Kyoko finds herself sealed within the building alongside her classmates, who are told by a robot named Monokuma that can only leave the school if they commit a murder and successfully evade conviction in the ensuing class trial.

Despite being initially distant to the cast, Kyoko befriends Makoto Naegi and they join forces to solve class trials and discover the identity of the mastermind behind the killing game.

Multiple writers enjoyed her role in the first video game, due to how she solves cases alongside Makoto while also developing the narrative.

[4] In later parts of development of the games, the characters of Leon Kuwata and Sayaka Maizono were both used to establish a base body type and height.

The development team at Spike quickly grew tired of them, however, and so they were the first characters to be killed in the final published game, with Sayaka replacing Kyoko as the first victim.

[7] In order to balance the cast, Kodaka conceived the idea of giving the students no recollection of their past at Hope's Peak Academy.

While other returning characters like Aoi Asahina and Byakuya Togami show a more caring side in the anime too, Kyoko's personality was Kodaka's favorite.

[9] Following the visual novel prequel centered around Kyoko, Kirigiri Sou, writer Kitayama Takekuni was selected as the lead much to his surprise.

[13] Glass enjoyed Kyoko's characterization in the anime due to how supportive she is to Makoto despite believing she will not survive the next time the cast falls asleep.

[15] Kyoko Kirigiri is introduced in the video game Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc as a mysterious girl trapped in the school Hope's Peak Academy.

Kyoko begins to take a central role in the story in the later chapters, when it is revealed that she has learned about the presence of a sixteenth student among the group: Mukuro Ikusaba.

Kyoko then finds a way to rescue him and return him to the group, at which point she apologizes to Makoto for prioritizing her investigation over him, and reveals she used to be called the "Ultimate Detective" (超高校級の「探偵」, Chō-kōkō-kyū no "Tantei", lit.

In the final investigation, she learns more about her father and herself as the remaining students attempt to uncover all of the school's secrets and win their freedom from the killing game.

During the final class trial, Kyoko and Makoto (alongside their classmates) confront Monokuma one last time and expose the robot as Junko Enoshima, the true mastermind of the killing game and the one behind Mukuro's death.

[18][19] Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair follows a group of sixteen high-school students who are marooned on a tropical island and forced into a killing game by Monokuma.

Despite initially suspecting that Mukuro is allied with Junko, Kyoko agrees to help her protect the wounded Makoto, eventually leading to the Killing Game's cancellation and all the students leaving the Academy in the process.

Kyoko also appears in the visual novel Kirigiri Sou where she investigates a seemingly abandoned mansion in the woods with Kouhei Matsudaira, encountering her apparent duplicate.

[29] She is the title character of the spin-off novel series Danganronpa: Kirigiri, where she, along with her friend and assistant Yui Samidare, becomes involved in a deadly game in an abandoned hotel.

[11] In the 2016 anime Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School, Kyoko and the Future Foundation enter into another Monokuma Hunter game.

Shortly afterward, Kyoko is presumably killed by the poison in her wristband as a result of her forbidden action, "passing the fourth time limit with Makoto still alive.

[38] At the end of the series, it is revealed she had survived thanks to an antidote created by one of the Remnants of Despair terrorists , which slowed the poison's effects and put her in a coma until Mikan revived her.

The Gamer listed her as the third best Danganronpa character after Makoto and Monokuma based on the mystery she initially provides in the narrative such as why she always wears gloves.

[41][42] In a popularity poll from the franchise for the collected release of Trigger Happy Havoc and Goodbye Despair, Kyoko took the fourth spot.

[44] In December 2020, Japanese fashion brand Estryllia Enhillia announced a clothing line featuring a range of dresses, accessories, and unisex clothing pieces themed around Danganronpa characters to tie in with the 10th anniversary of Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, including Toko Fukawa, Byakuya Togami, Makoto, Junko Enoshima, Monokuma and Kyoko.

[49] Comic Book Resources listed the second most intelligent character behind Izuru Kamukura, citing her popularity in the series and how she often solves cases with Makoto.

[53] On the other hand, Anime News Network praised how, despite being aware of her imminent death, Kyoko determined to comfort and assist Makoto regardless of her sacrifice.

[54] The Fandom Post was shocked by Kyoko's apparent death in the anime, finding Kizakura's sacrifice to save her in a recent episode be in vain, especially due to how the latter's character has been begged by the former's father to protect his daughter.

[56] Manga Tokyo was delighted with the fact that Kyoko actually survives in the series finale due to the negative impact her apparent death brought to Makoto during his encounter with Kyosuke Munakata.