Welcome to Part 2 of my Top 85 Danganronpa Characters!

As explained in my introduction post, I am ranking down my personal top 85 Danganronpa characters with my own personal preference. You can find the rules in the introduction post. One more reminder, BEWARE OF SPOILERS, SKIP BY ENTRIES AS YOU SEE FIT! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! Oh, and I’m glad I was met by such kind feedback from Part 1, thank you for the kindness!

Let’s get the Hope and Despair started!

Number 75 – Daisaku Bandai







Well it’s our first End of Hope’s Peak character, Bandai. Let’s get the obvious part out of the way first, that voice made me have a pretty big giggle when he first started speaking, honestly it caught me off guard. I was expecting some chill happy go lucky character, and instead I got some estrogen happy go lucky character so props to that. So, I have to give creative elements to that.

The idea of the Ultimate Farmer raises even further question. As a fan of Stardew Valley, it makes me wonder how good Bandai was at it considering I am terrible, it makes me think he has the top tier tools for those games but it also makes sense as those games are about relaxation and this character seems to be that for the Future Foundation, giving an air of kindness to the more serious members, which is quite refreshing. His actual design is also pretty chill and suave, he has the straw hat and sandals giving a nice touch to his farmer side.

Oh but that’s where the good ends, Bandai has little to no other information about him, its just his Ultimate Status and kindness that gets him higher than previous. He died way too soon, not leaving enough of an impact and also he gets too screwed over so harshly by the killing rule, Tengan had it out for him from the start, maybe he was too large a threat but that’s unlikely.

There’s too little about this character to get any higher but he still has a likability to him, it’s a shame because I’d rather see more of him than the next entry.

Number 74 – Ryota Mitarai

Wow, jumping from one End of Hope’s Peak character straight to the next? Does this bode well for that cast? I promise you it does, they just have their lacking parts. Case and point, Ryota Mitarai. Yeah, as you can tell, I wasn’t the biggest fan of him but there were still parts about him that I do like. Being the Ultimate Animator, I was very interested in what he could be like. He leads one of the branches of the Future Foundation and is one of the few people who came face to face with Junko, and lived to tell the tale, but probably because she just wanted to use his ability and not care what happened to him after but that’s besides the point.

It’s actually really interesting to see a character’s talent be shown so in depth. A lot of Ultimates/SHSLs have that problem, where you’re told what their talent is, but it never reflects or is even properly shown from that character, which is kinda annoying. That’s why it’s great to see a lot of focus on this guy’s talent….but that then hits a problem.

The creators seemed to think that he was so exceptional at his work that it could be used not only brainwash the world for Hope but also Despair. It’s probably the hardest part of the entire series for me to believe. It honestly felt so stupid that this was how Junko did it.

Also, his personality. Why is this such a popular personality to have? To his credit, Ryota doesn’t act like someone feeble, but moreso someone who panics and tries to do his work, stressing out so easily and wanting it to be perfect. By the end of the series, he does become very determined which I do really like, but he does sort of lose the plot in his plan which I really didn’t like all that much.

Number 73 – Shirokuma

Hey it’s a monobear. Shirokuma was one of those characters I had difficulty with trying to rank, just because I didn’t know how I felt about them. They don’t do anything I absolute detest but they do nothing I’m a fan of. Spot 73 seems like a good place for those kind of people so I’ll leave him here.

Shirokuma was presented to us to try and help the Resistance as best he could, wanting to make sure people were safe while also treating the protagonists with that same kindness. It’s quite welcoming if I’m honest, almost everyone in Ultra Despair Girls is extremely hostile and hate on the main characters, note the almost. In any case, it’s nice to have someone be helpful, but then Spike Chunsoft felt they needed more twist for their plot, giving Shirokuma that same role as Kurokuma had, getting adults and children to fight for that glorious despair.

Shirokuma does do enough to be helpful in the story, giving assistance to the characters and even “sacrificing” himself in order to save the adults. Was that just to help the adults revolt against the children? Probably, but I like to believe it was to save them to.

I think its the fake kindness and pretty lacking twist that puts Shirokuma down this far, otherwise he may be higher. Then again I wasn’t the biggest Ultra Despair Girls fan so I could just not care as much for the characters in that as I do in other games. In any case, Shirokuma was helpful but the twist made him less interesting.

Number 72 – Mikan Tsumiki

Ooooh, it’s our first entry of the last Danganronpa installment I was ranking, Mikan. I hate her. Oh but don’t get me wrong, I still prefer her over other characters but I do hate her. I suppose it’s the love to hate idea but I struggle even thinking that.

Mikan is the most timid and lowest self esteem of every character in the series. I just don’t like this character archtype, I know there are people like this but as a character in a series like this I don’t think this works. She’s also another archtype I don’t like, the obsessive crazy character, with her obsession being Despair and Junko. It just made me dislike her more. Props to her VA, she does extremely well at making me hate her, I don’t mean the VA is bad, I mean the VA is great at doing such a good portrayal for this character.

