Danganronpa: Academy of Hope and High School Students of Despair

Okay, didn't really know how to classify this, whether it counts more as a Visual Novel or a game, so...hopefully this works, and even more hopefully there's not already a thread somewhere, making me a moron for not realizing.

Anyway, here we go. Dangan Ronpa. We have a tropes page but there isn't even a wikipedia article for it, which sucks because, it's a really amazing murder mystery/courtroom drama/battle royale/Phoenix Wright-like visual novel with honestly surprising twists and interesting characters. It kind of feels really unique from what one can read from the Let's Play, which is practically the only way you can read it in english, seeing as, from my knowledge, there's really no plans for an official translation. (Plus the guy doing the Let's Play, Orenonen, is really great seeing as he's doing it on his own and might even be working on a fan translation.)

Also it has music from Masafumi Takada. That's another plus since the soundtrack's crazily awesome too.

So...yeah, hope people who don't know will check it out, and people who do know will have a place to theorize and discuss and all that stuff.

edited 29th May '12 3:44:19 PM by lightdarkhero250

I found a decent amount of information about Dangan Ronpa through a variety of articles on Siliconera. But as you said, not many people are currently discussing the game. As far as I know, it has not yet generated any ridiculous memes, no crazy fans have made fools of themselves (...thus bringing shame on fandom in general...) in public, and I don't think there's anything especially controversial about it.

A few people might start paying attention to Dangan Ronpa if a company greenlights The Anime of the Game. While I don't expect anyone will localize the original PSP game or its sequel, there's a chance that recent iOS and Android versions will get official translations. And you can be assured that people will go nuts if someone starts talking about The Movie, especially if some currently-big-name movie star is involved.

Ah! A reply! I kind of realize that the game has nothing viral going for it, but the deaths can be pretty brutal and the Something Awful thread is slowly acquiring a memetic status around the board (The goons there don't even proclaim it as lame anime weeaboo shit, and actually are really engaged with the story and surprised by its twists)

It has some pretty A-list voice actors in Japan, and it's getting a sequel, so it's obviously garnering some popularity, in my opinion, and it could definitely be made into an anime. Hell, the story practically structures out to a 18 Episode series, really, and that would probably only be if they really felt like fleshing out the characters more.

So, yeah, I hope that, with the PSP kind of fading out, that Android/iOS edition might have a chance of localization...

But, is there any major companies that would actually pick up an iOS title like that?

Really hope that its popularity on SA will lead to something bigger. For now I'm content with following its progress in the LP though. :P

I would definitely be interested in talking about the game! (If there's anybody else around who's willing to.)

e: Is this thread just for discussion of the LP (since it's the only major English resource for the game), or is stuff that the LP hasn't gotten to also okay?

edited 24th Jun '12 10:06:41 PM by Neuchadjinys

Well, I would rather try not to spoil anything past the LP's point, since it kind of is the only way for those without an understanding of japanese(like me) to actually be able to see the story of the game. Of course, even I spoiled myself a bit(watched a video of all the executions.) and while I still have no idea where the plot is going, I kinda felt bummed out/extremely confused/wat'ed after seeing it.

So, if someones does want to talk about things a little bit past the LP(like the sequel), it would better to 1: Spoiler it, of course, and 2: Make sure it's not a "core" part of the plot, like big twists or reveals or whatever.

You should also put spoilers under anything that involves death in any way. Whether it's been covered by the LP or not.

So yeah, feel free to discuss or speculated anything within those boundaries!

...Of course, this place is pretty empty, so I guess there isn't much to talk about, is there?...

edited 27th Jun '12 12:21:36 PM by lightdarkhero250

Sure thing! I'll be careful not to mention any spoilers. （・ー・　）

...I kind of spoiled the entire plot for myself already (sans Free Time stuff), though, so I can't participate in actual speculation. Oh well. :P

Fukawa is very rapidly becoming my favorite character and I'm really glad that one of the next Free Time events will be with her.

edited 27th Jun '12 5:50:10 PM by Neuchadjinys

Yep, I think Fukawa is definitely one of the characters that practically defines the game, due to obvious reasons.

