Danganronpa – 02
You’re nice to girls once and look what happens.
 |
So after this episode, I don’t really mind how close this is to the game. Of course, the trials will be a huge deciding factor since they could easily be tedious if they follow the game mechanics too much, but this episode was an improvement over the last one. …Though that might be because I like the death scenes. |
The OP seems to have upgraded a bit. I could have done without the lyrics and just stuck with the elevator music, but this is okay. The visuals are pretty interesting as well …Be honest. You know you wanted to see Monokuma dance sensually. As for the ED, I love the touches the added to it! As people die, I assume that they’ll appear in the background like Maizono and Enoshima did. And their little 8bit sprites were crossed out too! I was kind of hoping that they’d do something like this, so I’m glad that they did. Though I’m not sure why Naegi’s there in the ED since he isn’t dead like the other two characters. Oh well. …Things are going to get kind of lonely as this story goes on. On a few levels.
Paintball is a dangerous sport.
Ahhh! The death scenes!!! Well, that was taken directly from the game too, but I like seeing them. I think they handled Enoshima’s rather nicely, and it differed just a tiiiiiiny bit from the games (mostly in camera angles). …I would have liked to have seen where the things that were impaling her came from (since they never showed that in the game either and said that they came from the floor or something), but I guess this was just another display of how ridiculously powerful Monokuma is. When he says that they could be potentially ripped apart in a hurricane, he’s not kidding. He has the ability to do those kinds of things, as you’ll find out eventually. I mean, he apparently even has influence outside the school since he took out a really popular idol group.
So, did the murder and death surprise you guys at all? I don’t know how many people caught this in the preview, but Haragakure was the one who was shown dead there. Actually, Maizono’s death came as kind of a shock in the game, since the game demo had Haragakure die there too, and the trial was completely different. Maizono was also set up to be the stereotypical support character as well, so people just assumed that she would have stuck around. I don’t know if viewers here had the same shock since her freak out and some of her facial expressions made things kind of obvious that something was going to happen with her. I never actually played the demo, but judging from pictures I got from the game site, I think Enoshima might have died differently as well. I’m not sure.
Oh, right. And the blood is pink. The game did this as a form of censoring or something, but I like that they kept it here since it’s just as weird as anything else in the series.
Here’s what they showed in the anime previews.
I can’t really touch on Maizono a whole lot until after the trial, but I guess I can talk about Enoshima a bit. This is one of the reasons why I thought it was important for every character to have some lines in the last episode, since her death really came out of nowhere. She wasn’t quite a background character and she wasn’t given a suspicious amount of screentime like Maizono was. So maybe you didn’t know her very well, but at least you knew she existed. …Though maybe you might have gotten suspicious that she might die when she started talking back to Monokuma. Oh, speaking of, I don’t want to give too much away, but when Monokuma says that he won’t go against the reason for all of this, he means it. So no, he wasn’t the one who murdered Maizono. It really was one of the students. This doesn’t have much to do with Monokuma, but Oowada covering Enoshima’s body with his coat was a nice touch… Only, he’s wearing the coat when the trial starts, so I have to wonder if he has more than one, or if he at least washed the thing before putting it back on.
Well, we now have the main reason why Naegi is our protagonist and gets heavily involved with all of the trials. He’s suspicious this time, so he kind of has to be heavily involved. Of course, he would be involved anyways since Maizono and him were kind of close, but this is just extra incentive. As for our protagonist himself, he’s… bland I guess. There’s not much that special about him personality-wise, and even more so compared to the wild personalities of the other characters (not that we’ve seen much of that yet). His blandness both does and doesn’t really play a role in the plot, so I guess you’ll see.
The character motions weren’t so close to how the game’s were, so that was nice to see. I feel perfectly okay with the fact that they breezed over the evidence gathering. I was kind of hoping for something more subtle than –item get!-, but at the same time, I like how it didn’t take up too much of the episode. The game, you had to figure out how the murder went yourself and when you looked at the evidence, there were hints (kind of) given to you through dialogue. You obviously don’t have to think things through that much with the anime since they hand the answers to you, so they don’t need to give hints at all. I guess the only thing left to see is how they handle the trial scenes. I look forward to what comes after the trials too.
