To revive with Hope in the Ocean of Despair

In 2016, one of my New Year Wishes was to finally start writing on my own blog after losing the time and the will to write anything. These years out of the keyboard, out of the pen to write thoughts and things were mostly because of many factors due to my own life and free-time. But there was especially one thing that stop me for a very long time, negativity of the environment. You only get inspired to write and share something only if you think what around you make it possible, that was not the case in 2 years… Even today i still have doubt about doing this but if you cannot face your fear, you cannot win. This is the same as if i don’t do anything, I’ll let things getting worse. The negativity will still be there but i have to stand and face it because i have to accept the fact that getting stalked, getting bashed is what Internet works nowadays. You have to keep yourself thinking that even if there’s a lot of people who’ll see bad or good of you, you have to be yourself, because no one must change your nature, your identity but more importantly your personality. If people labeled me as something or someone, so be it, i’ll let them living in their illusion or first thought but they’ll never read me the true myself.

 

1. Self Explanatory

Before i start writing, let’s clarify things once and for all

• My entire blog default language will be English. I assume that from friends to new readers, anyone should be able to read English as its the usual language to be used. Sure i wish to write it in French because its my default language or even Japanese or Vietnamese but its best to use one default language for all. Also writing two to three blogs for different language is more a tougher job and more time consuming so it’s best to choose one. A tough exercise will be to write English as much readable as possible so it’ll contains errors, mistake and such. But hey, its only as we continue to speak, to write in a language that we do also continue to improve it.
• Because its for me to start over writing, so as making a new flesh blog by choosing WordPress as its more readable than the overblog.
• Its been months that I’ve been stalked for bashing. A good friend told me once: If you don’t appreciate someone’s talk, then unfollow this person. After all its to have nothing to do with what this person would say. But it seems that people aren’t as smart as my friend advise it, and continue to take every word of mine to spread all over to show how much awful i would be as a person. Well, fine with them. As my friend suggest, this is where we show how mature we are. I’m the kind of person who doesn’t aim for revenge nor constant bullying but its these things that people does to me. People who kept stalking me for bashing reasons are the very representation of annoying kid who refuse to grown up, so be it, continue to act like a kid =). I warn it in my last entry of my old blog, 2016 is an year where i don’t want any negativity that i want to see nor read. So immediately as i spot anything, i go to block the person. Block act as both unfollow and mute. I just went to mute in 2015 but now i’ll go for Block in 2016 because enough is enough.
• Of course i know that blocking is useless as long as my post remain public and it’ll be only unreadable when i’ll switch to private. But being Private means also to close door for any exchange, any sharing but also closing myself to what is around me and i wont make it private for anything.
• I dont care of being popular or unknown to the world and on the internet. I enjoy my life and writing things about it because i want to enjoy to share or to talk about. If i write something that is not interesting, fine but i dont care of how many clicks or readers it can get, im only here to share my thought and that’s what matter to me.

Well now that’s done, i hope to not have to repeat it myself.

2. Danganronpa, Video Games and Anime Until Danganronpa3

January 2016, this month has been entirely dedicated to one series i didnt played over years while knowing how good it is, Danganronpa. Initially i wanted to start this month by playing both Fate Stay Night Realta Nua and Hollow Ataraxia as the Fate Stay Night franchise has never been such as good as right now. But one day, when i came across to take a look at a bunch of used-games copies, one particularly game did catch my attention. A game that i have already owned but seeing how poorly the price it has been reduced over years while some over still have a good selling price, i couldn’t stop thinking about it.

That game was Hotel Dusk. The second CING game of the NDS library from all 3 we have the chance to receive : Another Code, Hotel Dusk and Last Window (plus the Sequel of AC on Wii). It remind me Hotel Dusk because of the gameplay part, the style (artwork that represent characters instead of 3D model) while exploring 3D place and interacting with it. Pretty much an interactive Visual Novel dubbed Point n Click with Detective Story. At that time i was considering the NDS to be the best system to actually welcome and exploit these type of game very well. That was until CING went bankrupt and Nintendo didnt help them but instead gave up on the genre because not selling potential. Nintendo will do the same thing later with Trauma Team. So for the genre to be actually known, others developpers will do after  CING. Resulting in more memorable game doing the Interactive Visual Novel part in a good way : Nanashi No Geemu from SquareEnix or even The Zero Escape series.

Any VN have especially one thing that is more important than the gameplay part implementation, the story. The basic of a Visual Novel is his story, his scenario, how things are going and how it lead to surprise and how much you are enjoying, each moment, each surprise, bit by bit to the climax.

