Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. Well guys it’s October and thus it’s the return of Ani-ween MUHAHAHAHAHA! It’s time once again to take a look at horror animes and get a good laugh and scare out of them. The first anime on the list is the murder mystery classic Danganronpa. Danganronpa when translated is a play on words of bullet and refutation. The game follows a group of high school students who are forced into a game of life and death while battling against the despair nature of themselves and the world. The series is a visual novel developed and published by the company Spike Chunsoft in 2010 coming out originally for the PSP in Japan only and quickly moved to phones in 2012 but once again only in Japan. Finally, in 2014 the game came to the west on the PS Vita quickly becoming one of the best games on the system. Now there are three games in the franchise, the first one is called Trigger Happy Havoc which is the one that came to the west first and the one we’ll be focusing on today. The second is Goodbye Despair which serves as a sequel to the first game and if I remember correctly is available for the west as well, and the latest one is Another Episode which came out in Japan last week. As you can imagine the series is quite popular having multiple games, mangas, light novels, and an anime that came out in 2013 under the new anime studio Lerche and directed by Seiji Kishi the same guy who directed Angel Beats and My Bride is a Mermaid so I say we’re in good hands. Let’s start Ani-ween off with a blast and take a look at Danganronpa the animation.
Opening and Ending Theme
The opening for this anime is “Never Say Never” and no it’s not by Justin Bieber thank God it’s by TKDz2b feat. The 49ers. The song is a rap song sung entirely in English so it’s easy to understand and not only is the song great but it fits perfectly with the series. The lyrics talk about despair and hope which is the main focus of this series telling the characters not to give into despair and keep having hope. On top of the great lyrics and rapping the singers are good, the beat fast and memorable, and it even does a homage to James Bond in the opening animation. Next to Samurai Champloo’s Battlecry opening this is the only anime opening to have a rap song that I actually like, enjoyed, and pulls it off perfectly. The ending for this anime is “Zetsubōsei: Hero Chiryōyaku” by Suzumu feat. Soraru which is arguably the best ending theme song of 2013. For starters the singer Soraru is a very popular utaite (Japanese people who cover previously released songs on Nico Nico Douga) who does covers on a lot of Vocaloid songs and is a very good singer. Second, the beat of the song is surprisingly upbeat and happy sounding which is something you wouldn’t expect given the subject matter of this anime. This ending could probably work as an opening for the series as well. But despite this happy and upbeat atmosphere that sounds like something out of a video game, the song matches up perfectly with the series with the lyrics being very deep and thought provoking and the song captures the attitude and thoughts of the series antagonist who sees this all as a game and is having the time of his life torturing these high school students.
Episodes 1-4
The anime starts off with our main character Naegi (since I have no idea who’s gonna live or die in this anime I’ll skip the voice actors) getting ready to walk into his new high school Hope’s Peak Academy a government school that helps it’s students achieve great things (about time the government took an active interest in our schools). As he steps into the academy grounds he blackouts (not the best way to start the school year) and wakes up in a classroom where the windows are bolted shut with steel plates (not the best sign when waking up in school) and he sees a letter telling him to go the gym for the entrance ceremony. He goes to the gym where we meet the rest of our colorful class of victims I mean students (alright, I’ll say it. All of you characters are gonna die in this school except for Naegi since he’s the main character so he has main character armor and Sayaka since you’re Naegi’s childhood friend and love interest you have love interest armor). After greeting each other we get to meet the principal of the academy Monokuma a black and white talking bear whose half hope half des-bear (//youtu.be/Z3JVsmtYkTY?t=5s, oh come on how can you pass up such an obvious joke like that). Monokuma explains that they’ve been accepted into the school and they aren’t allowed to leave the school ever (stuck in school for the rest of my life!? Kill me now) unless they kill someone (kill someone or be stuck in school for life. . .choices). Naturally everybody is against the idea of being a murder so instead they all work together and try to figure a way out of the school without killing each other. 3 days go by and they still haven’t figured a way out of the school (and surprisingly no one has slept with each other which is understandable given the situation but I don’t know I think some of these girls are begging for it particularly Asahina. You’ve seen the way that girl dresses, she’s practically begging for a good surprise butt-sex). They invoke a new rule on themselves and that is no one is allowed to leave their rooms at night and just as they agree on this Monokuma comes in out of nowhere (was he hiding in a cardboard box nearby or something) and decides to shake things up a bit by giving everyone a little motivation to kill each other (Monokuma is like The Joker of this series).
