#also daily reminder to vote kazui innocent!!!!

[plan-3-tmars]

okay i don't really know how to title this so im just gonna call it how Half tells the story of Kazui's marriage with Stages.

Half opens up with a green apple in the center of a stage, the spotlight illuminating it. The green apple in Kazui's MVs is tied to Kazui's sin. The apple being in the center of the stage before the 'performance' even begins could represent that this is Kazui's main motive for acting and lying, this is the reason for the show.

The Kazui of the present is in the audience of the play. Throughout the entirety of Half he is there watching the events leading up to Hinako's death with us. We are the audience watching the video but also the literal audience of this performance. I think this could represent Kazui reflecting on his actions and what he did throughout his marriage while in Milgram, or right before Milgram (which I'll get into at the end.)

It then cuts back to the stage, where we see the Kazui of the past walk onto the stage wearing a mask - the performance is about to begin. This is, I'm assuming, when he is freshly married. Sure he would've had to lie while they were engaged or simply partners but there's not so much at stake at that stage in a relationship rather then when he's married. Kazui is wearing a mask to cover up his sins with lies and now he is also acting, putting up the performance of a happy marriage for others so they wouldn't question his true motives for getting married or see the real him.

When we see flashbacks of Kazui during his marriage, we can see either stagelights or the background never filling up the entire screen. This also ties to the fact that, even when Kazui isn't wearing his mask, he is still acting and putting up the performance of being content in his marriage with Hinako. I've chosen this scene to showcase this because it shows both at the same time but this happens in the bar scene too.

In this scene Kazui is singing the chorus of Half while acting on stage. However, he is wearing his mask and doesn't show alot of emotain in his movements or expressions. This could be interpretated as the effects of hiding his true self that Kazui experiences, which can really be seen considering the fact that the lyrics and way his VA sings them is very intense and rich with emotain, compared to how Kazui's expression and movements are animated

In this same scene, there is a shot of an empty chair on stage alongside Kazui. This most likely referances Hinako's involvement in Kazui's 'performance', or lack thereof, as empty chairs usually represent the empty space of a person in art. This could be interpreted in different ways: Hinako isn't shown in the performance anymore because she's dead, Hinako isn't shown in the performance because she wasn't aware of it happening so her presence is replaced by a chair - etc.

This scene in Half is one of my favourites for a multitude of reasons, so let's point out the things that stand out first and then we'll delve into my understanding of their meaning. Firstly: Kazui isn't wearing a mask in this scene but he also isn't on the stage, which has more meaning considering the other times we saw Kazui without his mask, he was still on stage - still acting. Here his performance has fallen. Secondly: the green apple is atop the stage in between Kazui and Hinako. I've already established my previous interpretation of the apple on the stage at the very start, but I think its appearance here is in a different context. This is the scene where Kazui tells Hinako the truth, so his mask and performance has stopped because these are both tied to him hiding his true self and his lies. The apple being on the stage in the middle of the two of them could mean that this is the topic of conversation. It is illuminated because they are litteraly bringing to light the elephant in the room that has been putting a wedge in their relationship. The reason why it's still on the stage might be because Kazui is still hiding what his sin is from us, so in a way his sin is putting on its own performance - disguising itself as an apple.

After Kazui tells the truth, his performance is alot more emotional. His movements are more dramatic, and so are his expressions. He's not trying to hide his real feelings anymore, and after years of doing so, they come bursting out all at once. He is still acting and putting on a performance, so we can assume at this point in time Hinako is still alive and they are still married, but he's unmasked. He's no longer lying to her.

In this scene, Kazui takes what looks to be a final bow infront of the chair before walking off the stage. I think this scene shows Kazui's intentions when it came to telling the truth. He told Hinako the truth and expected them too get a divorce afterwards, so he walks off the stage - ending the performance (their marriage.) The bow to the chair could be interpreted in different ways: a goodbye, an apology etc.

