Kaede Akamatsu

Kaede Akamatsu, also known as Ultimate Pianist, is one of the main characters from the Danganronpa series.
== Charactah Account ==
A girl who started playing piano at a young age, and eventually began winning so many recitals that she was crowned the Ultimate Pianist. She's cheerful, outgoing, and motivated, and directs these traits toward escaping Monokuma and his murderous game.
She is labeled as the culprit of Chapter 1, having modified Shuichi's trap to catch the mastermind by adding a death trap to it. After she is executed for the murder of Rantarou Amami, Shuichi becomes the protagonist from Chapter 2 onward. Near the end of the game, it's revealed that her death trap was actually a failure and that in reality she was framed by the mastermind - Tsumugi Shirogane - as Rantarou's murderer, due to Monokuma's Time Limit motive failing to produce a murder victim.
== Appearance ==
=== Manga ===
* New Danganronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing Comic Anthology
=== Video Games ===
* Danganronpa S: Ultimate Summer Camp
* Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony
== Trivia ==
* Kaede is known as a 'false protagonist' or a 'decoy protagonist', which are terms used in media to describe a character who is depicted as a protagonist only to be killed immediately, or somewhere early on in the story.
* Due to the unreliable nature of Danganronpa V3 and the students' backstories, it's not certain if Kaede's twin sister exists. It is also possibly a reference to Kaede's Japanese voice actress: Sayaka Kanda, who played Junko and Mukuro in the Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc and Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despairstage play adaptions.
* Kaede was first revealed as part of the Danganronpa V3 trailer first shown at Tokyo Game Show 2016, along with the avatars of the rest of the game's cast which up until that point were only shown as silhouettes. While all other characters were only revealed by appearance, Kaede's character name, as well as her Japanese voice actress, Sayaka Kanda, were revealed during the trailer, and it is actually presented by herself.
* She is the first protagonist in the primary game that has a skill for a talent, along with being the first female protagonist in the primary line of the Danganronpa series.
** During the trailer, Kaede introduces herself as the game's "protagonist" (shujinkou), and is shown participating in a Class Trial.
* According to the English localization's character heights, Kaede (5'8") is taller than Shuichi (5'7"), which is why some players assumed that a one scene with the two had incorrect art. However, in the Japanese version, Kaede is 167 cm, making her shorter than Shuichi, who is 171 cm.
* Kaede's Japanese voice actress, Sayaka Kanda, has already contributed to Danganronpa franchise as a whole both as a singer (as part of the group TRUSTRICK), singing the opening to Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School - Future Arc alongside Maon Kurosaki as well as its ending, and as a stage actress - playing Junko Enoshima (and Mukuro Ikusaba) in the Danganronpa stage plays.
** Kanda is also married to Mondo Owada's stage actor for Danganronpa: Kibou no Gakuen to Zetsubou no Koukousei THE STAGE 2016, Mitsu Murata.
* Kaede's English voice actress, Erika Harlacher, also voices Kyoko Kirigiri in Danganronpa games.
* In a poll hosted by MyNavi, fans voted Kaede the 3rd most popular Danganronpa V3 student out of 16.
* Japanese gaming magazine Dengeki from April 27th, 2017 to May 22nd, 2017 held two popularity polls, one that was voted electronically and the other via post cards. Kaede was voted the 4th most popular student in the electronic poll, and most popular through post cards.
== Gallery ==
File:Kaede Akamatsu Render 01.png
File:Kaede Akamatsu Render 02.png
File:Kaede Akamatsu Render 03.png
File:Kaede Akamatsu Render 04.png
File:Kaede Akamatsu Fan Art 01.png
== External Links ==
* Kaede Akamatsu at Danganronpa Wiki
Category:Characters
Category:Females
Category:Danganronpa