In episode 2 Naegi receives a night visit from Sayaka who says someone tried to break into her room (ohh~ the idol doesn’t object to sleeping with you. Go for it Naegi). Naegi being the gentleman that he is offers to switch rooms with Sayaka and sleep in her room while she sleeps in his room (//youtu.be/4F4qzPbcFiA). The next day comes around and everyone gathers in the cafeteria to meet as always except for Sayaka who still hasn’t showed up yet (well she is in the room of the boy she likes so) and Naegi decides to check on her only to find Sayaka’s body with pink blood (was her blood made out of strawberries or something). Naturally he faints at the sight of his love interest dead (I’m actually shocked too I was sure she would live) and wakes up in the gym where everyone has been gathered by Monokuma to explain the next part in the game. It turns out killing someone is only the first step to graduating, in order to really graduate you must commit a murder and get away with it without being caught. Monokuma goes on to explain that he’s going to send them out to look for clues and piece together who committed the murder and then after a few days they’ll hold a class trail where everyone comes together to debate where if they can guess who the real culprit is Monokuma will execute that person but if they guess wrong Monokuma will start killing those who are innocent one after the other (so it doesn’t matter who’s right or wrong in the end someone dies. The question is how many people have to die). Junko has enough of the bear’s talking and acts against him where she learns the hard way that you don’t fuck with Monokuma by killing her (alright, so in the class trail of the murder of Junko how do we find Monokuma? (Isis): Scary. (Shizuku): Badass. (Mira): Sadistic. (Yin-Yang): Evil. (Seras): Cool. (Chibi Isis): Meanie. (Nitsuj): I thought so). After that Monokuma sends them on their way where they discover that their student IDs have an extra that explains all the facts about the murder case and it gets revealed that Sayaka died in Naegi’s room (hmm~ interesting. It also says here that Sayaka has a thing for guys who scream like girls. She’s also a weeaboo even though she’s Japanese, odd). Everyone begins to suspect that Naegi’s the murderer (oh yeah the guy killed the only person in school who would possibly sleep with him. Nice move Naegi) so Naegi as well as the others begin investigating where we see that she died by a knife through the chest along with other clues such as a fractured risk done by a sword ornament in the school, her shirt burned by the trashroom along with a broken crystal ball, a hidden message behind her written in her strawberry blood that reads 11037 and for some reason the room signs are switched (//youtu.be/krD4hdGvGHM?t=2s. . .but boring). Time passes and Monokuma calls them in for the class trail where everyone still suspects Naegi except for Kyoko who is probably the smartest person in this entire group.
