Danganronpa 10th anniversary ideas

 So I’m a pretty big fan of the Danganronpa series. Given its 10th anniversary is this year I thought I might as well share some thoughts on new games or media that could be released in honor of it.

Games

Danganronpa Distrust

A remake of the original trigger happy havoc game, but with a twist. Not only would this version add in mechanics from later entries(Like scrum debate), but it would implement concepts from the original Danganronpa “distrust” prototype. These concepts would primarily include branching pathways for the story based on character relationships. 

Danganronpa 3 the game

A remake of the DanganRonpa 3 future side anime in the form of a video game. Many people will claim the Danganronpa 3 anime was pretty lackluster and that its runtime was too short to actually explore the characters it introduced. Many of the animes plot twists, including the identity of the mastermind, also weren't well received. Reworking the general concept of the anime into a 40-hour game and possibly altering the original plot elements that didn’t work might result in a better product.

DanganRonpa V2

Danganronpa V2 would be a prequel to Danganronpa V3, and would give some closure to some of the more convoluted and metafictional aspects of V3s ending. Additionally, it would probably answer definitively whether or not V3 takes place in an alternate timeline from the hopes peak saga, which was kept somewhat ambiguous.

Danganronpa reboot

 A new entry in the series, but completely segregated from that of the series and plotlines.

Despair girls 2

A sequel to Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra despair girls. It would likely take place after Danganronpa V3 as an alternative way to flesh out exactly what the outside world is like in that game. I would imagine it would star the two surviving girls from said game Himiko and Maki and have a similar over the shoulder RE4 shooting style of gameplay.

Animated projects

Danganronpa Zero Anime adaption

Danganronpa Zero is a prequel light novel that covers a slice of time between the first killing game and the start of the “tragedy”.  It essentially follows a girl with acute memory loss named Ryouko Otonashi who gets swept up in the conspiracy involving hope's peak and Junko Enoshima. It explores a lot of the concepts that end up being important to the series in later entries, such as the origin of the memory-erasing tech used on the cast in the first game. It also gives  A LOT of glimpse into Junko’s backstory, motivations, and character that most other works never really went into. Personally, it's a pretty good book, and it makes sense to adapt to a worldwide audience in animation format, given it was technically never given an official translation.

Danganronpa If animation

Danganronpa IF is a “What If” scenario where Makoto regains his memories at the start of the first killing game and prevents Mukuro from being killed by the series mastermind Junko Enoshima. This causes the entire plot to go off the rails and encourages Mukuro to rebel against her sister to rescue the rest of the students. The rest of the plot is told from Mukuro’s point of view, showing her motivations and elaborating on her relationship with her sister Junko. 

This is probably the most popular light novel in the Danganronpa series, partially because it's included in DanganRonpa 2 as an unlockable. It’s also a pretty big reason why Mukuro has a fan base since it gave her a lot of character depth when the original game had her in fairly minimal.

A “despair girls” anime staring Junko and Mukuro

I feel like there’s a lot of mystery regarding Junko and Mukuro's relationship and childhood. An animated project that explores concepts like Mukuro’s time in Fenrir, how Junko developed her despair fetish, their time being homeless, ect would be interesting to watch.

Spin-offs

Danganronpa fighting game

As far as fun spin-offs go, I think a fighting game would fit Danganronpa pretty well. There’s no shortage of students with combat-oriented talents and even many non-combat talents could be modified into fighting games with a bit of creativity.

Personally, I would imagine a 2d fighting game tie in with a company like Arc Systems works. In terms of characters, I would imagine the cast would extend all 3 of the main games, ultra despair girls, and maybe the 3 anime. Potential playable characters I think could be the following.

Danganronpa dating sim

Most of the Danganronpa games have sim elements during the main story and in optional side modes. But making a more fleshed-out version of those game modes would probably be pretty well received. I would imagine something where the main casts of all three games are attending hopes peak together, similar to the talent development plan game mode in V3.

Danganronpa If action-adventure game

So this is more of a long shot, but I also think a sequel to Danganronpa If would be an interesting idea for a side project. There’s A TON of story potential from the IF scenario when you realize Junko is still alive, the Ultimate despairs are still active, and Monaca has no reason to out Towa as one of Junko’s supporters. Not to mention the fact that Mukuro is obvious in a tough spot given she essentially helped cause the apocalypse, even if she’s still rebelling against her sister.

My idea is that the game would star Mukuro, as she goes to capture the Ultimate Despairs one by one. The class from the first game would act as allies during missions and you could get new skills by hanging out with them. The gameplay would probably be akin to something like Metal gear rising or Nier automata, to match the combat abilities Mukuro has as the ultimate soldier.