Izuru Kamukura is one of the two main antagonists of Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, and a major character in the Danganronpa series.
Izuru was the end product of the Izuru Kamukura Project, and as a "genius out of the ordinary" and Hope's Peak Academy's ultimate goal, went by the title of the Ultimate Hope.
Appearance[]
Izuru has very long, flowing black hair. His hair is usually smooth, though it's also been portrayed as messy. He has red eyes with symbols resembling target radars running across his pupils, unlike Hajime. His skin is pale and sometimes appears grey or cadaverous.
He wears a black suit with three white buttons, a black tie and a white dress shirt inside. He also has a black belt and black loafers.
When Izuru appears in Hajime's subconscious, he is dressed in Hajime's attire.
After he exits the Neo World Program, Izuru and Hajime's identities merge together. Choosing to resume his appearance as Hajime, he cuts his hair short and switches his black suit for Hajime's school attire. His eyes have also become heterochromatic. His left eye is red while his right eye remains green. The design of both his eyes has also adapted Izuru's target radar design.
In Danganronpa V3's bonus mode, Izuru appears the same as in Danganronpa 2, although his hair appears lighter and his skinless grey as a result of no longer being in shadow.
Personality[]
Due to the drastic changes that the operations made to turn Hajime into Izuru, his original personality was suppressed so as to not interfere with his talent cultivation. Izuru appears as a cold and emotionless person who finds everything and everyone boring, though he does talk and express in a more polite way than his alternate identity in the Japanese version. He expresses disgust for talentless people because his "teachers" taught him that they are just parasites who oppose and leech off of those with talent instead of acknowledging their "true superiors". He believes that such people brought the world to a deadlock and created a world that has stopped evolving, and that the only way to improve this is a certain form of "selection".
Izuru enjoys unpredictability, which can make him feel more emotional, but he also tends to quickly grow bored because of his supernatural analytical skills and intuition cause him to quickly predict things with surprising accuracy. This is seen in Chapter 0 of Danganronpa 2, as he is visibly excited by the rocking of the boat only to find it boring a few seconds later and he is also so focused on the rocking that he doesn't even realize he's on a boat, at first. Notably, he appears aware that he is only being used and his talents are "leeched off" to create hope he finds boring and predictable, but he has no motivation to change his situation and considers Monique the "only one that keeps him entertained and loved". Junko eventually used this and threatened to kill Monique to manipulate him, as she told him to strive for the unknown of despair and chaos, finally motivating him to strive to actively free himself from the boredom and keep Monique safe from her.
In Danganronpa 3, Izuru is shown to be quite silent at times, acting responsively only when he finds it necessary. Instead, he often observes other people and situations silently with no changes in his facial expressions, often without being noticed by other people. He appears to have no interest in humor nor romantic approaches from other people (except Monique, which he embraces), as he often doesn't even look at other people during those moments, and ignores behavior like this from Junko. He never laughs nor smiles, and generally doesn't change his expressions much. However, while he lacks sympathy for others, he differs from Junko in that he does not enjoy the suffering of others, and thus mostly hurts or kills other people only for self-defense. While he usually has no interest nor cares for other people, the only exceptions are Chiaki due to his past life, as Hajime's attachment to her made him shed tears (though he didn't appear to know why) and she is the only person he subconsciously cared for as shown when he kept her hairpin and mourned for her after the Tragedy and Monique due to knowing that they were both Ultimate Hopes and had even shown to
In Danganronpa Another Episode, Izuru appears completely silent and seemingly unemotional. However, he rips the hard drives from Shirokuma and Kurokuma in a rather aggressive and seemingly annoyed manner, which is even commented on by the Alter Ego Junko. Similarly, he appears unusually bitter and vengeful while talking about Junko during Chapter 0 of the second game, because she used him in the past. It's also possible that he is subconsciously angry because she killed Chiaki.
After the Neo World Program, the person who went in as Izuru started to identify as Hajime. He still expresses boredom to some things, but his personality is mostly like Hajime's, as he has an easier time feeling emotions and is more proactive.
- Ultimate Talent Development Plan Non-Canon Events:
During Danganronpa V3's bonus mode Ultimate Talent Development Plan, it's shown that Izuru appears to lack a certain sense of identity, as he states that Izuru Kamukura is what he is called, instead of stating it's who he is. Additionally, when speaking with Kiyotaka Ishimaru, he states he doesn't have a purpose unless someone else gives him one, as he was created to bring hope to people. Furthermore, he doesn't seem to care whether someone will give him a good or an evil purpose in the future, as he is bored with predictable hope.