So, the school trial starts the next episode. You didn’t think it would just be as easy as murdering someone, did you? (Or if you bothered reading descriptions of the plot before watching this, you probably saw the trials coming.) This is the part where the characters are both forced to work together, and yet, that might be the same thing that screws all of them over. Obviously, whoever the murderer is isn’t going to let everything go smoothly, and they’re already putting the blame on Naegi, who’s innocent. Plus if you take into account the overly negative characters like Fukawa, who would throw the blame anywhere at the slightest hint of doubt, figuring out the truth here won’t be easy. …But hey, they’ll be interesting.
Well, I definitely felt that they did Naegi discovering Maizono’s body right. The shaky camera and jarring background music were all from the game, but Naegi’s scream and closeup just completed that scene perfectly. …Megumi Ogata’s voice must have hurt after that. Now that I’ve gotten over how closely this is following the game, I’m rather enjoying this adaptation. Already, there’s so much I want to talk about (things they mentioned, things they didn’t mention), but… can’t because spoilers. I’ll definitely be bringing these topics up when they’re relevant though. There’s some nice foreshadowing going on~. Maizono died earlier in the episode than I thought she would, but that’s fine too, since it gave the episode a bit more drama. I could never remember if her or Enoshima went first (especially after reading the What If? scenario where everyone survives. …Obviously that’s not going to happen here). Anyways, I’m rather curious to seeing how the trial goes. …Since I’m pretty sure it will either be a hit or a miss.
So prepare for an episode of arguing ahead~
About Karakuri
University student and the one at Metanorn who's known for wearing glasses. Likes blood, insanity and plot twists, but also plays otome games and adores cute romance anime. It balances out... somehow.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I went from not at all on board with this show during the first episode, now willing to give it the third episode.
🙂
pink blood a I thought they handled it better in Bakemonogatri, as that added to the surreality of the scene. Here not so much. I guess it takes buckets of many colors?
I was really ticked off to see Maizono die so early, everything she did was in earnest. So I guess the show is doing something right.
It looks like I’ll be around for the next episode.
This is my first comment using the voice application on my Nexus 7 it took some editing.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Hopefully the third episode lives to expectations then~
…I don’t remember any pink blood in Bakemono, though it’s been like, 3 years since I saw it last. I figure the entire point of this anime is to shock, so the pink blood also helps with that. They could have gone with black or something, but they purposely made it a really noticeable colour. …Plus what I said about censoring.
Yay? But you see, it’s that personality that screwed her over…
….You can do that on phones now?
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
there was pink yellow green and purple blood all done up neon. somehow it ended up making this seem even more repulsive.
yes you can do it with phones and tablets now. I just did.
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
I did like Danganronpa because of the awesome collection of characters and damn e.e’ I’m already crying to see two of them dead already. It’s like Devil Survivor 2 was so depressing with the characters fading away in the ending i.i It’s too sad.
I wasn’t that shocked with Maizono dying. I really thought that she would be the first to die but I brushed off this idea since she seemed to be the main female character but now I see that there isn’t anything like this, only our not so lucky luckster. But seeing Enoshima dying was really shocking ._____. it’s like they threw away an awesome character e.e’ Oh, well. Looking forward to the next.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
Devil Survivor was definitely sad. I would like them to pay more attention to those deaths, but considering the situation in the show, I’m not complaining much. But not seeing them in the ending made me even more sad. TT^TT
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
Seems like the character count appearing at the end will be a trademark from the director. But it doesn’t come even near as DS2, because it is just for a brief moment and there are only silhouettes. DS2 was much more depressing because they appeared on the whole ending and they had a motion… and a face… and those huge gaps that appeared towards the end of the series only made it worse… e.e’
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
Yeah. Remember the ending of the pre-last episode? Now THAT was depressing.
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
Hibiki looking at the nowhere was depressing, yeah i.i
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
It gets more depressing. Trust me.
Yeah, I figured people would catch on to Maizono quickly. As for Enoshima, I miss her already. The characters quickly learn that Monokuma isn’t screwing around now though.
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
Which is good because they probably won’t have meaningless random deaths anymore…
POWUH: 600-699 with 691 comments
you know…paintball really is a dangerous sport…now i know why it’s necessary to use the sucky protetion, all makes sense now!
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Risks may include death~.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
That’s the biggest risk of all.
