Nagisa Shingetsu

Nagisa Shingetsu (新月 渚 Shingetsu Nagisa) is a character from Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls.

Nagisa is the vice leader of the Warriors of Hope, in charge of the "Sage" Class. He has the title of Li'l Ultimate Social Studies (超小学生級の「社会の時間」chō shōgakusei kyū no “shakai no jikan” lit. Super Elementary School Level Social Studies Period).

In combat, Nagisa controls "Sage Robot Hannibal X", a large robot armed with an advanced sniper rifle.

After Nagisa lost his fight against Komaru Naegi and Toko Fukawa, he was crushed by his own robot in chapter 4, but somehow survived at the end of the game with the other members of Warriors of Hope.

Nagisa returns in Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School - Side: Future with the former members of Warriors of Hope.

Nagisa appears as a cameo in the 30-minutes long OVA, Super Danganronpa 2.5: Nagito Komaeda and the Destroyer of the World as a part of Nagito Komaeda's imagination world.

Appearance
Nagisa is an elementary school-aged boy. He has short blue hair with cowlicks that are in the shape of cat ears. His eyes are a lighter blue and have diamonds representing the irises.

He wears a light grey plaid jacket over a blue shirt, and shorts that match the jacket. He also wears a brown-orange scarf and a bowtie underneath it. The scarf has the silver Warriors of Hope badge keeping it pinned to his jacket.

He also wears blue socks adorned with the emblem of the "Sage" class.

Personality
Nagisa is the most serious member of the Warriors. He is calm, intelligent and level-headed. Because of this, he considers himself the babysitter of the other Warriors, often acting as the voice of reason and calming the others down when needed. He has an aversion to things he considers childish and, though he refers to himself as a child, doesn't like to be underestimated on the basis of age.

He is a perfectionist and suffers from a fear of abandonment as a result of his traumatic childhood. His prime goal in life has always been to exceed the expectations of the people around him in order to prove worth to both his parents and himself. As a result, placing any sort of expectations on him is somewhat of a "trigger". It propels him to try his best to exceed those expectations set for him, even at the expense of his own well-being and overall health.

He is loyal, humble, compassionate and protective of his friends and fellow children. Despite the cruel nature of his abusive home life, he often downplays it as "not as bad" as that of his fellow Warriors, putting more emphasis on their struggles than his own. He states that he cares about them "more than anybody", and is determined to create Paradise to ensure that no one has to endure the pain any longer.

In his memoir, it's revealed that Nagisa felt a lot of guilt in what he and the other Warriors were doing. He knew on a moral level it was wrong, but it had to be done. He also felt guilt over killing his parents. Despite his treatment, he still feels that he is in debt to his parents for raising him. He hates it, but he can't stop feeling that he still owes them affection and respect.

Regardless of how wise Nagisa is among the Warriors, the creators have mentioned that he is actually the most child-like with his personality. This may refer to how easily he was manipulated by Monaca Towa, whom he had a crush on. He repeatedly loses his composure when Monaca does simple things such as compliment him, and becomes defensive when teased about his feelings. He also seemed to be so blinded by his affection that he ignored her negative traits, until she revealed her true character.

Li'l Ultimate Social Studies
Nagisa is very intelligent due to constant studying. During his introduction to Komaru, he says that social studies is only one of the many subjects he is good at. It is implied that he is good at other academic subjects as well.

In other languages
Nagisa's talent as it appears in official translations of Danganronpa: Another Episode.

Prior to the Tragedy
Nagisa was born and raised in Towa City. He was a child prodigy and raised to be a perfect child and one of society's elites. His father was a teacher at Hope's Peak Academy's Elementary School division which Nagisa attended and as a result, he expected his son to be the best. He was in the class of troublemakers along with Monaca Towa, Jataro Kemuri, Kotoko Utsugi and Masaru Daimon, though he resented being labeled as a "troublemaker". Supposedly, he developed a crush on Monaca at this point, due to her seemingly kind nature.

Nagisa's parents' mindset on raising him is similar to playing a game. In order for Nagisa to "gain EXP and level up", he had to study for unhealthy lengths of time. He would be connected to an IV with energy supplements to "restore HP" when it looked as if he would pass out from exhaustion. He was also constantly observed with cameras.

Nagisa's father forced his son to study non-stop for days. He would do things such as shine bright lights into his son's eyes if he looked as if he were becoming tired at any time other than the short periods he was permitted to sleep. He was also threatened with weapons and other physical abuse. In one of the in-game CG, a knife can be seen on the corner of Nagisa's desk as well as several drops of blood, implying its use. Nagisa's participation in all of this was in the name of an experiment that would try to determine just how much mental and physical stress a child could take before reaching their breaking point.

