Danganronpa: The Animation - Episode 03

Kill Free or Live Hard - #3 Abnormal Days is the third episode of the Dangan Ronpa anime. It first aired on July 18, 2013.

Summary
The students arrive in the underground courtroom. A school trial begins in order to find Sayaka Maizono's murderer. After some arguing and discussion, the students decide on the order of events and deduce that Leon Kuwata was the culprit. Kuwata strongly denies it, but Monokuma announces he was the one who killed Maizono. Kuwata gets dragged away for his execution in front everyone.

Plot
The episode starts with Makoto Naegi's thoughts explaining how there is only one way to leave Hope's Peak Academy - to kill someone and get away with it. Scenes of Junko Enoshima and Sayaka Maizono's deaths flash upon the screen.

The scene changes to the classmates standing in the lift to the courtroom. Naegi continues, saying that he was suspected for her murder, even though he and Maizono both knew that it was not the case. The lift doors open to reveal a courtroom. This is where they begin risking their lives - The Class Trial. The students stand stunned in the court room. Monokuma appears on the other side of the room lounging in a chair. After being asked by Kyoko Kirigiri, Monokuma explains how the stands showing pictures of the deceased students were to ensure they weren't excluded. Celestia Ludenberg points out that there are 16 stands in the room when there were only 15 students. Monokuma says that the courtroom just happens to be large enough to accomodate 16 students.

The students go to their places. Monokuma announces for them to begin the discussion. Naegi thinks how he cannot afford to make false assumptions as everyone's lives are at risk. The words "Classroom Trial" flash across the screen in red lettering.

School Trial Start!

The camera pans around the circle of students, Evidence Bullets that were shown in the game appear on the side of the screen. Kirigiri begins the discussion by trying to figure out the murder weapon. Kiyotaka Ishimaru says that the knife in her abdomen was no doubt the murder weapon. Naegi expands on that point, saying that someone must have taken a knife from the kitchen. Leon Kuwata stresses that Naegi must be the culprit. Aoi Asahina begins to recall how she and Sakura Ogami were in the kitchen the previous night drinking tea together. Touko Fukawa interrupts, accusing them of being partners in crime. Monokuma explains how even if they were accomplices, only the murderer would be allowed to graduate. Ogami begins saying that while they were in the kitchen, only one other person entered - Sayaka Maizono herself. Naegi assures everyone that it must have been for self-protection, and Togami states that it must have been taken from her by the culprit and killed with it.

Everyone begins to accuse Naegi as the killer. Kirigiri steps in, saying that there was evidence to show he wasn't the culprit. Everyone is surprised. She continues, explaining how the bathroom door in Naegi's room showed signs of trying to be broken into. Mondo Owada retorts, saying that if the door was locked from the inside, then the only option was surely to break it down.

Naegi argues back, shouting "You've got that wrong!". An evidence bullet is fired. He states that only the girls' bathrooms can be locked from the inside. Monokuma confirms that. Naegi continues, explaining how his door originally had a problem with opening. As the culprit believed that it was locked, they broke it down. Naegi wouldn't have had to do that; Kirigiri thus concluded that he wasn't the culprit.

Celes moves on to another point: Why did the culprit believe the bathroom to be locked if the room belonged to a male? Kirigiri quickly explains how the nameplates on Maizono's and Naegi's room had been switched around, meaning the culprit thought Naegi's room was Maizono's. From this, one could assume the culprit was someone who didn't know she and Naegi swapped rooms for the night, which could be everyone apart from Naegi.

Asahina continues with the discussion, asking how the culprit got into the room. Chihiro Fujisaki suggests that the lock was picked but is countered by Ishimaru who says the locks are protected from picking. Hifumi Yamada conceives that Maizono must have let the culprit in herself. Naegi doesn't believe it, recalling how Maizono was shaking in fear and that she said she wouldn't let anyone in.

Kirigiri suggests that she was just acting. Everyone is shocked at the idea, while Naegi strongly disapproves of it. Regardless, Kirigiri shows him a note found at the crime scene:

"''There is something I need to discuss with you. Please come to my room. Also, to find the correct room, please check the name plates." '' Shocked, he reads the note Kirigiri hands to him. She asks him if he wrote it, and he denies that he did. A signature at the bottom identifies the note as Maizono's. Kirigiri continues to explain how Maizono must have used it to lure someone into the room. She explains how the nameplates had been swapped around so the culprit thought they were going to Maizono's room when it was in fact originally Naegi's. Naegi concludes the only person who could have done this was Maizono.

Togami states that the only reason she did this was to frame Naegi for a murder, and the only reason she failed was because she was counter-attacked by her target. The target defended themselves from her attack with the golden sword in Naegi's room. Naegi doesn't believe she would do something like that but is assured by Celes that she only did it to try and escape. Some of the classmates begin to argue, but Kirigiri tells them to focus on finding the culprit.

Leon says there wasn't any more evidence, but is quickly contradicted by Naegi. "That's wrong!" He shouts and the evidence bullet 'dying message' is fired. Kirigiri begins to talk about the dying message behind Maizono's corpse; "11037". Owada asks the Super High School Level Programmer Fujisaki what it meant, but she admits that she has no idea. Naegi begins thinking over the events. After locking herself in the bathroom, the door was forced open and Maizono was stabbed by the knife which was taken away from her. Suddenly Naegi realizes the message was the culprit's name. He explains to the surprised students; if you flip 11037 180 degrees you get... LEON.

