First Impressions- Danganronpa
Who wants to talk about murders☆~?
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Yes, I love Dangan Ronpa! To be fair, I never actually played the game though. I’m one of those people who just read the Let’s Play translation. Anyways, I loved the story and the characters to pieces, so I have all the best wishes for this anime to turn out amazing. |
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Ugh, with the game being officially localized and the fan translation that came out, I feel really, really stupid for struggling and playing the game in Japanese OTL. Anyways, the anime. I was pretty happy with what I saw. Though this is just the first episode. My hope could easily turn into despair (harhar). |
An Interesting Direction…?
Kara// I generally like game anime to stick to their origins, but uh, this was a little much. Character poses, the first death, they seriously stuck to the game. Of course, I love the death scenes, but I was kind of hoping for more than just a reanimation of the same things I’ve seen a bunch of times. …But seriously, they look the same. One thing they did seem to skip over though was the Social Link kind of aspect, where Naegi goes and hangs out with characters. Of course, the characters seem pretty flat right now since we haven’t seen much of them, but this way, I think it will be less obvious as to who’s going to die/murder next since the anime won’t be focusing on them that heavily. I can see there being issues with the trials if this closeness continues, but I also think that those are the times where the game and anime will diverge the most (other than, I think they’ll shorten the evidence gathering). Since watching a camera spin around a room while people argue isn’t going to be interesting enough to dedicate a good half of the plot to. One thing I did like though, was the fact that the school looks just as weird distinct as it did in the games. I don’t know what kind of lighting Kibougamine invested in, but it certainly made wandering the halls easier.
Chapter number censored because spoilers, but the hallways were seriously purple in parts.
MYSTERY + KILLING
In space, no one can hear you scream.
OC// The concept of sticking a bunch of people in an enclosed space and forcing them to kill each other is a tired but true plot device. It’s simple, but it works. There’s just something satisfying about watching people try to form truces and get along, but ultimately end of growing suspicious and resulting to cold-blooded murder. Dangan Ronpa treads the same ground, forcing all the students to live together in a school. They would live there forever in complete harmony if they all co-operated, but we all know that doubt will get the better of them and crush that dream instantly.
The problem is that no one wants to die. People get worried that they may be betrayed, and will pre-emptively lash out. This sort of over-strategizing leads to paranoia and causes the group to collapse. How will that happen and when? This is only the first episode, so we’ll see. What makes things even more intense is that Monobear constantly hovers around and tries to convince them to kill each other. By providing a motive, he makes everyone even more suspicious of their “friends.” In the end, the true enemy is simply their own fear. …Okay, and a murderous two-tone bear. I can’t completely rule him out now, can I?
CHARACTERS
Let’s play a rousing game of “guess which one is the game and which one is the anime”
Kara// I know there were quite a few complaints about Monokuma’s voice. …Guys, it’s a cultural thing. The voice actress (or at least, one of them) for Doraemon is the same as Monokuma, so it’s purposely done to have the same kind of psychological effect as Mickey Mouse (or Winnie the Pooh or your other favourite childhood character) telling you to go hang yourself. It’s supposed to be eerie having a childhood character’s voice coming from an evil bear, but since I don’t think many of you grew up on watching a blue cat grant some whiny kid’s wishes, there’s just not the same effect. As for Monokuma himself, I think he translated pretty well from the game. Or at least, he was interesting to watch since his motions deviated the most from his sprites… But yeah, he’s covered in just as much mystery as the school is considering how he almost exploded on Oogawa and seems to have unlimited copies of himself. …Oh, plus the whole having students murder each other thing. If you’re wondering why he doesn’t do more to have them kill each other (like take away their food) or do it himself… there are plot reasons. Trust me.
As for the rest of the characters, I think they were portrayed okay in this episode. 15 is a lot to go through, but hopefully having the narration stop and display names with character specialties helped some people remember who is who. …And if not, characters should start dying soon, so you have less to memorize. As for the characters themselves, they’re all pretty loveable once you get to know them, and this episode couldn’t really cover them with the plot being set up, so they should stop seeming so generic soon.
