The Danganronpa franchise needs no introduction, it is one of the biggest fandoms out there. It started with the Visual Novel games but now has two big anime series.
The franchise is ever-growing and bringing in new people to animes and visual novels and increasing the overall anime fandom!
This Watch Order guide will also talk about the games, aka. Visual Novels of Danganronpa and of course we will talk about the anime series.
Danganronpa has quite a complex story with a good set of characters and thus it attracts a lot of fans and a lot of fans translates to a lot of opinions.
There are varied opinions on how to play/watch The Danganronpa games and anime but lucky for you that we are already doing all the heavy lifting for you so you don’t have to worry about it as much at all.
But before getting into the watch orders let us talk about the franchise and all the games and series it has to offer. We shall give you a brief introduction to every installment in the franchise.
Danganronpa Game, Anime And Manga Watch Orders
Now that we are familiar with some of the series and their introductory plots let us talk about how you should play or watch the games and the anime!
The playing order of the games is pretty easy. I think the games should be played in the order that they came out.
There is always an option of skipping game 1 and watching the anime instead-but if you are a gamer obviously you would find the game more interesting.
Danganronpa Manga Order
- Danganronpa: Academy of Hope and High School Students of Despair
- Super Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair Academy
- Super Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair Academy 4-frame KINGS
- Danganronpa 2: Chiaki Nanami’s Goodbye Despair Quest
- Danganronpa 2: Ultimate Luck and Hope and Despair
- Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
- Danganaronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls
- Zettai Zetsubo Shojo: Danganaronpa Another Episode-Genocide Mode
- Ultra Despair Girls- Danganaronpa: Another Episode Comic Anthology
Danganronpa Light Novel Order
- Danganronpa/Zero
- Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc IF
- Danganronpa Ten Gods
- Danganronpa Kirigiri
- Ultra Despair Hagakure
- Danganronpa 1 . 2 Beautiful Days
- Makoto Naegi Secret File
Danganronpa Game Playing Order
Let us list the order of the basic game.
- Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
- Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair
- Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls
- Danganronpa: Unlimited Battle (Optional)
- Cyber Danganronpa VR The Class Trial
- Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony
In this order, the spin-off can also be skipped but it does give you juicy extra information about the characters and some organizations.
Danganronpa Anime Watch Order
The intended watch order for the second anime is alternately watching Future and Despair Arc and then ending with the Hope Arc.
So starting off with Future Arc you watch one episode then Despair one episode and then back and forth until you reach the finale.
This watch order is interesting but takes the excitement off of the Future arc and disturbs the pace so the fans of Danganronpa have come up with a better way to watch the anime
- Danganronpa: The Animation
- Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope’s Peak Academy Future Arc Episode 1
- Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope’s Peak Academy Despair Arc All Episodes
- Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope’s Peak Academy Future Arc Remaining Episodes
- Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope’s Peak Academy Hope Arc
Danganronpa Order According to Timeline:
If you want to experience the entire Danganronpa Franchise all in its full glory, this is the recommended order. It has both the games and the anime with the best orders for both.
- Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (novel)
- Danganronpa: Zero (novel)
- Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair (novel)
- Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc IF (novel)
- Makoto Naegi Secret File (novel)
- Danganronpa Kirigiri (novel)
- Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls
- Ultra Despair Hagakure (spin-off novel)
- Danganronpa Togami (novel)
- Danganronpa Gaiden: Killer Killer (manga)
- Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope’s Peak High School (anime)
- Super Danganronpa 2.5: Nagito Komaeda and the Destroyer of the World (OVA)
- Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (game)
Curated just for the My Otaku World readers, this order will probably give you enough does of the Danganronpa Franchise and the best possible watching and gaming experience.
Frequently Asked Questions:
1. How many Danganronpa novels are there?
Although it splits into various titles, the whole Danganronpa franchise has 4 Books.
2. Should I play games to understand the story?
Not necessarily. After watching the anime, if you couldn’t get the story, go through the novels or watch gameplays from YouTube.
Danganronpa Games Order
First, let us talk about the games the Danganronpa franchise has to offer to its fans.
