Izuru Kamukura

Izuru Kamukura
Danganronpa character
File:Izuru Kamukura.png Izuru Kamukura alongside his amnesiac computer avatar self Hajime Hinata in Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair.
First appearance	Danganronpa Zero (2011)
Created by	Kazutaka Kodaka
Designed by	Rui Komatsuzaki
Portrayed by	Ryūsei Yokohama (musical)
Voiced by	English Johnny Yong Bosch Micah Solusod (anime) Japanese Minami Takayama German Johannes Walenta (anime)
Information
Full name	Izuru Kamukura Hajime Hinata (birth name)
Species	Superhuman Human (originally) Computer avatar (as Hajime Hinata)
Title	Perpetrator of The Tragedy The Mastermind
Occupation	Emissary of Ultimate Despair Reserve Course Student of Hope's Peak Academy (formerly)
Affiliation	Ultimate Despair (organization) The Izuru Kamukura Project
Family	Unnamed biological parents Council of Global Controllers Byakuya Togami (commissioner) Sonia Nevermind (commissioner)
Significant others	Chiaki Nanami (as computer avatar) Ultimate Despair Nagito Komaeda (servant) Junko Enoshima (founder) Mukuro Ikusaba (soldier)
Children	The World Destroyer (Alter Ego A.I.)

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Izuru Kamukura (Japanese: カムクラ イズル, Hepburn: Kamukura Izuru), known as Hajime Hinata (Japanese: 日向 創, Hepburn: Hinata Hajime) in Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, is a fictional character in Spike Chunsoft's Danganronpa video game series. Izuru is featured both as the main protagonist and amnesiac mastermind in the second game of the series as organizer of "The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History", in the spin-off Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls as the terrorist leader of Ultimate Despair, and in the anime Danganronpa 2.5: Nagito Komaeda and the Destroyer of Worlds and Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak Academy.

The identity of Izuru is also briefly adopted by Junko Enoshima's surrogate brother and childhood sweetheart Yasuke Matsuda (Japanese: 松田 夜助, Hepburn: Matsuda Yasuke) in the light novel Danganronpa Zero. The character has additionally appeared in manga and musical adaptations of the series, in Killer Killer and Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony in a cameo appearance, and as an unlockable character skin in Crypt of the Necrodancer and Identity V.

Conception and creation

Originally conceived the "Ultimate Antagonist", Izuru was conceived by creator and scenario writer Kazutaka Kodaka as the boss of Junko Enoshima, nigh-omnipotent "thanks to having every talent". Kodaka later confirmed Izuru to have been conceived as a deus ex machina character in his depiction in Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak Academy. Early concept art for the character depicts them as female, with long beautiful, elegant hair through which their red eyes can be glimpsed through the gaps.

The given name Hinata Hajime (日向創) can also be read as Kamukura (日（カ）向（ムク）創（クラ）), serving as foreshadowing as to the character's true identity at the beginning of the game. Individually, Hajime (創) refers to a “First flaw” or “injury”, while Hinata (日向) refers to “a sunny place”, with the name collectively meaning "to face an imperfect day". The name Kamukura Izuru (カムクラ イズル) meanwhile refers to "a seat for an exiled god", referencing the character's apparent invulnerability.

Characteristics and backstory

At the time of Danganronpa Zero, Izuru is revealed to be a superhuman created by the "Izuru Kamukura Project" of Hope's Peak Academy, run by Headmaster Jin Kirigiri and the school's Steering Committee, who is the perpetrator of "The Tragedy", the first "killing game" of which Izuru was the victor. In the climax of Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, the computer avatar "Hajime Hinata" discovers his original human self to have really been Izuru Kamukura, a talentless Reserve Course Student suffering from depression who had volunteered for the project in an attempt to acquire meaning, and later allied themselves with the forces of Ultimate Despair after becoming the "Ultimate Hope" and subsequently developing a greater sense of boredom with regard to humankind then they previously had, arranging another killing game in order to provide themselves with a personality and renew their sense of purpose after firstly arranging the end of civilization, selecting only those they deem to be the most "talented" to survive, then organizing the extermination of the "boring".