And so here comes Danganronpa that i have finally started.

I think everyone i know have already played the game(except PC players) since years by now so don’t expect from me to write something big detailed things you can find on a wikia as im more here to share my thought about it. Well its not that bad to have started to play all of these right now instead of when they were released as playing these has somewhat coincide with what i thought of my life right now.

In first aspect, Danganronpa is exactly what i was expecting by changing my mood after remembering Hotel Dusk. The exploration phase is just as when i play the 2nd CING game HD, its the first person view where im fully exploring rooms, opening doors, pointing things and a map showing to help finding my way. Like HD, Danganronpa has characters being shown like cardboard style pointing their view at you with the same kind of artwork. And just like HD, in Danganronpa i have to investigate in a main place that’ll be the theater of the game. Im definitely not saying that Danganronpa remind me of the good old CING visual and exploration but this charm is a blessing for me as it bring me back the same kind of nostalgia as the retro gamer with the 2D.

But of course Danganronpa is not an Hotel Dusk Cing, its mainly a Visual Novel Game that has wanted to create something complex but entertaining to get interest into. Its not the kind of detective story with the Zero Escape influence that people told me about in these years but more of the perfect representation of how Visual Novel can be better while using the Video Game Material to tell a story. Because Danganronpa is not just VN, its a story telling game that is not only a VN, it can be also a shooter like Danganronpa Another Episode where the VN material wouldnt be appropriate to tell its story but the shooter is.

The story itself is all around a death game with different characters attending it. Instead of attending the supposed Hope Academy that they were promising to a better future if they get graduated from there. For the criteria, everyone must be something Ultimate, something they are the best at. This quality will get them joining the Hope Academy but instead of getting a school life for a better future, they get instead a school life of death without being able to exit the place as every room, every windows, any exit are shutdown. Each characters are complaining about who is/are the responsible for this and have hard time building a relationship about trust and not knowing everyone. Not to help them, they seems to have suffer amnesia and because of this, they suffer memories lost and this is one very essence that is important with Danganronpa. Memory is the word that describe Danganronpa main game. Because you dont remember, you dont know if something seems true to you. And that truth is what will make hurt any Danganronpa’s character. Because they are looking for an exit to get out of this nightmare, they will also suffering from finding any evidence that’ll help them remembering who they are. When the cast of characters do finally learn the truth about what’s going on and why they have to experience and making all the horrible things around is where even themselves dont know what to think of the situation and they are even ready to drop all thought of hope they build so far to escape the nightmare and sending themselves to the despair.

Despair is an interesting word as well. By how i felt playing Danganronpa, Despair is the very representation of the Negativity, the same Negativity that i want to avoid in my life. The same negativity that does change people mind and making someone or something unrecognizable. One of the worst fear is to change. We try to avoid changing and we always swear we’ll never change. Change could be describe with anything we thought we’ll never do. Example, i swear myself that i’ll never cheat my friend and i’ll stay true to him, but eventually friendship is not eternal and one day i’ll be ready to cheat that friend because something will change my mind. Another example would be event that you cannot control and thus, will definitely trigger the change in your life. Let’s say you see how big you want your life to be, you want a good career, the wife/husband you dream to marry with, the house you want to. But time is what trigger all these change and events: your career might not the thing you want/thought to be and you might change it or being forced to be out of it(fired, delusional thought, cheat by someone who was jealous, conspiracy, economic reasons), as same as your lover might not be the one you wished to be and how the future evolve so as the technology, the kind of house you want wouldn’t be the one you want right now because new technology or techniques make changes, or maybe you dont have the money to actually build what you want and ended up living in an appartement, worse with your parents.  The Change will happen one day and you cannot prevent anything to change. Someone will never be the same as it was years ago. In consequence person are changing for good or bad. If its bad, its negative, so inspire much negativity of the representation than the good part you thought.

Despair is the representation of negativity where Negativity has been the constant of my life to keep my way out of the good things that should give me a smile to live.  The negativity of not being understand, the negativity of being influence by something, the negativity of the environment that force you to adapt with what is being said nowadays or else to be out of the circle, out of the trending, out of the attention.