POWUH: 600-699 with 691 comments
go glasses… i bet glasses is going to win this thing!
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
She’s too obnoxious
POWUH: 600-699 with 691 comments
last time i saw glasses was a guy…
POWUH: 500-599 with 543 comments
There are two characters with glasses last time I checked.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Yep. Fukawa and Togami. …Both are kind of… difficult people.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Oh wait, Yamada wears glasses too (the fat otaku guy).
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
Oops. I forgot there were 2 ^^”
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Right now, in all, there are three characters wearing glasses. Two guys and one girl.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
Wait, who’s the third one? The bookworm, the descendant or something like that and..?
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
The three who are wearing glasses right now are Touko Fukawa, Byakuya Togami and Hifumi Yamada.
POWUH: 600-699 with 691 comments
last time i saw glasses was a guy… i wonder if sakura is going to win…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Actually, I’m betting against that. My money’s on Celestia.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Really? Why Celes? (I’m not saying that you’re right or wrong, I just want to know why her out of all of the characters)
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Because with her suggestion about Night Time, she’s devious enough to manipulate the others so she could last longer.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Ah, that’s true enough. Thanks.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
First things first, I like how Maizono’s and Enoshima’s figures went darker in that killcount. I like touches like that, they’re like a full stop, so you understand – they’re really gone. Similar thing was going on with Devil Survivor ending, which I love so much.
It was surprising that they started the kill count on the 2nd episode. But Maizono’s actions and facial expressions make me wonder, if there’s really much more to her than we know so far. And also, I wouldn’t be surprised if Naegi was the killer or was related to some killings one way or another. I don’t know why, but I just get that feeling. Maybe he went bonkers…. I know that’s not likely, but..
I still can’t believe that that bodybuilder is a girl. Come on! -_- Traps, level asian.
Ooooooh~ can’t wait to see the trial! Well, it’s easy to guess what will happen, since the whole cast won’t get executed in the 3rd episode, so the only question is who did it. *lights a flashlight in bookworm’s face* HUUUUH???
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
That… was take directly from the game. I wanted to post a comparison shot, but my version has more people blacked out, which would obviously be a spoiler.
I figure they’ll do a murder and a trial every other episode or so, plus this is a good way to get people interested. …Also, there’s not much else that happens in the game up to this point. Maizono’s death is what gets eveything rolling.
AHAHAHAHAHA “traps level asian” oh you have no idea. But I can confirm that Sakura is indeed female. She just is extremely buff for reasons they may or may not cover.
Arguments ahead!
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
Now, next will be brainstorming! Do they reveal all the details about killings before trials? I want to try and solve those crimes myself *~*
*takes a pipe*
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Damn! Things got escalated in a hurry. Two dead right off the bat. They’re not playing around. I was surprised and sad Sayaka died so early. Why must the good ones go first? I had hoped that if she survived long enough, her death would have had greater depth and tragedy that would drive Naegi over the edge. It would have been poetic.
The neon pink blood proved to be a nice and interesting touch. I, myself, wouldn’t have thought to use that. Enoshima had a brutal and sadistic death. They couldn’t be bothered with finding a less extravagant and less painful method, could they? I knew she was going to get killed. Not only she defied Monokuma but the background music was another indicator.
What I believe is and from the looks of it, the spears piercing her body came out tiny hidden shafts from all directions. That or Monokuma can even manipulate space itself inside in the school seeing that Enoshima was killed surrounded by everyone and no one else was hit.
Monokuma is one sick bastard of a pedo bear and there’s no way to find a loophole around his laws. You play by his rules, he wins. You go against his rules, he still wins. And his Trial is the corrupt justice system I’ve ever heard of. It’s just as twisted as the Penalty Game segment in Deadman Wonderland.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Is he a pedo bear?
POWUH: 600-699 with 691 comments
i don’t doubt it… <..>
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
but but but it’s Doreman…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
There will be no bias for seiyuus here, especially when that person is playing a sadistic stuffed toy.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
Some of MB dialogues are a bit…. yeah he a Pervertbear.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Personally, I was never fond of Maizono, so her death was okay with me. The game practically shoves her in your face, so I wanted a different option. I was more sad about Enoshima at this point because I’m kind of fond of the whole kogal speech and look (er, not the scary looking ganguro tanned versions, but I like the way they wear their uniforms and the gyaru makeup)
It was even more sadistic in the games, since not all of the spears hit her at once, but a few at a time. So her death was prolonged a bit~. Oh, if you think this is extravagant, just wait until the execution. …I’m mentioning this now because honestly, I think everyone knows that the characters aren’t all going to be killed off in 3 episodes.
