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Is anybody planning to buy the Milgram scripts? If I'm reading right they'll only be available until the end of the month.

Maybe we could gather funds between several fans, and whoever gets it scans it for everyone else?

#I have zero experience with shipping services myself tho #I just think it'd be a shame for them to be lost since they have narration #Apparently they also include the videos #which might mean that we've got descriptions for them? That'd be very valuable when it comes to interpreting them. #milgram

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I picked Fuuta because it'd be trivial to lead him into a secluded area for anyone not named Kazui and maybe Kotoko (and those two already have the upper hand against him anyways). Just go "Oh, I'm so scared Fuuta, anybody could be a killer! >_< Could I rely on a brave and strong man like you to lead me to my room safely? I know a shortcut!" and boom, done.

I also think he'd be a lot of fun as a protagonist, though. Tired of bland shrinking violets? Here's a guy with enough attitude for the entire series! And he already fits the role of "dude who wants to unite the group against their kidnapper and prevent further tragedy" in canon. I think there should be at least one button-mashing minigame that's entirely about making Fuuta calm down enough that he can start doing the actual detectiving.

I always saw Mahiru as more first killer material. She's the nice character that looks like they're gonna be your pal for the rest of the game and then WHOOPS. Plus she canonically looked at Kotoko almost killing her and said "Oh, yeah, I'd do the same for love. Murder is okay if it's for something you really care about.", so she'd go for basically any motive involving her boyfriend. All the more so if she doesn't remember him, if you ask me.

Here's the context for what I'm about to ask So in a Danganronpa setting, between the ten Milgram prisoners

#TBH I've put entirely too much thought into a Danganronpa AU considering I don't even particularly like DR #But I suck at making murder mysteries. And a lot of the prisoner's characterization feels weird if you make them world-renowned geniuses #I did come up with a few talents I like though! Mikoto is the Ultimate Hard Worker #which is a nice way of saying he's more willing to hurt and degrade himself for a goal than anyone else #without even being good enough at said goal that gets to be Ultimate of THAT. And he can't ever quit because then he's not even an Ultimate #Mahiru is the Ultimate Wedding Planner #and Haruka is the Ultimate Abstract Artist. Half the world looks at his work and sees pure genius #the other half says “my kid could've drawn that!” #You can imagine how stable that makes his self-esteem #milgram #danganronpa

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I know we're too early into Milgram's "so are the prisoners dead or not?" plotline for this, but since it looks like they're doing death-themed illustration for the fourth anniversary, you know what would be really cool?

The Milgram version of this Kagerou Project image:

Slightly spoilery KagePro context:

In KagePro all the main characters died and came back to life. The X-rays show the cause of death.

#Even the background reminds me of Undercover #I think paralleling the Undercover shots of them killing Es/their victims is more likely if they decide to pull something like this #But honestly those aren't very pretty. It's all black and red with barely any gradients... Just undetailed silhouettes... #I know that's the idea but still. #This image is so charming yet eerie. Each pose has so much character! And for half of them it's “Teehee look at my horrible wounds” #That's exactly how Yuno and Mahiru would do it tbh. I'd like to say Mikoto too but in official art he always looks confused. Maybe T2 Muu #milgram

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So a lot of people have been commenting how the shadows in the 4th anniversary's image looks like prison bars, and that's probably not unintentional but my first thought was actually a kujira-maku, which is a kind of curtain used in funerals.

Coupled with the fact that Japanese media generally shows corpses in their coffins laying atop a bed of flowers, and that white flowers in particular are associated with death and mourning... RIP.

#Honestly tho I think this is totally neutral as to whether anyone is going to become “lost” this season #Like with the novels and Yuno's VD they already raised the possibility of at least some of the prisoners being dead from the start #To me the biggest question is who. “All of them” is the easy answer but they didn't do it like that in the novels so ?? #Man can you imagine how devastated John would be if he learned that Mikoto killed himself and he never knew #WHAT IF THAT SHOT OF FUUTA PHOTOGRAPHING A HOME WITH A FUNERAL LANTERN THROUGH HIS WEIRDLY TRANSPARENT HAND #IS ACTUALLY HIS OWN HOUSE AND NOT KILLCHEROY'S #milgram

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See, I do think this plays into it but also there's a very clear thread running even outside the MVs that Fuuta=dumb, brutish, weak, and Kotoko=smart, compassionate, strong. I'd say it's very much authorial intent for people to perceive them this way.

