Danganronpa: Kibou no Gakuen to Zetsubou no Koukousei The Animation

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.

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..

This review is based solely on the anime.

Former players of the murder mystery video game, Danganronpa: Academy of Hope and High School Students of Despair, are likely to find this adaptation as a disappointment with several changes or downgrades in the characters. Unfortunately, it does not differ much for someone who is unfamiliar with the game either. Danganronpa has an interesting plot with its dangerous game and potential to conduct an excellent thriller. However, you can imagine how well this murder mystery goes with only 13 episodes. Danganronpa’s motive was to create a horrifying show with gruesome deaths, but it embarrassed itself with its unpleasant ... artwork. The rushed pacing left no room to learn about the characters or give them time to develop. With a complex game such as Danganronpa, 13 episodes was a bad idea and left many plotholes.

Danganronpa started off on a good note, introducing the characters and the survival game to consist of one winner. The execution is poor. A murder case lasts only 2 episodes, so it doesn’t hesitate in getting to the point or wastes time with sob stories from each character. Cases gets unbearably cheesy when the gullible and disinteresting male protagonist Naegi gains the spotlight by being the only one finding flaws in someone else’s theory. Danganronpa drifts away from the horror aspect with occasional changes in the rules. They use fanservice as a distraction once the story actually gets serious. A downside for the viewers who are solely interested in discovering which student is clever enough to conduct a murder and get away with it are likely to be disappointed with the ending. Of course, with a murder mystery also comes relevant questions of the game’s originality. This creates a rushed pacing in an attempt to answer every single question but leaves several plotholes and ridiculous outcomes.

The idea of a menacing teddy bear named Monobear as the mastermind is not bad, considering that he proved himself to be a threatening individual. However, Danganronpa became less of a thriller as Monobear's personality occasionally became laidback and panicky. The high schoolers had diverse personalities, including a bipolar chick and the manliest looking girl, and the potential to be likeable characters. Sadly, Danganronpa reveals nothing about the characters besides their name and given nickname. Naegi even lacks any background, so his personality leaves him as no one but another cliché male protagonist. Mainly all, except 2 or 3 side characters, are just there to die or be present as an investigator. The elimination of characters continues without revealing anything about them until the very last minute, and there is hardly any time to feel sympathy for the dead or understand a character's motives. This leaves some questions unanswered, causes disappointments from misleads, and creates a strong lack of character development.

The art is indeed unique but mostly awful. Most animation from game adaptations hide the fact they base from a game by fitting close to an anime as possible, but Danganronpa makes it extremely obvious with the arcade-animated scenes. Danganronpa supposedly is a horror. Admittedly, the combination of eerie music and sketched dead bodies makes it a bit terrifying, but how do they ruin it? Magenta blood. Slice the characters’ bodies in half, and you’ll find veins of playful colors. Also, the 3D elements could be cool, but it is more of a sneaky way to censor the deaths. No complaints about the character design, because it was really diverse and suited each character's personality.

Oddly, Danganronpa is the first anime I’ve known to have a rap song as the OP. It’s not bad, and the lyrics relate to the show quite well. The ending is an arcade song that is questionable. The seiyuu fit the anime perfectly as each character had their own personality. The characters were diverse and included a manly female, great detective, and a bipolar chick. The seiyuu did an excellent job portraying those characters, especially the one who played Monobear.

Danganronpa could be a better show if it wasn’t so rushed, paid more attention to the characters, and perhaps followed through with the game. I suggest watching it through the first murder case to decide whether you want to continue or not. Regardless, go into this with no high expectations or play the game as most game players suggested.

Yadda yadda, first review, bluh bluh.

A group of teenagers, each of them exceeding in their own field, be it sports, programing or leading an outlaw biker gang, get locked up in an elite school with no obvious way to escape, except one: Kill a fellow student and don't get caught. An interesting take of the snowed-in-in-a-mountain-cabin trope and good set up for a murder mystery. Or is it?