Generally speaking, he is anti-social and reclusive, to the point that Kokichi Oma begins to claim there are rumors that he's really a ghost. It's also mentioned that Usami has to force him to attend school festivals, and he always tries to finish any activities as quickly as possible to get them over with. He himself has mentioned many times that he doesn't particularly like anything nor do anything in his free time, and he tends to arrive at the school very early because he doesn't have anything else to do. While he does sometimes interact with others without Usami's intervention, it's usually for short periods of time because he gets bored quickly. When Aoi Asahina greets him, for example, he answers back "good morning," but doesn't appear to have any further interest in speaking with her and so drops the conversation there. He can quickly analyze other students and tends to bluntly point out their flaws and reasons behind their actions. He generally doesn't seem to have much concern for others' feelings, with how cold and blunt he is, but he occasionally agrees to do something for others with a bored "very well" and sometimes bluntly asks others if they would prefer him to answer in a certain way. That said, there are a few people he does express more interest in, such as Chiaki Nanami and Kaede Akamatsu. Some other students also point out his flaws, such as Cisco noticing the lack of emotion in his piano playing, Yumeka Itoka telling him that he needs other people and cannot achieve victory nor demonstrate his talents just by himself, and Kaito Momota mentioning that he'll start to think everything is boring if he constantly says they are. During such moments, he usually simply tells the other person they are boring.
After three years have passed, there seems to be small progress in Izuru, even though he himself claims he doesn't feel any different. He comes to the festival out of his own free will and even gives Usami a back-handed compliment by stating that for once she talked like a teacher, implying that he may have some kind of respect for her. Chiaki also points out that spending all this time with others instead of all alone must have made some sort of difference. After graduating, he thinks that everything went as he predicted and all the minor variances were just insignificant ripples and that he can predict what happens next as well. However, he then appears hesitant and doesn't finish his thought process, and instead closes his eyes in silence.
Talents[]
Ultimate Hope[]
As a result of the experiments that were conducted on him, Izuru is said to possess every known talent that has been researched at Hope's Peak Academy and thus appears to be a superhuman at the very least. For this reason, he was proclaimed to be the Ultimate Hope by the trustees of the Academy themselves, as ultimate talent is humanity's hope in their eyes. This is different from Makoto Naegi, who embodies the title in a more accurate sense, as his unusual optimism and determination are able to rally people to action.
The following is a description of various talents that make-up Izuru's talent of Ultimate hope.
Much like Junko's talent of Super High School Level Analytical Prowess, Izuru's analytical skills are borderline superhuman. He's able to predict things extremely quickly and with a surprising amount of accuracy, shown through his emotionless demeanor and quick reaction to when Junko suddenly tried to kill him in an effort to throw the world into despair. Izuru is also able to analyze/read people from the second he looks at them. This is seen during his second encounter with Nagito, where he quickly deduces Nagito's true character from looking at him, merely judging him as boring afterward.
Izuru possesses heightened physical strength, reflexes, and speed, to the point of being superhuman. This effectively grants him abilities similar to many of the athletic students (such as the Ultimate Gymnast, Akane Owari, or Ultimate Martial Artist, Sakura Ogami), only to a significantly greater degree, as he is able to send Mukuro herself flying with a simple backhand when she tried to attack him after he incapacitated Junko. Izuru was also able to barely dodge a bullet that he wasn't able to see coming until the very last second.
Izuru is able to withhold his presence entirely at will, much like how Yūto Kamishiro is able to with his talent of Super High School Level Secret Agent. Before and during the First Mutual Killing Game, Izuru is able to watch the members of Hope's Peak Academy's Student Council killing each other up close, as he was there with them. Despite this, none of the student council members notice Izuru at all until the very end, where he reveals himself.
Izuru is shown to have an excessive amount of good luck, to the point where it's able to rival Nagito Komaeda's own. Because of this, he is one of the very few people who are safe from the extreme backlashes of Nagito's luck. This is best shown when Izuru encounters Nagito himself, the latter aiming to shoot Junko. When Nagito tries to shoot Izuru, the gun jams due to Izuru’s luck beating out Nagito's own. However, when Izuru shoots Nagito, the bullet hit the latter's Student Handbook instead of killing him.
