fit-artichoke8738

[fit-artichoke8738]

It’s so weird to me that even in the demo, Rantaro did not participate in the trial.

It was a pretty big indicator to many who played it that he was probably going to die first, so why did they do it this way?

At first, I thought maybe they didn’t want to make the extra art for him, but Makoto and Hajime got their own art, so that can’t be the reason.

Even in the DR1 demo, both Mukuro (as Junko) and Sayaka participated in the demo trial—two characters who, like Rantaro, died in the first chapter.

Sure, the whole gimmick in the demo was that there were ‘too few seats,’ and two people had to sit out, but why was Rantaro chosen as one of them? Kiibo being chosen makes sense, as his exclusion from things happens multiple times in the actual game, but why avocado boy? They writers could’ve chosen anyone.

So is there some reason his character absolutely cannot participate in a trial?

(Ik this observation is a bit meta-game-ey but I still thought it was worth acknowledging. You can watch a play through of the demo here https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2JX5gCM-DwY)

[fit-artichoke8738]

Is the gorgeous girl genius like, psychic or something?

She must be, if she had enough insight to create a drone specifically designed to aerially photograph the library before the murder even happened.

But she probably isn’t psychic, so what’s going on here? In my opinion, it’s most likely that someone who knew about Kaede’s little setup just told her to make it—a preemptive measure to ensure Kaede would be exposed in the trial.

And it was probably Saihara who did so. Buuuut I’ll make another post going into that.

Back to Miu’s drone... Did she even make it?

She claims to have modified an RC plane to make it, but it’s pretty easy to find boxes of the same drone model in the warehouse.

Maybe she was just speaking about the camera attachment?

Considering she was reported to have been “tinkering” with something in the dining hall before the murder, it’s possible this is the case, and she was using that time to attach a camera to the drone.

But anyway, the “Gorgeous Girl Genius” not even knowing how to pronounce the word ‘drone’ is really... strange. Even in Japanese, drone is far from an uncommon word, so language barrier can’t be blamed for this.

And not knowing how to fly it well either?... Miu, you just claimed to have built the damn thing. You should have a pretty good idea of how to fly something you “made.”

Anyway, the main takeaway from this post is that Miu be lyin’, and it’s really weird that this super convenient investigation tool was made before the murder even happened.

[fit-artichoke8738]

Now would be an appropriate time to use the word “we,” Maki, because you both remembered it with the flashback light... right?

...Unless, of course, flashback lights don’t affect you or something.

I checked the Japanese version and ensured this was not a translation error. She specified ‘you’ in Japanese as well: 「あんただって思い出しライトで思い出したでしょ？」 In Japanese, if the subject is obvious with context then it often isn’t specified, so the fact that she did specify it, choosing to say ‘you’ even in the Japanese version, makes this point even more suspicious.

[fit-artichoke8738]

hey while reading your post on the DICE group, I noticed some resemblance to the muscular guy and Gonta or even the guy with the beard and kaito. Is there any chance this video was rigged?

I had the same thought.

Not only do they bear physical resemblance to Kaito and Gonta, they’re also wearing the masks found in Ouma’s lab.

Which may imply that those two members (along with Ouma) are in the game, making it even more likely that those two really are Kaito and Gonta.

Are far as this motive video being rigged or staged, it’s definitely possible. It’s a very simplistic video, after all—basically just two still images of the group in front of a fixed background, overlayed with some of Monokuma’s narration. Compared to the other motive videos we see (sans Ryoma’s) it’s very basic.

This video is also the only one that shows the result of whatever ‘terrible event’ befell the important people—they’re clearly imprisoned and beaten up. The other videos are much more vague, with Kirumi’s ending with a distorted visual effect and Kaito’s just ending after his grandparents talk.

Monokuma mentions something happening to them, but only in Ouma’s does he show the result.

I’m not sure if this points to it being staged or not, but it’s definitely a notable difference.

And if we’re talking about the possibility of motive videos being staged... I also want to bring up Kaito’s.

