| Killer Killer | |
 Thirdtankōbon volume cover, featuring (from left to right): Shuji Fujigawa, Takumi Hijirihara, Misaki Asano | |
| ダンガンロンパ 害伝キラーキラーrevealed (Danganronpa Gaiden Kirā Kirā) | |
|---|---|
| Manga | |
| Written by | Kazutaka Kodaka Yōichirō Koizumi |
| Illustrated by | Mitomo Sasako |
| Published by | Kodansha |
| Imprint | Shōnen Magazine Comics |
| Magazine | Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine |
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Original run | March 8, 2016 –May 9, 2017 |
| Volumes | 3(List of volumes) |
Danganronpa Gaiden: Killer Killer (ダンガンロンパ 害伝キラーキラー,Danganronpa Gaiden Kirā Kirā), originally known simply asKiller Killer for its first volume, is a Japanesemanga series written byKazutaka Kodaka and Yōichirō Koizumi and illustrated by Mitomo Sasako. It was published byKodansha in the magazineBessatsu Shōnen Magazine from March 8, 2016 to May 9, 2017,[1][2][3] and collected in threetankōbon volumes. The series focuses onMisaki Asano, a young woman assigned to the Future Foundation's 6th branch, dedicated to murder investigations in the midst of "The Tragedy", as she is teamed up with fellow investigatorTakumi Hijirihara, a secretserial killer who only kills other killers, for the honor ofMukuro Ikusaba.
Although aspin-off of theDanganronpa series published to tie in with theDanganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak Academyanime series, the series was not initially marketed as such, with its connection toDanganronpa and full title being used as thetwist ending of the first volume. The series has received a universally positive critical reception.
InJVL's interview withKazutaka Kodaka in July 2017 promotingDanganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, Kodaka confirmed that the characters ofKiller Killer were originally developed for use in theDanganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak Academyanime series, with the manga entering development as atie-in after they had been cut, but deemed "too interesting not to be written about", based a character concept fromDanganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair ofSonia Nevermind discussing her interview with Sparkling Justice / Killer Killer. Consequentially asked in response to questions over whether he was "tired" ofDanganronpa following the release ofKiller Killer, Kodaka stated that for a future follow-up, he would "work on my own initiative. It takes me time, it can be a little tiring, but never mentally seen that I do what I like. Of course I also try to please people, but I also like to please myself."[4]
Misaki Asano (麻野 美咲,Asano Misaki) – The main character, a new recruit to the 6th Division of the Future Foundation who "striv[es] to bring light in a world ridden with despair", and is assigned to the Special Case Bureau as an investigator, specializing in murder investigations despite her dislike of gore. After swiftly solving her first case only for the culprit to be themselves murdered by the serial killer "Killer Killer", Misaki makes it her personal mission to track Killer Killer down, unaware that he is her new partner Takumi, towards whom she shows romantic interest.
Takumi Hijirihara (聖原 拓実,Hijirihara Takumi) – A member of the Future Foundation and investigator whom Misaki is assigned to as a partner, who is secretly thepsychopathicserial killer known asKiller Killer (キラーキラー,Kirā Kirā), who only kills otherserial killers in the name ofMukuro Ikusaba and her Ultimate Despair after she had slaughtered several students in his middle school in front of him, and he had fallen in love with her, sparing them if he deems theirpassion for killing to bepure. Takumi is later revealed to have previously also once operated inSpain as amercenary. Unbeknownst to Takumi, the Future Foundation leadership is well aware of his identity, doing nothing about him due to deeming his activities as beneficial to their cause.[5][6]
Shuji Fujigawa (藤川 修二,Fujigawa Shūji) – Takumi's middle-school friend, who was also inspired to become a "Killer Killer" by Mukuro's massacre without any idea that Takumi had also been. Unlike Takumi, Shujii isgay, initially obsessed with "cleaning" the world of murder (which he sees as an "inherently disgusting and dirty thing") by travelling around the world and hunting down serial killers as a vigilante. However, upon returning to Japan and discovering that Takumi was also murdering killers in order to recreate the beauty he saw in Mukuro's massacre, a horrified Shuji abandoned his career and decided to "save" Takumi (whom he isin love with) from himself by whatever means.
Mukuro Ikusaba (戦刃 むくろ,Ikusaba Mukuro) – The seemingly deceasedUltimate Soldier (超高校級の「軍人」,Chō-kōkō-kyū no "Gunjin",lit.Super High School Level Soldier) ofHope's Peak Academy and the overarching antagonist of the series, the originalUltimate Despair (with her sisterJunko Enoshima), who massacred Takumi's and Shujii'smiddle school on her own when they were children, unknowingly respectively driving them to becomeserial killers of other serial killers as young adults. In the third volume, Mukuro is apparently revealed to be alive (after her apparent death in the 2010 video gameDanganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc) and a prisoner of the Future Foundation, until it is revealed to not be Mukuro but a cult of people who have had plastic surgery to appear identical to Mukuro raiding the facility under command by Shuji so that Takumi would be forced to repeatedly kill visages of his idol.
The series includes 14 chapters, which have been collected into threetankōbon volumes,[3] the first of which was published in July 2016.[7]
| No. | Japanese release date | Japanese ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | July 8, 2016[8] | 978-4-06-3957013 |
| 2 | November 9, 2016[9] | 978-4-06-3931037 |
| 3 | May 9, 2017[10] | 978-4-06-3932027 |
ILoveVG praised the series as "beautiful", complimenting its "many interesting insights" and recontextualisation of the events ofDanganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair andDanganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School.[11]
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