Koichi Kizakura

Koichi Kizakura (黄桜 公一 Kizakura Kōichi) is a character featured in Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak Academy - Side: Future and a participant in the Final Killing Game. He also appears in Side: Despair.

He is a member of the Future Foundation and leader of the 3rd Division. He is also a recruiter, who seeks out survivors to help grow Future Foundation.

Before the Tragedy, Koichi was a talent scout for Hope's Peak Academy and the former official homeroom teacher of Class 77-B.

Koichi died saving Kyoko Kirigiri by disobeying his NG code and opening his left hand to catch her when she fell through a hole. He is is the seventh victim of the Final Killing Game overall.

Appearance
Koichi is a relaxed-looking man with blue eyes and ragged blonde hair. He has a pencil-thin mustache and goatee. He wears a worn down, white fedora, a faded dark blue tie and a black suit with the Future Foundation ID pinned to the jacket's lapel. He also wears light brown slip-ons.

During his time as Hope's Peak scout, he wore a white tuxedo, with a green undershirt and black vest top, with a blue, almost gray tie. He also wore a white hat with a black decoration going around the circumference, near the flappy bit.

Personality
Koichi is a relaxed, passive and whimsical man who chooses not to get involved in arguments. He is sometimes carefree to a fault; before the events of the Tragedy, he was shown to be somewhat irresponsible and would rather get drunk than teach a class.

However, Koichi is also a reliable and quick-witted person with a sharp intuition, which allows him to assess people's talents, as well as their true character. Despite choosing to play dumb, Koichi is shown to be incredibly observant—as he was able to deduce that Miaya Gekkogahara was a suspicious person immediately at the start of the Final Killing Game. He chooses to flat-out avoid confrontation with the other members and observes events from afar. When trying to find Kyoko, he stays with the bodies, knowing that she, as the former Ultimate Detective, would come investigate them.

Prior to the Tragedy
Koichi worked as one of the many talent scouts for Hope's Peak Academy, identifying high schoolers with Ultimate-level talents who were worthy of attendance to the school. In addition, he is the official homeroom teacher for Class 1-B, part of the 77th Class, but due to being drunk most of the time, the duty was pushed to the assistant homeroom teacher, Chisa Yukizome.

During the Tragedy
Koichi, alongside Kazuo Tengan, began building Future Foundation as a way to combat Ultimate Despair. He recruited several talented Hope's Peak alumni to work for the organization, with Koichi himself being put in charge of the 3rd Division. His responsibility as 3rd Division leader is to help scout and distribute personnel for Future Foundation.

Koichi was one of the few people who led the frontal assault on the Hope's Peak Old School Building to rescue the Class 78 from the School Life of Mutual Killing, his personal goal being to rescue Kyoko. After they escaped, he recruited them for Future Foundation.

Episode 01 - Hello Again, Hope's Peak Academy
Koichi is shown sitting in a chair in Jin Kirigiri's office as Chisa came in to formally accept her position as Class 1-B's homeroom teacher. He was hungover and attempting to hold back from vomiting, but cheerfully told Chisa to make the best of the situation and encouraged her. After she left, Koichi commented that Chisa was just as he remembered her, and asked if it was true that Kyosuke Munakata had recommended that she be a teacher.

When Jin confirmed this, he cautious told him to be careful, saying that Kyosuke's influence was growing very quickly, despite being so young, and Jin wouldn't want Kyosuke to undermine his position as headmaster. Throughout the rest of the school day Koichi stayed in Jin's office and watched the events unfold from the window.

Episode 02 - My Impurest Heart for You
Koichi appeared at the beginning of the episode, wondering why Chisa circling her calendar with red marks. Chisa cheerfully replied that the circle was a mark showing her students full attendance, make Koichi reminded his position as the homeroom teacher. He supported Chisa, telling her to work hard so they didn't end up as Reserve Course teachers. Koichi left the room to scout Celestia Ludenberg shortly after.

Episode 03 - A Farewell to All Futures
Koichi gathered in the Principal Office along with Jin and Kazuo. After learned that Hajime Hinata agreed to participate in Izuru Kamukura Project, he stated his dislikeness toward the artificial talent and hope.

Episode 04- The Melancholy, Surprise, and Disappearance of Nagito Komaeda
After the bombing at Hope's Peak, Koichi and Chisa are summoned to the Principal's Office. Koichi mentions that Ruruka Ando, Seiko Kimura, and Sonosuke Izayoi are expelled. After deliberating upon the state of Nagito Komaeda, who indirectly executed the bombing plot beyond his control, Jin calls for Nagito to be indefinitely suspended. Koichi is placed on probation as Nagito's homeroom teacher, and Chisa is transferred to the Reserve Course as compromise for Nagito to remain at Hope's Peak. Koichi peers into Nagito's student profile and comments, "Luck is scary."

Episode 07 - The Biggest, Most Atrocious Incident in Hope's Peak High School's History
Koichi called Chisa on the phone and informed her about The Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy after he learned about the events. Hearing an angry Jin shouting in his office, Koichi enters the room and calms Jin down by offering him a drink. Jin worriedly asks Koichi to protect his daughter if something were to happen to him, and Koichi playfully agrees and states that he'd marry Kyoko for him. Jin smiles and answers that he'd never give Kyoko to him.