Not bad for a first episode. I know the source material is really strong, it just depends on how the director handles it. The director here is Seiji Kishi, who I find varies wildly in quality. He also adapted Persona 4 into an anime, and he made some good choices and some really questionable choices. When he improvises and tries to make parts of the game more suited for anime, he does a really good job. His comedy is especially on-point. For example, I love how he made Kanji’s dungeon even more flamboyant and elaborated the King’s Game just enough to make it fresh. Other times he just copied and pasted entire scenes from the game without realizing how awkward it would be to put in an anime. I feel like he wants to put EVERYTHING from the game into the anime, and that just doesn’t work for a cohesive story. Games are a very different medium from anime, and therefore it takes some skill to adapt it in a way that makes sense.
Dangan Ronpa falls into the same kind of traps. It follows the game so closely it’s almost eerie. The poses and expressions are often taken straight from game sprites, and some of the scenes are just retouched cutscenes. For a game with this much text, a faithful adaptation just won’t work. However, there were some promising parts. The seiyuu cast remains the same, which is a plus. The opening scene was well done and a nice choice, even if it was a bit of a rehash. Most importantly, the tone of despair and disbelief is really well done. You get that “oh shit” feeling when they look at the videos, and that’s not easy to do. The true test is in whether or not the upcoming school trials are done well, because those are the most important parts of the game. I’ll be following to see what happens, although so far I prefer the Let’s Play to the anime.
I love the ED with Soraru and I love the OP (…though really, it’s the exact same as the game OP with updated visuals). The soundtrack seems like it’s been slightly updated (there were tracks I didn’t recognize), but I’m absolutely in love with the soundtrack, so these new(?) additions are welcome. …Though I don’t think that one that was going on while Maizono was freaking out was very fitting (since it plays in the game during epic reveals if I remember correctly). But that was my only issue with the sounds. As for the rest of the anime, there’s the fact that some of the animation looked pretty low quality. …Man, I was not a fan of the translations I watched either. Maybe because I find ‘luckster’ an incredible stupid sounding title. Anyways, this followed the game almost exactly, if you couldn’t tell. Of course, some locations were different and some details on the character and why they’re considered superior to regular students were lost, but honestly, this was pretty much like playing the game. Though the game is one of the best things I’ve played, so that’s not necessarily going to be a bad thing. …Or at least, I don’t mind it.
Danganronpa is… weird. If you couldn’t tell from the fact that the villain is an adorable looking bear and the very first scene with the space journey, this storyline has its quirks. …And just wait until you see the blood. The characters should all get more interesting (they purposely conform and break tropes, so their initial stereotypicalness is totally intentional) as the storyline has a chance to let us get to know them more as well. The unusual-ness about this story is part of what makes it good though, so I’m really looking forward to seeing more of this anime.
Oh and just as a note (for the people new to this series), I’d be really cautious with spoiler tags in the comments if there are any. There is a lot to be spoiled and I really believe that this is best going into blind. …I honestly wouldn’t even look up fanart or anything. Anyways…
Welcome to Danganronpa. Hope you enjoy your stay~
About Tag Team
We live, laugh, enjoy and strictly believe on "more the merrier". When together, we usually come up with very chatty, conversation-based episodics and interesting posts.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
Good review, Team. I got what Kara said right off the bat, I recognized the voice a bit, and looked it up. It is Winnie the Pooh, asking that you kill someone as blithely as asking you to switch seats. But, that is about as much of the show as I got. The rest?
Oh, goodness. I know game to anime adaptions are a challenge, and that we should not be taking this thing that seriously, but how soon before we are on thin ice. My first impression of this episode was that it was garbage.
My first quibble is character design. As OC says, it really does look like they lifted it straight from a PC, and did it all in Flash. Oh, and there’s an example. That distinct look every character has works for a game, you have time to absorb the details, but here it’s just to much detail, to fast, and it comes of as busy work.
Second. Did they do this in Flash? It looks like it. Not that that is a bad thing, but still, at least do it in modern Flash, not 2002 Flash.
And Third, Introductions. To many folk round here. Layer em in as part of a three episode first act, keep some in the background, make it a mystery.
