Kaede Akamatsu

Kaede Akamatsu (赤松 楓 Akamatsu Kaede) is a character featured in Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony and a participant in the Killing School Semester.

Kaede has the title of Ultimate Pianist (超高校級の「ピアニスト」 chō kōkō kyū no “Pianisuto” Super High School Level Pianist), owing to her prowess in playing the piano since childhood and winning various awards.

Early Life

 * Before Joining Danganronpa

Kaede Akamatsu was a fan of a series featuring Killing Games, Danganronpa, created by Team Danganronpa. In her audition video, she revealed that she wants to join the Killing Game because she believed that she had the perfect personality for it, not having any faith in humanity whatsoever.

Kaede, along with the other talentless 53rd Killing Game participants undergo the fabrication process, where all of their past memory and personality were permanently fabricated. She also received the talent and title of Ultimate Pianist. All of this was done for the sake of satisfying Danganronpa's audience from all around the world. After the fabrication process was complete, Kaede and the others entered the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles as a totally different person, officially commencing the 53rd killing game season known as the Killing School Semester.

During her high school days, Kaede attended Shining Star International High School (光星国際アカデミー). However, it is unclear if this memory of her is a part of the fabrication made by Team Danganronpa. It is also said that she had a younger twin sister, but it is also unknown whether this is genuine or fabricated.


 * Fabricated Past

After she successfully participated in the 53rd Killing Game, Kaede's memories and past were fabricated by Team Danganronpa as follows:

Since she was a child, Kaede has been playing the piano so much so that she would forget to eat and sleep at times. As a result, people began to give her the nickname "piano freak". Before long, she began winning contest after contest, garnering praise from many people and earning her the title of Ultimate Pianist.

The Gofer Project
Part of the fake backstories created for Kaede and the other fifteen students was The Gofer Project, which supposedly happened before the Killing Game started. It was initiated by heads of nations from all over the world after countless meteorites crashed into Earth, spreading a deadly virus all throughout the atmosphere. To try and preserve the last vestiges of mankind before the Earth’s destruction, the government decided to select sixteen talented students chosen by the Ultimate Initiative that also somehow happened to be immune to the virus, put them in a spaceship colony, and have them escape before the Earth's destruction. Kaede was among these sixteen individuals.

Despite being chosen to participant, Kaede and the other fifteen participants had no intentions of going along with the plan, not wanting to abandon their loved ones. As a result, Kaede chose to forget about her Ultimate talent and decided to live as a normal high school student.

Around that time an extremist cult came into power. They believed that the meteorites were a punishment humanity brought upon itself, and having heard of The Gofer Project, tried to stop it. As a result, the “Ultimate Hunt” started and spread throughout the world, and the sixteen students selected for the Gofer Project were hunted down.

The government then decided to counter the situation by faking the students' deaths, calming down the “Ultimate Hunt” while providing protection to the students. The Gofer Project was then put into action while the Earth was being destroyed by meteorites. Kaede and the others went to space in the massive ark, the true form of Ultimate Academy of Gifted Juveniles, and were put to a cold sleep for several decades.

Much later on in Chapter 5, after the remaining participants cleared the Death Road of Despair, Kokichi Oma lied about being the mastermind of the Killing Game and that he was the leader of the cult bent on stopping the Gofer Project. He also lied about being the one who let Monokuma enter the spaceship, which effectively forced Kaede and the others to participate in the Killing School Semester. All of this was done in order to get everyone to fall into so much despair that they would not continue the Killing Game.

However, the true Mastermind, in order to get the remaining survivors at the time to continue the Killing Game, decided to connect everyone's memories of The Gofer Project to the story of Hope's Peak Academy. As a result, the true Mastermind prepared a Flashback Light that tricked the remaining participants into thinking that everyone, including those that had died, were actually students of the rebuilt Hope's Peak Academy. They also remembered that the ones behind The Gofer Project were Makoto Naegi, the headmaster of the rebuilt Hopes Peak Academy, and the Future Foundation. This Flashback light also revealed that the cult bent on stopping The Gofer Project were actually the Remnants of Despair and that Kokichi was their leader. This lie filled everyone with the determination needed to stop the despair they were faced with.

In the Mastermind's rush however, they accidentally overlooked slight inconsistencies and plot holes when linking both stories together, such as "Ultimate Despair" only referring to Junko Enoshima, and that Class 78 was trapped by the Ultimate Despair when they had actually locked themselves within the school in order to shelter themselves from the tragedy outside.

It should be noted that Kaede has no complete recollection of the event, as she was executed before she could ever recall anything about the Ultimate Hunt or the Gofer Project from later Flashback Lights.

Introduction
Kaede woke up in a locker within an eerie classroom, overgrown with vegetation, on the second floor of the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles. Upon stumbling out of the locker and bumping her head, she collected herself and tried to figure where she was and what was going on. Before she could do too much however, a boy stumbled out of the locker next to the one she woke up in. The two got acquainted with each other, with the boy introducing himself as Shuichi Saihara, before they headed out into the hallway. However, as soon as they left the classroom they were found by a large mechanical monstrosity known as an Exisal, which chased them until they both got to the first floor, only to run into more of the robots.

