Danganronpa: Togami

Danganronpa: Togami is a Japanese light novel trilogy written by Yuya Sato and illustrated by Yun Kōga and Shima Drill. It was published by Seikaisha from November 27, 2015 to February 15, 2017, and collected in three tankōbon volumes. A prequel to the Spike Chunsoft video games Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc and Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, the first and third volumes of the series focus on Byakuya Togami during "The Tragedy" as he is stranded in Prague with his biographer Blue Ink, evading assassins after the "Ultimate Imposter" assumes Byakuya's identity and announces worldwide that lest "he" (the real Byakuya) be assassinated within the following 24 hours, the group will "end the world." In a parallel storyline set years earlier, in the second volume, 15 of the 108 Togami siblings partake in "The Competition", created by their father to choose the next heir of the Togami Corporation.

The 2016 anime series Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School feature a return of Kazuya's "lightsaber" from the Danganronpa: Togami trilogy as a mechanical flaming katana possessed by Future Foundation Vice-Chairman Kyosuke Munakata.

Overview
The living heir to the Togami Conglomerate, billionaire Byakuya Togami is suddenly attacked in the midst of the Tragedy while in Prague with his biographer, apparently a fellow Hope's Peak Academy student referred to only as "Blue Ink". After having his identity (and clothes) stolen from him, Byakuya listens as his imposter announces on live broadcast that, should the world not kill "him" within 24 hours, he will take over the world. As the world descends into chaos with the propagation of the mysterious "Despair Book", it's up to Byakuya and Blue Ink to escape assassins and uncover the truth.

Meanwhile, four years earlier, on the Togami family private island with fourteen of his siblings, Kazuya Togami partakes in "The Competition", created by their father to choose the next heir of the Togami Corporation. As a mysterious lightsaber-wielding Decapitator begins killing off the participants, detective Suisei Nanamura and his assistant Polaris P. Polanski are hired to investigate.

Protagonists

 * Blue Ink (青インク) – The main protagonist and Byakuya's biographer, who views him as a god, titling her biography of his life Journey Under the Midnight Sun. Initially presented as being Byakuya's older half-sister Shinobu Togami (十神 忍), whom Togami spared from "The Competition" and whose lost left-arm and right-eye he replaced with robotic duplicates (with the eye she names Borges), Blue Ink is ultimately revealed to be The Kudan (件), "the secret to the prosperity of the Togami family name" who Byakuya passed off as Shinobu using Borges' Story A.I. to hide her identity from those who seek her precognitive abilities, building a facsimile of the real Shinobu's personality around her after she (the real Shinobu) 'died' during "The Competition". As an unreliable narrator due to the censorship of her memories by Borges, it is left ambiguous as to how much of Danganronpa: Togami takes place as described by Blue Ink.
 * Byakuya Togami (十神 白夜) – The "Ultimate Affluent Progeny", heir to the Togami Conglomerate and board member of the Council of Global Controllers, who is sent on the run after his identity is stolen by the Ultimate Imposter. In the second volume, Byakuya is presented as having participated in "The Competition" with 15 of his 107 half-siblings as a child for the right to use the Togami name and be the sole heir to the Togami Conglomerate after it is turned into a killing game by the Imposter, using the female persona of Polaris P. Polanski (ポラリス・ポランスキー) to hide his identity. In the ending of the third volume, it is left ambiguous as to whether or not "The Competition" unfolded precisely as Blue Ink remembered (due to the censorship of her memories by Borges' K2K System Story A.I.).

