Kyosuke Munakata (宗方 京助 Munakata Kyōsuke) is a character and anti-hero featured in Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak Academy, as a participant in the Final Killing Game.
He is the vice-leader of Future Foundation and leader of the 2nd Division. His responsibility is to oversee overall management, including any and all construction of new facilities. Despite being only vice-leader, Kyosuke holds the most control.
During his time at Hope's Peak Academy, Kyosuke's title was Ultimate Student Council President(超高校級の「生徒会長」chō kōkō kyū no “seitokaichō” lit. Super High School Level Student Council President). During this time, Kyosuke became a part of the school's Student Council.
During the Final Killing Game, Kyosuke kills Kazuo Tengan by slicing his jugular vein, destroys the robotic doppelganger of Miaya Gekkogaharaby slashing it in half, and severely wounds Juzo Sakakura by stabbing him through the stomach.
Kyosuke survives the Final Killing Game along with the other foursurvivors after Juzo deactivated the televisions by switching to emergency power.
After the Final Killing Game was over, Kyosuke decided to leave the Future Foundation to focus on carrying on his own burden.
Appearance[]
Kyosuke is a man in his mid-twenties, around 25 at youngest (about 20-21 in Danganronpa 3 - Side: Despair).
He is tall and leans with a pasty white complexion. His appearance is also very colorless; he has silver hair, blue eyes, and a cold expression. He wears a pale suit with a blue dress shirt, and a faded pink necktie. His tie has a mysterious black insignia on it, and the tips of his shoes have three dots pointed in a triangle. He lost his right eye after a confrontation with Kazuo.
Prior to the Tragedy, Kyosuke wore a black suit instead of a white one. He also appeared to be slightly shorter.
Personality[]
Kyosuke is cold and authoritative, holding an incredible amount of anger towards Ultimate Despair and is in favor of killing them. At one point, he was stated to be charismatic, which is demonstrated in Juzo and Chisa Yukizome's loyalty to him, showing that he can be influential. His opinions are very radical, as he believes Despair should be eliminated at all cost, even if sacrifices, like his own death, must be made.
Kyosuke states that he does not believe solely in hope or despair, but power. He understands that (similar to Nagito Komaeda) in order for hope to be fully appreciated, you need to go through a greater despair beforehand. He believes that despair breeds hope, and therefore it needs to be embraced. He disagrees with Makoto Naegi because of this, as he only wants to embrace hope. Though throughout his struggle in the Final Killing Game, it becomes apparent at just how pessimistic Kyosuke had become—choosing only to focus on despair without seeing the good that was still left in the world.
Kyosuke is decisive, overly logical, and reserved. He tries to distance himself from emotional reasoning as much as possible, to keep his emotions from getting in the way of his decisions. He is aware that he has to make the tough choices that few others are willing to make, and has resigned himself to the responsibility. Because of this, he seems to view himself as very martyr-like, as he is willing to put himself into unfavorable opinions with others in order to get things done. Though originally rational and reliable, he loses his restraint as a result of Chisa's death.
In his past, he was a slightly warmer person, smiling more often and having a kinder voice. He was determined to lead Hope's Peak Academy in order to take the school in the correct direction.
Despair Mode[]
Unlike the Remnants of Despair, Kyosuke can control himself with Despair Mode. His Despair Mode allowing intense agony from wounds to envelop his senses causes him to lose himself in his old Jack the Despair personality. This "Despair Mode" radically boosts his already insane speed and strength.
Relationships[]
Chisa Yukizome[]
Despite his coldness, Kyosuke has a strong relationship with Chisa. Kyosuke grew close to her during their time as classmates at Hope's Peak, and they maintained a strong relationship even after they graduated. He noticeably cares about her well-being, and doesn't want Chisa to push herself. He often values her opinions and discusses things that concern him with her. Chisa is the one person Kyosuke trusts the most, aside from Juzo.
While Chisa has romantic feelings for him, Kyosuke acts more distant and never showed any obvious signs of being in love with Chisa. However, when Chisa is killed, Kazuo claims Kyosuke's love for her had driven him mad. This was also confirmed by Kodaka in their Blu-Ray extras profiles. She is also the person he cares about most. Despite his closeness with her, Kyosuke stays formal and often refuses to call Chisa by her first name, even when she asks him to. However, when Chisa is murdered, Kyosuke returns to her body only to stab her again. Before leaving, he calls her by her first name, giving into her request.
Later, when talking to Makoto about his relationship with Kyoko, Kyosuke compares Makoto's feelings for Kyoko to that of his for Chisa's. Because of how he phrased his words, it's very likely Kyosuke had romantic feelings for Chisa. Junko also calls him Chisa's 'lover' whilst recapping the series events in Side: Future episode 12.
Upon learning that Chisa had become a member of Ultimate Despair, Kyosuke felt betrayed, but couldn't bring himself to feel sad over her own death, let alone hate her for what she did. He decides to blame despair instead for taking her away from him and subsequently falls to insanity and despair himself. It wasn't until Makoto, following Kyoko's apparent death, confronts and tells him that even if Kyoko had fallen into despair that he would still be glad to have meet her nonetheless. At that point, Kyosuke remembers Chisa and subsequently allows himself to properly grieve over her loss. He wonders about the circumstances that led to Chisa falling into despair, as he wasn't present when Chisa was brainwashed. It's evident that no matter what Chisa had done, Kyosuke still truly cared for her.
