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Danganronpa Kirigiri #1
ダンガンロンパ霧切 1 [Danganronpa Kirigiri 1]
謎の依頼を受け集結した五人の探偵たちを待ち受けていたのは「犯罪被害者救済委員会」が企む『黒の挑戦』を通じた連続探偵殺人事件の幕開けだった……！原作ゲーム『ダンガンロンパ』のシナリオライター・小高和剛からの直々の指名を受け、「物理の北山」こと本格ミステリーの旗手・北山猛邦が描く超高校級の探偵、霧切響子今日この頃霧切響子の過去—。
244 pages, Tankobon Softcover
Published September 13, 2013
15 people are currently reading
292 people want to read
About the author
Takekuni Kitayama
27 books3 followersAssociated Names:
* Takekuni Kitayama
* 北山 猛邦 (Japanese Profile)
* ทาเกกุนิ คิตายามะ (Thai Profile)
* 北山猛邦 (Chinese Profile)
* Takekuni Kitayama
* 北山 猛邦 (Japanese Profile)
* ทาเกกุนิ คิตายามะ (Thai Profile)
* 北山猛邦 (Chinese Profile)
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
January 18, 2020
I read this such a long time ago but I do still remember how insane the plot was. It fits in the murder mystery genre but the ‘killing game’ concept is still there.
My only complaint would be the fact that these novels still aren’t officially translated into English yet. I would have loved to read the other kirigiri novels
:(
My only complaint would be the fact that these novels still aren’t officially translated into English yet. I would have loved to read the other kirigiri novels
:(
September 17, 2022
What can you expect from an anthology with a detective label?.. A snotty story with unconvincing motives and the occasional recklessness. It’s probably fair to think so. Admittedly, when I started reading, a much more radical and offensive thought swirled in my head than, “what can one expect from a book for beginning readers at all, other than drearily written tastelessness?”
Since reading other LN’s in the series, in light of familiarity with other fruits of graphomania, have come to seem like unique exceptions to the rule. Having been burned by some abominably written and objectively bad stories, I wasn’t expecting anything good from “Danganronpa: Kirigiri”, but I ended up with something interesting. No, don’t get me wrong: there are problems here.
There is a dry, discreet style, as well as caricatured characters in places. One of the author’s main problems is this: What should be hidden in a character and released in interaction with other characters as the story progresses- His subtle character traits, habits, mannerisms- All this the writer bluntly lays out when you first meet the main character. In other words, the author can’t get into non-obviousness. In one fell swoop, he describes subtle things along with appearances; doing so, however, very clumsily. If anything, the characters’ appearances should also be presented in interaction with their surroundings, not as a report.
But enough scolding. After all, it’s a page turner. I don’t know how to explain it. When you watch it, it’s nothing special. When you read - pages fly by one after another. And then we move seamlessly to one of the major pluses of this early book- the pacing. The reader just doesn’t get bored, constantly tossing in some riddles and “here-this-turns,” which makes the style fade into the background (however, I will still note that the text doesn’t bleed my eyes, which is already a good thing). As for the detective part, it’s over the top, but in this respect I liked the first volume best - it’s more honest to the reader, that is, the crime there is quite realistic to solve yourself. If we talk about the subsequent volumes, this is a case where all the (seemingly) Knox laws are respected, but the murders are quite confusing. On the one hand to understand the background and the small details after reading the clues seem possible, but on the other hand - I want to see the people who were able to do it, I'd guess I'd assume some people would be left with a sense of understatement and a little deception.
