The Mattress

My own Top 10 Danganronpa trilogy + DRA Fangan duology character ranking from Sortr.io.

And here's the full score for each one:

“Knowing how to adapt is the difference between life and death.”

—Celestia Ludenberg

[ID: A digital illustration of Franziska Von Karma from Ace Attorney. She's looking to the right and smiling, her whip cracking around her. End description.]

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After Danganronpa was released, its sales did not grow as much as initially hoped. We were told that there would be no sequel, and at the same time, the team members were assigned to different projects and scattered. I had discovered how much I enjoyed creating an original work, so I did not want to join another project. I was wondering what to do and even considering quitting when the opportunity to write the Danganronpa Zero novel came along. I appealed directly to my boss and somehow managed to continue working on Danganronpa. ダンガンロンパ発売後、当初そこまで売上が伸びずに「２は作らない」という事を告げられるのと同時に、チームはそれぞれ別のプロジェクトに割り振られてバラバラに。 僕はオリジナル作品を作る楽しさに目覚めてしまったので、他のプロジェクトに入りたくなく、どうしようかな…辞めようかな…と思ってるところに、ダンガンロンパゼロの小説の話がきたので、上司に直訴し、なんとかダンガンロンパの仕事を続けられた。

As Kodaka explained, it was not actually Spike that first came up with the idea of publishing Danganronpa Zero. A publisher called Seikaisha (星海社) contacted him through a direct message on Twitter. Kodaka apparently assumed at first that it was a suspicious solicitation from a vanity publisher, but the person who contacted him, Katsushi Ota, was actually an extremely accomplished editor who had worked with Nisio Isin, Kinoko Nasu, and Ryukishi07.

Ota had no previous connection to Kodaka. He happened to discover Kodaka’s Twitter account and decided to reach out to him, and that contact ultimately led to the publication of the novel. This was discussed in an interview about Danganronpa Zero, which is still available online:

The interview contains a lot of fascinating information, so I think it is well worth reading even through machine translation!

Incidentally, Yoichiro Koizumi, who is writing the new Slayhem route for 2x2, also began his career as a novelist after winning a newcomer award from Seikaisha. Kodaka later asked him to write Ultra Despair Hagakure for DR:AE and the story for Danganronpa Gaiden: Killer Killer. After they had worked together several times, Kodaka invited him to join when Too Kyo Games was founded. That is how Koizumi came to work alongside Kodaka for so many years.

Meanwhile, Danganronpa continued to sell gradually, and before I knew it, we were talking about making a sequel. そうしている間にダンガンロンパはジワ売れし、いつの間にか2を作る話になってた。

DR did not initially reach its sales target. According to an interview included in the Danganronpa 1・2 Reload art book, it appears to have sold only around 24,000 to 25,000 copies at first.

When the original planning team, including Kodaka, first proposed Danganronpa within the company, people opposed the project on the grounds that even a successful adventure game would only sell around 40,000 copies. In the end, the game really did not sell particularly well at first.

However, as Megumi Ogata also mentioned in episode 8 of Dangan Radio, DR reportedly placed first in a December 2010 ranking of the most enjoyable games chosen by video game store employees. Recognition like that helped its sales gradually increase over time.

According to an interview in the DR2 art book, the decision to make the sequel had been settled by March 2011. Since DR was released on November 25, 2010, it seems that they watched its performance for about four months before deciding to begin production on DR2.

The Danganronpa script took about six months to complete, but I think 2 took around a year. Even so, I could only work that quickly because I was young. ダンガンロンパのシナリオは6ヶ月くらいで完成したけど、2は１年くらいかかったかな。それでも若いからやれたスピードだけど。

The DR2 script was genuinely unfinished until the very last moment. An interview in the DR2 art book explains that there were occasions when Kodaka went to the office early in the morning on the very day of a voice recording session, printed the script he had written himself, and personally carried it to the studio.

As a result, several cast members have said in interviews that they had not been able to read the script beforehand and only saw it for the first time when they arrived to record. Takako Sasuga, the voice of Monomi, was one of them. In episode 2 of Super Dangan Radio, she said that she first read the script at the recording session itself.

It is true that the script took around a year, but Kodaka was also writing Danganronpa Zero at the same time as he was working on DR2. I imagine that was another reason it took longer.

None of the staff could understand the Chapter 4 trick, so we struggled with it and even built models. 4章のトリックはスタッフの誰も理解できずに、模型など作って苦戦した。

This story comes up in almost every interview related to DR2. My personal favorite version is from the DR2 art book interview. Kodaka emailed the Chapter 4 script to the entire staff, and Komatsuzaki responded, “It was entertaining. I did not understand the trick at all, though.” I love that anecdote. 😂

I initially entrusted the Chapter 5 trick to another planner, but three months later I came up with the current trick, so I overturned everything. I am sorry about that. But creators are willing to accept hardship and wasted effort for the sake of an interesting idea, right? ５章のトリックは初めに別のプランナーに任せてたけど、3ヶ月後に僕が今のトリックを思いついたので、ひっくり返しました。あの時はごめんね。でも面白いアイデアの為にする苦労や無駄は厭わないのがクリエイターだよね！

Kodaka has repeatedly told this story as a joke, so many people probably already know it. The “another planner” he is referring to was Shun Sasaki.

Sasaki was the main person responsible for Dangan Island, the bonus mode in DR2. He later became the director of DR:AE and DRS, and also played an important role in DRV3.

He was not involved with DR:THH. According to an interview in the DR2 art book, after playing the completed game, he became determined to work on Danganronpa himself. He personally approached Kodaka and asked to be added to the team, which is how he joined the staff starting with DR2.

Sasaki proposed around nine different trick ideas for Chapter 5, but Kodaka rejected all of them and rewrote the entire trick himself. Despite that history, Sasaki clearly has a great deal of affection and respect for Kodaka. In Danganronpa Kodaka, a book collecting columns written by Kodaka, a member of the publicity staff identified as K says that Sasaki always tells people, “Kodaka is an incredibly kind person.”

In other words, I think Kodaka can keep using this story as a joke in so many different interviews because he and Sasaki genuinely trust each other.

I think Sasaki is someone with an extraordinary amount of determination and love for Danganronpa. He had no previous experience creating mystery tricks, so he worked hard by reading mystery novels and studying how to construct them. Even after going through the experience of having every trick he devised rejected, he continued supporting Danganronpa. After Kodaka left Spike Chunsoft, Sasaki served as the development director of DRS and helped carry the series forward. Personally, I believe DR fans should appreciate him much more. 🥺

After release, unlike the first game, I think it sold fairly well from the beginning. I do not remember very clearly anymore. I suppose the memories I have written here will eventually disappear as well... 発売後は1の時と違って初動から結構売れてた気がする。もうあんまよく覚えてない。ここに書いた記憶もじきになくなっていくのでしょう……

According to records published by 4Gamer.net, DR2 sold 69,000 copies during its first week, which means it sold more than twice as many copies as DR:THH initially did: https://www.4gamer.net/games/117/G011794/20120801070/

According to an interview in the Danganronpa 1・2 Reload art book, DR2 had sold around 180,000 copies by approximately the time Danganronpa: The Animation finished airing. The anime began airing in July 2013.

Looking back, the period after DR2’s release really was an incredible time for the rapid growth of Danganronpa’s popularity. Many of the merchandise items released around then are fascinating to look at now. I only wish I had had more money at the time... 🥺

on the left is their school bag, and the right is personal

Celeste

Kyoko

Mizisua x Celesgiri