Never Say Never (Danganronpa Song)
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Danganronpa is a Japanese video game franchise created by Kazutaka Kodaka and developed and owned by Spike Chunsoft (formerly Spike). The series primarily surrounds various groups of apparent high school students who are forced into murdering each oth ...
'' is an
adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extr ...
visual novel A , often abbreviated as VN, is a form of digital semi-interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with and used in the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with sta ...
video game franchise created by
Spike Chunsoft is a Japanese video game development and localization company specializing in role-playing video games, visual novels and adventure games. The company was founded in 1984 as Chunsoft Co., Ltd. and merged with Spike in 2012. It is owned by Dwa ...
(previously
Spike Spike, spikes, or spiking may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Books * ''The Spike'' (novel), a novel by Arnaud de Borchgrave * ''The Spike'' (book), a nonfiction book by Damien Broderick * ''The Spike'', a starship in Peter F. Hamilto ...
). The series follows groups of high school students who are trapped in an enclosed area, with the only way to escape being to murder a fellow student and not be caught in a subsequent investigation and trial. The music of ''Danganronpa'' comprises seven soundtrack albums, as well as numerous
singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...
, mini albums, and other music releases. The main composer for the series is
Masafumi Takada is a Japanese composer and sound designer, best known for his work on the soundtracks for ''killer7'', '' God Hand'', '' No More Heroes'', and the ''Earth Defense Force'' and ''Danganronpa'' series. Takada often collaborates with guitarist and c ...
, who has composed for all of the series' soundtracks and has also released many of them on his label, Sound Prestige Records. Takada has been aided with the franchise's music by various artists, including other composers, lyricists, and singers. The series has spanned a variety of different musical genres and styles, prominently
electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...
,
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...
, and
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
. The soundtracks have had a key focus to fit the settings, situations, and overall atmosphere of ''Danganronpa''. This attempt at
ambience Ambient or Ambiance or Ambience may refer to: Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgrounds * Ambient music, a genre of music that puts an emphasis on tone and atmosphere * ''Ambient'' (album), by Moby * ...
has been enjoyed by music critics, who have also praised the series' many types of musical style. Several of the series' music releases have appeared on
Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in N ...
's
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and
Singles Charts A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include rec ...
, nation-wide music charts in Japan.


Composition and themes

While composing for the series,
Masafumi Takada is a Japanese composer and sound designer, best known for his work on the soundtracks for ''killer7'', '' God Hand'', '' No More Heroes'', and the ''Earth Defense Force'' and ''Danganronpa'' series. Takada often collaborates with guitarist and c ...
has aimed to make the soundtracks fit the different settings of ''Danganronpa'', such as attempting to convey a claustrophobic atmosphere in '' Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc'', or a sense of freedom in '' Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair''. According to Takada, he is helped in composing songs through specifications given to him by director Takayuki Sugawara and visual materials sent to him by series creator
Kazutaka Kodaka is a Japanese video game designer, writer and mangaka. His work is known for recurring themes of contrasting hope/despair, luck/talent, truth/lies; mixing tragedy with dark humor, numerous plot-twists etc. He was an employee of Spike Chunsoft (f ...
. Takada has also said that he tries to conform the music to ''Danganronpa'' "psycho-pop" style, a term coined by Kodaka meaning gruesome horror with a pop "flair". The series has spanned across a variety of different genres, most primarily
electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...
, with frequent use of
synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis ...
s, though other genres have also been featured, such as
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...
(and
avant-garde jazz Avant-garde jazz (also known as avant-jazz and experimental jazz) is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. It originated in the early 1950s and developed through to the late 1960s. Orig ...
),
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
,
trip hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with " downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic fusion of hip hop and electronica with slow temp ...
, and chiptune. The series take frequent use of voice samples, commonly in character and trial themes, in an attempt to create
hooks Hooks may refer to: Places ;United States * Hooks, Alabama, an unincorporated community * Hooks, Texas, a city * Hooks Island, an island, New York People * Hooks (surname) * Hooks (nickname) Other uses * Corpus Christi Hooks, a minor leagu ...
and to form momentum to help build players' hype. The titular theme of the franchise, "Danganronpa" (localized in the West as "Trigger Happy Havoc"), is an electronic and jazz track that is often reused, rearranged, and sampled throughout the franchise. The theme features a short audio line saying "Danganronpa" that was added by Takada after hearing a
text-to-speech Speech synthesis is the artificial production of human speech. A computer system used for this purpose is called a speech synthesizer, and can be implemented in software or hardware products. A text-to-speech (TTS) system converts normal languag ...
voice read it out to him, which Takada stated gave him goosebumps. The franchise also features multiple series of tracks, such as the "Beautiful" tracks, which play primarily during exploration, or the frequently lyrical "Punishment" songs.


