Danganronpa 3: The End of Kibougamine Gakuen - Kibou-hen

My only problem with being a fan of the Danganronpa franchise is that its fanbase can be, sometimes, toxic. If a very little detail is not of their liking, then the whole episode (or worse, the whole show) is garbage, and they sometimes can be hypocrisy incarnate. I'm not generalizing, of course, as I have encountered many nice fellows that also share my taste for this franchise and understand what Kodaka wants to say and do with his story.

Finding a perfect ending these days is a difficult task in almost any media. It's not that they are bad, but they leave with that feeling that ... you were expecting more, that things could have concluded in a much better way.

Thankfully that is not the case with Danganronpa 3. We can discuss a lot about the overall quality of the whole series, but Hope Side, as an ending to the Hope's Speak storyline, was how it should have been from the beginning.

First off, this episode explains a few things we were wondering about from the previous episodes. The creation of AI Chiaki was finally explained, the Cure W next to Kirigiri's corpse had a purpose in the end (oh Kodaka, you are so good with details), the fate of Class 77 after the New World Program was finally revealed, etc.

We also got some epic and memorable moments, such as the Class 77 fighting against the brainwashed future foundation agents and cooperating with each other, Nagito finally talking with Naegi (I waited for a moment like this for so long), the confrontation against Mitarai (which was meant to be emotional and NOT EPIC as some fans, for some reason, wanted it) was very touching, the little talk between Hajime and Chiaki was simply good (and necessary), and the final scene with everyone reconstructing Hope's Peak Academy, with Naegi being named the Director, was so relieving...

In the end, everything ended well. Honestly there's barely anything for me to complain about this episode. These "plotholes" some people are talking about are very minor details that can be easily explained if you just opened your mind a little bit.
And calling this episode garbage because it was filled with fanservice... yeah, duh, I mean, for starters Danganronpa 3 only exists as a fanservice! Kodaka could have easily avoided doing this anime and go straight for V3, but he wanted to end this whole storyline in a satisfying way for us... and that he did.

As for Danganronpa 3 as a whole... yeah, I admit there's a lot to discuss and complain about, but despite its flaws it was still an overall entertaining show that gave me many good and memorable moments. Both Future and Despair easily get an 8 out of 10 for me.

But Hope was truly an outstanding ending to the whole franchise, an ending I'll keep in my heart for a long time. I'll really miss all of these characters, but knowing that they are happy now relieves me a lot.

Now let's see how Kodaka manages with New Danganronpa V3!

Have a good day filled with hope... and despair!

Surprise, this review has spoilers. That's more surprise than you'll ever get from watching Danganronpa 3.

What made the original Danganronpa stand out from the rest of its genre was the combination of the interesting storytelling through interactive exploration, mystery solving, and the quirky characters. It also didn't take itself too seriously, which was a plus. Unfortunately, many of those traits are lost during a typical transition process from a game to an anime, and this is exactly that. It wouldn't be too bad if the writing was good, but Danganronpa was never really known for that particular aspect. In fact, it was arguably Danganronpa's ... weakest point, which was normally overlooked due to its other positives.

Danganronpa 3 had an interesting gimmick by having 2 separate series airing during the same season- Each telling a story of their own while revealing a few key plot points about the other. This could've been great if it was done competently, but competent writing and anime are pretty much antonyms at this point. And as this "Hope-arc" is supposed to be the conclusion of the both, this review will have spoilers for the both series and the finale itself.

The animation itself is about average- I'd assume this was the best they could manage while trying to keep the action sequences to absolute minimum, as many of those end up being just skipped over or last very briefly. The voice acting is perfectly fine, and the soundtrack manages to accompany the animation well, so the general sound direction is fine too. The OP and ED for both shows are easily the best part about the entire series, so it has going for that too. As with most anime, the animation and the aural aspects are not the problem.

It's very difficult to explain what exactly went wrong with the writing, as there are way too many things that went wrong. And by too many, I mean literally almost everything. So with this in mind, I'll try to cover just some of the major issues I had with this show:

1) Pacing & Characters in Future Arc

Future Arc introduced several new characters, but all of them failed to be likeable because they died way too quickly. This is one of the natural problems that arise from the aforementioned game to anime transition. Unlike the games, there is very little interaction between the characters, and there's only so much that can be done in a single cour anime. Bandai ends up dying after spending his few lines on nonsense because Lerche couldn't pay the voice actor for more lines. Gozu dies immediately after fulfilling his role as a bodyguard for Naegi, Kizakura dies immediately after fulfilling his role as a bodyguard for Kirigiri, Izayoi dies immediately after fulfilling his role as a bodyguard for Ruruka, Hagakure wastes his time by himself by doing literally nothing, Komaru and Toko spend an entire episode finding out something that becomes irrelevant later, and Monaka fucks off to space despite being built up as Junko Enoshima's successor. Basically, most of these characters just existed for the sole purpose of dying, and not to actually contribute anything worthwhile to the plot.

Some of the characters actually got some development for whatever the reason through flashbacks and segments of Despair arc, but they don't really amount to anything either. To go into more detail, Ruruka and Seiko are supposed to be friends who became enemies because of some misunderstanding. The story tries to explain why one hates each other, and they both wonder where it went wrong, but this doesn't work because one of the two is obviously in the wrong. Obviously the intent was to make the audience feel bad about both of them and how they split apart after a misunderstanding, but when Ruruka's constantly depicted as a manipulative character that only took advantage of Seiko, there's nothing to sympathize about. In the end, they only existed to provide some action sequences and make the atmosphere more hectic, but served no other purpose aside from that. Worthless.

2) Pacing & Characters in Despair Arc

Despair Arc is even worse than Future Arc, which is a feat considering the characters in Despair Arc have already been given characterization in the second game- Even though the storytelling should theoretically be better because the writers would have more time, it turns out that the writers had no fucking idea what to do with "more time" and end up squandering it completely. Considering how this is paired with one of the most asinine plot points I've ever witnessed in any form of entertainment media, it all translates to a big waste of fucking time. The idea behind the Despair Arc was showing how the Class 77 fell into despair through Junko's manipulation. What actually happens is the complete opposite of what anyone would expect from a competent writer.