Free Time would be one of the things I'd actually allow to go unspoiled, since only in retrospect does it really foreshadow anything.

I also really like Naegi, super blandness and (sometimes)idiocy aside.

Actually, after a while all characters seem to grow on you as the plot goes on. Even Hagakure has become a favorite of mine, even though he just seemed like a suspiciously normal dude at first.

edited 27th Jun '12 7:55:39 PM by lightdarkhero250

You know, Kirigiri's hypocrisy in chapter 4 really bugs me. Basically, she gets mad at Naegi for keeping secrets even though she does the same. And when she uses the fact that he wants to know her secrets without spilling his own to make her criticism, the fact of the matter is that Naegi asked about them before and didn't even have anything to keep private up until that point.

Of course, there is the argument that Kirigiri's secret is very valuable and should be kept under wraps. But what if Naegi is in the same boat? Of course, the audience knows that Naegi's secret isn't something that should be kept private and he should probably tell what he saw to one of the more trustworthy students. In fact, if I was in his shoes, I probably would have done just that. But there's no way that Kirigiri could have known that.

It's okay to get angry for someone keeping secrets from you. But when you outright avoid them at all costs even though you're doing the exact same thing, you'll come off as kind of a brat. Also, sorry for ranting, I just needed to get it off my chest. All I'm hoping now is that this situation is addressed sooner or later.

edited 28th Jun '12 1:05:50 PM by magictoaster

Even though it really is hypocritical, I think that one of the main reasons Kirigiri's so angry at Naegi is because before, he was giving of major signs of being an open and friendly individual. He was going on about friendship and trusting one another, but then, even though he's asking for her to tell him secrets and the like, and she has been giving him clues and evidence that he wouldn't of found on his own(Doujin's underwear note.), he still for some reason won't tell her a secret, which is also hypocritical of him.

I think she's just trying to even the playing field; he's not going to be honest with her, she won't be honest with him. he won't help her, she won't help him.

Even though Kirigiri's kept secrets herself, she still does reveal some things to Naegi. Naegi on the other hand, has never revealed any secrets, because, really(at least from the player and other character's perspectives), he doesn't have any. He's an open book, are at least pretends to be, and gets everyone to spill things, but now he's keeping this one little secret and I think that's what really frustrates her. He's not being consistent.

edited 3rd Jul '12 1:14:33 PM by lightdarkhero250

I agree that it's mostly Naegi's fault for keeping secrets in the first place, considering that one of the options even suggested him to spill the beans but he was all "lolnope" and decided to keep it to himself anyway. But is that really much of a reason to completely ignore him, especially considering the situation they're in? Maybe if Kirigiri was less hostile to him, Naegi would trust her more and actually tell her? I mean, wouldn't it benefit you better if you didn't alienate the person who managed to reveal the previous culprits?

The thing is, though, is that kind of reasoning doesn't really work since it seems that, through all the murders, Kirigiri has been pretty sure who all the murderers were by the time of the trial, and seems to mostly clear things up and lead Naegi on to the conclusion(With Togami helping out with that as well now.) From her character, and the situation they're all in, I don't think she's relying on Naegi, just helping convince him in some cases. After all, from her personality, and the fact that a wrong choice means death for everyone, I'm sure she's thinking it all out on her own and not just following Naegi's examples. (Which also makes me wonder how game overs go if you somehow choose wrong, even when it's pretty obvious who the killer is; seriously, do Togami and Kirigiri just go with that and allow themselves to die or what?)

Who believed in looking into things further when Maizono was murdered? Kirigiri. Who caught Oowada on his jersey color mistake/referring differently to late Chihiro? Kirigiri. Who reached down Doujin's buttcrack to pull out a note that indicated a duped Ishimaru? Kirigiri. Who found a secret room filled with documents without getting caught? Kirigiri. And who revealed all these things to Naegi and allowing him to connect the dots and relay it to everyone else? Kirigiri. So, while slightly hypocritical, I think her current resentment of Naegi is more a part of her trust-impaired character and less a severe slip of "plot needs her to hate him right now so hate him". In her mind, she's saved his ass several times over and now he has the nerve to keep something from her? Even after his trust and friendship speeches and sometimes prying into other people's lives and issues?

