#Apologies to the DR fandom for random Kirby blog in your tags

[desultory-novice]

 DanganRonpa CAN be scary, I think in particular, the creepily directed "executions", thanks to their uncanny animation style, can shake one up a bit to watch. Although 70% of the time, they are so silly in :cough: execution it douses the horror of what's happening on screen somewhat. (The first game's first execution is generally ranked as the most violent, and that's because it was a holdover from when the game leaned way more into grunge-horror.) A few of the murders lean on the grisly side, but I think most are more shocking than "gross." And then there's the pink blood!

Once you get past all that, DR is a very excellent story of not just :cough: hope (...I know...) but humanity and what it means to face yourself and hopefully, rise above. The characters are forced into a killing game, and the mastermind's goal usually leans (among other things) on painting a really nasty portrait of people. How "easy" it is to get someone to sink to this level where they'll murder people they're supposed to cooperate with or be friends.

But what you come away from in each case, generally, is sympathy and a sense of loss. For the victim and the murderer. DR is unarguablly EXCELLENT at turning you around on characters. Making you hate someone you loved, love someone you hated, or circle right back around to your first impression!

I adore DR for its depiction of how our best qualities WILL find a way to shine through, even in our worst moments. That even the death of a "jerk" is a tragedy, to someone, somewhere. Everyone (?) has a story in DR. The world isn't "black and white" despite the presence of Monobear.

It's honestly uplifting and powerful. Some of the best "death game" stories are, but DR still holds a position near the top for its creativity, wit, and message. (Minus points for some stuff that's pretty uncomfortable across a variety of spectrums, though your mileage will vary on that. And there are a honestly a FEW weak characters across the franchise, I'll admit.)

DanganRonpa V3 is one of my favorite video games of all time though - beating out DR2, which was itself incredibly good. (Although 2's protagonist, Hajime Hinata, remains my favorite DR character, hands down. Hinata's just one of those impactful characters who changed my life in a good way.)

...Btw, the anime adaptation of 1 is generally fine, but Dangan Ronpa 3 (anime series, different from the V3 game) is awful, and it is every "bad" thing you've ever heard about DR. It is unnecessarily violent and mean, relishes in how much humanity sucks, goes against the general care DR treated its characters with till now, relies on deus ex machina and "gotcha" moments instead of clever murder puzzles (and absolutely wastes the premise of borrowing from one of my favorite analog games :grumble grumble:) and doesn't add anything to the story or mythos you couldn't already have figured out on your own. It has ONE good (?) character in it and <spoilers> they don't make it. To me, it also weakens the earlier games in a way I can't even get into without spoilers, but a certain reveal turned one of my other favorite characters into one of my least favorite. Apologies to anyone who likes it for having to make it through that paragraph but... no. I even rewatched it recently and still... no.

...

...Darn it, all this talk about DanganRonpa made me go back and binge watch all Chapter 2 of DR The After. Grah! That trial is SO good it's unfair that DR The After is only a DR fan game/doujin work! (Mind you, a fan game with amazing production values. The VA knock it out of the park! And the writing...!)

The twists and turns. The interplay. The final reveals!

Literally a work I'm willing to wait the additional 5+ years it will probably take to finish. (Though I'd love if we could get to at least the beginning trial portion of Chapter 3 sometime in 2023...? :fingers crossed:)

While I'm talking to myself about a fan game very few have likely experienced, have a 30 second sketch of Hatami, Super High School Level Good Boy.

...And yes, I totally ended this post by sketching a character from a DR fan game instead of someone from the mainline series.