As for plot itself, there are a few common organizations and concepts that make its way: A seemingly criminal organization titled the "Crime Victims' Relief Committee",- Which seek out destitute persons to commit a crime to receive payment, and the "Detective Shelf Collection"- A building that classifies registered detectives in order of rank. The main event that the organization hosts are titled "Duel Noir", (lit. "Black Challenge"), which essentially after the victim, or rather the selected person rents out a location, weapons and various tricks a challenge letter is sent to a detective registered in the library. There are also additional rules that the assigned detective cannot be harmed, and 7 days are given for the case. If culprit wins, they receive their borrowed funds. Lose, they pay it back (left to the law, and life insurance policy taken out against them means they die if failure to pay back.). Despite this all, it might get a bit confusing through plenty of twists and turns but but it’s exactly the kind of sci-fi that caused me to be dissonant for a while. Although to demand realism from this universe is a sin, it seems to me. Despite that, author just does not bother to explain further and go into detail on what the organizations do, which leaves things mostly to brush it off, or interpretations.
The main character is as average and intellectually close to the average reader as possible, and there is a lot of disguised fascination with Kirigiri. In the series, the main characters are as average and highly intelligent as possible, and most of the characters have average intelligence and a rather disguised sense of humor.
In the end, it comes out to be a pretty decent story that can safely be recommended to everyone (even those who are unfamiliar with the original series of games).
Since reading other LN’s in the series, in light of familiarity with other fruits of graphomania, have come to seem like unique exceptions to the rule. Having been burned by some abominably written and objectively bad stories, I wasn’t expecting anything good from “Danganronpa: Kirigiri”, but I ended up with something interesting. No, don’t get me wrong: there are problems here.
There is a dry, discreet style, as well as caricatured characters in places. One of the author’s main problems is this: What should be hidden in a character and released in interaction with other characters as the story progresses- His subtle character traits, habits, mannerisms- All this the writer bluntly lays out when you first meet the main character. In other words, the author can’t get into non-obviousness. In one fell swoop, he describes subtle things along with appearances; doing so, however, very clumsily. If anything, the characters’ appearances should also be presented in interaction with their surroundings, not as a report.
But enough scolding. After all, it’s a page turner. I don’t know how to explain it. When you watch it, it’s nothing special. When you read - pages fly by one after another. And then we move seamlessly to one of the major pluses of this early book- the pacing. The reader just doesn’t get bored, constantly tossing in some riddles and “here-this-turns,” which makes the style fade into the background (however, I will still note that the text doesn’t bleed my eyes, which is already a good thing). As for the detective part, it’s over the top, but in this respect I liked the first volume best - it’s more honest to the reader, that is, the crime there is quite realistic to solve yourself. If we talk about the subsequent volumes, this is a case where all the (seemingly) Knox laws are respected, but the murders are quite confusing. On the one hand to understand the background and the small details after reading the clues seem possible, but on the other hand - I want to see the people who were able to do it, I'd guess I'd assume some people would be left with a sense of understatement and a little deception.
As for plot itself, there are a few common organizations and concepts that make its way: A seemingly criminal organization titled the "Crime Victims' Relief Committee",- Which seek out destitute persons to commit a crime to receive payment, and the "Detective Shelf Collection"- A building that classifies registered detectives in order of rank. The main event that the organization hosts are titled "Duel Noir", (lit. "Black Challenge"), which essentially after the victim, or rather the selected person rents out a location, weapons and various tricks a challenge letter is sent to a detective registered in the library. There are also additional rules that the assigned detective cannot be harmed, and 7 days are given for the case. If culprit wins, they receive their borrowed funds. Lose, they pay it back (left to the law, and life insurance policy taken out against them means they die if failure to pay back.). Despite this all, it might get a bit confusing through plenty of twists and turns but but it’s exactly the kind of sci-fi that caused me to be dissonant for a while. Although to demand realism from this universe is a sin, it seems to me. Despite that, author just does not bother to explain further and go into detail on what the organizations do, which leaves things mostly to brush it off, or interpretations.
The main character is as average and intellectually close to the average reader as possible, and there is a lot of disguised fascination with Kirigiri. In the series, the main characters are as average and highly intelligent as possible, and most of the characters have average intelligence and a rather disguised sense of humor.