Now, many of my comments are probably quite wrong, not having played the game, much less heard it until the show was announced. But this looks like a poor effort for an anime.
As it was, Monokuma, and those “Oh, crap” DVD’s he prepared are quite the stinger.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Yay for cultural references!
…Oh lord, you’re right about this looking like it was flash animated. Did they blow the anime budget trying to cast all of these voice actors? I knew something looked weird at points, but with your comparison to flash, I can;t unsee.
Er, some of the folks needed to be introduced right away. I predict a death the next episode, so they need to keep things even between all of the characters. Neglect some and then you either get “I don’t care about this death because character X wasn’t ever mentioned” or “I knew this death would come because we saw character X but not character Y” …or at least that’s how I see it.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
That’s a good way to see it.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
……what? I think the anime looks better than flash….. or maybe i haven’t seen enough good quality flash.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
Well, I am of my own opinion, there is no such thing as good quality Flash when compared to even low budget animation. Now, Flash is a good tool, I cannot imagine life without Homestarrunner.
POWUH: 700-799 and Horror Expert with 701 comments
Using spoilers, just to be careful …
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I didn’t know that bit about Monokuma’s voice actress, really interesting stuff! It’s funny how the series plays with your expectations. Since you’re both familiar with the source material I hope you don’t mind me asking, but do you have a favorite character? I’ve always loved …
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POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
I have a feeling that they’ll keep maybe the target thing floating around at points maybe depending on who’s talking. And of course the “sore wa chigau yo!” cut in. …Maybe the shooting sound effects. I assume the anagram system will be gone and that the climax interference or whatever that is called will just be plainly animated.
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As for the voice actress, yep~. There was a big fuss in a playthrough I watched while checking out wtf this all was. …I haven’t bothered looking into Doraemon to see if she uses the exact same voice, but I assume so.
…Hawt. My avatar has been Fukawa for the longest time. I love her and her er, quirks, to death. Oh, and of course Show ▼
As for your choice Show ▼
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 131 comments
I thought the megane-girl looked familiar! So that’s who your avatar was.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
She had a similar avatar up a few months before and I didn’t realize it until I took a sneek peak of this season’s shows before time.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
A little bit late, but I can’t be the only one who does a spit take when I saw Izumiko design frm RDG. She looks like Fukawa twin sister O-O
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Ahaha no, I honestly didn’t see a connection. Though that’s probably because their personalities seem totally different to me.
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POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I was unable to see Izumiko in this. It’s surely the difference in personality.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
Well, Izumiko *is* more tolerable than Fukawa….
POWUH: 700-799 and Horror Expert with 701 comments
So that is Fukawa! I always thought so, but I was never entirely sure because of the icon size and my horrible vision. OTL
(Heavy spoilers!)
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POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Ahahaha
(more heavy spoilers)
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POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I thought the show was fine. The chunky bolts and plates over the windows were amusing to me. There were so many characters, but they don’t seem nearly as broken as those awful people on Btooooooooooooooom!, but that could change. They know that nobody’s going to remember any names if they just throw them all at us within 2 minutes, so they’ll need to embellish on the introductions after that. Other than that, not much happened, really. I could have done without that bit before the opening, tho.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
What, with the rocket ship? That was actually super necessary and I don’t think it could fit anywhere else. The characters themselves should come out once there’s more dialogue and less of everyone reacting to Monokuma speak.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Well, the rocket ship part made no sense to me, I’ll admit.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
It should make sense in time, don’t worry.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I thought it just one of Monokuma’s random death penalties. I didn’t expect any meaning behind it because he said he simply wants them to despair.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
It did do good, however, for a theatrical death. Even if a bit over the top.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
A person can only take so much before they break and I can tell some are already at the boiling point.
POWUH: 600-699 with 691 comments
i think glasses is going to win(the blond one)o/
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Nah, I peg him for the last antagonist. Those like him manage to hold out until it’s close to the end.