I don't want to drop a whole essay here but here's an example: the very first onscreen action of both Fuuta and Kotoko is to attack somebody to stop them from hurting somebody else.

But Kotoko attacks a character that's been set up to be as evil and uncontrollable as possible, while Fuuta attacks the audience insert/protagonist. And not only is he attacking a child (evil!), he fails at it (weak!) and is quickly shown to be afraid of them (pathetic!), something that gets repeated several times through the interrogation. You know what doesn't get repeated, though? The fact that Fuuta was doing it to protect Yuno. That gets kind of glossed over in a single sentence, while in Kotoko's VD her rescue comes up in the first five lines and again later.

But it doesn't even matter, because long before we even meet Fuuta, we know that 1) Yuno didn't actually get beaten horribly like she claimed, 2) She wouldn't mind it even if she had been, and 3) She actually came out of the interrogation smiling. And of course, Kotoko's rescue a lot more immediate than teaching a lesson to Es about violence would've been, even if it had worked.

So basically the first we see is Fuuta being the first prisoner to attempt violence, for an unjustified cause, and being repeteadly mocked by Es for it after he was unable to do even that much. Meanwhile Kotoko is shown as the only reason Es is still alive, cooperative, highly perceptive in her theories about Milgram, compassionate ("You don't have to be just an executioner"), educated (compare the references to Japanese law in the two VDs), and just all-around great.

This goes beyond how the characters may or may not think of themselves. You could say it's still an extension of their personalities, but I think this point is more interesting from a meta perspective. You have a character whose first impression is Twitter User (/Neg) and another character who's somewhere between Batman with Girl Power and The Mom you Wished you Had, then the latter turns out to be much, much worse. But the important thing is that they still keep their overall vibes the same.

Fuuta in the second trial still has a video that shows him as a sadistic attacker, while showing his victim as cowering, choking and finally crumbling to ashes. He still ends his voice drama with Es having the last word on him not really feeling bad for his victim, and Fuuta screaming that he's going to kill Es.

Meanwhile Deep Cover still doesn't show Kotoko actually landing a blow on anyone, or even aiming one this time. All she destroys are faceless stone pieces covered in rainbow fluid. Sure, that wolf looks scary at the end, but the worst thing she's actually shown doing? Glaring at the little girl.

And it's very interesting that every accusation that Fuuta throws at Es, that they angrily reject or half-heartedly consider might be true? When Kotoko says them, Es is a lot quicker to agree completely, to the point they almost decide to hand over their authority. They say it outright: Kotoko is right. Kotoko is strong and they're weak. Kotoko embodies Milgram's ideals and they're a flawed warden. That's the last word we're left with regarding Kotoko, before Es moves onto their own feelings about Milgram.

So, even after Kotoko tries to kill half the prison, she's still shown as more persuasive and has more emphasis placed on her protective side than Fuuta.

Now, she's of course in better state of mind (and body) to present herself convicingly... but I don't believe this is a coincidence.

Kotoko always had a "final boss" feeling to her, being, as Es says, the embodiment of Milgram's ideals. For that to work she needs the audience's respect, they need to feel challenged by her, they need to see the appeal of her ideology even if they reject it.

That's why she would never be reduced to the same pathetic, easily-dismissed state as Fuuta (and I'm talking in general, not just T2), if for no other reason than that Fuuta already exists to provide that contrast. The twist isn't that Kotoko has turned into a power-tripping hypocrite like him, but that she always was. We just weren't paying enough attention to see it, or perhaps we didn't want to.

Have you ever noticed how Fuuta gets depicted as physically violent much more easily than Kotoko?

This is a visual metaphor for sending mean tweets.

This is a visual metaphor for beating somebody to death with your bare hands.

This is a man who needs to psych himself up for several minutes before he can throw a punch.

