Why Danganronpa V3 Is A Beautiful Mess

Pinned comment: What's your favorite Danganronpa game, at the end of it all?

The Danganronpa series is one I've had, at most, a passing interest in, so this video series has been a super nice way for me to get a nice rundown of the franchise. I gotta say I don't think I've ever seen a series with such an insane disparity between it's peaks and valleys, especially when they're often on the exact same aspects or characters.

Absolutely love your Danganronpa videos.

Are you planning on doing a video about Master Detective Files RAIN CODE at some point in the future?

Best game in the series hands down and a stellar way to end it.

What I dislike most about this game is how shinguchi was handled. I read a fanfic that explored a very abusive relationship between the two, the sister being the instigator and korekyo not knowing that it was wrong because of his age. Kinda similar to how I wish mukoro was handled better in the anime

I found Danganronpa mostly by accident, it kinda just fell into my lap, I started watching content creators, namely NicoB and his over the top voices he'd do for each character, his LPs really put a lot of smiles on my face with every new video. Funny that this series of retrospectives would also fall into my lap coincidentally as well as I started watching some retrospectives on other pieces of my past.

When I first consumed DR I was a teenager in middle/high school who was chronically online, it, for better or worse, guided me through those years and have me plenty of hope and despair to boot. Now, able to see and understand all the plot points that DR brought up, I have a new understanding for many of the characters, not many of my stances on the characters have changed, Mikan and Chiaki still are my favorites, but I now understand that while Mikan's backstory is tragic the developers using her as a klutz who can't help but expose herself definitely is different from how I viewed her in the past.

I'm glad I found this retrospective, it let me go back to a piece of my history I too had forgotten, but, I can't help but wonder... would people in the DRV3 universe also do this? 😂 I would definitely find that funny. This retrospective was the reason I bought the entire game collection and have been playing through them all again.

Thank you, even though I'm late to the party, for this series and I'll definitely be looking at some of your other content ❤🎉❤

I played the game in both English and French and something I noticed is the french version is actually closer than the English (this is unusual since usually games are translated first to English, and only then to French from the English text). In the French version Atua is indeed simply called God. I also noticed Gonta doesn't have his annoying third person speech, and actually can speak normally. I haven't listened to the 5 hours yet, so no idea if you mention it or not, but I wanted to write that down for those who care about the other translations available.

Spoilers for chapter 6








Me looking at the idea of the relationships between the characters: “I’ll turn this lie into the truth”

im so glad at stopped at 2. This series was a mistake

happy 1 year anniversary for this video coming out! 🎉 I play it in the background all the time

I like to say that Chapter 2's "plot twist" with Kirumi works better in the French translation of the game. She is called the "Ultimate Gouvernante," a term for a maid with a "higher stature." A gouvernante, derived from the verb "gouverner" (to govern), a gouvernante is responsible for the house and its inhabitants' well-being.

However, the twist still feels a bit ridiculous, though it's somewhat foreshadowed, making it less outrageous. The game could have provided a better explanation, perhaps showcasing Kirumi's willingness to lead and ensure everyone's well-being, like seeking input on how to improve everyday life or expressing concerns about the group's welfare during discussions about leaving the game.

I got into the series When
I was out of work, I have been applying left in right for over a week, And I decided I had earned myself a break. A friend of my roommates was crashing on our couch for a few days, A friend of my roommates was crashing on our couch for a few days. We decide to spend the day Watching the first episode of a bunch of different anime series that we're on our watchlists To see if one really hooked us. After 4 different series we stumbled upon the animation
And it's First episode was so solid we ended up Abandoning the plan to binge the whole series. It was so good I started Google and found out. It was based on a game and that the second one Was on sale. I bought it and downloaded it That night. I promptly got An interview the next day and unfortunately couldn't spend all of my time on it
Play bits and pieces where I could. I kept going back and eventually finished it. Right around when game grumps did their play through Of the first game. Which gave me A Point of comparison for the animation. From there on.
I keep going back to the series and one former another.
Thinking and reclinking about it's characters themes and
Just how much this series Has kept me pushing forward.

I'd love to play the Danganronpa games, but they look super difficult. But I might try. Also, I like Korekiyo.

Why is Chapter 4 always so heartbreaking. Sure I didn't care about Gonta but it brought to the depths of DESPAIR.