Izuru also has talents related to therapy, neurology, and programming, which were the talents of the creators of the Neo World Program. After Hajime fused with Izuru's identity, he was able to use these skills to awake his comatose friends. He also created the Artificial Intelligence called the World Destroyer, who can fix mental instabilities inside the Neo World Program.
In the non-canonical bonus mode of Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony: Ultimate Talent Development Plan, some examples of Izuru's talents encompassed under his title of Ultimate Hope include: talents related to psychology, negotiation, observation, and storytelling while he lists some of his own abilities related to speech. Several musical-based talents including singing, playing instruments (notably the piano), and songwriting. He also mentions possessing every talent related to fighting and is capable of noticing when other people are lying.
It's notable that during his event with Kaede in the bonus mode, it's shown that Izuru has a major flaw of lacking "a heart" behind his actions due to his apathetic nature. While technically perfect, he doesn't put any feelings nor thoughts in his performances, as he doesn't have any true motivation to utilize his talents. This can be especially noticeable in artistic activities and can be noticed by those who are skilled and truly passionate about the subject.
History[]
Hope Cultivation Plan[]
Hope's Peak Academy was established for the sake of cultivating personal talent in order to create a perfect genius, who would be deemed the hope of mankind. For many years, the Academy researched the talents of the Ultimates. This project was named the Hope Cultivation Plan, though it was also called the Izuru Kamukura Project after the academy's founder.
Recently, the researchers were finally able to reach the experimental stage of the project. From there, they set their sights on the Reserve Course dropouts to use them as lab rats, as their plan to create talent artificially required test subjects that are wholly lacking in talent. From that group of Reserve Course students, the one who was finally chosen was Hajime, because he admired Hope's Peak Academy more than everybody else.
Hope's Peak Academy exploited Hajime's feelings of admiration toward hope and talent just to use him as a lab rat. All of his senses, emotions, thoughts, and hobbies that could interfere with acquiring talent were excised. All of his memories of the past were forcefully suppressed into the darkest recesses of his mind. By directly interfering with his brain, the academy transformed Hajime into a completely different person whose specialty is talent itself. He was meant to be the fruit of all the research, a genius among geniuses possessing various talents, and he was named Izuru Kamukura after the founder.
Izuru was known as the symbol of mankind's hope and he was given the title of Ultimate Hope. To protect such rare talent, the Academy completely concealed all evidence of Izuru's origins and identity. According to Izuru's words, he had ”teachers” who taught him the Academy's ideology about talented people's superiority. It appears that he was mostly kept hidden inside dark and small rooms with little to no activities, and he was to be occasionally used by some people who needed his talents to create hope. However, Izuru was aware that he would merely be used and his talents would be ”leeched off” for the sake of hope he finds predictable.
Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School - Despair Arc[]
Izuru, as the alternate identity of Hajime, returns in Danganronpa 3 - Despair Arc, where its story focuses on the story of the Remnants of Despair during The Tragedy.
Episode 06 - A Despairfully Fateful Encounter[]
Hajime completed the transition to Izuru Kamukura, a person destined to be the Ultimate Hope, a master of all talents. His old personality, identity, and ideals were said to be overwritten in the process. After that, he was locked in a room whose access was restricted solely to the trustees of Hope's Peak Academy.
However, Junko tricked the retina scanner securing that room by using an eyeball she obtained from a kidnapped trustee. After meeting Izuru, she lamented over the fact that he is locked up, given his talents. She then suddenly attacked him, saying that as the Ultimate Hope, his death would leave everyone in despair. Izuru easily disarmed her, as well as her sister, Mukuro.
Laying on the ground before him, Junko explained that Izuru needs despair as much as she does. He replied saying that he didn't see any logical reason for the need for despair. Junko then asked him what the logical reason for her attacking him was. Izuru was aware of her analytical talent and knew that she knew an attack on his life wouldn't be successful. However, he didn't understand the reason behind her actions. Junko then gave a speech to him, saying that a world full of hope would be predictable and boring, and only the chaos that comes from despair can make it exciting.
After Junko urged him to join up with her, Izuru knocks her out by stomping on her head. Before he left the room, however, he told Mukuro that he will be waiting for Junko.
Episode 07 - The Biggest, Most Atrocious Incident in Hope's Peak Academy's History[]
Junko made her way to Izuru's room and took him outside on the school grounds. She then brought him to where the Hope's Peak Student Council would participate in the first Mutual Killing Game. For most of the game, Izuru stood on the sidelines and observed the students, but in the end, he was finally noticed by one of the members, Asukasei Hino.
