Danganronpa: Kibou no Gakuen to Zetsubou no Koukousei The Animation

Makoto Naegi, a teenager with no remarkable talent, is surprised to learn that he has been accepted into Hope's Peak Private Academy: an elite school that gathers the best students from various fields. Despite believing his admission was just a fluke, Naegi is delighted to attend an institution known for ensuring success to those who graduate. Determined, he enters the front doors of the prestigious academy.

However, after losing consciousness inside, Naegi wakes up in a seemingly abandoned classroom. Failing to comprehend how he got there, Naegi begins to explore, and to his surprise, finds his classmates assembled in the gym. While everyone is trying to figure out what happened, they are confronted by the school principal—Monokuma, a robotic teddy bear. The mysterious toy explains that the freshmen are trapped inside the school with only one means of escape—kill a classmate without being discovered.

Tension fills the air as Naegi and his classmates realize that they are faced with two choices: participate in Monokuma's killing game, or reside together in the school for the rest of their lives.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Due to the success of the Danganronpa games, various spin-offs on a variety of media were made including the anime adaption and Danganronpa/Zero, a series of two novels written by Tsuyoshi Kodakazu and illustrated by Rui Komatsuzaki which were released on September 15, 2011 and October 13, 2011.

Episode Videos

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Danganronpa: Kibou no Gakuen to Zetsubou no Koukousei, Danganronpa: Kibou no Gakuen to Zetsubou no Koukousei The Animation
Sequel:	Danganronpa 3: The End of Kibougamine Gakuen - Mirai-hen, Danganronpa 3: The End of Kibougamine Gakuen - Zetsubou-hen

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Kirigiri, Kyouko

Main

Hikasa, Youko
Japanese

Monokuma

Main

Ooyama, Nobuyo
Japanese

Naegi, Makoto

Main

Ogata, Megumi
Japanese

Enoshima, Junko

Supporting

Toyoguchi, Megumi
Japanese

Ludenberg, Celestia

Supporting

Shiina, Hekiru
Japanese

Fukawa, Touko

Supporting

Sawashiro, Miyuki
Japanese

Togami, Byakuya

Supporting

Ishida, Akira
Japanese

Fujisaki, Chihiro

Supporting

Miyata, Kouki
Japanese

Ishimaru, Kiyotaka

Supporting

Toriumi, Kousuke
Japanese

Asahina, Aoi

Supporting

Saitou, Chiwa
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Cook, Justin

Producer

Maeda, Toshihiro

Producer

Kishi, Seiji

Director

Oohashi, Akiyo

Episode Director

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Opening Theme

	1: "DANGANRONPA" by Masafumi Takada (eps 1)
	2: "Never Say Never" by TKDz2b (eps 2-3, 5-11)
	3: "Monokuma Ondo (モノクマおんど)" by Sachiko Kobayashi feat. Monokuma (eps 4)

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Ending Theme

	1: "Zetsubousei: Hero Chiryouyaku (絶望性:ヒーロー治療薬)" by suzumu feat. soraru (eps 1-12)
	2: "Saisei -rebuild- re:build ver (再生-rebuild- re:build ver.)" by Megumi Ogata (eps 13)

More reviews

Reviews

Oct 2, 2013

Aria_Wright

Mixed Feelings

This is the perfect example of a video game adaptation done wrong. Trying to fit in about 25 hours of material into 13 episodes is NOT a good idea, unless you want an extremely rushed show with very flat characters. It is horrible.

The story was actually pretty decently adapted. While it was rushed, nothing very important was omitted. However, I have some issues with the investigations. How do you expect anime watchers to identify the culprit if the most important part in mystery solving is rushed in about 3 minutes? Rushed investigations also made it seem like Kirigiri and Naegi were pulling things out of ... their asses during trials.

That is another thing : class trials. There were 13 people in the first class trial. Everyone had to speak at least once, right? So, once again, the actual mystery solving part was rushed. Though, as the show went on, there were fewer students, so the trials did not feel as rushed (chapter 4 and chapter 5's trials are the best examples.) Still, this just proves 13 episodes only was not enough.

Next is the art. The character design is very odd, but it makes the characters look colorful and very different from one another! You could pretty much tell who had what talent just by looking at their appearance. Komatsuzaki Rui really has not dropped the ball design-wise.

However, the animation quality was quite subpar. Some episodes had okay animation, some terrible. The amount of stills also hurts, but it is acceptable. Generally, class trials had good animation, but the rest (investigation and the pre-investigation segments) took a huge hit.

I like how they kept Monokuma's small quirks in the background, though. Like eating pancakes after a particular execution.

Another good thing is the soundtrack. Composed by Takada Masafumi, the music is very catchy and really sets in the mood in most scenes. A prime example is the song named "DISTRUST" playing during big revelations, absolutely perfect! I don't dislike the OP theme, but the game's is way better. The ED, however, is pretty awesome. Personally, I love the 8-bit part at the beginning.

The voice acting is very well done, as expected of big name seiyuus. Monokuma's especially is perfect for the role.

Now here comes the bad part of the anime, and the main reason why I did not enjoy the show as many as I thought I would : character. In the game, characters are mainly developed by hanging out with them. As you hang out with them, you learn more about them. That is where they get development, and since the anime completely skips hanging out, there is nearly no character development for the whole cast, with the exception of Kirigiri, Togami and, to some degree, Naegi. This is a bad thing because when a character dies, it is hard to feel anything because you could not get attached to them. And that makes some twists feel pretty underwhelming.

In the end, the Danganronpa anime had a few good things about it, but it was severely crippled by a lack of character development and a very limited number of episodes. And that is why I did not enjoy the anime very much.