Memory is also what does influence Despair. Because you dont remember, you dont know if what is good and what is bad. Not being able to remember is what will drift you easily into despair. In Danganronpa, not remembering that every characters do actually knowing each others will not only help them to fall into despair but learning the shocking truth will hurt them more. In each chapter of Danganronpa, they are force to kill each others anytime: From the killer who commit the crime to the fact that they do also need to find the culprit or else they’ll be killed and the killer spare. Anything will result as an inevitable death and each time, anyone is actually force to kill. But remembering that they were killing their very own friend is what hurt them more than anything. As brilliant it is for the mastermind, its a cruel world with no good people but also no bad people. Anyone is pure but they are ended up decide to kill so they can keep themselves alive but their own soul will be dirty by the killing that has been done. They have decided who is the culprit and yet even if the mastermind kill it, they have voted so they do also have blood on their own hands.

Despair is what the game is about and how characters must fight it so they can finally escape this nightmare and actually getting back their life, their memories that has been stolen from them.

And this is maybe what makes Danganronpa to me not only a good game, not only a must need to play, but the kind of story that cannot be express from a book but from a game. A game where the reader can actually play to interact with the character and the story, a story that need a sort of game representation to show here that there’s also need a sort of visual presence to show, to describe the moment, the event that is happening.

The story of Danganronpa Triggerhappy Havoc (Aside of the IF story) is definitely the kind of story that i wouldn’t be able to enjoy by just reading it on paper as a book, it must have the gameplay part that the developers have purposely create. A game where you do explore the entire place with this many rooms and this many characters to interact with. Where the novel would only focus at some chosen person, a video game let you interact with everyone even if their own roles is minor if the Novel would want it to select only major characters.

Exploring rooms, finding about how to exit the same, reviewing it with everyone, spending my free-time with these same characters so i can know more about their backstories, living events and there’s the murder that does happen in front of my eyes and trapped to find clues in the Investigation part. An investigation part familiar to anyone who play detective game but in video games, the very one example is Ace Attorney aka Gyakuten Saiban.  Interrogate witness, finding piece of evidence, questioning events and facts and all of this until the Trial part.

Once more its like Ace Attorney but in a more dynamic way and also because you are judging the very people close to you since you have started to know them by playing the game. Engaging myself into the many mini games the trial has to offer me from all the debate, hangman gambit, showing proofs, designating the culprit, fighting its nonsense words to show him the final piece of evidence that has shown the crime that decide a bunch of life for survival. And by the end, you ended up choosing the right one who did the crime but ending up as this same person to actually explain itself. Despite having to kill anyone, the killer did it not because of pleasure, not only for survival but it explains its reason as same as sharing the last bit of its sidestories. Any bit of last moment to be shared is also adding some guilt to the group of survivors as not only they will have to travel with less person but also of learning after their death, its especially noticeable at the sequel Danganronpa 2.

Maybe this is also the reason why i dont have any problem with the cast of characters being entirely composed of students as they are all young, in-experimented in life even if they pretend to be not and how much you can see them as guilty, its a bit a change i prefer to have rather to have a cast of old mature folks. Its also good as many of them are immature but in the good way so they can actually change for the best at the end of their journey.

From the cast itself with the first game(with spoiler in this part)