Chapter 6's love of callbacks to a previous entry while thematically tying in to the truth & lies dichotomy, at points made me half expect Monokuma to pop out and comment on a general need for scissors. 61

Ya know i had been trying to kill the love i had from this series just cause i felt cringe thinking of it now. But this video reminded me why I was obsessed with this series. I initially love a murder mystery. I never read hinger games or previous stuff a death game like this was my first time seeing it. And even as a 14 year old boy who now 22 i can never let go what the initial impact of feelings this franchise gave me. Analyzing execution to bring more to characters. The happy, sad, angry, confused, and laughs i had with characters like gundham tanaka. Reading fan fictions just caused makoto and kyoko relationship i found adorable and just wanted the characters all fake just happy. I nearly cried at kaito death, someone like oma made me rethink what i think about truth or lies. Even if my moddern self might fond it tacky. Nothing can change that I cried over some of these characters or even typing now. V3 at my 16-17 ignorant brain into why i love movies video games anime why I watch stuff over with my friends to just to share in an emotion of fiction that means something to me and why do i love it. That teenager in me still alive makoto and kyoko became a confort ship for me, to just being enteanced by the mystery. Thank you for making this video letting emotions i held in conflict end in a way that still makes me remember i was touched, changed by these games.

I always loved the ending for V3, I was confused as to why people disliked it.

The message of how fiction can change others and how it leaves an impact on someone. And I felt like I was truly backing Shuichi in the final trial. It was honestly my favorite ending in Danganronpa.

if mono-god is created we all are so dead (lol)

I just realized if you were to translate Kokichi's name from Dutch he would be called Kokichi grandma

the brilliant thing about trial 5 is that it's still impossible to know who the culprit is. Kokichi wouldn't have lived another 3 minutes. He could have just as easily died on the hydraulic press making Maki the culprit and Kaito just never told anyone. And even THEN Shuichi had personal bias pushing him to "Kokichi's dead because i don't fucking like him and i want his plan to fail", really there was no real way to accurately assess the culprit. they got lucky. and not that it matters, because Kaito would have never admitted it, and for all intents and purposes she might as well not be, but we still will never know if maki was actually the culprit or not

Thank you about the logic complaints in the 3rd murder!! I was so confused during the trial because I refused to believe anyone had magically put that sickle there without it being noticed PLUS that no one heard the culprit move in the room while everyone was singing. I struggled a lot through those parts of the trial because CLEARLY the murder had to be done from beneath the room and no one in the seance could be the culprit. I guess we're supposed to instead believe everyone has terrible hearing.

is Junko’s phone in SDR2 the same as Miu’s in the neo world program?

"People would be mad if I didnt do Oma's so....WHERE THE HELL IS HE"

Thats my favorite lil lie-telling truth seeking morally ambigious gremlin who purposely lets his existance be a kaleidoscope of contradictions

Life-changing

I still think the tension of Shinguji living amongst the gang after chapter 3 because of the death rule would’ve been much more interesting then… that

So I first watched v3 through Lucajin who took a liking to kiyo (using his nickname cus I suck at remembering Japanese names) and had a bit of a crush on him. I think her perspective on things is interesting, She's much more sensitive to his plight which kind of made me softer on him as a result. I recommend go watching her play-through if you haven't already.

In my personal opinion, the english dub voice actors are utilized the best in V3. Every character is voiced by a returning voice actor. JYB voices both Rantaro and Hajime Hinata, Kyoko and Kaede are both voiced by Erika Harlachar, Grant George voices both Shuichi and Leon, etc.
It makes the reveal at the end more compelling if you noticed that fact.

Spoilers for Chapter 5 and Gurren Lagann (go watch it if you haven't, it's the most anime anime ever & not even 30 episodes long)


Back when I played V3, I saw Kaito as this game's Kamina figure, believing in others and what they're capable of for no reason other than wanting to and serving as a flawed ideal for Shuichi to strive for. Hell, in the dub, the two even share the same VA, Kyle Hebert. So it was definitely wild to hear that he was originally this even more toxically masculine & bigoted guy.
For me, Kaito being that Kamina type, even dying with a smile & leaving the actual protagonist to reach greater heights than he ever did, is why a lot of people in the west like him.

Other than that, watching through this retrospective over the past couple days has been quite the experience. You did great on these

I agree with your view of the ending. I mean heck, look at all the Danganronpa media we have prior to V3. And I guarantee that even with that fans were begging for more because that's how people are these days. They just don't want to let their favorite series go. Especially since Kodaka has even said he didn't really see where the series could go beyond what had already happened. I think the anime is a great way to send off the original two games and all the media associated with them and V3 serves as a way to kinda point out consumerism and how it can really ruin things.

