The only major problem with manga Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair is that it took a massive amount of period to release. It’s hard to wait that long particularly when you know that that this manga is the faithful adaptation of game. However the other manga Danganronpa 2 manga, Ultimate Luck and Hope and Despair, which released in English a year ago, follows the same story from the perspective of different character.
When it comes to manga itself, it is a pretty satisfactory read. If you do not know about the game, the story revolves around a bunch of students at Hope’s Peak Academy and every student is the “Ultimate” in a specific field. While the protagonist, Hajime Hinata has not discovered his Ultimate. The weirder is the teacher who is frank and lively rabbit, Magical Miracle Girl Usami who informs the whole class about their school trip.
The whole class pass out and wake up in a tropical Jabberwock Island. The island seems to be a relaxing and calm spot until the interference of headmaster’s rival – an evil stuffed bear, named Monokuma. This is not the first time Monokuma conspire to transport the whole class in anguish by leaving them with no choice but to murder on another without getting caught. If the class catch the murderer, the culprit will be sentenced to death. However, if the case would not be solved then the only murderer will get to live, while the rest will be killed.
Like other Danganronpa series, there is vast variety of bizarre characters, which is the most entertaining part of the series. Other than the protagonist and the antagonist, Nagito Komaeda can be said to be the major character who has been given the Ultimate title of Ultimate Lucky Student. It is the same title which was held by, Makoto Naegi the protagonist of the first game of the franchise. But Nagito is a bit more disturbed than the others. The fans of Danganronpa games will also get to see a familiar student, Ultimate Affluent Progeny Byakuya Togami who has returned to the class, although he appears to be slightly different but this change has not been explained in this volume.
Some other fascinating characters aside from those mentioned above include awkward Ultimate Nurse Mikan Tsumiki, the gothic and the overly dramatic Ultimate Breeder Gundham Tanaka and the Ultimate Princess of the small European country of Novoselic, Sonia Nevermind.
The story is written and illustrated in a way which makes it very thrilling from the beginning and the visuals, illustrated by Kuroki Q makes it even more enthralling. Few pages at the beginning are colored which are compelling and attractive.
The only thing that can be a little problematic is the translation, which is handled by Jackie McClure. The accent of the Ultimate Yakuza, Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu seems very heightened which is not the case in the game. For instance instead of ‘the’ he says ‘da’ and the last letter in some words are dropped like he says “an” instead of “and” and words ending with “ing” ends with merely “g”. This seems a little off to me.
All in all, the manga is worth reading especially for those who play the games and have been following the series for long. We also look forward to the manga adaptation of V3 and hope that it will be dropped soon.