The pair continued to evade the large mechanical monstrosities, not realizing that they were being led towards the gymnasium, where fourteen other high schoolers had already gathered. Not long after, all five Exisals appear once again and threaten the participants. However, after the ones controlling them realized that they weren't supposed to be using them just yet and that they had gone off-script, the five mysterious individuals exited the Exisals and introduced themselves as the Monokuma Kubs. The Kubs give the sixteen participants a new set of clothes before giving them their first memory via the Flashback Light. Kaede and the other fifteen talentless students underwent the fabrication process, where all of their past memories and personalities were heavily fabricated. She also received the talent and title of Ultimate Pianist. All of this was done for the sake of satisfying Danganronpa's audience from all over the world. After the fabrication process was completed, Kaede and the others entered the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles as totally different people, officially commencing the 53rd killing game season known as the Killing School Semester.

Kaede once again woke up in the same locker as before, along with Shuichi. The two had no recollection of their previous meeting and as such, reintroduced themselves, both now under the impression that they were Ultimate students due to the new memory they had been given. Kaede believed herself to be the Ultimate Pianist, and Shuichi believed himself to be the Ultimate Detective. The pair explored the seemingly abandoned school, finding and introducing themselves to all fourteen other students before being told by the Monokuma Kubs to assemble at the gymnasium. Kaede and Shuichi, along with everyone else, headed there immediately and were introduced to the Monokuma Kubs properly, along with their father, the self-appointed headmaster of the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles, Monokuma. Monokuma announces that all sixteen Ultimate students would participate in a killing game, much to a majority of the students shock, horror, or displeasure. Kaede was exceptionally outraged by this announcement, declaring to Monokuma and his cubs that they would never participate in a killing game. Her bold declaration fell on deaf ears, as the robotic bears continued to laugh at and taunt the participants. With that, the Killing School Semester had officially begun.

Attempting the Death Road of Despair
After Monokuma commenced the killing game, Kaede read the killing game rules on her Monopad. The disturbing rules baffled all of the students, causing a discord among the group. Kaede who saw this immediately stopped them, saying that they should cooperate together instead of fighting if they wanted to escape. As Kaede proposed a sound and straightforward argument, everyone's heart was able to become one, all thanks to her speech. Gonta Gokuhara, the Ultimate Entomologist, then remembered that he found a manhole inside the boiler room behind the school building. Kaede along with her friends immediately followed the Ultimate Entomologist's lead, with a hope of finding a way out.

Descending the manhole, Kaede and the others found a tunnel leading outside of the academy. Though everyone thought that the tunnel probably ended up being a trap, they still had to test every single possibility in order to escape. However, Kaede and the others exhausted themselves both physically and mentally as they found that escaping through Death Road of Despair is next to impossible. Due to this, Kokichi revolted, saying that Kaede's repeated motivational speech is the source of the group's agony, added by some of her friends giving up on escaping the tunnel, the group's harmony came to a swift end. The tunnel ended up being a trap set by Monokuma and the Monokuma Kubs, much to everyone's dismay. Kaede, who blamed herself for making everyone break up, was comforted by Kaito Momota, the Ultimate Astronaut, and Shuichi, both of which still completely supported her ideals.

As the nighttime announcement broadcasted, everyone including Kaede returned to their dorm room. When Kaede returned to her room, she found a key which was supposedly for her dorm. Monokid gave the key to Kaede to give her access to her room while also giving her a "hint", which was that if she stole someone else's key she will get the chance to kill someone. Kaede got increasingly irritated and scared Monokid to make him flee.

The First Motive and the Hidden Door
The next day, Kaede went to the dining hall after everyone else did and was greeted by Kokichi who in turn for his rebellion towards the group's harmony, created a "kind" lie that made the group consolidate again. Afterwards, Monokuma came to the cafeteria and announced the first motive, anyone who committed the first killing will graduate without holding a trial, effectively calling it a "First Blood Perk". Kaede still boldly declared that they wouldn't lose to Monokuma and that they had promised each other to escape together. Rantaro Amami, the Ultimate ???, pointed out that this was used to invalidate the cooperative game by Kaede and make it into a noncooperative game where the players don't work. Kaito meanwhile, became increasingly outraged with Monokuma for doing whatever he wanted and lunged at him. This caused the Monokuma Kubs to show up, showing no hesitation to punish the Ultimate Astronaut with the Exisals for attempting violence against their father, effectively breaking the rules. The red Exisal charged at him but accidentally ended up crushing Monokuma instead, supposedly destroying him. The Monokubs were incredibly saddened by the sudden demise of their father, stating that he had no spare and that he was one of a kind. Upon learning this, the participant's mood improved greatly, thinking the killing game to be over. Kaede however, was still skeptical, but this skepticism was met with accusation of her wanting to continue the killing game from some of the participants, much to Kaede's dismay.

Kaede returned to her room and began to cry silently. A moment after that, Shuichi came to her room, telling that her beliefs are not wrong at all. In fact, Kaede was the only person Shuichi trusted enough to share his secret with. Once Kaede visited the library with the Ultimate Detective, he pushed one of the bookshelves aside to reveal a hidden door, much to her surprise. Due to the nature of the hidden door, Shuichi speculated that someone among the group was actually working with Monokuma, much to Kaede's shock and disbelief. Shuichi was just as stunned as she was and decided to test his own theory by sprinkling some dust within the card reader slot of the hidden door to see if someone was really going in and out of that door without anyone noticing. Kaede and Shuichi leave the library after putting the bookshelf back into place and head back to their respective dorm rooms.

The Additional Motive
Kaede once again joined everyone else in the dining hall the next morning, only to find that Monokuma had, in fact, returned, much to the dismay of the students, but to the joy of the Monokuma Kubs. Monokuma goes on to reveal the additional motive, that if a murder did not occur within two days by noon, everyone who was forced to participate would be killed. Despite Kaede's best efforts to try and keep everyone together, a majority of the group seemed too depressed to stay united and left the dining hall.

