This article contains spoilers for theDanganronpaseries andThe Hundred Line - Last Defense Academy.
One of the most underrated games of 2025 so far, and my current frontrunner for Game of the Year, isThe Hundred Line - Last Defense Academy, fromDanganronpacreator Kazutaka Kodaka andZero Escapewriter Kotaro Uchikoshi. While it’s clear thatThe Hundred Line - Last Defense Academywears these inspirations on its sleeve, I also can’t help but feel like it brings a different energy than a franchise likeDanganronpa, despite carrying a similar visual aesthetic and writing style. It took me nearly the entirety of my first playthrough—what is essentially the prologue to the game’s massive 100-ending story—to shake this feeling, but I think I’ve finally cracked the code.
As a hugeDanganronpaandFire Emblemfan, I was immediately intrigued by the premise of a turn-based tactical RPG mixed with the mystery and storytelling of aDanganronpa-like game. WhileLast Defense Academycertainly has elements of both of those series, it also has its own “X” factor that makes it unique, and, in my opinion, even elevates it beyond the heights of a franchise likeDanganronpa. For as ambitious asLast Defense Academyis, what really sells the game for me is how fleshed out it allows each of its characters to become, and I suspect this is largely due to a combination of its premise and array of endings breaking out of the boxDanganronpawas ultimately put in.
Last Defense Academy Let’s Me Spend More Time with Its Cast Than Danganronpa Ever Did
Danganronpa’s Killing Game Premise Kept Some Characters From Being More Fleshed Out
Although todayDanganronpais largely praised for its charactersand slow-burn mystery, it’s that same premise that ultimately holds its characters back. The chapter structure of each entry in the series that ends with one of the students being murdered, only for an investigation and class trial to follow, comes with the glaring flaw that some characters are bound to get less screentime than others, and less character development as a result.
Characters likeTrigger Happy Havoc’s Leon Kuwata,Goodbye Despair’s Teruteru Hanamura, andKilling Harmony’s Kirumi Tojo are some of the less memorable characters in the franchise due to their stories being cut short in the first couple of chapters of their respective games. Seeing them develop as the story evolved in later chapters could have helped them stand out in my eyes.
Comparatively, I find characters like Kyoko Kirigiri, Chiaki Nanami, and Kaito Momota far more compelling since they stick around long enough in their respective games to have a complete character arc, along with more opportunities for free time events as well. The characters who arguably have it the worst are the ones likeGoodbye Despair’s Mikan Tsumiki, who have a very interesting background that never gets fully explored because their screentime gets cut short by their untimely demise. While many of these characters remain popular among the fan base, I have a hard time getting attached to the ones who don’t make it all the way to the game’s finale.
Danganronpa S: Ultimate Summer Camp Only Somewhat Makes Up for the Series' Character Shortcomings
I thinkDanganronpa Swas primarily created as a non-canonical spin-offgame to appeal to fans who wanted to get to know these characters more in a non-killing game environment. And while this does help give many of the series' early victims more personality, I find it hard to connect to them in the same way as in the main series games because of the lack of killing game stakes. Watching a character like Maki come out of her shell and embrace her feelings for Kaito, only to have him ripped away, is the kind of arc I like to see, and can only be possible with the proper, dangerous stakes the killing game creates.
Last Defense Academy’s 100 Endings Gives Me Plenty of Time to Grow Attached to Its Cast
Going intoLast Defense Academy, I expected a set of similar narrative beats, where characters would slowly be lost over the course of the 100 days. To a degree this is true, but not on the same level asDanganronpa. For the most part, the core cast of characters remains intact throughout the game’s 100-day cycle, with ample free time to get to know them better. Even without the killing game aspect, the stakes of not knowing when the invaders are going to attack or why this group was even chosen toprotect Last Defense Academyallows the game to recapture that tensionDanganronpacreated, while giving the majority of these characters more room to grow across a full arc.
Where things really become game-changing is inLast Defense Academy's 100-ending structure, essentially telling 100 variations of the game’s story. While I’ve only scratched the surface of these story routes and am nowhere close to completing all endings, it’s becoming increasingly clear that each subsequent route players follow presents new facets of these characters and their personalities that go far beyond whatDanganronpa’s story structure could do. It seems like each route chooses a new set of characters and gives them unique challenges to overcome or traumas to deal with that weren’t present in previous ones, making each character feel significant in different versions of the story.
The developers have teased potentialDLC forLast Defense Academythat would add even more endings, potentially further fleshing out its characters.
As I continue to fall further down theLast Defense Academyrabbit hole and uncover more of its endings, I get the sense that these characters will stick with me long after I wrap up the final endings of the game. Many ofDanganronpa’s characters have left a lasting impression on me, and I can only imagine how much moreLast Defense Academy’s cast will affect me after spending so much more time with them. WhileLast Defense Academyisn’t the newDanganronpagameI initially wanted, it is so much more impactful because it shedsDanganronpa’s biggest flaw and gives its entire cast more time to grow on me as a player.