• Makoto is the random guy that didnt ask anything, is here because he has been selected by the academy without any talents but learn from his journey and get his own talent afterwards. He is friendly, try to avoid problems and cheer up his companion and friend to overcome the hard problem.
• Kyoko is the mysterious amnesiac girl who seems to try to adapt her situation but give you a lot of help to progress and solve problems. More of her person is known from the novel Danganronpa Kirigiri that i should try to read one day
• Byakuya is the arrogant rival to Makoto that i had immediately love because of “Akira Ishida” performance for his voice actor. He always think low of the people around him because of his prestige and statut but will eventually realize his mistake in the last part of the game and change his attitude a little bit.
• Yasuhiro is the kind of guy i didnt really like because of being a sort of comic relief but i went to appreciate his personality a little bit with Danganronpa Another Episode
• Asahina is also one character i didnt really catch much my attention until the three last chapter where she has become a little more appreciable.
• Chihiro, the trap character is a character that i had actually like after his dissapereance from the group. His last action for the sake of the group and his backstory from the freetime made me appreciate his character.
• Leon is a character that i had only appreciate after the story of her cousin at Danganronpa Another Episode in which, explain a lot more of Leon sympathy and touching personality rather than the game itself.
• Sayaka at first was a favourite character i had to appreciate because of her cute and innocent personality that she have. However the game predict me too earlier her fate via a Trophy in which i knew she would be the first to die from the group. Her cheerful personality and fact that she was at first the love interest of Makoto had a goal to reinforce that will of protecting her and with her death, the very moment where Makoto had to realize that he cant prevent murder but he has to endure the despair that the mastermind want. Fortunately she’s appreciable with the game, because she is not in the anime.
• Celeste is one of my favourite female character because of her full presentation. She’s hard to read as she’s the queen of liar, she has a gothic style that give her a sense of charm and she has that bitch attitude when you make her angry that i do also like, remind me of Tomoe from Mai Otome and i like her demise.
• Ishimaru is the funny student council character that i had appreciate to read until his death. The Anime give him an extra bit of appreciation with his iconic love pose and his change after Mondo demise is also appreciate but too short.
• Mondo is one character that i had actually appreciate at his last moment where he has to explain his action for two murders.
• Hifumi is unfortunately one character i didnt like that much because of not having something that does make him different to the cast, just being there to be Celeste lapdog.
• Toko and Genocide Sho/Jack is one pair of character i did love and much more with Danganronpa Another Episode. The kind of character that does really make girl with glasses a lot more interesting than some who attempt. She’s antisocial, delusional and scared but i get to appreciate her once she becomes Genocide and explain why she is like that but a lot more at Danganronpa AE where her backstory is more revealed and you find a charming character over her supposed negative appereance. A more funny part of her is when she’s stalking Byakuya to death, making a lot of crazy dialogue to enjoy reading around
• Sakura is appreciable at her last moment where more of her personality and her will to help the group will touch them. Over the appereance of a monster is one kind hearted girl that show respect.
• Mukuro is one of my favourite girl despite not having a lot of appereance and a serious lack of info surrounding her personality and profile. I went to appreciate a lot of her via the IF Novel where not only she is awesome but also give a hint of her relationship with Makoto which has some extend via the Zero Novel.
• And finally Junko who control Monokuma, who is also the mastermind. Despite being revealed at the very end of the game, her multi personality, motive, reason and how much she gives you trouble to the very last nonsense debate is making her not only the best character of Danganronpa but also the best villain i had to known in video games. Not only she organize all of the shit that happens in the academy and the school killing mutual, she’s responsible for what do also happen outside and have planned things even after her demise that she’s one best villain who knows how to brought chaos before and after her life.

As much as i had to progress to the game, one chapter follow the usual exploration, daylife, events, investigation and trial. It is as same as following an episodic format media with its own pattern, that same pattern i had while enjoying Hotel Dusk which was exploration, investigation and the end part to summary my progress is as same as closing argument of Danganronpa where i have to fit everything into one comic, to close down the chapter and get to the next one. Remembering Hotel Dusk wasnt a bad thing, it help me getting some nostalgia to appreciate Danganronpa a lot more.

And once i reach the end of the game, my surprise was to discover that not only i knew there’s a sequel to do, there’s actually no happy ending. Even if you get outside of the nightmare, its still there. The mastermind has brought so much shit that even if you have hope in the future, you still have a lot to do in order to rebuild the world that has gone to chaos. This is a change from the game Virtue Last Reward where even if the world is already in chaos, the only way to change it, is to time travel after experimenting the many experience of the death game. But this future leads to many deaths over life and experience. This is what Danganronpa dont, Danganronpa has no time traveling for Makoto or anyone, Danganronpa is not about test subject project but about how the world has turned into ruins and how the survivor has to overcome this and carrying the death of their companion. In VLR, even if characters dies, they arent in the end because of the timeline we kept to travel back and forth to result in the good ending, theres none like that in Danganronpa which make it more realistic to endure death and chaos.

And this is why Danganronpa is one story that had enjoying reading and interact with as a Video Game. Its not only about trial, investigating and just read who’s good and who’s bad. Its also one experience of life i had which has also coincide with things that happen in my life as well. With the representation of Despair as the Negativity that do surround me, a bit of its event is like mine in this world. When the characters realize how shit has gone outside, they have decided to isolate themselves and accept to live in the school forever. This is same for me as i want to isolate myself from the negativity, i went to unfollow the responsible of who’s getting me depressed, crazy at reading them and some old friend who turned me down without explaining their reasons too. Isolating my cleaning the list of people and start blocking more annoying person.

Games or anything Media related that do coincide or relate to your personal life become more appreciate and more memorable, and thus, give more appreciation about it. I have enjoyed the first Danganronpa for remembering me some nostalgia about the same type of VN i played before with Hotel Dusk and Zero Escape Series

Following Danganronpa1, i went to start Another Episode which is more a shooting game instead of being a Visual Novel. At first i thought changing the genre would make the story less sense but from the start to the end of the game is when i thought that not only shooting game was a good idea for this one but also its story couldn’t be tell by the form of a Novel and this is where i think as long as Danganronpa has a good story, i wouldn’t mind of the form i have to appreciate it.

