Danganronpa - Episode 13 (Completed)

Now that the mastermind behind their incarceration has been revealed, it's time for the remaining students of Hope Peak's Academy to learn the truth behind their situation as they face their final challenge.

Although those gathered believe that they've only spent two short weeks at the school, the truth is rather different - they've actually been classmates for two years prior to losing their memories.  It seems that their idyllic school life turned into a despair-ridden one as an event shook - and effectively destroyed - the outside world, leading to the school's principle turning the academy into a safe-house for the students rather than have them "contaminated" by the contagion which has turned the planet upside-down.  It's from these protective roots that Junko's game has sprouted, turning the student's protection into a prison for her own amusement.

With the past revealed, what of the future?  The final trial facing the students is a simple one - do they choose to punish Junko, or choose to live by remaining in the safe confines of the academy for the rest of their existence.  However, there's a final twist to this choice - they can only choose this safe option if they agree to sacrifice Naegi into the bargain.  Thus, it's our protagonist's job to persuade his fellow schoolmates to choose the path of hope despite the dangers lurking in the outside world, rather than the despair of a life inside the academy's confines which would also bring about his demise.

Stripped of its muder-mystery slant for this finale, I have to confess that I was a little apathetic to what was going on in this last episode of Danganronpa - it didn't really delve into some of the most interesting parts of its revelations about the world (albeit deliberately), and Naegi's need to convince his classmates to follow the right path felt arbitrary rather than a genuine moment of tension.  Still, this shouldn't really put too much of a dampener on a series that was always bonkers, but equally always pretty fun to watch. It was never quite as smart or edgy as it maybe thought it was, but it bounced its characters off of one another and made use of its scenario in effective ways to keep me entertained week on week, and even managed to run with the video game-esque presentation from its source material without feeling too frustrating.  Overall, I enjoyed the show enough to be on-board for any adaptations of further Danganronpa games (and the end of this episode certainly seems to hint that there's more on the way), which marks this series as at least a moderate success in my book.

Danganronpa - Episode 12

Danganronpa's series of cruel tests reaches its end-game this week, but the stakes are high with a requirement to not only unravel the mystery of the school's final murder, but also pinpoint and point the finger at the mastermind behind it all.

With the entire school now unlocked there's no time to lose, and Kirigiri and Naegi's first port of call is the principle's office - a location which initially seems to offer up little evidence bar the grisly confirmation of the principle's (and Kirigiri's father's) death.  However, look a little closer and there are some valuable items at hand, including the principle's personal organiser and a memory card which seems to hold evidence of each of the students agreeing that they'd spend the rest of their life at the Academy.  This in turn matches up with notebooks found by Naegi that seems to suggest that all of the group had already been students at the Academy despite their having no such memories - a suggestion backed up by further photographic evidence distributed by Monokuma.

As further investigation also sheds light on a disparity between the number of bodies within the establishement's morgue, the number of students and the number of supposed murders committed, things are seemingly falling into place within Naegi's head, which means shocking revelation follow shocking revelation in the final classroom trial as the mastermind behind this whole despicable debacle is unmasked.

Even if some of these revelations have to work a little too hard to justify themselves, the whole process of the layers of the show's mystery being peeled away was a lot of fun provided you brought the requisite suspension of disbelief with you.  The episode's relentless pace and determination to keep things moving swiftly were a real boon here, throwing out claims and counter-claims carefully enough for you to ingest them all but rapidly enough for you not to have too much time to think about them and pick holes in them.  I have no idea how the series is planning to close things off now the cat is out of the bag, but hopefully it can prove equally entertaining rather than limiting itself to massive later information dump to explain everything.

Danganronpa - Episode 11

It's time for another, rather unexpected, classroom trial as this week's Danganronpa begins in the wake of the death of mysterious sixteenth student Mukuro Ikusaba.

With no knowledge of who this student is and little time to gather clues, the resulting trial is decidedly incoherent apart from one recurring theme - the insistence that Kirigiri must be responsible for this murder.  To be fair, it seems like a strong accusation to make as she is the only person whose whereabouts are unknown in the time period where the murder could have been carried out, and for her part Kirigiri becomes more irritable and nervy as the accusations against her pile up.  Once Naegi begins to suspect that all is not as it seems with this trial, Monokuma is quick to shut him up and push the students towards voting -a decision which coincides with Kirigiri slathering Naegi in last-minute suspicion.  Lo and behold, it's his name that is flagged as the murderer, and his punishment awaits...