Izuru warned Asukasei that fighting him was impossible, seemingly convincing Asukasei to lower his gun - however, this only prompted him to attack with his chainsaw instead. Izuru easily evaded the attack and incapacitated Asukasei with a single blow, causing him to fall neck-first on his still-running chainsaw. He then turned to leave, only for the dying Asukasei to shoot a bullet that ended up grazing Izuru's cheek just enough to draw blood. Showing just a hint of surprise, Izuru examined the wound before looking up at a security camera, aware that Junko and Mukuro were observing him from the monitoring room.
Izuru was later shown when Junko was explaining her email to the Reserve Course about Hope's Peak's ulterior motive for the Reserve Students, kick-starting the Parade.
Episode 08 - The Worst Reunion by Chance[]
During Nagito's attempt to assassinate Junko before her plans to throw the world into despair could be realized, Izuru happened to stumble upon the confrontation in Ryota's secret room. Silently entering behind Nagito, he found himself staring down the barrel of the Ultimate Lucky Student's gun; however, the gun jammed when Nagito tried to fire. Coldly explaining that he too carried "Ultimate Luck", Izuru easily took the gun from Nagito and shot him in the chest, commenting on the strength of Nagito's luck when his Student Handbook blocked the bullet.
He then turned his attention to Chiaki, seemingly evoking a mutual recognition between them as she recognized him by his previous identity, Hajime.
Episode 09 - Chisa Yukizome Doesn't Smile[]
Chiaki asks "Hajime" what he has done with his hair, and Izuru asks who she is. Junko interrupts them and says she wants to become friends with Chiaki. She wants to show Chiaki the brainwashing anime, but Chisa intervenes by throwing a fire extinguisher. She sees Izuru and recognizes him. Chisa ordered Chiaki to take Nagito and escape. When Chisa is captured and subjected to the brainwashing video. Izuru stands back and watches as Mukuro tries to weaken Chisa's resistance to the video. Izuru comments on how this is all boring.
Episode 10 - Smile at Despair in the Name of Hope[]
After Chiaki's execution, she is left near death. Izuru comes in and Chiaki weakly stirs. She still refers to him as Hajime. Izuru asks if that's who he previously was. Chiaki tries to get up, but slips and falls in her own blood. She says she is done for and laments her failure to help anyone. Izuru observes that she still wants to help people, even in her current predicament. Chiaki cries that she doesn't want to die; she wants to stay with her class, and play games with Hajime.
Chiaki reaches out to Izuru and says they could have played more games together before she finally dies. Chiaki's hairpin dislodges and Izuru picks it up. He stares at it before beginning to cry over her death, which makes him surprised.
Episode 11 - Goodbye, Hope's Peak Academy[]
Izuru was seen in an abandoned room with Junko. Still keeping Chiaki's hairpin, he hid it on his back and commenting on how happy Junko was. She says that she was very excited and declared that today will be the day Hope's Peak Academy falls and despair will take over the world. Izuru stayed with Junko and Mukuro and watches the chaos unfold.
Izuru asked Junko if she erased the memories of him from Class 77, and Junko says she has and noted that it was an odd request to make. Izuru says he will erase his own memories. He tells Junko that if "her" wishes are able to overcome Junko's plans, and "they" are saved, hope may just be harder to predict than despair. Izuru said he wants to see which one will surprise him. Junko is irritated at Izuru's remark and maintained that despair is more unpredictable than hope.
Izuru said nothing as he starts to walk away, much to Junko's annoyance. She snapped if he is going to say a proper goodbye to her, but Izuru just says they will meet again.
By the end of the episode, Izuru and the Remnants of Despair are already inside the Neo World Program. Here, he has returned to his previous identity, Hajime. It was revealed that the one who uploaded Alter Ego Junko on the program was Izuru himself, as he wanted to test which was more unpredictable - despair or hope.
The Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy[1][]
Izuru kick-started The Tragedy when he, along with the fourteen members of Hope's Peak's student council, was used by Junko to participate in the first-ever Mutual Killing Game known as The Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy. The academy concealed the incident.
