Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School



Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School (ダンガンロンパ３ –The End of 希望ヶ峰学園– Danganronpa 3 – The End of Kibōgamine Gakuen) is a TV anime series that began airing in July 2016, which is being directed by Seiji Kishi at Lerche.

It is not an anime adaptation of any game, but a completely original new story supervised by the series creator, Kazutaka Kodaka. The anime is intended to be the conclusion of the Hope's Peak Academy Saga within the Danganronpa franchise, as Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony focuses on a new environment and new characters.

The anime is split into two Arcs:

Future Arc, the first chapter, is a sequel to Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair. It follows Makoto Naegi, Kyoko Kirigiri, Aoi Asahina and twelve other Future Foundation members in one last killing game.

Despair Arc, the second chapter, is a prequel to the entire series. It tells the backstory of the Remnants of Despair and explains how they got corrupted.

The two arcs aired concurrently with one another: Future Arc was aired on July 11 and continued to air every Monday, while Despair Arc was aired July 14 and continues every Thursday. The episodes are meant to be watched in this order and the two arcs shouldn't be viewed separately.

/Hope Arc/, the final episode, is a special, airing after the previous two chapters have ended. It acts as the conclusion to the Hope's Peak Academy arc. Hope Arc was aired on September 29.

On June 23, 2016, Funimation, the company which subbed and dubbed the previous Danganronpa Anime, revealed that they would air the episodes subbed.

On July 13, 2016, Funimation announced that both Future Arc and Despair Arc would be added to their Summer 2016 Broadcast Dub line-up, to be aired on August 10 and August 11, respectively.

In 2018, Cornflakes produced a Danganronpa 3 stage adaptation.

Development
The anime was first teased on December 2, 2015, at the presentation press conference held by Spike Chunsoft. The teaser picture includes Kyoko, Aoi, and Makoto in handcuffs.

Originally, the plan was to make an anime of Danganronpa 2. This is seen in the teaser trailer: Similar to how the very first teaser trailer for Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls started off misleadingly by implying that the upcoming installment is a game about the daily lives of the first two games' cast before The Tragedy, the first trailer for the Danganronpa 3 anime starts with a "2" fading in from the back, as if to announce an anime of Danganronpa 2. The sudden appearance of Monokuma, however, "shatters the fans' hope", leading to the actual announcement, just like in the Danganronpa Another Episode teaser.

Originally, the plan was to create something that would involve Class Trials, but because it would be "too painful for the students of Hope's Peak Academy to kill each other again", the creators decided to conclude with an anime. They believed that the story can only be told through an anime and if they made a game instead of an anime, they might not have been able to do the serious things they had planned for it. Although there won't any investigation elements, there will be suspense.

On March 22, 2016, a Famitsu Weekly issue showed twelve new characters connected to the Future Foundation.

A new trailer revealed the names and basic plots of the two upcoming chapters. According to the trailer, Future Arc will include a new killing game and "hope will kill hope" (implying that the 16 Future Foundation members are forced to kill each other), despite what Kodaka said earlier.

Before the trailer was revealed, Kodaka mentioned misleading information in his Twitter account, saying that the Remnants of Despair will not have any role in the story as well as implying that they will not be seen in the future, which upset fans. However, as the trailer revealed, they will actually have a whole chapter dedicated to them. Kodaka apologized and confessed that it had been just a lie: "I apologize to everyone I worried with my tweets the other day. I was feeling up to being a little mischievous and showing off the amplitude between despair and hope. A mischievous heart is a driving force between the things I make, but it’s not good to lie. I'm fine with getting comments like "what a horrible prank, Kodaka" or "I like what he makes, but he's a bad person” until you're satisfied".

Theme and Ending Songs
On May 10, 2016, it was revealed that the opening theme for Despair Arc will be performed by the band binaria and will be called Kami-iro Awase (カミイロアワセ, lit. Matching the Color of God). While the ending theme will be performed by Megumi Ogata as Nagito Komaeda called Zettai Kibō Birthday (絶対希望バースデー).

On May 17, 2016, it was revealed that the opening theme for Future Arc will be performed by Maon Kurosaki and TRUSTRICK, composed of Billy and Sayaka Kanda, and it will be called DEAD OR LIE. While the ending theme will be performed by TRUSTRICK and will be called Recall THE END.

Future Arc
Via the Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History, Ultimate Despair has driven the former world to destruction. In order to save this despair-soaked world, the Future Foundation was formed.

Makoto and his fellow Class 78th classmates, having defeated Junko Enoshima, have joined the Future Foundation. There they are working to rebuild the world, but Makoto has been charged with the crime of treason for protecting the Remnants of Despair. Everyone who gathered for Makoto's trial has been trapped and thrust into the “Final Killing Game” by Monokuma. Everyone is fitted with a strange bracelet that releases a sleeping potion at a fixed time. While asleep, the traitor in their midst kills a Future Foundation member. To survive, they'll have to ferret out the traitor and stop the killing.

The class trial rules do not apply to this killing game. Makoto and the others have been driven into a desperate kill or be killed situation.

The tale of despair, where hope kills hope begins now.

Despair Arc
The private establishment of "Hope's Peak Academy" is a government official school that gathers Senior High School Students from all fields to research their talents. In addition to Ultimate Talents, regular high school students can attend normal classes for a high tuition fee known as the Reserve Course.

The talent was not the only aspect considered, but also a personality that came from a certain individual of Class 77th. However it was not so much of their talents but more of their persistence, "The most important thing of someone's life is to value the personality as well as talent as that can make the most memories." was what was said from a normal high school student that embraced this school.

However, accomplishments of a mysterious Project surfaced under the water, once was segregated is now widely known to the school.

A boy from the reserve course, Hajime Hinata, had longed for talent. An occurrence will soon be pre-destined between his future and the school's guidance to which he doesn't expect.

This will be the story of the Tragedy.

This is the tale of Hope, which ends in Despair.

Trivia

 * Kodaka said in his Twitter account that the anime is a thank-you for the Danganronpa fans: "The first animation for Danganronpa contributed to increasing Danganronpa fans. However, Danganronpa 3 animation will target people who supported Danganronpa up until now. I thought about what excites you guys the best, and I thought I should do it. This is our repayment for Danganronpa fans. There's no reason to betray it. We're drawing the final episode with full power. The mission to excite all the fans! I hope to complete it and meet again!".