At the start, playing with Makoto’s sister, Komaru, i didnt know how i would appreciate her character as she was always scared, giving up on hope and relying too much on Genocide’s strength. But as much as i progress with the game, she was slowly starting to become more appreciable and her behavior did also change after enduring so much horror in front of her eyes. In fact Komaru has become much more interesting by the end of the game that i went to appreciate her more than Makoto after three games appearance. Toko is also returning in the game and is also playable (well Genocide is).

Danganronpa AE is telling the story of what is happening between Danganronpa 1 and 2 and serve as telling one important story part that happened during the first game. The Captive. They are mention in the first and fourth chapter of the first game and tell one important stuff that is mentioned on the third chapter of the first game, the Air Vacuum cleaner. Without it, anyone would die living in this world that has turned into chaos thanks to the Tragedy. The city where the events of the game takes place, Towa City, is also where the Monokuma are produced and show a lot more of horrific moment in the view of mass murdering adults via brainwashed children with Monokuma masks.

Knowing who are the type of victims and reasons why you have to see these kids going into mass murdering with the Monokuma is another one important part that make Danganronpa Another Episode story really interesting. At first, those who died are adults who have children and those who are spared are those who dont have any kids. Seeing these horrors resulting in adults not wanting any sort of sexual relationship and hardening themselves into revenge and murdering these same kids which they want to reject any attraction nor forgiveness. These kids are following the group of Warriors of Hope, who are determined to exterminate all adults. What is interesting is how the group of kids in the team have actually suffered trauma from the adult and try to make them appreciable. With this you arent sure which side you would like to defend but of course you cannot defend the murdering they are doing by actually hating every adults and not the selected person responsible of their education. But all of Jotaro, Masaru, Kotoko and Nagisa, there’s Monaca, the actual mastermind of the game and how this kid is crazy at the point she’s really the successor of Junko.

The best moment is indeed the very end where you think everything is over and actually she can still trick you and the amount of dialogue and consequence you have to endure until the climax, makes Monaca even more appreciable as a villain. One of these obvious choice is if you select it, you kill every kids without knowing it until you see Komaru apologizing in sadness with a questionable sequence. This result, if you kill the kids without knowing the reason why they are like this is one important life question that is the consequence the player has to really assume. The fact that even if you are given an Endless Eight choice à la Bravely Default/Haruhi but made here in a better way, you are doing one fatal mistake. As same as VLR, it imply the time travel with the conscious and memories kept to do the right choice, in here if you do the wrong one, its a definitive choice in real life. Komaru can become the murder and this the new Junko by killing them as Monaca tell her that she’ll becoming her because of the plan that extend of Komaru action as well.

Komaru have progressed so far to overcome difficulty, to change herself that she becomes the hope that could stop that shit but she leads the adult who follow her into killing the responsible, even knowing that kids has nothing to do with this because of the brainwashing.

Danganronpa AE at this point has deliver the very reason why VN couldnt tell the story of this part. It needed the gameplay part of a shooter because you receive a Gun with lot of ammunition you dont have any ideas what they are made for by Byakuya, who saves you and get capture and become the reason why Toko has to follow Komaru and help her progressing while leading her to the final stage. What show that it needed a game, but specially a shooter to tell the story is how you progress in it. You are on your way to destroy Monokuma that are in your way, you want to escape and but you have to resolve that you should overcome your fear and decide to fight instead of running. You will find various documents that explain things, stuff and shit that happens before and during the game, as for some key files that trigger dialogue between Komaru and Toko in which will further develop their characters like knowing secrets from a perfect guide book but is rewarded to get them inside the same thing you are reading/playing.

Komaru will also progress with the numerous update she receive from the nerfed game she has to start with and progress like a Video Games because these kids wanted it to be a game of hunting and you are playing their game as progressing like a Video Game. As much as Komaru earn experience and gain level, she’s able to equip more skill which serve as a motive of progressing like a video game. ITs even more empathize with the various game corner challenge which decide the fate of our heroins by solving puzzles and later riddle. This progressing make it more Survival Horror like the ambiance around with the numerous victims and the dark ambiance you have to progress. Fighting bosses with each kid of the Warrior of Hope serves as both how Komaru has to overcome her fear and also how brilliant some fights are, my favourite are Nagisa Robot with the shot&hide à la Time Crisis, Monaca Robot which combine all previous fight and make it harder and the Giant Monokuma which must use every ammunition to fit with colors pattern.