POWUH: 600-699 with 691 comments
let’s make a vote then o/
go go glasses o/
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I just hope that musclebound “girl” Sakura gets offed first. It’s nothing short of disturbing to look at her.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
BB, you make me sad. Sakura is great. ;_;
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Sorry to disappoint but I’m still quite disturbed by her figure.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
Hey, if BB is disturbed, I shall embrace.
HOLY CRAP. Is there no limit to my rivalry?!
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 131 comments
As someone who hasn’t played the game, I would have to say that the pacing (at least for the character introduction) was way too fast. It’s good that all the characters have rather distinctive designs and some quirks from the get-go, that it’s easy to acquaint myself somehow, but if I hadn’t known that it’s based on a game I would’ve thought it was poor taste.
Even if you guys hadn’t said that it mirrors the game rather closely, it was one of the things I noticed the more I watched. I felt like I was actually watching someone do a playthrough of the game. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing – certainly it makes me feel less alienated as a non-gamer, but I don’t think the gamers would appreciate not seeing anything new. Well, it’s too early to tell anyway, but I hope the pacing and plot exposition improves as we go along.
One thing I have to say is that the introductory scene had a Western macabre feel to it. It’s not something I see in most anime and I think that’s a major plus. Hope to see more of that.
The minus for me though is that the character design is just… too much. I like my character designs flowy, and this is just… chunky? Maybe it’s an acquired taste, I dunno.
Definitely taking Kara’s advice about being careful about spoiler-y posts. As it is now, the only thing I’m staying for is the plot (I like me my Battle-Royale-style games), which is hardly a bad thing.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
I haven’t actually bothered to look up what other gamers feel. I know a lot of nongaming people were left going “wtf is going on? this is terrible!” though. It should improve as it goes on though. I guess that’s the thing with games turned anime. Anime you have to wait every week to see if it gets better, but with games you can play until you’re satisfied.
You shouldn’t be disappointed if you really liked the OP scene~.
…I liked the character styles from the beginning since they were so distinct, so maybe it is an acquired taste.
Yes, I highly suggest that you be extremely careful about spoilers…
POWUH: 500-599 with 519 comments
Yay! It’s finally here! I’ve been curious about this ever since the cosplay community EXPLODED with cosplays from this series. And this anime plus the game I will finally know! 😀
I got a huge 999/Virtue’s Last reward vibe from this. There’s just something interesting about locking a group of people in a room and watching them go at it.
I also loved the designs for everyone. <3 I've seen a couple but seeing them all together, everyone looks so cool. *_* Well, the disciplinary guy's eyes are very distracting. What is with those red lines? 0_o
I don't know how I feel about this being such a close adaption. On one hand it is nice since it's going to be a while until I can play the game but on the other…this is an adaption, I don't want it to feel like I'm playing the game.
Also, I have to say…SORARU! <3 I did not know he was singing the ending! 😀
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
This one doesn’t have nearly as much puzzles as 999/Virtue’s Last reward xD. …Though there’s about the same amount of “let’s work together to escape!” “let’s not because I’m an asshole!” drama going on.
Uhh… not a clue about Ishimaru’s eyes. I guess they’re just… red.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
Maybe Ishi red eyes is some pretty rare genetic trait. The sequel have another character with Ishi eyes.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Who, Peko? Or
(spoilers for the end of the 2nd game, don’t know if you’ve seen it or not)
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Though a lot of the characters in the 2nd game have weird eyes. What’s-his-face has pink ones, doesn’t he?
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
I was referring to Peko. Their eyes have those rings in it tht make them looks crazy.
Souda? Not to mention the MC of the 2nd game have “No Entry” symbol in his eye….
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Yeah. The mechanic. …And then there’s Teru, who barely even has eyes…
POWUH: 600-699 with 691 comments
man…it seems really bizarre, i mean, it’s basically “you’re all going to kill each other and the survivor wins” or some kind of twisted(even more?!yep, even more than it already is…) mirai nikki(always write the name worng T-T)school version
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Hmm… this isn’t quite Mirai Nikki. There’s a bit more cooperation involved here (but at the same time, not). You’ll have to wait for a trial scene to see what I’m talking about though.
