Danganronpa 3 - Despair Arc - Episode 10

Smile At Despair in the Name of Hope (君は希望という名の絶望に微笑む) is the twentieth episode of Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School and the tenth episode of Despair Arc, which serves as a prequel to the Hope's Peak Series.

The episode was originally broadcasted in Japan on September 15th, 2016, and was simulcast with English subtitles by Funimation the same day.

Summary
Hope's Peak will recite - its death haiku of Despair - for no hope remains.

Gallery

 * For episode screencaps, see: Danganronpa 3 - Despair Arc - Episode 10/Image Gallery

Plot
Chisa and Chiaki walk down the long lit hallway. Chiaki asks if they are going the right way, and Chisa observes that she is feeling nervous and says they have to do something about that. Chiaki blushes and they continue on their way. Meanwhile, Juzo has been beaten by Junko, who taunts him about his feelings for Kyosuke. Juzo is horrified that Junko knows his secret, and she threatens to tell Kyosuke. Juzo begs her not to, and Junko says she won't if he tells Kyosuke she is completely innocent, and Juzo agrees to her terms. Junko leaves, and Juzo angrily bangs his fist onto the ground.

The rest of Class 77-B continue on their way as Mikan catches up to them. Fuyuhiko asks what happened to Chiaki, and Mikan says she hurt her ankle and is waiting in another room. Kazuichi says they should have left Nagito with her. Teruteru offers to take Nagito, but then the wall opens and Kazuichi shrieks in terror. Gundham and Nekomaru arrive through the wall, and the class is relieved to see them.

Chisa leads Chiaki to an elevator, and embraces her. She compliments Chiaki on how she united the class, and led them while while she was gone. Chisa then shoves Chiaki into the elevator and says that's why she was chosen. Chiaki looks back and sees that Chisa's eyes have black and white swirls in them as the elevator closes and descends. Chiaki sees a TV screen, and Junko appears on it. Junko explains that she used her despair video to brainwash Chisa, and adds that Chiaki will help her complete the despair video.

The class enters what looks to be a trial room. They stand in the center, and then Junko appears on the TV screens in the room. She shows Chiaki on the monitor, and the door opens. Chiaki is forced into a harrowing gauntlet where she gets her left foot and right knee speared. Metal balls fly at her and injure her right eye, and right arm. Through it all, Chiaki refuses to give up. She believes she will get out alive or her friends will come and save her. Junko laughs that her friends are not coming to save her. Meanwhile, The class watches all of this in horror, and find themselves unable to move. Their eyes soon get black and white circles in them as tears fall down their cheeks, and they beg for Chiaki's life.

Finally, Chiaki comes to a door that says "goal", and everyone appears to be on the other side. The illusion is soon shattered as a spear shoots through Chiaki, and seventeen spears shoot up and impale her body as her horrified classmates look on helplessly. The screen turns red with a silhouette of Chiaki's impaled body. Nagito says Chiaki is supposed to be their hope as tears falls down his cheeks, and he laughs that Chiaki is their stepping stone to overcome despair. Junko congratulates them on becoming just like her, and says from here on out, they will seek out despair, and will do anything to obtain it. The spears retract and Chiaki's body falls to the ground. By this time, the class is now smiling as they have been completely brainwashed to embrace the despair of losing Chiaki.

Chiaki lays there and stirs as Izuru comes into the room. Chiaki weakly turns herself around and calls out for Hajime. Izuru asks whether Hajime is the one who used to own the body he has, and reveals to Chiaki that all traces of Hajime's personality have been deleted. Chiaki says she is done for and apologizes for failing to help Hajime and her other friends. Izuru is amazed that she still wants to help someone even in her current condition. Chiaki cries that she is not ready to die yet; she loves everyone and wants to stay with them. She reaches out to Izuru and says they could have played more games together. Izuru stands idly as Chiaki collapses and dies, her hairpin falling out in the process. As Izuru picks up the hairpin, something stirs from within him and he finds himself shedding many tears for Chiaki.

Trivia

 * The title of this episode is a reference to the title of Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair Chapter 5: "Smile at Hope in the Name of Despair."
 * Both this episode and the chapter also feature both executions for the AI Chiaki and the realworld Chiaki, with the executions being Please Insert Coin and Chiaki Nanami's Punishment respectively.
 * During the Danganronpa 3 radio show, Kana Hanazawa, Chiaki's Japanese voice actress, described during her screams for her execution, all of the other actors had to remain silent. All of the voice actors for Class 77-B were gathered in one booth to watch Hanazawa scream for more than ten minutes. Megumi Ogata, Nagito and Komaeda's Japanese voice actress, commented that the actors looked like actual people slowly falling in despair.