I wouldn’t doubt that Monokuma has that kind of control. I’m just slightly curious as to if they are able to come out from everywhere, or if Enoshima was just standing in a terrible spot.
Ahaha this should be a lot worse than just loosing an organ. Yep. Monokuma is a tyrant. But would this be interesting any other way? xD
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
There were hatches in the floor when they pulled back after Enoshima was impaled, so the implication to me was that the spears came from there.
I’m still not a huge fan of the show. To me, it’s not anything like a psychological thriller or mystery. It’s just a teen slasher flick. I dunno if I’m expecting more help with clues (it’s not like it needs to be Blue’s Clues or anything), but it just seemed really random.
I thought Monokuma’s line of “I’m trying to prevent any unnecessary deaths” was nicely ironic, since all but one of them are going to die anyway.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Hmm, I wonder if Monokuma had the whole floor trapped like that. I wouldn’t put it past him…
Well, no. Not yet it’s not, since they have yet to figure out that there’s a whole other mystery going on here. Things get slightly more intelligent with the trials though since they have to logically sort through things.
You know, I recently realized that the system here is flawed. There are 13 people left alive, but what happens if they somehow lower the number eventually to say, two people alive for a trial? How would that work? The culprit is decided by a democracy. I highly doubt the killer would vote for themselves and the innocent person would know for sure who the culprit is. …Not much to do with what you said there, but I was thinking about this earlier.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
Maybe the system will change when it comes down to the final two? There’s really not much “democracy” at that point, as you say.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
My guess is that Monokuma figures someone would get away with it before that point, allowing him to kill off the rest of the people anyway. Or maybe if it gets to 3, it’s just last person standing. But it’s more likely it would end at 4 (3 alive, one dead), as that would be the easiest time for the killer to convince one other person that the 3rd guy did it, thereby getting rid of both of them.
I would have appreciated more evidence gathering and conjecture as we went along. As it is, too much of this just comes down to who is is the best orator in a ‘courtroom’.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
I did more thinking and figured out what he probably would have pulled. …I’ll bring up up later, closer to the end.
POWUH: 600-699 and Wingman with 655 comments
the game itself was very easy to play, but the story was very interesting, no sherlok holmes here but some plot twist and out-of-ordinary settings 😛
POWUH: 600-699 with 691 comments
maybe the bear is the one killing people using some kind chemical to mess with their head and make them kill the others…or maybe everything is just a collective dream…
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
…. Ahahaha…. Do you really want an answer for this?
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Yes…..in the form of a soliloquy as given by Hamlet….I will grade on iambic pentameter….
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I rather not know. There’s nothing worse than spoilers when you’re excited about something.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Then as the Witches from dat Scottish play.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
Honestly, I want to know whether Virtual Reality is involved or not in SDR2. But tht would be spoiling myself so no lol.
POWUH: 500-599 with 543 comments
Maizono’s death didn’t really come as a shock. Enoshima’s was a little bit more of a surprise, but then again, oh well. They’re both gone and once the trial for Maizono’s death is over, they won’t matter that much. Oowada gained a point for covering up her body with his coat, although, yeah, if he’s wearing it again maybe he found a couple extras in his room or something?
As for taking the idol group out, my thought was that the idol group stopped because Maizono didn’t show up again… who knows. I’m just not buying the whole “what happened to the people in this video?” stuff.
There’s just one thing bothering me about this show. Everyone stands in the same positions when they’re in their group formation. It has nothing to do with what’s going on or anything. Naegi was in the middle on the elevator, which makes little sense if everyone’s thinking he’s a murderer. He got in last, so he should have ended up in a corner or something. Why would anyone want to stand in the middle like that? It’s just bothering me that it’s a bit lazy.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Hmm, I can’t talk much about this now, but the dead people are important, if only for the fact that they’re a reminder that the characters are in a terrible, terrible situation at the moment. There is a laundry room, so I hope he washed the coat. …Or if not, he’s probably used to blood on his coat being a yankee and all.
