At the beginning of December last year it was announced that the third main entry in the Danganronpa series would be an original anime to finish off the Hope’s Peak Academy saga. Recently it has been announced that both of the season’s arcs will be airing simultaneously this year during Japan’s Summer season. That is to say, two episodes of Danganronpa 3 will be released each week!
If you haven’t seen the trailer yet then give it a quick look.
So far, we know that both parts are independent stories; Mirai-hen features the survivors of the first season and follows the events of Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, while Zetsubou-hen takes place beforehand. This original series will also replace the planned anime adaptation of the second game, which, in all honesty, is probably a good thing. While I personally enjoyed the anime version of the first game, it didn’t really bring anything new or exciting to the table. In the end, it was essentially a watered down version of the game that just didn’t hold the same excitement of solving some murder mysteries that the game boasted. The fact that Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope’s Peak Academy is going to be completely original will give the creators more leeway in how they present the story to us; no longer confined to the events and structure of a game.
Unfortunately for fans who were waiting for the anime release of Danganronpa 2, that’s no longer going to happen. However, with the Steam releases of Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc and Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, the games are far more accessible to a wider audience than when they were PS Vita exclusives. So if you haven’t yet jumped on the Danganronpa bandwagon there’s no better time than now!
If you’re not all that into the visual novel genre but still into Danganronpa then I’m sad to say that you’re probably going to be confused once the anime airs, seeing as the Danganronpa 3 anime is a sequel to the Danganronpa 2 game. For those that are disappointed that this next entry in the Danganronpa series will not be playable, don’t feel too down. After all, you still have Danganronpa V3: Everyone’s New Semester of Killing to look forward to; a whole new addition to this all-you-can-kill, kill-or-be-killed, killing-killing-killing-all-around world!
