15 humans and 17 ponies?

@RIG  

 
You ask me, it was a refresher to have the main character’s ‘love interest’ get killed off so quick and prevent the whole stereotype of love interest surviving because love interest.

NEWS ALERT!
 
J-dub Sunsecchan is Ibuki Mioda!

And then everyone dies.

@RIG  
Dang it, if I was there when you asked, I would’ve told you to watch the case 1 trial walkthrough on youtube of the game so you can see the game’s real appeal of the series and that is how the trials play out. I only watch the trial parts of the series and that got me hooked on it ever since.
 
But the gist of the trial gameplay is this: when a debate starts in the trial, which is the equivalent of Ace Attorney’s testimony, you’ll be given “evidence ammunition” that lets you pick out one of the evidence given to you so you can “shoot out” a contradiction said by one of the students which are marked in gold and just like Phoenix Wright there’s only one right evidence and contradiction you have to “shoot” in order to proceed in the game.  
More Details (if you want read any more): What makes it fun, is that every sentence said by the students float around the screen while any contradiction has the words marked in gold. You have to shoot the gold words before they disappear if you think they’re the right contradiction to object to. If they disappear before you can shoot them, you can wait until the debate starts over and repeats itself so you can try again. It’ll be a good thing too ‘cause you might get a hint on the right contradiction and evidence to look for. However you can’t do it for long as you have a time limit, which is generously enough for normal mode, to spot out the right contradiction or you’ll automatically fail (but at least you’ll be ask to try again before anything bad happens, which is just Monokuma laughing at you while the screen simply turns red if you say no and that’s simply it). But the good news is that you’ll have “powers” (not actually real powers, but normal gaming powers) to affect the time, like slow it down so you can shoot the contradiction for example.  
Another thing about the trial gameplay as when it gets tougher later in the game you can use other people’s gold words to shatter the real contradiction if the evidence the game gives you isn’t enough (and luckily the main character will point that out as a hint). Also if you get “hurt”/penalties in the game you can restore it by answering multiple choice questions in there to restore it. The last two parts of the trial are one of the best parts of the trial. Once you finally figured things out you’ll a do closing argument that is told in the perspective of a manga style comic after you put the right panels in the right places. After this is done you’ll do a “final battle” with the culprit and defend yourself from their crazy objections and once you exhausted their “health” you’ll deliver the final blow with conclusive evidence that’ll nail the culprit so hard that they can’t object anymore.
 
And that’s pretty much the exciting parts of the class trial. I doubt everything I wrote will do anything good after such a long time, but I’ll still implore you to watch the class trial gameplay of the game or at least 30 minutes of it so at least you can see the another part of the reason why this series is so well liked.

@Miss Shy  
Oh snap those executions are just fitting.

Also if I may go anime version on this.
 
Rainbow Dash killed Pinkie on accident when Pinkie tried to frame Twilight to get out to see what happened to her family, then Rarity died by attacking the headmaster. Rainbow Dash is executed by having her wings painfully ripped from her body while running on a treadmill until she dies of blood loss or exhaustion.  
They learned of the infamous serial killer Genocider Satan, and they worried about who he could be. Luna and Spitfire become close friends, constantly calling each other nicknames and being as close as two mares can get. Then Spitfire murders Fluttershy on impulse because she was jealous of how forgiving she was to everyone who was mean to her. Everyone is convinced it was Genocider Satan, who is revealed to be Sunset Shimmer’s alternate personality, but this is merely a setup by Trixie. Spitfire is then executed by being strapped to a rocket, and exploding like a firework.  
After Fluttershy died, it is revealed that she has been harboring a single animal, a parrot that can actually understand and talk to them, the parrot goes and tries to discover the secrets of their prison while trying not to get caught. Both Luna and the CMC are enamored by it, as it can give a perfect impression of Luna’s friend, Spitfire. Celestia convinced the crusaders to kill Luna before swiftly backstabbing them all, trying to frame Vinyl for it. it is revealed that Celestia is actually just a common mare who just wanted to be royalty. She is She is set up to be sent to the sun by rocket like Spitfire, but is suddenly turned into glue. It is also revealed that there is a traitor among the ponies working with the headmaster.  
Now down to seven, they reveal that Applejack’s best friend Cadance is the traitor, and she is ordered by the headmaster to kill, or her crystal empire is destroyed. She chooses her own life, but Applejack is determined to take the blame, even after Vinyl, Trixie, and Sunset were accused. However, Twilight Sparkle and Octavia are able to shine a light on the truth behind the death, and reveal that Cadance did in fact commit suicide. However, with no one to punish, the headmaster decides to execute the parrot instead. Late at night, Octavia reveals the identity of the extra student in their prison: Shining Armor.  
Shining Armor’s body is assumed to be found, but when the remaining six try to investigate, the body blows up, leaving only a white horn behind. The headmaster says that Shining Armor was murdered by a student, and they have another trial. After going around in circles about whether the culprit is Octavia or Twilight, Twilight states there is something odd about this trial, and is promptly sent off to her execution. However, at the very last second, one of the parrot’s feathers stops the machine, allowing her to escape.  
The final six. The headmaster reveals if they can reveal all the secrets about the school, who killed Shining Armor, and who the mastermind is, they can go free. After investigation and questioning, they reveal the truth at the trial. Shining Armor was there at the beginning, disguised as another white unicorn: Rarity! This means that Rarity is the mastermind behind the whole thing. Grinning evilly, Rarity reveals herself, saying she only wanted to make all of Equestria love her or despair. However, through the power of hope and friendship, Twilight, Octavia, Vinyl, Applejack, Sunset, and Trixie send Rarity off to death and escape, looking for new hope and new friends.