The class trail begins in episode 3 (guilty! That boy is guilty! (Mira): Um master shouldn’t you deliberate first before accusing? (Nitsuj): I don’t need to deliberate girl! Hang that bastard now! I got the rope right here) with Naegi proving his innocence with the help of Kyoko by revealing that Naegi’s bathroom door had been forced open with the locked picked off. This is odd because one the boy’s bathroom doors don’t lock at all and also because Naegi’s bathroom door is messed up so you have to turn it a certain way in order for it to open. If Naegi did commit the murder than it would have been easy for him to open up the bathroom door without force entry or picking the lock. Allow me to deduce what really happened. Sayaka was setting Naegi up for a murder (that bitch). Eye witnesses say that she went into the kitchen and grabbed a knife, she then sent a letter out to someone telling them to come to her room for a little midnight fun (even idols need a little love). She swapped the room signs making the person believe that they were entering her room when really they were entering Naegi’s room where she was staying and was planning on killing that person and then pin the blame on Naegi so she could escape the school but the person she invited over caught on to her act and began fighting back which resulted in her death (and that dear boy is what I deduced happened *grabs a smoke pipe and pretends to start smoking*). With Naegi proven innocent the question now is who’s the real murderer? Using Sayaka’s last clue which was the strawberry blood, Naegi figures out that she was really spelling out the murderer’s name and when you do a 180 degree turn on 11037 it spells Leoll (or in the anime’s case Leon the super duper high school baseball player). Leon outright denies this but Naegi puts together the whole story of what happened. They finally put it to a vote and Leon is found guilty but before his sentencing it gets revealed that Leon killed her in self-defense which is somewhat true. If you played the game it gets revealed that Leon really did kill her out of self-defense but here’s where his story starts to unravel. Sayaka locked herself in the bathroom he could of just walked away and been done with it but no he came back, forced the door open, and killed her. Even if he did walk away it wouldn’t have matter, Sayaka would have told everyone about the attempted murder and chances are everyone would have believed her and outcast Leon. So either way he loses. With Leon found guilty we partake in what I consider the best part of the anime as well as the game, the execution scenes (scene here: //youtu.be/khxhDfJ0KBY, I choose the game because it’s a little gorier than the anime).
As a reward for clearing the first class trail the group is awarded by gaining access to the second floor in episode 4. The second floor includes a library, access to criminal records, a workout room and a pool. While exploring the second floor they find a letter that was written by the principal of the school saying that the academy is going to closed down for a while meaning the group was tricked into coming into the school (are you guys sure you weren’t just dumb and forgot to check your mail telling you the academy is closed because I think that would have been big news). As a few days go by peace seems to have returned in the school with a little bit of romance in the air with Fukawa who has the hots for Togami (the shy bookworm girl liking the narcissistic rich bastard who thinks he’s better than everyone. This is the oddest couple I have ever seen in an anime) and we also get a bro-down between Ishimaru and Owada. The next day Ishimaru and Owada have settled their bro-down and become guys who are so close that I actually call into question their sexual preference (Isis: Now how on earth do they go from hating each other’s guts to being borderline gay for each other in just half a day? (Nitsuj): Because that’s what bros do. Women fight and never talk to each other again while calling each other names behind their back. Bros fight, shake hands after the fight, and go out for drinks to celebrate their new friendship. Because that’s how we roll. Actually to be honest if you read the manga you’ll find out that after Naegi left the two began talking to each other about their life and goals. Through their discussion the two realized they had a lot in common and became friends (I guess you could call this the yin-yang effect). Monokuma decides that things have become too peaceful (and a little gay) around here so he stirs the pot by telling everyone that if someone doesn’t die within the next 24 hours he’s going to reveal all of their deepest and darkest secrets to the world. So. . .yeah, the quiet girl among the group is the next one to get murdered (I was honestly expecting the fat one to be the next one) and Togami thinks that the murderer is none other than Genocider Sho a homicidal killer who uses scissors to kill his victims and put them in the crucifix position once the murder is complete while leaving a message written in the blood of the victim. He drags Naegi (who should be honored to be in the presence of the esteemed Byakuya Togami) and shows him records of Genocider Sho’s work and that Genocider Sho is in the school with them (oh good the sadistic homicidal bear wasn’t bad enough now we gotta deal with a genocidal killer with a religion complex). Monokuma calls them all to gather for the class trail to end the episode.