Because how the game was made lead to the very end where Komaru grown serious, the game change her stance of holding and running with the gun at the hand as a proof of how she changes so much. How the little sister of Makoto who admire him a lot, has actually change a lot more than her brother and become more interesting than him. Determined to save both the city and kids, she decides to stay in the city she wanted to run away and cover the truth to the Future Organisation so no war would happen until Makoto and the FO would end the Tragedy. After the events of Danganronpa AE, Monaca did become the second Junko instead of Komaru and the Shirokuma&Kurokuma are revealed to be the AI of Junko which she made during the end of Danganronpa 1 via Alter Ego, the program Chihiro made before dying. This AI Junko is retrieve by the new Antagonist that i’ll soon learn at Danganronpa 2 to be Izuru, the new identity of Hajime Hinata, protagonist of the 2nd game. Even at this point, the team who made Danganronpa, knew how to expand their game and make it as deep and interesting to follow. It did also show how much shit you are living, you must overcome them and more importantly, relationship is not an easy thing to build and you always have to suffer arguments, treachery and even backstab and backlash, until you forge a strong bond of relationship and this is definitely how it explain the relationship with opposite minds that are both Komaru and Toko. This kind of game which has some success for telling relationship like that, show me how much ignorant people were for bashing FFXIII cast relationship which follow the same thing and result as strengthening the bond to become not only best friends but also people who endure it hard to make it better.

Then finally we have Danganronpa 2 which have a new cast of character with some characters returning and not only it improve (except for one thing) his mechanics, it do also delivering some crazy story to follow and actually the best cast of characters i had appreciate more than the first game. They are mostly all interesting but they are all also deep and have a huge secret that when you discover it, you are not only definitely loving the cast but also you found them more interesting than any others character you knew.

Danganronpa 2 here play more with the Video Games feeling alongwith the theater of the mutual killing class part. It has Video game vibes for the interface that is like a Video Game and not just because one of the character, Chiaki, is related to be Ultimate Video Games player. This is further explain at the very end of the game where you discover the truth behind the imprisonment.

Just like Danganronpa1, the cast of Danganronpa2 were attending Hope Peak Academy but ended up elsewhere than the place they were promised to. Instead they get to travel into the Jabberwock Island to… collect Hope’s Fragment by Usami. The way you collect these Fragment is once more shown like how you do it in a Video Game. Then you have Monokuma who hijacked the Island and force the student to participate in the Killing Mutual Game with Usami now becoming Monomi because Monokuma defeats her.

Before i do further explain this point, i’ll talk about the cast (with spoilers as well)

