Kazutaka Kodaka jokes that Danganronpa is basically “a game like Magical Girl Witch Trials,” says he’s unsure which one came first
"Which one came first, again?"
Japanese game magazine Famitsu hosted its Famitsu 40th Anniversary Festival on November 7 in Akihabara, Tokyo. To celebrate the big milestone, the publication invited several notable figures from the game industry to participate in panel discussions, and some of these discussions were streamed on Famitsu’s official YouTube channel.
Notably, game creators Kazutaka Kodaka, Shohei Sakakibara and voice actress Megumi Ogata came together for a talk event about Danganronpa 2×2, an upcoming remake and retelling of Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, set to release in January 2027. This time, Kodaka is involved with the game as a supervisor and concept creator, while Sakakibara has taken on the role of producer. Megumi Ogata will be reprising her role in as Nagito Komaeda.
The three introduced the new title to the audience, talked about its development, and also revealed some new details about the game that had been kept under wraps until now. However, it would not be a Kodaka talk event without a good dose of Kodaka’s slightly chaotic antics, and this time, one of his comments ended up going viral on the Japanese side of X.
After giving a brief overview of the key elements of the Danganronpa series, Kodaka wrapped up his introduction with a surprising remark: “To put it even more simply, it’s a game like Magical Girl Witch Trials,” prompting reactions from both the audience and his colleagues. “Which one came out first, again? I can feel the space-time continuum warping,” he joked.
The statement sparked quite a few reactions online because of how “unexpected” it was, and also because it’s quite rare to see a creator of a hugely influential cult-classic namedrop a newer title that obviously draws inspiration from it. How to interpret it, though, is entirely up to the reader. On the other hand, this has left fans hoping for a Magical Girl Witch Trials reference in some future Danganronpa title (or even an official collab), though knowing Kodaka, it’s a possibility that can’t be completely ruled out.
For the uninitiated, Magical Girl Witch Trials is a visual novel following the story of 13 magic-wielding girls who have “the potential to turn into witches.” As their magic grows stronger and their minds get filled with murderous thoughts, the girls get caught up in a death game, and are forced to participate in cruel witch trials to fish out the murderers from the group.
While most of it is read like a classic visual novel, the gameplay part of the title features trials where you have to debunk the statements of other girls, present evidence, and uncover the truth. The way witch trials are presented, including the circular courtroom, the gameplay mechanics, and the mystery/death game concept, have drawn many comparisons to Danganronpa’s gameplay.
Despite being developed on a much smaller scale, the game managed to garner a huge fanbase, selling over 700k units in about a year since launch. Considering that the latest mainline title in the Danganronpa series released almost 10 years ago, Magical Girl Witch Trials was the first ever death game murder mystery visual novel for many newcomers to the genre. Some gamers even said that playing Magical Girl Witch Trials was what motivated them to get into the Danganronpa series. So, the fact that Kodaka has acknowledged the title could be interpreted as a testament to just how big the title has actually become.
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