Junko claims that Izuru himself killed all 14 participants of the Mutual Killing Game (except for Sōshun Murasame). This is proved to be false in Danganronpa Zero and in Danganronpa 3 - Despair Arc, in which the student council members killed each other; Izuru was only responsible for killing Asukasei in self-defense. However, Junko manipulated the video recording to depict him as the mastermind of the Mutual Killing Game.
Danganronpa Zero[2][]
Izuru Kamukura does not personally appear in the story but is mentioned throughout the novel several times.
After The Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy, from which he and Soshun Murasame were the only survivors, Izuru disappeared. He is believed to be the culprit of the school's tragedy, though it is hinted that this might not be the case. As his location is hidden and very few know about him, he is treated similar to a ghost story. He is mentioned by Junko (who was later revealed to be Mukuro Ikusaba in disguise). The Reserve Course's secret society tortures and murders two Steering Committee members in an attempt to find out Izuru's location and use his power to overthrow the school. Kyoko Kirigiri also tried to investigate him, but eventually was forced to give up due to the increasingly dangerous situation.
Before his death, one of the Steering Committee members reveals to Ryōko Otonashi that Izuru is hidden inside the old school building, and she heads there with the Super High School Level Secret Agent Yūto Kamishiro. The two find a secret passage that leads to an elevator and eventually a small hidden room where Izuru used to be kept in.
After lots of investigation, Yūto believes that Izuru is more like a victim, and Junko might be the true culprit (which is confirmed in Danganronpa 3). Because he knows too much, Yūto is quickly murdered by Yasuke Matsuda, who then pretends to be Izuru to test amnesiac Ryōko's memory, only to soon give up and reveal that Izuru has left the place a long time ago.
During the Tragedy[]
While he is counted as an actual member of Ultimate Despair by the rest of the world and was said to do all kinds of horrible things during the Tragedy, in actuality, he was simply affiliated with it due to Junko convincing him of the unpredictability of despair, which piqued Izuru's interest.
Ultimately undecided between hope and despair, he had decided to merely observe the other members of Ultimate Despair. This was to decide whether Junko's Despair or Chiaki's Hope would be in his interest.
After the death of Junko, Izuru, with the complicity of the other Remnants of Despair, set up a plan to allow Alter Ego Junko to take over their bodies through the Neo World Program. However, his personal goal was to witness the battle between hope and despair and choose which side to take once and for all.
Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls[]
Prologue - The Warriors of Hope[]
Izuru is mentioned during the prologue of the game when members of the Future Foundation are explaining The Tragedy to Komaru Naegi.
Chapter 5 - Absolute Despair Girl[]
In chapter 5, the Servant told Monaca Towa that the Monokuma Kids informed him about two lone intruders in Towa City. This person was most likely Izuru, but Nagito did not remember him as Izuru had requested that Junko remove everyone's memory of him before the Tragedy.
Epilogue - The Changing World We Made[]
Izuru is seen briefly in the animated portion of the epilogue; wheel-barreling Shirokuma and Kurokuma's head somewhere in Towa City before punching them and ripping their hard drives to get a basis for the Alter Ego Junko.
Izuru looks towards the city and walks away as the scene cuts out. He has no dialogue in this game and seems to have merely been observing the situation rather than playing a role.
Capture by Future Foundation[]
At some point during the Tragedy, Makoto Naegi encountered him in an abandoned building, standing by a desk, implied to be Chiaki's, staring at a vase of flowers he apparently left on it. This ultimately led to his capture by the Future Foundation.
Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair[]
Chapter 0 - Heading to the School Trip[]
Izuru was first seen inside a boat in Chapter 0. Inside the boat, he was accompanied by Nagito, another of the Remnants of Despair, but they don't recognize each other. Izuru can easily tell the other boy's true character but finds him boring.
Throughout the Killing Game[]
After Izuru entered the Neo World Program, the program dug up the memories of Hajime and rebuilt his old personality from data from the past. Izuru knew this would happen.
Izuru lived throughout as Hajime. At the end of the last trial, he and Hajime had a face to face in the latter's subconscious. During which Izuru tried to drop Hajime into despair reproach him all his weakness and talentless with the purpose to persuade Hajime to choose GRADUATION and so allow the resurrection of Junko in the real world, but Hajime, with Chiaki Nanami's help, chooses to not give up and perform the SHUTDOWN deciding to face the possibility of awakening as Izuru when he exits the game.
When he awakens, despite still having his memories as Izuru, he decides to stay on the island and live as Hajime. However, it is left unclear whether Izuru's personality was overwritten or simply mixed with Hajime's.