In the end, it comes out to be a pretty decent story that can safely be recommended to everyone (even those who are unfamiliar with the original series of games).
March 3, 2025
[Note: I read an english fan translated version of this book which you can find here!: https://www.reddit.com/r/danganronpa/.... I will talk more about this later.]
Outing my ass as a Danganronpa fan but oh well I'll take it.
Yes! I got into Danganronpa several years ago but it was only recently that I decided to re-watch a play-through of the first game and sift through the vast amount of content for this game. It was due to this re-watch that I remembered why I liked Kyoko Kirigiri so much, which subsequently lead to me hitting up this book. To my surprise, all 7 volumes have now been (fan) translated to English! That did not exist when I was first trying to read this series haha, I remember going through several hoops just to read like the first 3 books and then giving up when there was no more.
Anyway, on to the actual contents of the book itself. To be completely honest, the book was a little dry but nothing that hinders the reading (at least for me) and it could be due to the fact of the translation. I thought that the mystery around the murder was actually very interesting and complex, with me trying to both remember and figure out what was happening along side the characters. It had been long enough since I read the book that I remember vaguely what happened but also not everything so I was kept entertained. Again, I'm remembering why I like Kyoko so much. She's a grade A badass, smart, clever and also crazy enough to go as far as to threaten to set fire to herself to uncover someone! Like whaaaattttt. If she was that good then, I'm not really surprised at how she breezed through the first game.
I think anyone could find this series interesting, even if you haven't seen the game as this book stands for itself, but due to the lack of an English translation by the authors it is also hindered a bit. That one person has managed to translate the whole thing, not having English or Japanese as a first language and still making it readable it very amazing! But it shows that it is fan translated and it's just a shame because it takes you out of the whole thing a little. Still awesome.
I might be biased for liking this because I like Kyoko, but I still think it was a really interesting book overall! Not a favourit book but it is also a fun read to learn more about the world. I'm curious to see where the next books go, as I barely remember anything from them. This book was actually one of the reasons I wanted to learn Japanese as there was no translation when I first found it. Maybe one day I will read it in the original language. :-) Enough of my ranting now!
Outing my ass as a Danganronpa fan but oh well I'll take it.
Yes! I got into Danganronpa several years ago but it was only recently that I decided to re-watch a play-through of the first game and sift through the vast amount of content for this game. It was due to this re-watch that I remembered why I liked Kyoko Kirigiri so much, which subsequently lead to me hitting up this book. To my surprise, all 7 volumes have now been (fan) translated to English! That did not exist when I was first trying to read this series haha, I remember going through several hoops just to read like the first 3 books and then giving up when there was no more.
Anyway, on to the actual contents of the book itself. To be completely honest, the book was a little dry but nothing that hinders the reading (at least for me) and it could be due to the fact of the translation. I thought that the mystery around the murder was actually very interesting and complex, with me trying to both remember and figure out what was happening along side the characters. It had been long enough since I read the book that I remember vaguely what happened but also not everything so I was kept entertained. Again, I'm remembering why I like Kyoko so much. She's a grade A badass, smart, clever and also crazy enough to go as far as to threaten to set fire to herself to uncover someone! Like whaaaattttt. If she was that good then, I'm not really surprised at how she breezed through the first game.
I think anyone could find this series interesting, even if you haven't seen the game as this book stands for itself, but due to the lack of an English translation by the authors it is also hindered a bit. That one person has managed to translate the whole thing, not having English or Japanese as a first language and still making it readable it very amazing! But it shows that it is fan translated and it's just a shame because it takes you out of the whole thing a little. Still awesome.
I might be biased for liking this because I like Kyoko, but I still think it was a really interesting book overall! Not a favourit book but it is also a fun read to learn more about the world. I'm curious to see where the next books go, as I barely remember anything from them. This book was actually one of the reasons I wanted to learn Japanese as there was no translation when I first found it. Maybe one day I will read it in the original language. :-) Enough of my ranting now!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 16, 2024
A really good introduction to this new series set in the DR universe, definitely want to read onwards after this.
