Shuichi Saihara

"I don't have the credentials to call myself a detective yet. I just happened to solve a case that I came across and now people call me that."

- Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (Demo)

Shuichi Saihara (最原 終一 Saihara Shūichi) is a student in Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles and a participant in the Killing Game Semester featured in Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony

Shuichi has the title of the Ultimate Detective (超高校級の「探偵」 chō kōkō kyū no “tantei” lit. Super High School Level Detective). Though he himself claims he doesn't deserve it, as he is only a "detective-in-training".

Early Life
{{spoiler|
 * Before Joining Danganronpa

Shuichi Saihara is a fan of a reality show featuring killing games known as Danganronpa, created by Team Danganronpa. In his audience tape, it was revealed that he was eager to participate in the show as the Ultimate Detective because he adores a lot of characters with the titles in the past seasons. He is willing to do his best to use the talent to commit an unsolvable murder that will amaze the series' viewers, to the point where he can think of his own execution as the Ultimate Detective.

During his high school days, Shuichi attended Spring Field Academy (春原学院). However, it is unknown if this was part of his memory's fabrication or not.

Shuichi, along with the other talentless 53rd Killing Game participants, underwent the fabrication process, where all of his past memories and personality were permanently fabricated. He also received the talent and title that he so desired, the Ultimate Detective. All of this was done for the sake of satisfying Danganronpa's audience from all around the world. After the fabrication process was completed, Shuichi entered the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles as a completely different person with the other participants, officially commencing the 53rd killing game season known as the Killing Game Semester.


 * Fabricated Past

After he was accepted to participate in the 53rd Killing Game, Shuichi's memories were fabricated by Team Danganronpa.

Shuichi learned how to be a detective by working as his uncle's assistant, who ran a detective agency. Despite this, He did no desire to be a detective and was simply helping out. Most of the cases that happened to come to his uncle were small things like investigating infidelity, but on the one rare occasion Shuichi managed to solve a murder case faster than the police and became publicly known as the junior detective, gaining him his Ultimate title. However, Shuichi does not believe he deserves the title, claiming that he only happened to solve this one case by chance.

In reality, the situation was more complicated. When the culprit was captured thanks to Shuichi, his eyes were full of hatred and malice as he looked at Shuichi, and the boy never forgot that gaze. Shuichi heard later that the culprit had killed the victim to avenge his family and the victim was a horrible person who had tricked the culprit's family and driven them to suicide. Shuichi felt guilty for "siding with" the victim and felt everything was his fault because he exposed the truth. He gained a fear of exposing the truth, considering himself a pathetic detective, and he began to wear a hat because he couldn't look at other people's eyes anymore.

The Gopher Plan
Part of the fake backstory created for Shuichi and the other fifteen students was the Gopher Plan, which supposedly happened before the killing game started. It was initiated by the government after countless meteorites crashed into Earth. To try and preserve the last vestiges of mankind before the Earth’s destruction, the government decided to select a number of excellent human beings, put them in a spaceship, and have them escape.

Shuichi and fifteen other high school students were chosen to participate. However, not wanting to abandon their loved ones, they attempted to escape from the plan.

Around that time, an extremist cult came into power. They believed that the meteor crashes were a punishment humanity brought upon itself, and having heard of the Gopher Plan, they tried to stop it. As a result, the “Ultimate Hunt” started and spread throughout the world, and the sixteen students 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 Gopher Plan was then put into action while the Earth was being destroyed. Shuichi and the others went to space in a massive spaceship colony, the true form of Ultimate Academy of Gifted Juveniles.

Kokichi Oma who declared himself as a member of Junko Enoshima's Remnants of Despair said that he is the mastermind behind the Killing Game Semester who let Monokuma enter the spaceship, effectively forcing Shuichi and the others to participate in the Killing Game.

Shuichi was able to receive the complete memory about The Gopher Plan in Chapter 5 via the Flashback Light. }}

Killing Game Semester
{{spoiler|

Shuichi's Plan
During Shuichi's and Kaede's investigation of the library, they discovered a hidden door behind one of the bookshelves. Shuichi speculated that The Mastermind might come to open the door at anytime. Hoping to catch the mastermind, they asked Miu Iruma to make them cameras that they would later set up in the library. They retrieved parts for Miu to make the cameras with from the warehouse. While there Kaede, unbeknownst to Shuichi, obtained a shot put that she secretly put in her backpack. Pushed by the first motive presented by Monokuma, Kaede planned to murder the mastermind and save everyone from the killing game without telling Shuichi.