This is a woman who dropped out of college so she'd have more time to assault people on the streets.

#There's a lot to be said in how Kotoko/Fuuta isn't only depicted as good/evil but also (perhaps even mainly) cool/uncool #Kotoko is somebody you can project your fantasies into. Fuuta is a loser and has been since the word go. #And with the whole “just leave everything in my care and stop thinking” thing in Kotoko's new VD I really think it's meta-commentary #Sorry if getting a ton of paragraphs in response to a single sentence was a bit much. #I realize you weren't arguing that no meta reason for this could exist‚ simply making an observation. I just used it as a jump-off point #for my others thoughts and got a bit carried away. “I don't want to drop a whole essay here” <- This_is_the_taste_of_a_liar.jpg #essay #milgram #kotoko yuzuriha #fuuta kajiyama

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Have you ever noticed how Fuuta gets depicted as physically violent much more easily than Kotoko?

This is a visual metaphor for sending mean tweets.

This is a visual metaphor for beating somebody to death with your bare hands.

This is a man who needs to psych himself up for several minutes before he can throw a punch.

This is a woman who dropped out of college so she'd have more time to assault people on the streets.

#I have a partial first draft of a muuuch longer post analyzing this further in the context of why in T1 Kotoko got inno and Fuuta got guilty #But no promises on when or if it'll come out #So have the bite-sized version #milgram #fuuta kajiyama #kotoko yuzuriha

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I'm surprised too! I mean, I'm a Mikoto innoer 5evah and I voted that way here, but honestly if you asked which condemnation worked better, Fuuta's or Mikoto's, to me the answer is obviously the latter. A guilty Mikoto convinced John that the murders were causing more harm than good, while guilty Fuuta got recruited into a death cult and lost an eye. I'm guessing it's a mix of people that don't go chasing down the app conversations who don't realize the cult thing is happening at all and people thinking that if Fuuta got T1 inno he'd have helped out Kotoko in her attacks (which imo doesn't work for either of their characters, but that's for another post)

Also I totally understand why Amane and Mahiru are so high up, but I think they were always going to get 1 guilty and 1 inno just because of the type of character they are, so I find this order more interesting than the expected "Awww, a little guy! ...Wait, they're a little fucked up" sequence.

... I'm pretty sure Fuuta is also the kind of person who'd have 100% gotten a guilty in the second trial if he got inno in the first, come to think of it. The only one with a chance for a double inno is probably Mikoto, since if you can forgive him as shown in MeMe you can almost certainly forgive him in Double... But then again, by design he never really had a chance at a T1 inno, so the conversation around him would have to so different from what actually happened that it's kinda impossible to predict what'd follow.

hi milgram tag. how r you liking my silly questions

this one comes in a pair! look out for the other post :) anyways, out of the four guilty prisoners in trial 1, who would you change the vote of? This is negating all information gained in trial 2, such as what happens in between trials and how they act in the current trial. Just focus on t1. Who do you disagree with the guilty vote of the most?

adding a poll for those who dont like reblogging but please do rb/reply with who+reason im interested to know!!!!!

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And one from 'WHY YOU ARE LONELY' because nothing in ANGRY really fit Shidou (but still using the original prompt):

#milgram #Most of the scenes are supposed to match with the text but for some I picked them just for the expression #Like Haruka's is more about his T2 VD but finding shots of him looking angry is hard #And Kotoko was supposed to be her looking at her computer (because why on earth are you still so angry at that bike counterfeiter) #but she looked more mildly annoyed/disdainful than angry #For Shidou I wanted to use the “I'll just ignore Amane until she stops being so spoiled” portal convo but text on text is distracting #Would you believe me that there are no MV shots of Fuuta looking angry? He's either smiling‚ terrified or neutral

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Lots of people asking what happens to the queen, and as far as I can tell the queen(s) are not targeted by the caterpillar at all! In fact, they're one of the biggest threats to it. Even if they fail to notice that it's a parasite, there's a good chance they'll think it's an ant larva trying to develop into a queen, something they Do Not Like. The royal punishment is beatings and starvation until the pretender's genes give up and turn her into a worker instead.