POWUH: 600-699 with 691 comments
i hope so…i could really use, that aside, i’m impressed it seems like a good one
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
It’s a typical cycle. Full cooperation until someone dies then pressure sets in which causes everyone to go their seperate ways and turn on each other.
POWUH: 600-699 with 691 comments
cliche…but cliche’s not always bad
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
That depends on how it’s executed. For most shows, it’s a hit or miss situation.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
ZETSUBOUSHITA!!! As if we aren’t already getting huge doses of despair from other shows lately. Te school’s name is a huge contradiction for what’s in store for the “students”. Well, we get to sit back and watch once peaceful people tear each other apart for survival like the sadists we are. It’s Mirai Nikki all over again.
I’m surprised to hear that from you, Karakuri. With adaptations like Amnesia and Arcana Famiglia that failed miserably to stay true to their source material, I thought you would have been pleased with how well Danganropa is being faithful following its game version. Personally, they did a good job with the auditorium scene showing all 15 students/victims/murderers.
I liked the animation and how eerie the atmosphere of the hallways and the school in general is. The characters and the scenery immediately made me think of Persona 4: The Animation.
That’s when self preservation kicks in then it’s every man and woman for themselves. The reason behind such behavior is because they’ve all had a somewhat good life and each of them has so much to lose. And because they don’t want to die and lose everything, they turn to betrayal.
The creeper is obviously Monokuma. If I could, I’d tear that bear to shreds. How a pedo bear got control of an entire school is beyond me. I bet to throw everyone into more despair, he’d feed them hope by saying one of them has a chance at survival. There can be no true despair without hope.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Danganronpa is all about despair~~ I look forward to all of your reactions to the events.
Uh, I’m not liking the fact that the character body language all matches the sprites almost perfectly. I was hoping for more… movement. I don’t know. As long as the storyline follows the game though, I’ll be happy.
Heh. You’ll like what’s coming up. Believe me.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I bet you’re expecting the kind of reactions of someone scarred for life, right? Am I close? Because not much has happened and it already feels very twisted.
Actually, I’m impressed that there’s actually something that matches the source material to a T. That’s a rare occurance compared to the usual poor imitations that fall short.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Or more, this thing has so many twists and general weirdness to it, I want to see everyone go “lolwut?” and “OHHHHHH it all makes sense now!”
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I’ll take your word for it and be waiting anxiously. The weirdness was in the air from the beginning.
POWUH: Novice (36-50) with 38 comments
I’m going into this completely blind and, well, I liked it! Some of the scenes were weird to watch though because they so obviously came from the game, but I still kind of liked it (excluding the introductions – they were annoying to watch).
I like (most of) the characters so far! I guess there will be some dying soon though. I’m really curious as to where this will go. Monokuma is… really creepy.
Well, I’m excited to see how this all unfolds! I don’t really mind the closeness to the game, since I haven’t played it. And although it looked kind of weird at times, I still liked the animation and thought it fit the mood.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Well, they shouldn’t go back to the introductions ever, so there’s that.
Yep people dying! It’s going to be devastating. …In a good way.
I think the animation is something I’ll have to get used to. There aren’t any super action scenes though, so it shouldn’t take long.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
A: The anime follows the game too much!
B: The anime don’t follow the game at all!
ヽ(#ﾟДﾟ)ﾉ Let the party began!
No seriously, don’t.Personally, I think the show needs to loosen the fast forward button a bit. Other than tht I am pleased with the adaptation. Love the game OST being used (DeSu2TA…) and the purple hallway.
The fish and Monobear super loooonnnngg laugh at the end is unintentional comedy to me ^w^; It would be more menacing if MB stops at halfway mark instead of dragging it out IMO….
The ED sounds good. Now I need to hear moar Soraru songs….
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
…I rather like the anime following the game, but I think following the character poses to the character sprites perfectly is a little much. I’m on the fence about the retouched opening. On one hand, I love the crazy death scenes. On the other, I kind of wanted to see them from a different angle or something.
I’m waiting for Mr.Monokuma’s Extracurricular Lesson to be used. Aside from the game opening track, that one was my favourite.
