If you're familiar with the first two Danganronpa games and the Gaiden Game Absolute Despair Girls, you may have noticed that they left a few story threads unresolved. This anime seeks to resolve these questions, and mostly succeeds.
There are two main story arcs in this series. Side: Future takes place after the second game, involving a new killing game with the leaders of the Future Foundation. Side: Despair takes place in the last two years of Hope's Peak, showing the events leading up to the Tragedy. Both tie together in various ways, as a Side:Despair episode may provide insights on an unanswered question from the past in Side: Future, and both lead up to a combined Grand Finale in Side: Hope. There's many references, both implicit and overt to previous entries in the franchises, but while it's not for those new to the series, series veterans will likely enjoy seeing subtle nods to the games and learning more about the story.
The returning characters are generally used fairly well. The surviving members of the first game's cast have been deeply impacted by their time in the killing game, for better or worse, while it's interesting to see how the characters from the second game behave outside the killing game, without the threat of death and betrayal hanging over their heads.
The newcomers can be fairly interesting and have a surprising amount of depth... at least for those who survive long enough to show that depth. One significant flaw is that many of the characters don't get enough screen time or development. In Side: Future, some characters are introduced only to be unceremoniously killed off within a few episodes, while in Side: Despair, some of the side characters from the second game are neglected. Granted, a 24-episode anime can't give the same kind of character exploration that a 30-hour game can, but this is a noticeable problem. The pacing isn't too much of an issue in Side: Future, which focuses on a killing game, but perhaps making Side: Despair longer, or maybe making it into a brief series of novels, might have helped give the side characters a bit more screentime and focus.
While Side: Despair, being a prequel, ends the way you'd expect it would, how does Side: Hope end? Without spoiling too much, the answer is surprisingly happily, even if more than a few people end up dying before that ending is reached, and not all the world's problems are necessarily resolved. It's appropriately bittersweet, but also what the main protagonists deserve after enduring so much death and suffering.
All in all, Danganronpa 3 has its flaws, but if you enjoyed the rest of the Hope's Peak saga, this conclusion will likely be worthwhile.
Anime A flawed but enjoyable conclusion to the Hope's Peak saga
If you're familiar with the first two Danganronpa games and the Gaiden Game Absolute Despair Girls, you may have noticed that they left a few story threads unresolved. This anime seeks to resolve these questions, and mostly succeeds.
There are two main story arcs in this series. Side: Future takes place after the second game, involving a new killing game with the leaders of the Future Foundation. Side: Despair takes place in the last two years of Hope's Peak, showing the events leading up to the Tragedy. Both tie together in various ways, as a Side:Despair episode may provide insights on an unanswered question from the past in Side: Future, and both lead up to a combined Grand Finale in Side: Hope. There's many references, both implicit and overt to previous entries in the franchises, but while it's not for those new to the series, series veterans will likely enjoy seeing subtle nods to the games and learning more about the story.
The returning characters are generally used fairly well. The surviving members of the first game's cast have been deeply impacted by their time in the killing game, for better or worse, while it's interesting to see how the characters from the second game behave outside the killing game, without the threat of death and betrayal hanging over their heads.
The newcomers can be fairly interesting and have a surprising amount of depth... at least for those who survive long enough to show that depth. One significant flaw is that many of the characters don't get enough screen time or development. In Side: Future, some characters are introduced only to be unceremoniously killed off within a few episodes, while in Side: Despair, some of the side characters from the second game are neglected. Granted, a 24-episode anime can't give the same kind of character exploration that a 30-hour game can, but this is a noticeable problem. The pacing isn't too much of an issue in Side: Future, which focuses on a killing game, but perhaps making Side: Despair longer, or maybe making it into a brief series of novels, might have helped give the side characters a bit more screentime and focus.
While Side: Despair, being a prequel, ends the way you'd expect it would, how does Side: Hope end? Without spoiling too much, the answer is surprisingly happily, even if more than a few people end up dying before that ending is reached, and not all the world's problems are necessarily resolved. It's appropriately bittersweet, but also what the main protagonists deserve after enduring so much death and suffering.
All in all, Danganronpa 3 has its flaws, but if you enjoyed the rest of the Hope's Peak saga, this conclusion will likely be worthwhile.