While Kaede was setting up and preparing her trap in the library, Shuichi continued to be oblivious to her plan as he set up the cameras. Later on, while they were staking out the classroom on the first floor, Rantaro entered the library and discovers the hidden door thanks to his survival perk mono-pad. As soon as he moves the shelf, he triggers the sensor on top of it as well as the hidden camera that Kaede set up, alerting both her and Shuichi. Shuichi rushed out of the classroom, but Kaede threw her shot put into the air duct that led into the library before quickly following him.

Once the duo reaches the basement, they are joined by Kaito Momota and Tenko Chabashira. They notice the bookshelf closing again as they enter the library and come upon Rantaro's corpse, who seemed to have been bludgeoned in the back of the head with a shot put. Shuichi, along with everyone else, is mystified as to why Rantaro was killed while Kaede is shocked and horrified, thinking that she accidentally killed a dear friend but kept the secret to herself for the time being.

Shuichi's Deduction
During the Class Trial, Kaede hopes to reveal the mastermind and bring everyone together. Shuichi however, quickly discovers the supposed "truth" that Kaede murdered Rantaro, but refuses 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, catches 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 them. 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, Shuichi is goaded along by her as to make him reveal the whole truth about her plan, much to everyone's dismay.

After everyone cast their vote, Kaede comes clean fully and admitted that she planned to kill the mastermind in order to save everyone and end the killing game. Shuichi was quick to blame himself for coming to the deduction that the mastermind would be in the library and 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 Gokuhara 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 she isn't. She told him that she believed in him and as such, should believe in himself before being dragged to her execution, to which everyone watched in horror.

Shuichi is rendered stunned and silenced, but is quickly brought to his senses by Kaito, who slugged him and angrily criticized him for not doing anything after Kaede put all her thoughts on him and believed in him. After the trial, Shuichi with Kaito's recommendation visited the Ultimate Pianist Research Lab. He looked around and plays Debussy's Clare De Lune 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, essentially saying goodbye to her.

Shattered Relationships
During the fourth class trial, Shuichi ends up taking Kokichi's side and denounces Gonta as Miu's murderer. However, nearly everyone else refuses to believe this truth, even Kaito, who despite constantly praising and encouraging Shuichi after Kaede's death, accuses him of betraying his trust and stubbornly states that Kokichi is trying to ruin their friendship. Gonta meanwhile tearfully begs Shuichi to reconsider and continues to state that he could not be the culprit, but this is simply due to him having no recollection of killing Miu. Despite all the pleas and protests however, Shuichi's allegation does not change, and with the help of Kokichi and K1-B0, he is able to pin all the evidence on Gonta. Eventually Gonta and Kaito back down, and the former willingly accepts whatever truth they arrive at, claiming that he himself is too stupid to understand. Despite being completely for the truth, Shuichi is still very saddened to have to condemn someone as kindhearted as Gonta, as well as his and Kaito's friendship seemingly taking a heavy blow.

Following the trial and Gonta's Bugs Panic, Shuichi becomes agitated with Kokichi, but grows concerned when Kaito coughs up blood, hinting at his illness.

Clearing the Death Road of Despair
Shuichi, along with the other survivors, used Miu's inventions to cross the Death Road of Despair. They came across a large metal hatch at the end which they open up and discover the apparent state of the outside world. Shortly after, Kokichi Oma appears and proclaims himself as the ringleader behind the killing game and controls the Exisal's to take Kaito Momota hostage in the Exisal hanger.

Confusion and Conclusion
Shuichi would later join his fellow classmates in storming the Exisal hanger, only to find a body crushed beyond recognition underneath the press machine, the only clue as to who the victim could be being Kaito's sleeve hanging out from the press machine, whereas Kokichi is still missing. Shuichi is horrified at the thought of having lost another one of his dear friends as the investigation begins.

During the Class Trial, Shuichi is quick to question whether or not the victim is actually Kaito, much to Maki Harukawa's annoyance. When the missing person arrives riding inside of an Exisal, he pretends to be Kaito before supposedly revealing himself to be Kokichi and showing everyone else a recording of what appears to be Kaito being crushed by the press machine, much to Shuichi's shock.

