is a mystery horror anime television series produced by Lerche, directed by Daiki Fukuoka, and supervised by Seiji Kishi. The anime is the second animated series based on Spike Chunsoft's Danganronpa video game franchise, and serves as a conclusion to the arc established in the previously released games Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (2010) and Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair (2012) in lieu of a game. The series is divided into three parts. focuses on Makoto Naegi and his friends and their involvement in a killing game with the Future Foundation; and focuses on Hajime Hinata, a student, and his involvement in experiments on humans. The first two-story arcs aired between July and September 2016. They were followed by the conclusion to both previous arcs, which aired on September 29, 2016.
Writer Kazutaka Kodaka conceived the project. He aimed to create an original storyline that would not work as another video game, unlike previous works from the franchise. Despite the dark narrative, Kodaka wanted to give the anime a proper conclusion through the one-episode finale, Hope Arc, despite being accused of pandering to the base because he intended to give it a happy ending. He and his team, working on a television series for the first time, found the project challenging. A spin-off manga, Danganronpa Gaiden: Killer Killer, was serialized in Kodansha's Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine between March 2016 and May 2017. Funimation, Madman Entertainment, and Animax Asia licensed the three parts for English-speaking regions.
Critics felt that The End of Hope's Peak High School was an attractive anime sequel to the video games, based on the casting. The returning cast from the games was regarded as likeable. Future Arc and Despair Arc were the subjects of mixed reviews because, rather than the original run of the series in Japan where they aired together, Funimation marketed them separately. Some critics felt that the narrative was far darker than the video games, to the point it was hard to become attached to the new cast or returning members who die in the story. The Hope Arc finale earned positive responses for closing Makoto's and Hajime's stories. The series is often listed as one of the best from 2016.
Plot
The story is split into two alternately airing chapters; Future Arc and Despair Arc, followed by a finale called Hope Arc.
Future Arc Future Arc takes place after the events of the video game Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair. Lucky Student Makoto Naegi is placed under arrest by vice-chairman and former Student Council President Kyosuke Munakata of the Future Foundation. Makoto is accused of treason and kidnapping for hiding Hajime, Nagito, and Housekeeper Chisa Yukizome's other students in a virtual world after they continued fulfilling Junko's evil desires following her death, although Makoto aimed to eliminate their memories of their brainwashed forms. However, a bear-like creature named Monokuma appears on video monitors and starts a "Monokuma Hunter" killing game. Each of the participants carries a bangle, which after a time will put everyone to sleep for a short period. During this sleep period, a designated attacker will awaken among them and kill one of the other participants. Chisa is the first victim, resulting in Kyosuke distrusting most of his allies and attempting to kill Makoto.
In addition, if anyone performs a personalized forbidden action, they will be injected with a deadly poison. One by one, members of the Future Foundation began to die in mysterious circumstances: Farmer Daisaku Bandai, Blacksmith Sonosuke Izayoi, and Talent Scout Koichi Kizakura are poisoned for violating their forbidden actions, former Hope's Peak Headmaster and chairman of the Future Foundation Kazuo Tengan and a robotic copy of Psychologist Miaya Gekkogahara are killed by Kyosuke protecting Makoto, and Wrestler Great Gozu, Pharmacist Seiko Kimura, and Confectioner Ruruka Ando are killed by the attacker. Makoto's group is shocked to discover that Detective Kyoko Kirigiri has been poisoned for her forbidden action: Makoto surviving past the fourth time limit. Makoto sets off to confront Kyosuke, but the two make peace as Makoto gets his superior to remember Chisa's death. Understanding the attacker's modus operandi, with Boxer Juzo Sakakura's help Makoto learns that there is no attacker; the people committed suicide after being brainwashed by Junko's hallucinating Despair videos that were originally used to brainwash Chisa's students. Juzo destroys all the monitors but dies of blood loss after being wounded by Kyosuke, who thought Juzo was the traitor. Makoto soon realizes that Kazuo was the mastermind behind the killing game and was manipulating Animator Ryota Mitarai into thinking he fell into despair so he would unleash his own Hope brainwashing video to be released onto mankind, which he escapes from the facility and intends to do so at the protests of Makoto and his friends. In the final scene, the spirits of the late Junko and Chisa watch the events unfold in the afterlife (taking the form of a movie theater) as they wonder if the surviving characters can stop Ryota.
Despair Arc Despair, which takes place prior to the events of Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, opens with Chisa, who begins her job teaching Hope's Peak Academy's 77th Class of Super High School Level students, who stand out as talented in different ways. She is teaching in order to help Kyosuke and Juzo improve the establishment. Meanwhile, Hajime Hinata, a student in the school's Reserve Course for those without talent, prepares to undergo an experiment to make him the Ultimate Hope. He has developed an inferiority complex over his lack of talents, despite bonding with Gamer Chiaki Nanami, a talented student.
