Danganronpa 3 - Despair Arc - Episode 08

The Worst Reunion By Chance (偶然にも最悪な再会. Gūzen ni Mo Saiaku na Saikai), Side: Despair #08 is the sixteenth episode of Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak Academy and the eighth episode of Side: Despair. It first aired on September 1st, 2016.

Summary
Chisa Yukizome's students go against her orders and take matters into their own hands by searching for their lost classmate, Mikan Tsumiki, not knowing that she has already been brainwashed by Junko Enoshima. Meanwhile, Nagito Komaeda shows Chiaki Nanami a secret passage to an underground tunnel he found by chance, putting both of their lives in danger as Chiaki reunites with her former friend.

Plot
Mikan is now an Ultimate Despair. She massages Junko's legs as she tells her about Class 77-B. Mikan especially says that Chisa has been great to all of them. As Ryota continues working on his anime, he asks Junko why she is doing a jigsaw puzzle. Junko, who has just finished the puzzle, flips the table and sends the puzzle pieces flying into the air, explaining how she enjoys sending order into chaos.

Meanwhile, the class continues to worry as the Reserve Course students continue their rioting. Peko Pekoyama bitingly points out that the school administration wants everyone to call it "a parade", much to Kazuichi Soda and Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu's skepticism. Chisa comes into the classroom and tells them not to worry about the rioting, and Peko agrees they should leave it to security. Chiaki asks Chisa if Hajime Hinata is involved in the rioting, and Chisa says she doesn't know.

As Ryota Mitarai works on his anime, he finds an unusual video file on his computer, and clicks on it. Ryota is horrified to see The Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy, and realizes it is a real recording, making him violently ill. Mikan comes up behind Ryota, and starts to flirt with him. Junko comes back and kicks Mikan away, which makes her extremely excited. Junko demonstrates to Ryota how she used the techniques she learned from his anime to brainwash Mikan. Ryota tries to run, but Junko threatens to make his classmates participate in the next killing game if he doesn't do what she says.

Class 77-B continues to wonder where Mikan is, and why she hasn't shown up to class in a few days. Fuyuhiko says he sent his contacts to her house, but she wasn't there. The door opens, and to everyone's surprise, Nagito walks in. He says he saw Mikan in the western district. The class heads out to look for her, but Nagito stays behind to discuss something with Peko.

Chisa comes back to the classroom, and finds that her students are all missing, and decides to head out to look for them. Meanwhile, Juzo Sakakura is fending off the Reserve Course students and is joined by Kyosuke Munakata. They try to get a hold of Chisa, but she isn't picking up her phone. Nagito and Chiaki find a secret passageway under the statue of The Founder, Izuru Kamukura, and they find Junko's hideout. Nagito informs Junko that Mukuro Ikusaba is busy, and it is revealed that he had asked Peko to keep an eye on Mukuro, which led to a duel between them. Nagito pulls a gun on Junko, telling her that his talent is Ultimate Luck and that she cannot be the stepping stone to hope if she were to die by his hand, while Chiaki protests using violence. Izuru Kamukura comes up behind them, causing Nagito to whip around and try to shoot Izuru. To his surprise, the gun jams, and Izuru explains to Nagito that he possesses the same lucky talent that he does. Izuru takes the gun and shoots Nagito, but his student handbook takes the hit instead. As Izuru looms over Chiaki, she recognizes him as Hajime.

Ryota escapes in the chaos and runs into Chisa. He informs her on what's happening, and Chisa heads to the entrance of Junko's hideout. Juzo and Kyosuke continue to call Chisa as she laments she may not see Kyosuke again.

Appearances
The following are in order of appearance:
 * Junko Enoshima
 * Mikan Tsumiki
 * Ryota Mitarai
 * Chisa Yukizome
 * Juzo Sakakura
 * Yasuke Matsuda (Debut)
 * Ibuki Mioda
 * Chiaki Nanami
 * Hiyoko Saionji
 * Mahiru Koizumi
 * Peko Pekoyama
 * Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu
 * Kazuichi Soda
 * Nekomaru Nidai
 * Sonia Nevermind
 * "Ryota Mitarai"/Ultimate Imposter
 * Hajime Hinata (Mentioned)
 * Mukuro Ikusaba
 * Gundham Tanaka
 * Teruteru Hanamura
 * Akane Owari
 * Nagito Komaeda
 * Izuru Kamukura

Trivia

 * Kazutaka Kodaka's favorite scene in this episode are:
 * Peko and Mukuro's fight scene.
 * Izuru stopping Nagito from shooting Junko, a scene he describes as similar to a beautiful, elegant dance.
 * Kodaka wrote a short parody of Nagito and Izuru's scene in his Twitter page:
 * Nagito: Is the bullet stuffed up…?
 * click!
 * Nagito: Is my nose stuffed up…?
 * achoo!
 * Izuru: If it's decongestant medicine, I have that as well.
 * Nagito took the decongestants while blushing, touched by Izuru's kindness.