I’ve talked about this issue before not long after the game’s launch here. I would really recommend reading this because I think I summed up my thoughts on the issue pretty well, and without including any spoilers at all for people who haven’t played the game. If you’re looking for a rebloggable response that absolutely would not spoil anyone looking to get into ndrv3, then I suggest this one, because it’s the easiest way to clear up misinformation.

I can, however, talk more in-depth about the reasons behind why he’s not a Nazi in this ask, but that will require touching on actual spoilers from pretty much the entire game. I’ll include them all under a read more, so people can read only if they don’t mind being spoiled per se. So please only read at your own risk! If you’d rather not be spoiled, please just read only the previous response which I linked to!

The most important thing which requires explanation is this: Ouma is absolutely not a Nazi in any shape, form, or fashion, nor is he coded as one. However, his promotional material was intended to provoke a certain kneejerk reaction from people and therefore did use aspects of Nazi military imagery with his hat in particular. The Panta bottle might also, as some people have speculated, have been a reference of sorts.

Ouma’s title translates the most closely to “Super High School Level Supreme Leader,” but according to the actual ndrv3 guidebook for the actual Japanese version of the game, which included some attempts at actual English translations, it was translated to “Ultimate President.” Therefore, while there can be a negative association of his title with a possible translation to “dictator,” this is not the actual intended translation of his talent in-game.

All of these things were meant to convey an image, even prior to the game’s release, of Ouma as being someone ominous and evil-looking. However, I do not like or condone the way in which Kodaka went about it at all. Nazism is a serious, real-world issue. Unfortunately in Japan sometimes, there is a certain prominent trend to treat nationalism, fascism, and extremely coded military imagery with a certain degree of mystique, as though it was “cool” or “trendy” to use it for promotional purposes.

This dates back to a lot of Japanese WWII history and Japan’s own not-so-pretty imperialist conquest, but that would be a long, long discussion so I won’t get into it. Suffice it to say, Japan is not exactly respectful or tactful with these issues all the time, and Kodaka’s choice in promotional art for Ouma is likely a reflection of that. This doesn’t excuse them using this kind of imagery, of course: as I stated in my previous response to this question, ignorance is still ignorance no matter how you look at it, and it’s still something that was very disrespectful and poorly handled.

Ouma as a character, however, has absolutely nothing to do with these poor decisions in promotional art and planning. He is not a Nazi at all. In fact, he doesn’t even wear the hat and cape from his promo art at all in-game, except for in one CG. And everything about him, from his “Supreme Leader” talent to his so-called “evil, secret organization” to his clothes, is fabricated.

The truth about ndrv3′s plot twist is this: all of the characters actually signed up for the killing game themselves and were assigned talents and backstories in order to participate in a “killing game reality show.” Their talents are fake, and all their outfits are made and provided for them by the mastermind, who is the SHSL Cosplayer. Quite literally, Ouma and the other characters didn’t even pick their own clothes out. Everything about their designs was very carefully concocted even in-game in order to appeal to certain character tropes or provide the audience with expectations for what each character would say or do.

Prior to entering this killing game reality show, Ouma and all the other characters were presumably just normal high school students. There is some debate as to whether SHSL talent even actually exists in the ndrv3 universe or not, but considering the amount of emphasis that is placed on the ndrv3 characters feeling so plain and worthless and boring in their everyday lives that they willingly signed up to “join the world of Danganronpa,” there is quite a lot of indication that they were all just extremely normal, talent-less kids. So of course, pre-game, Ouma had no association with Nazism in any shape, form, or fashion.

The thing I think most people fail to realize is that his in-game backstory has nothing to do with these things, either. Ouma’s so-called “secret, evil organization” is associated with various underground crime syndicates like the yakuza, and controls things “from the shadows.” It’s never mentioned in the context of nationalism or fascism, nor are the beliefs typically associated with Nazism ever brought up by Ouma or any other character in the game even a single time.

