<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/2015-11-08Danganronpa Blu.jpg">
<b>Review of Danganronpa by Ian Wolf</b>
<em>"You are as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fears; as young as your hope, as old as your despair." - Samuel Ullman</em><br>
I was aware of <em>Danganronpa</em>'s anime before the original video game, which I previously reviewed for AUKN here. Well, when I say, "I was aware of <em>Danganronpa</em>'s anime", what I mean was I was aware of Americans reblogging gifs of it. That was the only way I was able to watch it because it was streamed on Funimation, meaning that we in Britain could not watch it. Now, two years since it came out, we can finally watch it legally.<br>
Set in Hope's Peak Academy, a school which is attended by the greatest students in the field, <em>Danganronpa</em> begins with new pupil Makoto Naegi arriving for his first day after winning a lottery, which meant he had the best luck of any student. But as soon as he enters he blacks out. He awakens in a classroom with huge steel plates over the windows.<br>
Makoto then arrives at the school gym where he meets the other 14 students at the school: Yasuhiro Hagakure (fortune teller), Hifumi Yamada (fanzine artist), Kiyotaka Ishimaru (hall monitor), Junko Enoshima (fashion diva), Chihiro Fujisaki (programmer), Celestia Ludenberg (gambler), Mondo Ohwada (biker), Leon Kuwata (baseball player), Aoi Asahina (swimmer), Sakura Ohgami (grappler), Touko Fukawa (literary girl), Byakuya Togami (heir), Kyoko Kirigiri (area of expertise unknown) and Sayaka Maizono (idol).<br>
They are all introduced to their headmaster, a black-and-white teddy bear called Monokuma. As if this isn't strange enough, he informs the class that they are trapped in Hope's Peak with only one chance of escape: kill one of the other students without getting caught. Once a murder occurs and the evidence is gathered, a trial takes place in which the students must judge who the murderer is. If they solve the case, the murderer is executed. If they get it wrong, everyone else is executed. Whether Makoto can provide enough motivation and hope in order to get over the mountain of despair Monokuma is creating can only be determined during the investigations.<br>
There are several points of concern regarding this release. In fact they start right away, because you cannot skip through all the scenes in order to get to the main menu. It wouldn't be so bad if it was just a few anti-piracy screens that only appear for a few seconds, but you also have to put up with two-minute trailers for the American Funimation releases of other shows (<em>Mirai Nikki </em>on disc one, <em>Tokyo Ghoul </em>on disc two).<br>
The next main point was the difference between the dialogue used in the English translation of the anime and the English translation of the original game. For example, in the game each student is the "Ultimate" in their field. In the anime, each student is at "Super High School Level", which is a lot less snappy. One wonders if they just want to please pedants who would spend their time pointing out that "ultimate" means "last" rather than "best". Other differences include "Verbal Bullet" rather than "Truth Bullet", and even a difference in the name of one of the characters. One of characters is revealed to have a multiple personality as a serial killer. In the game, this personality is called "Genocide Jack", in the anime it is "Genocider Sho". If you want to know which is more accurate it seems to be the anime, because in the Japanese-language version of the show it is clearly "Genocider Sho" which is said and written in the subtitles. "Genocider Sho" is also spoken in the English dub. <br>
Another more disturbing error occurred when I was watching the 11th episode in the collection, because near the end of the episode the disc froze and then started skipping forward, which continued onwards into the start of the 12th episode. Closer inspection of the DVD collection that I was given to review (which I should point out was the normal DVD collection, not check discs) revealed that the second disc had some rather grubby marks on it. After the disc was cleaned it worked fine, but you may want to double check the cleanliness of your discs before playing them.<br>
However, there is much to praise too. The general quality of the animation is good, and was what made the game notable as well. The plot is strangely twisted, full of shocks and moments of suspense as you attempt to figure out the cause of the crimes. Concerning the voice acting, the Japanese voice acting is basically the same as it was in the game and performed perfectly well. If you have played the most recent <em>Danganronpa </em>game, <em>Danganronpa: Another Episode - Ultra Despair Girls</em>, you will be familiar with some of the voices in the English dub, such as Bryce Paperbrook as Makoto (also famous as Eren Jaeger in <em>Attack on Titan</em> and Kirito in <em>Sword Art Online</em>). In terms of the music the best is probably the end theme, "Zetsubosei: Hero Chiryoyaku" by Suzumu feat. Soraru. In terms of extras, there isn't much. There is commentary on the opening episode, textless opening and closing, and some trailers.<br>
If you like the game then this follows the story very closely. If you are not familiar with it, you can expect some rather bizarre things to crop up. It is an enjoyable show, although I think I prefer the original game where you're trying to figure out the case for yourself, rather than just laying back and having it told to you.<br>
<b>Final score: 7 out of 10</b>
<b>Additional screencaps</b>
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-11-08Danganronpa 1.jpg">
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-11-08Danganronpa 3.jpg">