Danganronpa was based on a game of the same name. Since the game was a success which spawned a sequel and huge, dedicated fanbase, it was only natural to cash in on it. An ... anime is a nice way to do so. While I do understand that converting one medium of storytelling into another is not a copy-and-paste process, I can't help it but to compare those two. The game was awesome. The show, less so. Why is that? A few reasons which boil all down to the same problem: the show only has 13 episodes. Let me elaborate:

While the story itself is captivating and interesting (even if sometimes over the top) and the characters sympathetic and, more or less, not cardboard cutouts of certain stereotypes, none of them is given the time to breathe and develop. Every single story arc gets compressed into 2 episodes: the murder and detective work getting down, and the school trial, an event in which the boys and girls need to determine who the murderer is. The game got a good balance between those two. Every arc is a few hours long, allowing the player to build social contacts, get to know the cast, investigate the crime scene and have a debate in which the murderer is uncovered. Many of those things do not happen or happen in a very compressed form because of the limited time the show has. The result is that the viewer does not get to know the characters and has no chance to connect with them, the investigation part is reduced to a few minutes of listing the evidence, and a, sadly in many cases, too short episode to find the culprit. It gets confusing and leaves a general feeling of something missing. That's all I have to say about the differences between those two. Lets talk anime-only.

Ignoring there was a source material we've got a cast of throwaway characters of whom the majority only serves to be killed of. The story and its creative setting are captivating, but do not get enough time to leave an impact. I seriously can not stress enough how little time this show has to develop it's story and characters. The animation is pretty weak and not up-to-date with other anime. The soundtrack is good (*cough*keeptfromthegame*cough*).

In conclusion, I have no idea who this anime was targeted towards. Fans of the game will only get quick reminder of the experience they had with it, people who would want to play it will get spoiled without enjoying the "whole" story, and people who are just in it for the lulz will get a mediocre murder mystery with terrible pacing. Should fans of detective anime watch this? Yes if you want a general idea of the events but can not or do not want to play the game. No if you want a good ride for your money (and time). There are better mysteries out there like Death Note (obviously), Monster, Another, Ergo Porxy and (the very lengthy) Detective Conan (aka Case Closed).

6/10, would only recommend to fans of the game.

Boy, oh boy. This is a rather short anime so I decided to dedicate time to watch it. While I wouldn't say it was a mistake, given the chance, I would rather not have seen it at all.

The story is interesting indeed, especially people who are suckers for mysteries like me. It's based on a video game of the same name, however, this adaptation managed to do so many things wrong and its main failure lies in the lack of time for development.

The class trials were just really poorly executed. 1-2 episodes per trial (including the crime, the investigation and the trial itself in that ... short a span) just doesn't cut it. The twists came off so suddenly, without any prior build-up and just comes off as poorly-done. What's the point of creating a mystery if you don't give the audience a chance to even formulate their own theories?

I found the characters lacking as well. Given that this was a show featuring extreme characters, they weren't really quite made to be realistic. Yet we weren't given a chance to see them grow, to even /see/ how they are. When they died, I mostly just went "oh, okay" because I didn't manage to form an emotional attachment to anyone. I especially wish the main character could have been given more well-rounded, seeing as how we were watching the story from his point of view. We just didn't know anything about him and yet we had to trust him as there was no other way to watch it. Aside from Kirigiri, no one else was molded to be a somewhat three-dimensional character. The way the show portrayed the characters, no one was very memorable except maybe for Monobear and Kirigiri.

Now, to the anime's credit, atleast there's the soundtrack and art. The seiyuus were mostly all right, but the one who voiced Monobear deserves praise. The rest wasn't quite as notable but the music was intense and gave way to tension that wouldn't even be existent without it.

The artwork, though a bit... unique, gave the anime the vibe it should have. I found the purple blood to be a nice touch. Details were on the spot and I thought the angularness and thick lines were perfect. The character designs were very particular. The animation of the executions was also a wonderful touch, it gave the scenes a stranger, trippier, more intense feel. Danganronpa wouldn't even be half the anime it was without the very original art.

To sum it up, I don't think anyone would be satisfied with how it ended up. Original fans from the game would be pissed at the poor adaptation, new viewers would just be confused with what /exactly/ is going on (I sure was). If the anime could have been extended up to, say, 25 episodes to give way to character development then I'm pretty sure this could have ended up great but the way it is now just leaves a gigantic room for improvement.

I mean... seriously? Everyone's talking about how the show is bad compared to the game and so on but this is just painfully mediocre in it's own right.

The bad:

- The animation? Not a fan. I mean some might like the 3D-ish elements, but for me it was just painful to watch. In addition to the execution segments the 3D stuff just felt out of place and completely unnecessary. To be honest I didn't like the art style either.

- A word about music. I usually find most anime OPs quite amusing or interesting even if they don't suit my musical preference. This OP (and ... ending tbh) were pretty bad. Nothing worth noticing about either of the tracks. Just filler music to spend 1.5 minutes of air time that COULD be spent on char. development.

