Danganronpa 2: Ultimate Luck and Hope and Despair

This manga was a weird mixed bag for me. I have played all of the Danganronpa games in the series and, like most fans, really enjoyed Super Danganronpa 2. Even though it is not my favorite, the cases and characters make the story amazing. This series focuses on Nagito Komeda, the game's antagonist, a character who has a lot of strange and passionate beliefs, consistently baffling his peers and dehumanizing himself. The game mostly treats him as a weird character, but he is revealed to have more character than most would expect near the end. The game does not go far into his story, but luckily,this manga does. The main focus IS Nagito, and his inner workings as he experiences the game. Now, here are my concerns. Immediately, I noticed that the artist for this series tends to draw women's chests much, MUCH larger. It felt very distracting at points of the story, as I was worrying more about their backs than the murder at hand. Despite that, the characters were drawn very well, as scenes with Nagito and intense points, the artist goes all out for expressions and detailed closeups. Another baffling decision was that the official English translation decided to give Monokuma... a southern accent? He has a canon voice in the games, as all games are fully voice acted, but the team decided on southern. Even though this is a divergence, and possibly an interpretation of the game, I couldn't help but laugh as Monokuma kept talking in an obviously different voice from what I was used to. A Brief Comment: As I walked into the series, I expected it to be a beat-for-beat retelling of the second game through Nagito's eyes. Even though it was, for the most part, stopped right before a couple more cases should have happened. It was a shame that they didn't even include a vital, VITAL part of Nagito's character in a scene, as well as the case that helped flesh him out completely. All in all, I felt this manga is really not the best recreation of Super Danganronpa 2. At points, I was too distracted by the artist's visual decisions and jokes in writing and stylistic choices. It was so distracting to the point that the series was becoming an ironic enjoyment. Personally, I would not recommend people to pick this up to relive the game. But, I would recommend it to those who enjoyed Nagito's character and wanted to learn more about him. If you are a Danganronpa enthusiast, much like myself, I may also recommend owning it, as it may be a fun divergence from what we are used to.

Warning: this manga *is* an add-on to the SDR2 story. It is NOT standalone or a conventional "adaptation" of the game. It is intended to provide another perspective to the story similar to some of the other character POV mangas for the franchise. So let's get with the review: this manga is an excellent piece of media in terms of its goals. It accomplishes what it intends to (that is, providing Komaeda's perspective) in a quality that is often lost in other Danganronpa extras such as the gag comics - i.e, characters are kept as close to their essences as possible without careless retconning andit communicates the atmosphere in an immersive manner. The art was done by an excellent fan artist who to this day regularly draws both Komaeda and Hinata for their birthdays - it is the work of someone who is already involved with the characters and handles them accordingly. This shines through with the panelling and expressions, there are many nuances that actively compliment the specific character involved. That is to say, the illustrations' style are also fitting for Komaeda's character with its sharpness and slightly emphasized proportions - along with its capacity to give an eerie feeling when necessary. One of the most notable features of the POV is that other than showing us Komaeda's part of the story, it also gives us glimpses to his inner world that comes to shine with the amount of time he spends alone. It also communicates his internal conflicts, confusion and his distorted thinking. Overall, I 100% recommend giving it a read for anyone who might take a liking to diving a little deeper into Komaeda.