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REVIEW: Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School - Despair Arc BD+DVD




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rizuchan



Joined: 11 Mar 2007
Posts: 974
Location: Kansas
PostPosted: Wed Jan 31, 2018 12:18 pm Reply with quote
I always disagreed with the assertion that Danganronpa 3 wouldn't make sense if you didn't play Danganronpa 2. In fact, I got the feeling that half the point of the Despair Arc was to adapt all of the plot points in 2 that were necessary to understand the Future Arc... why would they bother retelling so much of the back story if you're expected to know it anyway?

That said, I'm not saying that it's a replacement for playing Danganronpa 2, because they're completely different stories. But I thought the Despair Arc was a really clever way of adapting the material they needed without having to adapt the entire game and incorporating a lot of new material at the same time.
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Dessa



Joined: 14 Jul 2004
Posts: 4438
PostPosted: Wed Jan 31, 2018 12:44 pm Reply with quote
While I think you could understand and follow it without DR2, I think you're losing a lot, since there's just so much in DR2. Especially with the Twilight Syndrome Murder Case, which barely got any attention in the anime (and really disappointed me, too).
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Terrible90sDub



Joined: 14 Jul 2017
Posts: 168
PostPosted: Wed Jan 31, 2018 2:38 pm Reply with quote
I agree that it would still make sense, especially given the prequel format, but I'm not sure how engaging it would be. Most of the main DR2 cast has an amazing amount of nuance in the game which is lost here, so it's hard to image caring about the events to the same degree without the background information from the game.
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DigitalScratch





PostPosted: Wed Jan 31, 2018 2:55 pm Reply with quote
Dessa wrote:
While I think you could understand and follow it without DR2, I think you're losing a lot, since there's just so much in DR2. Especially with the Twilight Syndrome Murder Case, which barely got any attention in the anime (and really disappointed me, too).


I agree, a lot of what was written in DR3 won’t have the same emotional impact if you didn’t play SDR2. And the way they frame some of the reveals makes me feel they were primarily intended to surprise those who play the game.

There’s also a random character cameo that means absolutely nothing to anyone who didn’t read Danganronpa/Zero. spoiler[ Matsuda, the SHSL Neurologist, who was Junko’s Boyfriend and the one who helped her with erasing the memories of DR’s cast.] You only see him once and he doesn’t even speak. It’s so random and completely pointless, but a nice addition to anyone who read Zero even if it wasn’t what we hoping for.

Personally, I would give Despaie Arc a solid C. As a huge fans of SDR2’s cast I just felt like a lot of their potential was wasted. While yes their story has technically already been told in the game, the twist at the end of said game opened a lot of possibilities for their time at Hope’s Peak. Instead, if the plot wasn’t focused on Junko, it focused too much on the new cast.

I also really didn’t like how the person who was primarily responsible for allowing Junko to succeed in her plans was spoiler[ Mitarai, a brand new character who was created specifically for the anime, never foreshadowed and held no pre-anime relationships to any of the core cast. And we’re supposed to feel sorry for him by the end of it all and welcome him into the SDR2 cast.] I’m not a fan of that kind of writing personally.

Creating new characters is fine, but creating a new character and giving them this HUGE of a role in the entire franchise’s plot when their entire existence was never foreshadowed or hinted at? Just doesn’t sit well with me.
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KH91



Joined: 17 May 2013
Posts: 6176
PostPosted: Wed Jan 31, 2018 7:28 pm Reply with quote
I loved Zetsubou-hen. I knew that I would love it, but I didn't know I'd love it even more as I watched it, especially in the beginning episodes. They were so hilarious. Then the last half got even better with Junko and spoiler[Izuru]. I loved the DR/Zero cameo's. I was expecting them to show up since it made sense for them to be there. The highlight of Zetsubou-hen was Chisa. She was a waifu candidate in spoiler[Mira-hen], but in Zetsubou-hen, she looked so different then she became my DR3 waifu. So perfect. It was great seeing my DR2 waifu, Mikan, again. So perfect. I must say, I enjoyed it more than Mira-hen.

Also, the OP and ED themes were amazing both visually and song-wise. Binaria (song written by NagiNagi) was amazing. Megumi singing another amazing ED theme for DR. The person in charge of doing the visuals, especially in the OP should get a raise.

Quote:
The intended viewing order of Danganronpa 3 is actually to watch one episode of the Future Arc, and then an episode of the Despair Arc, and so on and so forth until the entire story has been completed.


Thank you for being cultured enough to understand the creators vision. I facepalm when someone recommends to watch one arc before the other.
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gedata



Joined: 04 May 2013
Posts: 615
PostPosted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 1:50 pm Reply with quote
This series was straight up laughable after Junko arrived. I was always worried they'd bungle the big explanation behind the tragedy and that's exactly what happened.

I also agree that you don't really need to have finished Danganronpa 2 for this anime, but you need it for the companion piece Future arc which is required to go along with this anime anyway. This series actually makes less sense after playing Danganronpa 2 with the major retcons and all.
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Gemnist



Joined: 10 Feb 2016
Posts: 1757
PostPosted: Fri Feb 02, 2018 10:01 pm Reply with quote
I'm only here because Colleen Clinkenbeard and Johnny Yong Bosch finally get to share the screen together.
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