- The way the trials were set up didn't really work for me either. The whole verbal bullets thing seemed childish and although I'll admit that it was interesting to listen to the thought process at times overall it was quite boring.

=== ENDING SPOILERS IN THE NEXT BULLETPOINT ===
- The characters are totally undercooked. People have said this time and again and I will agree with them. The story either doesn't fit the format of a show when comparing to a game or just needed more time, because we never shown what some of the characters actually do or are good at. Some of them just appear and disappear 2-3 episodes after that without any character development what-so-ever.
=== END OF SPOILER ===

The ... good?:

- I'm a sucker for a good mystery so this kind of thing had me caught up in the story despite the show itself being bad.

To be honest there probably are tons of shows worth watching instead of Danganronpa so... just do that, I guess.

You know it's not a good sign when you see an apology in the beginning of a review but let me express my condolences for the anime-only newbies of the Danganronpa series as they are the victim of something I'm sure we've all experienced before: overhype.

When it was announced the popular PSP visual novel would be receiving an anime adaptation many of us were bouncing off the walls with excitement (and with good reason). If you've seen the anime and are still willing to give the game a shot, go for it. It's definitely worth it. If you're someone looking for ... an interesting anime to watch, I'd suggest playing the game first because if you only watch the anime you'll be bound for disappointment.

Danganronpa's story is one of its main attractions: you're trapped in a high school with other students, the only way to get out is to kill someone without getting caught, if the students cannot manage to identify you as they killer they all die, and if you're found out you're executed. Of course this game of death between high school students isn't the most original idea but if you take the mutual killing aspect of Battle Royale and mix it with the mystery solving aspect of Phoenix Wright you're bound to get good results. The premise of this series is actually one of its high points and it's what keeps you clicking on the next episode. In a world where murder is usually frowned upon, one can't help but be interested in seeing how some teenagers (and one really air-headed fortune teller that was held back more times than Kanye West goes on a Twitter rampage) go about in a kill-or-be-killed scenario. I'm sure most of us have all heard of these murder game plots before (Btooom! and Mirai Nikki come to mind), but it's still an attractive idea and I commend Spike for taking a more crime-solving approach with it.

But sadly, a story can't execute itself well without any support which is the downfall of this adaptation. Another reason why this anime was overhyped at first was because of how fantastically the visual novel handled its characters. This is not the case for the anime, however. With only 13 episodes to cover the deaths of, ideally, all but one of the 15 students, you can expect a lot to be lost in the transition from the PSP screen to the TV screen. And without question, a lot is definitely lost. Literally every character in the cast loses the depth they once had in the game. Because moments in between the murders are scrapped to keep the plot moving along within the short span of 13 episodes, the viewer can't form any emotional attachments with any of the characters before they wind up dead. I distinctly remember watching an emotional scene with my friend and she said bluntly "I feel nothing." I don't blame her. A huge reason for Danganronpa's success is how likable and developed all of the characters are. Unfortunately, in the anime they receive little to no development and just kind of tag along for a ride on the plot train. So if a fan of the game comes up to you saying "I love ____! ____ is an awesome character" don't fall into the hype. Chances are they already threw their computer out the window when they watched that character get reduced to a one-dimensional plot device just because the anime couldn't cover the entire game that made them amazing. And don't think I'm just an angry veteran fan complaining about the differences from the game; the characters are definitely one-dimensional and it doesn't take having the game in the back of your mind to know that. If I had a say, the characters in the anime were probably more cardboard than the characters in the game whose sprites basically looked like a One Direction cutout. However, the characters do have their enjoyable moments and you may even start to like some of them. Just don't expect much beyond one iota of development or else you'll be very disappointed with how the characters turn out. They can be lovable and their designs can definitely pull you in. Just a warning, though: all the characters you might like at the beginning may very well end up dead.

Story and characters aside, there's not much left of Danganronpa that can be described as something other than "decent." The art is nothing special. It's not terrible and the characters all actually have great (and sometimes crazy) designs. The art in general wasn't bad at all, just very basic. Other than that, though, there's not much to comment on. You can tell the animation is cheap and there's no real fluid movement (really there's not a lot of movement in general). The only good parts of the animation you'll be looking forward to are the executions which are, you guessed it, pretty much taken directly from the game. The blood is pink which I'm assuming is the anime's way to be faithful to the game's censorship but I was honestly expecting good ol' fashioned red blood this time around to get a more realistic, gore-y feeling. I don't mind pink blood at this point but I'm very aware of how frustrating it can be for people new to the series as it makes the adaptation even more of a joke than some consider it to be.