What ‘interview?’ What ‘team?’ When did this happen? The participants were literally just discussing their kidnapping a few scenes before Shuichi watched this.

I myself can’t think of any sensible reason for an ‘interview’ like this to happen. I can only think it’s either (A) Completely staged, or (B) This ‘interview’ isn’t necessarily Monokuma’s doing, but was something done by a news team after Kaito’s disappearance, or something like that.

They also say this line in the video, and stress multiple times how important it is for Kaito to live. This may point to the whole Gofer Project “your life is important for the world’s sake” ordeal. But, it could also just be the sentiment of concerned grandparents.

I dunno, it’s weird. Or maybe I’m just missing some really obvious explanation or something. I also don’t like how everyone’s eyes are closed throughout the whole video but I may just be getting overly paranoid at this point lol.

I haven’t really parsed through Kirumi’s video so I don’t know if there’s anything significantly ‘off’ about her’s yet, but Ouma’s and Kaito’s definitely have some weirdness to them that could point to them being staged.

[fit-artichoke8738]

I've had a sort of semi-crack theory that the member of D. I. C. E with no hair is our favorite Ultimate Impostor. I know it's probably implausible, but... Thoughts?

Implausible, sure, but not impossible.

As far as the identities of these guys go, the most we can do is make educated guesses. Given the stature of that member, and given that this group gives off the air of wanting to maintain anonymity, saying he’s the Ultimate Imposter isn’t too bad of a guess—especially when you consider how incredibly useful his talent would be for a “secret organization.”

Another peculiarity of this guy is his mask, which is more detailed than most of the other masks. This is especially true for his light blue eyes (I honestly can’t tell if they’re his real eyes or if they’re drawn on—I’m gonna assume they’re drawn on the mask).

Eyes that creepily seem to be staring right at Ouma. Maybe just a coincidence, though. For reference, the V3 character with the closest matching eye color to this guy’s mask is probably Miu. Angie is a contender as well, though.

Also, this guy has probably the outfit that matches the others the least. Not only is it a one-piece instead of the other’s pants and shirt, it also lacks straps, buttons, and even has a different buckle style than the rest.

He’s also nearly completely hidden in this second image, which, given the significance of hiding one’s face that we learned of in DR1, raises some alarm bells. But in this case, it’s probably just a stylistic choice. He also might be dead in this picture or something lol.

Anyway, there’s probably no real way to prove or disprove whether he’s the Ultimate Imposter. However, I wanted to note that it seems each member of this group has at least one unique identifier. For this guy, the most significant one would probably be the blue eyes I mentioned earlier. I’m thinking these identifiers may be a hint to their identities.

Another member I’m particularly curious about is this girl.

Not only does she have a unique, purple mask color, but I also noticed that she has dangly hoop earrings. Ear piercings really aren’t that common in Danganronpa designs, so I decided to see which V3 characters had them.

One of them is obviously Rantaro. No surprise there. But the only other V3 character with noticeably pierced ears is Maki—a character you really wouldn’t expect to have extra accessories.

I don’t know if this necessarily means anything, but it’s something to think about. I definitely do think these unique identifiers on the members are important, though.

[fit-artichoke8738]

I’m confused.

So I always thought the names in the dialogue box were based on Shuichi’s perspective. In other words, if Shuichi knows who’s talking, then the name is specified, but if he doesn’t know, then it shows up as “???”

But if that’s the case, then why wouldn’t the name be specified here?

This whole scene in Kaede’s lab is supposed to be Shuichi revisiting her in his memories. If this ‘ghost girl’ is a projection of his memories, then he should have no problem recognizing it as Kaede.

Hell, even if this ‘ghost girl’ is a real ghost, he should still recognize it as Kaede’s ghost, right?

So why doesn’t he?

Is that not Kaede?

And along the same lines...

Why is Shuichi’s name the only one obscured here?

Is it because Shuichi has difficulty thinking that he himself would say those kinds of things, but has less of a problem imagining the other two doing so? Considering Shuichi’s relationship with Kaede and Kaito, I kinda have a hard time believing that...