Shuichi once again took Kaede to the library and revealed the hidden door to her. Both discovered that the dust that had been planted in the card reader dust by Shuichi had fallen onto the ground, indicating that someone had used the card reader to enter through the hidden door. With this information confirmed, Shuichi hypothesized he stated that with the way Monokuma worded the additional motive that he was trying to protect someone and that the hidden door may be connected to Monokuma's revival. He then went on to state that if someone was being protected by Monokuma, and had the ability to create a spare of him, that they were the mastermind of the killing game.

Kaede was horrified to think that the one responsible for all their suffering was one of them but thought to herself that there's no way she could forgive such a person. Shuichi extrapolated that the mastermind might come to the hidden room if they needed to create a huge amount of Monokuma's. Kaede made up her mind and decided to believe in Shuichi's detective work and take the risk with him despite being warned by him that it's just his deduction and that he could very well be wrong. After reapplying the dust to the card reader slot, they both left the library once again and returned to their rooms.

In a bonus scene during Chapter 1, Kaede would meet up with Tsumugi Shirogane, the Ultimate Cosplayer, in the game room and asked her to paint her nails in return for giving Tsumugi a nail brush earlier. Kaede was happy with Tsumugi's work, but then Rantaro walked in and claimed that he could do nail art as well, which he proved by then painting Kaede's nails, much to her embarrassment and Tsumugi's jealousy.

Kaede's Plan
Kaede woke up the next morning to someone ringing her room's doorbell. She answered it, expecting it to be Shuichi, only for it to be Monokuma telling her that her Research Lab had opened up. Annoyed, she slammed the door in his face, only for the bell to ring again. She told the one ringing the bell to go away, expecting it to be Monokuma only for it to actually be Shuichi this time, to whom she apologized immediately for her behavior. Shuichi had come to her with a plan in order to catch the mastermind, finding it safer to catch them from a distance instead of hiding out in the library.

Hoping to catch the mastermind, Kaede and Shuichi begged Miu Iruma, the Ultimate Inventor, to make them cameras to set up in the library. They retrieved parts for Miu to make the cameras from the warehouse. While there, Kaede began to worry. She pondered whether or not this plan would really be able to save everyone. With this worry on her mind, she put the disposable cameras, along with a shot put ball, in her backpack. Pushed by the motive presented by Monokuma, Kaede planned to murder the mastermind and save everyone from the killing game without telling Shuichi.

In the morning before the time limit hit, Kaede and Shuichi met Angie Yonaga, the Ultimate Artist, who informed the duo that there was a fight between students in the dining hall. Originally, Kaede was supposed to retrieve the modified camera from Miu along with Shuichi, but this problem forced Kaede to split from Shuichi and head to the dining hall with Angie. There, she found that Ryoma Hoshi, the Ultimate Tennis Pro, would willingly let himself be killed so that everyone else could survive. Kaede tried to get him to reconsider, telling him that they'd escape together, but he didn't believe there was any more time left for idealism now. Rantaro stopped him and said that he would end the killing game in his own way and told everyone not to do anything unnecessary. Listening to this, Kaede's determination to save her friends became even stronger.

She left the dining hall to meet up with Shuichi in the classroom next to the basement. She listened to Shuichi's explanation as to why he chose this particular classroom to keep watch before heading to the library to set up the cameras. During their setup process, Kaede left the air duct open and arranged the books on top of the shelf in a staircase-like manner. She also taped down the hidden camera aimed at the hidden door exceptionally well and turned the flash on, hoping to lure the mastermind into the path of the murder weapon that she had set up, killing them and saving everyone. All the while, Shuichi never noticed a thing.

After finishing their setup, the two headed back to the lookout classroom that Shuichi had picked out to keep watch and wait. While waiting for the sensor to react, Shuichi told Kaede about how he earned the title of the Ultimate Detective, a marking point where he began to be afraid of searching for the truth. Kaede told him that she was actually afraid, but with Shuichi standing by her side, she didn't hesitate to catch the mastermind. She told him that he needs to hold his head up high, and the fact that she believed in him effectively gave Shuichi the courage and strength that he needed.

Not long afterward, the monitors turned on and began to play an eerie soundtrack, signaling that the time limit was almost over. Around this time, Kaede and Shuichi also witnessed seven people heading into the basement, which were Gonta, Kaito, Tenko Chabashira, Maki Harukawa, Himiko Yumeno, Angie, and Rantaro. Shuichi, worried that they might stumble upon the trap they had set up in the library, headed down into the basement to check on the group, leaving Kaede alone. She quickly grew anxious without Shuichi by her side and began to sweep the classroom for no reason at all. She became relieved when he came back, but it was not long after that that the buzzer in Shuichi's hand went off, indicating that someone had moved the shelf hiding the hidden door in the library. He rushed out of the classroom with great haste, but Kaede used this opportunity to roll her shot put ball into the air duct that led into the library before quickly chasing after him. She hoped that her shot put ball would hit her target who is none other than the mastermind behind the killing game.

Once they reach the basement, they are joined by Kaito and Tenko, who tells the duo that they should join their strategy meeting. Kaede tells them that they might really be able to end the killing game, and so they join them and storm the library. They notice the bookshelf concealing the hidden door closing again as they enter and go to inspect it. As soon as they do, they come upon Rantaro's corpse not far from the hidden door's position, who seemed to have been bludgeoned in the back of the head with Kaede's shot put, much to Kaede's shock and horror.