Speaking of jokes, get prepared for stupid revelations out of nowhere. If you expected a mindfucking, dramatic buildup you've come to the wrong place. I can't stress it enough: if you're looking for stuff like that then go play the game. You'll be much more satisfied. The anime doesn't do a great job of letting the viewer attempt to solve the crime scenes which isn't great as it's the difference between "wow! I can't believe it was ____ all along" and "are you fucking kidding me" kind of reactions.

With that rant out of the way, now for the part I've been waiting to talk about - THE SOUND. I have so many things to say about the sound. The new tracks were mostly sad piano pieces that just contributed to the whole melodrama of the whole thing and the tracks from the game were frequently used out of place. I distinctly remember one of the calmer, peaceful tracks being put in a trial scene. Remember how trials are basically you decided whether you lived or died? Yeah, calm and peaceful isn't the kind of song you want to be going for in that situation. It just kind of ruins the whole intense and stressful analysis that the game executed so well for the sake of...basically nothing. I'm not sure why some tracks were placed in certain scenes but whatever they were aiming to accomplish definitely wasn't working. Don't get me wrong, the songs from the OST are phenomenal and definitely worth a listen. It's enjoyable to hear them when done right in the anime; they're just misplaced a lot of the time. Now, the voice acting is awesome. I'm not completely particular about voices but I do have my preferences and I'll just say that Danganronpa takes the cake. I can't go into too much depth on this part but I think watching the anime will make you realize why I'm saying this as it goes on.

Overall, I'd rate Danganronpa 6/10, give or take a number or two (although it's definitely not deserving of an 8 in my book). Yes, this adaptation has its negatives that still make it look bad without being put next to the game but it can still be an enjoyable series to watch. The plot really is its strong point and the fact that it can potentially keep you interested and watching regardless if you think everything else is bad or not should say something. The OST itself is pretty good (and definitely unique) and the voice acting is amazing. The art and animation is tolerable and the characters aren't particularly deep but still charming. If you're willing to look past all the negatives I'd say have at it, but if you want to see Danganronpa at its full potential I'd say go for the game. My best advice is to not go in expecting much as you'll have your expectations completely obliterated. I can understand why the anime initially got as hyped up as it did but I'm sure if fans knew it was gonna turn out like this we'd glorify it much less but still encourage you to watch it as it is worth watching.

The anime is okay, but what bothers me a lot is the fact that there are 13 episodes only and in the game there was a lot more going on. For instance in the game there was at list more character development. Meaning that there was a lot more going on with them and that we learn more about. In the anime however, I felt that it was rather rushed . I mean, it's not like that they didn't have much to work. If they do make an anime o Dangan Ronpa 2 I hope they put a little more effort into it.

I just want to clarify that I have not played danganronpa, although this series made me want to check it out since I'm a sucker for mystery. I also felt the need for a neutral review of someone who had never heard of the danganronpa franchise before (don't ask me how).

My expectations of danganronpa weren't the highest, I honestly expected it to turn into an ecchi harem, and we all know how high quality those are. So yeah, I went into it under the impression that I would drop it after the first three episodes. But surprisingly, I sat out the entire show in one ... day.

If you want to know if I recommend this show because you're deciding whether it's worth your time or not, I'd say skip it. UNLESS you're are a huge suckers for good mystery and episodic shows like me. In which case I say, go check it out. It's enjoyable but underdeveloped, which results into unfinished characters and stories. If you can overlook those things and are just looking for mystery, this might be something you'll enjoy.

STORY : 6
The story is, well, like what a 6 means: fair. It's most definitely not why I enjoyed the show so much even though I'm not forgiving when it comes to an unsolid plot. It's not neccessarily bad, it's just the ending. It felt kind of forced and not at all like a "Eureka" moment. What made the story enjoyable were its episodic aspects, the mystery of the week feel. Like I said; I'm a huge sucker for mystery.
But then, there were also some pretty big plot twists that were not at all explained and just occured for the sake of plot convenience. If you can't stand plot convenience you should probably skip this show since a lot of the overarching story relies on coincidences.
Then, one of my main issues with the story is that a lot of questions remain unanswered, which can be quite frustrating

ART : 8
The overall animation is good which would make me give it a 7. But what made me give it an 8 were the details. For example, instead of blocking out parts of the screen with annoying black spots or inverting the colors, they colored the bloody stuff magenta, which is something I can really appreciate. I know some people don't like it but I thought it was a great way to avoid censorship. (and it looked really cool in my opinion) I also particularly enjoyed the "punishment scenes" in which the art style turnst into this 3D paper doll style. The character design was pretty good as well for a lot of the side characters, the main characters were quite boring to my disapointment.