So the caterpillar must pretend to be a queen in front of the workers and a worker in front of the queen, which I think makes this whole thing a great inspiration for comedy as well as horror. Her Royal Highness walks in and Large Blue (currently Small Pink) has to quickly fling her crown into the couch cushions and pretend she knows how a hoe works instead.

Apparently this kind of ants hibernates in winter, which makes me wonder if the butterfly's early-spring emergence is actually a tense escape sequence where Large Blue (now for real) must find her way back outside before the guards wake up and the gig is very lethally up.

#“Are you our queen?” are you a cop #Info sourced from Wikipedia so take it with a grain of salt #bugs #ants #animal death #butterflies #animals #parasites #caterpillar

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It looks like one of Mikoto's theme is 'honesty', and it's pretty interesting considering that the other two members of the smoker trio have lies as a motif.

#Of course it's also not quite as straightforward as “Mikoto/Boku always tells the truth and Shidou and Kazui lie” #All three get called out on faking things by Yuno or Mahiru. And what Yuno says about Kazui lying to protect himself also fits Boku to a te #milgram #mikoto kayano

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My Mikoto playlist, for all your waiting for Double needs.

A Sleepwalker On This Mortal Shore/A Sleepwalker Gazing on Nirvana, by Hello Tanita-san/Tatsuya Kitani. (Self-cover)

Fun fact, the animation for this one was made by Mana Inoue, same person who did the PV for Weakness, How To Be in Love With You and Bring it On! You can definitely see the similarities with the first two, with the use of photographs 'glued' to 2D drawings. This one pushes the body horror a fair bit further, though. Be prepared for writhing brains made of realistic human fingers and such. (Also, the vocaloid version's CC subs has a mistake at 2:23)

OP by Hachiya Nanashi

Flight Instinct by Last Note

Run! by Polysics

Opening from Cells at Work Black, in which your average overworked salaryman's body is depicted as a 'black company' in miniature where their cells must struggle not so much to fix things as to just postpone the inevitable for another day, growing increasingly desperate and despondent all the while. IIRC, things got bad enough that the English version of the last few manga volumes shipped with suicide hotline numbers in the back.

Somehow still the cheeriest song in here.

Disordered Self-restraint Girl by otetsu (Note: flashing lights)

There's Supposed to be a Cheat Code for Happiness by UtataP

Ceremony Day and Manhole by Polyphonic Branch

Walk Tall and Die by TadanoCo/4o

You might know this one from the Eve cover, which has more views than the original. I really enjoyed the lyrics, both individual lines and as a whole. It's quite nice how they go from harsh and frustrated to softer as the song goes on.

There Was No Savior by YASUHIRO (Translation)

Disqualified Town by Yonaka

Fun fact: I picked this song before Mikoto's T2 cover got announced, so the fact that MV shows Miku wearing a gas mask is 100% a coincidence.

On An Empty Morning by kemu (Utaite ver.) (Translation)

I really like this song because the tone changes a lot depending on your interpretation. Does the calm tune represent the singer at long last achieving peace after terrible pain, leading a life that's mundane and sometimes difficult but ultimately worthwhile? Or have they just sunk into apathy, emotionlessly sacrificing other people just to continue their empty lifestyle, having so little concept of happiness that they actually think they're fulfilled by this?

Both options are pretty interesting. And well, in the context of Mikoto's crime, "I take someone’s fleeting future and use it as a stepping stone" takes on a new meaning.

I Hear the Sound of Someone Else's Business by Ame no MurakumoP (Translation)

I linked to a fan PV that honestly deserves more attention (less than 30 views, seriously!?). The PV uses a lot of white and dark blue, but I don't think it switches fast enough to require a flashing lights warning? The official upload uses a still image, if it helps.

Synesthesia Ghost by Nekobolo/sasanomaly

La Mersonnalité by Misato Kurematsu

Don’t Carry Our Memories Away by rinri (EMA ver.) (Translation)

The EMA cover isn't official or anything, but it's my favorite version so I'm gonna link it too. The original does have the advantage of having Mikoto Meika singing it, though.

