Kirigiri Sou, which takes place before the first game and after the events of the light novel series Danganronpa: Kirigiri, follows college student Kouhei Matsudaira and Kyoko Kirigiri, as both of them investigate a mysterious mansion ruled by the influence of a plant hybrid doppelgänger of Kyoko (known as Kyoka) created by Santa Shikiba and her "siblings", the Rhinogradentia. It was originally released in Japan on November 25th, 2010 for the PlayStation Portable. A promotional d Ishaan Shadev (16 October 2013). "This Week In Sales: At Last… Pokémon X And Pokémon Y". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 28 March 2015 . Retrieved 15 July 2015.

McElroy, Griffin (15 December 2017). "One of the best video game endings of 2017 blows up an entire franchise". Polygon . Retrieved 15 December 2017. While at Spike, Kodaka proposed an idea to the company that was known as Distrust. [20] The concept was similar to that of Danganronpa, a battle royale style death game in a closed environment between high school students, but the idea was too gruesome and was consequently scrapped. After tweaking the concept, Kodaka successfully pitched it to the company and the game went into production, becoming Danganronpa. [20] The word "Danganronpa" originated from character designer Rui Komatsuzaki which was first written in kanji but it was later taken to katakana for the logo. [21] Kodaka cites David Lynch as a major inspiration when making the games. He stated "As opposed to being about death, these are games about playing for your life, since killing is much less purposeful without a motive to justify it. This is something you can really see with all his titles.". [22] According to Kodaka, the first two games focus prominently on the ideas of hope and despair. The cast from the first game suffers the latter theme when being forced to kill each other in Monokuma's battle royale. Kodaka stated that the games were intended "to portray the disparity faced when someone has killed another person while at the same time portraying the hope of one day achieving salvation." Although the game shares traits from Koushun Takami's 1999 novel Battle Royale, Kodaka aimed to provide different ideas when writing the script. Originally, the idea was to use adults as protagonists but he instead found high school characters as more potential leads due to their immaturity through the usage of character development and how would they react to a killing game. [45] Voice actress Megumi Ogata who voices Makoto Naegi also commented on these themes; Ogata felt Makoto embodies the philosophy of hope as he brings this to the narrative and the setting. [46] Super Danganronpa 2: Nanami Chiaki no Sayonara Zetsubou Daibouken ( スーパーダンガンロンパ2 七海千秋のさよなら絶望大冒険) (Illustrated by Karin Suzuragi, published in Mag Garden's Monthly Comic Blade from December 2012) The games were localized by NIS America. Due to the poor popularity of outsourced games by the Western studio-like DmC: Devil May Cry or Dead Rising, Spike wanted the Danganronpa to remain true to its Japanese release, with Spike Chunsoft CEO Mitsutoshi Sakurai saying that Western fans seemed to embrace Japanese games like the Final Fantasy series. [52] Due to delays with it being made, fan translations of the first game were present on the internet before NIS America handled the project. Minor changes were made to the characters' names but the team felt that the team aimed the project to be as faithful and accessible to the Western gamers. Spike's single request to NIS America was keeping the Monokuma's names intact. Due to the premise involving mystery, NIS America was keeping clues and at the same making the Class Trials as challenging as the original ones from Japan. While the English cast did not cause difficulties, Toko Fukawa's English voice actress was the most challenging to find as the character has a speech impediment. Monokuma was kept intact to make him look funny and at the same time threatening, something the team enjoyed. [53]

Danganronpa ( Japanese: ダンガンロンパ) is a Japanese video game franchise created by Kazutaka Kodaka and developed and owned by Spike Chunsoft (formerly Spike). The series primarily surrounds various groups of apparent high-school students who are forced into murdering each other by a robotic teddy bear named Monokuma. Gameplay features a mix of adventure, visual novel, detective and dating simulator elements. The first game, Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, was released for the PlayStation Portable in 2010.