…Though to be fair, “upupupupu” is hardly menacing.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
The artwork wow is so crazy and unique! I felt like I was watching Soul Eater, but damn this series has a massive cast! I think it could be the biggest one of the season? Lots of talented voice actors <3
The bear though THE BEAR! What the hell that is one creepy ass mascot character, but the design is awesome xD
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
I dunno Fosh. If Taiyou has 22 magical girls in it, I think it might have Dangan beat. But yeah! The sequel game has even more too including Hanakana~ I hope this does well enough for Lerche to animate the sequel game too.
I love Monokuma’s design! …Though apparently I’m the only one who doesn’t find it creepy.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
I don’t think Taiyou will have 22 magical girls running around. They had a great pick of Major Arcana types to give it a good variety.
Why don’t these shows ever showcase the Minor. That’s the story of the Tarot read; the Major is always exclamation points.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Arcana Famiglia had it’s section divisions named after the minor arcana… not that they ever mentioned that more than once.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
No, they didn’t did they…more derp from that show.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
WILL IT EVER END?! xD
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
Only until if some1 translate the game, I’m afraid.
POWUH: 600-699 and Wingman with 655 comments
its here! im so excited at how many people will get shocked in episode 2 (smirk)
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
I wonder about that… since Show ▼
POWUH: 600-699 and Wingman with 655 comments
so i guess the shock is not as strong as to those who played the demo version of the game huh 😛
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
I’ll wait to see how people react, but I think they’re seeing it coming.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 318 comments
Give me my Genocider!
Haha. My 1st episode was actually not bad. Can’t say much. Too bad I kind of got ahead of myself, when I saw the first seconds of the anime, and it had the game op, I was really expecting the anime look just like the game, that would be really awesome.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 318 comments
THE 1st episode*
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
You and me both!!!
It would have been cool if all of the furniture looked 2D and fell from the ceiling every time Naegi walked into a room, I admit. xD
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 318 comments
Yeah.
And I really liked how in the game the characters looked like cardboard cut-outs.
I can’t wait to see how the deaths will look, and that unique blood and the executions. I’m really looking forward to all that.
POWUH: 600-699 and LN Enthusiast with 623 comments
With 15 characters + 1 bear, it’s hard to remember their names even if they were flashed in the screen. Even pausing the video didn’t help much but I’ll probably remember them as it goes. Most of them are voiced by prominent seiyuus like Akira Ishida and Sawashiro Miyuki so that helps me with remembering them. Weird I know.
My favorite ones off the bat are the black goth girl, the purple girl and the idol girl, though I fear the latter will be the first to die with her reaction in the end.
No spoilers please. I’m going with this blind and will avoid any and all forums later so I can enjoy this hopefully.Storywise it’s fairly standard for a survival/murder story. While I did grow up watching the blue cat show, I watched it dubbed in our language so I don’t have much of a reaction when I found out that Monokuma is voiced by the same seiyuu as that character. He’s a creepy character that’s for sure.
I expect some twist in this death game.
I’ve watched the game adaptations of the Kishi/Uezu team and both have “The Animation” tag on their names. I liked DeSu2 more than P4 but both were kind of underwhelming in the end. I haven’t played both those games yet so I’ve yet to see how it fares. Let’s hope third time’s the charm now and I will grow to like this game adaptation. So far so good for now.
Maybe this will make me play the game in the end as I haven’t yet started on the first two despite me saying I’ll play them after watching. Let’s see.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Don’t worry! Things will get easier to remember once the characters start dying! Plus some of them have kind of meaningful names, which might make them easier to remember (ish).
Expect a lot of twists~
Hmm, this ending should actually be pretty epic, since there’s a great event at the end. …Though I can see people being annoyed by some things. Ahahaha you might not even need to play the games after this anime. It’s practically the same as watching this.
POWUH: 500-599 with 543 comments
I thought this first episode felt like a game. I wasn’t sure about watching this originally, although whatever, it’s got an interesting plot. Should be fun to see how everyone degrades into blobs of despair once someone dies. The music shifted really quickly, and some of the character poses felt like a game. Also when blue-haired girl was talking to the MC (I don’t know their names, it went too fast for me, and I was catching up on the week of anime I missed all in a row) the way megane-kun interrupted was just like a game. It didn’t feel like how an anime or manga would handle it. Hopefully someone thinks to smooth out parts of the dialogue a bit more, but it won’t stop me from watching this.