It's kind of interesting how different the illustrations for the original and the cover feel: in the original we see the boy smiling desperately wide as he faces towards the shore, like he's reassuring somebody watching. Meanwhile in the cover he looks indifferent or perhaps annoyed, but for the last chorus he turns around fully and splashes around as if inviting you to follow him.

Childhood by MushiP

The Good Child and the Fox by Kikou

Silver Warp by YUUKI MIYAKE/Napoli-P (Utaite ver.) (Translation)

I was going to write about how Ore would be the brother that gets caught when escaping and is implied to stab his parents, while Boku is the one that gets away... and then I noticed the funerary portrait at the end. Just pretend it isn't there, I guess Or take it metaphorically.

The Full-Throttle Abscondence. by Pekoro

Delusion Girl by Touyu

This playlist is mostly based on Boku, but I see this song as being about both alters. The whole "crushing despair of normalcy" part being obviously Boku, and the desire to save somebody to justify your own existence being Ore. I think that if Fuuta were a bit older this song would fit him pretty well too.

Hide and Seek -reprise- by BuzzG (Translation)

Magician In Love by Koyori

Imposter Advisory by 150p (Utaite ver.) (Alternate translation) (Note: flashing lights)

Perfect Crime Love Letter by 150p (Utaite ver. + alternate translation) (Note: flashing lights)

Red is Scary by Iyowa (Translation)

Cyber Thunder Cider by EZFG

It Takes 3 Minutes to Listen to a 3 Minute Song by Owata-P

There's No One Who's Bad at Art by Suttaka

Love, Me Normally by Will Wood (Lyrics)

Dense Forest of Morals by OPA (Translation)

I'm Controversial by Ado (Note: flashing lights)

Fraulein=Biblioteca by nyanyannya

I'm imagining this one being sung by Es, or at least Mikoto's impression of Es (kind of like the shadow Es from Backdraft). I think in a way it fits all the guilty prisoners, but the lines about sleep talk and "I'll make you remember your sins" make it even better for Mikoto especifically.

No.4 THE EMPEROR by Owata-P (Translation)

I Can't (Mar)read the Situation by CosMo

This one is more of a "How Mikoto views the world" song than one strictly about Mikoto. Don't neglect your social skills in favor of your true self or you will be doomed to a life of envy, regret and isolation. Also the Earth will explode. Truly a sobering reminder.

A Lethargic Coup d'état by Last Note

The Taste of Cockroach by Maretu

Most people would probably think of this one as a Fuuta or Muu song, and I do agree (more Muu than Fuuta imo). But honestly, while Mikoto would never start a bullying campaign, I can totally see him as a bystander, the kind of person who insist that everyone should just talk it out and then everything will be fine. Of course, we still don't know what caused his murder, only that apparently being kidnapped was an improvement. So you could also view him as the victim, which gives new meaning to those weird lines in the middle of the song that really don't sound like they're from the same person as the rest...

But mostly, I added this song for the "shadows lurking under the light/denial" angle, which is theme for the last section of the playlist. I don't really know enough about music to sort it by genre/sound similarities, so I organized it by themes! Or at least I tried to put similar songs together so they'd "flow" into each other.

Everything is an Illusion by Pongini (Translation in the replies of the pinned comment)

I Look Up as I Deliver by POLYSICS (Alternate translation)

The ending for Cells at Work Black. Fun fact, this song's name is most likely based on I Look Up as I Walk AKA Sukiyaki.

#milgram #mikoto kayano

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The Purge March translation trivia

One thing I noticed is that between the trailer and Purge March's actual release, the chorus got reworded to sound considerably more lofty and literary. Deny vs disavow, "nary a sound", "eyes corrupted", that sort of thing. This goes even further for the rules section, which starts slinging around 'tis and thou.

And the thing is, this is not really the case in the original Japanese. The grammar isn't particularly archaic, nor is the word choice unusually complicated. But there is one line that stands out for something along those lines. Wanna know which one?