Soundtrack albums


''Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc Original Soundtrack''

The soundtrack of the series' first game, ''Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc'', was released by Sound Prestige Records in Japan on February 11, 2011, with a condensed version published for music streaming services, such as iTunes. The soundtrack was headed by Masafumi Takada and spans 63 tracks across 2 discs, with a total length of 2:28:03. The first disc and the beginning half of the second consists of tracks from ''Trigger Happy Havoc'', with the remainder of disc two being made up of sound effects from the game, as well as the ending theme "Rebirth, Rebuild", performed by
Megumi Ogata is a Japanese actress, voice actress and singer from the Greater Tokyo Area. As a singer, she goes by the name em:óu. She attended Tokai University, but left due to lack of interest. She is best known for voicing Shinji Ikari in '' Neon Gene ...
and composed by Satoshi Iwase. ''Trigger Happy Havoc'' followed
Masafumi Takada is a Japanese composer and sound designer, best known for his work on the soundtracks for ''killer7'', '' God Hand'', '' No More Heroes'', and the ''Earth Defense Force'' and ''Danganronpa'' series. Takada often collaborates with guitarist and c ...
's work on the
third-person shooter Third-person shooter (TPS) is a subgenre of 3D shooter games in which the gameplay consists primarily of shooting. It is closely related to first-person shooters, but with the player character visible on-screen during play. While 2D shoot ...
game ''
Vanquish Vanquish may refer to: * Aston Martin Vanquish, a grand tourer automobile * Vanquish, a brand name formulation of dicamba pesticide * Vanquish (analgesic) Aspirin(acetylsalicylic acid) / paracetamol(acetaminophen) / caffeine is a combination d ...
'' and was his first major solo project since leaving the game development company
Grasshopper Manufacture is a Japanese video game developer founded on March 30, 1998 by Goichi Suda. They are well known for creating titles such as '' killer7'' and the ''No More Heroes'' series. History The company was founded on March 30, 1998 in Suginami, Ja ...
. For ''Trigger Happy Havoc'', Takada wanted to convey a claustrophobic and mysterious atmosphere, which he attempted through the use of combinations of varying tones and
phrases In syntax and grammar, a phrase is a group of words or singular word acting as a grammatical unit. For instance, the English expression "the very happy squirrel" is a noun phrase which contains the adjective phrase "very happy". Phrases can con ...
, as well as sudden melodies. The soundtrack managed to reach No. 159 on the
Oricon Albums Chart The Oricon Albums Chart is the Japanese music industry standard albums popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Oricon originally published LP, CT, Cartridge and CD charts prior to the establishment of the Oricon ...
upon release and stayed on the chart for two weeks. The soundtrack was enjoyed by video game music critics; both ''Video Game Music Online'' Don Kotowski and ''RPGFan'' Patrick Gann praised the soundtrack for its stylistic diversity. Both reviewers described it as electronic and jazzy, with Kotowski also noting elements of rock, trip hop,
pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...
, and ambient music in certain tracks. Gann complimented the soundtrack for its fitting use in-game, saying that it matches the "odd" artstyle of ''Danganronpa''. While admitting to not being fully familiar with the game, Kotowski also praised the soundtrack's
soundscape A soundscape is the acoustic environment as perceived by humans, in context. The term was originally coined by Michael Southworth, and popularised by R. Murray Schafer. There is a varied history of the use of soundscape depending on discipline, r ...
and said that it varies from track to track, describing one track as "liberating" and three others as "futuristic". Gann and Kotowski agreed that the soundtrack spans a wide array of tones: they both described "Mr. Monokuma's Lesson" as a more light track, positively contrasting to the action-oriented trial themes, which Kotowski called reminiscent to the sound of ''Vanquish''. Ultimately, both reviewers recommended the soundtrack, with Gann calling Takada the perfect composer for ''Danganronpa'' and Kotowski saying that ''Trigger Happy Havoc'' illustrates Takada's "diversity as a composer".


''Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair Original Soundtrack''

A soundtrack album for the series' second game, ''Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair'', was announced at a press conference in July 2012. The album was released by Sound Prestige Records on August 31, 2012, in Japan. Alike the first soundtrack, a condensed version was released for streaming services. The 3:19:51-long three-disc soundtrack of 102 tracks was primarily composed by Takada. It includes both new pieces and arrangements of songs from ''Trigger Happy Havoc'', denoted by various affixes. The third disc is composed mostly of sound effects from the game. Some of the tracks were done in collaboration with other artists: Shingo Yasumoto and Jun Fukuda play the guitar on several tracks; the ending theme "Setting Sail, Departure" is composed by Satoshi Iwase and sung by Ogata; "Sending This to You" is performed by
Ami Koshimizu is a Japanese actress and singer. She has voiced many different types of characters, from young girls to adult women, as well as boys and animals. Her roles include leads such as Ryuko Matoi in '' Kill la Kill'', Kallen Stadtfeld in ''Code Gea ...
as
Ibuki Mioda The following is a list of characters from the Spike Chunsoft video game series ''Danganronpa''. The series follows the students of Hope's Peak Academy who are forced into a life of mutual killing by a sadistic teddy bear named Monokuma. The seri ...
. With ''Danganronpa 2'', Takada was told by series creator
Kazutaka Kodaka is a Japanese video game designer, writer and mangaka. His work is known for recurring themes of contrasting hope/despair, luck/talent, truth/lies; mixing tragedy with dark humor, numerous plot-twists etc. He was an employee of Spike Chunsoft (f ...
to create a "tropical island theme" with the soundtrack, as per the game being set on a resort island. Using this as his base, Takada aimed to simulate the feel of open space, the opposite of what he set out to do with the soundtrack of ''Trigger Happy Havoc''. The soundtrack peaked at No. 61 on the Oricon Albums Chart and made a total of two appearances on the chart. ''RPGFan'' Patrick Gann criticized some of the soundtrack's new tracks for being "
filler In general, a filler is something that is used to fill gaps. Specialized meanings include: Materials * Filler (animal food), dietary fiber and other ingredients added to pet foods to provide bulk * Filler (materials), particles added to a matrix ...
", but still enjoyed many others for their atmosphere. Marc Chait of ''Video Game Music Online'' also praised the tracks' ambience, but was also positive towards their engineering and mix. Gann and Chait were both keen to the rearranged tracks. Gann called Takada's task of rearranging his past work impressive and found the arrangements to typically be better than the originals, while still writing that he's "happy to listen to either version". Chait agreed on the superiority of the arrangements and also commented on the familiarity of tracks, but criticized certain remixes for being moreso identical to the ''Trigger Happy Havoc'' versions. Gann's review summarized the soundtrack as a better and expanded version of its predecessor, saying that listeners were likely better off only owning the soundtrack of ''Danganronpa 2''. Chait concluded that the soundtrack lives up to Takada's past credits, but condemned the digital download release for discluding many tracks. In 2014, ''Video Game Music Online'' gave the soundtrack the award for "Best Score — Western Localisation" at their annual Game Music Awards.


''Danganronpa: The Animation Original Soundtrack''