According to Junko, Izuru was the one who brought the Alter Ego Junko to the Neo World Program, which started the serial murders. Being the same person like him, Hajime is both the protagonist and antagonist. This is confirmed by reflecting on Izuru's words during Chapter 0. He mentions that he plans to use Junko, and says that he has her "contribution" in his pocket.
Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School - Future ArcEdit[]
Episode 06 - No Man is an Island[]
Izuru appears to be active in Hajime's mind, as Hajime emotionlessly expresses his boredom after seeing approaching Future Foundation peacekeepers, ready to attack Jabberwock Island under Kyosuke Munakata's orders.
Episode 12- It is Always Darkest[]
In the post-credits, it shows Izuru/Hajime walking through a hallway with unconscious Future Foundation soldiers surrounding him.
Side - Hope: The Academy of Hope and Students of Despair[]
It is revealed that Izuru and Hajime's identities have merged together as one, as he recalled his memories prior to the project. His eye color has changed to represent both of the characters; he doesn't object to being called Izuru Kamukura, but he prefers to go by and identifies as Hajime Hinata, as shown in Danganronpa 2.
Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony[]
Ultimate Talent Development Plan[3][]
In the non-canon alternative universe, Izuru is shown to enroll in Hope's Peak Academy, making him slightly more similar to an ordinary student. He is mentioned to be in the same class as the students who form the Class 77-B in the canon universe. According to him, he used to be called Ultimate Hope and is currently being neglected with no one giving him a purpose, and he appears to be waiting for someone to use his talents even when he knows that he is just being used and his talents are "leeched off" to create hope for the world. He appears to have a lack of identity, as he considers "Izuru Kamukura" what he is called instead of who he is, and he thinks he doesn't have a purpose unless he is given one.
For some reason, Usami acts as some sort of supervisor for him, constantly telling him to join activities and be more social. Izuru often joins the activities and gets them over with as quickly as possible, just so that he doesn't have to deal with Usami. He has a tendency to analyze other students and point out their flaws whenever he bothers to interact with them, though they sometimes speak back to him and bring up his flaws, he simply answers that their words are boring. The only people to catch his attention seem to be Kaede and Chiaki.
After three years, there seems to be a small improvement in him, as he joins the Christmas Party out of his own will. He claims he doesn't feel like he's changed, but he does give Usami a backhanded compliment after she gives an inspiring speech. Izuru leaves the Academy, thinking to himself that everything was boring and predictable, yet he appears silent and hesitant after thinking about it more, indicating that something has changed in his way of thinking.
There is very little implication of him being Hajime in the past, though Chiaki continues to try talking and play video games with him even though he doesn't have much interest. Kokichi also mentions Izuru being kind of like a ghost and is surprised to meet him, asking him that isn't he supposed to be dead. Hajime also has his own course as a playable character, in which he chooses not to participate in the Izuru Kamukura Project, and he gets wise encouragement from Monomi instead of Usami.
Relationships[]
- True Identity:
Hajime Hinata[4][]
The Izuru Kamukura Project pushed Hajime’s memories into the darkest recesses of his mind and effectively erased his personality. Although Izuru is a completely different person, however, he can still be recognized as Hajime Hinata by those who knew him prior to the project. Izuru himself eventually becomes aware of his true identity because of this.
Although Izuru was at least aware of his previous identity as Hajime, it's been confirmed that his first sixteen years of his life as Hajime were removed from his memory, and thus he is unable to recall the memory of his past self. However, Hajime did exist within him at a subconscious level, allowing him to cry at Chiaki's death despite having no idea of who she was. In addition, the Neo World Program was able to dig up his past self in order to use it as an avatar. During the conversation Izuru had with Monique in Chapter 0, Izuru stated that "he will not be able to participate in what lies ahead", most likely a reference to that fact.
Another hint to this can be the fact that during the final trial of the Killing School Trip, Makoto, Kyoko Kirigiri and Byakuya Togami were all surprised when it was revealed that Hajime and Izuru are the same people, despite the fact that they had already met and probably spoken with Izuru in the real world before putting him in the Neo World Program. It is also possible that when Izuru was secured and interrogated with the other Remnants of Despair by the Future Foundation, he presented himself as Hajime in order to hide his true identity and fool them, as Makoto and Kyoko did not know much information about Izuru Kamukura.