I do wish some of these people had been introduced like, 5 at a time, over a few episodes. Throw in some more details about the background or something, make everyone a bit more 3-dimensional. I get that this is a pretty crazy story, but it wouldn’t hurt to at least introduce the cast in a way that newcomers could know their names… I only know Monokuma’s name.
Monokuma is certainly creepy, and the point about the voice acting certainly makes it more relevant as to why it’s how it is, and it’s a good choice. Otherwise I would have totally missed how the clash between voice and words played out for the characters (and Japanese viewers.)
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
I feel like the dialogue was really choppy here merely because they needed to introduce everyone and get their personalities across quickly. Everyone needed lines here, whether their character would speak in the situation or not. …Though this might continue on in the trials. I remember being preoccupied with trying to piece together what was going on as opposed to noticing whether the dialogue felt natural or not.
But like I said in a comment above, the absolutely needed to get the characters across with equal screentime this episode since someone will be dying in the next one. Neglect some characters and it becomes really obvious who dies and who doesn’t. Or you don’t care about deaths because you have no idea who the characters are.
The voice actors (or at least Monokuma’s) are pretty deliberate. Or at least, some of the character’s seiyuu seem to have been type cast a bit.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
It was a character exposition dogpile. Part of what soured me..
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
Monokuma is more eerie than I did expect .-. Maybe because I watched Doraemon when I lived in Japan with like… four years old.
I really liked the characters… And it took me a while to notice that the pure muscle white haired person whose name I still cannot come close to remember is actually a girl. A GIRL. THAT THING. There is only one character that I didn’t like and I really hope, dies soon and that would be Megane-chan (I don’t remember the name as well). Talk about an annoying girl. Unfortunately I don’t think it will happen since she is the most likely to be the one who will create most of the doubts and despair on people’s head without Monobear helping.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Ah, see there’s the cultural shock I thought sounded interesting!
…Yep Sakura is female. She has… reasons for looking like that, but I don’t know if the anime will go into them. And if not, I have a pre-muscle piece of official artwork on my computer that I’ll upload eventually. Y-you want Fukawa to die? ;_; Eh, you’ll see what happens I guess.
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
Yes x.x’ I think she is one of the few characters of this anime who I straightforwardly hate. The other one would be the one with spiral twin tails. Like… dúh, who doesn’t know that she created that extra rule to create space for her to go out at night alone and kill someone -.-‘ The other one would be the idol-san beucase she simply has a weak mind.
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
I watched the first episode and thought, “this is kind of cool”, and then was surprised at the so-so reactions, but reading them, I can understand.
I liked how they intro’d all the characters with just the small bit of animation; I know that’s not much to really talk about. but it was a nice snapshot of this really unique cast of characters. I don’t remember the megane girl’s name, so I just keep calling her Karakuri. 😉
I feel more committed to this show this season than most, so I’m hopeful that as the survivor count goes down, the show’s interest level picks up.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Hopefully people warm up to Danganronpa as it goes on. It’s not perfect, but I can live with this. Thinking now, this could have been much worse.
Ahahaha good to know that my avatar is helping someone xDD
Uh, it should get more interesting as the body count goes up. The very first trial should leave some people speechless. I know it did that to me. Plus the characters should get easier to memorize as their numbers dwindle.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
>This looks like an anime was made out of a shitty fighting game. I can just picture what the game is like too…. I hope this isn’t just to promote it….
My sides XD
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
Wow, this show looks so good. I love how strange the setting is, and you can feel that weird atmosphere. I love it :3 Though I’m not a fan of those character designs. They’re a little too matched to the stereotype and also look strange, because it’s like the creator tried to make the baseball dude, for example, look kawaii and hipster/masculine at the same time. That was very very very strange, but I guess I’ll get used to it.
Cant wait to see the next ep <3