Except, for once, not everything goes as Monokuma expects - an intervention via the assumed defunct Alter Ego saves Naegi's lift, but instead leaves him thrown out with the garbage at the bottom of the building with no way out.  Not one to give up, Naegi prevails, until eventually Kirigiri comes to the rescue.  As they climb the ladder back into the school building, Kirigiri reveals her true - and recently remembered - identity, which explains why the powers that be in this so-called school were trying to frame and execute her.  It seems as if the gloves are off, but with Naegi's safety and the knowledge that their trials and tribulations are being broadcast on live television, Kirigiri engineers a final showdown with the myriad secrets of the academy at stake.

Overall, I think this might just have been the most enjoyable episode of Danganronpa yet, perhaps largely because it breaks with some of the show's game-like conventions in aid of pulling the rug out from under its surviving students.  The result was perhaps the tensest trial yet, and the events which followed do a good job of setting the series up for its final showdown while conveniently waving away one of the game's rules to do so.  Breaking the rules of your story is bad, except for when it's good, and on this occasion shrugging off a mechanic for generating tension within the rest of the series is entirely forgivable - now, bring on the final showdown for the truth!

Danganronpa - Episode 10

With another clasroom trial survived, the remaining students seem to be entering the end-game of Monokuma's malicious charade as a fifth floor of the school building opens up.

This latest part of the building is certainly an eclectic one, with a botanical garden and chicken coop on the one hand but a room that seems to have played host to a mass murder in the past on the other.  With suspicions surrounding Kirigiri and her inability to explain who she is or her whereabouts during key moments at an all time high, Togami takes away her room key to limit her movements, but there's little time to dwell on this as Monokuma demands to see his charges on account of something important to him having been stolen.

It's not all that surprising that the source of this particularly brave crime is Kirigiri, who uses Naegi to distract Monokuma while she goes away to try and investigate some of the deeper and darker elements behind the group's predicament.  Having done this, a confused night's sleep is followed by an even ore confusing day for Naegi and company, be it a broken-down Monokuma, a body in the gardens or a revelation that their entire experience thus far may have simply been played out as a televised spectator sport for the masses.

Even if this week's episode of Danganronpa hasn't departed quite as I expected from the tried and trusted murder and trial setup that has served the series in pretty good stead thus far, it certainly had no shortage of new ideas, twists and turns to throw about.  You could almost argue that this instalment had too much to say, as there was certainly a lot to take in from small hints through to big revelations, putting the pressure on the next few episodes to allow everything to shake out in a satisfying fashion.  For now though, the prospect of tackling an incredibly tough classroom trial next week is enough to whet my appetite.

Danganronpa - Episode 9

Yet another death brings the remaining student trapped in their nightmarish school perhaps their trickiest case yet - what appears to be a "locked room" mystery.  Then again, perhaps that very fact is what should make this their easiest case thus far...

Regardless, with a few clues and oddities in-hand, as another classroom trial begins it takes no time at all for an obvious culprit to be fingered, with Fukawa announcing that she saw Hagakure whacking Sakura with a bottle.  However, given that the victim suffered two blows to the head, who provided the second?  It seems that Fukawa, as her Genociber alter-ego, was responsible for this one, but even this doesn't explain the fact that Ohgami was ultimately poisoned.

It's to Asahina that accusations turn at this point, as her footprints and whereabouts seem to match the possibility that a protein shake was switched out with poison.  Lo and behold, Asahina willingly admits her guilt... this still doesn't explain the whole locked room problem though, and with a little more thought the truth emerges - there was no murderer, but rather a case of suicide.  Therefore, the "culprit" has again been successfully identified, although that doesn't stop Monokuma from using his punishment game to a different end, that being the destruction of Alter Ego.  The remaining students are now determined to put up a united front to find out the truth behind their circumstances, but it seems that Monokuma also has some more tricks up his own sleeve...

