NISA Europe Prinnies Interview Kazutaka Kodaka (Part 3/3)

Question 13
Jas:
What makes Danganronpa different from other Visual Novel games?

Kazutaka Kodaka:
In Japan, they don’t consider Danganronpa a visual novel.

Jas:
Ah okay!

Kazutaka Kodaka:
They don’t consider it a visual novel, but then they don’t consider it an action game either, so it kind of floats in-between somewhere.

Jas:
It’s got a bit of action story, especially the trials.

Taku:
It’s very unique.

Kazutaka Kodaka:
Since it’s kind of floats between the two genres, it doesn’t have a firm foot on the ground. So, without the fans, then fans of one of the other genres would probably chop it to bits.

 

Question 14
Jas:
How long before making Danganronpa were you planning it in your head?

Kazutaka Kodaka:
For V3?

Jas:
For the first game.

Kazutaka Kodaka:
When creating games, you can’t really create one on your own, you have to get a lot of team members on board with you to create the game, and to say I want to create a game that’s themed on “Psycho-Pop,” people will be like, “What’s psycho-pop? I don’t understand.” So, I moved right away, when I had the idea to create Danganronpa, I wrote the first two chapters in two months and I let the people at the office read it, and they were like “Oh, so this is the kind of world you want to create!” When they got to Genocide Jack they said, “We can take it this far?” They thought it was going to be very dark and was going to be a flat out kill each other type game, once they read about Genocide Jack they responded, “Okay, so we can go all out and crazy to this extent” they were on board.

Taku:
When I found out about Genocide Jack I was so shocked!
*He laughed*

 

Question 15
Jas:
What was the biggest plot reveal that you were most happy with?

Kazutaka Kodaka:
The one that most people feel strongly about is in Danganronpa 2? Chapter 5.

Jas:
Ah yeah, my favourite character.

Kazutaka Kodaka:
*He laughed*
In Danganronpa V3 there are two or three other scenes that are on the same level of plot excitement as Chapter 5 of Danganronpa 2.
*He laughed*
Jas:
I’m excited, very excited!

 

Question 16
Jas:
If there are any fans that haven’t played Danganronpa and you’d like to encourage them what would you say to encourage them to play the games?

Kazutaka Kodaka:
Danganronpa is really popular game in Japan, and it’s creating a big social uproar.
*Everyone laughs*

Kazutaka Kodaka:
It represents the craziness of Tokyo. If you’re going to play Danganronpa, Danganronpa V3 is a new beginning to Danganronpa, so you can start from here with a fresh start and it’s on PS4 too, so there’s no reason you can’t buy it. You have to buy it.
*Everyone laughs*

Kazutaka Kodaka:
And also if you like to be surprised Danganronpa V3 has the biggest surprise factor, so please try it out.
*He laughed*

Jas:
I made my best friend play the game, Danganronpa 1 and he said it was really stressing him, because he was getting too involved with the characters, and he liked the characters too much.
*Everyone laughs*

 

Question 17
Jas:
Who is your favourite character from the Dangan 1, Dangan 2 and Dangan V3?

Kazutaka Kodaka:
It has to be Monokuma!
*Everyone laughs*

Kazutaka Kodaka:
If I were to pick one it would be Monokuma, but I write each and every character to be the main protagonist of the story, so I understand people who are fans of characters who die in the first chapters because I put a lot thought into them as well as the ones that are left at the end. I myself can relate to all of these fans in this sense, hence I like all of my characters.

 

Question 18
Jas:
Last question, is there anything you’d like to say to the NISA Europe fans?

Kazutaka Kodaka:
Danganronpa V3 is the biggest and best Danganronpa to date, so please look forward to it. Also, the value of the Limited Edition in Japan as well as North America and Europe will probably go up in the future, so you should buy two or three copies and hope for the best!
*Everyone laughs*

Jas:
Thank you very much for the interview and we hope that you had a lovely time while visiting Europe.

Kazutaka Kodaka:
Thank you very much.

 

End of Part 3

 

Translation by:
                                Ai Umeno
                                (Assisted by) Alan Costa

Questions by:
                                Jaspreet S Marwaha
                                (Assisted by) Taku Mavhunduke

If you missed the previous Parts of this interview don't you worry, this prinny has got you covered below, dood! 

Click Here for PART 1
Click Here for PART 2

Don't forget that the demo for Danganronpa V3 is out now, head on over to PSN and download it doods!