Hinata Hajime • HinaKoma

Hajime is a tall, young man with notably toned arms and a solid, well-built chest. He has green eyes with straight lines running across his pupils, resembling a prohobition symbol, as well as short, somewhat spiky brown hair with an ahoge that moves according to his emotions. He wears a simple white shirt with the emblem of his previous high school embroidered on the hem, a school badge on the left pocket, and a green tie that also bears the same emblem. He also wears dark pants and red-and-white sneakers. The Izuru Kamukura Project's brain surgery left a scar on his head. After awakening from the Neo World Program, Izuru decides to cut his long hair to match Hajime's original appearance, with his left eye remaining red while the other reverted to its natural green color. Hajime is a skeptic, realist, and pragmatic to the core, and he often times comes across as cynical due to his chronic overthinking tendencies. He is noticeably more skeptical of the group's peculiar circumstances than anybody else from the moment he steps foot on Jabberwock Island, owing to his habit of rationalizing everything that is foreign to him.[46] He is reasonably concerned about the island's facilities in ways that no other students are, such as presuming the food at the supermarket and restaurant is poisonous, interpreting the comfort Hotel Mirai provides as a trap, and questioning the safety of crossing the cross-island bridges. His cautious nature leads him to appreciate Nagito's company while he explores the islands for the first time, yet at the same time, he is so appalled by Nagito's stress-free attitude, to the point that he suspects Nagito may have a traumatic history that contributed to his carefreeness. He is likewise baffled when he realizes no other students exercise the same amount of anxiety or precaution as him, and mentions how envious he feels of their ability to remain carefree and cheerful, like Kazuichi and Akane, and composed, like Sonia and Nekomaru. His initial stress, combined with the confusion caused by the mystery surrounding island, noticeably strips him from feeling genuine enjoyment from their supposed school trip, even finding the idea of swimming amidst their unknown predicament ridiculous. While he may be a realist, Hajime has moments where he wishes the group's circumstances could've been a mere dream, and he would've definitely enjoy some lazy sunbathing had it been a regular school trip. Ultimately, his paranoia causes him to feel alienated from his peers, prompting him to abandon all of his worries and self-doubts by joining the group at the beach, only for his fears to be well-founded after all when Monokuma emerges and turns their school trip into a killing game. Being ruled by logic, Hajime never denies that there are parts of him that desires an escape and that he has the potential to kill, especially since he cannot trust any of his classmates who are initially strangers to him. He even casually evaluates his own threat level, particularly from Nagito's perspective during the first investigation when the latter carefreely provides him with assistance, given that he could be the killer the group is seeking. He also ends up choosing to play the Twilight Syndrome Murder Case, believing that logically, leaving it alone would only do more harm than good. This decision is influenced in no small part by Nagito's words, even as he insists otherwise. He states how he never thought about friendship, even finding them embarrassing and unattainable amidst their situation. Regardless, he does not detest the idea of warming up to them over time, seeing it as his character development when he can ultimately depend on them completely. Observing his classmates' ability to maintain high spirit in spite of the killing game instills Hajime with confidence, inspiration, reassurance, and a sense of unity. It helps him to gradually break free from his pessimistic and overly skeptical shell, even if his innate skepticism never fully disappears throughout the killing game. Hajime is highly self-aware of his flaws, which saps his confidence and often causes him to be insecure and often sell himself short. He is pessimistic that someone like him could ever have a chance to be in the limelight, and states that he has never really put any thought of his future and dreams. Furthermore, he has a hard time believing that he is such an amazing person and friend as to deserve being granted the title of "Singularity" by Gundham or to exchange a Brotherhood Cup with Fuyuhiko, both of whom think otherwise. his lack of talent. Growing up talentless and ordinary bothers him so deeply that he desires nothing more but to have a talent he could take pride in, and ultimately be confident in himself. He comes to admire Hope's Peak Academy more than anyone and dreaming of attending it one day. Unfortunately, the best he can manage is by attending its Reserve Course Department instead of the main course. During his enrollment, Hajime often spends his time yearning to one day pass through the main course's gate as one of its students. His melancholia is worsened by how he unwittingly becomes the brunt of countless gossips that criticize him for wasting his parents' money on the Reserve Course costly tuition fee. The Steering Committee then exploits his situation and admiration toward Hope's Peak by luring him into participating the Izuru Kamukura Project as a lab rat, albeit a successful one. Despite his craving for talent, Hajime is shown to be in a serious dilemma about whether to go through with the project. Hajime's insecurity persists during the killing game, where he is reverted from Izuru to his pre-enrollment state and falsely remembers himself as having been part of the main course. Hajime who doesn't remember his supposed Ultimate talent is left to constantly wonder whether he truly belongs among his classmates, even thinking as though he might be the possible traitor for this reason alone. Even if he does have one, he is not confident that his talent would be anything special or useful to others. Nevertheless, he is eager to learn about his talent, going so far as to willingly take Monokuma's bait in the form of his student profile, which, of course, is merely a ruse meant to trap him and the others in the Funhouse. Hajime's desperation only sets him up for a heartbreak upon learning from Nagito that he is a mere Reserve Course student. Though he is able to push it off into the backburner of his mind, the revelation leaves such a bitter taste in his mouth that it continues to linger well into the Graduation Exam.