The second class trail begins in episode 5 (guilty! That girl is guilty! (Mira): Again you have to deliberate your case. (Nitsuj): And again I say I don’t need to deliberate woman! Electric chair that bitch now! I got the chair set up and everything) with Togami pointing the blame towards Genocider Sho who he reveals is really Fukawa who we see suffers from multi-personality disorder (it’s quite the drastic change in personality). Sho reveals that she didn’t commit the murder because one when she crucifies people she crucifies them with her scissors and two she only attacks cute guys (Shizuku: Huh? I wonder why she hasn’t attacked Bieber or 1D? (Nitsuj): I said she attacks cute guys not douchebags). Naegi than accuses Togami of being the killer since he knew all about Sho and her killing methods (you dare accuse the great Byakuya Togami!? Kneel before his feet and beg for forgiveness worm). Togami gets backed into a corner but Naegi figures out that the real murderer switched the rooms around meaning the murder actually took place in the boys locker room rather than the girls locker room meaning Fujisaki is actually a guy instead of a girl (//youtu.be/yqyixwqiCag) and here is where we get a lot of controversy with this character with people arguing over him being transgender and a lot of social justice BS I really don’t care about. My take on this is this: It’s a trap character. A male who looks and sounds like a female and just happens to cross-dress as one. What’s the big deal? This isn’t anything new. Get over it and move on to something more meaningful in your life. So Togami gets cleared of the crime and Kirigiri and Celes figure out that it was really Owada who killed Fujisaki because he slipped up saying the color of Fujisaki’s tracksuit that nobody knew (you dun fucked up bro). With Naegi’s reasoning he pieces together how Owada did it and he confesses to it (scene here: //youtu.be/jRcD0xVlFrI, not cool bro not cool). They put it to a vote and Owada is found guilty but why did Owada do it in the first place well Monokuma explains this by talking about Fujisaki’s past. Unlike most boys Fujisaki was quite feminine and decided to embrace his feminine side but as time went on he felt he needed to change. Deciding he needed to change Fujisaki got Owada to be his weight instructor because in Fujisaki’s eyes he was the strongest person in the school but in truth Owada always saw himself as the weakest because he killed his own brother. Jealous of how brave Fujisaki was in an act of rage Owada attacked Fujisaki with a dumbbell and killed him (I give Owada credit he at least has remorse for his actions and even admits that it was stupid of him). With the tears falling Monokuma says it’s time to begin the punishment (scene here: //youtu.be/V6SNlXjvPqA, how the hell did he turn into butter!? Explain please). With this the class trail came to an end and only 10 students were left standing.
Episodes 6-9
We start episode 6 with Asahina crying in her bed wearing no pants and with her hair down (well this scene was both sad and arousing. Sarousing you might say. Still all kidding aside this is a very weird scene to open up on mostly because you’re not sure whether to be turned on by this or feel sad for her. This is probably the sexiest scene in the entire anime and yet I’m hesitant to indulge myself in it because I’m unsure of what I should feel on account of Asahina crying. Is this what people call a conscience?). As an award for being successful in the second trail the group is allowed to go up to the third floor which has an art room, rec room, and a physics lab (alright. Let’s play a little game of chemistry and blow this place sky high). Monokuma decides to stir the pot again by offering 10 billion yen to the person who graduates from the academy (oh please who’s gonna- *Nitsuj jumps out of his chair after sensing a killing intent* What the. . .Yin-Yang!? Were you trying to killing me!? (Yin-Yang): No. I just figured that 10 billion yen could help the show out and I was just gonna kill you within an inch of your life. (Nitsuj): An inch!? What the fuck Yin-Yang? (Yin-Yang): Oh come on we could use the money and everything. Don’t worry I’ve practice this a thousand times on dummies I know you’ll live. Although 99.8% of the dummies died