Antagonists

 * The Ultimate Imposter (超高校級の「詐欺師」) – A member of Ultimate Despair who steals Byakuya's identity and control over the Togami Conglomerate, sending out a worldwide "World Domination Proclamation" while placing a 24-hour bounty on Byakuya's head (as him) in exchange for control of the Togami Conglomerate, after which point, if Byakuya is not dead, the world will end at his hand. In the second volume, the Imposter is implied by Blue Ink to be Kazuya Togami (十神 数や), Byakuya's and Blue Ink's adoptive half-brother and Togami heir; however, after Orvin Elevator also purports to be Kazuya Togami in the third volume, it is left ambiguous as to whether or not the Imposter is Kazuya or a truly unknown third party, refusing to disclose as such to Byakuya or Orvin, stating his true identity not to matter in the slightest to the situation at hand. During the second volume, the Imposter additionally impersonates Hifumi Yamada (山田 一二三), a classmate of Byakuya's from Hope's Peak Academy, using his identity to infiltrate Byakuya's convent hideout, alongside Gundham Tanaka and Ibuki Mioda.
 * Hiroyuki Ketouin (ヒロユキケトウィン) and Yuika Ketouin (ゆいかケトウィン) – A pair of twin siblings purportedly from the criminal organization known as the Ketouin Conglomerate, who offer to provide Byakuya and Blue Ink safe passage out of the Czech Republic in their black Mercedes-Benz in exchange for "the secret to the prosperity of the Togami family name". In the second volume, it is revealed that these aren't their true identities and it only appeared as such due to Borges' influence on Blue Ink's perspective of them. Their true identities and allegiances are never explicitly revealed, although 'Hiroyuki' is heavily implied to have known Shinobu prior to the events in Prague.
 * Suzuhiko Ootsuki (すずひこ おおつき) – The "Ultimate Hitman" known as Moleman (てぇ ひきこもり) and Byakuya's older half-brother, who claims he seeks the bounty on his younger brother's head. His true identity without the influence of the Story A.I. is Minoru Oe (大江稔).
 * Sonia Nevermind (ソニア・ネヴァーマインド) – The Princess of Novoselic, the "Ultimate Princess" and member of Ultimate Despair who uses her knowledge as a board member of the Council of Global Controllers to have the other councilmen killed and knock out Byakuya to get their plan to frame him underway. She is a reoccurring antagonist with her frequent attempts to capture Byakuya while equipped with a private militia, a limo, and a mech suit designed by Kazuichi Soda. She is also responsible for arranging the orbital bombardment of the wider Czech Republic by Togami Conglomerate satellites, publicly using said attacks as an excuse to come after Byakuya personally.
 * Kazuichi Soda (左右田 和一) – The "Ultimate Mechanic" and servant of Sonia Nevermind and Ultimate Despair who sends a series of hand-made drones and automaton statues (operated by a rudimentary A.I. based on his own personality) after Byakuya in order to attack him.
 * Orvin Elevator (オーバイン エレベーター) – The Captain of the World Health Organization Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Unit, who purports to be the true Kazuya Togami (十神 数や), Byakuya's and Blue Ink's adoptive half-brother and Togami heir, who has a lightsaber grafted to prosthetic arm and romantic attraction towards his sister Shinobu, who also seeks to conquer the world as "Byakuya Togami". In the third volume, Orvin is revealed to have had a Story A.I. grafted onto his body by the Ultimate Imposter to convince him he was Kazuya.

Supporting characters

 * Sakura Ogami (大神 さくら) – The "Ultimate Martial Artist" and classmate of Byakuya's.
 * Mukuro Ikusaba (戦刃 むくろ) – The "Ultimate Soldier" and Council of Global Controllers bodyguard, who serves the will of her sister, the original Ultimate Despair.
 * Junko Enoshima (江ノ島 盾子) – The "Ultimate Fashionista" and a classmate of Byakuya's he trusts.
 * Toko Fukawa (腐川 冬子) – A classmate of Byakuya's from Hope’s Peak Academy who is obsessed with him, whose alter, Genocide Jill (ジェノサイダー翔), acts as Byakuya's bodyguard in the third volume.
 * Suisei Nanamura (七村 彗星) – An elite detective of ambiguous morals known by the media as The Fastest Passion "Allegro Agitato" (激情にして最速 "アレグロ・アジタート"), who is hired by members of the Togami family to investigate the Decapitator, assisted by Polaris P. Polanski. Nanamura was created by Takekuni Kitayama for Danganronpa Kirigiri Vol. 2 (2013).
 * K (ミラノクンデラ) – An alumnus of Hope’s Peak Academy who participated in the development of the Bible Plan and later the "Story A.I." behind Borges with the Togami family.

Volumes
Expanding on character concepts from the video games Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc and Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, the novel trilogy consists of 18 chapters, which have been collected into three tankōbon volumes,  the first of which was published in November 2015.