There’s also the possibility that the “???” names aren’t based on Shuichi’s perspective, but on our perspective as the audience. So if the character isn’t clear or is unknown to the audience, their name would be read as “???”

This would then imply that the “ghost girl” is not Kaede, and the boy in the audition tape is not Shuichi... But then, it would also suggest that the audition tape Kaito and Kaede are the real ones...

Hm.

[fit-artichoke8738]

Kinda goes along with my last post, but...

—>

Compare to...

...Are these piano keys?

[fit-artichoke8738]

Tsumugi “Shirogane” and Kaede “Akamatsu” May Have Coded Names...

[Long post & lots of cipher stuff. It’s a bit complicated but I tried to explain everything the best I could]

In my time investigating ciphers for my analysis of Rantaro’s lab, I came across this interesting cipher key that had been historically used by ninja:

So the reason this caught my interest is because the names Kaede “Akamatsu” and Tsumugi “Shirogane” fit this cipher key really well. And since I concluded in another post that Rantaro’s lab, a lab filled with ciphers, had more connections to Kaede and Tsumugi than anyone else, I figured this was worth looking into.

The top row of the cipher key represents colors: 紫 (purple) 黒 (black) 白 (white) 赤 (red) 黄 (yellow) 青(blue) 色 (color), and the side column are radicalized forms of the kanji 木 (tree) 火 (fire) 土 (earth) 金 (metal) 水 (water) 人 (person) 身 (body).

[A radical is a kanji component—multiple can be put together to create a new kanji. When a kanji character is radicalized, it’s made smaller and sometimes changes forms, so that it may be used as a component in another kanji].

As shown in this chart, the cipher works by combining a color kanji character and one of the radicals to create a new kanji character, and the created character is associated with its own hiragana character. Using this method, the ninja created a coded language.

For example, with this chart, the word ねこ (neko; meaning cat) would be written in code using these characters:

So now that we know how it works, let’s go back to Kaede Akamatsu and Tsumugi Shirogane...

赤松 (Akamatsu; lit. “red pine tree”) and 白銀 (Shirogane; lit. “white silver/metal”) are both names that could be derived from this chart. And along with the matching meaning, their names even have the proper radical/kanji components that would fit the chart:

And, of course, we can actually plug these components into the chart to get the hiragana character that correlates with it:

白銀 Shirogane; 白 white + 金 metal:

赤松 Akamatsu; 赤 red + 木 tree:

And it looks like the hiragana characters associated with their names are ふ (fu) for Tsumugi and ら (ra) for Kaede.

Now unfortunately, these characters don’t really mean anything. No matter how they’re arranged, they don’t form any Japanese word that would have any sort of significance.

But... There’s an interesting correlation between the two if we reference the kanji used in the iroha poem.

I mentioned it in my analysis of the vault doors in Rantaro’s lab, but basically, the いろは (iroha) poem is an ancient, famous poem that’s often used as a way to order hiragana characters; with one of its most common uses being within ciphers. It’s even used in the cipher we’re talking about in this post—the hiragana characters in the chart are following the exact order of the iroha poem.

The poem is most commonly written in hiragana, but originally, the poem itself was written entirely in kanji, with each kanji representing one hiragana sound, i.e. each hiragana character has an accompanying kanji character.

So for fun, I looked to see what the accompanying kanji character for Tsumugi Shirogane ふ and Kaede Akamatsu ら :

And the result is the kanji 不 for Tsumugi, and the kanji 良 for Kaede. I found this result to be prettyyy interesting because the meanings of these kanji are polar opposite; if they were words, they would be almost perfect antonyms.

不 (ふ) : bad, negative

良 (ら) : good, pleasing

So Tsumugi’s associated with “bad/negative” and Kaede’s associated with “good.”

So what can we make of all of this?

Well, feel free to make your own conclusions, but here is where my mind immediately went...