The mystery it presents is extremely engaging and well thought out, a impossible crime that is extremely well executed in baffling you on how it could have happened and when it slowly starts to unravel everything clicks into place. The concept behind the “Black Challenge” adds in the killing game aspect wonderfully, the chapter between the culprit and contractor being one of my favourite of the book due to really selling its concept. Yui and Kirigiri are really fun protagonist/deuteragonist pairing, with more potential in future to expand on their relationship. This book also goes by fast, it doesn’t feel like it ever overstays its welcome or is dragging at any point, which is a huge plus.
I’m intrigued where this series will go in future, even to people who aren’t fans of Danganronpa, this is quite a good mystery novel, highly recommend!
The mystery it presents is extremely engaging and well thought out, a impossible crime that is extremely well executed in baffling you on how it could have happened and when it slowly starts to unravel everything clicks into place. The concept behind the “Black Challenge” adds in the killing game aspect wonderfully, the chapter between the culprit and contractor being one of my favourite of the book due to really selling its concept. Yui and Kirigiri are really fun protagonist/deuteragonist pairing, with more potential in future to expand on their relationship. This book also goes by fast, it doesn’t feel like it ever overstays its welcome or is dragging at any point, which is a huge plus.
I’m intrigued where this series will go in future, even to people who aren’t fans of Danganronpa, this is quite a good mystery novel, highly recommend!
August 31, 2025
I love Danganronpa. I would've given it 5 stars even if it was bad, just because it's ronpa. BUT IT WAS AMAZING!!!
Can't wait to read the next... WHAT?? THERE ARE 6 MORE BOOKS???
Can't wait to read the next... WHAT?? THERE ARE 6 MORE BOOKS???
May 16, 2024
[read an English fan-translation]
DUDE. the way this is literally one of the best books I've ever read omg. Yui and Kyoko are adorable ong bless their hearts. this book had me CAPTIVATED, dying to turn the next page and solve the mystery w them. so excited for the next 6 books, even if I do unfortunately know the series' ending due to being spoiled :,(
DUDE. the way this is literally one of the best books I've ever read omg. Yui and Kyoko are adorable ong bless their hearts. this book had me CAPTIVATED, dying to turn the next page and solve the mystery w them. so excited for the next 6 books, even if I do unfortunately know the series' ending due to being spoiled :,(
July 15, 2023
ah, i forgot these have to end with a cliffhanger
December 19, 2024
I'm a huge Kirigiri fan, and when i saw this existed i was so giddy with happiness. I'm so glad someone on reddit translated this into english because this is so cute and we get a little more backstory on our amazing detective.
Yui is such an adorable character, she's so bubbly and kinda reminds me of Komaru in a way (For those who played udg)? Kyoko using honorefics and Yui being all shy and embarassed was also super cute!
I'm sad we didn't really get a direct mention to Jin, only the fact he's not really present in Kyoko's life. But all in all Yui and Kyoko's relationship is so adorable and pure, and oh poor Yui i hope she finds the hope she needs to stay a detective. Also Hope's Peak got a mention! I'm getting in the last (?) book, Kyoko'll get admitted as the ultimate detective and it'll just be such a wholesome and heartbreaking book between the relationship with Yui and Kyoko.
Amazing and easy read, definitely recommend for my danganronpa fans, and especially my amazing Kirigiri fans and kinnies alike!
Yui is such an adorable character, she's so bubbly and kinda reminds me of Komaru in a way (For those who played udg)? Kyoko using honorefics and Yui being all shy and embarassed was also super cute!
I'm sad we didn't really get a direct mention to Jin, only the fact he's not really present in Kyoko's life. But all in all Yui and Kyoko's relationship is so adorable and pure, and oh poor Yui i hope she finds the hope she needs to stay a detective. Also Hope's Peak got a mention! I'm getting in the last (?) book, Kyoko'll get admitted as the ultimate detective and it'll just be such a wholesome and heartbreaking book between the relationship with Yui and Kyoko.