SOUND: 6
Not bad, but no outstanding tracks to which I'd listen individually. The opening's nothing special and neither is the ending. It's kind of disappointing since mystery shows always have so much potential for eerie choir music and such. But yeah, it wasn't good, but not bad either, just standard.

CHARACTERS : 4
If it weren't for the secondary characters I would have probably dropped this show. The "protagonist" is your standard cut out good guy, which is why I originally thought this show would turn into a harem anime. He's so boring I kind of wished he'd turn out to be one of the bad guys. The same goes for Kirigiri, the incredibly smart tsundere girl and potential love interest. These two get the most screen time, which results into no emotional attachment to any of the characters. With no character development whatsoever and the main characters being good at everything for some reason (because remember kids: CHARACTER FLAWS ARE BAD). The only thing I liked about the characters were the secondary characters who had loads of potential. But those never got the screen time they deserved.

ENJOYMENT : 7
Like I said, I love to try and solve mysteries before the story reveals anything which is one of the main factors why I like this series. I don't love it, and I'm definitely not blind towards its flaws but I don't feel like something has to be a masterpiece to be enjoyable. The side characters are quite unique and loveable and the animation is lovely. Right after I watched this series I wanted to give it a solid 7, but that wouldn't be fair.

OVERALL : 6
This series was too short and needed more time to develop its plot and spend more time on neglected characters. The mystery aspect of this anime I found to be one of the highlights as well as the animation. Danganroupa started in my head as an ecchi harem series, developed into an episodic mystery series, and ended in "wait, that's it, it's over?". This is one of those rare anime that I want to give a higher rating because I actually anjoyed it, but it wouldn't be fair. If I gave it a 7 and I'd compare it to other series I've given a 7 the difference would be laughable.

NO SPOILERS

I strongly recommend that you do not watch this anime if you haven't played the game. IMO, you should only watch this if you aren't planning to play the first game, or if you have already played it and need a refresher as to what happened.

As an adaptation of Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, this is just really poorly done. It feels so rushed, and I can't even imagine how they thought they could properly capture a 30hr-40hr game into 4 hours of anime. All the details and characters are correct and true to the game, but this will have you feeling confused if you ... don't have any prior info about DR.

The voice acting isn't that great either, whether it be in English, or in Japanese. Important (or what I deem important) character development is missing.The sentiment and the emotion is gone. Everything is very surface level. The last episode is probably one of the only redeemable qualities.

I love Danganronpa, but I can't help but feel disappointed about this adaptation.

I haven't played the game, so I'll judge this as what is was for me: a mediocre mystery anime.

Danganronpa has an overused but interesting premise, and I was pleasantly surprised (at first) that they included the murder mystery theme to spice up a straightforward battle royale. The problem is that it's frustratingly obvious where the writers have (lazily) covered up massive plot holes. A good mystery has an intelligent villain, the clues and suspects are clearly established early on and the viewer should potentially (shouldn't be easy) be able to guess who the culprit is. The twists in Danganronpa come out of nowhere, and the ... villain often relies on his position of power rather than his own intelligence to get out of sticky situations. Usually I wouldn't mind, but you'd expect more from a mystery villain, especially if he'd agreed to follow the rules of the game!

It's not all bad however; this anime is worth a casual watch if you're into mystery. The side mysteries are quite good, and I thought Monokuma's design was perfect. The saving grace in Danganronpa is definitely the death scenes, which, with beautiful stylised CGI and really unique methods of execution, were pretty damn entertaining.

Personally I don't like this anime, but if you're into mystery give it a shot. It's one of the few that came out this year.

This anime can be summarized to only two words:

Mirai Nikki: Ace attorney

Was just missing the objections, well they did shout something out during trail but it weren't objection. I was just waiting for Phoenix Wright to show up the last episode...

5/10 - Average, I could see why people liked it, but the Anime lacked in many aspects. The only thing that was enjoyable with the Anime was the characters, but the rest was pretty average.

Unless you played the game from the Zetsubou translation, or NIS translation you probably would think this is rushed and has holes, and a bunch of other stuff. But if you play the game you will realize it' actually isn't rushed, but still has some holes. Now I'm gonna try to do this strictly anime.

