High school student Akamatsu Kaede is kidnapped and awakens trapped in Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles, where she meets 15 fellow students including Saihara Shuuichi. The group is abruptly accosted by a series of bear robots, known as Monokubs who expose them to a "Flashback Light," a flashlight similar to a neuralyzer. When Kaede next awakens the students, they remember having ultimate talents, with Kaede as the "Ultimate Pianist" and Shuuichi as the "Ultimate Detective". Monokuma - a robotic bear - arrives and informs the students that the only way to escape the academy is to successfully murder another student and not be voted as the culprit at the resulting trial.