Dangan Ronpa; It is what it says on the tin.

So my first thoughts about Dangan Ronpa were, why is there pink blood?  Why is there a bear running a school?  What the hell is going on?!?

Well that's the thing about this anime, I can tell you nothing will make sense till you get to the last episode, where everything will be explained, and you end up face palming due to the pure stupidity and how you didn't see that earlier.

Following the adventures of 15 students, who are the best in their respective field for their age, that attend Hope's peak Academy. It is set from the point of view of Naegi Makoto, the super high school luck, who won a draw to attend the school. The students are trapped in Hope's peak academy, with cameras watching their every move, windows bolted shut that not even the super high school fighter can't open with her insane strength. Then the headmaster appears, and tells them if they want to graduate, they must kill another pupil and move the blame to another pupil, which will result in all non guilty pupils to be executed. But if the murderer is revealed and voted guilty, only they will be executed.

You watch him and yourself, develop attachment to these characters and then watch them die, in growingly dramatic and gruesome deaths.  You'll find your anger soar at these characters who murdered your baby, and rejoice for a spilt second when everyone votes for the murderer, but then have your heart pulled by them as they show their humanity, and their reasons, and you find yourself torn between screaming at them for killing your baby and cuddling them saying it'll be okay as they get pulled to their execution.

This anime is skilled in character development, with each and every character having a redeemable quality and they all have a defined reason for everything they do. And while the anime does not explore all of the characters as far as they did in the game of due to it's short season, you can still see how well developed they are and the relationships they gain through out the events.

Dangan Ronpa is gruesome and murderous, with a hidden agenda and amazing characters, it is incredibly short but beautifully adapted from game to anime. It is easily one of my favourite animes ever and I will never forget my favourite little baby's death and his strength in it. It's a beautiful anime, that I recommend to anyone.