It's one of the last lines, translated as "You're sorry? I don't care!". Put literally, it'd be something like "Even if you apologize, bleh!" What's "bleh" supposed to mean, you ask? Well, it's the onomatopeia for the gesture of pulling your eyelid down and sticking your tongue out, sometimes blowing a raspberry for good measure. Not the most dignified behavior, is it?

And, you know, I actually want to focus on the last three lines more, because I think it's an interesting example of how a small change can make for a big shift. As a refresher, this is the official translation of the end of The Purge March:

"After you cry, repent, and kneel, it’s now your turn to say that hopeless 'I’m sorry' You’re sorry? I don’t care! Please, go ahead and die already. Remember MY cries, MY repents, MY words of “I’m sorry” that I said to you?"

Let's start with the first line. Translating it myself, I'd render it as "After you cry, repent and kneel, try and say 'I'm sorry'". As we can see, there's no implication that this happened to Amane first, and the word "hopeless" is not present either.

But this is actually the second time this particular line shows up. The first time time is right after the trailer part. You know, "these scum saying it can't be helped is unforgivable, let's crush their eyes and throat so they'll stop"?

Now this is my interpretation, but talking about how awful "they" (AKA, you) are and how they're going to be punished horribly and following it with a request (okay, order) for an apology… kind of makes it sound like redemption is possible? If it was just about getting rid of a worthless heretic, who cares if they apologize?

And sure, this redemption doesn't sound very pleasant! But then again, it never was for Amane, was it? That's probably part and parcel of "purification", to her. She did said that "they" would forgive our trespasses if we reflected and corrected our behavior, after all. And the lyrics right after this are "If you become a bad girl, monsters will come out. This is the magic that stops that from happening". The first stanza of Magic already told us what the magic word is: "Sorry." Taking all this into account, isn't it possible that this is intended a very, very tough love?

The stanza leading up to the second chorus also goes along similar lines. She says she doesn't need it/you anymore, if you're going to break your promise. She'll tear you apart, as punishment (though that word got skipped in the translation). She'll deal back what you gave her, so that this won't happen again. It's extremely aggresive, but the constant refrain is that this is deserved and will set everything right. Everything, perhaps including you. It seems like there's a small, faint ray of hope peeking through the clouds…

And that's where the twist in last two lines come in. You thought you could maybe worm your way into the light? Nope, she's already decided that you're done for! And this also marks a transition in the lyrics, from Amane as the avenging angel of justice she's been the entire song, to Amane as an imperfect human who, once upon a time, also had to cry, repent and kneel down. But that's not going to save you now.

That contrast doesn't exist if we already know that Amane tried and failed, nor does the implication that forgiveness is possible. Now, you could say that "scum that can't be helped" already foreshadows that they/you are supposed to be beyond salvation, but it gets a lot less focus than the "say you're sorry" line, much easier to gloss over as a simple play on words. So I still think that the last stanza is supposed to be unexpected, especially considering that it happens only fifteen seconds before the end of the song and has Amane dropping the singing for extra emphasis.

That's more or less all I have to say about the song itself, but I'd like to double back on something I glossed over. Now, maybe your ears perked up when I said that the original lyrics include the word "punishment", but I should note that this is not the same word as the tagline "Doubt your punishment", nor the one Kotoko uses (in her voicelines, at least). For that matter, the next sentence doesn't actually say "judgement" either (though it does appear in the intro), so it doesn't seem like this stanza is supposed to be a call-back to Milgram in particular, at least no more so than the rest of the song. It's not the same one as in Amane's T2 VD either, that one's more like "retaliation" or "revenge".

However! You know what word is shaping up to be pretty important? It's right there in the title: purge!

So far we've seen it in three places, not counting voice dramas or app convos: one is of course The Purge March. The other two are Kotoko's second glitch line ("Purge complete. These are your just desserts") and the very first page of the manga, where Es narrates "This is a purge" over a corpse.

I assume Es says the same in the novel, but as I don't have the original text I cannot confirm. Either way, that scene wasn't originally a flash-forward, so isn't it interesting that they chose that line to be the very first thing you see when you open the volume, even putting it above the title? I suspect we'll be seeing it a lot more in the future as we unravel Milgram's mysteries. The word "lost", as well.