Bring this up again in like, 10 episodes. Then I’ll be able to talk.
Uh, nothing I can say there other than that they’re just copying the game again. Naegi generally stands in the middle of things just because he’s the main character. No other reason really.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 318 comments
Abot the coat. The most possible thing is, that the characters already have a bunch of extras in their rooms. I mean, they’re going to be in the same clothes the whole series, I’m sure their dressers are full of extras.
POWUH: 500-599 with 543 comments
Okay, I’ll keep that in mind when we get to episode 12.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Or maybe even before that. Depends on pacing~.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Double deaths in one episode!? WHAT IS GOING ON!? Still I liked the artistic style of the blood or was that just cleaver censorship? I guess it works either way and I would take bright neon blood over dark shadows anyday of the week.
Next week is totally going to be a battle of OBJECTION! Next time huh? I have worries that this series will do a repeat of X character dies and the rest of the living play in the courtroom every other episode or will that not be the case? I don’t mind if that happens because I am addicted LOL
Pro tip: DON’T TOUCH THE BEAR! EVER!
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
cleaver censorship Fosh?
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
As Muse from the subdued fangirling blog mentioned to me, the game did the pink blood so they wouldn’t have to rate the video game higher for audiences. But yeah, totally agree pink blood > dark shadows.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Despair is what’s going on~.
Ahaha this series has it’s own catchphrase, I’m happy to report. It’s not quite OBJECTION! but it’s close. …Uhhh, can’t really comment too much on this, but there WILL be more than one trial for sure.
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
Kara, if I may ask a favor, could you put next episode preview pics and such in spoiler tags please? Now I know (for sure) who’s next to die, and I generally pass on episode previews for this very reason.
You were spot on when you replied to my comment last episode. I loved the deaths in this episode and the rules and class trial introduced this episode really have me hooked in to the series.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Ah, no problem Jrow. Though this anime doesn’t have previews… this all happened within the episode. Did you want me to put the death pictures and such in spoiler tags too, or…?
Yay! Hope you stick around for the entire run
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
…they showed it in the ep? If that’s the case, then just ignore what I said. When I read your caption I thought you meant next ep previews.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Nope, I’m just taking a random screenshot from the episode and putting it in place of a preview (which it lacks, for very good reasons). The blacked out characters in there are dead ones in the episode.
POWUH: 600-699 and Wingman with 655 comments
hehehe more deaths more mystery more despair and more madness 😀 give me more! damn now i want to play dgrp 2 remembering how awesome 1 was
POWUH: 600-699 and Wingman with 655 comments
ohoh btw esper desu kara!
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Just kidding~ :3
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Did you play the 2nd one? I’ve been dying to talk to someone about it, only the Let’s Play hasn’t finished yet so nobody would know what I’m talking about. OTL I kind of want to play again too, but I’ll wait until the vita version is localized I guess.
POWUH: 600-699 and Wingman with 655 comments
i keep getting spoilered bit by bit about 2 bc of my bitchie friends 😛 but i havent played the game yet! gotta wait for the localization yes 😀
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
The 1st game better sell well enough so tht we can get the 2nd one…. If only I have a Vita lol.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
They have my money at least.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 318 comments
I really like how the camera moves when you discover a body. I’m so glad they left that in the anime. And the amazing music. I’m really enjoying Danga Ronpa so fall, can’t wait for the next episode.
By the way, for those who are wondering “who is the culprit?”, if you look closely at the evidence, you can find out 😉
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
The death scenes were really well done in the game, weren’t they. I’m still looking forward to what comes after the trial in the next episode. …It’s definitely one of my favourite scenes in the game.
POWUH: 500-599 with 519 comments
I don’t know if I like how close they are making it to the game. The “acquiring” of the various objects bugged me. Sure, it works in game but in an anime? I think small scenes would have worked better but they have a limited number of episodes so I guess this helps move it along faster.
I was surprised that Maizono kicked the bucket. 0_0 I thought she would be like June in 999 and be the main heroine.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
The episode would have taken so much longer if they had done something else I think, so this works for me.
Ahaha that’s what they wanted you to think. Oh well, she does act as a good motivation at least…