Danganronpa

Discussion of the various Danganronpa games occurs often in the Duckpond as many of the active members have played the games and discuss much about the game as well as posting memes about the games and various characters. While many of the members have played the games there are a portion of the members who have never played it and find the discussion of the games to be annoying.

## The Games

Danganronpa (Japanese: ダンガンロンパ) is a video game franchise created and developed by Spike Chunsoft (formerly Spike) for the PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, iOS, Android and home computers. The series consists of three main titles, *Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc*, *Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair*, *Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony*, and a third person shooter spin-off, *Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls*. Multiple smartphone titles, as well as various manga and novel adaptations and spin-off series, have also been released, and two anime television series, *Danganronpa: The Animation* and *Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School*, have been produced by Lerche. The games are published in North America and Europe by NIS America. The series' name is a compound of *dangan* (弾丸, bullet) and *ronpa* (論破, refute).

The series follows groups of high school students who are forced into a killing game. The series received positive reviews from critics, praising the series' characters, tone, and atmosphere.

The series revolves around the elite high school, Hope's Peak Academy (希望ヶ峰学園, *Kibōgamine Gakuen*, lit. Kibogamine Academy), which, every year, selects "Ultimate" students (超高校級, *chō-kōkō-kyū*, lit. Super High School Level) talented high school students who are in the top of their field, along with one "Ultimate Lucky Student" who is chosen by lottery.

In *Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc*, Makoto Naegi, an average student selected to join Hope's Peak Academy, arrives at the school only to lose consciousness and later find himself trapped inside the school, along with fourteen other students. There, a sadistic remote-controlled bear by the name of Monokuma announces that the students will be forced to live in the school forever, offering only one way to graduate: murder another student and get away with it. When a crime scene is discovered, a "class trial" (学級裁判, *gakkyū saiban*) is held, in which the remaining students must discuss amongst themselves who the murderer is. If they can successfully figure out who murdered the victim, the culprit alone will be executed. However, if they guess incorrectly, the culprit will be able to leave the school and everyone else will be executed.

The sequel, *Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair*, has a similar premise, this time taking place on a tropical island known as Jabberwock (ジャバウォック島, *Jabawokku-tō*). Hajime Hinata, a student who has no memory of his Ultimate talent, along with fifteen other students, are taken there by a rabbit named Usami, who states it to be a field trip to help the classmates make friends with each other. However, Monokuma interferes yet again, turning it into yet another killing game.

*Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls*, which takes place between the events of the first two games, follows Makoto's younger sister, Komaru Naegi, accompanied by Toko Fukawa, as both of them trek through a city ruled by Monokuma's influence, fighting against a group of murderous children calling themselves the Warriors of Hope.

The anime series, *Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School*, serves as both a prologue and an epilogue to the Hope's Peak Academy storyline featured in the above games. The series is split into two arcs: *Despair Side*, which is a prequel to Trigger Happy Havoc, and *Future Side*, which is a sequel to Goodbye Despair. In *Despair Side*, Hope's Peak alumna Chisa Yukizome accepts a position as a homeroom teacher at her alma mater in order to keep an eye on suspicious activities undertaken by the school. In *Future Side*, Makoto, along with survivors of the first killing game and members of the Future Foundation, are forced into another killing game against each other.

*Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony* features a new storyline and has another female protagonist, Kaede Akamatsu. She become trapped in the "Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles" and forced to participate in a killing game by Monokuma and his "Monokubs". This sequel is only loosely related to the Hope's Peak Academy storyline, as it happens in the future.