I also have to give Mikan credit, her backstory is pretty harsh. Being bullied for so long with no one to help her, she had to look after her own wounds and nurse herself. She followed up by becoming a nurse and to help those weaker than her to have her feel strong with those people having to rely on her. This is really strong character backstory some of my favorites don’t even have. Alongside this, her reveal was pretty surprising and she is very useful to the group in the trials, apart from Trial 3 obviously.

I love characters with both strengths and weaknesses, but she just irks me the wrong way, I just feel they go too all out with her personality where her weaknesses are basically covering all her strengths too much. So while her backstory is very intriguing, her overall character just irritated me too much with her personality and even her obsessive despair ideas.

Number 71 – Sonosuke Izayoi

I know it may seem like I lied about more End of Hope’s Peak Academy characters appearing but I did. Well here’s Izayoi, one character who really did not leave a lasting impact for me or a lot of people in the series. I guess the reasons I like him are simplified reasons. Allow me to explain.

Izayoi was one of the members of the Future Foundation, so he had to be someone with a noticeable talent. I have to admit, Ultimate Blacksmith is pretty great. You get to see this in his fight against Seiko where he makes some weird blade sculpture in disguise where she gets hurt when she attacks. It’s pretty cool to be able to do that, as well as how you see that he is skilled with a blade, something that seems to give a free pass to anyone to allow entry into the Future Foundation.

His loyalty is also something worth noting. I am a fan of loyal characters who are loyal to either another character or an idea. His loyalty lies with Ruruka and it is exceptionally strong, to quote, “I’m going to kill you here. For love and dewicious sweets!”. This line is hilarious, it shows his dedication to Ruruka. Even when he does get betrayed by her, he just brushes it off and accepts his death, knowing it was for Ruruka, what a loyal but idiotic person, still admirable though.

However as I said, he doesn’t leave a lasting impression, mainly because he isn’t that involved in the story and only really serves as a servant with not a lot of personality. Its a problem with a lot of characters low down, where they do one thing exceptionally well but other parts not well at all. Honestly his character is very lacking, with his loyalty being his only notable thing. Still if I ever needed a bladed sculpture to trick people, I know who I’d call.

Number 70 – Izuru Kamakura

KAMUKURA KAMUKURA YAS QUEEN.

Now that that’s out of the way, we have Izuru Kamukura, the Ultimate Hope…. Or just everything, basically. I think that’s the main reason I like Izuru, he has the most ridiculous abilities and skills ever, being everything.

Being a huge part of the series, Izuru was created to be the Ultimate Hope, having many of the skills that were possessed by students of Hope’s Peak Academy. Having such an incredible amount of talent, Junko obviously wanted him to be part of her Despair Plan and he did ally with her, to an extent. With his original Hajime form, he did still have some of his original self left, particularly with Chiaki.

Set up as a main antagonist, he truly shows that he could be a dangerous person, probably the most dangerous in all of Danganronpa. Possessing that many talents is crazy. You see what he’s capable of, being able to outspeed Mukuro and Out-luck Nagito. There was such a huge level of threat behind him, he just felt extremely threatening to go against.

His main flaw: HE IS SO BORING. Oh wow, this guy is just such a boring and negative character. He doesn’t care all that much about Hope or Despair but his lack of personality just makes him so bland. He speaks in such a monotone and is basically that edgy kid who purely acts serious. The one time, I truly felt for him was at Chiaki’s death. Seeing how he reacted to that, as slight as it was, it still made me feel something for him, and even then, that was more Hajime than him.

Apart from being boring, really interesting character with an incredible ability. Having that level of threat made him that bit more intriguing.

Number 69 – Hiroko Hagakure

We have the mother of the beloved (yes beloved, you heard me haters) Yasuhiro Hagakure, Hiroko Hagakure. As one of the members of the resistance in Towa City, she is the one who runs the rescue missions, trying to save any of the other targets from being killed.

This character is just a really cool character. Her personality is so relaxed and she truly cares about others, wanting to try and save the other captives, as well as how she can identify the moral choice in situations. While every other adult is siding with Haiji to stop the Warriors of Hope and even plan on killing them, she knows how wrong it is and wants to help Komaru and Toko out. She absolutely hates senseless killing, which is shown by how angry she gets at the idea of it, giving her a pretty strong moral compass. The way she also speaks Hiro is pretty nice to see. She truly cares and thinks he’s an outstanding person, being one of the only people who actually see value in him, despite also acknowledging his money flaws he has.