in the stimulation and I’ve never tried it with this weapon. (Nitsuj): That’s Seras’ scythe. What, were you planning on pinning the blame on her in case you messed up? (Yin-Yang): Well I wanted to be prepared. Doesn’t hurt to think of one’s own safety. (Nitsuj): Get out of my room before I throw you into that small dog cage again *Yin-Yang leaves quickly*). Asahina tells the others about seeing the ghost of Fujisaki last night in the bath so the group goes to investigate where they find out that the bath has no surveillance cameras (a blind spot) and that the ghost of Fujisaki is actually a computer AI called Alter Ego a self-learning AI that Fujisaki created to hack into the school’s computer and check their files. Ishimaru asks Alter Ego if Fujisaki holds a grudge against Owada for killing him and Alter Ego responds by having Owada speak to Ishimaru telling him to move on and carry this burden like a man. Ishimaru takes these words to heart and transforms into the legendary white super saiyan (my God the legends were true). Alter Ego also shows them a picture of Owada, Leon, and Fujisaki smiling and being friendly with each other as if they were friends long before they met in the school. The next day we see that Yamada (the fat one) has become infatuated with Alter Ego and gets into a fight with Ishimaru who for some reason believes that Alter Ego is his (I blame the super saiyan swagger). The next day someone has stolen Alter Ego and Togami believes that someone among them is a traitor sent to make sure the game of kill or be killed went smoothly (a mole amongst the caged rats). After that day two bodies come up dead Yamada and Ishimaru (okay we all knew Yamada was gonna die but Ishimaru dying came as a shock to me). The killer tries to kill Celes but she survived the encounter and claims that it was a robot that killed Yamada and Ishimaru (it was Robocop). The bodies disappear on them (oh God they became zombies. Kill them before they start speaking German). They search up and down and find the bodies together where Yamada tells Asahina that they’ve all met before and that Hagakure is the one who killed him before dying.
In episode 7 Kirigiri finds Hagakure trapped in a locker by the pool wearing the robot suit (well hello prime suspect). Hagakure swears he didn’t do but his chance to prove his innocence will have to wait because it’s time for a class trail. Right away everyone accuses Hagakure of being the culprit but Naegi proves he’s innocent by explaining that Hagakure could barely move around in the robot suit so even if he did kill Yamada getting that massive body of his to the third floor in that suit would be pretty impossible. Instead they figure out that Yamada was still alive faking his own death to throw everyone off and killed Ishimaru himself and moved Ishimaru’s body to another room where the real killer killed him off. But now the real question is who’s the conductor behind these deaths and how did they pull it off. Naegi accuses Celes of being the killer because she knew about the second killing before it was announced to anyone and she responds to this accusation accordingly well (going off on everyone). Celes reveals her real name to be Taeko Yasuhiro accepting her defeat and admitting that she’s the one who killed Yamada (Celes how could you? Sure you were sporting that gothic Lolita look but I always thought you just had poor fashion sense). She admits to tricking Yamada into believing that Ishimaru forced her to steal Alter Ego to get him to kill Ishimaru and she offered to help him (ingenious plan). She reveals that out of all of them she was the one who wanted to leave the school the most to fulfill her dream of buying a mansion and living out the rest of her days in luxury surrounded by male servants who kiss her feet (that’s quite the dream you little dominatrix). She shakes Kirigiri’s hand (why I don’t know, Naegi was the one who figured everything out) and her execution begins (they just keeping getting better). As the credits roll Kirigiri and Naegi find Alter Ego and Kirigiri tells Naegi that there’s a secret door hidden in the boys bathroom (oh no don’t tell me Kirigiri’s a guy too I’m still recovering from the Fujisaki trap) and she tells him to go check it out where find out Sakura is the mole.