Junko is one of the worst, incompetent villains I've seen in recent memory. While Junko has been portrayed as this super manipulative, cunning villain through what she has accomplished in the previous titles, it's never actually shown how exactly she did it. Now that it's shown in Despair Arc in its full glory, it's anything but competent. Junko's sister, who also happens to be a twin, who also happens to be obsessed with her, also happens to be one of the physically strongest characters in the series. So by default, she is given a bodyguard to cover her in case something goes wrong from the moment she was born. As Junko decides to enact her plan when she hears about the Kamukura Project which just happened to be completed at the time, she manages to reach her objective because Hope's Peak's security for the most dangerous being in the series is awful enough for one SHSL level student to get past without problems. Junko and her sister manage to survive without any significant injuries after meeting Kamukura, and also manages to somehow convince him to join her immediately with nonsense talk. Then as soon as Junko is leaving the hospital, she meets Mitarai, who also almost never leaves his room and is just as dangerous as Kamukura plot-wise right on time. And later in the story, Junko manages to survive because Komaeda decided to talk a bit too long instead of just shooting her, and she also manages to blackmail Juzo successfully only because he conveniently happened to have that exploitable weakness related to Munakata, and happened to be the person sent out to investigate Junko at the time. Juzo also happens to lie to Munakata instead of telling the truth when he could've just as easily accused Junko of lying and fabricating a photo of him. Munakata also decides to drop suspicion all together without doing any research of his own just because he's been told that Junko was innocent by his two friends even though he was almost completely certain about his suspicion of Junko. There are other things too, but the point is that nearly every single aspect of Junko plan has worked out through sheer luck- For a villain that's supposed to be incredibly cunning and manipulative, everything just happened to work out in her favor through convenience, which really degrades the character's quality.

Mitarai is the other major problem with the series as a whole- Despite being classified as a SHSL Animator, his talent is so potent that it's easily the most powerful talent in the entire series. In fact, it ends up taking NWP, which is "built with the most recent psychotherapy technology and administrative software by the Ultimate Programmer, the Ultimate Neurologist, and the Ultimate Therapist, among other talented people" just to undo the damage done by his talent. While this is already a problem just by how asinine the concept of "brainwashing through animator talent" is, an even bigger problem is derived from it. Instead of showing how Class 77 was turned into despair by long-term manipulation and tragic backstories, they're immediately brainwashed into doing Junko's bidding. Even the brainwashing part wouldn't be so bad if they were conditioned into being more susceptible to hypnosis with a sequence of tragic events (Twilight Syndrome Murder Case, for example), but there's not even that. Instead, another character named Chiaki is used as a sacrificial lamb just to make this plot point possible- Chiaki basically existed as a Jesus-figure type character that literally everyone liked, so that Class 77 could fall into despair through her death. This is complete nonsense because Chiaki's death wasn't necessary at all for Mitarai's brainwashing animation to work. In fact, Junko's masterful plan to make Chiaki the sacrificial lamb only ends up working against her completely, as all it does is give Kamukura second thoughts about his stance. Junko's such an amazingly incompetent villain that one time she decides to do something through actual planning, she ends up fucking herself up later. Brilliant. Furthermore, this completely shits on the series' concept of "despair" as a whole because it's less of a personal mental state and more of just being brainwashed by Junko.

3) Lack of Mystery & Predictable Twists

The real twist of the show was that there were almost no significant twists. While Future Arc had some, they were mostly inconsequential- The remaining survivor counter in Future Arc's OP ended up being nothing important. There were no fake dead bodies, and the only unrevealed NG code wasn't significant. The great twist of the cast being underwater in an exact replica of the building above also ended up leading nowhere, other than to give Kirigiri a purpose for discovering it. The means of murder through monitors became obvious eventually through Despair Arc, and became anti-climactic when the actual twist was the most boring possible option available. Real Nanami died by the end of Despair Arc as quite literally everyone had expected, and Class 77 was turned into despair through the laziest means possible. Basically, real Chiaki was solely made to explain everything that happened with the Class 77 by making her the center of everything. Ultimately, Despair Arc ends up contributing nothing, other than provide backstories that would've been left better unknown just by how poorly it was done. While shocking twists aren't exactly necessary, they would have made the series much more interesting by just not playing things out exactly as everyone had expected.

4) Incompetent and Inconsistent Writing in General

In Future Arc, the victims commit suicide by being brainwashed by the monitors, and it's deliberately done in a way so that others would think it's a homicide instead. However, when it's Naegi's turn to commit suicide, he makes no effort to make it seem like homicide at all as he just attempts to thrust himself with the knife. Kirigiri doesn't bother to suspect or investigate the hidden Power Room after discovering the fake exit, which could've ended the murder game immediately, which is out of character for someone who's supposed to be a SHSL detective. Tengan's "Complex Motives(tm)" involves causing a Murder Game between FF members to get Mitarai to broadcast his brainwashing anime world-wide- But ends up risking Mitarai's life by not only involving him in the game itself by not just delaying the Murder Game, but also by taunting Munakata into killing literally everyone he could see. Not only does his plan not make sense when he could've just forced/convinced Mitarai to broadcast it anyways, but there were so many things that could've gone wrong that it almost feels like the "motive" was forcibly shoved in at the last minute by the writers. This is even more convincing when Mitarai was shown in Monokuma's Murder Game explanation video, even though he wasn't originally planned to participate.

5) Everything about Hope Arc

This was the writers' desperate attempt to reel the fans back in after making a complete mess of the series with incompetent writing in two shows in one season. Despite the promotional poster showing Naegi and Hinata staring each other down, Naegi ends up doing literally nothing. Instead, Hinata gets the screentime and dialogue he desperately needed after having literally 30 seconds of screentime in the Future Arc, and his only dialogue being how bored he is. Apparently Mitarai suddenly needs 30 minutes to complete his mindhack Global Hope Saturation, even though he has shown that he could immediately brainwash people in seconds. Thankfully, this time limit gives enough time for Class 77 to show up and tell him to stop being a literal faggot. Mitarai just immediately submits after much weeping and self-loathing, and it just ends. All that build-up from the previous episodes just amounted to talking and more talking. Even though Class 77 claims what they're doing is "redemption," it's actually nonsense considering how they were forcibly brainwashed into doing evil deeds. Their first act of "redemption" is then followed by having a barbeque party on a boat and chatting with what is presumably a ghost of a fucking computer program, so happy ending for everyone. Except the real Chiaki, but I guess someone had to die to make the story meaningful, I guess.