A two-disc album consisting of music from '' Danganronpa: The Animation'', an
anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...
TV-series adaptation of ''Trigger Happy Havoc'', was released by
Geneon Universal Entertainment Japan (abbreviated as NBCUEJ) is a Japanese music, anime, and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise headquartered in Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo. It is primarily involved in the production and distribution of anime within Japan. T ...
and its subsidiary, , on August 28, 2013. On the Oricon Albums Chart, the soundtrack appeared exclusively during the week of September 9, 2013, at No. 199. The soundtrack consists mainly of tracks from the ''Trigger Happy Havoc'' video game, as executives
Seiji Kishi is a Japanese director of anime. Works Anime television series *'' Yugo the Negotiator: Pakistan Chapter'' (2004) - Director *'' Ragnarok the Animation'' (2004) - Director, Storyboard *'' Magikano'' (2006) - Director, Storyboard *'' Galaxy An ...
and Yuji Higa had wanted the show's music to preserve ''Danganronpa'' game-like atmosphere. The album also features the opening and ending themes and two
character song An image song or character song is a song on a tie-in single or album (often called an image album or character album) for an anime, game, ''dorama'', manga, or commercial product that is sometimes sung by the voice actor or actor of a character ...
s from the anime. The opening, "Never Say Never", is an English-language hip hop rendition of the main ''Danganronpa'' theme, written by TKDz2b and performed by American rap duo
The 49ers The 49ers is a hip-hop duo from Newark, Delaware and consists of members Jas Mace and Marchitect. They were also the focal members of another hip-hop group called The Outfit. The 49ers are known for their laid-back, jazzy, and soulful hip-hop ...
, with backing vocals from British vocalist Natalie Oliveri. The ending theme, "Zetsubōsei: Hero Chiryōyaku", is an
electronic rock Electronic rock is a music genre that involves a combination of rock music and electronic music Electronic music is a Music genre, genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or electronics, circuitry- ...
theme that is written by composer and arranger Suzumu and is sung by Soraru, an artist known for his
Vocaloid is a singing voice synthesizer software product. Its signal processing part was developed through a joint research project led by Kenmochi Hideki at the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain, in 2000 and was not originally intended to b ...
activities. "Zetsubōsei: Hero Chiryōyaku" was also released as a separate
single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...
. The two character songs are "Negaigoto Ensemble", sung by
Makiko Ohmoto is a freelance Japanese voice actress from Kurashiki, Okayama. She is best known for voicing Kirby in the eponymous game series and for voicing Ness from the ''EarthBound'' series in ''Super Smash Bros.''. Personal life On March 15, 2020, sh ...
as
Sayaka Maizono The following is a list of characters from the Spike Chunsoft video game series ''Danganronpa''. The series follows the students of Hope's Peak Academy who are forced into a life of mutual killing by a sadistic teddy bear named Monokuma. The seri ...
, and "Monokuma Ondo", sung by
Nobuyo Ōyama , born , is a former Japanese actress, voice actress and singer affiliated with Actors Seven. She is best known for playing the title character in the long-running ''Doraemon'' anime series. She is also well known as the voice of Monokuma, the m ...
as series antagonist
Monokuma is a fictional identity adopted by several characters in the ''Danganronpa'' series, serving as the mascot and main antagonist of the series. Monokuma first appears in '' Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc'' as a disguise used by " despair sister ...
.


''Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls Original Soundtrack''

The music of the
action-adventure The action-adventure genre is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Typically, pure adventure games have situational problems for the player to solve to complete a story ...
spin-off game '' Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls'' was released by Sound Prestige Records in Japan on December 18, 2014. With a total length of 2:47:39, the soundtrack was headed by Takada and includes three discs with 75 tracks, some arrangements of songs from ''Ultra Despair Girls'' predecessors. In terms of new tracks, in addition to some
nonsense song A nonsense song is a type of song written mainly for the purpose of entertainment using nonsense syllables at least in the chorus. Such a song generally has a simple melody and a quick (or fairly quick) tempo.Citron, Stephen (1998). ''Song Writing' ...
s, the soundtrack features two lyrical pieces: the
insert song is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
"Let's Play with Monokuma", written by Kodaka and performed by the Monokuma Kids, and the game's ending theme "Progressive", composed and arranged by Tomohiro Nakatsuchi and sung by Ogata and
Aya Uchida is a Japanese voice actress and singer. She played Kotori Minami in ''Love Live! School Idol Project'' and Kaban in ''Kemono Friends''. She released the single "Sign/Candy Flavor", the song "Sign" was used as the ending theme for ''The Quintess ...
. "Progressive", which was also released as a separate single in 2015, serves as the soundtrack's effective ending, and is followed only by sound effects and an instrumental version of "Let's Play with Monokuma". When writing the soundtrack, Takada attempted to avoid reusing melodies from ''Trigger Happy Havoc'' and ''Goodbye Despair'', while still trying to maintain the general tone of the prior installments. In an interview with ''Video Game Music Online'', Kodaka stated that he had requested the soundtrack to have an electro style reminiscent to the 1980s. The soundtrack made a singular appearance on the Oricon Albums Chart, at No. 299. In a review for ''RPGFan'', Patrick Gann expressed disappointment in the soundtrack's amount of returning themes and commented on abundant similaries between arranged tracks and their ''Danganronpa 2'' counterparts; Gann advised listeners to only purchase the ''Ultra Despair Girls'' soundtrack if they did not already own the soundtracks to the first two games. Gann did, however, find himself liking the "occasional" new music pieces, praising many for their style and use in-game.


''Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony Original Soundtrack White'' and ''Black''

The music of ''Danganronpa'' third mainline installment, '' Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony'', was released across two CD soundtrack albums, titled ''White'' and ''Black''. The soundtrack was composed by Takada, and the two albums were jointly issued by Sound Prestige Records on February 24, 2017, with a collective length of 5:14:32–2:32:38 from ''White'' 53 tracks and 2:47:16 from ''Black'' 57 tracks. A bundle of both albums, packaged with a single-track remix CD by Takada called the '' Happy Holidays Mix'', was sold through certain online retailers. The soundtrack of ''Danganronpa V3'' had a higher emphasize on jazz – something more "stylish than pop" – which Takada opined gave it a more mature and darker tone. The soundtrack was split across two albums due to having a larger track list than previous ''Danganronpa'' titles. Both albums appeared on the Oricon Albums Chart: ''White'' peaked at No. 145 and ''Black'' peaked at No. 125. ''Black'' charted for two weeks, whereas ''White'' only charted for one. The soundtrack of ''V3'' was nominated for best video game score in the "Rock / Electronic / Hybrid" category at ''Video Game Music Online'' 2017 Game Music Awards, but lost to ''
Splatoon 2 is a 2017 third-person shooter game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It was released on July 21, 2017, and is a direct sequel to ''Splatoon'', which includes a new story-driven single-player mode and various onlin ...
''.


''Super Danganronpa 2: The Stage 2017 Original Soundtrack''

A soundtrack album of songs from a 2017
stage play A play is a work of drama, usually consisting mostly of dialogue between characters and intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. The writer of a play is called a playwright. Plays are performed at a variety of levels, fro ...
of ''Danganronpa 2'' was published by Sound Prestige Records on April 4, 2017, in Japan, under the catalog number SPLR-1117~8. The album did not appear on any national charts.


Other albums

From 2011 to 2012, two arrangement albums were released by Spike and Sound Prestige Records, containing tracks from the first two ''Danganronpa'' games. The first, containing remixes of tracks from ''Trigger Happy Havoc'', as well as cutscene music, drama tracks, and cast comments, was released as part of a
limited edition The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, or collector's edition, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints, r ...
of the first game, and the second, containing tracks from ''Goodbye Despair'', was released at a
Comiket , more commonly known as or , is a semiannual ''doujinshi'' convention in Tokyo, Japan. A grassroots market focused on the sale of ''doujin'' (self-published) works, Comiket is a not-for-profit fan convention administered by the volunteer-run ...
convention in 2014. Both albums were reviewed by ''RPGFan'' Patrick Gann, who enjoyed the first album, while finding fault with how it can be hard or expensive to obtain due to its limited release, and found the second to be a possible "treasure" for fans of Takada. A third remix album, titled ''Danganronpa V3 ~Happy Holidays Mix~'', was released in 2017 as a purchase incentive for bundles of the ''Danganronpa V3'' soundtrack albums. ''Happy Holiday Mix'' contains a single, 21-minute long track by Takada that was originally played at a crossover livestream of ''Danganronpa'' and ''
Gravity Rush ''Gravity Rush'', known in Japan as ''Gravity Daze'', is a 2012 action-adventure video game developed by Japan Studio's Team Gravity division and published worldwide by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation Vita. ''Gravity Rush Remaster ...
''. A fourth remix album, containing 10 tracks from the three mainline ''Danganronpa'' installments, was released in 2021 through a collector's edition of the ''
Danganronpa Decadence is a Japanese video game franchise created by Kazutaka Kodaka and developed and owned by Spike Chunsoft (formerly Spike). The series primarily surrounds various groups of apparent high school students who are forced into murdering each other ...
'' game compilation. Several mini soundtrack albums containing select ''Danganronpa'' tracks have been released, often bundled with limited releases of the series' games. Western series publisher
NIS America is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. The company was founded in 1991 and has developed several role-playing video games, most notably the ''Disgaea'' and '' Marl Kingdom'' series. Its mascot is the penguin-like ''Disgaea'' characte ...
has released five mini albums through their online store, exclusively in North America and Europe, containing tracks from ''Trigger Happy Havoc'', ''Goodbye Despair'', ''Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls'', the compilation game ''
Danganronpa 1-2 Reload is a Japanese video game franchise created by Kazutaka Kodaka and developed and owned by Spike Chunsoft (formerly Spike (company), Spike). The series primarily surrounds various groups of apparent high school students who are forced into murd ...
'', and ''Killing Harmony''. The ''Trigger Happy Havoc'' album would later be temporarily rereleased alongside the
Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporizat ...
release of the game in 2016. A separate mini album of ''Killing Harmony'' was released with early copies of the game, and with the limited edition of the game in Japan. In 2020, a short album of character songs composed by Takada, titled ''Danganronpa-ism'', was released by Sound Prestige Records in conjunction with the franchise's 10th anniversary.


