There are plenty of video games that mash together several eclectic sensibilities to form something unexpectedly special, but theDanganropaseries is one of the best examples of how to make this level of chaos work. The quirky series riffs on slice of life and high school genres, only to flip the idea of success and competition into a bizarre murder mystery that involves giant teddy bears and so much more.
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Danganropahas slowly become a mainstream hit and iteven has its own anime. There’s a lot to love inDanganropa,but there’s even more from the games that fly completely over the audience’s heads.
Updated July 14, 2025 by Ritwik Mitra:Danganronpa is one of the greatest murder-mystery games ever made and wastes no time in introducing players to the horror of its killing game. The three titles in this series are all excellent in their own right, featuring a bevy of cases that are extremely creative and will keep the player on the edge of their toes till the very end. Given the unique nature of this series, there are bound to be some facts that fans want to know about. Keeping this in mind, here are some of the most interesting pieces of trivia surrounding Danganronpa!
15It Features Pink Blood To Avoid Censorship
Censorship has always been a tricky and oppressive territory for video games with extreme violence being a major sticking point sometimes when it comes to a game’s rating.Danganropawanted to avoid any censorship or controversy before it could even get started so thedevelopment team changed the color of the bloodfrom red to bright pink.
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Not only did this decision work in the game’s favor in terms of censorship, but it’s also just a more memorable and defining style for the series that’s in line with the other strange decisions that it makes.
14Toko Fukawa Is The Developer’s Favorite Character
Toko Fukawa is one of the most interesting characters in the entire series. While she might seem rather shy and innocent at first glance, it’s when her alter ego, Genocide Jack, comes into the picture that her character really gets interesting.
Given how unique her character is, it’s not surprising that the developers consider her to be the best character in the series. Character designer Rui Komatsuzaki hasoutright stated that Toko is a great allegoryfor the world and how twisted it has become, while still maintaining a shred of sanity that can hopefully bring everything back to normal.
13Junko Turned Into A Cliched Valley Girl In The Anime Adaptation
Junko Enoshima is one of the most intriguing characters in the entire series. While her motive to simply bring despair to the world might seem a bit too edgy, it still doesn’t take anything away from the alluring nature of her twisted character.
However, the anime ended up ruining her character quite a bit. Most people played the dubbed version ofDanganronpa, where Junko had a pretty normal voice. However, in the anime’s English dub, she turns into a full-on Valley Girl whose voice and accent sound like nails on a chalkboard.
12There Are Drafts Of Executions That Didn’t Appear In The Final Game
It seems that not a single student was safe whenDanganronpacame into being for the first time. This can be seen in the fact that various drafts are present that detail out theexecutions of most of the students, all of which didn’t make the final cut.
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Given how unique and creative the executions were, it was only a given that each character would have a specific execution of their own. This effort wasn’t completely wasteful, since elements of these executions are present in the other two games for different characters.
11The Third Game Was Banned In South Korea
The thirdDanganronpagame was fairly great in its own right, despite its controversial conclusion. However, South Korean gamers never got to witness the magic of this game firsthand.
This is because the game was banneddue to a real-life incidentof a high-schooler murdering someone else in cold blood. Given how tense events were at the time, it only made sense for a game featuring the murder of more students to be banned at that time.
10Miu Iruma Has An Unused Sprite That Is Pretty… Interesting
Danganronpahas amassed a loyal fanbase that has combed through the game’s code to find out everything possible detail. While doing so for the second game, they found something really unusual about one particular character.
There’s an unused sprite of an angry Miu holding something pretty obscene. It was probably put in the game as a joke and has become an inside joke for fans of the series ever since.
9It’s Inspired By A Cult Classic Dreamcast Game
Sega’s Dreamcastwas truly ahead of its time and while it, unfortunately, didn’t gain the proper appreciation upon its release, the impressive console has gained a greater following in more recent years.Illbleedis one of the more creative titles for the Dreamcast as it embraces B-horror films and features an expendable cast of characters who are trapped in an amusement park.
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Kazutaka Kodaka,Danganropa’swriter, hasrevealed that this Dreamcast horror gameand the crazy places that it was willing to go were a major influence on finding the game’s style and tone.
8It Began As A Much Darker Game Called DISTRUST
Danganropais already a very dark video game that revolves around innocent teens caught up in a grisly murder mystery. However, the original concept for the game pushed these sensibilities even further. This version of the game was called “DISTRUST” and while it still revolved around students trapped in a school where murders aretaking place, the deathswere much more gratuitous and a bleaker tone was present.
There was also a Trust System in place where players could effectively determine who dies and alter the story based on their actions, making them more culpable in the murders.
7The Games Feature Subtle Tributes To Other Video Games
The video game industry is so collaborative that it’s always exciting to see different series cross over into one another, whether it’s in an extreme sense with characters like inSuper Smash Bros., or when developers can get together and pay respect to some of their inspirations and favorite titles.
The first twoDanganropagames allow players to give items to other characters as presents. Many of these presents find creative ways to acknowledge other popular video game series likeMetal Gear Solid, which make for fun Easter Eggs for more seasoned gamers.
6The Name Danganropa Is A Reference To The Gameplay
Some video games can offer such a deep experience that there’s enough to worry about in the game itself, and an unusual title can go overlooked or not be a priority. The title Danganropa is cryptic, but it’s actually the perfect name that tells the audience exactly what the series is about.
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Danganropa is a portmanteau of the words for both “bullet” (dangan) and “refutation” (ropa), which corresponds to both the title’s Truth Bullet mechanic and thecrime investigationaspect. SinceDanganropais such a weird mix of sensibilities, it’s surprising that the title’s meaning can be so straightforward.