In episode 8 the group finally gets access to the fourth floor which includes the data-processing room and the principal’s office which are both locked (not for long *grabs an axe*). Monokuma reveals that Sakura is his mole who was sent into the academy to kill someone should things become stale. Naturally everyone turns on her but she does apologize for deceiving everyone and promises to make up for her actions even if it causes her her life. Asahina tries to get everyone to forgive Sakura but fails and after a few harsh words from Togami, Asahina does the unthinkable and smacks Togami (oh no she did not just slap the great Byakuya Togami with just a snap of his fingers he could have you in bed that night and dead the next morning). The next day Asahina and Sho get into a fight with Sho cutting her arm (see what happens when you mess with Togami). Sakura hears about this and gets mighty pissed so pissed that she goes super saiyan. After that Alter Ego has Naegi hook him up to the internet using a LAN outlet in the secret room. The next day comes and the group finds Sakura dead (well the good news is the mole has been disposed of) and Asahina thinks Hagakure, Togami, and Sho are the one’s responsible for killing her since they were the last ones to talk to her.
The fourth class trail begins in episode 9 and boy is this one full of emotions everyone turning on each other, the sweet girl Asahina being more ruthless than ever, and clues leading to multiple dead ends (it was a trail for the records). That is until Naegi figures out that Sakura actually committed suicide on herself in an attempt to stop the fighting among the group and bring them all together again. When it’s time to vote every finds Sakura to be guilty of her own death but Asahina believes that they’re all responsible for Sakura’s suicide because they didn’t trust her (as long you don’t pin the blame on video games I am all for whatever reason you think Sakura killed herself). Why does Asahina believe this well it’s because she found Sakura’s will (she was seriously gonna get everyone killed to make amends with Sakura. Okay no offence Asahina I like you and all but that is a bitch move). Monkuma stops this tear jerking fest (oh thank God) to reveal he has Sakura’s real will and that the will Asahina has is a fake that Monokuma wrote to spice things up (you are just the evilest bear in the world aren’t you?) and he goes on to say that Sakura’s death was in vain (or was it). Everyone decides that enough is enough and decide to stop playing the death game. With this act of rebellion Monokuma feels defeat but he’s still gonna have his fun by executing Alter Ego.
In episode 10 the group finally gets access to the roof which includes a botanical garden with an amazing large plant, a chicken pen (oh I know what I’m having for dinner tonight), and a classroom filled with the stench of death and blood (oh yeah. There’s powerful feelings of despair at work here). Kirigiri says she’ll investigate it alone but Togami stops her because he doesn’t trust her and wants to know who she really is. She says she can’t answer because she has amnesia but Togami doesn’t believe her and restricts her movement by taking her dorm key. An announcement goes across the school asking all of them to gather in the gym because Monokuma is pissed because someone stole his treasure (I have no idea what he’s going on about but that bear is pissed). Kirigiri calls for Naegi to reveal that she stole Monokuma’s treasure from the principal’s office thanks to Sakura who managed to pick the lock. She needs Naegi’s help to investigate what it leads to so Naegi calls out Monokuma and the two talk. That night as Naegi is sleeping he receives a visit from the most unlikely of people. The next morning we see the group minus Kirigiri (because she’s too cool for them) disabling Monokuma. Togami believes that Monokuma stopped functioning because something happened to the mastermind who he thinks is the principal of the school but Naegi tells him it must be the 16th student. Yep, there’s a 16th student in the school who holds the title of Despair but Togami doesn’t believe him and thinks they should take a look into the principal’s office for more clues. They go to the principal’s office which is locked and Togami orders Fukawa to bring him a picking axe where she finds another dead body (becoming fertilizer for the plants). They go the garden and see the corpse is the body of the masked man who attacked Naegi from behind and stole the survival knife from his room. Fukawa tries to remove the mask but that doesn’t go so well and the body catches on fire. They put the fire out but the face becomes unrecognizable and Togami thinks Kirigiri was the one killed him but Naegi thinks it was the 16th student (what do think L? (L): I think it was Kira. (Nitsuj): Oh you always think it’s him). Togami notices a crest on the victims hand as well as key which unlocks the data processing room and they find out that everything that has happened in school has been broadcast worldwide (burn the room down).