The first of the Danganronpa Visual Novel games came out in 2010 published by Spike Chunsoft in Japan titled, “Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc”.
Kazutaka Kodaka, the man behind the Danganronpa franchise, a former employee of Spike now has his own studio and more than that so many fans!
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
The original title in the Danganronpa series is a kind of a murder mystery but unlike the fun, Saturday night murder mysteries we see in many TV Shows this murder mystery can actually turn into a massacre.
The game takes place in Hope’s Peak Academy, a prestigious school that only accepts the “Ultimate” students. All of these students are brilliant, athletic, have a vast amount of knowledge, and really smart, basically every one of these students is a genius.
Our protagonist, Makoto Naegi, is picked as the “Ultimate Lucky Student” among the fifteen students. All gathered students are suddenly interrupted by a remote-controlled bear that calls himself, Monokuma.
Monokuma puts them all in his game where all of them are imprisoned for life and for them to leave one of the classmates has to murder another and not get caught.
If the other students identify the real culprit all of them live but the culprit dies and if they identify the wrong one all of them die but the culprit lives!
Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair
The sequel to Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc that came out in 2012, Goodbye Despair or Super Dangan Ronpa 2: Farewell Despair Academy is also produced by Spike Chunsoft.
The second installment of Danganronpa features the same kind of game. This time we as the players control Hajime Hinata, an ultimate student along with fifteen others that are stranded on the island called Jabberwock.
Usami, their teacher claimed it to be a field trip but again Monokuma appears and starts the sadistic game of murders and trials. It is the same game we witnessed in the first title of Danganronpa but there is a big twist at the end of this game!
Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls
Ultra Despair Girls is the first spin-off released in the Danganronpa franchise. It came out in 2014 again produced by the same studio, Spike Chunsoft.
Chronologically speaking Ultra Despair Girls takes place between the events of Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc and Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair.
The protagonist of Ultra Despair, Komaru Naegi, the younger sister of Makoto is locked in an apartment in Towa City when she is suddenly attacked by a Monokuma robot.
She gets some help from the Future Foundation’s Byakuya Togami, who gives her a special gun and tells her to escape the city.
But on her way out she is captured by a group of children called, Warriors of Hope. The plot of this spin-off is interesting and gives much insight into other characters and organizations in the Danganronpa franchise.
Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony
The third and latest in the main titular series of Danganronpa, Killing Harmony came out in 2017 another fine addition to Spike Chunsoft’s game library.
The plot begins with Kaede Akamatsu getting kidnapped and being taken to Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles, where she finds Shuichi Saihara and 14 other similar students.
All these students have their own Ultimate Talents. And here begins the patented mutual killing game of Danganronpa.
Though advertised as a sole protagonist game we are soon met with a devastating twist in the game which changes the entire tone and will crumble all your predictions for the future.
Danganronpa Anime Watch Order
Now let us talk about the anime series in the Danganronpa Franchise. The franchise has done well to expand into other media and as a result, the anime has a similar fanbase with its own twist.
Danganronpa has two main titles, Danganronpa: The Animation and Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope’s Peak High School.
Danganronpa: The Animation
Danganronpa: The Animation released in 2013 based on the original main title in the franchise, Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc.
The anime is a thirteen-episode adaptation of the same events that take place in the Visual Novel game.
Makoto Naegi, the main protagonist finds himself imprisoned in Hope’s Peak Academy with fourteen other students, trapped there in a sadistic game enforced by Monokuma.
If you do not feel like playing the first game, you can just watch this anime series and get caught up on the storyline of the game.
Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope’s Peak High School
In my opinion the juiciest of all in the Danganronpa Franchise, but then again I have a bias for anime so you probably decide on your own.
Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope’s Peak High school is the original anime in the franchise, it is based on the games but the story is unique to the anime!
The anime serves as an end to the first two games in the franchise, Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc and Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair. The anime is divided into two arcs Future and Despair and the finale is called, The Hope Arc.
The Future Arc tells the story of Makoto and his friends and the Despair Arc is about Hajime Hinata. The Hope Arc ties both the stories and ends the era of Hope’s Peak Academy.