After a lot of rather entertaining twisting and turning as the story behind the latest incident unraveled, its eventual revelation wasn't exactly too much of a shock given that it seemed the most logical outcome which other evidence only seemed to be obfuscating.  It's entertainment that this series is ultimately all about though, so I suppose I can forgive it that as we enter what looks to be a rather different final leg of the series which I'm plenty curious to see.  I'll openly admit to being a little unimpressed with the eventual layout of its previous couple of mysteries in comparison to my expectations, but as long as Danranronpa remains fun to watch, as it's succeeded in thus far, it's still onto a winner overall.

Danganronpa - Episode 8

Another new floor opens up after the successful resolution to the last trial, but this isn't the most pressing concern in Naegi's mind right now as he tries to process what he's just seen.

Although he refuses to talk to Kirigiri about it (much to her chagrin), Naegi is primarily pondering why Oogami is fighting with Monokuma - could it be that she's the previously mooted "mole" in their midst?  It doesn't take too long before we find out, as Monokuma himself announces that Sakura is indeed his secret agent, to the dismay of all and the disbelief in particular of Asahina who refuses to believe this role was taken up by her friend out of anything other than duress.

In fact, Asahina's support for her friend is absolute, leading to a major falling out with Togami and a scrap with Genocider as she refuses to back down from her stance.  While Naegi and Kirigiri are sidetracked by both revelations about the past of Hope's Peak Academy and Alter Ego's request so that she too can join the battle to escape the premises, another murder is carried out - they target this time is hardly unexpected, which might just make tracking down the culprit much more difficult.

At this point in the series Danganronpa's episode structure is set in stone to ensure no surprises, but I'm still enjoying it in spite of this - this week's episode in particular builds up a pretty compelling locked room murder-mystery for us to get our teeth into (with hopefully a little more time spent on gathering evidence than the rushed montage at the end of the episode), and its character interactions only serve to accentuate said mystery.  I'm still waiting for this series to spiral off into outright lunacy to the point where I lose interest, but for now it's doing a good job of staying on the rails, albeit by the skin of its teeth at times.

Danganronpa - Episode 7

Our ever-dwindling group of academy students have now found themselves with not one but two murders to ponder this time around - is this a scenario that they can ever hope to get to the bottom of?

Initially (and as is so often the case with these things), it seems to be clear as to who the culprit- or perhaps culprits - are.  Yamada's final words don't seem particularly helpful, but with both Kirigiri and Hagakure missing there are two obvious students without alibis.  This isn't exactly helped by the fact that Hagakure is foind, by Kirigiri no less, dressed as the so-called "justice robot" - although he claims he was forced into the suit by somebody, it's hard to shake the implications of what this might mean.

As the trial rolls around, it's up to Naegi to put on his thinking cap and make sense of the madness once again - having put paid to any thoughts that those without alibis were responsible, it looks as if the gang might reach a stalemate and all lose this horrendous game, before Naegi stumbled across a simple sentence that beings to unravel the lies and deceits which led up to these dual murders...

Just like the previous arc, there are moments in this week's Danganronpa that feel just plain silly, but thankfully these moments don't do too much damage to the overall entertainment value.  If anything, I'd probably argue that this particular episode tried a little too hard to flag its main guilty party before all of the arc's evidence was laid on the table, which strips a little of the desire to figure it all out yourself from the information at hand even if it isn't an invalid way of handling its characters per se.  Overall though, I'm continuing to enjoy the Danganronpa experience warts and all, and there are clearly still more major twists and turns to come yet.

Danganronpa - Episode 6

With another trial over and another slice of "justice" served, our surviving students find another floor of the academy opening up to them, alongside more intriguing information and possibilities.

As another temptation is set in the students path in the form of ten billion Yen to be given to the next murderer (should they not be caught, of course), so another concern emerges - is there a ghost in the building?  Asahina seems to think so, but a little investigation reveals something even more intriguing - a laptop hidden away which contains an AI "alter-ego" of the murdered Fujisaki, stored within the building's bathhouse free from any surveillance cameras.  With this AI attempting to crack some files which may hold secrets to the insanity surrounding the group, the virtual Fujisaki could be an important part of any attempts to escape the current predicament - however, both Yamada and a decidedly broken Ishimaru seem to have latched on to this AI for other reasons.

Things quickly take a turn for the worse from here - first, the laptop in question goes missing with no clues as to who might have taken it, suggesting that there could be a "mole" in the group's midst.  Even this possibility is put on the back-burner as more pressing matters come to hand, with students being attacked by an assailant with so-called "Justice Hammers", allegedly by a robot.  In the midst of this confusion, not one but two murders occur in a complex and baffling set of circumstances that is going to take a lot of work to unravel, while promising to also hold some secrets as the current situation.

