Initial concept

[Insert design images of ???]

(Note: This article contains major spoilers about the secret route.)

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This is your last chance not to be spoiled if you read these lines. If you haven’t finished his route, don’t read what follows. As curious as you might be, you really don’t want to be spoiled.

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Daisuke is the last love interest to unlock after going through the rest of the game.
It was a natural choice, especially because his route was written first to set the game’s main thread from the start.
The mysterious one turned into the character impossible to delete because he solves the central question: why was Kyoko in particular sucked into the world of Doki Doki 5?

From the first alpha of the game, in 2017, he was already the unknown narrator of the prologue and the idea that he is actually addressing Mana (and not the player) was already planted.

[Insert initial drawing proto-Daisuke]

To contrast with Kou who has black hair, Daisuke inherits very pale wavy hair, which gives him a fragile side.
Clothing-wise, he stands out with his long scarf which doesn’t match the summer season in which the game Doki Doki 5 takes place and which makes a small nod to Mana’s scarf.

If Kou is the canon choice for Hana, Daisuke became the canon love interest for Kyoko.
This choice was made because I wanted to subvert expectations regarding the “true route” and keep the canonical potential of all Hana’s love interests.

We talk about Daisuke’s route, but in reality, it’s Kyoko’s route. Her past is exposed to daylight and the glitched name is finally revealed: Itsuki Ichigaya, Kyoko’s first love.

[insert sketch of Daisuke & sketch of Itsuki]

Originally, Daisuke was supposed to share more physical traits with Itsuki like a borrowing of his physical envelope but more adult. Finally, I made him quite distinct from Itsuki so that he would be his own person and Kyoko wouldn’t get attached to him because he looks like her lost love.

[insert sketch of Kamui]

Naturally, if the mystery is represented by the lock of hair covering Daisuke’s eye, his divine form has his hair slicked back, completely revealing Kamui’s brilliant starry eyes. He also keeps his scarf in this form.

[insert sketch of Kamui manipulating “screens” with pixels]

It was while exploring Kamui’s persona that the pixel-type graphic element (which we see in Another Story’s graphical interface and especially on the game’s title screen) appeared in 2019. It physically represents Kamui’s powers.

He has a slightly melancholy look that makes me melt a bit… I had to draw him much more in my notebooks than the other love interests.

If I dwell a bit too much on him it’s because I love his design and it’s rare to be able to talk about Daisuke. It was horrible for me to keep this secret!
Pity that he is ONLY visible on this last route that closes Kyoko’s story and Another Story!