As Nagisa's father didn't get the experiment results he was hoping for, he didn't see wrong in his way of doing things and instead started to consider his son a failure as a test subject. It's also implied that the parents were considering having another child and restarting the experiment with a fresh test subject.

When Nagisa found out that he was falling short of his father's expectations, he felt such strong self-loathing and guilt that he wanted to die. He felt that he hadn't done anything right, even when there were such high hopes for him. He questioned why he was the way he was, why he wasn't born better and why he wasn't the child his father wanted. Because "only hopeless idiots fritter away their lives with self-hatred", Nagisa decided to just ignore the pain he felt and worked even harder and harder, no matter how high the expectations would be. He didn't want to disappoint his father ever again.

Although Nagisa was on the verge of committing suicide along with the other Warriors, Junko Enoshima appeared and convinced the children that the adults were wrong and that they should create a paradise for children. Nagisa murdered his parents shortly after, and did not regret it.

Prologue - The Warriors of Hope
Nagisa first appears once the Warriors of Hope take over a news networks studio, as they begin playing with the body of the dead reporter. He scolds the others for their childishness and demanding them to take the broadcast seriously. However, his efforts aren't listened to and he runs away from the 'zombie' along with Kotoko when Masaru and Jataro start to chase them, until he trips. He is then seen off to the side with his arms crossed as Monaca addresses the camera.

He is later seen with the other Warriors of Hope in the main hall, mentioning his status of "Li'l Ultimate Social Studies" and admonishing Masaru for bragging about his status as leader. When Monaca arrives, he moved out of the way for her to greet Komaru. He rushes the group to introduce themselves and shows an immediate reaction to Komaru referring to him as a child. He tells her that age does not matter, so long as you have power. He comforts Monaca when Komaru upsets her and explains that she will be the target of their next game of Demon's Hunting. He tells that he was originally against the game as there was a lot more to be done to establish their child's paradise, but decided to help on the request of Monaca. Not long after Servant arrived and set the Monokuma bracelet to Komaru, Nagisa and the other Warriors open a trap door, and Komaru falls back down into Towa City.

Chapter 2 - Legend of the Revolution
After Masaru's defeat, he attempts to question if he was really is dead or not—stating that the Monokuma Kids' report only told him that he was 'captured' by the adults. The situation is turned around on him when Monaca begins to compare Nagisa's behavior to an adult's, and his teammates side with her. He is then talked down by Monaca, who manipulates him into confessing his feelings, which leaves him too embarrassed to continue. Monaca then decides to elevate Nagisa from vice-leader to the Warriors' new leader in place of Masaru.

Chapter 3 - Cute Girl's Battlefield
Following Komaru and Toko's attempt to contact Future Foundation from the top of Towa Tower, Nagisa sends several Monokuma Kids on a mission in order to discover where the adults are hiding out, then concocts a plan to get rid of them in one fell swoop so that they can truly start to built Paradise. He reveals his plan to Monaca, Kotoko, and Kurokuma during their meeting and later sends a hoard of Monokuma to take out the resistance base.

When Kotoko is defeated, Nagisa arrives after she is saved by Komaru and Toko. He begins by explaining to the two about the Warriors' collective fear of adults, and the reason behind their hatred. He sees that, as long as both girls remain in Towa City, his vision of Paradise will never be met, which leads to his decision to let them go. He reveals his plan to help the two escape, proving his seriousness by removing Komaru's bracelet. However, a Monokuma Kid records all of this and sends the video to Servant. When Kotoko attempts to follow him, Nagisa stops her, wanting to shield her from any of Monaca's anger towards his interference in the game.

Chapter 4 - The Way We Live
Nagisa leads the girls to the other side of Towa, while recounting to them the reason behind their formation of the Warriors of Hope. Servant catches up to them and scares Nagisa into rethinking his "betrayal" in order to not be seen as a traitor. After the defeat of Servant, Nagisa appears with his robot to take him back to the base.

While under the impression that it was all the Servant's doing that the plan wasn't going accordingly, he angrily shouts and assaults him. Kurokuma mocks him, which fuels his anger and he kicks Kurokuma away as well. Monaca reveals her betrayal and Nagisa is horrified. After failing to convince him otherwise, Monaca then kisses him in order to enforce the power she knows she has over him. While he attempts to get away from her, she then turns violent by degrading him by implying he is a pervert. Monaca implies she will do more 'favors' for him in exchange for a now scarred Nagisa's cooperation. Once literally backed into a corner, he slaps her repeatedly and screams for her to stop but she continues to mentally wear him down. She tells Nagisa that she has never expected a thing from him to begin with because he is just a child who isn't worth placing any expectations on, which clashes with everything he has been told his entire life. In his mental distress, she kisses him and throws him into despair.