I do have problems with her and you’ve heard me say it before. Not enough screen time and not enough involvement with the plot. Hiroko does contribute to the plot but she’s mainly part of the side missions within the game. Apart from that, she doesn’t do much. That’s not to say it’s her fault, it’s just her role isn’t the main part of the story. Alongside this, you can completely ignore the rescuing other captives and not pay any attention to her, which does somewhat bring her down a peg.

Still, besides those, she is still an awesome character, who always has that funky theme that plays when she’s present. A pretty cool character overall, just not enough screentime.

Number 68 – Sonia Nevermind

Sonia is like an Disney Princess in the early years. She’s nice and I see the appeal and would never take that away from anyone, but she doesn’t do anything noticeable. I’m sorry but she’s so boring, usually requiring forced humor to give her some notice of “Oh, I’m in the narrative, I forgot about that”. She reminds me of Tsumugi, she doesn’t get much development even in her free time events, but she doesn’t have some big plot twist reveal. So it begs the question why she’s this high?

I suppose its that when her forced humor does appear, its pretty damn funny. Things like her weird obsession with murderer’s and horror films are amusing to hear, especially to get other character’s reactions from how she acts. Alongside this she actually has noticeable knowledge in terms of military tactics and is also one of the characters who can help a trial move along, rather than be one who is just there to crack jokes and be pure comic relief.

I suppose another reason why I like her is my own foolishness of always thinking she was going to be the murderer. No joke, For Trial 2, 3 and 4, I always had some strange feeling that Sonia was the culprit at some point, just different factors like the swimsuit in Trial 2, her location in Trial 3 and how she acted in Trial 4 but mainly denial for Trial 4.

Anyway she has qualities like her usefulness and humor that actually lands unlike a good few previous characters but not much else there I’m afraid, The Ultimate Princess was a strange talent anyway.

Number 67 – Jataro Kemuri

Please don’t think I’m a bad person for putting Jataro down this far, that’s a lie, do what you want, its my list. He annoyed me and he does have that type of personality I don’t like. This will be a common trend but the whole defenseless and feeble type of character doesn’t sit well with me. I don’t know, it’s not that I hate it but I just feel it’s just a weak personality trait to have that makes the character not that interesting.

However, while that’s my main problem with Jataro, I will admit that everything else about him is great. Being one of the Warriors of Hope, he hates all adults and wants to see them killed. While he’s feeble against anyone he encounters, he still has hatred to adults and wants to see them killed.

Like each of the Warriors of Hope, his backstory is pretty depressing and cruel. Being told he was ugly by so many people made him feel like a worthless individual, even getting to the point that he really preferred when people were insulting and mean to him. While this is so cruel, it’s also really interesting and such a strong concept. He’s just gotten so used to that in his life, that he now accepts this as the norm.

I also have to give props to his mask reveal. I semi expected something like that, but the result is incredible. It’s revealed that under the mask, he actually has a beautiful face that I think glows in its introduction. They could have really made him ugly to stick with the game’s theme but instead, they gave him a face of beauty, giving the kid some more hope to his life.

So while that type of character annoys me (as well as his voice that really got on my nerves), I think the rest about him is pretty good. Props to Jataro.

Number 66 – Monokid

Hey it’s a Monobear. Never realized just how many of these guys there were, but many of them don’t do a whole lot to be too memorable. Monokid is strange though, he has little involvement in the story which is a huge negative point to his ranking and he can come off as being a little obnoxious, including how he bullies Monodam, that sweet angel. But honestly I found him extremely funny.

The previous two Monokubs lacked a whole lot in terms of likability. Monokid’s main charm is his humor. It’s very brash and I can see why it is easily disliked but it resonates with me, not that I like comparing myself to a blue Bowie bear. Monokid really tries his best to be the center of attention, something that the other monobears allow, he carries a lot of confidence over his shoulders, something that is lacking with the majority of other monobears. I’ll say monobear again since I haven’t said it enough: Monobear.

I think its his design that really stands out to me as well, its easily one of my favorites in all of Danganronpa, the blue with star eyes, shoulder pauldrons and hairy chest all takes some strange inspiration from different genres of music: glam, metal and rock if you weren’t familiar. I know its cheap to like a design enough to put it this high but it is his humor as well and if you think that isn’t enough then I’m sorry, I’ll put Leon higher next time, I promise.

So while his attitude does get pretty annoying and he doesn’t get to stay around long enough, Monokid’s humor, confident nature and physical design is all appealing to me. Also, props to the shock of seeing his death, one of the deaths that truly caught me off guard.

Well that will do it for Part 2 of this list. I hope you all had something to take from it, mainly that my opinion isn’t a God but just someone who like’s giving his opinion to people who may want it or not. In any case I am glad you read it, thank you for the support and I’ll see you on the next list! Oh and spoilers, the next list has another Monobear, I’ll let you figure out which one. Have a pleasant and hopeful day!