Despair Arc begins with the students becoming friends, but ends with class 77 becoming Remnants of Despair. This is essentially the beginning of the Danganronpa story, showing the class and their homeroom teacher, Chisa, meeting for their first year together in Hope’s Peak Academy, a school for gifted youngsters ( check out my X-Men podcast). The trials with mini-games are a fantastic staple of the series but not something that needed to be translated to non-interactive media.ĭespair Arc takes place in the past and primarily focuses on class 77 of Hope’s Peak-the cast of Danganronpa 2, before that game takes place. Obviously, there is no gameplay, so the lack of trials works only to the story’s advantage. During this time, a designated killer awakens and kills a participant. All participants have been outfitted with a bangle that puts the wearer to sleep for a short period of time. Unfortunately, everyone in the Foundation building has been lured into a trap and a new killing game begins, albeit one without trials, which has been the Danganronpa norm. Fun fact: Fictional characters can’t hear you when you scream “TURN BACK” at them.įuture Arc takes place in the present and focuses on the Future Foundation’s reaction to learning that fellow member and protagonist of the first game, Makoto, has tried to save the evil Remnants of Despair, the cast of Danganronpa 2. But just so you don’t despair, I will warn of major spoilers in your future, anime-niacs. Both series take place at different times but meet and conclude together, and that is what makes this a fascinating piece of storytelling.

It is impossible to watch a single arc and get the whole story (this is one instance where you do need to listen to both sides). Ultra Despair Girls places the player squarely in the middle of the terrible state of the world, but the story has to end somewhere, and it does so in an anime.ĭanganronpa 3: The End of Hope’s Peak High School is split into two series that must be watched by alternating episodes in two arcs- Future Arc and Despair Arc. Danganronpa 2 adds more layers of mystery, more endearing characters to a terrifying situation, and ends with incredibly shocking twists. Danganronpa is full of mystery, introduces endearing characters to a terrifying situation, and builds an entire world around it.

Danganronpa 3 hope arc characters