In conclusion, this show is awful. The only enjoyment I got out of watching this series was viewing other people's reactions to it, and not the actual show itself, which seems to be most people's motivation for watching awful shows while they're airing. At least they did name the shows appropriately- Future Arc makes you wish you were in the future, instead of present, where you're watching it. Despair Arc puts you in despair because you question yourself where your life went wrong that you're watching literal garbage. Hope Arc makes you hope the next entry in DR series will be better than what you just watched, but it won't be.

Why?

You know why.

With both Mirai-hen and Zetsubou-hen ending, it’s now time for the final episode of Danganronpa 3, Kibou-hen to wrap things up. Although some things may just feel like pure fanservice and maybe the conclusion might be too hopeful for its own good, Kibou-hen managed to make me smile from beginning to end and never have I felt so excited and satisfied from a conclusion before

~{Story}~
As you probably already know, this episode should be watched after finishing Zetsubou-hen and Mirai-hen since this episode serves as a conclusion for both series. But not only that, but Kibou-hen is the conclusion for the this Danganronpa universe, and the ... next Danganronpa game, New Danganronpa V3, will be the start of a new alternate universe. Taking place right from where Mirai-hen left off at, Mitarai’s uploading his hope AMVs (yeah, that’s how I look at it) to the entire world so that he can brainwash them with hope. Even though it might be with good intentions, he’s using tactics no different from Enoshima Junko. Now it’s up to the remaining survivors of the third killing game and the 77th class to stop him before it’s too late. Even though some things can get a little far-fetched and there are a couple of loose ends, Kibou-hen definitely lives up to its hopeful name and gives the franchise a satisfying and enjoyable conclusion. Story wise, it is what you expect would happen, but it’s executed nicely.
Story: 8.5/10

~{Presentation}~
Simply put, this is fanservice for all the Danganronpa fans. This is everything we wanted and this is what we get. Seeing the 77th class again, back to their normal selves is immensely satisfying and enjoyable. Though it may be too coincidental that they’re all fine, but it’s still fun to see them in action. Kibou-hen has focuses more of the Danganronpa 2/Zetsubou-hen characters rather than the Danganronpa 1/Mirai-hen characters. This essentially feels like the 12th episode for Zetsubou-hen, taking place in Mirai-hen’s setting. Some previously foreshadowed plot-points and theories come into play in this episode as some surprising (or not-so-surprising) revelations happen.
Presentation: 9.0/10

~{Character}~
Kibou-hen mainly focuses on its 77th class characters (Danganronpa 1/Zetsubou-hen characters). It focuses on their chemistry together and their special quirky traits and how it helps in fighting against Mitarai’s brainwashed soldiers. But what’s the most satisfying is that every character acts and feel just like how they would feel in Danganronpa 2. You’ll see Komaeda having hope-gasms, Tanaka acting like the chuunibyou he is, Souda trying to impress Sonia, Tsumiki taking way to damn long to finish a goddamn sentence since she stammers a lot, Pekoyama caring about her young master, Mioda using her god-awful music to take down some enemies, Owari eating a lot, and Hinata being the hope for everyone. The way Hinata was handled is pretty good. He’s just as caring as he was in Danganronpa 2, but he still has a bit of Kamukura in him, not just in powers but also in personality. And his new character design is a nice representation of him being in the middle of hope and despair. Naegi was a bit underutilized, but the episode was more about the ex-Remnants of Despair.
Character: 9/10

~{Art}~,
As mentioned in my previous Danganronpa 3 reviews, I said that the art style in Zetsubou-hen was really vivid, bright and colorful and the art-style in Mirai-hen was more bleak, dark and washed-out. The reason so was to both represent and contrast the tone of their series. Kibou-hen does both, and that’s a really smart idea from the director. The episode started off with Mirai-hen’s art-style and ended off with Zetsubou-hen art-style; from dark and bleak to bright and vivid. This is used to represent the fast that the episode starts with despair, but ends in hope. Really, really good job from Lerche to do something like this. Other than that, the detailing and backgrounds looks just as good as they did in Mirai-hen.
Art: 9/10

~{Animation}~
I went more in-depth with the animation quality of the Danganronpa 3 in my other reviews, and Kibou-hen basically has the same production values. It’s animated better than Zetsubou-hen, and just as good as Mirai-hen. The episode is probably the most action-packed Danganronpa episode, but it’s not like as if its budget breaking, since Danganronpa doesn’t need that. The fights… if you want to call them that, are well animated and consistent.
Animation: 8/10

~{Voice Acting}~
Basically the same voice cast as Mirai-hen and Zetsubou-hen are here in Kibou-hen. They all do a very good job, especially the voice actors for the Danganronpa 2 characters. They make the characters feel just perfectly like how they felt in the second game and it was immensely satisfying. More in-depth analysis on the voice acting can also be found in the other reviews.
Voice Acting: 9.5/10

~{Music}~
First of all, there’s no OP or ED in Kibou-hen. But an insert song called "ever free" was played during the end credits and it's pretty good. But the soundtrack from the games is used throughout this episode and its placed really well. The soundtrack in the games were done by Takada Masafumi and his music is put into good use into the entire Danganronpa 3 series. The music in the game were some of the best and I’m glad that we get to hear more of it in Kibou-hen. A really dramatic OST played during the first couple of minutes of the episode and it was really good to increase the tension in the episode.
Music: 9.5/10

~{Enjoyment}~
Did I enjoy Kibou-hen? Well, it would be hard not to, considering the fact that the entire episode is one big pile of fanservice and a crap-load of hope. Seeing the 77th class awake and well, and them acting just like how they originally were, was so fun and satisfying… even if them being all awake is kind of a stretch. The survival of a certain fan-favorite character was nice to see, especially since there were theories about it anyways. And overall, this managed to be a very satisfying conclusion to this Danganronpa universe.
Enjoyment: 9.5/10

If you have watched both Mirai-hen and Zetsubou-hen, whether you liked it or not, be sure to check out Kibou-hen for a conclusion for not only Danganronpa 3, but for this Danganronpa universe. After all, New Danganronpa 3 will be the start of a new alternate universe. Also, the fanservice was strong in this episode. Seeing 77th class being their original self is very hopeful and the conclusion itself is filled with hope. It would have been nice if it was a longer episode and we got to see an epilogue for the characters, but other than that, this has been a very satisfying conclusion. On second thought, wait, I have another issue with this episode. Where the hell is my “sore wa chigau yo” duet?!

