Danganronpa Gaiden: Killer Killer/Chapter 1

Murder for Murder is the first chapter of Danganronpa Gaiden: Killer Killer manga.

The manga was released on March 8, 2016 in Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine April issue. The original concept was made by Spike Chunsoft and the scenario was created by both Kazutaka Kodaka and Yōichirō Koizumi.

Summary
Chapter 1 first begins with an introduction of Misaki Asano, who is a brand new member of the Special Case Criminal Investigation Unit. She meets the section chief, “hairpin demon” Dougami Ikue. Misaki thinks about him as a cool, scary, and sexy Dougami is and hopes she can become like her some time. Dougami explains how the SCCIU specializes in strange and brutal cases. Misaki isn’t quite sure if she’s down to guro, but she’ll do her best as a SCCIU member. Dougami also calls them the hope of a despair world. Later Misaki is introduced to her partner, Takumi Hijirihara, chilling out in her locker. Misaki is shocked by this, and her senpai joke about how a locker is one of the least odd places to find Takumi. They say that she’s stuck with him because she’s the newb, much to her dismay.

Dougami briefs the two of them on their case: “Monk Idol” Momomichi Ito received a threatening message regarding his upcoming live performance. It appears to be just a yonkoma manga, but on the back is a fifth panel that declares that in four days, the “depraved monk” will be dropped into hell.

Misaki and Takumi job is to stand guard and keep anyone suspicious from getting close. After the briefing, Takumi complains he’s tired and tells Misaki to go on without him, and when she presses him to come, he insists that he has a special condition that he could age ten years if he goes outside.

He gets dragged anyway to the rundown old temple where the concert will take place. After mistaking an old man for him, Misaki discovers Takumi hiding out in the offering box. When asked why he replies that it’s cozy. He then asks Misaki to pitch out his cup noodle garbage and invites her to try getting into the small space too.Misaki declines both.

So the concert starts and during the performance, they go to unveil the Buddha statues that they’d noticed earlier, only to find that they were swapped out for grotesque versions made from stitched up pieces of 42 people. This makes Takumi angry for some reason that Misaki doesn’t understand, but she’s soon distracted by him hugging one of the corpses and saying he’s thirsty.

They gather everyone who had access to the backstage during the concert: Momomichi the idol, Hayashi the producer, Yamada the stage designer, and Ogawa the assistant stage designer. Misaki concludes that someone must have slipped through their perimeter and has already gotten away, but Takumi whispers to her that the culprit is still on site. He asks her to tell the suspects that and she wants to know why he can’t do it himself. He answers that it’s too scary to talk to strangers, and then goes on to say she should point out the culprit like Kindaichi. Takumi tells her to swear on her grandfather’s name, but Misaki retorts that her grandfather was a farmer. Takumi asks her to clear away his grandfather’s regrets, prompting Misaki to wonder about his grandpa. Getting into the spirit, Misaki emulates Kindaichi, saying that she’s got it all figured out and the culprit is… the culprit is… At that point, she realizes she doesn’t know yet and Takumi is leaving. She yells at him to tell her who it was, and he replies that when his grandfather was on his deathbed, he was convinced he was Kindaichi. Back at SCCIU HQ, Misaki is complaining about Takumi and asking what’s up with his weird hanging out in small spaces thing. Dougami asks her if she remembers the Giboura Junior High Massacre Case, and Misaki says of course she does. She remembers watching it on TV and being disturbed that kids her own age were killed.

Turns out Takumi is the sole survivor of the massacre. He got away by hiding in the cleaning supply closet in the classroom, where the killer never thought to look. This means he feels more strongly about murders than the average person.

Meanwhile, Takumi has called Momomichi the idol out to meet him. He shows up, accusing Momomichi of committing the murder and asking if his goal was blood. Momomichi seems surprised at first, then asks for proof. Takumi says he doesn’t have any, but when it comes to abnormal crimes like murder, he feels love to him.

Characters

 * Ikue Dogami


 * Misaki Asano
 * Takumi Hijirihara
 * Momomichi Ito