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-11-08Danganronpa 2.jpg">
<b>Review of Danganronpa by Ian Wolf</b>
<em>"You are as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fears; as young as your hope, as old as your despair." - Samuel Ullman</em><br>
I was aware of <em>Danganronpa</em>'s anime before the original video game, which I previously reviewed for AUKN here. Well, when I say, "I was aware of <em>Danganronpa</em>'s anime", what I mean was I was aware of Americans reblogging gifs of it. That was the only way I was able to watch it because it was streamed on Funimation, meaning that we in Britain could not watch it. Now, two years since it came out, we can finally watch it legally.<br>
Set in Hope's Peak Academy, a school which is attended by the greatest students in the field, <em>Danganronpa</em> begins with new pupil Makoto Naegi arriving for his first day after winning a lottery, which meant he had the best luck of any student. But as soon as he enters he blacks out. He awakens in a classroom with huge steel plates over the windows.<br>
Makoto then arrives at the school gym where he meets the other 14 students at the school: Yasuhiro Hagakure (fortune teller), Hifumi Yamada (fanzine artist), Kiyotaka Ishimaru (hall monitor), Junko Enoshima (fashion diva), Chihiro Fujisaki (programmer), Celestia Ludenberg (gambler), Mondo Ohwada (biker), Leon Kuwata (baseball player), Aoi Asahina (swimmer), Sakura Ohgami (grappler), Touko Fukawa (literary girl), Byakuya Togami (heir), Kyoko Kirigiri (area of expertise unknown) and Sayaka Maizono (idol).<br>
They are all introduced to their headmaster, a black-and-white teddy bear called Monokuma. As if this isn't strange enough, he informs the class that they are trapped in Hope's Peak with only one chance of escape: kill one of the other students without getting caught. Once a murder occurs and the evidence is gathered, a trial takes place in which the students must judge who the murderer is. If they solve the case, the murderer is executed. If they get it wrong, everyone else is executed. Whether Makoto can provide enough motivation and hope in order to get over the mountain of despair Monokuma is creating can only be determined during the investigations.<br>
There are several points of concern regarding this release. In fact they start right away, because you cannot skip through all the scenes in order to get to the main menu. It wouldn't be so bad if it was just a few anti-piracy screens that only appear for a few seconds, but you also have to put up with two-minute trailers for the American Funimation releases of other shows (<em>Mirai Nikki </em>on disc one, <em>Tokyo Ghoul </em>on disc two).<br>
The next main point was the difference between the dialogue used in the English translation of the anime and the English translation of the original game. For example, in the game each student is the "Ultimate" in their field. In the anime, each student is at "Super High School Level", which is a lot less snappy. One wonders if they just want to please pedants who would spend their time pointing out that "ultimate" means "last" rather than "best". Other differences include "Verbal Bullet" rather than "Truth Bullet", and even a difference in the name of one of the characters. One of characters is revealed to have a multiple personality as a serial killer. In the game, this personality is called "Genocide Jack", in the anime it is "Genocider Sho". If you want to know which is more accurate it seems to be the anime, because in the Japanese-language version of the show it is clearly "Genocider Sho" which is said and written in the subtitles. "Genocider Sho" is also spoken in the English dub. <br>
Another more disturbing error occurred when I was watching the 11th episode in the collection, because near the end of the episode the disc froze and then started skipping forward, which continued onwards into the start of the 12th episode. Closer inspection of the DVD collection that I was given to review (which I should point out was the normal DVD collection, not check discs) revealed that the second disc had some rather grubby marks on it. After the disc was cleaned it worked fine, but you may want to double check the cleanliness of your discs before playing them.<br>
However, there is much to praise too. The general quality of the animation is good, and was what made the game notable as well. The plot is strangely twisted, full of shocks and moments of suspense as you attempt to figure out the cause of the crimes. Concerning the voice acting, the Japanese voice acting is basically the same as it was in the game and performed perfectly well. If you have played the most recent <em>Danganronpa </em>game, <em>Danganronpa: Another Episode - Ultra Despair Girls</em>, you will be familiar with some of the voices in the English dub, such as Bryce Paperbrook as Makoto (also famous as Eren Jaeger in <em>Attack on Titan</em> and Kirito in <em>Sword Art Online</em>). In terms of the music the best is probably the end theme, "Zetsubosei: Hero Chiryoyaku" by Suzumu feat. Soraru. In terms of extras, there isn't much. There is commentary on the opening episode, textless opening and closing, and some trailers.<br>
If you like the game then this follows the story very closely. If you are not familiar with it, you can expect some rather bizarre things to crop up. It is an enjoyable show, although I think I prefer the original game where you're trying to figure out the case for yourself, rather than just laying back and having it told to you.<br>
<b>Final score: 7 out of 10</b>
<b>Additional screencaps</b>
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-11-08Danganronpa 1.jpg">
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-11-08Danganronpa 3.jpg">
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-11-08Danganronpa 2.jpg">