Songs


"Zetsubōsei: Hero Chiryōyaku"

"Zetsubōsei: Hero Chiryōyaku" is the ending theme to ''Danganronpa: The Animation''. An
electronic rock Electronic rock is a music genre that involves a combination of rock music and electronic music Electronic music is a Music genre, genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or electronics, circuitry- ...
pop song, it is written by Suzumu and performed by Soraru. It was released both as a single and as track on the second disc of ''Danganronpa: The Animation'' soundtrack album. The single was released by Geneon Universal Entertainment Japan and Rondo Robe on September 4, 2013. It came in both a regular and a limited edition; the limited edition included a bonus track and a DVD. The anime's soundtrack was released a month before the single. With the
B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...
s "Haiiro Shōnen Rock" and "Zoku Hetakuso Utopia Seikin", the single release peaked at No. 17 on the
Oricon Singles Chart The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard singles popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Chart rankings are based on physical singles' sales. Until 2017, Oricon did not track download sales. In ...
and charted for seven weeks. Phile Web reported that the single had sold 5,920 copies by September 8, 2013.


"World's End Curtain Call -Theme of Danganronpa the Stage-"

"World's End Curtain Call -Theme of Danganronpa the Stage-" is the theme song to ''Danganronpa: Kibō no Gakuen to Zetsubō no Kōkōsei The Stage'', a 2014 stage play adaptation of ''Trigger Happy Havoc''. It is by
Trustrick was a Japanese actress and singer. She was the only child of actor Masaki Kanda and pop singer Seiko Matsuda. Early life Kanda was born in Chiyoda, Tokyo. She was the only child of actor Masaki Kanda and Seiko Matsuda. Her paternal grandmother ...
, a musical duo consisting of guitarist Billy and vocalist
Sayaka Kanda was a Japanese actress and singer. She was the only child of actor Masaki Kanda and pop singer Seiko Matsuda. Early life Kanda was born in Chiyoda, Tokyo. She was the only child of actor Masaki Kanda and Seiko Matsuda. Her paternal grandmoth ...
. "World's End Curtain Call" was released as a single by
Nippon Columbia , often pronounced ''Korombia'', operating internationally as , is a Japanese record label founded in 1910 as Nipponophone Co., Ltd. It affiliated itself with the Columbia Graphophone Company of the United Kingdom and adopted the standard UK C ...
on November 12, 2014, though in a limited quantity of 3,868 copies. The song charted for a single week on the Oricon Singles Chart, making 27th place.


"Progressive"

