Danganronpa 3 - Despair Arc - Episode 04

The Melancholy, Surprise, and Disappearance of Nagito Komaeda (狛枝凪斗の憂鬱と驚愕と消失, Komaeda Nagito no Yūutsu to Kyōgaku to Shōshitsu), Side: Despair #04 is the eighth episode of Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak Academy and the fourth episode of Side: Despair. It first aired on August 4, 2016.

Summary
Nagito Komaeda is determined to see his classmates do well for the practical exams, but nobody looks forward to it because of the recent events that have occured at their school. Nagito decides to take matters into his own hands and get the exams canceled himself, but somehow gets Seiko Kimura, Ruruka Andoh, and Sohnosuke Izayoi involved in his plan.

Plot
The episode starts with Chisa talking to the class about the annual practical exams. Everyone is still pretty upset about the two murders that had recently occured at the school, and Nagito meets with Chisa to request that they postpone the exams until everyone is feeling better. Chisa understands, but says they can't because the media is coming. Nagito says he understands, but has a plan B. Meanwhile, Chiaki waits for Hajime by the fountain and is disappointed that he isn't coming today either. Nagito gives Teruteru a magazine that has Sayaka Maizono on the cover. Teruteru is thankful and wants to cook Nagito a big feast, but Nagito asks for the name of the Super High School Level Pharmacist.

Seiko is working in the chem lab, and Nagito requests a laxative from her. As Nagito goes to get it, Ruruka and Sohnosuke come by. Ruruka wants to borrow one of Seiko's performance enhancing drugs for her exam, even though Seiko was planning to use it for her own exam. Ruruka manages to convince Seiko to let her use the drug. Nagito comes out of the backroom, and Sohnosuke threatens him until Seiko explains why he is there. Sohnosuke tells Nagito to leave, and Ruruka thanks Seiko for the drug before she and Sohnosuke leave.

However, Nagito accidentally took the performance enhancing drug when he had in fact intended to take the laxative; this left Ruruka to accidentally and unwittingly take the laxative instead of the performance enhancer.

The next day, the teachers are upset to find a posted note that tells them to postpone the exams or else. As the exams get underway, Seiko is running late. She bumps into Nagito, and they both throw their bags as a result, but each person throws their bag so it lands next to the other. As a result, the two accidentally swap bags (as they are both identical HPA bags). Seiko asks Nagito how the laxative worked; Nagito responds that it worked well, and Seiko expresses joy before remembering she was late to the exams for her class.

Seiko arrives just in time to see Ruruka present her latest pastry to the judges. Ruruka has put Seiko's drug in the pastries to cinch a victory. At first, all seems well, but then the the judges all get stomach cramps. Seiko realizes it is the laxative, and Sohnosuke thinks Seiko did this on purpose. Seiko goes to mix up an antidote, only to realize she has a detonator in her bag. The entire gym freaks out, and Ruruka accuses Seiko of betraying her. Seiko says she always did what Ruruka wanted, and gave her that drug because she wanted it.

Nagito is coming back from the cafeteria, thinking he still has everything he needs. He spills his coffee, and Gundham Tanaka's Pomeranian starts licking it. The pomeranian grows giant, and Nagito realizes he didn't grab the laxative. He looks in his bag and finds he has Seiko's bag. The pomeranian races off and crashes into the gym. As Nagito laments on how unlucky he is, Seiko and Ruruka stumble backwards from the dog and both put their hands on the detonator, causing the gym to explode. Chisa and the other teachers race to the scene and find Nagito standing before the ruined gym.

Nagito explains why he did what he did, and says he wants hope to shine when the best of the best go head to head. Chisa says that hope isn't supposed to put people up against each other. Nagito dismisses his claims as the philosophical ramblings of a nobody, to which Chisa slaps him, and tells him he is not nobody: he is her student, and she is proud to be his teacher. Later, Chisa meets with Jin and Kohichi to discuss the incident. Ruruka, Seiko, and Sohnosuke have been expelled, but Jin doesn't want to expel Nagito because of his luck. He decides to suspend Nagito, put Kohichi on probation, and transfer Chisa to the Reserve Course.

Chisa goes to break the news to her class, but they already know and they aren't happy about it. They also blame Nagito, but Chisa says he did what he did to help them, and to give him a warm welcome when he returns. She assures the class that she will be back, and asks Chiaki to look after everyone while she is away. Chiaki agrees to Chisa's request. Later, Chisa tells Kyosuke, over the phone, that she has been transferred to the Reserve Course, where she has an opportunity to investigate what they do with the funds. Kyosuke notes she doesn't seem too happy, and Chisa admits she is sad to leave her class, even though she was originally just at Hope's Peak to investigate.

Appearances
The following are in order of appearance:
 * Chisa Yukizome
 * Mahiru Koizumi
 * Teruteru Hanamura
 * "Ryota Mitarai"/Ultimate Imposter
 * Ibuki Mioda
 * Akane Owari
 * Nekomaru Nidai
 * Chiaki Nanami
 * Hiyoko Saionji
 * Kazuichi Soda
 * Mikan Tsumiki
 * Gundham Tanaka
 * Sonia Nevermind
 * Peko Pekoyama
 * Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu
 * Nagito Komaeda
 * Hajime Hinata (Mentioned)
 * Sayaka Maizono (Cameo)
 * Seiko Kimura (Debut)
 * Ruruka Andoh (Debut)
 * Sohnosuke Izayoi (Debut)
 * Unnamed P.E. Teacher
 * Jin Kirigiri
 * Kohichi Kizakura

Trivia

 * The title of this episode is a reference to The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi series.
 * Kazutaka Kodaka's favorite scene in this episode is when Nagito is up to his big shenanigans, his luck moves the plot in the most trivial and minute of ways.