Line #69 Literature/DanganronpaZero


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9	!This page contains unmarked spoilers. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned!
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11	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/danganronpazero_667.jpg]]
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13	->''I can't remember anything from before I lost like memory, so it's not like I have anything to compare it to. That's why I don't see my forgetfulness as a disadvantage... it's just a part of who I am.''
14	-->-- '''Ryōko Otonashi'''
15	A two-volume {{Light Novel}} for the ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'' franchise [[{{Prequel}} set before]] the events of ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'' and ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair''. Released in 2011, ''Danganronpa Zero'' was written by franchise creator Kazutaka Kodaka and illustrated by franchise illustrator Rui Komatsuzaki. Intending to be read before playing 2, it reveals more about the hidden backstory of the Tragedy only hinted at in the first game.
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17	Ryoko Otonashi is a student attending Hope's Peak Academy -- an elite private school in Japan that only accepts "Ultimate" students: the best of the best ''of the best'', regardless of niche. Unfortunately, she suffers from [[AmnesiacHero anterograde amnesia]] and forgets things mere minutes after they occur. To function in day-to-day life, she carries around a [[NoteToSelf memory notebook]] filled with information written by herself about events and people in her past.
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19	Thanks to her disorder, Ryoko has only managed to retain one memory: that of her doctor and (implied) childhood friend, the "Ultimate Neurologist" Yasuke Matsuda, who is studying her amnesia in the hope of helping her recover.
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21	Meanwhile, a sinister plot takes shape in the shadows of Hope's Peak Academy. Junko Enoshima is laying the groundwork for her plan to send the world spiraling into despair, and the scheme is linked to "The Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy." As a few students attempt to uncover the truth, they face not only the culprits behind that tragic event, but also a cover-up being arranged by the highest officials of Hope's Peak Academy—the Steering Committee. In the middle of all this is Ryoko, who is dragged into the conspirators' plans by forces beyond her understanding or control.
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23	A [[http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3522115 translation]] is being provided in the LetsPlay at the Website/SomethingAwful forums, in tandem with the ''Danganronpa 2'' translation effort. A mirror of the thread can be found [[http://danganronpa2mirror.tumblr.com/masterlist here]].
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25	An alternate translation which is further along in book 2 can be found [[https://schmarpy-bag.tumblr.com/post/148929276351/dangan-ronpa-zero-translation-masterlist here]] with the remaining chapters of the second book [[https://revolutionpotato.tumblr.com/post/75118713692/dangan-ronpa-zero-book-2-translations here]].
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27	Another, complete full translation of both volumes can be viewed [[https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6rsd95Drd1meUtLbjlXZi1KVms/view here]].
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29	A recently updated translation that takes into account the terminology of the western releases of the games can be found [[https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/17GiLMiJejf_nSfbtJXgumhpqnqoWuSK1?usp=share_link here.]]
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31	In 2018, a fan game of the novel began production. The demo can be viewed [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZooBZnQzu7Q here]].
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33	!!''Danganronpa Zero'' provides examples of:
34	* AmnesiacHero: Ryoko can't remember her past ''or'' form new long-term memories, requiring her to keep a memory notebook.
35	* AnyoneCanDie: As in the games, perhaps even more so.
36	* AsYouKnow: Played with. As Yasuke keeps reminding Ryoko, she ''should'' already know about how things work at Hope's Peak, and he doesn't appreciate having to explain to her constantly.
37	* BackupTwin: As it turns out, Mukuro isn't the only one running around. The Ultimate Bodyguard doubles as the Ultimate ''Octuplets''.
38	* BigBad: Once again, Junko Enoshima is the mastermind behind everything that goes wrong. This means it technically applies to Ryoko, who is Junko's amnesiac self.
39	* BlackBlood: The blood is red in the descriptions, but it's still pink in any actual images we see of it.
40	* BrandNamesAreBetter: To fund their talent research and pay for the scholarships of "Ultimate" students, Hope's Peak opens up an expensive second campus specifically for non-Ultimate students who wish to exploit the academy's reputation. This idea is particularly common in Japan, where the name of the university you graduate from is said to carry more weight than the qualification gained.
41	* BreakHerHeartToSaveHer: Near the end of the novel, Headmaster Jin Kirigiri does this by threatening Kyoko -- informing her that if she continues investigating the Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy, breaks any rules, or steps the least bit out of line, she'll be expelled.
42	* CallForward: Yasuke references the various uses of controlling, compiling, or [[LaserGuidedAmnesia completely erasing people's memories]], which is a major plot point in ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc''. There's hints he may already be capable of doing this when the Hope's Peak staff try to blackmail him into tampering with the memory of any student who knows about [[NoodleIncident the Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy]]... and ''then'' it transpires that he erased Junko's memories.
43	* TheCameo: Quite a handful of characters featured in ''Trigger Happy Havoc'' and ''Goodbye Despair'' appear.
44	** Chihiro Fujisaki. Yuto mentioned getting help from an underclassman who was also a programmer.
45	** Teruteru Hanamura. The Ultimate Cook who worked at the academy's café, it's said he made food so good that someone would swear it was drugged.
46	** Makoto Naegi, Kyoko Kirigiri, and Mukuro Ikusaba are present as well. However, not only are they important to the novel's plot, but their names are also given, so they might not count.
47	* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Junko and Yasuke are a rather depressing example.
48	* CreateYourOwnVillain: The conditions at Hope's Peak help foster the creation of Ultimate Despair, giving them plenty of disaffected students to work with.
49	* DarkerAndEdgier: While the first volume is fairly moderate in tone, the second volume descends headfirst into this territory as Ryoko gets closer to the truth. There's much more graphic violence, much more suffering, and an ''absolutely'' brutal DownerEnding.