+ A satisfying conclusion for both Danganronpa 3 and the DR universe as a whole
+ Lots and lots of fanservice, particularly with the 77th class back in action.
+ The Danganronpa 2 characters are well-handled and their quirky traits are put into good use.
+ The fact that the art-style changes from Mirai-hen’s bleak style to Zetsubou-hen’s vivid style throughout the episode.
+ The soundtrack from the first two games is put into good use in this episode.
- Lack of an epilogue due to it being only one episode.

Overall: 8.8/10

This is the conclusion to the entire Hopes Peak Academy era. Where there is despair, there is always hope that will overcome your despair, no matter how long it takes, it will happen and you'll be a shining light in the future.

There will always be a slump in your life, but as long as you have hope towards your own future, everything will be alright. If you are backed into a corner in your life and you do something that you will regret for the rest of your life, that's when you should continue to have hope. Having hope could lead you to work hard, ... try your best. When in comparison, if you continue to sulk, feel regret and anger towards yourself and think about the past too much, you wont progress as much as you should. This is why there's always a light in the darkest of places.

What I'm trying to say is, hope will always overcome despair in the end and this is exactly what happened in the Danganronpa franchise. All of the characters suffered so much in this series, but in the end, they are standing strong, with hope towards their future. They have overcome their despair.

Now, if this isn't the perfect ending to this era of Danganronpa, then I don't know what is. This is a conclusion that shone brightly. People that expected something different, well I'm sorry but I don't know what you were expecting, a tragic ending perhaps? Well, I'd be lying if I said I never thought there will be a bad ending, in fact, I pushed that theory around a bit, but a few episodes ago, I was thinking, a tale about hope and despair should definitely end in hope, and it would be terrible for despair to win in the end. This is why I thought this episode was done brilliantly.

You can say it, not much happened in this episode and to be frank, that doesn't matter at all. It's because of this, that this episode was so good. This is just a great light-hearted conclusion to a series I hold very dear to my heart. It's everything I wanted to see, all of the characters I've come to adore being happy for once.

I am glad this is it's own entry and it doesn't mix with Side:Despair or Side:Future. Because of this I can give this entry a solid 10/10 and man am I glad.

Story: 10
Art: 8
Sound: 10
Character: 10
Enjoyment: 10
Overall: 10

I also have to note what fantastic voice actors are in this series. Brilliant, these are all top quality voice actors and I am damn proud of all of them. Props to Megumi Ogata for doing so much work for this anime, I salute you, voice acting 2 major characters, singing the ending song and for being so awesome in supporting this series. I hope to see such amazing voice actors in Danganronpa V3 - I can't wait for the announcement - We already got one and it's already a good start.

Thanks to all the animators, sound engineers, singers and script writers, directors, all of the staff and not just for the anime, but for the games too, thanks to all of you. You did it brilliantly.

Thank you Kodaka for writing this amazing series, you managed to make me laugh, cry, feel anger and just absolute shock. I was genuinely in despair myself sometime in this series because of what happened, but I overcame that despair. I will continue to support your series Kodaka, you absolutely deserve it, what a legend. To V3 we go! The western release can't come sooner, see you all next time!

This is a tale about Hope and Despair.
This is a tale about Hope overcoming Despair.
This is a tale about Hope winning magnificently in the end.

Hope arc is a terrible ending to an already mediocre sequel to Danganronpa games that is not only bad, but also weakens games' storylines, most notably Danganronpa 2's. It's so bad that I had to write a short review about it.

Note: vague spoilers

To keep it simple, Hope Arc is shameless and senseless mash of fanservice with predictable dialog where you already know what they're gonna say since the dialog between the characters themselves is either even more fanservice(things you wanted characters to say to each other since playing the game, of course here being forced and crammed into short repulsive scenes) or just your usual ... trope-filled conversations. Episode's plot progression only stops being predictable once it throws ridiculous deus ex machina in your face(that is also blatant fanservice), realizing it requires you to have zero integrity as a writer to write something like that and also not feel disgusted or ashamed by yourself(Kyoko)
The little bit of drama it has is corny and forgettable(Mitarai) and everyone gets a rushed closure, some more than others(Munakata) with a far fetched perfect "everyone lives happily ever after" ending(DR1 cast).

Best part about it is definitely the OST, but the best tracks are all from previous Danganronpa games so even in that regard it adds nothing, but at least it doesn't retract anything.

Now the worst part is the way it influences everything that happens in Danganronpa 2. In short, every single part of DR2's story loses any kind of impact it had since literally none of it matters to begin with.

So if you're a fan of brainless pandering(or aren't bothered by it), you should go ahead and watch the episode, you'll probably like it judging by the scores. Otherwise avoid like a plague, it's just gonna leave a bitter taste in your mouth every time you see second game's cast

This is the 24 minute finale episode to the entire Danganronpa 3 series.

It was a pretty good finale, but had some disappointing aspects just like the main anime.

The best part of the entire episode was definitely the DR 2 characters getting back to action once again. They're just so fun to watch, as always. I loved seeing the DR 2 cast interact with the DR 1 cast, in a less serious atmosphere this time around.

The animation and sound were about the same from the DR 3 series, and it's really fun seeing DR 2 characters in the Future arc setting. The soundtracks were good ... but I was a bit disappointed some of the osts from the games weren't used, especially the intro theme.