Tenko's scream alerted the people in the game room, while the body discovery announcement alerted everyone else who had yet to arrive. Monokuma and the Monokuma Kubs appear not long after and tells the culprit to step forward and claim their "First Blood Perk", but Kaede refused, not wanting to leave everyone behind. As a result of no one stepping forward, Monokuma scraps the First Blood Perk and holds a class trial anyways, telling everyone to investigate, then hands out the Monokuma File. Kaede quickly comes to terms with the fact that she killed a dear friend. Despite this, she still encourages everyone to come together and search for the truth, not wanting Rantaro to have died for nothing.

In reality however, her plan failed. Rantaro's true killer is The Mastermind of the Killing School Semester who covered up and altered the crime scene to make it seem as if Kaede's plan had succeeded. Despite this, the truth is obscured from everyone while Kaede is set up as the culprit. Not realizing this, the participants search for a truth that had been painted over with lies by Monokuma and The Mastermind.

Uncovering the "Truth"
During the investigation, Kaede and Shuichi decide to continue working together, questioning everyone and uncovering clues. When they heard from Korekiyo Shinguji that Tsumugi left the dining hall to use the restroom, Kaede became suspicious and decided to head back to the library to question her. When she did and asked her if she could have disguised herself as someone, Tsumugi took her to the first-floor girl's bathroom and asked Kaede to give her her clothes so she could dress as her. Once she did, Kaede saw Tsumugi's cospox, effectively meaning that she couldn't have disguised herself. Kaede was very shocked by this but was convinced that Tsumugi had a solid alibi.

Once the main investigation is completed, everyone gathers in the warehouse where Monophanie had developed the photo's from the hidden cameras. The group looks through each and every photo, but find no clues to the culprit or the mastermind, like Kaede was hoping for. She becomes increasingly more anxious, wanting to reveal the mastermind during the class trial, but not intending to keep her crime hidden.

Afterwards, the investigation ends, and the group gathers at the Shrine of Judgement in the courtyard. They step into the newly revealed elevator and descend to the class trial grounds. While they were on the elevator, Kaede told Shuichi not to avert his eyes from the truth anymore and that he had to fight for it even if it is frightening. She tells him that if he was scared, he should borrow the strength of those who would be there to help him and let that be his strength, believing that Shuichi is capable of doing such thing.

Kaede's Fate
During the class trial, Kaede had no intention of hiding her sins from everyone but wanted to unveil the identity of the mastermind beforehand. However, an unexpected turn of events occurred when Shuichi discovered the supposed "truth" that Kaede murdered Rantaro, but refused to speak about that fact as to not condemn his friend. Unfortunately for him, this act of silence, as well as forgetting to mention the camera intervals to Kaede before-hand, caught the suspicion of nearly everyone else in the trial and he is quickly denounced as the culprit. As a result, Kaede is left with no other choice but to protect him, mentally apologizing to everyone for being unable to reveal the mastermind and save everyone. Shuichi realizes this, and vows to no longer be afraid of the truth and reveals her as the "culprit" to everyone else in the trial.

Everyone is shocked and in utter disbelief that Kaede, who wanted to end the killing game and save everyone, could be the culprit. Despite this, she goads Shuichi along as to make him reveal the whole truth about her plan, much to everyone's dismay.

After everyone casts their vote, Kaede comes clean fully and admits that she planned to kill the mastermind in order to save everyone and end the killing game and that she never intended to hide her sins, but couldn't come clean right away thanks to Monokuma's First Blood Perk. Shuichi is quick to blame himself for coming to the deduction that the mastermind would be in the library, giving Kaede that idea, but she corrects him and says that she brought this upon herself. Monokuma and the Monokuma Kubs are quick to execute her, but Kaito, Tenko, and Gonta immediately jump to her defense despite facing an Exisal. Kaede urges them to stop, saying that she's ready to die. Shuichi criticized her for giving up, but she reassured him that he isn't. She told him that she believed in him and as such, he should believe in himself before being dragged to her execution, which everyone watched in horror. Shuichi was left shattered at the loss of his dear friend.



After the trial, Shuichi, with Kaito's recommendation, visited the Ultimate Pianist's Research Lab. He looked along the wall lined with CD's and plays 's via the audio player and began to reminisce about Kaede. He made a vow to not look away from the truth anymore and believe in himself, and that that was a promise. Kaede's ghost appeared on the chair of the piano and said "Yup, it's a promise. I leave everything to you Shuichi. Goodbye...", effectively trusting him with her wish.

Kaede's Wish
Despite the fact that Kaede was dead and gone, she was not forgotten. Her desire to end this killing game no matter what, to protect everyone, escape, and remain friends afterward had a profound impact on everybody. Shuichi took off his hat the very next morning after the first trial in memory of his dear friend and had her seemingly on his mind throughout the entire killing game.

When first entering the Ultimate Anthropologist's Research Lab in Chapter 3, Korekiyo asked Shuichi if he wanted to try speaking to the dead. Shuichi denied this but then thought that there was one person he would want to speak to, that person being Kaede. He still turned Korekiyo down, as there was only one thing that he wanted to tell her, which would be that everyone had escaped and that they were alive.

When everyone headed back into the tunnel to reattempt the Death Road of Despair in Chapter 5, using Miu's electrohammers, the remaining survivors aside from Kokichi thought back to Kaede and how they could finally keep their promise to her and escape the killing game before heading into the tunnel.