Later on in the trial, when the person inside of the Exisal pretends to be Kaito again, Shuichi refuses to believe it and confidently declares that there's no way Kaito could be alive, a deduction that Maki agrees with. Upon hearing this, the person inside of the Exisal begins acting like Kokichi once more. However, this deduction is eventually revealed to be incorrect. With thanks to Maki's additional testimony about what happened inside of the hanger, as well as the security system not working when she attempted to break the control panel, Shuichi realizes that no one other than Kaito and Kokichi could have been inside the hanger to pull off the victim identity trick. Upon realizing this however, Shuichi notices that he overlooked a critical piece of information and that the one inside of the Exisal had to be Kaito pretending to be Kokichi.

Eventually, thanks to Shuichi's deduction and lie, Kaito is forced to reveal himself from the Exisal and tells Shuichi that he really is amazing for having worked out Kokichi's whole plan. Shuichi could do nothing but be sad at the idea that he was going to lose not just any other friend, but the person who helped him to stand up and encouraged him after Kaede died. Kaito apologizes to Shuichi, claiming that he was jealous of his talent as a detective and that it was his skills that helped them survive this long. Shuichi responds by saying that it was only with his help that he was able to do that, but Kaito could do nothing but cough up blood in response due to his illness, much to Shuichi's horror.

As Kaito was about to be executed, he told Shuichi and everyone else that he wouldn't accept their tears and that they should send him off in style. Shuichi tells him that he won't cry anymore and that he will make the impossible possible. Shuichi and the other students watch as Kaito's execution fails and he dies in the middle of it due to his illness, much to Monokuma's annoyance.

Later, after the trial concluded, Shuichi would go to the courtyard where he and Kaito would train. He was joined by Maki, and the two shared a short, but emotional conversation. They both agreed that the best thing that you could give to someone who had died is not sadness, but gratitude and that they are both thankful to Kaito for everything he had done for them and vowed to carry on his will and end the killing game. They were eventually joined by Himiko Yumeno and Tsumugi Shirogane, who also wanted to keep their promise to Kaito and began training with them, but their moment is cut short by K1-B0, who had lost his "connector" to the outside world and thus; was determined to destroy Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles and end the killing game himself.

Pursuit of Truth
During the final investigation, Shuichi along with Himiko went inside Rantaro's Study Center. At first, the room was ambiguous and was hard to judge what his talent is based on the room's appearance. Later, Shuichi and Himiko managed to find a disc and discovered Rantaro's talent as the Super High School Level Survivor via a recording made by Rantaro himself.

Shuichi, along with fellow survivors Himiko, Maki, Tsumugi, and K1-B0 decided to re-open Rantaro's case after discovering new truths related to his murder. Upon revealing Rantaro's talent as the Super High School Level Survivor to everyone, and proving that Kaede did in fact not murder him and was executed unjustly much to his anger, Shuichi realized that the mastermind has to be one of them and, by double-checking everyone's alibis during Rantaro's murder, honed in on Tsumugi as the true culprit and mastermind of the Killing Game Semester.

Tsumugi denied the claim vehemently whereas the other survivors are confused and shocked that the Super High School Level Cosplayer could have gone through with such a plan. Shuichi however, made it very clear that Tsumugi was the only person who could have murdered Rantaro by using the hidden passageway in the girls bathroom, which also led into the hidden room that connected to the library.

Tsumugi also did not give the same order to Mother Monokuma as the other survivors did (Aside from K1-B0 who was rampaging at the time and thus not present), saying "make" instead of "birth", which would have triggered its voice recognition software and created another Monokuma, proving that she would be the mastermind. Tsumugi continued to deny it, to which Shuichi said that she should refute. He deeply wanted to be wrong and not have to condemn another fellow friend or believe that any one of them could be the mastermind. Unfortunately, Shuichi's words are for nothing as he and the other survivors watch Tsumugi break and reveal herself as "Junko Enoshima the 53rd".

Tsumugi, now cosplaying as Junko, went on to reveal that everyone's memories of being students at Hope's Peak Academy, the The Gopher Plan, and shouldering their friends and families burdens as mankind's last hope, was all a false memory planted into their brains by the Flashback Light. In reality, everything they remember about attending Hope's Peak Academy and the outside world being destroyed was a lie. What they remember about Kokichi Oma being part of the Remnants of Despair was a lie as well, much to everyone's shock.