Story:9/10
Group of highschooler's forced to kill each other. Hell yeah! Story was pretty interesting for those who like mystery solving. Though the story telling in the anime itself was awful. Episode 1 nothing really happened while episode 2 too much happened. Pacing was poorly done. But sadly the problem is this ... anime had a budget that they could pass, and with a slow beginning like that nobody was gonna watch it. I only watched it cause I saw someone die in the first five seconds, and I liked the opening song. It gets me motivated.

Art: 8/10
A lot of people hate on the whole pink blood thing, but I don't actually. Dangan Ronpa isn't a happy go lucky thing. The whole thing is actually pretty dark if you know what all happened besides what the anime, and Dangan Ronpa 1 showed. I believe the pink blood was used to put a happy face on a darker subject. Kinda like joking about a friends puppy dying. Sad subject so you try to make light of it. Besides that whatever the exacutions, and stuff don't really matter. Kinda like the Persona games. Cut scene everyone is drawn differently, nobody says anything about that!

Sound:9/10
Tooken directly from the game so yeah. Opening and ending though were both nice like I mentioned. I actually think this is the first time I mentioned opening and endings in my reviews. I usually only mention background music. I need to remember to do this. Anyway Soraru was awesome with the ending, and the full version of the opening is much better. Though I don't know why they decided on rap music in the opening. Like the ending was kinda 8-bit which the game has pixel character's quite a bit.

Characters:9/10
Unless you play the game, and have the abililty to truly appreciate someones quirks, and personality you probably would disagree with me. Kinda like SDR2 Koizumi how everyone hates her. I love her. Dangan Ronpa games have casts of truly interesting characters. Most of them are misunderstood by both the rest of the cast, and fans. Even Naegi is pretty interesting despite being a stock character. I can't show a example without spoiler's but there's several blogs based around character defense, and stuff.

Overall:5/10
Dangan Ronpa is my favorite game so far. So bluntly.... Screw the anime play the game.

(Edit: When I say "screw the anime" I mean that if you have the means to obtain Dangan Ronpa by vita, or psp emulator don't watch the anime, unless you want to make a comparision. Since this was probably made just to get the game know if your already interested just play the game. Dangan Ronpa was one of the best selling games in Japan when it came out so they probably could have made a better one with the proceeds. The adaption is rushed and basically inferior to the original game in every way. Similar to how Persona 4 was turned into a 22 episode anime and all the social links were finished in a single episode. Each character has 3-6 events in Dangan Ronpa where none of them are shown in the anime. So the anime is the just the story, and nothing else, because of the time restraint it doesn't allow viewers to fully enjoy character and their relationships not only Naegi's but also others that develope over the course of the game. Also investigations are cut down dramatically not only murder investigations, but also exploring new areas. Without knowing all the clues it's impossible to solve the cases. So you won't fully be able to enjoy the mystery's of the game. Unlike how Umineko, had long periods of discussing a single subject covering only two subjects in a episode while Dangan Ronpa covers the whole case. So when I said "screw the anime" watching the anime is pointless unless you can obtain the game since you can't fully enjoy all that Dangan Ronpa has to offer.)

(Edit: I mentioned that the anime wasn't rushed, however I never went into detail about why, so I'm making this edit to do so. The reason why I don't think Dangan Ronpa is rushed is because the original purpose wasn't to fully convey what Dangan Ronpa had to offer. Since the original Dangan Ronpa game was realized I think in 2009 and SDR2 was released in 2012 this anime was made in 2013. Inbetween the game and the anime is a full 4 years which is a rather big time gap. Around the time Dangan Ronpa finished airing Spike Chunsoft release a trailer for Dangan Ronpa Another Episode, and a teaser for Dangan Ronpa 3. Most likely the anime was made souly to bring in more people. Yeah the people who already knew of it hated it, but I found the anime first and didn't think it was bad until I played the game. Both Dangan Ronpa and it's sequal were high selling in each of their years so why couldn't they have made a full 22 episode+ anime? Because it was publicity to hype people up for Dangan Ronpa Another Episode. So if the original goal was to show minimal story then the animation isn't rushed. I'd say they did exactly what they wanted to do.)