- Ultimate Despair Members:
Junko Enoshima[]
In Danganronpa 2, Izuru is stated to be a Remnant of Despair and according to Junko, he is also the culprit behind the Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy. According to Junko, she made him join her by "breaking his spirit".
Though he seems to be an ally of Junko based on her words, in Chapter 0, Izuru acknowledges that she used him in the past and wants to use her as she used him. He also acts unusually angry and bitter while talking about her, showing that he now considers her an enemy. However, Izuru's true motives remain unclear.
Their relationship is explored a bit more in Danganronpa 3 - Despair Arc. Junko, at first, seemingly attempts to kill Izuru because of his status as the Ultimate Hope, but her true intention was to attack him knowing she couldn't win as a way to show despair's unpredictable nature and with this in mind, Izuru wishes to see more. She makes the student council kill each other and frames Izuru to show him what despair was and eventually convinced him that a world of hope was boring and a world of despair was too unpredictable for even an Ultimate Analyst which makes life much more exciting. Izuru once protected Junko from Nagito after he attempts to kill her with a gun, showing that he was on Junko's side.
Junko believes that she and Izuru are destined for each other and perfect for spreading despair together, occasionally acting like an overly enthusiastic fan and flirting with him in a joking manner, though he is completely unresponsive and uninterested to this. She had far more respect for Izuru than the other Ultimate Despair members, considering him more of an ally instead of a servant.
After Chiaki's death, Izuru started to question Junko's way of thinking and decided to leave her and test which better fit him: hope or despair. In the end, he never truly cared for her as a person and was just affiliated with her to see how unpredictable despair is. In return, Junko saw him only as a tool in her hand, like the other members of Ultimate Despair, stating that she'll always find a use for him. It's implied that she used his interest in despair and hope's unpredictability to manipulate him into doing what she wants, seen as when she used him to upload herself in the Neo World Program with the promise of an unpredictable battle between hope and despair.
As shown in Danganronpa 2s Chapter 0 and Another Episodes Epilogue, Izuru later feels unusual hatred and bitterness towards Junko because she used him in the past. It's also possible that he is subconsciously angry because she killed Chiaki.
- Class 77-B:
Remnants of Despair[]
While Izuru is counted as an actual member of Ultimate Despair by the rest of the world, in actuality he was simply affiliated with it. As he remained undecided between hope and despair, he decided to stay with the other members of Ultimate Despair to witness Junko's despair. He doesn't seem to admire her like all the other members of Ultimate Despair do. This is most likely due to the fact that, unlike the other members, Junko was mainly trying to sway Izuru into joining her in filling the world with despair, instead of outright brainwashing him into doing so.
The only Remnant of Despair Izuru is seen interacting with is Nagito, who he finds completely boring. Though they met before once, Izuru had Junko erase all of the Remnants' memories of him, as he himself also erased his own memories of them.
However, since the Remnants of Despair entered the Neo World Program of their own will with the purpose of handing over their bodies to Alter Ego Junko in order to resurrect her, while Izuru personally installed Alter Ego Junko in the program, it can be presumed that they planned it together, with Izuru as the plot's mastermind.
It's also possible that at least Mikan Tsumiki knew Izuru since after regaining her memories in Chapter 3, she claimed she knew who the traitor was, meaning she knew that all the others, including Hajime/Izuru, were members of the Ultimate Despair.
Chiaki Nanami[]
Real-Life Version[5][]
Izuru meets Chiaki for the first time in an underground room after he stepped in to save Junko’s life from Nagito. Chiaki, recognizing him as Hajime, quickly tries to start a conversation with him, asking what happened to his hair in the year that passed since they’ve last seen each other. Izuru merely asked who she was in response, as he was unaware of the relationship that his past self had with her. However, he is seen staring into Chiaki’s eyes until Junko interfered and personally told him to stop, heavily implying that he is showing some sort of interest in her. This is most likely due to the fact that Chiaki is the only person he knows who recognized him by someone else, and he knew that the project that created him erased all his memories of who he previously was.
In Chiaki’s final moments, Izuru comes to see her for no known definite reason. He asks Chiaki if Hajime was his previous identity, to which Chiaki, in response, desperately tries to get him to remember her. Unfortunately, despite her attempts, Izuru is still unable to recognize her, stating that all of his previous memories were erased.
