​Bobby Knight Turns Up In The Strangest Places

I grew up in Bloomington, Indiana, and Bobby Knight has been a small part of my life for as long as I can remember. I don’t think about the guy much any more, but every now and then, the red-sweatered shouter turns up in an unexpected place. That said, he has perhaps never turned up somewhere this unexpected.

I spent much of the last weekend playing the Japanese visual-novel-style mystery game Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc. (Iliked the game quite a bit.) In Danganronpa, a group of high school students are sequestered in a nightmarish high school and forced into a deadly killing game where only those who murder other students will be allowed to leave.

https://lastchance.cc/danganronpa-trigger-happy-havoc-the-kotaku-review-1520857478%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E

The cast is a colorful bunch, and each student has an “ultimate” specialty: There’s a kid who’s the ultimate affluent bloodline, one who’s the ultimate martial artist, another who’s the ultimate motorcycle gang leader. And then there’s Aoi Asahina, the ultimate swimming pro.

Aoi’s not the most cunning student at Hope’s Peak Academy, but she’s endearingly enthusiastic and I share her love of donuts. (Also, fun fact: Aoi is voiced by Cassandra Lee Morris, the same actor who voices the feisty swashbuckler Edea in Bravely Default.)

I went to talk to Aoi one morning and…

Ha! Well said, Hina.

Goes to show, even all these years since he left IU, Coach Knight’s influence has spread to the farthest fictional worlds. I’m surprised none of the students in Danganronpa tried to kill one of their classmates with a chair.