Uncovering the Truth
While not physically present during the final trial, Rantaro's case, the case that Kaede was supposedly the blackened of and executed for, is re-opened by survivors Shuichi, Tsumugi, Maki, Himiko, and K1-B0 after discovering new truth's related to that case.

During the class trial, Shuichi is eventually able to reveal the full truth about Rantaro's death, as well as Kaede's unjust execution, becoming increasingly outraged and furious at Monokuma and the Monokuma Kubs for breaking their own rules and executing someone who wasn't blackened in the first place. Shuichi vowed on Kaede's kindness, love, and grave, that he would avenge her no matter what. By double-checking everyone's alibis during Rantaro's murder, Shuichi honed in on Tsumugi as the true culprit of Rantaro's murder, as well as the mastermind of the Killing School Semester.

When Tsumugi and Monokuma reveal everything about the participants, including talent, personality, memory, and feelings were all fabricated, Shuichi seemingly falls into despair as his thoughts were mainly on Kaede and his friendship with her along with all his others during his time at Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles. Kaede's audition video was also finally shown, revealing that the real her was very different from her killing game counterpart, an introverted young woman who had no faith in humanity and as a result, "perfect for the killing game".

In the end, Kaede could achieve her goal of defeating the mastermind as hers and Rantaro's deaths were avenged after Danganronpa finally came to its end in the last execution.

Name
Kaede (楓) is written and means "maple tree". Her last name Akamatsu (赤松), is the Japanese name for a kind of tree known as the "".

Alternate Fates
In Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (Demo Version), Kaede was doing her self-introduction before she fell into a deep sleep and awake in a strange classroom. She encountered Makoto Naegi who claimed that he was a new student at Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles and recognized Kaede's name and talent from the new students roster. Kaede then read a note that told her to come to the gym.

Kaede encountered the other students along her way to the gym, introduced herself and learn a bit more about the others. Kaede finally reached the gym and was so shocked when she saw Monokuma appeared, thinking that he's a panda. Furthermore, Monokuma told her that Kaede and the other students will undergo the Killing School Semester inside the academy, where none will escape except they perform a perfect murder. Kaede was baffled by this overwhelming and despairing rules. Monokuma also informed that she will share the same room with Makoto and Hajime Hinata, which she objects because she's a girl.

Kaede then enters her room, only found signs of struggle all around the wall, bed, and floors. When she entered the shower, she discovered Yasuhiro Hagakure's body lying on the floor with a knife stabbed in his abdomen. Kaede screamed in panic when Monokuma broadcasted the dead body announcement and told the students to immediately perform an investigation before the Class Trial. While investigating, Kaede is advised by Hajime not to trust anyone since one of them is the murderer.

Kaede begins to investigate her room and Yasuhiro's body and then asking the students around the school. She also checked the knife's origin that is the kitchen. After she gathered enough evidence, Kaede and the others descend to the class trial room.

Appearance
Kaede has shoulder-length light blonde hair and a prominent ahoge. She wears silver music note hairpins and has purple eyes.

She wears her high school uniform, which consists of a long-sleeved white shirt completed with a light purple ribbed-hem sweater vest adorned with an insignia and a brownish-red tie. She wears a purple skirt adorned with a black music staves and notes pattern, purple stockings reaching below her knees and beige shoes.

Kaede also carries around a white backpack.

In the Prologue, Kaede wears a blue sailor school uniform with a short blue skirt, a red ascot, black tights and black shoes.

Personality
Kaede is an optimistic hard worker. According to Kaede's Japanese voice actress, Sayaka Kanda, she is very protagonist-like and always pulling the others along cheerfully; a typical heroine that is very dependable. As a leader type with a firm character, she has a strong will and doesn't hesitate to take action, her notable character trait being her strong sense of belief in herself and others. Her main motivation for playing the piano is to see others smiling.

Kaede has a kind personality that makes her think about others before herself. Because of this, she is unable to immediately suspect people, as demonstrated in the demo by her going as far as faking an alibi out of her trust for Makoto Naegi, with no rational basis for his innocence. Like the other protagonists before her, she has a very sensitive nature and listens to other people's troubles and gives them positive advice, as evidenced in Free Time Events and her interactions with Shuichi Saihara. She is also stated to not be very idiosyncratic despite being an Ultimate, giving off the impression of being a simple girl you could meet anywhere and a person that's easy to befriend. However, being a pianoholic from a young age, she has a peculiar trait of including music talk into her conversations. It's also been shown that she even avoids certain activities such as cooking and certain sports because she fears her fingers might get hurt, affecting her ability to play.

Kaede can also be a bit oblivious and silly at times. During K1-B0's Free Time Events, she unintentionally asks questions in a somewhat insensitive manner by making assumptions about his robotic nature. She also pokes Tsumugi Shirogane's cheek and K1-B0's emergency button without permission. Furthermore, even though she repeatedly calls Tsumugi sexy and Tenko cute, she ironically seems completely oblivious when other girls talk about liking girls. During Tenko Chabashira and Himiko Yumeno's Free Time Events, she completely fails to understand that they refer to homosexuality when talking about "playing for the other team" and being attracted to another girl. In bonus mode, it's shown that she dislikes horror movies because they make her scared. She is also quite sensitive to vulgarity, as shown in Miu Iruma's Free Time Events.

From the Team Danganronpa's point of view, Kaede is the perfect protagonist who would act according to their plan by encouraging others to push forward no matter what, allowing the show to continue. This is contrasted by Shuichi, who is forced to become the protagonist after her death and lacks her strength, confidence, and charisma. However, he is smarter and more negative than her, leading him to give up and decide not to play the killing game, which turns out to be the correct way to end it.