Although part of me worries a little that Danganronpa is trying to ramp up the insanity a little too far (justice robots?!), thinking about it this isn't really the time to peg current events as a step too far given that everything the series does is sheer lunacy anyhow.  With seemingly its most complex set of circumstances yet to sift through, I'll be curious to see whether next week's episode can do a satisfying job of running through everything in the time allotted to it - assuming the way everything is unraveled is suitably satisfying, I'm sure any doubts will soon be expunged from my head as a result.

Danganronpa - Episode 5

A second grisly (or should that be grizzly, given that a bear is the ringleader of this whole affair?) murder has been committed, but who is the culprit?  It's trial time again as the remaining students try to puzzle out who could do such a thing.

At first glance, it seems like the answer to this question couldn't be easier to those in the know, as both Naegi and Togami are aware that there's a serial killer whose modus operandi matches that of Fujisaki's death.  The question of who this serial killer might be is also quickly revealed.  So, game over and the killer has been appropriately outed, right?

Nope - even though the split personality of "Genocider Syo" has appeared and made themselves known, this serial killer is adamant that they weren't responsible, and inconsistencies with the way this individual would normally go about their nefarious business are soon revealed.  So who did do it?  Well, Togami certainly knows more than enough to frame Genocider for Fujisaki's death, but a few twists and turns later and the finger of accusation is pointing in a far more surprising direction...

To be honest (and I've probably said this before), I'm a sucker for murder-mystery shows and it's something that anime rarely seems to tackle in a traditional sense these days, so Danganronpa's dedication to an episode of murder followed by one of resolution is immensely satisfying for me personally.  In the case of this particular murder arc, the series manages to walk the tightrope between providing clues and trains of thought that the viewer can follow with some bolts of the blue, meaning that you can legitimately feel like you're on the right track but be hard-pressed to figure out everything in advance and thus spoil the surprises.  Couple that with its zany visuals (which might not be for everyone) and great soundtrack, and I'm having more and more fun with this series by the week.

Danganronpa - Episode 4

With their numbers falling and having seen the punishment meted out to the first killer in this brutal game, it's fair to say that Naegi is in need of a little time to mourn the loss of those around him.  But never mind that, here's a rhythm game!

Anyhow, having correctly identified that first killer, the rest of the group's reward is to find the next level of their accommodation unlocked, replete with a library and swimming pool, the latter of which has its access carefully controlled using the gang's digital notebooks.  What's more, the group have some free days ahead for them to enjoy at their leisure, although the free time seems to be sending some of the group a bit loopy, not least Fukawa, who seems to have taken a strange liking to Togami, the one person who seems intent upon playing this sick "game" to its fullest for all its worth.

None of this bizarre behaviour is enough to placate Monokuma, who decides to up the ante by threatening to reveal a personal secret from the past of every student if a murder isn't committed in the next twenty-four hours.  Although these secrets really don't seem to be the kind of things anyone would deign serious enough to kill for, come the next morning lo and behold some investigation reveals a body in the girl's locker room.  With the initial clues bearing a striking similarity to those of a serial killer on the loose before this crazy game even started, could it be that there's already a bona fide mass murderer within the academy?

Despite leaning a little too hard into its attempt at slightly zany comedy to depict the group's free time, this is otherwise another strong episode of Danganronpa that does a good job of leading the viewer down the path of all sorts of assumptions before defying those assumptions by taking a sharp turn and heading in another direction entirely.  With tantalising and brain-teasing clues, and some decidedly odd character behaviour, to consider, having to wait until next week for the courtroom episode which reveals all may be a painful one, which itself proves where the strengths of this series lay.

Danganronpa - Episode 3

The Hope's Peak courtroom is now in session - can the group come to a definitive answer as to who was responsible for Maizono's grisly fate?  Just as importantly, can Naegi save his skin given that he's currently the prime suspect?

With this week's episode focusing purely on courtroom drama, needless to say there are no shortage of twists and turns to be found as the evidence and suspicions of the group are unraveled.  For starters, was Maizono really a pure and innocent victim, or was she a would-be murderer who simply had the tables turned on her?