He looks at Leon, who begins to get angry. Naegi expands, saying how she was lying on her back when she wrote it, so the message was from her point of view. Leon strongly denies that he was the culprit, but Kyoko contradicts him with the evidence that he tried to get rid of: the remainder of a bloody shirt sleeve and a smashed crystal ball which were found by the rubbish incinerator. Yasuhiro Hagakure mentions how he couldn't find his crystal ball.

Naegi goes over what must have happened: after killing Maizono, the culprit hurried to get rid of the evidence. However, they couldn't get to the incinerator as there was a shutter gate in the way. So, the culprit used Hagakure's crystal ball to open the gates by throwing it at the "ON" button through the shutter gates. For a normal person, this would have been a near impossible feat, but the culprit knew they could do it, because they must have been Super High School Level Baseballer. They threw the bloodied shirt into the incinerator and quickly left the garbage room. However, a part of the shirt which was not completely burnt fell to the ground, and thus was being used as evidence. Naegi confronts the culprit.

"Isn't that right, Leon Kuwata?" By this time, Leon is shaking with anger. Kyoko asks if he has anything to defend himself with. Leon begins to chant "Idiot" over and over again. Naegi lists the evidence against him, which he all strongly denies. Naegi says that there was one way to get into the bathroom, and Leon forcefully denies there is. The evidence bullet 'Toolkit' is fired. Naegi asks to see Leon's toolkit which Leon is unable to show. Leon stands shocked and horrified, unable to speak.

Monokuma announced that it's time to vote on the culprit. A fruit machine with the all students' faces on it is shown. The machine stops with all three columns on Leon's face. Leon has been voted as guilty. Monokuma happily confirms that the person who killed Maizono was Leon. Leon shakily admits it. Everyone is horrified at the revelation. Owada demands to know why he would do something like that. Leon slowly replies:

"...Then what else should I have done? I was about to be killed myself! That's why I had no choice but to kill her." He breaks down and sinks to the floor crying. Monokuma exclaims that because they successfully caught the culprit, Leon will be given a punishment. Leon begins saying excuses that he only killed her for self-defense. However Monokuma continues, saying that if you brought disruption, you have to be punished and that it was rule of their own society. Leon screams and beats the walls with his fists, yelling for someone to get him out of there. Monokuma announces a special punishment had been made for Leon. A red button appears in front of Monokuma. The bear hits it with a hammer and the scene changes to a red, black and white pixel scene where Monokuma drags Leon away.

GAME OVER. Leon Kuwata has been decided guilty. Let's start the punishment

The execution starts with Leon looking nervously around at his classmates, who are all staring at him. This scene is shown from different angles. Leon's mouth is wide open as a metal clamp closes around his neck. He grips the clamp with one hand and stretches out for help with the other. Suddenly, he gets dragged away by a chain the clamp is attached to and is hurled through the school corridors. The corridor door shuts and a red warning sign saying "In Use" lights up. Leon gets slammed against a pole in a baseball pitch and chained to it. The gates to the baseball pitch, which are covered in warning signs, slam shut. A canon pops up and baseballs are loaded into it. His classmates watch from the other side of the gates. The canon starts up. Monokuma appears wearing a baseball cap and carrying a baseball bat. The words "Million Fungoes" Flashes across the screen. The canon begins violently firing balls at Leon from all directions. A scene of Leon screaming as a dozen baseballs fly toward him is shown just as they smash into his face. The gates open and the horrified faces of the remaining students flash upon the screen. The silhouette of Leon's remains are shown.

Monokuma seems to find the execution incredibly adrenaline pumping and amusing while everyone else is aghast. Monokuma says that if they don't want this to happen again, they should just live inside the school walls peacefully for the rest of their lives. Naegi clenches his teeth and Monokuma tells him he knows he's despairing after being betrayed by Maizono. Naegi angrily confronts the bear, saying that it was all it's fault and lunges for it, only to be stopped by Kirigiri telling him to calm down.

The scene changes to Naegi lying on his bed. Kirigiri comes into his room, wanting to talk to him about something. He asks if it's about Maizono and she confirms it.

''"Surely, it is without a doubt Sayaka Maizono tried to lead you into a trap, that is the inevitable truth. However, what was she thinking before she died?... Even though we can't ask her, we can reason. It's likely that the very last thing she thought about was what she could do in order to save you. If she didn't care about the consequences you would have to face, she would not have left that message. I believe that she hesitated in tricking you and trying to kill someone. Her hesitation is what caused this outcome, unfortunately." ''

Naegi says that she probably left the message to avenge her death and asks why Kirigiri is saying this. She answers:

"You are definitely someone who can go beyond, someone who can go beyond their friend's death and move forward. If you weren't that type of person, you wouldn't have been able to overcome this horrific situation."

Naegi says that it is a difficult situation for him so he won't go beyond, he will carry the burden of Maizono and Kuwata's deaths and move forward.

"To go beyond a friend's death...That's...That's difficult for me! That's why...I won't go beyond! I will carry the burden and move on. Maizono's death and Kuwata's death! I will keep carrying it and move on! I will carry it and move on! To go beyond while forgetting such thing...I will not do such thing! I will carry everyone's deaths and hearts, move forward and leave this place!"

Kirigiri smiles and looks at him, saying how it was a difficult path, but she looked forward to it. She asks Naegi one more thing.

"Just before, how did you know I was going to talk about Maizono's case?" Naegi replies

"That's because I'm psychic." The screen goes black.

"Just kidding, I just have good intuitions"