♡ RANMUGI: SHIP ANALYSIS ♡

A.K.A. 天つむ (AmaTsumu) in the japanese fanbase, and ShiroMamiA continuation to the Tsumugi Shirogane Backstory Theory(⚠️ The following contains endgame spoilers for Danganronpa V3. You have been warned!)🥑 →
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let's start off to the main reason why a few people ship tsumugi and rantaro.this ship is another one of those "pair the spares" ships, where if you already ship certain characters in a game or such, you're left with only certain options remaining.their dynamic which is survivor x mastermind for some people is also considered as interesting, and "badass", according to what Tou once told me back in the year 2020.

their dynamic is honestly good shit, as you can see.basically chaotic good rantaro and lawful evil tsumugi.plain, mysterious, and deadly.when i first finished the main game, i didn't see any big reason for me to ship ranmugi. kokichi was the only one i shipped with him at first. but the further i went through and analyzed certain dialogues, that's when i realized that ranmugi actually makes a lot of sense.← 🧵 →
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the main reason why i ship ranmugi is because of this.

both of their ideal man/woman matches up perfectly. of course, tsumugi did not mean "big brother" in a literal sense, but rather, what she longs for in a partner is someone she can heavily depend and rely on at all times; someone who is a few years older than her and acts like a "big brother/sister" figure to everyone around them. (the term "onii-chan" doesn't have a direct translation in english, but you probably get what i mean.) tsumugi wrote rantaro this way hoping he'd like her back. but ironically, her fatal mistake is not realizing that she doesn't quite fit rantaro's ideal type of girl.i mean look at her.

does this look like imouto material to you?rather than a little sister, she looks like the type that i'd refer to as "mommy" as she mercilessly steps on me like the queen she is. she's more like a beautiful sexy weeb evil mastermind woman, and rantaro isn't all that into "evil" people.

in a nutshell, even kokichi and his usual savage ass is closer to rantaro's ideal type more than tsumugi is.you could say their true dynamic is tragic one-sided love where tsumugi is just too whipped for rantaro, but then also meeting the same fate as ryoko otonashi murdering yasuke in the end despite loving him so genuinely.

tsumugi even has rantaro on her team in ultimate talent development plan. she has also called rantaro's voice "sexy", and even made a butler costume for him in the drv3 manga anthology.based off tsumugi's ideal type, she also probably likes kiyo as well, but not on the same level as she likes rantaro.to prove my point, she's the mastermind so she's the one who sets up everything. and who does tsumugi stand next to in the class trials?rantaro and korekiyo.but tsumugi still prefers rantaro even more, and one of the things that proves this is chapter 3's motive.she convinced angie to revive rantaro through the necronomicon because she was a part of her cult. monokuma even mentions that a student could actually be revived for real.notice how tsumugi had the worst reaction to when she discovered that angie had died, and the fact that she also tried to suddenly accuse the "revived transfer student" and tenko out of nowhere. this is because she was so devastated over her plan's failure even to the point where she would lowkey just want them all to vote for the wrong culprit and die instead, although she knew that was impossible because of shuichi.and who could forget about chapter 1's secret event?

this event could be interpreted into two things; tsumugi being jealous of either rantaro or kaede.but so far, which of the two is more likely, now that you're reading this analysis of mine?

before he paints kaede's nails, tsumugi tells him this, which is obviously a lie once you have already finished the main story. she knows everything about rantaro and the fact that he has never once had a girlfriend his entire life.

she then immediately takes back her (false) statement, and subtly says that rantaro is basically the type who looks like a fuckboy but is actually the opposite of one.

even after rantaro was done painting kaede's nails, tsumugi continued to glare at both of them. she wasn't just staring at rantaro, it was the same for kaede.

"what a showoff" was tsumugi referring to kaede, who was showing off that rantaro got to paint her nails instead of tsumugi's.she calls the both of them normies, and silently tells them to "backflip onto a land mine and explode", foreshadowing their deaths.tsumugi killed rantaro because even though she loved him, she still loved danganronpa more to the point of obsession. she probably thought "oh well, i still can revive him anytime i want to." since he is a fictional character, just like everyone else in danganronpa.but when her resurrection plan for him failed, she fell into despair just like that one woman she admires so much.tsumugi sacrificed the fictional love of her life for danganronpa, since the game is her only will to live. she's way too afraid of going against the expectations and wishes of her beloved danganronpa fans, even though they only care about the killing game and not tsumugi herself despite how she overworks herself for everyone's sake.among all the characters from drv3, the only one who is capable enough of saving tsumugi from her unhealthy obsession with danganronpa and junko is rantaro, since he is the type who doesn't really judge a book by its cover. he is altruistic and very understanding of others, especially if they are emotionally struggling.and this is where shit gets real, as the tables of one-sided love turn back on tsumugi.rantaro may hate her at first, but eventually he will come to realize that he shouldn't merely stop her.he needs to save her from herself.
and i really think that's fucking beautiful.← 🥑 →
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✿ DEFENDING RANMUGI ✿

i know what some of you guys out there might be thinking."oh, but it's a killer x victim ship, therefore automatically making it a toxic ship!"are you forgetting what game we are talking about here? this is literally danganronpa we are talking about.in reality, whether or not a killer x victim ship in a game like this is considered as toxic mainly depends on the murder motive. oumota (kokichi x kaito) and bandaid (ibuki x mikan) are examples of this situation; ships with many fans who defend them as much as they can. killer x victim ships are not always toxic, you just hate m/f ships. (also ranmugi isn't even straight for me they're bi4bi)ranmugi isn't toxic. tsumugi would've chosen to keep rantaro alive if she wasn't so obsessed with danganronpa to the point of k-wording herself just to keep the franchise alive.it only seems toxic at first because of how rantaro hates tsumugi. but the more you look deeper into it,

you will realize why he said "i'm going to end this game" instead of "i'm going to take down the mastermind". he just wants to find a way and convince tsumugi to stop what she is doing without killing her at all, which is why he told everyone to not do anything unnecessary which is to get in his way. He even only had his monopad with him while trying to find her, having no intention to kill her.← 🧵 →
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✿ MY HEADCANONS ✿

- since tsumugi suffers from poor self-esteem because she thinks of herself as nothing but a "plain outcast", rantaro is always there to comfort and remind her that she is unique in her own way and loves her for who she really is.- they would go on cute travel dates together in many different countries.- in danganronpa 52, it is most likely that rantaro was the protagonist of the game while tsumugi was his sidekick and love interest, with the both of them also being close friends with another unknown male classmate. (yes this is a reference to the fanganronpa, danganronpa distrust.)- they would bond over their great interest in fashion.(last revision: 04/16/2025)

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