All in all, I think she just feels he's being pretty unfair with it all, and it's debatable if how she chooses to get even(by shunning and ignoring him) is right or not. To us, who are in control of the little guy and know that it's not a big deal of a secret to keep and wouldn't really mean much whether he told anyone or not(It's not like they can force Sakura to say anything if she really is a mole, since she could probably beat them all to death if she really wanted to) it doesn't seem right, but in-world, it can be pretty justifiable.

edited 6th Jul '12 3:38:42 PM by lightdarkhero250

Plus, the stress is likely wearing on her just as it is everyone else.

That said, the circumstances don't exactly help her case much, either. He did just get ambushed while trying to check out that secret room, and she seemed rather dismissive about it. "Oh, well, at least I got to search it first, so no harm done!" Following that up with "No, I'm not going to share my secrets, but I insist you tell me yours!" just helps pile on the bad feelings...

Still not as big a Jerkass as Togami, though.

Well, at this point, you kind of expect Togami to be a Jerkass. It's practically his thing. But when Kirigiri, the person who has been helping you all this time, decides to act spiteful because of something that not only is probably not that important but is also hypocritical on her part, it really rubs you the wrong way.

There's something I've noticed way back in Chapter 1 that I haven't seen anyone bring up, but I don't have an SA account, so I'll post it here.

Remember the videos that served as the first incentive (Update #11)? Compare the scenery in Naegi's video pre- and post-disaster. Notice anything? The lamp and portrait swapped places.

edited 14th Jul '12 9:15:27 PM by CandyCrazy

Holy shit never noticed that. But, I think It might of just been moved because of the destruction though...

EDIT:Also, about recent update, Looks like Kirigiri has realized she overreacted a little to the secret after realizing what it was, so, her and Naegi are back on speaking terms, at least.

edited 15th Jul '12 4:10:19 PM by lightdarkhero250

I'll tell ya, Kirigiri blushing is probably one of the cutest things I've seen in the LP.

New update posted. A corpse has been discovered!

Anyone have thoughts to share regarding the latest murder, now that the investigation is underway and there's some evidence at our disposal?

Also, Super Dangan Ronpa 2 was released today.

I personally think that Sakura committed suicide, seeing as she didn't seem to be taken that much by surprise. I don't really know how to figure the head injury into that though...I'm thinking she migh have poisoned herself but then again there's been no official mention of poison yet, which I find suspicious since I'd think the Monobear Report would at least give that as a detail...

On Super Dangan Ronpa 2 being released; I hope that, maybe after a long break from finishing 1 he'll hopefully translate it as well.

New update. The trial is moving along pretty quickly this time!

I think it's absolutely hilarious that Togami nearly drank a chunk of glass because he felt like being dramatic with that bottle.

I like even more that for once the smug bastard didn't get the whole picture. That freakout portrait was the best thing ever! I don't even hate Togami, but that was the greatest moment of the update for me.

This interesting in hindsight, considering what Monobear did with the suicide notes:

You can take any positive thing, add a , and it turns negative!!

"Monobear ordered Sakura to kill someone. So she killed herself. "

"Monobear ordered Sakura to kill someone. So she killed herself. "

edit: also A DOZER MASTER is the most amazing phrase in the world true fact

edited 21st Aug '12 12:05:54 PM by Neuchadjinys

The most disturbing/saddest thing is that if you look closely, Alter-Ego is actually reacting to being hit...So, in some way, it is actually feeling a form of pain while Monobear's crushing it repeatedly...

Orenronen is currently asking for suggestions about things to touch up in the translation before the LP is put in the archive. I have a few things I'd like to mention, but... I don't have an account on the SA forums, and I'm unable to buy one any time soon.

Would someone with an account there possibly be willing to relay it to him? If there's anyone who could do that, feel free to PM me about it. I'm sorry if this seems like a dumb request. (Also, none of the things I'm concerned about are spoilers.)

edit: actually it'd be way better to just put this on the discussion page so I'll do that

edited 26th Aug '12 11:36:31 AM by Neuchadjinys