@Roy-of-Asturia  
Sakura is known as the Ultimate Martial Artist. I would say she would dominate Saddle Rager because if you interact with her during Free Time Mode, she mentioned that she has beaten everyone but one opponent in the world and martial art isn’t just about pure strength from what she said.
 
The only opponent to ever beat her she admitted was no other than Kenshiro from Fist Of The North Star. Don’t believe me? I got proof. ;)

@Yukimazan  
Oh, and to support BP’s comment, what if Saddle Rager (episode Power Ponies) faces off against Sakura Ōgami, the one with muscles?

@Vree  
Well the executions are even as horrifying as the victims. One character in Dangan Ronpa 2 is executed by getting deep fried in lava like chicken.
 
@Background Pony #0936  
Thank you so much for compiling that. I can see why there’s pics of Twilight as Toko.

Some facts:  
Twilight Sparkle => Miyuki Sawashiro (沢城 みゆき) <= Tōko Fukawa / Genocider Shō  
Snails (not shown) => Akira Ishida (石田 彰) <= Byakuya Togami  
Snips (not shown) => Kappei Yamaguchi (山口 勝平) <= Hifumi Yamada, the fat guy
 
Pinkie Pie => Suzuko Mimori (三森 すずこ) <= Hiyoko Saionji (Super Dangan Ronpa 2)

So I guess Twilight,Trixie,Sunset,Vinyl,Applejack and Octavia were the survivors. I’m cool with that.

Meh. A bunch of people killing each other in order to survive? Where I come from, that’s called “Detroit.”

@Yukimazan  
sounds like the kind of trash Saw fans would be into
 
I took a quick glance and was all like “what is this anime sh@t? xD this is not even remotely serious!”  
it’s just some animu with murder p0rn, give it to Higurashi/Chobits fans quick xD  
(well, more like H/C for boys)

@RIG  
Except they’re motives. And some of the motives in the later games would be more sympathetic as well all because of Monokuma playing god and torturing them through mind games and all. We’re dealing with normal humans being forced to kill each all due to Monokuma for the sake of one thing he desires:
 
Despair. Simply spreading despair everywhere. Nothing else.

>you get the chance to talk and connect with someone who could die the next morning.  
and this is exactly why i hate this series, i don’t want to connect with a character just to see it die over stupid BS.

@RIG  
I don’t suggest watching the anime since it pretty much dwindles or minimizes most of the game’s story pace. It’s best you watch the walkthrough instead. There’s 2 Dangan Ronpa games for now so you could watch the sequel which IMO is better than the first title. I’m not forcing you to watch it but the game does greater story telling compared to the anime. (Sorry for my long statement)
 
If you love mystery games like Ace Attorney, Dangan Ronpa has a top notch story telling and great character relationships and development. Another reason would be the game itself which like I said, is like Ace Attorney but it does more than just presenting evidence and shouting objections. Plus, the characters themselves are more unique and memorable unlike most generic anime looking characters.
 
So to put it simply, it’s as amazing as Ace Attorney (even if I repeated that a couple of times already).

@RIG  
Because when playing the game, you get the chance to talk and connect with someone who could die the next morning. You’re stuck with a bunch of potential killers who all want to get out, and the only way is murder. These are high school students so desperate, so hopeless, that they’re willing to murder to get what they want, and you have to prove they did it, or else risk execution. However, when you do convict the real killer of the crime, you have to see them get executed instead.
 
And yes, they do get killed for nothing. There’s no reason for them to die, but they did.
 
It’s all so pointless, so ugly, so…despairing…

@Yukimazan  
sorry, is already ruined for me, my friend showed me the first episode of the anime and as soon i saw the girl getting killed in no time i when “nope, fuck this”.  
I know what is the series is about, my question is how people can like it.

@RIG  
Basically, Dangan Ronpa is a game series which pretty much plays like Ace Attorney but more fast paced and variety. A group of students with “Ultimate Talents” are invited to Hope Peak Academy only to end up being victims to a game of murdering each other by Monokuma in order to escape. At first, they all don’t want to kill each other but every time Monokuma brings up a motive, a murder is bound to happen. What makes it terrifying for them is that if they don’t find the correct murderer, everyone but the murderer will be executed. And the executions are totally fitting to the murderers’ nature or talent.
 
I suggest watching a playthrough of Dangan Ronpa by justonegamr. Trust me, the stories and characters along with the gameplay are as flawless as Ace Attorney. Even the music.

explain me what is the appeal of this series, characters get killed like nothing…