The most important fact is this: even for Ouma’s assigned, in-game backstory, his organization literally does not exist. There is no evil crime syndicate or secret organization “with more than 10,000 members.” Instead, he and 10 other people had a group named DICE which was literally a group of pranksters who went around performing fake crimes and pranks for fun. Their single-most important motto was not to kill anyone while doing these pranks. Quite literally, they were a group of friends who wore clown masks and went around pulling pranks for laughs and thrills, and they had absolutely no association with Nazism, fascism, dictatorships, etc.

This isn’t a matter of speculation or fake rumors; I’ve translated Ouma’s motive video which provides his in-game backstory myself. If anyone would like to read the translated transcript and double-check this information for themselves, I have a link here.

In order for a character to actually be a Nazi or to be Nazi-coded, the character would have to actually show signs of endorsing Nazi beliefs or behaving and performing in the way that Nazis do. It is very fair to say that Ouma’s unfortunate promotional art is coded. Ouma as a character, however, never once over the entire game makes any references to Nazism or Nazi beliefs. He’s not associated with alt-right or ultra conservatives, nor does he have anything to do with the military. Therefore he himself as a character has nothing to do with Nazism, and the blame lies with Kodaka and with Japanese sentiment towards Nazism and WWII history as a whole as some kind of “decorative prop” that can be used for marketing strategies.

I don’t blame people for being uncomfortable with Ouma’s promotional art. I myself am uncomfortable about it, and was very wary about Ouma’s character pre-release until I played the game for myself and confirmed with my own two eyes that he had nothing whatsoever to do with these kinds of things. I really do not appreciate that Kodaka chose such an insensitive and hurtful way of trying to market a character for cheap shock value, because it’s in extremely poor taste. And I really cannot blame other people if they’re disappointed or put off by Kodaka’s decision either.

However, it is definitely a fact that Ouma as a character is not a Nazi and is not Nazi-coded either. The behavior and beliefs people expected from him are understandably influenced by their opinions of his promotional artwork, yes, but in-game Ouma does not reflect these things at all. Everything about his character both prior to and during the killing game is associated with mischief-making, pranks, and being a huge liar who pretends to know about things and influence things from the shadows the way any crime boss might. But he is not associated with militaristic or alt-right imagery even a single time, other than Kodaka’s very poor choice in promo art for him (which again, isn’t even worn by Ouma in-game except for the single CG within his motive video).

As far as coding goes, a character can certainly be coded in a certain way based on their actions, beliefs, spoken opinions, etc. Were Ouma actually to hold certain alt-right or conservative beliefs, or to spout dangerous ideology typically associated with Nazism, then it would be possible to call him “Nazi-coded” regardless of what clothes he was wearing. However, this is not the case.

If anything, Ouma is coded as an orphan: his DICE group were “closer to him than family,” he refuses to talk about his own backstory, has the ability to pick locks and is associated with petty theft, and upon closer inspection, the clothes given to him in-game are extremely ratty and tattered compared to everyone else’s, suggesting an image of poverty. Ouma never once says or confirms that he’s an orphan. However, there is reason to believe he could, perhaps, be one, based on in-game speculation and the way he acts, thinks, and talks. This is the very definition of “coding” a character, without ever outright stating or confirming a fact about them.

Again, I completely understand people being extremely uncomfortable with or angry at Kodaka’s decisions regarding Ouma’s promotional art. It was extremely ignorant and insensitive of Kodaka, and it’s not something that I myself am happy with at all. However, it’s also not a reflection on Ouma as a character, and I feel that trying to insist that Ouma is tied to or associated with Nazism when he’s very clearly not is trivializing the issue of real-world problems regarding Nazism nowadays.

I hope I managed to clear up your questions, anon. I can understand people’s confusion based on the really unfortunate promotional art, but I do hope people give the game a chance for themselves when the English localization hits in September. Ouma is a fascinating character, extremely complex and well-written, and I really hope people do stop spreading misinformation about his character because of rumors and speculations which date back to before the game was even released.