Danganronpa ah... if you wanna start with danganronpa go play game instead beacuse here everything is idk "rushed"? game is about 20h of experience you can collect presents,fill report cards of characters etc. if u skip all of that you can complete game in about 16-17h i think and they make 13 episodes of 16-17h game so every searching for evidence is very fast they can found evidence in about 3-5 minutes while in game is around i think 10-15 minutes and every character is pretty flat i mean in game you can have interactions like giving presents and have time with them (when i ... describe this pretty sounds like waifu simulator lol) and here they just cant give us this interactions beacuse is all optional. so just play game instead and maybe after that watch anime. so yeah and i still love characters like monokuma or kyoko i bought monokuma plush around 3y ago so maybe now i gonna buy kyoko figure hmm

Spoiler Free / Bite-Sized Review

Honestly the anime adaptation is fine, but there are some notable differences from the game. Due to the source material being give or take 24 hours long, they had to drop a lot, and I mean a LOT of character development. Some small changes were made to fit the source material into 13 episodes, but overall they don't affect the plot in any negative way. Also, it should be noted that out of the games entire dub cast, only Makoto, the main protagonist, makes a return in the anime. All in all if you're going to into this without having played ... the game it's probably pretty good, but it pales in comparison to the source material. If given the option, I would highly recommend playing Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc. Thank you for taking the time to read this review.

I love the Danganronpa games, and actually, this is what introduced me to the series. After staying up to binge-watch it all night, I found it to be pretty good, albeit a little rushed. After purchasing the game and playing through that, I dislike the anime adaptation. The art seemed messy and the profiles were god-awful, which I could endure, but it all seemed to end too quickly. There was much to explore in Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, but the anime left out some things in which should have been there. I still love the series, and I will for a long time, but I ... think they could have tried a bit harder.

I really loved Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc. It was an impressive game with compelling gameplay and storyline. However, it's anime counterpart definitely under-performed. The anime itself felt very rushed, and trying to fit the whole game into 13 episodes was a challenge in and of itself. I don't have much to say on the art, but it felt choppy paired with the executions, which came directly out of the game. The dubbed cast was mediocre, I was expecting a little more diversity, and maybe some not well known VA's? The characters were beautiful. Each one had a different personalities and I felt a deep ... connection to all of them, no matter how much screen time they received. Overall, the characters were well rounded and well crafted. Besides the quality, the storyline matched that of the game. It kept me on the edge of my seat, and was suspenseful as ever. Overall, it's nowhere near the quality of the game. I'd only recommend it if you don't have the system required to play Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc. I was expecting better, and hopefully the anime adaption of the second game (if made,) will be better.

Alright so the anime men are sitting round a table and one of the dudes is like:
"Shit they want a 25 hour game into 13 episodes what the shit are we gonna do"
and one guy stands up and he's all like:
"DON'T WORRY"
"I GOT IT"
"Instead of showing the investigation scenes..."
((mind you, the investigation is pretty important in a "murder mystery")
"we'll just make a shitty montage."


... That's right folks, a murder mystery story about investigating and piecing together the facts where all of the investigation is done in shitty montage.

It is exactly as bad as I've made it out to be.


Play the game, it's soo much fucking better it's not even funny.

((there's a lot of other shit that's kinda dumb but all of the stupidity pales in comparison to the disaster that is the investigations))

The survival genre is famous for piquing viewer’s interest. It is a cheesy way to keep the audience wanting more. Though, some might say that survival genres use the same tactics in order grasp the reader’s attention. It is possible that survival genre is scaling off since the last couple of survival genre wasn’t appealing towards the anime industry. The problem is that the main character throughout have an unbelievable amount of plot armor. An example of this would be Btooom!, Sword Art Online and Mirai Nikki. It is good to have plot armor, but not to abuse it.

Survival anime would be characterized by plot, ... setting, and pacing. Plot is definitely important because there has to be tension built up in order to create a good survival anime. Without a good plot, the story would be unoriginal and the anime would be compared with. This will definitely dissuade viewers and cause the viewers to the ‘better’ anime. Each person has their own interpretation of ‘good’ and people respect that. Setting is also a huge factor in a survival anime. Having a closed setting can create quickly pace events, while having a vast setting can create a wide range of events. There has to be a rising action in order to build up the plot. This is why pacing is also important. If the pacing is slow, most viewers would get bored. If the pacing is too fast, most viewers would be left with questions unanswered. Therefore, plot, setting and pacing work hand in hand to build a great survival anime.

Dangan Ronpa made its debut when the visual novel was released. The visual novel got quite popular considering it was fun, interesting and unique. There were many options given in the visual novel. As the visual novel grew interest, an anime adaption was made by Geneon Universal Entertainment. Dangan Ronpa’s genre are action, thriller, horror, mystery and psychological. These genres are quite popular in most survival anime. It may be a problem that poses on Dangan Ronpa. There have been many forms of media showing these genres in a survival anime. One can say that it is using the plot and creates a new setting. Will Dangan Ronpa be good or suffer in disappointment?