Episode 01 - Third Time's the Charm
Koichi was present inside the boardroom along with the other ten Future Foundation Division's leaders to discuss Makoto Naegi's fate. When their discussion was out of the topic, Kyosuke entered the room and lead them to discuss Makoto's betrayal. Later, the trial was postponed until Makoto's wound, received after he got assaulted by Juzo Sakakura, was healed and Koichi was waiting inside the boardroom.

Later, the facility began to shake as an unknown attacker shot their missiles and cut off every exit to the building. Koichi was rendered to sleep after a sleeping gas was thrown inside the room. He and the others found a Monokuma bracelet had been set up on their wrists.

Koichi learned that Monokuma had been resurrected and announced the Final Killing Game of Future Foundation, starting with Chisa Yukizome's body, which fell from the ceiling.

Episode 02 - Hang the Witch
Koichi was overwhelmed after Monokuma announced the Final Killing Game rules. He chose to point Miaya merely based on his hunch.

Episode 03 - Cruel Violence and Hollow Words
Koichi separated himself with the others, secretly watched Ruruka Ando, Sonosuke Izayoi, and Seiko Kimura's fight. He stated that he needed to hurry to meet with a certain "girl".

Episode 04 - Who is a Liar
The girl that Koichi wanted to meet revealed as none other than the former Ultimate Detective, Kyoko Kirigiri. Knowing that she will investigate Chisa and Daisaku Bandai's corpse, Koichi decided to return to the boardroom and greet both Kyoko and Ryota Mitarai when they arrived. He said that he felt safe when he stood next to a detective.

Episode 05 - Dreams of Distant Days
Koichi asked Kyoko if she already finished her job to inspect Chisa's body. She said that she almost finished to reveal the attacker's method after she checked Great Gozu's body, making Koichi impressed by her seriousness.

Episode 06 - No Man is an Island
Koichi woke up inside the room where Great Gozu's body was located, alongside Kyoko and Ryota. After that, the three decided to search for the third victim. On the way, Koichi keep rambling about his hatred toward detectives, which annoyed Kyoko. He told her that he was only joking and advised her to express her feelings more.

When Ryota and Kyoko discovered Sonosuke's body, Koichi discovered Seiko's body pressed into the wall. Before they could inspect the bodies, Ruruka asked for their help from the lounge room.

Episode 08 - Who Killed Cock Robin
Koichi, along with Kyoko, Ryota, and Ruruka, discuss Sonosuke's death in the lounge room for a few moments before Koichi calls to Juzo, who enters the room and announces that he plans to kill them all as they are "in Kyosuke's way." Koichi guesses by the way Juzo hasn't used his fists despite being the former Ultimate Boxer that his NG code is that he can't fight barehanded, and in return reveals that he cannot open his left hand. Koichi lures Juzo toward him and triggers a trap that sends a spear into his shoulder, pinning him to the wall. Shortly afterward, Kyoko walks toward him and Ruruka triggers another trap that opens the floor beneath Kyoko into a seemingly bottomless pit. Koichi catches her and drags her back up to safety, but in doing so breaks his code by using his left hand. Before falling into the pit himself, he has a flashback to a memory of himself taking a picture of Jin and Kyoko and smiles knowing he kept his promise to protect Kyoko.

Jin Kirigiri
Koichi was close friends with the deceased headmaster of Hope's Peak Academy, Jin Kirigiri. Although Jin was annoyed about Koichi's drinking habits, he usually confided in Koichi about school and emotional problems, which Koichi would sometimes try to help with. Koichi was very loyal to Jin, and trusted his judgement. He was also one of few people who could keep Jin calm. Jin asks Koichi to protect his daughter for him, showing the amount of faith and trust Jin placed in him.

Kyoko Kirigiri
Koichi is quick to latch on to Kyoko during the Final Killing Game, and claims it's because he believes he will be safer with a detective around. Kyoko, however, is extremely annoyed with Koichi tagging along with her, and even expresses anger towards him despite the fact that she prefers to hide her emotions from people. But later, it is revealed that Koichi prefers to stick with Kyoko because she is Jin's daughter. Before the Tradegy, Jin made Koichi promise to protect Kyoko should something befall him, and since then Koichi has made it his duty to protect his friend's daughter. Koichi fulfilled his promise to Jin by saving Kyoko when Ruruka Ando attempted to kill her. This action resulted in him violating his NG code because he opened his left hand to catch her when she fell, which resulted him being poisoned. He died with a smile on his face, successfully keeping Kyoko safe.

Chisa Yukizome
Chisa was Koichi's assistant homeroom teacher. Because Koichi was drunk almost all the time, Chisa took over his class at his request. The two seem to be on good terms, and in fact, it was Koichi who invited Chisa to join the Future Foundation.

Quotes

 * “Feel free to treat the class like it's your own!” (To Chisa Yukizome as encouragement)
 * "Luck is scary."

Trivia

 * Koichi's last name "Kizakura" (黄桜) means "yellow cherry blossom", a possible reference to his blonde hair color. His first name (公一) can mean "first official" or "first prince", referring to his role in building Future Foundation with Kazuo.
 * According to a Weekly Famitsu Interview with Kazutaka Kodaka, he likes Koichi's character and he enjoyed Keiji Fujiwara's voice work.
 * Koichi's English voice actor, Kaiji Tang, also voices Yasuhiro Hagakure in the original game.
 * His name on the official Japanese website is incorrectly romanized as Kohichi Kizakura.
 * His last name is a reference to Kizakura sake.