In reality, the circumstances behind their killing game are far more cruel. After proving her talent fully as the Super High School Level Cosplayer by cosplaying as some characters from Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc and Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, Tsumugi revealed that everything has been broadcasted to a very peaceful world that have been enjoying watching the students of Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles kill each other, essentially revealing everything that they've been through as a reality-TV show and "Extreme Real Fiction". She also revealed that everything that took place in the Hope's Peak Academy Saga were nothing more than fictional events from a very popular anime and game franchise known as Danganronpa.

While the other survivors were quick to oppose Tsumugi and Monokuma, they both reveal that the participants of the Killing Game Semester are also "fictional characters", whose memory, personality, feelings, and talent were all fabricated in order to provide an exciting setting for the killing game. Shuichi denies this immediately, but Tsumugi reveals herself as working for Team Danganronpa and went a step further and shows Shuichi's, Kaede's, and Kaito's, audition videos for the killing game, showing what sort of people they were prior to participating. Shuichi is considerably shocked upon realizing that his former self willingly participated in a killing game, and that everything he had fought for up until now, all the relationships he had made, were all fabricated. Tsumugi chastises him for still being the same, weak detective he was at the beginning of the story as he falls into despair.

K1-B0 however, after hearing what "the voice inside of him" has to say, reassured everyone to not lose hope. Tsumugi corrected him and says that the voice K1-B0 hears is the voice of the people watching this killing game and that he is nothing more than an interactive communication device and camera for the viewers to interact and participate in the game themselves. Despite this however, K1-B0 refused to give up on hope and that the people in the outside world don't want despair. Tsumugi meanwhile refused to give up on despair and stated that a world that enjoys killings could not possibly desire hope. In true Danganronpa fashion, they decide to settle this with one final, special vote where K1-B0 represents hope and Tsumugi represents despair.

Shuichi however, saw through the charade and cuts in, saying that neither choice is correct and that choosing hope would do nothing but cause the killing game to continue. Because of this, he decided to stop playing along and abandons his vote, hoping to end Danganronpa once and for all, much to Tsumugi's and Monokuma's chagrin. Eventually, Shuichi convinces everyone else to abandon their vote as well but K1-B0, in a last ditch effort to keep Danganronpa going, is hacked by the audience. Tsumugi is proud to show that the audience does not wish for Danganronpa to end and explained that they supposedly deleted K1-B0's personality that kept getting in the way. Despite Tsumugi telling them that what they're doing is pointless, Shuichi refused to give up, still exclaiming that he will end Danganronpa and that their lives are not just show-things for their amusement.

Confident that his voice reached the outside world through K1-B0, Shuichi and everyone else abandoned their vote. Tsumugi however, bends the rules one last time and abandons her vote as well, which she revealed after everyone else did. Everyone is immediately confused and worried as to why she abandoned her vote as well. Tsumugi stated that if they're going to risk their lives to end Danganronpa, then she will risk her life to make it continue. Tsumugi is confident that Danganronpa will continue after abandoning her vote, meaning only K1-B0's vote will have any power as he is still being hacked.

When Monokuma displayed the results of the final voting, Shuichi smiles at seeing that no one had voted, proving that the audience does not want Danganronpa to continue. Tsumugi panicked and tried to make everyone reconsider, but it is no use as the monitors all turn off, the audience no longer showing any interest. Shuichi tells her that her words are not being heard and that nobody wants a fiction that she created anymore. Tsumugi, upon realizing that Danganronpa was indeed over and done with, promptly loses all of her hope in living as she denied a world without Danganronpa, but had not prepared a proper execution before hand and as such, leaves it to K1-B0.

K1-B0 does not hesitate and proceeds to execute everything, killing Tsumugi and destroying Monokuma in the process. Shuichi along with his fellow survivors take cover under some rubble during the chaos. K1-B0 eventually self-destructs, creating an opening in the glass dome for his fellow survivors to escape.

Shuichi's Fate
Shuichi survived the final execution along with fellow survivors Himiko and Maki by hiding under some rubble. Himiko was in a bit of a bind, but Shuichi helped her up before taking in their surroundings. Gifted Inmates Academy had been completely obliterated by K1-B0. The remaining survivors wondered what would become of the fictional world now, but none of them had an idea of what to do now that everything was over. Maki questioned at first why they were still alive, but Himiko and Shuichi both stated that it must have been the outside world's will that let them survive.

To Maki and Himiko's surprise however, Shuichi states that what Tsumugi said to them about the outside world may have been a lie, and that Hope's Peak Academy and the Remnants of Despair might actually exist, though he has no proof to back up this claim. He also does not think that he would willingly participate in a killing game no matter how mad of a world he was living in, but once again it is mere speculation, though Himiko states that Kaito's insight might be rubbing off on him.

Despite not really knowing what is truth and what is lie however, Himiko along with her two remaining survivors resolve themselves to go out into the outside world and see the truth for themselves, and that if a lie had changed the world, then the story would not end.}}

Name
His first name kanji, (終一) shūichi, means "last one" while his last name kanji, 最原 Saihara, could mean "prime field" or "conspicuous wilderness".

Alternate Fates
In Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (Demo Version), Shuichi was first seen at the end of the hallway and shyly introduced himself as the Ultimate Detective to Kaede Akamatsu. He admitted that he doesn't deserve that title. After the murder of Yasuhiro Hagakure occurred, he was seen inside the cafeteria, investigating where the murder weapon originated.

Appearance
Most of the time, Shuichi wears a black cap with a white strap. Underneath, he has short black hair with a small ahoge. He appears to have very pale skin and thick, feminine eyelashes. His eyes are gambogeish grey.

Shuichi wears his high school uniform, which appears to be in a black uniform with five buttons on his right, another two buttons on his left and attached with his high school's logo. His pants along with his shoes seem to be in black; the same color as his uniform and his cap.

Personality
Shuichi appears to have a calm, serious and polite personality. However, he is also stated to have a weak personality. He is abnormally timid when it comes to speaking and often has negative remarks. He frequently blushes and suffers from a cold sweat. Among the sixteen students, he is a boy who stands out for his submissiveness and for his good sense.

However, Shuichi can also have a stronger attitude at times and he can call out other students for their behavior. His hat is an especially sore subject for him and he dislikes to look at other people's eyes. When meeting Miu Iruma, she accused him of being a pervert with no reason, causing him to angrily yell at her to leave him alone. She had said that boys wear hats to hide their staring, which is obviously very poor reasoning, and Shuichi told her he doesn't need an excuse to wear a hat.

Even though he is a very skilled detective with superior ability and insight, Shuichi lacks self-confidence, as he claims he hasn't accomplished enough to be called a famous detective. He also feels he doesn't deserve his Ultimate title because he only happened to solve murder cases by chance, although Kaede Akamatsu says she doesn't believe something like this is possible.

Ultimate Detective
Shuichi is a very skilled detective, capable of solving murder cases faster than the police, although he claims he only managed to solve these cases by chance. However, Kokichi Oma's secret society is so mysterious that even Shuichi does not seem to know any organization matching up with it.

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

Relationships

 * Family:

Uncle
Shuichi learned to be a detective by watching his uncle's example and working as his assistant. However, he had no interest in being a detective and was simply helping out. It's unclear how close they are.


 * Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles:

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

Miu Iruma
When Shuichi and Kaede first approached Miu, she assumed that Shuichi was staring at her breasts. Miu then called Shuichi a pervert and that was why he wore a hat. However, Shuichi then stands up for himself and Miu gets startled by this as she thought he was a weakling.

Throughout the game, Miu gave Shuichi a lot of nickname such as Kusaihara, Kuzuhara, Unogahara, Dasaihara, and Hamehara.

Quotes

 * -|DRV3 Demo=

Danganronpa V3=

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

Trivia

 * On Shuichi's birthday in 2017, Kazutaka Kodaka tweeted an "in-character" birthday message to celebrate it.
 * The tweet translates into this:
 * Saihara: "Huh? This is… for my birthday? R-really? This many people are congratulating me? Wow, I’m a little bit embarrassed but… thank you! But that’s much more than what I can eat by myself, so I guess I should… invite someone? Yeah, I know who to invite!"


 * Shuichi's appearance share similarities with  the character from Persona 4, Naoto Shirogane. Furthermore, both characters are precocious ‎detectives.
 * Interestingly, Shuichi's clothes somewhat resemble that of Kiyotaka Ishimaru's beta design.
 * Shuichi's English voice actor, Grant George, also voices Leon Kuwata in Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc.
 * The official English website mistook Shuichi's uncle as his grandfather. They later fixed this error.
 * In a poll hosted by MyNavi, fans voted Shuichi the most popular Danganronpa V3 student out of sixteen students in Danganronpa V3.

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