50	* {{Deuteragonist}}: Both Ryoko and Yasuke are this to each other, with the story more or less focusing on the two equally.
51	* DownerEnding: ''Nothing'' ends well here. Everything goes according to Junko's plan... and she gets plenty of despair out of it.
52	* ElaborateUniversityHigh: Hope's Peak Academy. Yasuke explains more about how it operates to Ryoko.
53	* TheEndingChangesEverything: Rereading both volumes with the TomatoSurprise in mind makes much of it come off ''very'' differently...
54	* EvilDetectingDog: At the beginning of Chapter 3, when Ryoko first appears, she encounters a cat that runs away in fright when it sees her. Considering that Ryoko is actually [[TomatoInTheMirror Junko Enoshima]], it's subtle but effective {{foreshadowing}}.
55	* FanDisservice: At one point, Ryoko goes to a MaidCafe, only to find out it's a ''Monokuma'' maid café. Yeah...
56	* FantasticCasteSystem: The student body of Hope's Peak Academy is divided into two levels. You have the Ultimate Talents, who were handpicked so their special skills can be studied and amplified by getting the best schooling possible... and the Reserve Course, made up of {{Ordinary High School Student}}s who are paying for the privilege of attending. ''Their'' campus functions as a completely ordinary school, without any access to the perks Super High-School Level Talents enjoy. The students are largely segregated from each other, with little interaction between levels.
57	* ForegoneConclusion: As a prequel to ''Trigger Happy Havoc'', those familiar will know which of the cameo characters are DoomedByCanon and who has PlotArmor.
58	* TheHeroDies: Granted, [[VillainProtagonist neither are precisely heroes]], but Yasuke dies... as does Ryoko in a way.
59	* TheGhost: Izuru Kamukura is referred to several times, but never makes an appearance. He ''appears'' to at one point, but it's not him.
60	* GoneHorriblyRight[=/=][[GoneHorriblyWrong Wrong]]: The Ultimate Hope Project. Right in the sense that Izuru is quite an ace… but wrong in how he fell into despair.
61	* {{Gorn}}: The book can get ''very'' descriptive in terms of describing dead corpses. Even then, Yasuke's death is especially brutal.
62	* HardWorkHardlyWorks: While it's technically possible that a student from the Reserve Course could excel at their studies and earn their way into the "true Hope's Peak," Yasuke scorns the idea—describing it as just a way to keep stringing them along.
63	* HeelFaceDoorSlam: Yasuke's realization that his girlfriend was using him as an UnwittingPawn happens shortly before she brutally stabs him to death and kicks his corpse repeatedly until it's unrecognizable.
64	* HeKnowsTooMuch:
65	** Ryoko is accused of this despite her memory problems.
66	** Soshun Murasame and Yuto Kamishiro are murdered for this reason.
67	* LateArrivalSpoiler: It's no secret that Junko will end up orchestrating the Tragedy and the Killing Game of the first Danganronpa.
68	* MindScrewdriver: A lot of backstory to the games is revealed here. Readers finally learn how the students' memories were erased, as well as some of what led up to the Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History.
69	* MemoryGambit: Played with. Yasuke Matsuda erased Junko's memories when Hope's Peak Academy asked him to interrogate her via mind scan about orchestrating the deaths of the academy's student council. However, Yasuke keeps Junko amnesiac to protect her and keep her from spreading more despair. Even so, it turns out Junko ''knew'' he would do this since she has [[AwesomenessByAnalysis Ultimate Analysis prowess]] and let it happen so she could experience the despair of murdering her boyfriend.
70	* NeckSnap: The fate of Yuto at the hands of Yasuke.
71	* NoteToSelf: The purpose of Ryoko's memory notebook.
72	* PalatialSandcastle: In an anecdote by Matsuda we find out, that as a child, Ryoko spent a full month building an intricate sandcastle replica of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Familia Sagrada Família]] in the park... only for her to destroy it when no one was looking.
73	* TheResenter: As it turns out, the Monokuma maid cafés are being used to foster resentment among the Reserve Course students.
74	* ShellShockedVeteran: Soshun Murasame, the only student council member to survive the Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy, to the point where he was practically insane for a while.
75	* SurprisinglySuddenDeath: Late in the second volume, Ryoko is startled when she discovers Yuto with his head twisted around wrong.
76	* TomatoInTheMirror: Ryoko is just a false identity created to protect Junko.
77	* TomatoSurprise: The fact that Ryoko is Junko's amnesiac identity and Yasuke's girlfriend are no secret to Yasuke himself, with about half of the novel taking place from his perspective.
78	* TwinSwitch: Mukuro acts as a BodyDouble for her younger sister.
79	* TwoAliasesOneCharacter: Ryoko Otonashi is Junko Enoshima after getting amnesia.
80	* UnreliableNarrator:
81	** Deliberately played with Ryoko, mostly due to her memory problems. It's actually much stronger than that, with the chapters from Yasuke and "Junko's" perspectives reeking of the narration lying to the reader.
82	* UnusualEuphemism: The Steering Committee insists on referring to the Reserve Course's protest as "The Parade."
83	* UnwittingPawn: Yasuke. He doesn't take realizing that well.
84	* VillainProtagonist: Both Ryoko and Yasuke are technically this, with the former being the amnesiac [[BigBad Junko]] and the latter being her partially unwitting accomplice.
85	* TheWatson: Ryoko functions as this. Not only does Yasuke explain to her things she should have known already, but she also catches a lot of exposition from other people.

Context Literature / DanganronpaZero