Review of Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School - Future Arc

So to start off, I have not played any of the games/read any of the manga, I have only seen the anime adaptation so this is my view of the anime as a newcomer to Danganronpa. I will cover some spoilers so you have been warned(although by the time I've seen the anime is already long past the hype and relevance so lol). I also like to start ratings at 5/10 and either increase or decrease from there. Story: 2/10 So I watched the first episode of this after completing the first season of the anime(Danganronpa: Kibou no Gakuen to Zetsubou no Koukousei The Animation) and I was totallylost. I recognized Naegi, Kirigiri, Asahini and the fortune telling guy who's name I don't remember or care about, and that was it. I also starting watching the "Side: Despair" arc as soon as I finished the first episode of the Future arc.

I looked up the wiki and did some reading and found out you're supposed to play the second game to bridge the gap, but dang was that unexpected for me. I was then able to understand the BARE BASICS, like Naegi and his surviving classmates joined the "Future Foundation" and are all fighting Despair and whatnot, and Naegi is now under accusation of not killing the...Remnants of Despair?? I had no clue what that meant although I did recognize a couple characters(specifically Nagito Komaeda and Ibuki Mioda from seeing some friends being obsessed with them back in like....2014 and I recognized their designs) which meant nothing as I knew nothing about them.

I found it hard to be interested in much going on until I was far enough in the Despair arc to know who a lot of the characters that were present actually were, and know any of their motives.

I wanted to at least be able to follow along with a reasonable amount of interest, but I found the story to be lacklustre, boring, extremely reliant on you having played the game or you having done your research and I found that a main reason as to why I disliked this so much.

Also using the same trope as the previous season felt like an obvious gimmick, and felt poorly executed (haha, there also were no "executions").

I understand the concept of adaptations and how they differ from the source material but I wanted to be able to watch this entirely on its own, and this did a really poor job.

Art: 3/10

Extremely dark colours and what felt like just average animation. I think the choice to make the blood red instead of pink was a poor choice other then making it seem more serious, which the mood was already plenty serious enough with all the characters already neck deep in hidden backstory and "motives".

It seriously annoys me when theres multiple scenes that are so dark that result in me squinting at the screen and being able to make virtually nothing out yet at the same time missing nothing interesting.

Nothing memorable about the art, especially with the pink blood gone.

Sound: 7/10

The opening was actually one of the better things about the anime, I liked it, although the visuals felt kind of random to me, and the whole "Kirigiri and Naegi grasping for each other's hands" felt super cliche.

The ending was decent as well, I don't remember much about it.

Characters: 3/10

Without the Despair arc I would have NO idea who anyone despite the high school survivors were, and so by the time I felt any sort of connection with them and their backstory was explained in the Despair arc (if they had one at all) they were most likely dead or three stages past their previous motive/whatever.

Also I thought this was set in a relatively "realistic" world setting like all humans/no crazy superpowers but a few of the characters (aside from basically everyone being able to live after massive blood loss or injuries that would really HURT like gunshots...or stab wound...or cutting off our hand for goodness sake/stay alive way longer then they should be able to) two in particular bugged me for being so "super human". Seiko Kimura, the "Super Pharmacist" was able to create and consume crazy drugs, fine, but since when does taking bunch of pills realistically make you into a pretty well invulnerable snake lady??

It doesn't. (I can already hear haters jkjk)

And lets not forget the god-like sword fighting skills of the vice-leader of Future Foundation's Kyosuke Munakata.

Kyosuke, who is able to make a sword for no given reason heat up and slice through a robot and later being able to charge at a group of soldiers all firing at him simultaneously yet not get hit by a single bullet. Sigh.
I honestly thought he would die at that point and it was going to be him sacrificing himself so Naegi could keep going at the climax but that would have been to simple.

Just...I understand how characters can have plot shields and be OP but that felt a bit much. And why did Kyosuke's eye turn all black when he went all crazy?? Must have been angst...I also felt the cop out of his friend the Super Boxer being secretly gay for him to be real cheap, like it wasn't needed but I guess it filled a plot hole for what no one would ever guess it was Junko while also not adding anything other then a gimmick to a character and nothing meaningful...

Enjoyment: 3/10

While I disliked most of what this anime was, I did find it a BIT more enjoyable then I first expected. I was actually interested in them finding out who the killer was for a few episodes although as soon as the green-haired girl was introduced it felt like a quick lazy answer, and from there the plot twisted a couple more times but it felt forced...and just not interesting by that point. I finished watching this anime just to finish it.

Overall: 3/10

I finished watching this not out of enjoyment or interest, but to say that I finished it. A confusing premise that made little to no sense, characters that felt flat and forced until you got their exposited(and separately explained, in the Despair Arc) backstories to explain their seemingly random motives and a dull appearance, this anime was a waste of time.

(side note, now I'm thinking how one plot twist was how they were in an identical building to the Future Foundation's headquarters but I don't think they ever explained WHERE it was or WHO built it/the reason?? I'm just gonna assume thats another plot hole haha)