Maybe some of this belongs in the 'about me' page, but it's impossible to keep ourselves out of our creations.
In 2000 I first gained internet access as a pre-teen. By 2001 or 2002, I was creating my own websites in order to share the things I loved and connect with other fans. There was no social media, and having your own website was one of the few ways to accomplish this. Quickly, however, small personal websites vanished from the net like so many murdered DR characters.
Fastforward many, many years and I was delighted to discover Neocities. However, what to make a site about? I personally didn't find sites that were a mishmash of all of the creator's interests to be appealing, so that was out. I don't make graphics or draw. I write, but my fics were doing just fine on ao3. I did toy with the idea of making a shrine for my favorite character, but quickly dismissed it, as that isn't what I saw people using neocities for. A few months later, I saw neocities brought up again in two separate Tumblr posts, and knew that this was something I had to do. Screw what everyone else was doing! Part of the old web revival should be about doing what we want with our pages, rather than following trends.
I remember being young and spending hours and hours poring over character shrines from my favorite anime. I hope you can find some of the same enjoyment here, as I share my love of Mikan Tsumiki and Dangan Ronpa with you.
Why a Mikan fansite?
Not only is she my favorite character of all time, but there is quite a bit of misinformation and confusion circulating in the fandom about her character. As a long-time DR fan (if the phrase 'gently caress' means anything to you, that's how long I've been around), I'd like to use this site to shed some light on things, including what I personally believe were Kodaka's intentions in writing her the way that he did.
I also think it might be nice to browse a character page that isn't part of a wiki. I know that I used to enjoying reading unique individual takes on a character via fansites.
Why Mikan at all?
Like I said, Mikan Tsumiki is my favorite character of all time. I say this as someone who has been engaging with anime and gaming since the late 90s. I have consumed a sizeable amount of media at this point, but no other character has stood out for me the way Mikan has. So why?
Simply put, I've never seen a character quite like her before. I will dive into these topics more in depth on my 'Mikan Essays' page, but while on the surface she may seem like a clumsy comic relief character (or a cookie-cutter yandere when in despair-mode), there is so much depth under the surface that has kept me captivated for the past 10 years.
We can see as the player that Mikan is desperately crying out for attention, so much so that she became a nurse specifically so that people in need would rely on her. Rather than out of clumsiness, she falls down in front of people on purpose in selfish bids for attention. As an extrovert, and a person with a phobia of being alone or ignored, her character speaks to me deeply. She is a deeply flawed individual, and I love her for it.
On the lighter side of things, I love medical and nurse themes, and was taken with her design instantly, even before I had a chance to learn about her personality.
