting aspects of this decision is why Sara makes it and I believe it to be clear that the game only allows you to save Sou because he's more useful than Kanna or to acknowledge his wish of self-sacrifice and save Kanna. Both options are not the only reasons why the player would make the decision, but they are the ones why Sara does. Killing Sou was always a mercy to him. A sad horrible, twisted mercy once he developed his need to protect Kanna. tldr: the emotion route is far from perfect and happy, but saying Sara she killed Sou because she hated him is an immediately refuted point. Edit: I felt bad leaving mostly one disagreement to such a wonderful breakdown. Every point from Ranmaru making sense, to Alice's karmic end, and even the dark undertones of the emotion route. Expanding on that last one especially, it's sad and realistic to see the emotion route play out the way it has. When someone acts out of the best intentions they still might fail save someone's story. Sometimes a kind act causes more torture in the long run, but that doesn't make it wrong. I think both routes handle different circumstances better than others: some characters receive more cunning development in one route over the other.

woah...... hes so well writen, i love him even more now that i understand him better. AMAZING video thank u sm!! you r SOOO UNDER RATED!!

YES!! omg!! i was so tired of people calling him an "uwu sheep boi"!, even before 3b was out. it always felt - wrong. It could be felt that he was more than "that". I absolutely adore the complexity of his character. The setting basically intensified all of his insecurity, and the need to be someone's salvation, actively bringing out an amalgam of his best and worst traits. It makes for such a good character and i feel like the people mindlessly slandering him for doing something morally wrong are completely missing his entire character. I hope we can see some more of him in one way or another, because omg. i wanted to see some sort of a realization hit him etc.. i also hope he somehow appears in ytts maybe.

The "logic" route honestly makes more sense overall, because after doing an emotion-based choice and seeing its negative impact it would make sense try a more logical choice, it honestly seems like the intended route.

That's such a great analysis on our sheep boy! I have such a soft spot for him and you've summarized most of my thoughts while also giving me a new prospective on his emotion route arc (admittedly I was too distracted by the fact that his demeanour didn't shift this time to even notice the holes in his plan or how his ending is just as sad as in logic lol)

I’ve been binging your videos for a while and I love your incredibly in depth and different perspectives on how these characters are viewed by the rest of the yttd community! Please keep up the amazing work, it’s rare to come across a really good channel like this!

I feel like 3b being rushed is pretty evident in how ranmaru's character arc ended in emotion arc. Also havent fully finished the vidoe yet but i wonder what your thoughts on the deleted scenes involving ranmaru? I see alot of people perfer them compared to the canon logic route

THANK YOU I feel like I understand ranmaru so much better now, I rlly like him but I was busy over-analyzing qtaro and I didn’t pay much attention to him, so this is super cool! I like him a lot more now :D awesome vid also yes ranmaru is definitely a human can we just accept that the dolls are humans guys.

I love this video...a lot. I love it when people go into deep dives about their favorite characters! I also never really appreciated Ranmaru as much until watching this so...thanks for that haha! I love your ambiguous approach; Ranmaru truly is complex and really shouldn't be viewed in only one way.

Fantastic video as always, thanks for sharing your great analysis with us

i never thought about evil ranmaru too seriously, more like the robotic side of him melded with a twisted will to live (twisted even further by sara) resulted in him killing the last yabusame. more than anything i kinda just thought it was funny, as someone who did the emotion route first, having sou and evil ranmaru in the same room together, along with midori, resulting in the logic route's banquet being 3 (arguably 4 if sara counts) murderous assholes with gin, keiji, and the other dolls twiddling their thumbs in the corner, just felt like such a different outcome from the other route despite the story beats being mostly the same. its like if danganronpa v3 chapter 5 had all 5 exisals pretending to be kokichi regardless, im glad that he doesnt (fully) fall apart on closer inspection, we love qtip hair man

woaah! great analysis video!! i actually love him so much and youve helped me to understand him even more :3 also = love ur voice !!!

Fantastic video!

hes always been my fave character, love this video

God, I was so looking forward to a ranrmrau analysis, I was delighted, everything was wonderful, leaving me with a lump in my throat hahaha :c

I cant wait for his minisode

so real💯💯

i havent played the game and probably never will, this was my first time even hearing about it, but the video was so interesting that i atuck around all the way

I think you have to view Ranmaru through the lense of the otome game tropes that YTTD sometimes borrows from for it's male characters tropes, in those type of VNs the male yandere is pretty frequently toxic in the type of love they display (most infamously locking the portagonist into a cage) and I feel like the trope definitely applies to him there, the issue with the definition that was brought up by the dictionary is that it kinda just takes the most typical form of a yandere character when they pretty frequently come in different 'flavors' if you will. Basically I definitely think Ranmaru counts as a yandere, just a more otoge style one if you will.

Ranmaru is a little funny for me because I just played yttd because of a friend, and they had played already all the routes so they knew about evil ranmaru and I went through Kanna rout first. And even there I had this weird feeling about the guy and this friend always looked at me with a suspicious stare everytime I said he was weird or secretely evil, at first I thought my friend was being like that because I was overthinking about him, but in the end was because I was right and this friend thought I had got a spoiler and already knew Ranmaru had some evil in him.

Greetings, KZfaq user of oddly similar yet unique username

Good video :)

I completely agree! I love Ranmaru!

Good video.

I suspect Ranmaru's character struggle differences are intended to mirror those of Sou and Kanna. This will likely result in similar struggles for each of them in the final arc.

I think something I find odd is the fact that you say you don't really like the plot to do like the story, and how confusing his actions are. I find his actions confusing. Yes but I also think they makes sense for the plot. Because he's confused. She didn't realize in this point that He was going to switch plans. She's probably confused on if he should continue this plan or not and didn't want sara in his way.

i love ur voice (^.^)

Yo, I wanted to suggest a good idea for the " your turn to die" ooor "Danganronpa" covers, I could draw you in the style of the characters from the game and it would look aesthetically pleasing🥹