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

This will be a controversial pick in the eyes of some Danganronpa fans, but I will die on the hill that Danganronpa 3 is criminally underrated, overcriticized (though rightfully divisive), and has some of the most interesting interpretations of the murder mystery series’ themes that Spike Chunsoft has ever put to paper. The anime acts as both prequel and sequel to the visual novels, and manages to bring all its mysteries full circle without being beholden to the same structures of a Danganronpa video game.

Though Funimation absolutely dropped the ball on the English dub by stuffing it with now-dated memes and soundbite-driven characterization, Danganronpa 3’s inversion of the series’ themes of hope and despair, portraying both forces as intertwined and inescapable, are some of the most clever depictions of those ideas across the series’ lifetime. Yes, it got muddied by a disappointing brainwash plot; it essentially made Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls meaningless, and its final episodes are missing the series’ usual no-stone-left-unturned exposition that has led to factually incorrect interpretations still being perpetuated in fandom spaces. But Danganronpa 3’s ambition can’t be overstated, and when it hits, it stands tall alongside its predecessors as an important piece of the series’ puzzle. — Kenneth Shepard