Juzo Sakakura[]
Kyosuke and Juzo have been close friends since high school. The two of them share similar ideals, and have mutual respect and loyalty to each other. Juzo acts as Kyosuke's right hand man, and Kyosuke depends on Juzo's help. Juzo does anything Kyosuke asks, and is very serious about things concerning him. Kyosuke is also very thankful to both Juzo and Chisa for getting him to where he is now.
During the Final Killing Game, due to a combination of Tengan's revelation that everyone becomes an attacker, Chisa is confirmed to be a Despair. With both Chisa and Juzo having vouched for Junko's innocence, Kyosuke misintepreted it as Juzo having fallen into despair, and thus decided to kill Juzo to show his devotion to the cause of eliminating despair once and for all. Despite this, Kyosuke is shown to be immediately regretful, almost tearful, and swears revenge against despair for forcing him to kill his treasured ally.
After he learns from Makoto that Juzo was not apart of Ultimate Despair, Kyosuke is shocked and feels immense guilt for what he had done, and does not want to go to Juzo because of the shame he felt. However, after learning that Juzo still believes in him and was trying to save him, Kyosuke rushed to his location, only to find Juzo's corpse in the power room. Kyosuke tearfully apologized to Juzo, remembering his time with him and Chisa.
He is evidently unaware of Juzo's romantic feelings for him.
Kazuo Tengan[]
Despite being the leader of Future Foundation, Kyosuke undermines Kazuo's authority, attempting to push his own agenda instead. It was not always like this, though; Kyosuke once respected Kazuo a great deal, and saw him as strong with views similar to his own. Kazuo also shielded Kyosuke from a surprise attack by a Remnant of Despair, and Kyosuke defended Kazuo from Peko when she attempted to attack him. Kazuo himself describes Kyosuke as "an old friend." This changes, however, when Kazuo realizes that the way that Kyosuke thinks is flawed and naive, choosing to harbor beliefs similar to Makoto's. Following these events, Kyosuke begins to think of him as nothing but a senile old man and a coward, deciding to push him aside and shoulder the burden of Future Foundation on his own. Even with his change of viewpoint, Kazuo still had a very keen understanding of Kyosuke as well as his insecurities, resulting in them having a confrontation. After a long fight, Kyosuke once again felt respect for Kazuo, admitting his own misjudgment and allowing Kazuo to speak freely. However, Kazuo's attempts to reform Kyosuke's way of thinking fail, as Kyosuke mistakes Kazuo for the attacker and brings an end to his life.
After the truth of the Final Killing Game was revealed, Kyosuke briefly assumed that Kazuo was a Remnant of Despair, due to being the only one besides himself who could have arranged such an elaborate trap without anyone else knowing. However, the later revelation of Kazuo's true goals caused him to realize that the entire gambit was intended to restore hope - albeit at the cost of humanity's free will and the lives of the other Future Foundation Branch Heads.
Makoto Naegi[]
Because of Kyosuke's position as vice-leader, he was successfully able to charge Makoto with treason against Future Foundation and continues to antagonize him. Rather than just punishing him, Kyosuke is in favor of executing Makoto alongside the Remnants of Despair. Contrary to what his actions might imply, Kyosuke admits to Makoto that he thinks he is impressive, and not just because he was responsible for the defeat of Junko. Kyosuke respects Makoto's charisma and determination in the face of impossible odds; both qualities that were repeatedly displayed during the broadcast of the Killing School Life. Makoto implies that they had once been friends.
Despite this, Kyosuke is consistently at odds with Makoto because their viewpoints are so different. Makoto believes solely in hope, while Kyosuke believes in power. Because of this, Kyosuke thinks that Makoto's words are hollow and meaningless, as he does not appreciate despair in the same way that he appreciates hope. Kyosuke also fears how influential Makoto can be, as he doesn't want him convincing people that they can win against despair without fighting.
Though, regardless, in Kyosuke's warped worldview, after being mistakenly mislead to think that Makoto was part of Ultimate Despair, he wanted to "save" him from that fate—possibly due to his respect and possible feelings of friendship for Makoto.
Ultimately, Kyosuke's antagonism of Makoto is a clash of ideals on how best to reverse the damage wrought on the world by Ultimate Despair. As Makoto pointed out in their final confrontation, Kyosuke's single-minded focus on eliminating despair leaves him unable or unwilling to reflect on the good left in the world, preventing him from cultivating hope in the wake of The Tragedy.
Junko Enoshima[]
Kyosuke has an intense hatred for Junko for laying her hands on his school by causing the Parade and the Tragedy and vowed to kill her. He suspected her the second despair started filling Hope's Peak Academy, and distrusted her even after Juzo and Chisa report her as innocent. When Kyosuke found out that his suspicions were correct and Junko was responsible for both the Tradegy and the Killing School Life, he labels her as a monster and acknowledges her strength and influence. Kyosuke doesn't seem to view Junko as a person; instead he thinks of her as despair itself. Unbeknownst to Kyosuke, Junko was the reason why two of his closest friends, Chisa and Juzo, betrayed him. Junko was responsible for brainwashing Chisa and blackmailing Juzo, causing the two to report Junko innocent.