Appearances

Danganronpa Zero

In the first light novel, Danganronpa Zero, Izuru Kamukura is first mentioned as a student of indeterminate gender who is being investigated by Kyoko Kirigiri, who suspects them both of being the true perpetrator of "The Tragedy" depicted in recently-leaked documentation and footage, and of still being present on the grounds of Hope's Peak Academy, albeit hiding their presence. Upon sharing her suspicions with her father, Jin Kirigiri, he shuts down her investigation on the request of the school's Steering Committee and the Council of Global Controllers (including Byakuya Togami and Sonia Nevermind), due to fear of further public relations disaster after the previous leak had lead to worldwide protests of increasing violence.

Elsewhere, amnesiac student Ryoko Otonashi and secret agent Yuto Kamishiro investigate a location where they believe Izuru to be hiding, only to be confronted by neurologist Yasuke Matsuda, who impersonates Izuru in killing Yuto and attempting to kill Ryoko, whose memories he had wiped on behalf of Ultimate Despair. Outside, the real Izuru organizes a mass suicide of precisely 2,357 Reserve Course students partaking in the protests in order to increase participation in arranging the fall of civilization.

Danganronpa video games

In Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, Hajime Hinata is initially introduced as the main protagonist and "Ultimate ???" who cannot remember what his talent is, nor anything between his first day at Hope's Peak Academy and finding himself on Jabberwock Island. In the game's climax, an A.I. copy of Junko Enoshima reveals that outside the Neo World Program, Hajime does not exist, and he is in fact a computer avatar copy of Izuru from before he was turned into "Ultimate Hope", who had arranged for himself and fellow amnesiac masterminds known as "The Remnants of Despair" to be captured by the Future Foundation so they could use their technology to allow Junko a chance to return in a physical body. Ultimately, Hajime overcomes Izuru's personality as it attempts to take over and elects to remain in the program with the other remaining Remnants of Despair, vowing to use the program for its intended purpose and redeem and restore the deceased Remnants.

In the climax of Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls, set between the first and second games, an increasingly annoyed and frustrated Izuru crushes Monokuma variants Shirokuma and Kurokuma in order to retrieve aspects of Alter Ego Junko controlling them from Towa City, in order to carry out the next part of her posthumous plans, beginning with transferring her to a USB and organizing the Remnants of Despair to bring with him to Future Foundation Headquarters on Jabberwock Island, setting up the events of Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair.

Izuru appears in a cameo appearance in the third main series installment, Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, in the bonus minigame "Ultimate Talent Development Plan", while an in-universe actor portraying Hajime appears in the game's demo, revealed in the climax of the game to be a narrative prequel to the rest of the game.

Danganronpa anime

In the "Despair Arc" of Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak Academy, set before the events of the first game, the origins of Izuru are explored. Shortly after arriving at Hope's Peak Academy as a Reserve Course Student, Hajime Hinata is identified as the most ideal candidate for the Izuru Kamukura Project by the Steering Committee both in a matter of physical capability, admiration toward hope and talent, and potential willingness to participate, and he is approached by former Hope's Peak Academy headmaster Kazuo Tengan with regards to his potential participation, being briefed as to what it would entail for his character, before being provided a deadline of one month to think over the possibility. Over the following month, Hajime briefly befriends a "talented" student from Hope's Peak Academy with whom he plays video games, whom he is then beaten up in front of by the former Ultimate Boxer, leading him to decide to accept the offer to join the project, subsequently undergoing numerous operations to enhance his abilities. Upon agreeing to partake in the project with his parents' consent, Hajime's official record marked him as expelled, and he is subject to numerous operations and inhumane experiments upon his body and brain to turn him into a superhuman being; as a side effect of Izuru's creation, his memories of his life as Hajime Hinata were forcefully suppressed into the darkest recesses of his mind, transforming Hajime into a completely different person whose specialty is "talent itself", by directly interfering with his brain chemistry. Proclaimed "the fruit of all the research" of Hope's Peak Academy's staff as a "genius among geniuses" possessing various talents, Izuru is named after the original founder of the Academy.