Makoto Naegi, a teenager with no remarkable talent, is surprised to learn that he has been accepted into Hope’s Peak Private Academy: an elite school that gathers the best students from various fields. Despite believing his admission was just a fluke, Naegi is delighted to attend an institution known for ensuring success to those who graduate. Determined, he enters the front doors of the prestigious academy. Danganronpa: The 10 Best Characters, Ranked By Intelligence". Comic Book Resources. 8 July 2020 . Retrieved 20 March 2021. An enhanced version for Android and iOS, with the subtitle Anniversary Edition, was released on May 21, 2020. [37] This version features the gallery mode, allowing players to replay the character voices and view event illustrations. During E3 2021, it was announced that it will also be released for the Nintendo Switch in 2021, both as part of the Danganronpa Decadence bundle, as well as separately. [38] On January 18, 2022, it was released for Xbox One and Windows via Microsoft Store. [39] Reception [ edit ] Sales [ edit ]Danganronpa Gaiden: Killer Killer: A manga spin-off written by Yuichirou Koizumi and illustrated by Sasako Mitomo. It was initially published as a standalone work, but was later rebranded as a side story to Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School with the release of the third chapter. a b "Danganronpa™: Trigger Happy Havoc". nisamerica.com. Archived from the original on 16 April 2021 . Retrieved 21 March 2021.

Danganronpa 3 Hope Arc Special Episode (Final) Review: The Academy of Hope and the Students of Despair". Manga.Tokyo. 3 October 2016. Archived from the original on 13 September 2020 . Retrieved 6 February 2021.

Danganronpa - Kibou no Gakuen to Zetsubou no Koukousei Chapter 1 : The Case Of Maizono Sayaka

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc Anniversary Edition now available for iOS, Android". 21 May 2020. Archived from the original on 4 June 2020 . Retrieved 21 May 2020. During Class Trial, the students try to solve the murder by discussing the evidence they have. The player plays several mini-games to progress the trial. The most common mini-game, Nonstop Debate, involves the player trying to refute the students' statements using Truth Bullets based on the evidence they collected during the Investigation mode.

Anime Anime (in Japanese). 10 July 2013. Archived from the original on 2 July 2019 . Retrieved 1 February 2021. There were no plans for a sequel after the first Danganronpa game was produced; the development team disbanded to make other projects. Kodaka wrote the light novel series Danganronpa Zero, which was published as two volumes on September 15, 2011, and October 13, 2011. [81] [82] Another novel series written by Takekuni Kitayama and illustrated by Komatsuzaki, titled Danganronpa Kirigiri ( ダンガンロンパ霧切), began release from September 13, 2013. [83] Terasawa approached Kodaka with the idea of sequel in few months in regards to writing a sequel to Danganronpa. Kodaka wrote both Zero and Goodbye Despair at the same time. In hindsight, Kodaka thought the novels needed more structuring work when he compared it with the game. He wrote elements in the light novel that foreshadowed elements of the game's sequel, Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair; as a result, Kodaka recommended gamers to read Zero before playing it. [84] The third main game in the series, Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, was released in 2017. [85] Danganronpa: Kibō no Gakuen to Zetsubō no Kōkōsei The Stage: A stage play adapting the first visual novel. Appealing to the West by focusing on the East". Games Industry. 14 February 2018. Archived from the original on 18 April 2021 . Retrieved 20 February 2021. How NIS America Localized Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc". Siliconera. 24 January 2014 . Retrieved 11 February 2021.NetEase's Horror Game, Identity V, Announces Crossover With Danganronpa". TheGamer. 28 May 2020 . Retrieved 30 May 2020. Danganronpa Sells 85,000 Units, Spike CEO Grins Like Mono-Bear". Siliconera. 25 February 2011. Archived from the original on 5 July 2013 . Retrieved 15 December 2012. Super Danganronpa 2: Sayonara Zetsubou Gakuen ( スーパーダンガンロンパ2 さよなら絶望学園) (Published in Famitsu Comic Clear from 10 December 2012)