#milgram #amane momose

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#There's way too many things coming out in less than a week. #Shidou's birthday! The last of the written interrogations! Emergency broadcast! DOUBLE! #milgram

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The idea that Mikoto must've murdered a lot of people because he seems so calm and practiced frankly confuses me. His actual level of skill in not getting caught was around the level of Muu's, who was literally not even trying. Possibly worse, to be honest.

For starters, train station with the trains still running is a pretty terrible place to commit a crime. People have to commute home, so it's one of the few places that will draw people even late-ish at night. Not only that, but they have surveilance cameras, some of which broadcast online 24/7, which is kind of a strong demerit when you're looking for a place to kill somebody.

He also didn't do anything to hide his identity, like wearing a mask or using gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints. His hair is pretty distinctive and the beanie doesn't hide it at all. (Contrast with Kotoko hiding her face, wearing men's shoes and confronting her victim in a side alley. So these things were most likely on the writer's mind.)

Speaking of the beanie, his evidence disposal is terrible. He dumped the corpse right next to a sign saying "This is private property! Do NOT dump your trash here! We will report you!", the only thing hiding it being a flimsy plastic bag that will very likely start leaking during the several days it'll take for it be collected. It's also very likely to be opened up so the garbage collectors can know what kind of trash this unlabelled, opaque bag is supposed to have. After all, proper trash sorting and recycling is a pretty big deal in Japan.

He then threw a beanie stained with blood right next to the bag which, besides being obviously suspicious as soon as somebody notices the corpses, provides DNA samples to the police. The blood proves it's related to the blonde guy, and any hairs inside links Mikoto to it. Even without any testing, just looking at them you can narrow the search to "people living in roughly this area who have half-brown and half-bleached hair". Mikoto walked home, after all. The murder scene can't be that far.

(Speaking of which, let me repeat that Mikoto walked home. Covered in blood. Which throwing away the beanie did nothing to fix, because his other clothes and his face were also bloodstained. So not only did he not have any contingencies for dealing with blood splatter, his belated attempts at fixing it only made things worse. He didn't even wipe his face before throwing the hat away!)

And if you try to include the bathtub scenes and the repetition of the train scene as evidence of multiple murders, then you have to add:

1.He killed almost a dozen people without getting caught first. A bath takes around a hundred liters of water, an average adult has around 5 liters in them, so if we assume half of the liquid in the tub is actually water then we need 50 liters. That's ten people, but it also requires we assume that he had some sort of pump that would drain every last drop of blood from their bodies. We must also at least somewhat discount the blond guy we actually see Mikoto kill, because clearly that murder wasn't very conducive to getting all five liters into a bucket.

More importantly, every murder had to be done in a very short time frame in order to avoid the issue of blood clotting, or else he had some sort of holding facility with refrigeration and anticoagulants that would preserve the blood. All for the purpose of, uhh, living out his Elizabeth Bathory kin fantasies?

2. He did all this while attacking people in the same place, with the same weapon, with the same clothes, at the same time of the day, under weather so incredibly identical that even the cloud shapes are the same. Talk about establishing a pattern.

You could point at his dettached attitude and claim it shows he's done it before, but honestly? He's far from the only prisoner to have the "wrong" reaction to their murder. For example, Haruka laughing as he murders animals. Or Amane indifferently standing over her mother's corpse. Or Mahiru joking about her boyfriend's suicide and saying Es might be next. Should we assume they're also expert murderers?

Really, the whole sequence makes much more sense if you assume each step got maybe three seconds of thinking each, instead of hours of careful planning. I can definitely see something like:

Something happens that convinces Mikoto that this guy must die RIGHT NOW. He grabs the first weapon-ish thing he sees and rushes to where he knows/assumes the guys would be at this hour.

Alright, he's dead! ...Wait, shit, the corpse!

Um, uuh, the stuff you don't want goes in the trash, right?

After wandering for God knows how long in search of one of Japan's infamously scarce trash cans, he finally finds somewhere the body will fit. By this point he's either too panicked to consciously notice the sign, or he's deep into the sunk cost fallacy and doesn't let it dissuade him.