As things proceed and Maizono's true intentions become clear, the question still remains as to who her murdered was.  However, it seems that Naegi is slowly but surely beginning to form a picture in his head of exactly what happened, and once his theory lands upon the truth the subject of his accusations becomes decidedly uncomfortable - not as uncomfortable as when said individual is receiving their punishment, having been correctly identified as the killer, mind you...

Although some aspects of its trail of evidence and the revelations surrounding them felt a little forced or otherwise unsatisfying, as a whole this week's episode of Danganronpa was exactly what I've been tuning into the series for - creating some murder-mysteries in the midst of its insane scenario before unraveling them and potentially giving the viewer enough clues to do likewise.  Although I wonder whether it's going to have enough time to continue in this vein from beginning to end, I'm still very much enjoying the series, uniquely cheap visuals (which occasionally work surprisingly well) and all, and hopefully it has more than enough twists and thought-provoking turns left to keep me entertained throughout.

Danganronpa - Episode 2

Like it or not, Naegi and his fellow cohorts at Hope's Peak Private Academy have no choice but to settle into their new "home", even with the prospect of being murdered by their fellow students and an increased urgency to escape playing on their minds.

For Naegi himself, concerns about the state of his bathroom door are soon interrupted by a visit from first Monobear, closely followed by Maizono, who is in quite a straight after what seems to be attempts to break into her room.  With the idea of the two sharing Naegi's room together off the cards, it's instead decided that the two will swap rooms for the night, which seems to pass uneventfully.

At least, it looks that way until Maizono doesn't turn up for breakfast the next morning, only for Naegi to find her stabbed to death in the bathroom.  It's clear that the first murder of this "game" has taken place, but who is the culprit?  Although anyone who kills another is promised a "graduation" from the academy, there's another twist to this tail - they'll only succeed in being released if they can pass a trial of their peers without being fingered as the murderer.  Unfortunately for Naegi, he's the obvious suspect given the location of Maizono's death, but does he have the evidence required to clear himself from this charge as the trial looms?

After setting up its premise with an enjoyable start, this was another equally entertaining episode to expand upon the show's concept and show us how the series is going to work.  There's a worry that things could become too formulaic in the long run, but as someone who loves a good murder mystery and equally loves the idea of some kind of survival game as a key tenet of a series, this seems like a near perfect combination.  If the series can prove to be as smart as it clearly thinks it is in presenting these cases and their resolutions, then I simply can't wait to devour more of this series over the coming weeks, flaky animation be damned.

Danganronpa - Episode 1

Hope's Peak Private Academy is, as the name alludes to, an exclusive establishment reserved solely for the best of the best; the country's brightest in a variety of disciplines.  Well, almost solely for the best and brightest, with the exception of our protagonist, Naegi Makoto, who won a place at the academy via sheer dumb luck thanks to a lottery.

If this seems like a cause for celebration, then you'd be right - at least, until Naegi takes his first step across the academy's threshold, at which point things take a decidedly weird turn.  Blacking out the second he enters the school grounds, he awakens to find himself invited to the school year's entrance ceremony, and an opportunity to meet fourteen weird and wonderful geniuses from an equally weird variety of disciplines, be they school idols or fanzine makers.  Where things become really bizarre however is with the introduction of the school's principle - a talking stuffed bear (despite protestations that he is anything but) named Monobear.

This is by no means the school's only unique talking point however, as the gathered students are told that they will be staying at the academy, all expenses paid, for the rest of their lives, with only one exception which will allow them to leave - that being if they kill one of their fellow students.  If everybody is initially on the same page with regard to not playing such an insane game, a few days later cracks are already beginning to show, and Monobear has in his possession some video footage which will only ramp up the group's desire to escape no matter how vastly...

It feels cheap to describe it in such a way (and rather ironic too given it's a video game adaptation), but the presentation and premise of Danganronpa feel so "anime" that it hurts.  Not that this is a bad thing - its concept is the kind of lunacy that probably drew many of us to the medium in the first place, and although it perhaps tries a little too hard to create a roster of larger than life characters there's no shortage of promise in its core plot that feels more than a little reminiscent to Mirai Nikki in some ways.  The sheer insanity of it all also somehow manages to suit the decidedly low budget animation (which itself feels more like in-game FMV than an actual episode of anime), and the result is a series that feels like it should be a lot of fun if it plays its cards right.