I'm on day thirty-three of The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy!

The Hundred Line, a videogame from the people behind Danganronpa and Zero Escape, is a new addition to one of my favourite genres: a group of strangers are confined together in a high-stress situation and have a terrible time. In this case, a bunch of teenagers are abducted from their safe, enclosed city and forced to fight a war against monsters for reasons they don't entirely understand.

I played the demo, decided I wanted more of this nonsense and picked it up as soon as it released. I love a story that is both emotionally intense and absolutely stupid. It's not as strong as the Danganronpa series (I miss the murder mysteries!), but it scratches a similar ridiculous itch.

Takumi is very much in the Danganronpa protagonist mould of 'very ordinary, even a little bland; finds all his weird companions kind of overwhelming, but ultimately just wants to get along with everyone', and for some reason it really works for me every time. I don't love him in the way I love the Danganronpa protagonists, but there's time!

I'm not that attached to any of the characters yet, come to think of it, although some of them definitely have potential. Darumi's fun; she has a lot of great lines. Takemaru has a short temper and a good heart, which is a combination I have a huge weakness for. I'm eyeing the Incest Twins with some interest, given my passion for The Coffin of Andy and Leyley. Eito has an interesting relationship with Takumi. (The moment we saw Eito, Tem declared that he was going to be the protagonist's boyfriend, and I'm impressed by xyr prescience!)

Takumi named all the fish in the cafeteria fish tank, which is pretty endearing, although it seems weird to name a fish 'Fishy' when there are also other fish around. What makes this specific fish fishier than its companions?

Tem and I found ourselves exclaiming 'WHAT IS GOING ON? WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?' at the screen while Takumi was trying to persuade Tsubasa to fight.

Tsubasa: I can't fight those terrible monsters because I throw up whenever I'm nervous.
Takumi: I've made you a fashionable sick bag! Surely this completely solves your problem. Surely being unable to control your body in battle doesn't cause you any concerns other than making the battlefield untidy.
Tsubasa: But everyone will make fun of me if I'm sick in front of them!
Takumi: I'LL PUKE TOO, THEN THEY'LL HAVE TO MAKE FUN OF ME AS WELL, I'LL DO IT RIGHT NOW IF YOU WANT

And then they stared directly into each other's eyes, in silence, for two full minutes.

And that's how you persuade someone to fight in a war, apparently.

Yugamu keeps saying things like 'I can't stand staining my hands with meaningless kills. I'd prefer to murder someone I love' and 'Murder's supposed to be a private, intimate experience.' This guy is all of my fanfiction.

I can't believe this game includes two different characters who are incredibly horny for murder. This is such a personal attack on me.

Tsubasa: Are they wearing Class Armour?
Riona: I'll be honest: if I saw a girl with a giant green tomato over her entire head, I would not notice that she was wearing Class Armour.
Tem: I would. I notice the clothes people are wearing, especially if I'm wearing the same thing. I'd go, 'Oh, this is embarrassing.'
Riona: 'We've turned up to the war in the same outfit.'
Tem: 'One of us is going to have to go home and change.'

Yugamu canonically goes speed dating, and that would be a sight to behold. 'Hey, want to end up locked in an intimate dance of trying to murder each other?'

(Light Yagami, on the other side of the table, internally: ...maybe?)