• Hajima Hinata is the main character of this second episode. At first i didnt appreciate his behaviour at first but i tend to appreciate him more by the time i progress in the game. Then i started to like him then to love him(in different contrast of how Nagito loves him thought XD) after revealing he was Izuru from DanganAE and being the mastermind of this Mutual Killing Game. It was a shocking revelation as same as learning who was Kalas at Baten Kaitos, to give you an experience example.
• Nagito, which was the servant of Danganronpa AE. At first he seems to be nice and mysterious at Dangan AE, then i had this weird feeling of seeing a sort of dark Makoto because not only the voice actor (JP voice please, NA is horrible) is the same but also his name by replacing letters to form im Naegi Makoto (thanks to akuma2002fr for spoiling me before i start Dangan2). Well that was the creator intention i think. Nagito was difficult to read and understand but that is part of his charm and charisma. The best moment is shown where he made one of his hands with Junko one and when he attempt to kill everyone because learning of the Ultimate Despair.
• Chiaki, the best female character of the series. Not only because she seems cute, lively and the most important asset to Hajime’s investigation, she’s also not an Ultimate Despair, thus the traitor and then the one that’ll change Hajime’s over the course of events. The very end part of the game is definitely showing how much she’s the best character of the cast by saving everyone and leading them for Hope. Being a program made by Alter Ego, she has shown how much even if she’s a program, she’s an important friend and then a sort of love interest. Pretty sure Hifumi would love Chiaki.
• Sonia, princess and fan of occult stuff. Not much to say, she’s cute, has a sense of justice, have a lot of culture and can put Kazuichi into mute because of her position.
• Kazuichi, fun to read, a lot more interesting than Yasuhiro from Dangan1 by being also a comic relief character. He has a huge crush with Sonia and always ending up being stopped by her at any moment .
• Fuyuhiko, the little Yakuza brat that do start to get actually interesting to follow after the event of the 2nd chapter, which after these events, will become more cooperative and actually want to help his friends.
• Akane, big eater, remind me of Asahina but in a better way, her relationship with Nekomaru worth to read everything.
• Ibuki, second best female of the game because of her behaviour, multiple face and reaction and how lively she is. She is no Junko but she’s deadly attractive.
• Hiyoko, the brat loli that you may appreciate or not. I find her more interesting to follow in her freetime rather than the game itself.
• Mikan the nurse who feel like she needs attention and is scared of bullying but actually revealing she’s a twisted character after she recover her memories for being an Ultimate Despair. She wanted and needed attraction and only Junko (eventually hajime too) gives her what she really want.
• Peko the bodyguard ultimate sword that consider herself a tool for Fuyuhiko because she think she has to protect him all of her life. But after learning that he wants her not as a tool but as a person, more likely even love interest, Peko share an ultimate smile before leaving to her fate.
• Nekomaru the strong coach who shout loud and want to shit hard (lol), she’s somewhat a funny character to read over the course of the game until his end.
• Byakuya or fake one, the imposter who look for an identity he can hide because his life become miserable and so, pretend to be like Byakuya, the perfect person.
• Teruteru, the chef which is actually interesting after learning his story before his death at the end of the trial, about how he wants to graduate as soon as possible and help his mother he treasure the most.
• Gundham the ultimate breeder which consider himself as the darkness and his role in the game is brilliant because he’s voice by the excellent Tomokazu Sugita.
• Miharu, the ultimate Photograph which want to try getting the group together although she dont like boys, she eventually trust Hajima. Her looks remind me at first a changed version of Komaru from DanganAE.

With Danganronpa replicating the formula of the first game, i was fearing at first to get fed up of the formula as the game tend to really repeat what the first game has done. From the killing pattern to the unlocking of new place after chapter. But hopefully Danganronpa 2 wanted to make me feel like it. In fact, Danganronpa 2 is a bit like how i felt while playing Metal Gear Solid 2 after Metal Gear Solid 1. And this is where identifying what is real and what is not, is the theme of Danganronpa 2 and the reason why it looks like a Video Game. In danganronpa 2, when a murder is done and after the trial is over, you dont know what happen to the corpse. Where in Danganronpa 1 it is justified with the mastermind cleaning behind while everyone are attending the Trial, in Danganronpa2 you have no mention of it afterwards. Assuming everything has gone normal and Monokuma not explaining it. It is further shown to be like a Video Games when you reach the final chapter of the game and where not only you attend a virtual version of the Hope Peak Academy, you get to also learn that you are in a Virtual Simulation by the Future Organization.

The FO held this simulation so actually before Monokuma hack the game, the goal of this VR was to erase everything of what every participants were made to be Ultimate Despair. They were Ultimate Despair to have brought all of them the Tragedy that have occurs in the world of Danganronpa. These followers shipped Junko to the point that even after her death, some may kill themselves but some were to carry on her legacy. By doing this, they could take body parts of her remnants and attach to themselves, killing their family, kill people, force people to suicide for the sake of Despair and much more atrocious things that are countless… Then you get reveal that Monokuma is AI Junko. Following Danganronpa 1 in which Monokuma was in fact alive, was a sign that Junko was alive in a sort of form, this was reveal later to be with Shirokuma and Kurokuma carrying the same AI Junko that later Izuru will get and implement to the simulation once being captured by the Future Organization. And its Izuru who’s responsible of the event of Danganronpa 2. Izuru has been like this because Junko broke his mind, which happens at Danganronpa 0.  The goal of AI Junko thanks to Izuru’s acting, was to hack into the VR, change the game, create comatose bodies from the dead person and revive these person as Junko with the AI Junko uploading to them. By doing so, AI Junko wanted to take revenge on the survivor of the previous Mutual Killing Game by make them coming and interfer with the Shutdown Option. If Junko plans succeded, she could trap her former friends and let herself out to the real world to continue spreading despair. Junko plan as perfect to turn the remaining survivor by leading them because of explaining the consequence of the final vote. That finale vote was to decide to vote for either FO choice which the shutdown option to end AI Junko but instead losing their memories from the simulation and getting back as Ultimate Despair. The option of Junko was to revive everyone, but with the comatose bodies becoming Junko and the survivor of keeping their memories from the island and not then turning back as Ultimate Despair (althought there were some nasty result that Junko could change). But Junko was eventually stopped by the help at first of Makoto, Kyoko and Byakuya, but then by Chiaki who let him remind of Hope and help to face Izuru identity and fight it back. Even if the survivor turn back as Ultimate Despair once more, they want to remember and help their comatose friend in an other way. The ending result with the new Izuru keeping his memories of Hinata and attire and cutting his hair to match Hajime.

