Danganronpa 3 - Despair Arc - Episode 09

Chisa Yukizome Doesn't Smile (雪染ちさは笑わない, Yukizome Chisa wa Warawanai), Side: Despair #09 is the eighteenth episode of Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak Academy and the ninth episode of Side: Despair. It first aired on September 8th, 2016.

Summary
Junko Enoshima attempts to throw Chisa Yukizome into despair, or to be more precise, brainwash her. Chiaki Nanami and the rest of her class formulate a plan to go save their beloved teacher, but have no idea what they are truly getting into as they begin their fight against the Ultimate Despair.

Plot
This episode continues right where the previous one left off, in the secret underground Hope's Peak Academy facility. Nagito Komaeda, winded by a shot hitting his handbook, lies on the floor while Chiaki Nanami stares down Izuru Kamukura, identifying him as Hajime Hinata and inquiring about his new appearance. As Junko Enoshima becomes threatening, Chisa Yukizome barges in and hurls a fire extinguisher at the wall; in the smoke, Chiaki flees with Nagito while Chisa stays behind to deal with Junko. She tells Chisa about how she plans to brainwash her entire class into Despair.

While still pondering the disappearance of Mikan Tsumiki, Chiaki shows up and tells the rest of the class about Nagito's discovery. Junko continues to tell Chisa about her plan to manipulate them into doing what she wants; she demonstrates her brainwashing powers by forcing a Reserve Course student to painfully commit suicide by decapitating himself right in front of her with a saw. Nagito tries to warn them that it is a suicide mission, but the rest of the class shoves off his word. Chiaki, remembering how she would have been quiet and lonely if Chisa did not give her the confidence needed to be the class rep and befriend everyone, becomes moralized and the students all agree to go. During this time, "Ryota" takes off his mask and reveals his true face as the Ultimate Imposter, a man with no past history who lives from stolen identity to the next. Nagito revels in the fact that the entire class has taken up hope, believing it to be strong enough to fight against Junko's despair.

Elsewhere, Kyosuke Munakata tells Juzo Sakakura that he is quite sure that Junko is responsible for the killing incident, and they are both eager to extract revenge on her. Meanwhile, as an indifferent Izuru watches, Chisa is bound to a chair, her eyelids forced open, and made to watch the Despair Video. She manages to maintain her sense of will and resist the brainwashing, thus prompting Mukuro Ikusaba to insert needles directly into her brain, affecting the pleasure center and forcing her to orgasm over the video, thus equating her newfound pleasure into despair. En route to the secret facility, Class 77-B becomes blocked off by angry Reserve Course students, who wish to kill them and take their spots in the Main Course. Gundham Tanaka and Nekomaru Nidai offer to hold them off in order to give the others a chance to rescue Chisa.

Meanwhile, Junko confronts a depressed Ryota Mitarai, and when she gleefully mocks him of his complicity in helping produce the brainwashing video, he runs away crying and jumps into a lake in desperation. He washes up depressed and in pain. At this point, Juzo confronts Junko with enormous rage and is about to attack her.

The rest of the class make their way to the secret lair. As they begin descending, Mikan Tsumiki asks if she may speak to Chiaki alone. She remarks how Chiaki was quiet and withdrawn before Chisa brought her out of her shell and made her into the open individual she is today. Chiaki modestly claims that she is the same person as before, albeit less reserved, only for Mikan to apologize for what she is about to do; Mikan then pushes Chiaki into a revolving wall. Chiaki wakes up in the bottom floor, aware of Mikan's treachery, but is surprised to see Chisa stand there in front of her. Chisa offers her hand to Chiaki and proclaims that the two of them would save their class together, giving Chiaki a smirk in the process.

Appearances
The following are in order of appearance:
 * Chiaki Nanami
 * Izuru Kamukura
 * Chisa Yukizome
 * Ryota Mitarai
 * Nagito Komaeda
 * Junko Enoshima
 * Mukuro Ikusaba
 * Mikan Tsumiki
 * Ibuki Mioda
 * Hiyoko Saionji
 * Mahiru Koizumi
 * Peko Pekoyama
 * Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu
 * Kazuichi Soda
 * Nekomaru Nidai
 * Sonia Nevermind
 * "Ryota Mitarai"/Ultimate Imposter
 * Gundham Tanaka
 * Teruteru Hanamura
 * Akane Owari
 * Juzo Sakakura
 * Kyosuke Munakata

Trivia

 * The title of the episode is a reference to Boogiepop Doesn't Smile, the first book in the Boogiepop light novel series.
 * When Gundham prepares to fight the rioting Reserve Course students, he makes a reference to Saint Seiya.
 * Kazutaka Kodaka's favorite scenes in this episode are:
 * The Ultimate Imposter revealed his true face.
 * The tragic scene where Ryota escapes from Junko using him and falls into the river before collapsing.
 * The Blu-ray release removes the shadows censoring the Reserve Course student sawing through his neck.