What is Dangan Ronpa? Dangan Ronpa is a survival game where 15 high school students are chosen to compete in. The goal is to kill or be killed. That phrase is inevitably common. The twist is that only one can graduate and the game only bring despair to others. The players can choose to either adapt to the lifestyle or murder their way out. The school is cut off by the outside world and some people would miss their lifestyle outside of school. This aspect is pretty good considering the plot will rise no matter what. In reality, people would succumb to fear and will risk it all to survive. In Dangan Ronpa, there has to be a killer and the killer has to get away with the murder within a certain time limit. It goes through a process known as the court. This sounds pretty ironic because there is a need to keep ‘order’ when a bizarre situation happens. There are always people who break down when they witness shattering event. The court system in Dangan Ronpa is pretty much a jury system. Though, the punishment for getting the case solved wrong is huge. The court system works by the groups’ decision. If the people decide that the person was the murderer correct, the person is executed. If the person is proven the murderer, but wrong, all of the innocent students get executed. This punishment is pretty hefty and most would try their best.

While watching Dangan Ronpa, the anime adaption of the game was moderate. Turning a game into an anime takes time and effort. When it was decided that Dangan Ronpa will be a 13 episode type anime, it was easy to conclude that the anime will be rushed. There are decent anime adaptions of games out there. Decent anime adaptions of games are Amagami SS, Pokemon, Fate Stay Night, EF – A Fairy Tale of Memories, and Steins Gate. There are more out there, but these anime are quite popular considering how well the anime turned out to be. What is shared throughout these anime is that they have more than 13 episodes. The pacing for these anime is great and thus leads to a good adaption. With Dangan Ronpa, there is much information being disclosed in the game rather than the anime. Most anime adaptions from games focus on the true ends. There are certain routes and ending where viewers won’t be able to see. Normally there would be an OVA to view the story in a different perspective or another scenario. For those who want to watch Dangan Ronpa, it is best to try the game first and then watch the anime.

The animation is quite clear. The transition from game to anime is about right. It is excellent, but it is not extremely detailed. The colors are also amazing. It uses beautiful colors as you can see from the characters. Art now have to be appealing to the eye. If it appeals to the audience, then the audience would be interested in the art style. The drawings of Dangan Ronpa are clean and usual. Though, the setting is not as detailed as the characters. The characters have their own type of fashion styles that seems to attract viewers. Their style of fashion can range from gothic Lolita to school uniforms. Also, cinematic plays a big role in a survival anime. It is pretty symbolic due to the fact that it emphasizes on the main point. Cinematic also add more tension to the scenes.

The audio are about average. It doesn’t seem very fancy and appealing. It doesn’t give off an eerie feel, but makes the viewers curious. The audio should have been more dark and gloomy. Throughout the anime, sounds are specific though. The sounds made are there to appeal towards the audience and senses that something drastic happened. The voice actors and actress did an awesome job in conveying the characters during certain events. What is also interesting was that the Monobear’s voice actor is the voice actor of Doraemon. He is Nobuyo Ooyama. Although this anime is categorized as a horror anime, most would say that it is not frightfully shocking.

The characters made in Dangan Ronpa were plain. These characters have famous tropes that allow the author to easily write the storyboard. Although the characters were generic, they have a huge impact on the storyboard. Since it is a survival genre, some people tend to favor a character throughout the story. The ability of making a character based on popular trends makes it easier for the audience to enjoy these characters. The character development throughout the story is alright. The game was to adapt living without the ‘outside world’ or murder and get out of the school. Those two options are difficult because both of options leave the characters with guilt.

Throughout the anime, Dangan Ronpa was rushed and could have been better. The anime focused on the true ends (best ending that the game offered) and missed out on many information. Although Dangan Ronpa was rushed, it is possible that the visual novel grew more sales considering that the game was better. Dangan Ronpa is a survival anime, but it did not fit the role perfectly. There are unanswered questions throughout the anime. The fact that it was rushed ruins the pacing. Since the pacing was ruined, the setting and plot couldn’t comprehend well. In the end, Dangan Ronpa could appeal neither the survival genre nor the anime industry.

i wished i liked this but i dont even think im gonna finish it to be honest


of course the anime was going to be rushed but i didnt think they would actually do only one episode about the murders and then another one for the trials like what? that was a choice.


ok one word: fast. i understand the trial is supposed to be back and forth but even though i knew the history there were times where i couldnt follow what was happening because it was too fast. is this how hiro feels?

anyway im just gonna watch celeste dissing everyone and thats it