Indeed, Kaede's tendency to push forward with her own personal justice is her biggest flaw. She refuses to give up when it would be the sensible thing to do and when pushing forward would only make things worse. She also never doubts what she thinks is right and accepts it blindly. At one point she even convinces the group to try escape via Monokuma's obvious trap and gets called out by Kokichi because of it. She is also willing to lie during the Class Trials, though only to strengthen the group's unity as Kokichi puts it and she feels uncomfortable doing so. When pushed to her limits, Kaede would go as far as attempting to murder the mastermind in order to save her friends from the mass execution in Chapter 1. According to Kanda, her Japanese voice actress, she will get a little scary when she goes too far. She always has good intentions and is motivated by her dreams and wish to befriend the other students and get them out of the school. However, her voice actress has pointed out that she is unsure whether or not to call Kaede a good person, stating that she doesn't have ulterior motives because she doesn't think she's wrong, and she ends up going a bit crazy when her sense of what is right turns out to be mistaken. According to Kazutaka Kodaka, Kaede's madness is less her fault and more that of the environment, and she is notable as a character who genuinely wants to get everyone out with such extent.

Later, it is revealed that Kaede's memories had been altered to make her act like a person with a completely opposite personality. In reality, Kaede was a person who hated people, having difficulties with trusting others and openly stating with a disturbingly bright smile that she had no faith in humanity.

Ultimate Pianist
Kaede's talent as the Ultimate Pianist is a fabrication made by Team Danganronpa. Due to that fact, it is unclear whether Kaede is a talented pianist in the past.

Being the Ultimate Pianist, she is very skilled in playing the piano since her young age. She gained the title after winning a contest. Her biggest motivation to play the piano is to make her audience smile, and always remember her motivation during her piano concert so she can hold her nervousness.

During the bonus mode Ultimate Talent Development Plan, she can tell that Izuru Kamukura's performance is otherwise perfect, but it has a big flaw of lacking any feeling behind it.

In other languages
Kaede's talent as it appears in official translations of Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony.

Enhanced Hearing
Kaede has enhanced hearing, similar to Ibuki Mioda from the Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair that allows her to hear more than three different people's argument during the Panic Debate.

Relationships

 * Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles's Students:

Shuichi Saihara
Shuichi seems to strongly believe in Kaede, reassuring her and telling her that "if it's her, she can do it". Shuichi's presence appears to comfort Kaede, due to his status as a detective, although she admits that he seems unreliable. She attempts to help raise Shuichi's confidence by giving him pep talks.

At first, Shuichi admitted to not completely trusting Kaede when murders occur, which disappoints her, although she does accept this since she believes he can solve the case. However, this changed drastically after they began investigating the school together, as he came to admire her for her determination and put much trust in her. He offered to help Kaede numerous times in Chapter 1, even bowing to Miu at one point, merely because he saw Kaede doing so. They also shared a rather intimate moment in a classroom, in which Kaede held Shuichi's hand.

Kaede has been shown to care deeply for Shuichi, as shown in the first class trial when she attempted to steer suspicion away from him after the other students begin to accuse him. This ultimately resulted in Kaede being voted as the culprit, something which devastated Shuichi.

The two shared a tearful and emotional moment, and Kaede was driven to tears while Shuichi angrily asked her why she had murdered Rantaro, although he stopped immediately when he was reminded that Kaede would be executed. When Kaede apologized to their fellow students, her apology seemed to be mainly at Shuichi. It seems that Shuichi forgave Kaede and tried to rescue her in the beginning of her execution. In the beginning of the execution, Shuichi was shown trying to reach Kaede's hand but his attempt failed and she is now remained dead.

During the Love Suite fantasy event, Shuichi had the role of Kaede's boyfriend and they celebrated their first anniversary. Kaede seemed upset because he didn't call her "sweetheart", but by her name, instead. In the original Japanese, Shuichi was asked to call her with her first name instead of the way he usually refers her as "Akamatsu-san." However, after Shuichi tried to call her 'sweetheart' for the first time, they both find it hard to regain their composure. After that, Kaede confessed to Shuichi, which caused the latter to become too shocked to say anything. Out of blue, Kaede hugged Shuichi and they fell down on the bed. Shuichi began to panic, but Kaede asked him to hug her even tighter. Kaede admits that she likes hearing Shuichi's heartbeat and that if Shuichi encourages her, she can do anything. Finally, Kaede asks if Shuichi will "do it with her" and he pulls her closer to him. It's heavily implied that Kaede and Shuichi had sex afterward.

Rantaro Amami
Rantaro admires Kaede for her leadership skills. Kaede thinks that he is a refreshing person and easy to talk to. However, Kaede was surprised how Rantaro acts so care-free and relaxed before the class trial in the demo starts. She states that even though things have become more complicated, Rantaro has found the way to clear the whole situation, which made her curious. She was also confused how Rantaro speaks so calmly against Monokuma during the situation and is desperate to find what Rantaro's true talent is.

During their free time events, Kaede states that she wants to be friends with Rantaro no matter who he was in the past. Despite him having his talent as unknown and him being suspicious, Kaede still cares for Rantaro and respects him and believes that he is not the mastermind behind the whole killing game. Kaede lights his mind up with hope and made him not fall into despair. Rantaro seems to also care for Kaede, as he feels worried and commented on how she is trying to help everyone and said she should take it easy. He thinks Kaede is easy to talk to and feels ease whenever he is next to her. He calls both of them comrades amongst all of the Ultimates, since they're a bit more ordinary than some others.