You know what, although there were a bit more issues with the anime than what I would've liked, just seeing the DR 2 cast back again and interact with the DR 1 cast made this episode great for me, even if "SPOILER" I didn't really like Kyouko being alive again. Thought it would've made much more impact at the end if she stayed dead. It kinda feels like Kodaka pulled out at the last second, and it somewhat made the NG codes and Bandai's death look cheap. But I'm sure some of her fans are happy.

It's a short, yet packed finale. The anime indeed made some questionable decisions throughout, but nonetheless managed to wrap up many things from both the games and the rest of the DR 3 anime nicely.
Finally, I thank you, Kodaka, and every other staff involved with the series, for bringing us the Danganronpa series to our home.

I'm torn. First of all, this is a terrible ending to DR3. It renders pretty much everything that happened in both Future and Despair Arcs completely pointless and continues to undermine the events of SDR2.

On the other hand, it's dumb fun fanservice and I'm a sucker for that.

Soooo... 6/10 is a compromise? This is horribly written and full of deus ex machina bullshit, but... it's fun. If you made it through the rest of DR3, then... might as well.

It's kinda hard to write a substantial review for this because it's literally just 24 minutes of fanservice. Not the sexy kind, though.

lol hope

You see, Danganronpa 3 was not written by Kodaka. This is what we get, when Kodaka doesn't write the story : A fan pandering asspull solution for an ending.
I honestly do not understand the people who rate this 10/10, I really don't. It's almost as if I watched a different ending.

Story : 1/10

As I said, this is the most asspull solution I have ever seen in a mystery anime. After masterpieces like DR1 and DR2 by Kodaka, we get this. There was no reason to bring back the dead remnants of despair, as "The people who died in the simulation, lose their consciousness, and die" ... was said in the game. I can understand the people who survived actually appearing, but not the ones who died! This was made as if Danganronpa 2 did not exist in cannon.

"What about the remnants of despair actually being bad, as shown in the fucking Zetsubou-hen anime?" Psh, let's throw that away and say that it was all set-up by the Future Foundation for fan pandering! "Why would the Future Foundation do this?" Because why not, let's just say they did. "What about the people who died in DR1?" Fuck them! Who cares about them? Right? "What about the fact that people die from that poison in 10 seconds, and that Kyoko died from the poison?" Psh, Deus Ex Machina let's just revive her!

See what the problem is with the ending? It's that it doesn't make sense. The ending is made so that the fans of the show, and the people who liked characters who died, get to "rejoice" in the end. I personally liked Nekomaru, but I accepted his death. I didn't need to see him in the anime another time thanks to Deus Ex Machina

Art : 9/10
Nothing to say, looked a bit sluggish sometimes, great over all. Doesn't count for the final mark

Sounds : 9/10
Game soundtracks were great, the ending song wasn't. Doesn't count for the final mark

Character : 10/10
It's Danganronpa 2, fully developed characters. Nothing to say here
Also doesn't count towards the final mark.

Enjoyment : 1/10
DR1 is a masterpiece, DR2 is a masterpiece, DR3, along with this ending, is pathetic. The games got me used to highly elevated levels of good story writing and character development, and DR3 just threw a lazily put together story at me as a follow up.
At least Kodaka will be writing DRv3.

Overall : 1/10

This anime shouldn't exist. Just read the plot online and be done with it.

Danganronpa is dead.

It's everything you need to know before watching this anime, but this review won't end here.
Not before I give it justice.

Story: Did yo watch both Danganronpa's 3?
If the answer is yes, you know what you'll get but 10 times worse.
The story is awful, the """"""""""""""trial"""""""""""""" with the mastermind lasts few minutes and bam! The happy ending.
And for the love of God, you don't want me to start a rant about how shitty the main "plot twist" is because I don't want to get a depression caused by destroying the whole story of one of my favourite VNs for the sake of boring fanservice.

... 3/10

Art: Nothing special, again it's just good.
(...besides the fight choreography, because, it's our favourite trope: "Only the good guys can hit anything" )

6/10

Sound: The only part about this anime that i actually really like.
The sound is great, the OST kicks ass, but... it's mainly the OST from the 2nd game.

8/10


Character:

The surviving cast from the Mirai-hen is boring (mainly after the only interesting guy turned good, because plot must be unicorns dancing on rainbows)
And the rest of the cast really brought the tears to my eye.
I was crying how bad they are. (1.)
I guess that beside Ultimate Talent (I HATE SHSL ARGHH), they've also got Ultimate "My personality never changes no matter what happens", which explains how they don't really care about what bad things they've done in their past. (Won't tell because I want to keep this review spoiler free, but believe me, any person wouldn't want to live after hearing what they've heard.)
But well, the stupid nerds that played the games obviously finished them with help of the guide, and didn't think for a little bit while playing it, and these anime-only guys watched it for Asahina's boobs, so, like, they don't care about reasonable characterization right?

No, Mr. Scenario Writer.

3/10


Enjoyment: Almost none, I had better fun writing this review than watching this crap.

3/10

Final Verdict:

4/10, because I'm a Takadababy and I'll love my OST's no matter what.


Hype left for next Ronpas: none


1. I know, it's a joke that no one has ever made, forgive me senpai)

As you may already be aware, this will contain spoilers for the games and specially Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair.

I've seen many opinions that came out of this last episode. It looked like the fandom divided into the "I hate Kibou-hen" and "I love Kibou-hen". It caused quite a ruckus and I always think the wisest in theses cases is just respecting others' opinions, instead of assuming everyone who didn't like something is a hater.

Anyways, I was personally disappointed when I saw this episode. Why? Because I felt like it completely erased every struggle that was presented before this ending. This ending is lazy writing ... and fan pandering. Don't get me wrong for I'm not saying it shouldn't have ended with a happy ending. However, even happy endings sometimes still contain some sadness within. And that is what i was expecting from this episode, a bitter but also happy ending.

Yes, Danganronpa is a series that talk about the importance of hope. But as we could all see from Munakata's dispute with Naegi, hope can also be blind. I thought raising that point and actually questioning the main character's way of thinking was really, really interesting. And, to be honest, it was a fair point. Sometimes you can't do anything by just believing everything will work out. Acknowledging your struggles and fighting them, even if the happy ending is not as happy, is what will make someone stronger.