And at this point, Danganronpa is likely over for good unless Spike Chunsoft gives Kodaka and Too Kyo Games the rights to it and they decide to do something with it. Or if SpikeChunsoft plays into that consumerism and puts something else out there.

All in all, the story of Danganronpa has been told and there's not much more to tell. I think ultimately that's what this game is kind of trying to say as well. I do still think that as an ending it's a bit of a cop-out akin to the "it was all just a dream" trope, but it also sounds like Kodaka was running out of ideas for the series anyway so I get it.

These retrospectives are undergoing a Xeno’s paradox like phenomenon. Getting longer with each entry

WHY THE FUCK IS SALTY HERE

I think i heard somewhere that monokid's head rolling towards the class was meant to be a replacement for akamatsus head as the design found it to be too gory(this may be completely wrong tho)

Regarding chapter 6 and how Kokichi knew the passwords to Rantaro's vaults, I always sort of thought that he didn't know and simply found the passwords, deeming them significant enough to morph into his world is mine message and his not-will. I'm not sure if it logically makes sense as I haven't seen the chapter 6 investigation in full in like, forever, but thats my two cents on it.

One of my issues with the game was it never translated the button controls from controller to pc. Making the rhythm game, one of the coolest and what should be a very fun game into an extremely frustrating affair where I wasn’t trying to hit the buttons on beat, I was just trying to hit the button period.

I think that the chapter 3 rule could be used as a free pass like you said. The difference for my idea however is that the first murder was just for someone to try and escape and well cuz of the rule only the second murder or just the second body discovery could lead to the first culprit not being revealed. Then next chapter the last chapters culprit is the one who has to be discovered. Now some evidence from last trial could be used to prove or disprove certain theories which i think could be interesting if done right

Watching this video was really good! V3 is the game that absolutely killed my interest in the series, but seeing how the in-game audience also seems to stop caring I guess it did it job! Jokes aisde, you gave me a new found appreciation for this ending, even though going in to the game I was always aware it was its own continuity I still walked out very unsatisfied. Which is still funny to me to this day since Kaede is one of my favorite characters of all time, I adore her! I still do to this day. Part of my issues had to do with how she was treated after dying and the fact that she died at all, I'm in the opinion the twist could have been more shocking had we started with Shuichi, but regardless I was never a fan of how she just became motivation and Shuichi's man pain love interest (I havent replayed the game in years though so I could be remembering wrong).
Speaking of which, I was also not convinced at all about Shuichi's sadness when it came to Kaede. It happened way to fast to me, whatever they had going on just felt very forced. The ending of V3 was also a big thing that got to me, I hated it. But after watching this video, I feel like I have a bit more appreciation towards it and Shuichi. I can see why people like him a little more now lol (still dont like him personally though!!!)

But besides all that loved all these videos! They encouraged me to start replaying the games now that I'm older, I'm 22 now! Was into DR when I was a teen . So I cant wait to see how my opinions might change, I also have motivation to finally properly read through the novels especially DR0 since back then I could never find good translations. Hoping I can get through it despite my mad adhd lol.
Anyway, keep up the good work!

SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 3




I think a good change to the case of Chapter 3 would be to have Tenko be Angie's killer. Her whole reason being that she felt like drastic measures had to be taken to get rid of her influence on Himiko. Then you can still have Koreikyo be the one who kills Tenko, perhaps because he believed the cult was nessecary and wanting revenge for Angie's murder. Obviously it's not perfect but I think it would've been a better route than well you know.

why is makoto in the trial footage at the start lol

Honestly the part with kiibo and Miu always felt iffy to me
Cuz kiibo didn’t look comfortable at all during it

So I got V1-3 in a bundle a couple of years ago, and while I didn't love V1 I was determined to finish all three. But after the back-to-back flops that were the end of V2 and the first case of V3, I stopped trusting the game to be internally consistent and satisfying to play - which, y'know, is a pretty bad mental state to approach a mystery game in.

I'm still kinda curious to find out how V3 ended though (maybe my opinion will change when im not the one behind the steering wheel?). I'm gonna watch this video in batches but thanks for saving me from actually finishing this trainwreck of a game!

3.3 is like the writers looked at all the problematic writing decisions in 1.2 and said "we can one-up ourselves on this", and then made the case as convoluted as 2.3 with as an obvious a "we all guessed from that prologue that this person was totally going to commit murder" culprit like in 1.3 for good measure