The class trail begins in episode 11 where everyone is stumped. Togami believes that Kirigiri is the culprit because she disappeared on them and it fits perfectly with the time of the murder but Naegi begins to question this trail saying something isn’t right here (you guys are deciding who’s going to live and who’s going to die. There is nothing right with this trail) because they haven’t identified who the victim is. He accuses Monokuma of foul play but before he can get another word in Monokuma calls for them to vote where Kirigiri throws Naegi under the bus and says he’s the culprit saying that he covered up the scene to make it look like Kirigiri did it to frame her and everyone votes for Naegi (you bitch and fuckers). The execution begins with an unexpected conclusion of Naegi getting saved by Alter Ego. Naegi winds up in the basement unable to escape where he gets rescued by Kirigiri. As the two are escaping Kirigiri tells Naegi that she remembers who she is and why she came to this academy. They make it out of the basement where they go to confront Monokuma and demand a re-doing of the class trail but Monokuma decides to raise the states in this trail saying that if they win he’ll let them leave but if they fail they all die. They go to the others and tell them what’s going on and we end with Monokuma making everything in the school accessible for them to investigate.
In episode 12 the investigation begins with Kirigiri and Naegi investigating the principal’s office (oh will you two stop staring at each other and just do it in the principal’s office already. I’m sorry but we all know it’s coming in the future) where they find a hidden room which leads to the remains of Kirigiri’s father nicely packed in a present (eh, I’ve seen more disturbing stuff). They do find a SD card among the bones (not like he’ll be needing it where he’s going) and they play it on the computer to find out that each of them met the principal and actually agreed to stay within this school forever. Togami also investigates the principal’s office and finds the profile of the 16th student. While that’s going on Naegi finds some student lockers which belonged to Hagakure and Kirigiri where he finds a diary left by her saying that there are 2 despairs among them (specifics lady we need specifics. What the hell does two despairs mean that’s like me saying there are 2 wolves among us). Naegi goes to the biolab and finds Fukawa (you know, it’s ironic. In a school where everyone is trying to kill each other it’s the serial killer who hasn’t killed anyone) where he notices that there are nine bodies in the morgue instead of 10 bodies (one is still alive). He, along with everyone else receive a clue from Monokuma which is a class photo of all of them (wow you guys are in school uniform and yet you still look like the weirdest class I’ve ever seen). The class trail begins with Naegi revealing that everyone is suffering from amnesia caused by Monokuma. Naegi continues by saying he knows who the real culprit is and that person is Junko (//youtu.be/qxqm6htwcwk). Yes, Junko is the culprit, in the pictures that everyone has her face is always covered and when Naegi was looking at the principal’s video Monokuma cut the video off right before her. Monokuma has been covering her tracks. Now you’re probably thinking didn’t she die in episode 2 well how’s this for a twist the person that got killed wasn’t Junko at all it was her sister Ikusa disguised as Junko because the two are twin sisters. Sure enough Naegi is right and Junko reveals herself saying that she’s the mastermind behind this whole death game (and she’s crazy).