"Progressive", the ending theme to ''Ultra Despair Girls'', is performed by Megumi Ogata and Aya Uchida as the characters
Makoto is a unisex Japanese name although it is more commonly used by males. As a noun, Makoto means " sincerity" (誠) or "truth" (真, 眞). People Given name *Makoto (musician) (born 1977), drum and bass artist *Makoto (Sharan Q) ( まこと), ...
and
Komaru Naegi The following is a list of characters from the Spike Chunsoft video game series ''Danganronpa''. The series follows the students of Hope's Peak Academy who are forced into a life of mutual killing by a sadistic teddy bear named Monokuma. The seri ...
, respectively. It was composed and arranged by Tomohiro Nakatsuchi. The song was first released on the ''Ultra Despair Girls'' soundtrack album on December 18, 2014, on which it appeared on the third disc and acted as the album's effective final track. It was then released as a CD single on January 28, 2015, under the Lantis label. A reconstructed, high-resolution edition of the single, produced by Junnosuke Sato, was released on April 12, 2017. "Progressive" charted once on the Oricon Singles Chart, at No. 62. A ''LisAni!'' review describes "Progressive" as a song that illustrates the singing characters' determination and courage to press on despite tough conditions. The review attributes the emotion to the song's intense rock and Ogata and Uchida's vocals, and also lauds the high-resolution release for achieving a more energetic sound that amplifies the lyrics' vividness. Reviewing the ''Ultra Despair Girls'' soundtrack, Patrick Gann called "Progressive" his favorite ''Danganronpa'' game ending theme, and said that it made the soundtrack end on a high note. The B-side on the "Progressive" single is "Poison -Gekiyaku-". It is performed by Ogata as the character
Nagito Komaeda , also known as , is a fictional Character (arts), character introduced in the 2012 Spike Chunsoft visual novel action adventure game ''Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair''. Nagito is a high school student from Hope's Peak Academy who gave him the t ...
. Alike "Progressive", "Poison (Gekiyaku)" was praised in a ''LisAni!'' review, which referred to Ogata's vocals as the highlight of the track, with the lyrics walking on a line of good and bad luck, something indicative of Nagito's character.


''Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School'' themes

The '' Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School'' anime series features original opening and ending themes. "Kamiiro Awase" is the opening theme to the show's '' Despair Arc'', accompanied by "Zettai Kibō Birthday" as the corresponding ending theme. The '' Future Arc'' features "Dead or Lie" as its opening, whilst "Recall the End" is the ending. "
Ever Free "Ever Free" is the tenth single by Japanese musician hide, the third to bear the hide with Spread Beaver name, released on May 27, 1998. It debuted at number one on the Oricon chart, replacing his previous single " Pink Spider", and was the 23rd ...
" by
Hide with Spread Beaver , known professionally as hide, was a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band X Japan from 1987 to 1997 and a solo artist from 1993 onward. He also formed ...
is used as an ending theme exclusively in the final episode, being chosen to conclude the show since Kodaka had been listening to the song during the beginning of production. The ''Despair Arc'' ending theme, "Zettai Kibō Birthday", is performed by Ogata as Nagito Komaeda. It was released as a single by
NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan (abbreviated as NBCUEJ) is a Japanese music, anime, and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise headquartered in Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo. It is primarily involved in the production and distribution of anime within Japan. The ...
on August 3, 2016. The complementing opening theme, "Kamiiro Awase", is performed by the four-member music unit Binaria, made up of writer Annabel, composer
Nagi Yanagi , stylized as , is a Japanese singer and songwriter from Osaka Prefecture who is signed to NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan. After becoming interested with music in her childhood, she began singing and writing original songs. In 2006, she began ...
, arranger Yoshihisa Nagao, and visual artist Xai. "Kamiiro Awase" was released as a single by NBCUniversal Japan on the same day as "Zettai Kibō Birthday", and was available in both a regular and limited edition. "Zettai Kibō Birthday" featured on the Oricon charts for three weeks, peaking at 37th place, whilst "Kamiiro Awase" charted for four weeks and peaked at No. 38. The opening theme to the ''Future Arc'', "Dead or Lie", is performed by
Maon Kurosaki is a Japanese singer and songwriter signed to NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan. After being discovered while working as a performer in Akihabara, Tokyo, she made her major debut in 2010, performing ending themes to the anime television series ...
and Trustrick. It is composed and arranged by Keisuke Kurose of the band
Uroboros The ouroboros or uroboros () is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail. The ouroboros entered Western tradition via ancient Egyptian iconography and the Greek magical tradition. It was adopted as a symbol in Gno ...
, with its lyrics having been written by Kurosaki. The ''Future Arc'' ending theme, "Recall the End", is performed by Trustrick alone, and is produced and arranged by Narasaki of
Coaltar of the Deepers Coaltar of the Deepers are an alternative rock band from Japan. They formed in May 1991. Although primarily influenced by shoegaze and post-rock sound, their sound incorporates musical elements as diverse as thrash metal, electronica, neo-acous ...
. "Recall the End" was released on August 10, 2016, by
Nippon Columbia , often pronounced ''Korombia'', operating internationally as , is a Japanese record label founded in 1910 as Nipponophone Co., Ltd. It affiliated itself with the Columbia Graphophone Company of the United Kingdom and adopted the standard UK C ...
as part of an
extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.
. "Dead or Lie" was released as a single seven days later, on NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan. "Dead or Lie" stayed on the Oricon Singles Chart for five weeks, peaking at No. 27, whilst "Recall the End" charted for three weeks on the albums chart, peaking at No. 17.
Music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devi ...
s for "Kamiiro Awase" and "Dead or Lie" were released by NBCUniversal Japan, after they had showcased them in 45 to 50 second previews on
YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...
.


