Dangan Ronpa
Dangan Ronpa, or its full name Dangan Ronpa: Academy of Hope and High School Students of Despair (ダンガンロンパ 希望の学園と絶望の高校生), is a Japanese murder mystery
visual novel developed by Spike exclusively for Japan. The game is
available on PSP, iOS and Android OS devices. The game has a sequel
called Super Dangan Ronpa 2: Farewell Despair Academy (スーパーダンガンロンパ2
さよなら絶望学園) and a light novel called Dangan Ronpa Zero. An anime
adaptation has been airing in Japan since July 4th 2013. (The
game-play is similar to the Ace Attorney series but with an emphasis on
faster game-play. Each chapter of game-play takes place in three
distinct stages: exposition, investigation, and school trial.
In the exposition stage, the main plot progresses and the player can
build relationships by spending time with the other characters, in a
system similar to Social Links in the Shin Megami Tensei: Persona
series. This section typically ends with the discovery of a crime scene,
which leads to the investigation stage. Investigation parallels that
found in the Ace Attorney series, as its basic purpose is to gather
points of evidence to use in the school trial. The school trial stage
includes several different mini games, all of which require high speed action and critical thinking to complete.)
Synopsis
The story takes place at Hope's Peak Academy, an illustrious private school
that only accepts "super" students: the best of the best of the best.
The criteria extends to any niche, so in addition to super-geniuses and
super-athletes, they take super-idols, gang leaders, and geeks. Makoto
Naegi, the protagonist, is still baffled as to how he got in, as his
only outstanding trait seems to be his super "good" luck - and that's
only because he was randomly chosen to be accepted by the school. In
fact, he hasn't even started his first day of school when he suddenly
loses consciousness and wakes up in a creepy alternate version of the
academy.
It's soon revealed that Naegi and fourteen other new students have all been abducted by a sadistic teddy bear named Monobear, who refuses to let them leave. The only way out of the locked-down dark school is to graduate...by killing another student. Once a murder is committed, Monobear holds a trial so that the class can try to figure out which one of them is the culprit, culminating in a vote. If they make the right choice, the murderer will be messily executed. Make the wrong choice, and not only does the murderer escape, but the rest of them will take the punishment in their place
It's soon revealed that Naegi and fourteen other new students have all been abducted by a sadistic teddy bear named Monobear, who refuses to let them leave. The only way out of the locked-down dark school is to graduate...by killing another student. Once a murder is committed, Monobear holds a trial so that the class can try to figure out which one of them is the culprit, culminating in a vote. If they make the right choice, the murderer will be messily executed. Make the wrong choice, and not only does the murderer escape, but the rest of them will take the punishment in their place