I was hoping for DR3 to give Naegi a harsh, but realistic and still hopeful character development - that we almost got with Kirigiri's death, but hey now that she was revived Naegi does not need to think by himself anymore or worry about anything. In the end, they shoved Munakata and made him look like some stupid guy who never ever stood a chance against Naegi's sometimes illogical Hope. What was the point of of his suffering? What was the point of his confrontation with munakata? Does Naegi have flaws, even?

Danganronpa can bring happy endings to us. But didn't all these happy endings always bear -pun intended- some bitterness? Yes, Danganronpa is about the importance of Hope. However, in Danganronpa 2 we learn that everything is not black and white. That there is a way to create a future, embracing mistakes and learning from them. Neither hope nor despair: humanity. Dangaronpa 2 brought us a realistic but still happy ending, even if filled with uncertainty.

I feel like this episode erased the struggles of the main cast of Danganronpa 2. Everyone was back, no consequences, everyone was back and completely fine on this episode. Haven't they said they had destroyed their own bodies seeking closeness to Junko? How was everyone woken up without any backlash from something that was supposed to be almost irreversible? How did that happen? How did they exactly free themselves from Despair? I'd have been fine with it if it had shown a proper explanation and actual consequences.

This all came down from an already poorly explained and messy ending from the Future side of DR3. Many things were left unexplained and all that just lead to this trainwreck of an ending.

I am not a hater. Specially because I love Danganropa I feel like I have the right to criticize something that, in my opinion, feels completely worse than what Danganronpa actually is.

All is well and ends well for this special, the 77th and the 78th class have met, and theis is where Danganronpa ends, thought there are some plot holes here like who made the AI Chaiki for Hinata as Izuru Kamukura and why do the 77th class still refer to themselves as the Remnants of Despair with still an evil intent.
So, to business:

Storywise, well, it's good that the plot was with the ending of the Danganronpa anime franchise, but thought good as it is , there are still the plot holes in it, but plot hole or not the anime has to end.

Art, ... well, since this special was still connected to the parent anime, there is no need for me to give it a different rating.

Sound, the same as the art.

Character's, I still view them as a bunch of dorksters that a mensa member would frown on.
Enjoyment: Good 7

Overall: very good.

There's been a lot of positive attention towards both the special and the Danganronpa 3 anime in general. I'll be posting a full review for both the Future and Despair arcs soon enough, but for now I'm just going to tackle the Hope special. As this is incredibly difficult to write about without spoiling anything, I'm putting a spoiler warning right here. Do NOT read on if you haven't seen the full Future Arc, Despair Arc and the Hope episode.



Without further ado, let's get started.


Story: 4/10

There isn't much of a story here, more like a last-minute effort thrown together at the end of the killing ... game. Mitarai is set on brainwashing the world so that no one feels Despair again. He's got the best and brightest of the Future Foundation on his side, and it truly looks hopeless for our "protagonist".

Thankfully, Hajime/Izuru shows up in the nick of time, bringing with him the full might of the 77th class (conveniently revived and ready to save the day). What follows is an epic battle between the 77th and the Future Foundation, a heartfelt speech to convince Mitarai to stand down and... that's basically it.

To any fan (especially myself), it's a pretty awesome moment. DR1 and DR2, brought together in an explosive 24 minutes. However, the plot feels extremely convoluted and very last-minute. The last Future Arc episode swiftly set up Mitarai as the final antagonist, bringing in a hastily-conceived plot device to do this. Mitarai is going to brainwash the world with his hope video. The reason? The Future Foundation's leader (Tengan Kazuo) set up a killing game between the FF leaders, hoping that Mitarai would use his hope at the game's conclusion. Tengan's motivation makes little to no sense, and again, feels hastily written to bring us into this final episode.

And, as if to twist the knife even further, the episode reveals that Kyoko Kirigiri, a character who supposedly sacrificed herself, is very much alive and well. This I feel is what puts the final nail in this episode's coffin. Danganronpa was designed from the start to be a series in which you felt anyone could die at any given moment. Throughout the Future Arc, you were given this impression that none of the original cast or your newfound favorites were safe from death. Looking back now, the Future Arc has been populated with new characters that could be safely killed off, whilst throwing one or two meaningless threats at the old favorites. A real shame.

Art: 4/10

This is a tricky one, but something that needs to be addressed. Most of the time, the art in the series feels like it was rushed and poorly done. The broad strokes are there, but it lacks the fine detail needed to really bring it to life. In a word, it's bland. This episode (and the series in general) was often filled with poorly animated shots, blank expressions or even turned away from sequences which should have been animated. I challenge you to name a moment in the episode where we get to see Izuru be a badass. You can't, because most of his stuff happens off-screen.

The only good thing I can really add was that the character designs are always pretty sharp and on point. I especially liked some of the unique designs of the Future Foundation's Assault Squad, and as always the 77th class looked awesome. But other than that, not a lot of positives I'm afraid.

Sound: 8/10

Quality voice-acting and some epic music really help to try and make this an epic finale to the Danganronpa series. I really can't complain about the amazing tracks featured, that serve to either bring out emotion as Mitarai is pouring his heart out, or to pump us up for the epic battle at the beginning of the episode. The fact they reused some of the Danganronpa 2 music was also a surprise, albeit not an unwelcome one.

However, I've docked a couple of points due to the fact that both in the episode and in the series in general, there has been some horrendous synchronisation issues with the voices and lip-movement. Seriously, check it out. You'll often catch a character's lips moving even after they're done speaking. An amateur mistake which should have been corrected.

Character: 7/10

Honestly, I would be lying if I said I didn't love the first half of the episode. The 77th class makes a glorious and triumphant return at the final hour, bringing with them their amazing talents and unique (and downright awesome) personalities. You have no idea what a joy it was to watch the Ultimate Imposter impersonate Munakata of all people, or Tanaka's epic scene where he releases the seal on his name. Izuru also has his shining moments, notably with his speeches towards Chisa and Mitarai.

