DanganRonpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (2010)

This week, a splinter group of the gang takes a peek at the Vita/mobile game DanganRonpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, a visual mystery novel [game], the type of thing that's all the rage in the Japanese scene and trickles of which we see with other Vita games in particular such as Virtue's Last Reward. In essence, DanganRonpa plays as a fast-paced Ace Attorney game. From this crazy game there has spawned mobile ports to iOS & Android, two manga adaptations, full-on novels (yes, the written word), a TV anime running for a season so far (imbibed by our hosts alongside the game) and highly eligible for a second, a proper sequel titled DanganRonpa 2: Goodbye Despair, and a spinoff creatively entitled Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls - not only that, there's a set of pretty cool Monokuma merch for which Brian has already clicked the big "BUY NOW" button because, to Will's mild chagrin, everyone loves this demonic bear. A roundtable is held regarding [anime] adaptations - this specific one and the idea in general, with discussions about backstory and relevance of season 1; the game's soundtrack is discussed with a woeful lack of mention of composer Masafumi Takada's masterwork soundtrack of GodHand (Editor's note: rage) but with an abundance of approval on the theme's use of English. In our critique of the finer points of this game's plot, we draw reference to a most unexpected game we recently podcasted upon; we admire the titling of the Family-Oriented Serial Killer and the demise of many of Will's first date - er, character - choices, to the surprise of nobody and the sadness of all, in addition to his strange formulaic calculations of death rates over the episodes. DANCE, BABY, DANCE! Cast: Will, Esteban, Brian <3 DanganRonpa: Japanese, lit. 'bullet refutation'