Amazing and easy read, definitely recommend for my danganronpa fans, and especially my amazing Kirigiri fans and kinnies alike!
December 10, 2022
A compelling tale that shines a light on the ever-enigmatic Kyouko Kirigiri, revealing a side of her and her story you don't quite get to see in the mainline Danganronpa series
January 31, 2020
It's really just a pretty interesting murder mystery except Kyoko Kirigiri is there. I wish more volumes were translated because I'd like to see the plot progress more.
January 17, 2024
Me parece realmente fascinante saber mas acerca de este personaje por medio de la historia, al igual se introduce una nueva trama interesante y bastante trascendental. Bastante interesante sin duda alguna, realmente lo recomiendo
June 9, 2024
A must if you like Kyoko from Danganronpa! It's a murder mystery. This takes place before Danganronpa 1, so you don't need to worry about spoilers. I want to be her.
I wish we could read it through Kyoko's eyes.
I wish we could read it through Kyoko's eyes.
September 24, 2024
Did I ever say how much I like detectives?
March 8, 2025
*Rating for visual novel Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony
September 17, 2022
What can you expect from an anthology with a detective label?.. A snotty story with unconvincing motives and the occasional recklessness. It’s probably fair to think so. Admittedly, when I started reading, a much more radical and offensive thought swirled in my head than, “what can one expect from a book for beginning readers at all, other than drearily written tastelessness?”
Since reading other LN’s in the series, in light of familiarity with other fruits of graphomania, have come to seem like unique exceptions to the rule. Having been burned by some abominably written and objectively bad stories, I wasn’t expecting anything good from “Danganronpa: Kirigiri”, but I ended up with something interesting. No, don’t get me wrong: there are problems here.
There is a dry, discreet style, as well as caricatured characters in places. One of the author’s main problems is this: What should be hidden in a character and released in interaction with other characters as the story progresses- His subtle character traits, habits, mannerisms- All this the writer bluntly lays out when you first meet the main character. In other words, the author can’t get into non-obviousness. In one fell swoop, he describes subtle things along with appearances; doing so, however, very clumsily. If anything, the characters’ appearances should also be presented in interaction with their surroundings, not as a report.
But enough scolding. After all, it’s a page turner. I don’t know how to explain it. When you watch it, it’s nothing special. When you read - pages fly by one after another. And then we move seamlessly to one of the major pluses of this early book- the pacing. The reader just doesn’t get bored, constantly tossing in some riddles and “here-this-turns,” which makes the style fade into the background (however, I will still note that the text doesn’t bleed my eyes, which is already a good thing). As for the detective part, it’s over the top, but in this respect I liked the first volume best - it’s more honest to the reader, that is, the crime there is quite realistic to solve yourself. If we talk about the subsequent volumes, this is a case where all the (seemingly) Knox laws are respected, but the murders are quite confusing. On the one hand to understand the background and the small details after reading the clues seem possible, but on the other hand - I want to see the people who were able to do it, I'd guess I'd assume some people would be left with a sense of understatement and a little deception.
As for plot itself, there are a few common organizations and concepts that make its way: A seemingly criminal organization titled the "Crime Victims' Relief Committee",- Which seek out destitute persons to commit a crime to receive payment, and the "Detective Shelf Collection"- A building that classifies registered detectives in order of rank. The main event that the organization hosts are titled "Duel Noir", (lit. "Black Challenge"), which essentially after the victim, or rather the selected person rents out a location, weapons and various tricks a challenge letter is sent to a detective registered in the library. There are also additional rules that the assigned detective cannot be harmed, and 7 days are given for the case. If culprit wins, they receive their borrowed funds. Lose, they pay it back (left to the law, and life insurance policy taken out against them means they die if failure to pay back.). Despite this all, it might get a bit confusing through plenty of twists and turns but but it’s exactly the kind of sci-fi that caused me to be dissonant for a while. Although to demand realism from this universe is a sin, it seems to me. Despite that, author just does not bother to explain further and go into detail on what the organizations do, which leaves things mostly to brush it off, or interpretations.
