I'd like to start this by saying I love the Danganronpa series. Trigger Happy Havoc (what this anime is based on) is my favorite game out of all of them.
And while I loved this anime, it definitely didn't do the game justice.
So, if you had to pick between watching this or playing the game, I'd heavily suggest playing the game. But, if you have the time to do both, then please watch this anime!
I'll admit I was a little disappointed my first time watching it. The game was so good and I expected the anime to have that same thrilling impact on me, but it didn't. It fell short, very short. It left out many parts of the game that I thought were very important. I knew they couldn't include everything, but I still felt like a part of the magic was missing because of this.
I played the game once more a year or two later and I decided to rewatch the anime. I was still a little disappointed, of course, but I realized that it was actually pretty good. I was thoroughly entertained while watching it and appreciated it a lot.
It still contained the funny dialogue that Danganronpa games always have, it had that messed up vibe to it, and it honestly did do the game some amount of justice.
The big problem with many adaptions is how they ruin the characters. However, I don't think any characters were really ruined in this. Of course some story lines were rushed, but it didn't affect anyone too greatly. From the game to the anime, my opinions on the characters all stayed the same.
Another change is the art style. The Danganronpa art style is iconic, and it was obviously changed in the anime. This didn't bother me, but I've heard others complain about it. I personally thought the anime's art style was cute and very fitting.
One thing that did bother me a little was the voice changes. (I played and watched in English, so this may be different in the Japanese ver. and different dubs.) I know it would be hard to get every voice actor back, so I understand why this had to happen. It's just that some voices were so different, and honestly, some were pretty annoying. Two I can think of are Monokuma's and Genocide Jack's. (Yeah, why did they change her name in the anime?) Anyway, they were both really irritating to me and I much preferred both of their voices in the game. I got over it pretty fast though and it wasn't too much of an issue for me. After all, you get used to annoying voices after watching anime for a while-- it's just a part of it.
I know this review sounds pretty negative, but I actually thought this anime was pretty good. If the game didn't exist, I probably would have had a better opinion. The only reason I thought any of it was bad was simply because of how good the source material was. I just had very high expectations and they were clearly not met. Taking the game out of the picture, this anime had a great plot, enjoyable characters, and really pulls you in.
So, if you want to watch this anime, I say go for it! I've already rewatched it multiple times and I've never gotten bored.
Thank you for reading!! <3
12 out of 14 users liked this review