Kaede tends to assume that Rantaro is a womanizer and attempting to hit on her, even though he always insists he is not that kind of person. Whenever she got invited by him to drink tea together, Kaede was curious and kept assuming if it was a dating simulator where Rantaro could hit on girls. However, Rantaro admitted that his looks may resemble a playboy, but he is a chill, friendly guy.

Later on, in Chapter 1, it was shown that these two seems to be likely in great terms with each other and get along. It was shown that Rantaro was painting Kaede's nails and suggest the nail design that Kaede needs since her nails were short. Rantaro is extremely patient with Kaede and they both have faith in each other with trust. Kaede inspired Rantaro with words that filled his heart with determination and wants to stop the killing game. While everyone else laid their suspicion on Rantaro as being the mastermind, Kaede seems to understand Rantaro and hates the fact how Rantaro could be Ultimate Murderous Fiend or something worse.

Later, Rantaro suggests that he should go to the library to find the secret door leading to the mastermind's secret place, but got killed by the mastermind. Without knowing, Kaede got involved at the wrong time and distracted Rantaro from the mastermind's attack. When Kaede first discovered Rantaro's corpse, her legs became to tremble and she was frightened to see Rantaro being dead. She demanded to figure out who would kill Rantaro and states how she will never forgive the person who would kill an important comrade. In the trial, Kaede believed that she was the culprit who murdered Rantaro and confesses her sins. She calls herself as a horrible murderer and is sorry for him and Shuichi directly the most and regrets for "killing" Rantaro after the trial end and later got executed.

In the non-canon Danganronpa V3 bonus mode Ultimate Talent Development Plan, Kaede was waiting for Rantaro after the Christmas party almost ended. She was aware that Rantaro would come back soon. Kaede states how she left some cake for Rantaro and how she missed him. In the end, they ate the leftover cake together.

Maki Harukawa
After Kaede and Maki introduced themselves as Ultimates, Kaede claims that the children could see Maki's true soul and that Maki is capable of deep love.

Despite Kaede's kindness towards Maki, the latter has been shown to distrust her, openly showcasing dislike for her. She even blames Kaede for destroying the unity that she had tried to create between the students.

However, Maki seems to have a somewhat better relationship with Kaede in the Ultimate Talent Development Plan, to such a point where Kaito wonders how since they were so close. Despite she calls her relationship with Kaede an “arrangement” she is usually seen with her, a clear sign that her friendship is almost to Shuichi and Kaito’s, promising that she will find a way to make Kaede plays the piano to the children of her orphanage. At the same time, Maki still tends to be cold towards her - an example is when she offers herself to accompany Chihiro Fujisaki to Gundham Tanaka to ask for a proper burial for a deceased bird found by the latter who, surprised by the kind deed, is brief by Kaede who says that behind the caregiver's edgy surface there is a really sincere person, which Maki replies with a cold but embarrassed way, scolding Kaede that she has no need to come with them, much to the pianist’s dismay.

K1-B0
Although initially defensive about his robot nature, K1-B0 tells Kaede that he is glad to be her friend after discovering that she is not a "robo-racist."

In the extra free time events, Kaede seems to be interested in K1-B0 since it's her first time interacting with a real robot. Kaede is also curious about K1-B0's features and interrogates him. K1-B0 was not aware of Kaede joking around since he finds human jokes very annoying. He states how Kaede is the first person who had to ask many questions without hesitating towards him. K1-B0 would avenge her wrongful execution by killing Tsumugi and ending the killing game.

Miu Iruma
Kaede and Miu's relationship can be a bit negative at times, as Miu has a tendency to insult her just like she insults everyone else, and specifically calls her "Kaeidiot" (Bakamatsu in Japanese) and keeps calling her breasts tiny. However, while Kaede can be a bit annoyed by Miu's rudeness, she feels sympathetic and protective of her whenever she shows her weaker side.

In Chapter 1, when Kaede begs on her knees for Miu's help, Miu appears uncomfortable despite her usual arrogant behavior. When she agrees, the former grabs her hands in joy and causes Miu to sweat.

In Miu's second Free Time Event with Kaede, Kaede appears worried about Miu, because it seems like she has never had any friends, and wishes to help her to become better at communicating.

Miu is also noticeably distraught after Kaede is found guilty.

Miu appears to feel some attraction towards Kaede. During their first Free Time Event together, Kaede has finally had enough of Miu's rude behavior and she tells Miu that her breasts are actually pretty big. Miu then wants to rub her to make sure, saying there's no problem because they're both girls, but Kaede is uncomfortable and smacks her a little in order to defend herself. Later, in Chapter 3, Miu also tries to see if the wax figure of Kaede that Angie made is wearing any underwear.

Kokichi Oma
Kokichi quickly notices flaws in Kaede's judgment and optimistic way of thinking, as she is willing to push others forward even if it would be the best to give up. He also has a tendency to act saddened and complain how mean the others are towards "the poor girl", making the other students point out that he is always the first one to suspect her. Kaede thinks Kokichi is just like a mischievous child messing around and believes he is constantly lying and just wants attention.