Agh, he's got blood on his clothes. Well, taking off his pants isn't gonna help him looks less suspicious, but he can throw away the hat, right? Less blood = better!

Alright, job done, time to go home!

#I focused on the in-universe side of things but also #would YOU show a character dumping a corpse right next to a “Don't dump your shit here!!” sign if they were supposed to be doing it right #I considered adding that he decided to ambush somebody by standing right in the open with a weapon in his hand #But to be fair that scene doesn't work 100% literally unless Mikoto can teleport so I'll let it slide. #milgram #mikoto kayano

[weather-cluddy]

I like to think that the reason Mikoto cares so much about birthdays is because they're a celebration of you as a person. For something like Mother's Day or Valentine's Day, those things are dependent on what you did for others. But on your birthday, even total strangers will smile and tell you how wonderful it is that you're alive. Everyone gets one birthday every year, no matter who they are or what they've done.

And on the other hand, forgetting somebody's birthday is like saying their existence doesn't matter. Imagine remembering and just refusing to celebrate it! That'd be like saying that the fact they were born isn't a good thing at all, right?

#See‚ I knew I had something relevant in the drafts for my blorbo's birthday. #This was originally about Mikoto having to insist that Kotoko celebrate his birthday or he won't be able to sleep #and later on going to congratulate her even though she tried to maim a third of prison‚ which incidentally includes him #But with the new birthday TL this has aged like fine wine. Fine wine made with the grapes of undiluted agony. #milgram #mikoto kayano

[weather-cluddy]

I rest my case.

#Yeah sure I'll make this my birthday gift to Mikoto #The soft spot thing is because of Es saying that the prisoners are their comrades now in Baptism of Fire BTW. #It's kinda funny that Mikoto's hair is the exact opposite to Komaeda's (dark sharp tips with pale hair vs pale rounded tips with dark hair) #milgram #mikoto kayano

[weather-cluddy]

Maybe I'm just not in the right circles, but I'm surprised that nobody has headcanonned Yuno as depressed so far. I mean, she's got persistent feelings of loneliness and emptiness in spite of having no apparent issues, which she tries to fix with risky sex. She claims that she "has something missing" and that she doesn't care about anybody, including herself. She says that she doesn't want to live past forty*. She often complains that things are too much of a bother, or acts happier than she really feels to please other people. When she "cools off", she socially withdrawns from everyone except those who she thinks need her (Mahiru and Amane, in this case).

I guess people don't think of it because she's not very self-loathing, but her words and attitude during the second trial sound like anhedonia to me, and it's not just stuff from after she withdrew emotionally. For example, looking at her interros: "What's your dream? Finding something I can get absorbed in" "If you could have a wish, what would it be? Nothing, I might regret it/ Nothing, as long as my friends and family are happy I'm fine (T2)". Plus her being asked about important memories twice and replying both times that there are none that stick out, and giving a similar answer to people she likes ("I like everyone except those I hate", so basically nobody stands out positively)

Overall, it just feels like she's got some serious apathy that goes beyond being, as she says, "a bit too realistic". Like I think at the point where you consider going into what's essentially customer service** for emotional relief as "necessary" and think being kidnapped and imprisoned is an improvement over your usual life, you've definitely got issues and the only question is what kind.

*I wonder if this is a trope in Japan? I'm reminded of a song with a similar name.

**I originally wrote that as a joke, but I really think it's worth exploring why she felt that the way to "warmth" (which seems to be something like understanding) was a profession where pretending to be the perfect girlfriend is part of the job description. Does the emotional distance feel more comfortable to her than being genuine? Or is she trying to prove something, that she's so desirable that men will risk social death and spend tons of money just to spend a few hours with her? I feel like her saying that what she likes in a man is having them treat her like she's special is an important piece of the puzzle, but there's not enough context for the full picture...

#Honestly writing this I realized Yuno is quite dutiful no matter what she may say #Lots of shaping herself to serve other people's interests. #Like obviously it's a nice thing to do with Mahiru and Amane #but add in her clients and I feel like that's a pattern in her life. #And that's not super healthy as a default mode of interaction. #milgram #yuno kashiki