Click for larger version (PNG); click for PDF version. Click here for the list of dolls.

Lately I’ve been reading about a game called Dangan Ronpa (which literally means “bullet rebuttal,” but no one actually calls it that), and its sequel, Super Dangan Ronpa 2. It’s been getting some buzz lately, as a fan translation group has finished a patch for it, causing an onslaught of Let’s Plays, and there is an anime version currently airing in Japan. There’s also a full Let’s Play in screenshot form.

The premise of the first game is that a group of high-school students who are all supremely talented in one area or another are imprisoned inside their school and pushed to kill each other. The description may remind you of the Hunger Games or Battle Royale, but in practice it is a murder mystery with elements of Fallout and And Then There Were None, as you try to discover the truth behind each murder, the secrets of the school and the state of the outside world.

The leader of this murderous game is a bear named Monobear, or Monokuma, depending on whose translation you like; it’s also a play on the word “monochrome” in Japanese. For Monokuma has a distinctive design: he’s a white, sweet-looking teddy bear on one side, and a black bear with a glowing red eye and a terrifying smile on the other. He’s smug, seemingly all-knowing and his laugh sounds like “Upupupu.” He’s voiced by Nobuyo Oyama, who is best known as the voice of Doraemon, a popular character from a long-running manga and TV series. In other words, for Japanese players who grew up with Doraemon, the effect is probably something like hearing Winnie the Pooh or Mickey Mouse trying to manipulate you into killing people.

Today’s dress, then, is a jaunty polka-dot pattern on one side… and creepy red Monobear eyes on the other. It doesn’t really have any relation to the game, I just thought the design would be cute and slightly unsettling.

If you want to get in on the mutual killing fun, there’s the Let’s Plays and anime I linked earlier, and if you finish those up and want to get into Super Dangan Ronpa 2, there is an ongoing Let’s Play on the Something Awful forums, where the readers follow along, making suggestions for what to do next and forming theories as the game is translated. Sometimes a paywall prevents people without SA accounts from reading the forums, so check has the sa paywall gone yet on Tumblr or just succumb to despair while the game goes on without you. Upupupu~

Let’s have a contest! The winner gets to tell me how to color one of my black and white dresses. Standard rules apply: if you won either of the two previous contests, please don’t enter and only enter once per new post. Here’s the question: What’s Milo’s favorite thing in my kitchen? (Besides the food.) Please post your answers in the comments! Edit: Lauren got it! He has a love for spoons. Lauren, please post your request in the comments!