Before I begin this review I'd like to explain the viewing order for this anime. You should watch episode one of Zetsubou-hen after the first episode of Mirai-hen, and follow the first episode of Zetsubou-hen by watching the second episode of Mirai-hen. Continue watching the shows in this order, since both series spoil each other. You should also make sure you've played (or watched) Danganronpa, Danganronpa 2, and Ultra Despair Girls. Otherwise you'll be very confused.
The story of Zetsubou-hen is both it's strongest and weakest aspect. This is partly due to it being a prequel. As a fan of the Danganronpa series I'm excited to see the things that have only been mentioned in the games play out in the show. However, this creates some issues.
I already know what's going to happen, and a lot of the time the way the show portrays events they end up not meeting my expectations. Is this entirely the shows fault? Not exactly, but it's still something I experienced, and I imagine many others will as well. The show tries to remedy this somewhat by adding new characters, however since these are the same characters that appear in Mirai-hen (which isn't a prequel) we know what happens.
Now, there's one character that we don't already know what happens to, and the end of her story makes for the most powerful moment in the show. But that's only one positive example in a sea of negative ones. If the story had been better executed I wouldn't have minded as much. But it wasn't.
I don't have much to say about the art, it's decent. Some of the characters look rather strange compared to how they do in the games. But I understand that art style would be difficult to replicate in animated form. The backgrounds look fine, a little bland but they serve their purpose. The art in the opening and ending is probably the best this show has to offer. Overall I think the art in Mirai-hen is noticeably better.
I watched this subbed and the voice acting was fine. Some of the side characters had very over-the-top voices, but thankfully they weren't in the show much.
Now, what really serves as the glue connecting everything in the Danganronpa series together is the characters. And I'm sad to say that the characters are the most consistently bad aspect of the show. While the story is sometimes bad and sometimes good, at least it was utilized. The same can't be said for the characters.
First off there're way too many of them! In the games you can spend hours interacting with the characters and getting to know them. That can't be done in a tv show. The first episode of the show is used to introduce a bunch of characters that have very little to do in the story. So I'm only going to talk about some of them.
There're several characters from Mirai-hen that are important, their character arcs are really good. (Except for Munakata, he does nothing.)
Chiaki Nanami is the real wild card for this series, since the audience doesn't know what's going to happen to her. And the conclusion to her arc is the best moment in this show. However, she's an incredibly simple and bland character, so she doesn't contribute much to the show until the end.
Hajime Hinata... is boring as all hell. He's just there because the pre-existing lore mandates he be there. He has some cool moments, but overall he does very little.
Nagito Komeada is one crazy bastard, shame he's gone for most of the show.
Junko Enoshima... is the worst character in this show. She feels completely out of place (just like in the games). But unlike the games, she shows up constantly! Yet she has to be there since she's the big bad.
Despite all my whining I enjoyed this show. It's fun seeing more of the Danganronpa characters and world, it's just a shame it wasn't done better. Subjectivly I'd give this show a seven out of ten, but it's probably worse from an objective standpoint. 6.5/10
Overall I'd reccomend this series if your a Danganronpa fan, but make sure you temper your expectations.
