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

Plot

The series serves as a conclusion to the storyline of Hope's Peak Academy, the elite school where the Ultimate Despair, Junko Enoshima, played hostess to a "killing school life" among its students under the guise of the evil bear Monokuma. The story is split up into two chapters: Future Arc and Despair Arc.

Future Arc takes place after the events of Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair. Makoto Naegi, the Ultimate Hope who defeated the Ultimate Despair, Junko Enoshima, is under suspicion of treason against the Future Foundation for harboring the Remnants of Despair who carried on her will. As top members of the Future Foundation, including Makoto's former classmates Kyoko Kirigiri, Aoi Asahina, and Yasuhiro Hagakure, are brought together to decide on Makoto's punishment, they are all imprisoned by Monokuma, the bear avatar of Junko who was thought to have been dead. Monokuma forces everyone to participate in a final killing game, in which they must try and determine a traitor amongst their ranks who will kill them in their sleep, while also trying to avoid being poisoned to death by personalised forbidden actions. Thrust into a game where no one can trust each other, Makoto's ideals of hope are pushed to their very limits.

Despair Arc takes place prior to the events of the Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc. Chisa Yukizome begins her job as homeroom teacher for the Hope Peak Academy's 77th Class of Ultimate students. Meanwhile, Hajime Hinata, a student of the school's Reserve Course for students without talent, prepares to undergo an experiment to make him the Ultimate Hope. What follows is a series of tragic events which lead to the birth of the Remnants of Despair and the realisation of "The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History."

Anime

Danganronpa 3 is animated by the anime studio Lerche. It is supervised by series creator Kazutaka Kodaka, who also is in charge of the original scenario concepts. It is directed by Seiji Kishi, written by Norimitsu Kaihō, composed by Masafumi Takada, and features character designs by Kazuaki Morita and Ryoko Amisaki. Returning characters are designed by Rui Komatsuzaki. The series was announced at a Danganronpa press conference in December 2015. It is divided into two parts: Future Arc, which aired between July 11, 2016 and September 26, 2016, and Despair Arc, which aired between July 14, 2016 and September 22, 2016 on Tokyo MX and BS11. Both parts were simulcast in North America, the United Kingdom, and Ireland by Funimation, who also began streaming English dubbed versions from August 10, 2016. The final episode, Hope Arc, aired on September 29, 2016. For Future Arc, the opening theme is "Dead or Lie" by Maon Kurosaki and Trustrick, while the ending theme is "Recall the End" by Trustrick. For Despair Arc, the opening theme is "Kami-iro Awase" (カミイロアワセ, lit."Matching the Color of God") by Binaria, while the ending theme is "Zettai Kibō Birthday" (絶対希望バースデー, lit. "Ultimate Hope Birthday") by Megumi Ogata. The ending theme for Hope Arc is "ever free" by hide with Spread Beaver.

The series is intended to be the final chapter of the "Hope's Peak Academy" series within the Danganronpa franchise, while the third main video game, New Danganronpa V3: Minna no Koroshiai Shingakki, focuses on a new setting and group of characters; the Danganronpa development staff have stated that, while difficult to work on both titles simultaneously, they are giving it their all since the opportunity to do something like it does not come up often. Initially, an anime adaptation of Danganronpa 2 had been planned, but in the end the development staff opted for making an anime that takes place after Danganronpa 2 instead, as Kodaka felt that the Danganronpa 2 characters' story had ended within that game and that he could not write another about what happened to them afterward very easily. While class trials had originally been considered, it was thought that it would have been too painful for the characters to go through another killing game, which was what led to the decision to make the conclusion into an anime. According to Kodaka, the series will feature content that can only be expressed within the animated medium. The production staff aimed to make the series suspenseful, despite not including any investigations.

Manga

A manga spin-off illustrated by Mitomo Sasako, titled Danganronpa Gaiden: Killer Killer (ダンガンロンパ害伝 キラーキラー), began serialization in Kodansha's Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine from March 9, 2016. Initially released as simply Killer Killer, the series was revealed to be a side-story of Danganronpa 3 in its third chapter published on May 9, 2016. A comic anthology by various artists was released on September 9, 2016, and another was released on October 25, 2016.