Three years later, the Despair Sisters Junko Enoshima and Mukuro Ikusaba, following rumors of Izuru's existence as an "Ultimate Hope", have infiltrated Hope's Peak Academy in order to kill Izuru, believing he will serve as the ultimate obstacle to their plans for an "Ultimate Despair". However, upon being easily defeated by Izuru, he deduces the "Despair Sisters" are as bored with the world as he himself is, and that Junko in particular shares similar analytical abilities to himself, the pair collectively being the superhuman he had to be designed to become. After knocking out Junko, Izuru makes an agreement with Mukuro to join their cause. Upon next being contacted by the pair, Izuru is invited to participate in a "killing game" involving the Academy's student council, manipulating the group into killing one another while serving as an impartial observer, before killing the final survivor himself. Junko then sends a mass e-mail to the students of the Reserve Course exposing Izuru's existence along with footage of the killing game and how the students' funding had been used for human experimentation upon their number in order to create Izuru himself, which in turns leads to a mass riot and protest dubbed "The Parade". The killing game itself is dubbed "The Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy", or simply "The Tragedy".

Now serving as Junko's and Mukuro's personal bodyguard, Izuru foils an attempt by Nagito Komaeda to kill Junko through "a beautiful, elegant dance" during which he shoots Nagito in the back, which in turn leads Nagito to fall in love with him; Nagito is subsequently recruited into Junko's and Mukuro's "Ultimate Despair" organization, along with the rest of his class and their teacher. Later, overlooking the city before the school from its roof, Izuru, Junko and Mukuro stand triumphant as they plan to "infect" the world with despair, before sending a mass text to the Reserve Course students, ordering them to commit mass suicide. Deciding to take a step back from proceedings to see whether "Hope" or "Despair" will win by spreading both worldwide after being reminded of humanity's potential for the former, Izuru accepts the mantle of leader of Ultimate Despair (later known as the Remnants of Despair) from Junko and Mukuro, promising to follow their plans in enacting "The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History" while she herself remains in the Academy with Mukuro to organize another killing game.

In Danganronpa 2.5: Nagito Komaeda and the Destroyer of Worlds, set after the events of the second game, Hajime/Izuru creates a new artificial intelligence merging aspects of themselves with Alter Ego in order to recreate the personalities of the Remnants of Despair within the Neo World Program, helping them come to terms with their actions in life and eventual executions, before finally freeing a now-redeemed Nagito.

In the "Future and Hope Arc" of Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak Academy, also set after the events of the second game, a neutral Hajime/Izuru succeeds in restoring the Remnants of Despair to human form, before leaving Jabberwock Island to massacre the remaining forces of the Future Foundation and save the life of Makoto Naegi, taking responsibility for the "final killing game" while sending out a "Worldwide Declaration of Despair" with the intent arranging further false flag operations and acts of terrorism for the perceived bettermant of humankind.

Other appearances

Izuru Kamukura appears in the Japanese manga adaptation of the series, written and illustrated by Touya Hajime and published by Enterbrain, as well as the spin-off Killer Killer. The series was published in the United States by Enterbrain USA. An additional manga series, published by Ichijinsha, was released solely in Japan. In Danganronpa Togami, the Izuru Kamukura Project is briefly mentioned as having been commissioned by the Council of Global Controllers, of whom Byakuya Togami and Sonia Nevermind were members. A Japanese musical and series of stage plays based on the series, sponsored by Kellogg's Cornflakes, cast actor Ryūsei Yokohama as Izuru Kamukura and Hajime Hinata.

Hajime/Izuru is included as a playable character in a December 2020–January 2021 crossover event of the NetEase horror game, Identity V, alongside fellow Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair characters Nagito Komaeda and Chiaki Nanami.

Merchandising

Kotobukiya has produced 1/8th scale figures of Izuru Kamukura and Hajime Hinata standing at over eight inches tall, as a part of the ARTFX J line, which will be reproduced in April 2021 to tie in with the 10th anniversary of Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc and the wider Danganronpa franchise as a whole.

Reception

Izuru Kamukura has generally been praised by critics for their character's complexity, praised as an "almost perfect [figure] when it comes to [depiction of] intelligence."

Since the release of Danganronpa Zero in September 2011 and Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair in July 2012, Izuru and Hajime have become one of the series' most popular characters.

References

This article "Izuru Kamukura" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Izuru Kamukura. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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