"Samurai Tunes"

"Samurai Tunes" is an electronic dance
rap Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...
song by the boy band of the same name, that serves as the ending theme to ''Danganronpa 3 The Stage 2018 ~The End of Kibōgamine Gakuen~'', a stage adaptation of ''Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School''. The song was featured on Samurai Tunes' eponymous debut single, released by Nippon Columbia on July 18, 2018. The single charted on the Oricon charts for two weeks, peaking at No. 33.


Reception and legacy

''Danganronpa'' music has been described as essential to the series' personality by both reviewers and staff: ''
Destructoid ''Destructoid'' is a website that was founded as a video game-focused blog in March 2006 by Yanier Gonzalez, a Cuban-American cartoonist and author. Enthusiast Gaming acquired the website in 2017, and sold it to Gamurs Group in 2022. History ...
'' Eric van Allen called the series' music a vocal part of its tone, and Kodaka hailed the music as "super important" in an interview with ''Video Games Music Online''. The soundtracks have been nominated twice in the Game Music Awards, an annual ceremony hosted by ''Video Game Music Online'', and the series' titular main theme was
listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historical ...
by ''
Screen Rant ''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and film theories. ''Screen Rant'' was launched by Vic Holtreman in 2003, and originally had its primary office in Ogden, Utah. ''Scr ...
'' as one of the ten best theme songs in video games. ''Danganronpa'' music has been performed live on different occasions. At the 2017 iteration of the gaming festival Tokaigi, eight tracks from ''Danganronpa V3'' were performed by a Takada-led band. In November 2021, two performances of popular songs from the series were held in
Saitama Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (1 January 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 km2 (1,466 sq mi). Saitama Prefecture borders Tochigi Prefectur ...
, in conjunction with ''Danganronpa'' 10th anniversary. Remixed ''Danganronpa'' tracks are included in the
rhythm game Rhythm game or rhythm action is a genre of music-themed action video game that challenges a player's sense of rhythm. Games in the genre typically focus on dance or the simulated performance of musical instruments, and require players to pr ...
''
Crypt of the NecroDancer ''Crypt of the NecroDancer'' is a roguelike rhythm video game developed and published by Canadian independent game studio Brace Yourself Games. The game takes fundamental elements of a roguelike dungeon exploration game and adds a beat-matching ...
'', along with a
skin Skin is the layer of usually soft, flexible outer tissue covering the body of a vertebrate animal, with three main functions: protection, regulation, and sensation. Other cuticle, animal coverings, such as the arthropod exoskeleton, have diffe ...
of ''Danganronpa'' mascot and antagonist
Monokuma is a fictional identity adopted by several characters in the ''Danganronpa'' series, serving as the mascot and main antagonist of the series. Monokuma first appears in '' Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc'' as a disguise used by " despair sister ...
, as part of a collaboration between the two IPs. Two lyrical songs from the series have appeared in
greatest hits album A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...
s of their artists: "Zetsubōsei: Hero Chiryōyaku" in Suzumu's ''Zoku Kebyoningen'' (2015) and "Dead or Lie" in Maon Kurosaki's ''
M.A.O.N is a Japanese singer and songwriter signed to NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan. After being discovered while working as a performer in Akihabara, Tokyo, she made her major debut in 2010, performing ending themes to the anime television series ...
'' (2017).


References


External links

* on
Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in N ...
* on
Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in N ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Danganronpa Danganronpa Video game music discographies Video game soundtracks