In Japan, it seems the worlds of games, comic books and TV shows cross over fairly often - many a game has gone on to have numerous spin-offs, with everyone from the Disney-infused Kingdom Hearts to the lighthearted Tales of role playing games to survival horror Resident Evil getting in on the whole comic book thing, while anime shows take in everything from the alchemy-infused Atelier RPGs to Final Fantasy, and even arcade classic Bomberman. Over in the West though, with the exception of Pokemon, a video game getting a comic book or TV tie-in is about as rare as hen's teeth - even more so if you live outside the US. On the plus side, that means it's only usually the really good tie-ins that ever see the light of day on shores outside Japan - and they don't come much better than Danganronpa.
The gang.
One of our favourite game series to come out of last year was Danganronpa, a visual novel with a slightly sinister whodunnit vibe. The first entry followed the story of sixteen exceptionally talented high school students, who came to find themselves mysteriously imprisoned in a school - and the only way to leave is to murder one of your classmates and get away with it. With each murder that occurred, the remaining students would all take part in a class trial to try and identify the guilty party - with their very lives depending on them getting it right. In a similar vein came the sequel, except this time a new set of ultimate students are stuck on a desert island together, with the only way of escape being murder once more...
Originally serialised in Shonen Ace, a Japanese monthly manga magazine, the comics follow the story of last year's PS Vita game, Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc. Technically based on the TV series that was based on the handheld game (if you're still with us), the manga features the same familiar cast of characters - from fat nerd Hifumi, to the muscle-bound martial artist Sakura, to the rule-obsessed moral compass of the group, Taka - and of course, the foul-mouthed teddy bear headmaster with the explosive temper, Monokuma.
Applicable to almost everything Monokuma says...
Split into four separate volumes, publisher Dark Horse say we can expect to see the first part in March 2016, with the other volumes following later. Unfortunately, there's no news on a UK/European release as of yet, and neither is there any sign of the TV adaptation making it's way over - but at least we'll be able to get both in an English form, even if it does mean importing from America. In the meantime, we'll be keeping our everything crossed in anticipation!