But whilst the 77th class receives some awesome development, the DR1 cast gets shafted. Naegi, the supposed protagonist, does nothing to advance the plot or save the day. This has been a problem with his character since the series began. He reacts to events that happen around him, and all in all had no real part in the resolution of the story. Heck, when the 77th class confront Mitarai, Naegi just hangs around outside and eavesdrops. Thinking about it, even characters like Togami and Hagakure had more of a hand in getting stuff done. I honestly believe that the writers should have either focused more on Naegi or just made Hajime/Izuru the protagonist instead.

Enjoyment: 7/10

Yes, I enjoyed the episode. I won't question that one bit. From the 77th class returning in all their glory, to the final conversation between Hajime and Chiaki. I won't deny that I really liked it as a viewer. However, approaching it from an analytical standpoint, everything kind of falls apart pretty quickly. That's basically all I have to say on the subject.

Overall: 5/10

As much as I wish I could ignore the misgivings I have with the series, there are just far too many for me to turn my nose up. The series has been rushed from the very beginning. Had the Future and Despair arcs been given a couple more episodes to flesh out character development, and maybe if the Hope arc had been extended (or heck, at least made into a two-parter), we could have had a much more fitting and incredible ending that this series deserves. Naegi should have had chance to be the hero of his arc, we should have seen more of Jabberwock Island and the ending should have been left on a much more bittersweet hope.

Munakata, at one point in the series, mentions you can't know true Hope without knowing Despair. Otherwise, that Hope is hollow. Here, it's somewhat the opposite. We've known Despair since the beginning of the arc, but that too feels hollow. The series ends on far too great of a happy note for us to feel that any of the challenges or consequences faced along the way actually mattered. None of the original cast died, nor are any of the characters worse off for what happened. I'm not trying to bash the series for having a happy ending, I just believe that it wasn't really deserved.

And finally, please understand that I'm writing this first and foremost as a fan. I love Danganronpa (Danganronpa 2 being one of my favorite games) and I just want to see justice done to this amazing series. Thanks for reading.

This anime arguably was my favorite out of the whole season. After watching Future and Despair arc so many times, it was definitely refreshing to see all the old faces from DN 2 in their original clothing. It's biggest flaw was definitely the execution of the release dates, they should have put all the despair arc episodes after the future arc because then the plot twists could have been more dramatic. Also, Naegi was kind of overshadowed by all the other characters and the main antagonist was defeated too quickly. I would have rated this about a seven if not for OMG MUNAKATA IMPOSTER! but ... it definitely was still enjoyable.

LA is gonna change up the format for this review as well as Mirai-hen & Zetsubou-hen by making it a sorta of 3-parter due to the nature of how Danganronpa 3's animes were presented and since you've read LA's Mirai-hen and Zetsubou-hen...you know what paragraph is next.

Before LA talks about Kibou-hen, LA will say that both Mirai-hen and Zetsubou-hen anime are something of a companion piece with each other giving off clues or events that transpired that lead it to how or when it happened. The obvious companion piece both these anime have is "trying to find the traitor" and why some of the founders ... are butting heads with each other in Mirai-hen and "how Danganronpa's franchise started" as well as some backstory on some of the newer characters in Mirai-hen for Zetsubou-hen and both arcs gives and feeds information to each other. For anime-episode order, you should/MUST watch by starting with Mirai-hen's episode then Zetsubou-hen episode then back and forth after that for "clarity". Kibou-hen is the finale so obviously watch it last...

So for a finale, it's extremely hard to get it perfect, anyone is gonna have a problem with it here and there and LA had some problems with it, however even with these flaws and "retcons", LA STILL liked it on how it went out on.

For what it does great, IT FINALLY told us some explanation as to Chiaki (the AI) anyways. Kibou-hen also gave us the vaguest hints towards BOTH of the previous arcs some final resolution which helped immensely in that regard. It was also utterly great in seeing Class 77B back and having some form of "action" in Kibou-hen and just seeing them again was greatly satisfying. Finally Kibou-hen really left on a GREAT note to the point of LA's statement in the Mirai-hen of "there is ALWAYS despair and hope, one can't live without the other and eliminating either of them will cause unintentional or intentional chaos" comes in fruition, but for an epilogue it was done greatly, sure slightly on the "happy ending" things with the little hints given even that can be overlooked, but in terms of character dynamics Danganronpa has solidified with it's characters had given, it makes A LOT of sense, that these characters were left how they were by the end of all this, anticlimactic or otherwise.

Time to bring up the flaws in Kibou-hen, as much LA wants to ignore it, from Mirai-hen's "is that it", it also gets brought up here as well for the "climax" of Kibou-hen, it was a GREAT gesture and brought resolution to not only to Class 77B but Mitarai as well, but it still felt slightly anti-climactic. The flaws LA saw in Kibou-hen, LA can easily say as much as the Kibou-hen couldn't dive into more detail to the rest little tidbits of both Mirai-hen and Zetsubou-hen or made an explosive ending LA was anticipating (LA will say that Zetsubou-hen really did that service instead of Kibou-hen), LA really liked this finale.

A finale is a hard thing to pin down and can't explain everything in 24 minutes and can't make a conclusion everyone likes, but for what it's worth, Kibou-hen still was a great finale to Danganronpa 3 and LA HOPES for the best for the Danganronpa series...

Wow what a GREAT ENDING!! Dangan ronpa pleased me so much.
They did a really great job to even make a nice ending. It only makes me a little sad to think that this is already the end.. and also got some tears with the scene of Hinata about Nanami.
It is great that you see how every character of DR2 fights using their talents and how they all work together as a class.
And to see Komeada with his hand was also nice haha, and a very short komeada and Naegi moment LIKE LIKE!!
I also love how the end held up a great surprise that I wasn't ... expecting anymore which I liked a lot.
I can't just say enough how much I enjoyed it. I am so happy that I was able to finally see this.

They also did a great job of using the music from the DR games, every time you hear it, it kinda gives you a nostalgic warm feeling.

P.S. I would recommend to everyone who loves Dangan Ronpa series and hasn't read the novel DR Zero, to read it. ( I hope they will ever make an anime of it....)

