Why I Ship Hinabuki, And An Analysis Of Hajime And Ibuki's Relationship In SDR2 And Ibuki's Island Mode

Why I ship Hinabuki, and an analysis of Hajime and Ibuki's relationship in SDR2 and Ibuki's Island Mode ending

Everything I see happening between them romantically happens post canon. While I think Hajime held no romantic feelings for her during SDR2, I think Ibuki was quite fond of him.

They still have a great dynamic in her freetime events and her Island Mode is absolutely worth checking out if you're interested in them as a ship. I like to think that all of the free time events happened more or less. So Hajime got roped into Ibuki's schemes with her band club. His first impression of her is... well he seems kind of offput. He's so confused and just can't keep up with her energy at all. This is just kind of how he is in a lot of the free time events, and I think it largely has to do with the situation they're in, which is understandable.

Though after spending some time with her and learning more about her, he starts to develop a respect for her and her passion.

There's another point where he realizes how alone she feels, and thinks that he wants to continue playing along with her if it helps her feel less alone.

At the end of her events, she gives him some powerful advice, and he says that he doesn't feel like he's being dragged around anymore. He clearly realizes that he'd underestimated her and that despite how she appears, is very wise. He's grown to greatly respect her.

Now I wanna shift to what Ibuki thought of Hajime. I do think that there's a reason that she took interest in him, and it is because his inability to remember his talent was making him feel isolated. Ibuki brought up how the separation from her band has made her feel alone ever since, so I think she relates in a way and wants to help him feel better. All the "training" she puts Hajime through is actually just attempts to jog his memory.

As she hung out with him, she started to remember the importance of expressing yourself with other people. So to her a there was a much deeper bond forming.

They might have hung out a little bit more after this, but I don't think they'd ever gotten close. Still, her death deeply affected Hajime. He was still thinking about her in chapter 6.

This next line is everything to me. He really enjoyed her company, and I don't think he realized how much he did until she was gone.

Now its time to frame all of this romantically. To do that, we need to discuss Ibukis Island Mode ending. Even though I ship them, I do not think they identify as lovers, partners, or girlfriend and boyfriend.

In her Island Mode ending, you are presented with three relationship options, friends, lovers, and band members. When you choose friends, Ibuki denies it, saying it has to be something more meaningful. When you choose lovers, she says this.

Okay, so something more meaningful? Here’s what happens if you choose lovers.

I have seen so many people interpret this as her rejecting him romantically and showing that she has no interest in romance when I don’t think this is the case at all. I think this instead means that she values intimacy over a relationship built around romance and sex. There’s something more, too. The correct option is band members.

What exactly is a band members, or bandmate, as I like to call it.

While it doesn’t have to be romantic, I think it is. Ibuki describes it as a destined one. Playing music together with people is clearly important to her. To Hinabuki, that is love. Being in a band and playing music together is love. When you think about it, Hinabuki as a ship feels kinda awkward without some sort of band. Music is the medium that their love travels through. Of course, its not like they can’t love each other outside of a band, but this is how they feel the closest.

So why do I personally ship them.

I got into the Danganronpa franchise in 2018, but I didn’t ship them for years. Shortly after playing SDR2, I considered them romantically, but arrived at the conclusion that I didn’t see it and that they’re better as friends. However, there was a significant development in my life that happened during the years following, and that was discovering my love for rock and metal. There’s no way I could describe all my feelings here, but let me just say that I think it’s a part of me. I want to be in a rock/metal band someday, because I find that making music with people is just so beautiful.

I hadn’t seen Ibuki’s freetime events or Island Mode when I began to ship them. In early 2020, I combined my interest in Danganronpa with my interest in rock/metal and created Jabberrock, a band that takes place in my own post canon. He was the singer, and she was the guitarist, and in my head they just kinda… fell in love? It’s a little hard to explain. When I imagined their interactions in my head, it started off friendly, then it got flirty, then before I knew it, I shipped them. It was at that point that I went to watch the freetime events and Island Mode, and realized that I was on to something. There was something here through a band. Through music.To me, that is what I love the most about Hinabuki. Music is a part of them. Not just any music, rock and metal music. It’s just so unique. Being in a band together is so important for them. They don’t even use “lovers” to describe their relationship, because they think “band members” is more accurate. Being in a band together and making music is love for them. Together. Making music together. It’s so beautiful to me. Given my passion for rock/metal music and my dream to be in a band and play music with people I love, I think you can understand why this ship would become my favorite.