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Oct 5, 2013

MidnightsLament

Recommended

"You've got that wrong!"

First off, if you detest/abhor/dislike this anime, read no further. I've just seen many overly-negative reviews and wanted to have an alternate opinion available for anyone who needs one. This is also a very naive review, as I've never played the game, nor have heard of its popularity, so expectations were average.

Oh god, what am I getting myself into?

The setting of Danganronpa has to be one of the strangest. A despair-filled high school where you have to butcher your classmates to "graduate?" Not going to lie, I thought this probably wasn't going to be the greatest of shows...

"You've got that wrong!"

But how ...

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Sep 27, 2013

ihateeveryone

Mixed Feelings

I think it should be a general rule that if you're going to adapt any type of game, that you cannot make it 1-cour. If Danganronpa isn't a prime example of this rule, than I don't know what is.

Being a fan of the game, I was very excited to hear that Danganronpa was receiving an adaption. The biggest issue though was 13 episodes - which, considering that Danganronpa relies a lot on character and plot development for it to work so well, was obviously going to be a huge let down in the series. Even as a standalone anime, Danganronpa doesn't work as well as ... it could've.

The series revolves around 15 high school students, chosen to go to an academy of hope - Hope's Peak Academy - based on one major thing they excel in, be it detective work, fortune telling, anything really. I won't get into detail about the story, since well, there is a synopsis, but the words "15 high school students" and "13 episodes" should already start sounding alarms for you.

Why? Because the show obviously doesn't have time to explore all of these characters, which is honestly a shame. The characters, honestly, come off as very one-dimensional and underdeveloped due to how quickly the pace moves. Characters that were supposed to have spent lots of time and have connections with Naegi, our main protagonist, are severely cut back which makes the murders all look like petty shock value.

One thing I have always praised Danganronpa for was its excellent characters, which are almost completely butchered in the anime. The amount of foreshadowing and interactions that they all had was amazing, but in the anime, again, even as a standalone, is just very flat. Obviously, the characters who survive longer get more development, but without any actual character development or depth given to them, the entire impact of the death, trial, and executions are just.. gone. It makes it seem like just another petty death game, which unfortunately, is what the anime feels like.

The story itself suffers due to rushed time as well, since again, the rushed pace takes away from a lot of foreshadowing that tie in to key events, most specifically a major plot twist near the end of the show. The story is pretty coherent and easy to follow, but in the end it never comes off as more than just mediocre due to how the anime is presented. Not to mention, so many things come off as complete asspulls. This is really present in the trials because of how short the investigations are. It makes it seem like some of the conclusions and accusations are just pulled out of nowhere for convenience. Important points that come up later on just feel extremely forced, and the drama that occurs as well feels too melodramatic due to lack of time spent in the setting and characters. It's all just a very overall rushed and messy anime.

I both give credit and displeasure towards the artwork of the anime. I give credit to them for staying true to the character designs, actions, and sprites that were in the game. But my displeasure leads towards both the overall animation and the executions. The studio, Lerche, is a studio that has done hardly any actual anime and their lack of budget is very obvious, especially in the early episodes. It's also noticeable when you realize that a lot of animated scenes in the game, the executions obviously, are just traced over. Literally. I mean, good, I'm glad you tried THAT hard to stay true to the game, but that's just lazy when you have to trace over this. Not to mention the entire anime feels far too.. game like. As if the studio didn't know if they were making an anime or a game with more movements.

The opening song is honestly a pretty generic rap song, and changes at odd times. The OST, while excellent in the game, doesn't seem to be as fitting in the anime? It's hard to describe, really, but it just doesn't feel right, though that could just be me. I do, however, appreciate all the VAs, namely Junko's, for their excellent job on the characters. The ED theme is also very well-done as well, and a very catch tune.

To be honest, I'd find it very hard for one to genuinely enjoy Danganronpa if they haven't previously played the game. The immense flaws in the characters and storytelling is just so obvious, though then again if you're into just overall death game anime, then you may like this. Most of my enjoyment simply came from seeing all my favorite characters animated, though obviously if you haven't read the LP or played the game, you won't have that in it for you.

Overall, Danganronpa shows exactly what is wrong with game to anime adaptions - cut time for key things like the characters and plot can really break a show, especially one that relies purely on that. If I were to recommend Danganronpa to someone, I'd recommend the translated game or the Let's Play any day. If you've already watched the anime and happened to like it, definitely go for one of the following, because the depth it goes into is quite amazing. If you wanted more out of the anime, then again, go for the LP or game. It's actually coming out for PS Vita come 2014, so if you get the chance, perhaps even buy it.

Also, the end of the 13th episode hints at Super Danganronpa 2, the sequel to Danganronpa, being animated. Essentially, if this gets greenlit for an anime and is only 13 episodes and you're interested in it, don't bother. SDR2 can and will only work as 2-cour. I'd honestly recommend it either way since it answers many questions that Danganronpa had left behind.

I sure as hell got my fill of despair from this, but not in the way I wanted to..

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Danganronpa: Kibou no Gakuen to Zetsubou no Koukousei The Animation

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Kirigiri, Kyouko

Monokuma

Naegi, Makoto

Enoshima, Junko

Ludenberg, Celestia

Fukawa, Touko

Togami, Byakuya

Fujisaki, Chihiro

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Danganronpa: Kibou no Gakuen to Zetsubou no Koukousei The Animation

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Available At

Resources

Streaming Platforms

Synopsis

Background

Episode Videos

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Opening Theme

Ending Theme

Reviews

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