Spoilers If You Have Not Watched It Yet!
While I am a huge fan of the DR3 Side:Despair and Side:Future (and just in danganronpa hell in general), Side:Hope was actually fairly disappointing to me. While I am very happy that all the SDR2 kids are alive and that everything went well, it just seemed too forced and I felt like the writing was pretty... bland?
I found the scene with Mitarai and him meeting his classmates way too short, I thought there would be way more than just him seeing his classmates again for less than a few minutes (honestly I was hoping more "angst" to happen, ... as that's a pretty good thing Danganronpa has got going on for characterization)
I know it's really senseless to be asking for more despair, but personally I just feel like it would have made the ending more meaningful and interesting (but a lot of people don't care and just want a happy ending, i guess) Other than that, I love how some of the SDR2 ost songs were added in a few moments, and animation was great as well. It would have been better if it was longer, maybe 40 minutes? (I'm probably asking for too much though) Another thing that kind of confused me was how the SDR2 cast got there, but I guess that'll be explained in Danganronpa 2.5. Not the perfect ending in my opinion, but at least everything ended up happy.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Well... That was fun! I did want to make a joke about this finale but looking it back, I don't think this series finale deserved all the hate it has get for the last few days or so.

It's not 'perfect', but at least it's something that is enjoyable. We got our DR2 cast back in action for the last time and Hope and Despair still in between (Well technically Hope wins but it still felt emptied). I'm still questioning myself of what's the point of all of these DR3 characters since the writers killed almost all of them and only left 2 people left? ... And poor Munakata. I hate him from the very beginning and I loved him in the end. Not everyone in this series deserved to die for nothing like Bandai.

Overall, It's a finale everyone deserved after all the despair they've felt in every episode. It still has some flaws but it's still enjoyable to watch and a little bit teared up.

This series was an emotional rollercoaster for me. As someone who enjoyed watching and playing the first and second game in the danganronpa series, I was quite to say, excited to start the third season of the anime. To go into the point, I was severely disappointed. So disappointed that I made an account solely with the purpose to publish this review to warn everyone who's considering taking up danganronpa 3.

The story was painful for me. It's like they're trying to cover up all the loopholes in the previous series with outrageously dumb reasonings that come together to be the dumpster fire that is this ... anime. The animation was admittedly better than the previous ones but that's to be expected. The really bad plot also ruined the characters for me, they should've just left each character story in their respective series.

Overall I would warn anyone and advise against watching Danganronpa 3. I am literally begging, please just stop watching after danganronpa 2. Danganronpa 3 ruined the whole danganronpa series for me, and I would not wish that upon anyone.

For one, I actually did play all series and read the novels, and I absolutely love this anime. From the execution of how things play out, the different arcs episodes, the characters, the ending. I love them all.

When people try to say that this anime pushes SDR2 off the cliff, that isn't true. Like what Junko said, SDR2 cast is nothing more than extras. They were just tools used by Junko, they were no more special than any of the classes in Hope's Peak (other than Naegi's class because they have Junko and all in in). Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Class 77, ... they are beautiful, colourful, interesting class and SDR2 isn't about 'oh they ded' the end. But it's about their character, their class, their interactions.

Yet people are shitting over the fact they are awake/alive. Yes, they did say it's hard to wake up, it's hard to recover but it is NOT impossible. Especailly when they have a guy like HinaIzuru there. He is everything, he is hope, he is therapist, he is brain surgeon, he is despair, he is all. But the people are screaming about how the rest recover =-= Yes, it is an easy explanation but it DOES round things up. They were brainwashed, it isn't about who died, they didn't despair because it was Nanami, Junko just uses her because it gives the maximum despair. It was the technique used in the video ffs.

Are we really watching the same anime?

I love Danganronpa, but the Hope Arc seemingly throws everything I love about the series on the floor and stomps on it 5 times and all because of one issue: Despite the series heavily influencing viewers to believe that death is final, this arc seemingly resurrects people from the dead for a fairy tale like ending. In the Danganronpa games, people die to serve a meaningful purpose. So what would have possibly been the 'trigger' for the author to do otherwise and consequently ruin the brilliance of the games? Let us investigate.

If you have played Danganronpa 2, you would know that the killing school trip, ... is well... exactly what it means. The students of the 77th Hopes Peak Academy class are murdered by each other. However, their deaths motivate the main character to seek justice by uncovering the culprit and the ultimately the mastermind. Such a cause fabricates suspense and tension and thus generating excitement. But what if.. What if I told you that none of the students that 'die' actually die? You would probably feel a bit cheated and annoyed right? Well as would I, because that's essentially what the Hope Arc tells us; death is not as it seems.
"That 20 hours you spent playing that game I made? Forget it, because none of that matters now"
Simply stated, the author couldn't be bothered spending another episode explaining what happens after the game and instead decides to resurrect everyone that died, chuck em in the crowd and give us a half-assed explanation as to how.

Truth bullets:
• Laziness of author

SORE WA CHIGAU YO

Such a phenomenon doesn't happen just once, but twice. However, this time around it isn't due to laziness. This character whom I shall name X basically serves as a sacrificial lamb to keep the flame of hope alight. His/her death although tragic, was good because it built emotional conflict and in the end became the main character's resolve to overcome despair... Now, if the author continued the story with the games in mind, that would be the end of the character. Instead, in the last 5 minutes this character leaps out of the grave, we get yet another pathetic excuse for survival and the story ends happily ever after. The only reason why the author would do this is...

HANGMAN'S GAMBIT
FA_ SER_ _ C _
WAKATA!!

Yep the bane of anime, that is fanservice. It is evident that the author resurrected these characters to appease the fans, but ironically, it's having the opposite effect: Those that have played Danganronpa 2 will now realize that all the consequential actions and decisions made during the class trials and to an extent the entire story-line have been essentially rendered null; the mature and dark themes generated are brushed away and forgotten because characters that should have died, did not. Furthermore, it is blindingly obvious to those who watch the Hope Arc that X's revival serves no other purpose besides being a cheap act of fanservice/plot device used to avoid of the true/logical not-so happy ending this series was hinting at.

So in summary, the revival of dead characters ruins the strong themes developed in the games and instead produces a sugarcoated ending which doesn't give the Danganronpa series justice.