Danganronpa 2×2 Recasts Monokuma Voice Actor
The official Danganronpa account on X shared some casting news on Friday. Danganronpa 2×2, a new version of Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair that adds an alternate scenario, has cast Wasabi Mizuta as the voice of Monokuma. She steps into the role following the passing of Nobuyo Ōyama.
Ōyama died in September 2024 at the age of 90. Many fans will know her as the original voice of the title character in Doraemon, a part Mizuta took over from her back in 2005, so this new casting carries a gentle sense of continuity.
Danganronpa 2×2 is planned for 2026 on Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC through Steam. Alongside the familiar story, it promises a fresh alternate path with different victims, which should give returning players a reason to revisit the island.
For anyone new to it, Goodbye Despair drops a class of Hope’s Peak Academy students onto a sunny island that is meant to be a relaxing school trip. That calm does not last, since Monokuma soon appears and restarts his deadly game, leaving the students to untangle the island’s mysteries if they want to escape.
The original game first arrived in July 2012 on PlayStation Portable in Japan, followed by a PlayStation Vita release in Japan in October 2013 and in the West in September 2014. It has seen several ports since, including the Danganronpa Decadence collection that came to Switch as a physical release in North America and Europe in December 2021.
My take: Recasting a beloved character is never easy, but handing Monokuma to the same actress who carried on Doraemon feels right. I hope longtime fans give her a warm welcome.