Click here to read the part via video

Althought the ending is crazy to follow, it remind me in a way what i felt after playing Metal Gear Solid 2. About to difference between virtual and reality, about to find a new path in life with Hinata accepting Izuru and thanks to the simulation with Izuru restoring his somewhat mind breaking by Junko. The ending is giving now reasons to Makoto to fight what remains of Despair and this is what Danganronpa 3 on anime must answer the last bit of question and wrapping up the fight against Despair with the new DanganronpaV3 game being completely different as set in the future.

Speaking of anime, i went to watch Danganronpa The Animation to find out that the anime itself is a sort of Danganronpa in an nutshell with an atrocious amount of errors and even misleading stuffs… Because of the short format of 13 episodes, some episodes didnt let me appreciate some characters i did appreciate in the game instead. If i had to watch the anime before playing the game, not only i would be spoil about what hints to find, what choice to do and how i would handle each trial. The anime has less addditionnal part to make it unique in counterpart of the game, resulting as a dumb adaptation of the game without any real things. Its what i do not like when Video Games get adapted to anime. There’s always this fanservice of seeing the game getting animated but the result is not always good… Some anime did this : Atelier Escha&Logy, Tales of Eternia, Star Ocean EX(SO2). Danganronpa is no exception. The anime rush characters development to the point i would hate some of the cast for real: Sayaka has no real identity but just intend to murder Leon. Leon is not interesting, Mukuro is not near to exist in the anime. Actually those who are at least develop are Kyoko and Junko in the anime as Kyoko is actually doing everything the player that was supposed to do in the game and Junko by default because no mater the anime or the game, she’s interesting to the very end, the anime made her multiple face personality much more priceless. The anime has also a problem of being like the game of 7 mistake to point out anything that’s wrong to the game. One particulary example is how rush the Investigation part is and how they do deliberately forget evidence like in the 2nd chapter about how Toko react at blood and change into Genocide, this part is not in the anime and only let the last part when Toko is closing herself into her room just like the game. The most noticeable to me is how the anime wanted to spoil Junko real identity as the mastermind in the last bit where Makoto has to watch every interview, he’s not supposed to do it with Kyoko around him and not at the principal room but at the RD room… Its as same as adding photos that werent in the game like the Toko’s photo evidence in the last trial. Overall the anime could be good if it has more episodes but especially if it was made different than the game. This is scaring me a bit about how Danganronpa3 is supposed to wrap it up as an anime but considering that the Team of Danganronpa can handle any form of media as long they write a good scenario like they always do, i want to have faith a little more.

That’s being said, i did all Danganronpa game i could, read both Danganronpa IF and Hakagure Yasuhiro story at AE and currently reading some bits of Danganronpa Zero before actually to get interest into Danganronpa Kirigiri (which is not important for the despair story part but more for knowing Kyoko a little more) and sure i love it. I didnt mind doing it right now in the January of 2016 as these game were somewhat related to what i live in life right now and how much it fit the current situation in the world in an ironic way : France get terrorism attack as same as Danganronpa is getting Tragedy Shit. People bitching themselves about things and stuff, about how the information is mislead, misinterpret and create negativity via the media. Danganronpa is just fitting what the world will result when too much negativity will create a chaotic climat in the future. A game that fit and follow the flow of time and thus, is easy to remember as it fits a particular event in my life. If i have done this game sooner, i wouldnt live and like the series like right now.

 

3. What’s next

Until the release of Danganronpa 3 Animation, i will continue to play more games and start to watch a little more anime. For now i was planning to start God Eater Ressurection and ignoring his localization because Bandai Namco seems to only care about an English Dub for this one and i dont want one. Also its finally time to play God Eater so i’m going to enjoy it.

In the case of anime, i havent decided yet but im open to any suggestion. I tend to prefer short anime like a 13 episodes format so i can easily follow the story and watching the next stuff. Only exception is of course Precure which i can easily follow 50 episodes because its Precure and its my favourite genre by default with Mahou Shoujo.