I should note that I played the game for this before watching the anime, though a long time before. Hence, the lens I was looking at this through was as a refresher on the first game to prepare for Danganronpa 3. Still, I couldn’t help but think about what people new to the franchise would also think. Now I would definitely say that the core aspects of Danganronpa came through very well. The characters are varied and interesting with well-developed personalities and motivations that result in developing interesting relationships. The cases themselves are well thought out and make sense, though a few of the early ones did feel a bit too obvious. The impact that the moments that are meant to make the player despair cause quite a bit of despair, and the moments that are meant to instill hope instill quite a bit hope, with the finale still being ridiculously amazing and memorable. And of course the atmosphere and quirkiness oozes through everything making it quite an enjoyable ride. Still, I think for newcomers the game is a much better work, that it felt like this series was targeted at people that had already played the game. There were a lot of things that felt like they were targeted at people who had already experienced the game. There were a lot of shots that I think seem to have strange art or strange animation that were essentially taken straight out of key moments in the VN, trying to create the same feeling. I don’t think that them in and of themselves in the context of the anime would draw out such a feeling due to how much they stand out, but as references back to the game themselves they worked really well. The same applied to the music, where a lot was taken straight from the game and was used perfectly. Also, it was really fast paced compared to the game, to the point they skipped a lot of things ranging from character interactions to actual clues and such in cases. I thought the really fast pacing was great because even though I already knew everything that was going to happen and this was essentially just a repeat, it never felt dull, though I feel it went through things too fast for newcomers. Hence, overall I think this was very much targeted at people who were already fans, and in that I think it did a very good job.
The art was good and a really good adaption of the game. The animation was really solid. The OP was weird at first as all awkward English OPs are, but it grew on me over time. The main ED was good, and the concept of using a new version of the game’s ED on the last episode was perfect.