During the beginning of his second Free Time Event with Kaede, he runs around screaming that Kaede is about to murder him, but he's just pretending and having fun. Later during the Event, after noticing how Kaede has fallen for many of his lies so far, he warns her that she'll be the first one to die if she continues to be such an easy mark. He tries to ask her to join his organization and be a cover agent pianist, but she believes all of it is just Kokichi's delusions. He then explains to her that the definition of common sense varies depending on the person and asks her why she thinks her definition is the right one. He then tells her that he is only warning her because he actually cares about her, but also tells her not to come crying back to him if things don't go her way. Considering his words nonsense, Kaede does not appear to truly listen to him.

Right before Kaede's execution, Kokichi has a blank expression (which often seems to indicate honesty in him), as he blankly states "bye" and then mentions that Kaede isn't a boring person. Coming from him, this appears to be quite a notable compliment, and it is worth noting that Kokichi had said the same phrase only to Shuichi and Kaito.

Angie Yonaga
Kaede sees Angie as a very religious person and is a bit creeped out when Angie asks for some blood to sacrifice to her god. Whether good girl or bad, Kaede thinks that it won't be easy to get close to her. After Kaede was executed, Angie seemed to forgive her deed and said that she would rest in heaven, but Miu replied that Kaede had a horrible way to go.

Tsumugi Shirogane
Initially thought to be a life-sized doll, Kaede didn't expect that Tsumugi has the title of the Ultimate Cosplayer due to her normal-looking appearance. She states that she could feel some sort of "pheromones" that can't stop from falling of Tsumugi because she was out of costume. In the bonus scene (triggered only if the player gave Tsumugi Nail Brush present in Chapter 1), Tsumugi offered Kaede to paint her nails which resulted in Rantaro interrupting Kaede's appointment with her. It is later revealed that Tsumugi actually holds no friendship towards Kaede. In Chapter 1, Tsumugi had figured out Kaede's plan and when she discovered that Kaede's plan failed, Tsumugi decided to kill Rantaro herself to prevent everyone else from being executed. Because of this, Tsumugi framed Kaede for the action and executed her as well.

Korekiyo Shinguji
During his free-time events, Korekiyo tells Kaede about his sister, to the point that she more or less jokingly asks him if he is into incest. He seems to get slightly angered by this and simply answers that incest is regrettable. Kaede apologizes and tells him she didn't mean it in a bad way, which quickly calms him down.

Korekiyo likes Kaede and her optimistic nature very much and asks her to be his sister's friend. She agrees, and Korekiyo leaves to plan a good "method" for them to meet, heavily implying that Korekiyo might have murdered her in the future if she hadn't died so early during the killing game.

Kaede thinks Korekiyo is a bit creepy but assumes he is a nice person who cares about his sister. However, she is a bit unsure about it, as she doesn't know him well. She also assumes that Korekiyo is "so girly" because of his sister's influence.

Kirumi Tojo
Kaede thinks that Kirumi has an interesting talent who is skillful and also gives off a humble and calm atmosphere. She wondered to call her just that. Kaede states how lucky Kirumi could be since she is always busy and helps a lot of people.

Tenko Chabashira
Kaede thinks Tenko is cute, spending a good deal of time complimenting her appearance during Free Times Events, which greatly embarrasses Tenko. Since Kaede is a girl, Tenko is willing to protect her from menaces.


 * Enemies:

Monokuma
Kaede feels intense resentment for Monokuma, who forced the students into the killing game.

Monokid
Both meet each other during the Killing Game. Monokid used to mock Kaede for her hope of getting out of the academy along with her other classmates, this being what eventually made Kaede fall into the trap of the Mastermind and be executed incorrectly. Even so, both share their execution.

Presents

 * Main article, including full dialogue: Free Time Events/Kaede Akamatsu

Quotes

 * -|DRV3 Demo=

DRV3=

List of Appearances

 * -|Games=
 * Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony
 * Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (Demo Version)
 * -|Manga=
 * New Danganronpa V3: Minna no Koroshiai Shin Gakki Comic Anthology
 * New Danganronpa V3: Minna no Koroshiai Shin Gakki Comic Anthology Volume 2
 * New Danganronpa V3: Minna no Koroshiai Shin Gakki Comic Anthology Volume 3

Trivia

 * Kaede was first revealed as part of the Danganronpa V3 trailer first shown at Tokyo Game Show 2016, along with the avatars of the rest of the game's cast which up until that point were only shown as silhouettes. While all other characters were only revealed by appearance, Kaede's character name, as well as her voice actress were revealed during the trailer, and it is actually presented by herself.
 * During the trailer, Kaede introduces herself as the game's "protagonist" (主人公 shujinkō), and is shown participating in a class trial.
 * She is the first protagonist in the primary game that has a skill for a talent, along with being the first female protagonist in the primary line of the Danganronpa series.
 * Kaede's Japanese voice actress, Sayaka Kanda, has already contributed to Danganronpa franchise as a whole both as a singer (as part of the group TRUSTRICK), singing the opening to Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School - Future Arc alongside Maon Kurosaki as well as its ending, and as a stage actress - playing Junko Enoshima (and Mukuro Ikusaba) in the Danganronpa stage plays.
 * Kanda is also married to Mondo Owada's stage actor for Danganronpa The Stage 2016, Mitsu Murata.
 * Kaede's English voice actress, Erika Harlacher, also voices Kyoko Kirigiri in Danganronpa games.
 * In a poll hosted by MyNavi, fans voted Kaede the 3rd most popular Danganronpa V3 student out of 16.
 * Kaede is known as a 'false protagonist' or a 'decoy protagonist', which are terms used in media to describe a character who is depicted as a protagonist only to be killed immediately, or somewhere early on in the story.

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