The main character is as average and intellectually close to the average reader as possible, and there is a lot of disguised fascination with Kirigiri. In the series, the main characters are as average and highly intelligent as possible, and most of the characters have average intelligence and a rather disguised sense of humor.
In the end, it comes out to be a pretty decent story that can safely be recommended to everyone (even those who are unfamiliar with the original series of games).
Since reading other LN’s in the series, in light of familiarity with other fruits of graphomania, have come to seem like unique exceptions to the rule. Having been burned by some abominably written and objectively bad stories, I wasn’t expecting anything good from “Danganronpa: Kirigiri”, but I ended up with something interesting. No, don’t get me wrong: there are problems here.
There is a dry, discreet style, as well as caricatured characters in places. One of the author’s main problems is this: What should be hidden in a character and released in interaction with other characters as the story progresses- His subtle character traits, habits, mannerisms- All this the writer bluntly lays out when you first meet the main character. In other words, the author can’t get into non-obviousness. In one fell swoop, he describes subtle things along with appearances; doing so, however, very clumsily. If anything, the characters’ appearances should also be presented in interaction with their surroundings, not as a report.
But enough scolding. After all, it’s a page turner. I don’t know how to explain it. When you watch it, it’s nothing special. When you read - pages fly by one after another. And then we move seamlessly to one of the major pluses of this early book- the pacing. The reader just doesn’t get bored, constantly tossing in some riddles and “here-this-turns,” which makes the style fade into the background (however, I will still note that the text doesn’t bleed my eyes, which is already a good thing). As for the detective part, it’s over the top, but in this respect I liked the first volume best - it’s more honest to the reader, that is, the crime there is quite realistic to solve yourself. If we talk about the subsequent volumes, this is a case where all the (seemingly) Knox laws are respected, but the murders are quite confusing. On the one hand to understand the background and the small details after reading the clues seem possible, but on the other hand - I want to see the people who were able to do it, I'd guess I'd assume some people would be left with a sense of understatement and a little deception.
As for plot itself, there are a few common organizations and concepts that make its way: A seemingly criminal organization titled the "Crime Victims' Relief Committee",- Which seek out destitute persons to commit a crime to receive payment, and the "Detective Shelf Collection"- A building that classifies registered detectives in order of rank. The main event that the organization hosts are titled "Duel Noir", (lit. "Black Challenge"), which essentially after the victim, or rather the selected person rents out a location, weapons and various tricks a challenge letter is sent to a detective registered in the library. There are also additional rules that the assigned detective cannot be harmed, and 7 days are given for the case. If culprit wins, they receive their borrowed funds. Lose, they pay it back (left to the law, and life insurance policy taken out against them means they die if failure to pay back.). Despite this all, it might get a bit confusing through plenty of twists and turns but but it’s exactly the kind of sci-fi that caused me to be dissonant for a while. Although to demand realism from this universe is a sin, it seems to me. Despite that, author just does not bother to explain further and go into detail on what the organizations do, which leaves things mostly to brush it off, or interpretations.
The main character is as average and intellectually close to the average reader as possible, and there is a lot of disguised fascination with Kirigiri. In the series, the main characters are as average and highly intelligent as possible, and most of the characters have average intelligence and a rather disguised sense of humor.
In the end, it comes out to be a pretty decent story that can safely be recommended to everyone (even those who are unfamiliar with the original series of games).
November 8, 2025
KIRIGIRI KYOKO LA MEJOR PROTA TE AMO, Y A TI TAMBIÉN YUI🙏🙏🏻🫶🏻💜
May 13, 2024
I adore the plot itself and little Kyoko actually costs more attention!
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews