the missed potential of danganronpa another episode: ultra despair girls

danganronpa another episode: ultra despair girls is one of the most conflicting pieces of media i've ever consumed. it is by nearly all accounts a terrible game, and yet i fell in love with it when i played it. i was convinced by everyone in the danganronpa community that it would be a bad game, and it turned out to be the opposite to me. i love this thing. to the point where i made an hour and a half long video where i intended to defend it.

going in, i really wanted to be nothing but positive about this game, but i couldn't in good conscience pretend that it's a flawless piece of work. there's a reason everyone in the danganronpa community hates this thing. but it is, at the end of the day, a game brimming with potential. with a bit more time in the oven, this could've been the best game in the danganronpa series. but instead we got this.

once again, content warning, this game contains depictions of child abuse of every form.
also, spoiler warning for every other danganronpa game.

huge thanks to my collaborators, QuazarTheWayward and Quoth
check out ‪@QuothBirdington‬ and his banger review of this game:
   • Urly Dirly Girly  

songs used: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-...

timestamps:
0:00 - What is a Danganronpa?
3:59 - Chapter 1: Masaru Mayhem
19:42 - chapter 2: Jataro Jam
33:59 - chapter 3: Kotoko's Curse
52:11 - chapter 4: Nagisa's Nightmare
1:13:42 - chapter 5: Monaca's Malevolence
1:36:56 - epilogue: ultra hope girls

and since this may very well be my last video like this, here's my other stuff
spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/62V2H...
soundcloud:   / amsmerwe  
twitter:   / amsmerwe  

UPDATE WITH HEAVY SPOILERS:
i recently replayed it again and there's two additional things i didn't realize that are cool!!
1. one of the things yuta says before dying. "it's not that i'm bad at swimming, it's just that there's always someone who was better." that kinda sibling inferiority is something that's extremely common in this game but rather unexplored, but it's most notable with komaru, who constantly compares herself and feels inferior to makoto.
2. every character who gets introduced and instantly dies is a family member. this is to further the emphasis this game has on familial relationships, which is especially made apparent with...
3. "Big Sis Junko". why would monaca say this? because she hates her own family so much she found comfort in her found family. she viewed junko as a better influence than her own family and chose to associate with them. you know who else did that? Komaru, baby. at the end of the game, where does she choose to go? not with makoto, her biological family, but with Toko, her found family. i didn't realize until just now that one of the biggest motivators for the main cast members is the connections they have with their found families. that's cool, right??
4. the cutscene where toko gets stomach cancer that i didn't have audio for,, tuns out she talks about v3 characters and it's 4th dimensional foreshadowing lol.