In the final episode Junko starts off explaining her master plan. She then shows them footage of the outside showing them that it’s in total chaos because of this man-made disaster said to be the biggest and most despaired filled event in the history of mankind (Justin Beiber getting inducted into the Music Hall of Fame, Twilight being called the greatest movie franchise of all time, Uwe Boll named the greatest movie director of all time, Japan stops making anime and video games the list goes on). Nobody believes her but Sho confirms Junko’s statement by saying it’s true because she remembers it all. It’s never revealed what this disaster was or how it happened all we know is because of it the whole world is in chaos. She then reveals that the group has been in the school for 2 years enjoying their peaceful life and becoming friends until a year after their first year in the school the great tragedy struck and the school was turned into a shelter to protect the remaining students (and look how that turned out). But Junko and her sister snuck into the school, killed the principal, erased the minds of everyone in the school, and started the game of death (giving the Vita holders a good game to play). She then calls for the vote where its hope vs despair. If everyone votes for hope, they must leave the academy and venture out into the world that has become contaminated with despair, but should even one student vote in favor of despair, the students will remain in the academy forever and Naegi will be the only one executed. Everyone gets full of fear and despair and it’s up to Naegi’s optimistic hope to snap them all out of it and get them back on his side. With Naegi’s word everyone votes against Junko (who I forgot to mention suffers from a serious case of multi-personalities that she’s actually making Sho look subtle. Let that sink it for a moment. She is making the crazy serial killer look subtle) and she couldn’t be happier at feeling the ultimate despair in her life (stating the obvious here but girl you are crazy. Doing anything Friday night?) and she begins her execution (and throughout all of this there is no doubt in my mind she achieved the highest orgasm in her life). With Junko dead they take their leave from the school (Ishimaru should have lived and Hagakure should have died. I know it’s wrong to be thinking that but let’s be honest Ishimaru had more character and personality than Hagakure. Everyone else I’m cool with) and they can put all this craziness behind them (or can they?).
Final Thoughts
So that was Danganronpa and what a ride it was. The story is good with lots of twist and turns that keep you on your feet. The people who you expect to live wind up dying and the person behind it is the person you least expect to be behind it. The executions are pretty gruesome and creative and the show does it’s best to make you feel like a detective trying to solve every mystery the school has to offer. However, the main problems I have with the anime are the characters are pretty one-note characters who are stereotypes of other anime characters and we never get a chance to see their characters grow or change throughout the anime so that’s kind of a bummer on the anime’s end but the good news is they are all likable and funny characters that you do come to like and feel sad to see them die and turn on each other. The main lesson and the way they get it across is also cliché and something we’ve seen done a million times and done better in other animes so prepare to be annoyed by that. Probably the biggest complaint everyone has with this anime is that it doesn’t stay true to the video game saying that a lot of scenes have been changed that make the characters look bad and a lot of people were upset with the ending however these complaints are coming from people who have played the game. Personally from the perspective of a guy who hasn’t played the game and has only read a few chapters of the manga and only watched game footage I think the anime is a good introduction for newcomers to the series and does it’s best to stay true to the source material while also trying to add something new to the series to spice it up. Did it work? Probably not but that’s what happens when you change something in a series that has a strong and growing fanbase and try turning a 20+ hour game into a 13 episode anime. Things have to be cut out, rushed through and not fully explained. As for the ending I think it could have been done better like I would have liked to see the world they’re about to step into just to convey that the world is full of despair and they’re the hope who can rid the world of the despair. Also, it would have been nice if they explained what caused the world to slip into despair.
The animation is good like I said before I like the animation scenes for the executions and the animation for the majority of the anime is good it’s nothing special although I think they could have added a little more life to the eyes of the characters they look a little lifeless to me. The music is good from what I can tell they borrowed the music from the game and added in a few new pieces which are welcomed addition to the anime’s overall soundtrack. The one thing I can really give this anime credit for is that it really pulls you in you really do what to know what happens next and why it’s happening so I give the anime props for that.
Final Score
The final score for Danganronpa is a strong 7/10. Whether you’re a fan of the series or new to the series this anime is a good introduction to the series and it’s always cool to see a good game get turned into an anime to expand its horizon. There’s obviously room for improvements and I know the anime is hinting at a possible second season seeing as how there is another game out there and hey I’m all for it because I think this story has just begun. Finally, if you like Danganronpa and wanna get a good laugh out of the series than check out Faulerro’s abridged series of the anime. It’s freakin’ hilarious and one of my favorite abridge series on Youtube so definitely check it out when you get the chance. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj. I know this anime wasn’t as dark and scary as I originally thought it was but don’t worry I’ll make up for next week as Ani-ween continues MUHAHAHAHAHA *floor breaks beneath Nitsuj* ahhhhhhhhhhh! *Nitsuj falls down to the first floor of his house* Yep. It’s definitely October.
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