After spending half a year teaching the Reserve Course, Chisa asks Juzo for a trustee's ID in order to investigate the Kamukura Project. The now amnesia-ridden Hinata, referred to as Izuru Kamukura, meets Junko and her sister, Soldier Mukuro Ikusaba. Junko brainwashes Chisa and blackmails Juzo, threatening to reveal his crush on Kyosuke. Juzo and the now-brainwashed Chisa tell Kyosuke that Junko is innocent, allowing Junko's plan to continue unhindered. Using Izuru as bait, Junko kills Chiaki while brainwashing Chisa's students, the 77th Class graduates. The brainwashing is accomplished by screening a film of Chiaki's death, which contains subliminal messages created by an unwitting Ryota. Meanwhile, Izuru decides to have his memories of the 77th Class erased, as he is interested to see if hope can be more unpredictable than despair. To protect the remaining students in the 78th Class, Principal Jin Kirigiri helps them convert the school's old building into a shelter, unaware of the two Despairs who lurk among them. As Junko moves on to the next phase of her plan, becoming curious about the wildly unpredictable luck exhibited by Makoto, Chisa rejoins Kyosuke, who is unaware of Chisa's being brainwashed. Some time later, in a virtual world, Izuru finds himself, in his Hajime persona, interacting with Chiaki.
Hope Arc In the Hope Arc, Makoto races to stop Ryota from broadcasting his brainwashing video. He and the others are assisted by the arrival of the 77th Class, which Hajime, using his talents, managed to restore to normal. Feeling that he should not have to carry his burden alone, Hajime and the others ask Ryota to come with them, as they aim to atone for their sins. They convince Ryota to cancel his broadcast. Afterward, Hajime and the others claim responsibility for the killing game, shifting blame from the Future Foundation. Meanwhile, Kyosuke leaves Makoto on friendly terms. As they leave, Nurse Mikan Tsumiki, says that she was able to heal a person poisoned by their bangle who managed to survive thanks to an antidote created by Seiko. The final scene moves to a rebuilt Hope's Peak Academy, where Kyoko is revealed to be the one who survived, referring to Makoto as the school's new headmaster.
Production
Conception The series was the final chapter of the "Hope's Peak Academy" arc within the Danganronpa franchise, as the third main video game, Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, focuses on a new setting and group of characters, in contrast to the anime, which instead focuses on returning characters.
The Danganronpa development staff said that, while it was difficult to work on both titles simultaneously, they recognized that the opportunity to do something like it does not come along often. Initially, an anime adaptation of Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair had been planned; but in the end the development staff opted to make an anime that takes place after Danganronpa 2. Danganronpa head writer Kazutaka Kodaka felt that the Danganronpa 2 characters' story had ended within that game and that he could not easily write about what happened to them afterward. While a story of the class trials had originally been considered, the feeling was that it would have been too painful for the characters. This led to the decision to turn the conclusion into an anime. According to Kodaka, the series would feature content that can only be expressed in an animated medium. The production staff wanted to make the series suspenseful, even though it did not include any investigations.
Kodaka aimed to create a unique style of storytelling. Rather than making a fan service anime, he wanted to have a more distinctive narrative. He said that some fans called the idea of a happy ending pandering, but the writer said he wanted to give proper endings. That is how Kodaka had the idea of creating the third story arc, Hope Arc, to bring closure to the dark story but in a lighthearted way. A producer from Lerche inspired him to do the work. Kodaka wanted to reduce the amount of action from that in the previous works and, instead, to create a psychological struggle based on the trials presented by the new killing game. He believed that, while any newcomers would understand the Future Arc, the Despair Arc needed knowledge of Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair to be understood. As a result, the writer separated Makoto's group from Hajime's using two story arcs. Makoto's storytelling and themes are those of hope, in contrast to Hajime's theme of despair.
According to director Seiji Kishi, Rui Komatsuzaki redesigned Makoto and his friends to look more mature. To attract more fans, Kishi had the idea that Makoto's first image as an adult would show him handcuffed. While acknowledging that the cast had aged, the anime staff claimed that new characters with similar traits would be further explored in it. Kishi expressed shock at Kodaka's idea of his being put in charge of the series. He claimed the idea of ending the game's story as an anime was unique. Kodaka said he wanted the anime to appeal to fans of the previous games. In order to distance the anime from the other Danganronpa game that was also the third installment, the game was titled Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony. The original cast in the games returned with Nobuyo Oyama (Monokuma) looking forward to getting people's attention.
In contrast to his work on Danganronpa: The Animation, where he was the director, Kishi took on the role of chief director, leaving him with less work. Kishi contrasted his work with the anime adaptations of Persona, where he was involved, with those of Danganronpa. He felt that the Persona series used more substories that needed to be adapted, in contrast to the more linear narrative style employed by Kodaka. While Kodaka planned the original plot, former Nitroplus writer Norimitsu Kaihō was in charge of revising the scripts to adapt them into the anime series. Lerche chose Kaihō to write the anime, based on his knowledge of the franchise.
Writing