However, despite what Kazui's actual intentions where when it came to telling Hinako the truth, they didn't happen. Kazui sees the apple shattered on the ground (Hinako's death) and goes back onto the stage. He starts his performance again, this time as a mourning widow, and starts lying again too. He puts back on the mask, scared of what might happen if he were to reveal the truth about himself to someone again.

Remember what I said at the start of this painfully long post about how this might be pre-Milgram Kazui watching his performance? Yeah, this is where that comes into play. There are things I had to leave out because of tumblr's 10 photo limit, but the main point is that this Kazui on stage at the end of Half and the Kazui in the audience are wearing the same outfit. I think this might be a case of Kazui reflecting on what happened in his marriage right after Hinako's death and pinpointing where he went 'wrong' (in this case, he deciphers that telling the truth was his mistake) and decides to start his performance all over again, careful to not repeat his mistake - vowing to never reveal his sin to anyone else.

#in case it isnt obvious i think the mask represents Kazui's lies to hide his true self #and the performance/acting imagery represents him upkeeping the appearance of a happy marriage #him not having the mask on around Hinako could imply that she was aware of his sin which i think definitely could be a possibilty tbh. #but thats a different tangent for a different post! #sorry this post is so long. now you know what my notes app looks like lmao #also is there a masc version of the word widow? because i have no idea and have only ever heard it in relation to women with dead partners #milgram #kazui mukuhara #milgram project #everyone thank my vkei playlist for helping me write this monster of a post #also daily reminder to vote kazui innocent!!!!

[archivalofsins]

People have been curious why Kazui is going guilty, but like...

Kazui's break or make it moment is the release day of Amane's video. If people really want to make a case for him or work towards a specific verdict, they should do that leading up to Amane's premiere. There's a lot of fans in the West who only watch the video day one and only vote for that one day. This is why after the premiere he was innocent but now he's guilty. Because the people who view him as innocent aren't ones who consistently vote or keep up with Milgram.

So, chances are those people will come back around for Amane's premiere or start voting again once it's brought to their attention that Kazui is sitting at guilty and close to staying it. Even bringing it up in the comments of Cat would be helpful for those not really involved in the fandom proper to get updated on the current situation.

Because even if those sorts of individuals aren't active in the online fandom they may look in the comments of the video to get a grasp on common theories. So, they're more likely to see it and feel a certain way through youtube than any other social media platform. Possibly even be inspired to vote daily off of that too.

However, as it stands no campaign that's centered around or based solely on tumblr, is going to sway his verdict much. Especially since a lot of popular milgram artists are pushing for him being guilty on other platforms. For reasons that well some have seen brought to tumblr as well. When you have mainstay artists in the fandom reminding their thousands of followers to vote this man guilty daily, this is just what happens.

At this point, Kazui's case is a real pr nightmare. Because no matter how many people bring up the issues with voting him guilty here, it's not going to change much. Because we all know the issues that can arise from a guilty verdict in this case already it's individuals on other platforms that don't or are blatantly ignoring the problems this could cause for fun who are pushing for this verdict. So, doing anything here is just preaching to the choir.

If last trial Mikoto's verdict was milgram fans going against tikto* Kazui's case is a real tumblr vs Twitter scenario. I know tumblr is supposed to be the reading comprehension is piss poor website, but at least we got enough characters to make a point. Twitter users can't even form a fully fleshed out thought without making a Google doc, slide, or PowerPoint. Anyone really think they're working off anything outside of thirst and kneejerk reactions- they're probably mad because they realized Kazui won't fuck them.

From what I've actively seen they're swearing up and down through all their nsfw fan art of male milgram characters that this has nothing to do with him possibly being gay they just think lying is bad also think about his wife's feelings. No one can reason with this sort of logic best to ignore them and let their choice speak for itself. Because I, myself, am super down with seeing this sort of stuff blow up in other's faces.

However, if anyone is really trying to get this man to innocent again and doesn't want to wade through that cesspit, then Amane's trial is a better opportunity to make that case.

#gunsli rambles