When Chiaki passes away, Izuru notices her hairpin and picks it up. Upon looking at it, he unconsciously begins to cry, which surprises him. This implies that he was able to remember her, just seconds after she died, as he then keeps the hairpin with him, carrying it as a way of remembering her. She seems to be the only person Izuru genuinely cared for, as Izuru still mourned over her during the Tragedy.
It was actually Chiaki who made Izuru question Junko's opinion of despair being unpredictable, therefore much more exciting. Remembering Chiaki's hope, Izuru lingered between hope and despair and decided to test out which of the two better fit him. This is heavily implied to be the reason for him masterminding the events of the Killing School Trip.
Izuru has shown unusual hatred and bitterness towards Junko. It's possible that he is subconsciously angry because she killed Chiaki.
In Danganronpa V3's bonus mode Ultimate Talent Development Plan, Chiaki is one of the only people to catch Izuru's interest and seems to be the closest thing he has to a friend, as it is mentioned they hang out enough for her to notice a difference in their win rate at video games. During the cultural festival, she greets him when he drops by her booth and invites him to play video games. Although he defeats her, she expresses happiness, which confuses Izuru. Chiaki then explains that while she's sad to have lost, she was happy to get to play with him; as long as they're friends, they can play multiple times, so she's sure she'll eventually beat him. She then challenges him to another round, and though he says he doesn't expect the outcome to be different, he accepts. In their third year, she thanks him for coming to the class Christmas party, with a nearby Usami noting it's the first time he's done so without having to be forced. He claims he only came to avoid the unnecessary bother and that he hasn't particularly changed much. Chiaki suggests that maybe the distance between them has, pointing out their video game matches have grown closer among other things. As Izuru silently mulls this over, Usami adds that the old Izuru would never have come to a social event willingly, and if he hadn't chosen to attend Hope's Peak Academy, he wouldn't be who he is today. Izuru tells her that she actually sounds like a teacher for once, making Chiaki laugh and Usami pout over "for once".
AI Version[6][]
It's strongly implied that Izuru knew about the AI of Chiaki that existed in the Neo World Program, and he installed the AI of Junko there in order to see which of the two would stand triumphant.
Monique[]
When Izuru first meets Monique he is immediately interested in her. Nagito appears almost immediately attracted to Izuru and Solami had described the scene as similar to a beautiful, elegant dance.
When the two meet again they do not recognize each other, and while Monique is very excited about Izuru's company, he now merely thinks of her as a completely incomplete person. This was due to the fact that Izuru asked Junko to erase all memories of him, as he would later erase his own memories about Class 77-B.
Trivia[]
- His first and last names are written in katakana, but the original Izuru Kamukura's names are written in kanji.
- "Izuru" (as 出流), which literally means "out of the current", could also mean "to go out into exile". Both of these meanings could reflect how Izuru Kamukura was a unique existence which felt very secluded due to having no peers.
- "Kamukura" (as 神座) means "a place in which a god resides" or "a seat for gods". This could reflect how Izuru was created to be a host for superhuman talent.
- In Danganronpa 3, Izuru is described as deus ex machina ("god from the machine"), and the series creator Kodaka has described him as a "total god-mode character" and a "god-like entity".
- His full original name, Hinata Hajime (日向創), can also be read as Kamukura according to a tweet made by Kodaka.
- In the Japanese language, Izuru talks and expresses in a more polite way, unlike his alternate identity. For example, instead of referring to himself with the word 俺 (ore) like Hajime does, he uses the word 僕 (Boku), which is a more polite, juvenile way for one to refer to themselves. Similarly, he uses the word 貴方 (anata) when talking to others; in contrast, Hajime uses お前 (omae) in the same context.
- During the Killing School Trip, Alter Ego Junko told the students about Izuru and that speech is the main source of information on him. During this, however, she made several large contradictions when discussing Izuru. It seems likely that Junko did this to manipulate the students. This means that much of the information on him has very questionable accuracy.
- Izuru is the only Remnant of Despair who was not brainwashed and accepted to help Junko of his own free will.
- Technically, being the same person as Hajime Hinata, Izuru is the first character in the Danganronpa series to participate in two Mutual Killing Games and survive both.
- In Future Arc #03, Izuru is seen in an abandoned building, next to a table with a vase with flowers. Considering one of the flowers is different from the other, it is implied that he was mourning Chiaki before Makoto arrived and takes him to custody.
- Izuru's voice double for the English dub of Despair Arc, Micah Solusod, is married to Natsumi Kuzuryu's English voice actress Apphia Yu.