Anime First Impressions: Danganronpa: Kibou no Gakuen to Zetsubou no Koukousei

Picking up new animes always made me kind of happy. This one was not an exception.


Upon a friend's recommendation, I decided to give this anime a try. The art looks good too. I thought this could be a comedy or something. Never have I been so wrong.

Synopsis: A group of 15 elite high school students are gathered at a very special, high class high school. To graduate from this high school essentially means you'll succeed in life, but graduating is very difficult. The school is presided over by a bear called Monokuma, and he explains to them that their graduation hinges around committing a murder. The only way to graduate is to kill one of your classmates and get away with it. If the other classmates discover the identity of the killer, the killer is the only one executed. However, if they fail to catch the killer, only the killer graduates and the others are annihilated. Which of the 15 will survive the bloodbath to come?

That didn't sound too happy, did it? It sounded like Mirai Nikki (Future Diary) and that wasn't a very happy anime either. Nevertheless, I pressed on to watch the first episode. \

SPOILERS AHEAD READ WITH CAUTION


The show starts off with a bear, half white half black (picture above for reference), and a guy, blindfolded and tied to a chair. A kind of techno(?) music plays in the background, those that you hear in arcades or something. The chair moves into a rocket and the words "SPACE JOURNEY" appears. The rocket starts to take off, destroying the floors above and speeds up. Upon hitting the moon, it flips and descends at rocket speed (:D) and crashes at its original position. The hatch opens up, to reveal a skeleton inside. The bear then starts giggling to himself.

The main character is introduced after the scene. Naegi Makoto.

He talks about how the school is a very prestigious school and how he is just a normal person. The moment he steps pass the school gates he passes out. Waking up in a weird room, he reads that students are supposed to assemble at the gym. He then meets the rest of the 14 students, all of which specialise in something, be it being a model, programmer, all of which have a title. Naegi is given the title, Super High School Lucker.

(Speciality reads: Super High School Girl)

The headmaster, the bear from the first scene, appears from a box and introduces himself as Monobear (Monokuma in Japanese). He explains that the students are to live here (in the school) forever, until they graduate. This also means, they have to kill someone without being found out. (In all honesty, I find this part screwed up)

One of the students get riled up and grabs Monobear. Monobear explains that harming the headmaster is against the rules and a weird beeping sound can be heard. Another student tell him the throw the bear away, which he does. And moments after that, Monobear explodes! AND he appears again from the box.

And of course, a mystery anime would need a classy opening.

The show continues and it goes on with the students rejecting this idea of killing another. They would spend the next few days searching the school grounds in order to try and find an alternative exit.

Monokuma notices that no one has any particular motive to kill anyone. He shows each student a personalized DVD motivating them to try and escape at any cost. All the students watch the video. In Naegi's DVD, it is a video of his family allegedly being put in danger. Maizono freaks out after the watching her video, and Naegi calms her down, promising her that he will save them both no matter the cost.

Now, just reading this won't let you feel the suspense and mystery in the show itself. Not only does it give a chill by just reading the synopsis, the show is accompanied with upbeat, techno and eerie music.

In my honest opinion, it's like a less scary Another (for those who haven't watch it, please do) mixed with Mirai Nikki (another must-watch) and Persona (a long-standing series known for its unique stories). While this may not appeal to the general audience, I do recommend people to watch this anime. This, along with a few others, could be the best of this season's anime.

Score: 7/10