Later, Nagisa appears in the underground base where he fights Komaru and Toko with his robot. He apologizes and cries how he wants people to expect more from him and be proud of him, so he wouldn't be a disappointment any longer. After his defeat, his robot falls apart, with an arm seemingly crushing Nagisa before it explodes.

Aftermath
At the end of the game, there is a CG available called "Children After The Story", which shows that Nagisa, Kotoko, Masaru and Jataro are all alive and together.

Episode 01 - Third Time's the Charm
Nagisa and the other Warriors of Hope members excluding Monaca were briefly shown at the beginning of the episode in the scene where the Servant surrendered himself to the Warriors of Hope.

Episode 07 - Ultra Despair Girls
Nagisa and the other Warriors of Hope are seen in a hotel room. Nagisa is on the phone, telling Toko and Komaru where Monaca is hiding out. Nagisa asks them not to hurt Monaca because she was once a friend.

Super Danganronpa 2.5: Nagito Komaeda and the Destroyer of the World
Nagisa appears as a cameo in the OVA, was shown having fun with members of Warriors of Hope.

Execution

 * Main Article: Punishment of the Sage

Kurokuma
Kurokuma was Nagisa's advisor. Nagisa respects Kurokuma the least, beating him up the most out of the Warriors of Hope. Kurokuma also teases Nagisa the most and refers to him as Naggy-sa (Shingetsu-boy in the Japanese version, which is most likely a play on the insult OB or old boy, which is a slang term for retirees).

Monaca Towa
Nagisa, like the others, respected Monaca - though, he perhaps had the strongest feelings for her. In his memoir, he mentions that Monaca is much more precious to him than his own life. He had a strong romantic interest in her and was often shy and flustered when she would praise or compliment him. In his profile it is stated that one of the things he likes most is Monaca.

Nagisa was blinded by his affection for Monaca and he believed in her goodness. Supposedly, he originally developed his crush due to Monaca's seemingly kind nature. Later, when he discovered that she had manipulated him in order to further her own goal, he had a hard time accepting her true nature and she broke him mentally by using his past trauma against him.

Despite all Monaca had done, Nagisa still sees her as a former friend, asking Komaru not to hurt her too much because of this fact.

Masaru Daimon
Because of their opposing personalities, they seem to fight the most out of the Warriors. Because of their shared affection for Monaca, they may have competed for her approval as well. Nagisa was often frustrated with Masaru's arrogance and childishness, especially as true leader should be more humble and dignified.

One line in the official artbook implies that in the past, Masaru had a habit to ask Nagisa to do his homework for him.

After Masaru's defeat, Nagisa refused to accept his death as fact and tried to persuade the others to send out a rescue for him, implying that he may acknowledge him as a friend.

Jataro Kemuri
Though Nagisa largely ignores Jataro and is annoyed by his ramblings, he doesn't seem to harbor the same sort of hate for him that the others do and he truly cared about him, just like he cared about all the Warriors. A bonus CG towards the very end of the game reveals a maskless Jataro holding tightly to Nagisa's arm. This may imply that Jataro sees Nagisa as a comforting figure.

In the official artbook, Nagisa tells Jataro that he should fight only in the Demon Hunting game, not with himself. This appears to be genuine advice and expression of concern.

Kotoko Utsugi
Kotoko seemed to have some admiration for Nagisa, who is "so pure" and thinks about others. However, she was a bit frustrated by his strictness.

She is very aware of Nagisa's shy crush on Monaca and often teases him for it.

Later in the game, Nagisa personally steps in to intervene when he sees Komaru and Toko "ganging up on her". When Kotoko attempts to follow him on his mission to escort the two girls, he stops her - ultimately trying to protect her from Monaca's wrath.

One line in the official artbook implies that Nagisa thought Kotoko and Monaca were like best friends, clearly not aware of the true nature of their relationship, and he respected her for giving Monaca company.

Junko Enoshima
Nagisa, like the other four, has a special respect and love for Junko. She stopped their joint-suicide by means of jumping off the elementary school's roof and convinced them to not only kill the source of their despair, their parents, but to create a paradise for children by murdering all adults. He refers to her as big sister Junko.

Nagisa openly refers to himself as Junko's "property", and states that he doesn't care whether she used him or not, because Junko had finally given him a reason to live.

Quotes

 * "My name is Nagisa Shingetsu. In the Warriors of Hope, I act as the vice leader and Sage. When I attended elementary school, I was known as Li'l Ultimate Social Studies. Of course, Social Studies is but one area of my expertise. I excel at all scholarly pursuits. I was labeled Li'l Ultimate Social Studies because I was raised to be among society's elite. And... I suppose I am a babysitter of sorts for the Warriors of Hope... Monaca excluded."
 * "You've seen what we've accomplished so far. This is no joke. For an adult, you sure are dense... Searching for meaning in the meaningless is for adults. Children are untainted by such futility."
 * "D-Don't be stupid! That's not true! I'll be a kid until I die! I would rather die right now than become an adult! Don't you believe me?"
 * "If we ambush the place they believed to be safe, they will panic and be flushed out. Like ants who've lost their nest, they will wander aimlessly above ground. And in that weakened state, we crush every last one of them. The Resistance dies with them."
 * "Ganging up and abusing a child. It's like a special skill all you adults have. All we want is a peaceful paradise... Where children can live without fear. There is no other choice. We must kill them. If we allow them to live, our paradise will be undone. And if that happens, we will be forced to endure our pain once more. Nothing will change. We can never be at peace until we have wiped out every single one of them. So we have to kill the Demons! To protect our world!"
 * "Yeah, you're probably right... We've all gone mad. Masaru, Jataro, Kotoko, Monaca... We're probably all insane...broken. But whose fault is that!? The adults are the ones who broke us! You want to hear the truth? ...We're scared. We're all terrified of the adults... Hearing their footsteps... Sensing their presence... We can't help but feel scared... Completely terrified. As long as adults exist, we cannot rest... We cannot live in peace. At this point, the damage is irreversible."
 * "We Warriors of Hope were classmates in the Hope's Peak elementary program. We were in the classroom where they put all the troublemakers. But I resented being called a "troublemaker." It makes it sound as if we ourselves were the cause of the trouble. But that's not right. Our troubles were created by adults. By our parents. They say kids can't pick their parents... Well, we were the unluckiest ones of all."
 * "My parents were, without exaggeration, the worst... Like Demons. My parents raised me like they were leveling me up in some game... They didn't treat me like a person. They probably even forgot I was their child. From morning till night, study, study, study... When I got sleepy, analeptics. Even if I faint, "HP" is fully restored with a handy I.V. in my arm... three to four days straight. And if I showed even the slightest resistance, they'd use "items" to neuter my spirit. And by doing so, as long as they steadily racked up "XP," I'd level up to their expectations. And it wasn't just at home. I received the same expectations at school as well. My father was a teacher at our school. He was a researcher of children's talent. He used his own son to research the growth of a child's talent. He wanted to see what the growth curve would be like if he pushed a child to the breaking point. ...Isn't that funny? I was the subject of such an amusing experiment. But even with all that, I was still better off than the others."
 * "Because we had talent, because we were superior, we were treated like we were in Hell. But during it all, we didn't hold a grudge against our parents. We accepted how we were treated. Because we weren't aware that it was okay to hate our parents. We trusted the "common knowledge" that kids must love their parents, so we didn't fight it. Instead, we bonded over our struggle. And those discussions led us to the same conclusion. We had to escape from the horrifying world that made us suffer. We were desperate to run away from our scary parents, scary adults, the whole scary world... And we thought there was only one way out."
 * "Big Sis Junko showered her possessions with love and affection. She gave us not only love, but a dream as well. The dream of creating a "children's paradise," where the children can live peacefully. We also learned from Big Sis Junko the beliefs required to build that dream. The belief that adults are Demons. It was as if we saw the light... Thanks to her, we finally realized... The common knowledge we had known up until then were lies adults created for their own benefit. Children cannot defy their parents, everyone must get along, violence can never bring peace... To destroy the world based on such lies, we decided to fight against the adults."
 * "Say what you like. Big Sis Junko... gave us hope. That's the truth. And because of that hope, we were able to defeat the Demon Boss... Our parents."
 * "We, the survivors, will fulfill the dream, and prove how amazing Big Sis Junko is. We would leave lies like education and love for family in the past, and create paradise. That is our hope! Justice and evil, these are beliefs that *adults* have defined, are they not? First off, pure evil simply does not exist. In all evil there is something good. And in the same way, "justice" always hurts someone. There is no pure justice, either."
 * "Again with that nonsense, after all this? We are well aware that we are killing innocents. This is war. When you're burning the enemy's country to the ground, do you stop to spare the "good" people?"

Trivia

 * "Nagisa" (渚) means "shore" or "water's edge". The family name "Shingetsu" (新月) means "new moon" or "crescent moon", possibly a reference to the shape of his hair.
 * Nagisa robot's name is directly referenced to the notorious man-eater serial killer, .
 * Nagisa has a copy of one of Toko's books, Blue Thread from the Scarred Mountain, in his bedroom.
 * On Nagisa's desk, he wrote both Monaca's and his own name under a "love-love umbrella", which is the Japanese equivalent of writing "[NAME] + [NAME]" inside a heart.
 * There is an issue of an Ero Ero or "erotic" magazine on Nagisa's desk.
 * Nagisa's English voice actress, Erica Mendez, also voices Maki Harukawa.

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