Kaede Akamatsu: the color red and good, pleasant, things—these associations could be represented by a red smiling face.

Tsumugi Shirogane: the color white and bad, negative things—these associations could be represented by a white crying face.

Kinda like...

[fit-artichoke8738]

Rantaro Amami has some pretty convenient blood splatter going on...

The fingers of his left hand are completely covered, but there’s no blood surrounding it, and none splattered on his shoulder, arm, or wrist.

And his right hand?

Looks pretty spotless.

Weird how the blood splatter favored his left hand, despite it likely being farther away from the point of impact.

And on the topic of strange blood splatters, we need to address that these...

...really don’t match up at all. Just... just look at them. They’re not the same.

For the blood splatter to match Rantaro’s grip position, he’d have to be holding the Monopad pretty awkwardly. It’s not an impossible way to hold something, but it’s a pretty unsteady and unnatural grip for a larger object like the monopad, and, most importantly, it’s completely different from the much more natural grip he has in both pictures of him.

And he was hit in the back of the head, right? So if blood were to have splattered from his wound, wouldn’t it be mostly on the screen side of the pad? The side facing behind him?

But okay, maybe he switched positions after the photo was taken.

That doesn’t explain how the blood splatter seems to have defied the very laws of gravity and splattered in an upwards direction, as if it were flying up from the ground.

So what do we make of all of this?

Well, to me, it looks very much like this evidence was staged. From the blood splatters on his hand and the Monopad, it looks like someone placed Rantaro’s hand onto the Monopad, and splattered blood (or fake blood—Ouma mentioned that that existed) on top of it.

That’s why the Monopad blood splatters more closely match his body’s hand position, and not the grip position his hand had holding the Monopad while he was standing.

The blood splatters make much more sense when you consider this possibility.

——

——

Other posts about Rantaro’s strange death:

Survivor Perk Monopad

Library cameras

Drawing on Ouma’s Whiteboard

[fit-artichoke8738]

A drawing of a shot put ball falling onto a body that’s already crumpled on the ground...

Huh.

That doesn’t really fit with either theory of Rantaro’s murder, does it?

[fit-artichoke8738]

Problems with the Library Cameras (DRV3 Ch. 1)

How They’re Supposed to Work

So all of the cameras Shuichi asked Miu to make use infrared sensors to detect movement. When motion is detected, the sensor sends a signal to the receiver built into the camera, and the receiver triggers the camera to take a photo. The two cameras set up at the library entrances have the infrared sensors attached to them.

But the infrared sensor for the camera facing the moving bookcase is detached, and the sensor was instead supposed to be placed on top of the moving bookcase—so when the bookcase moved, the receiver built into the camera would activate, and a photo would be taken.

Additionally, this bookcase camera was also supposed to trigger another receiver that Shuichi was holding, so he’d be alerted when movement of the bookcase was detected.

Problem #1: The Camera Aimed at the Moving Bookcase Didn’t Work Like It Was Supposed To

Thanks to Kiibo for calling this out. He’s absolutely right. The sensor placed on top of the moving bookcase should trigger the photo. So the first photo taken of Rantaro makes sense. But the second one?...

Given what we know of the camera’s operation, there should be no possible way for the second photo of Rantaro to have been taken.

Unless, he stood there and waited until the bookcase automatically began to close again before walking over to the camera. But why the hell would he do that? And that wouldn’t even make sense given the timeline—the bookcase door had just begun to close once Shuichi and Kaede stepped foot into the library, after Rantaro was dead.

And this is all without considering how the 30-second camera intervals would come into play...

So something is definitely off with this camera.

Problem #2: Lighting

So the flash being switched on only for the bookcase camera that Kaede set up was one of the biggest things that implicated her in the trial. And yes, in the photos taken of Rantaro moving the bookcase, the flash is very clearly on.

And there’s clearly no lighting issues in the photos of the rear library entrance, they both look the same:

But the front library entrance?...

Between the photos taken of the groups entering, and the “accidental” picture of Shuichi, there’s a noticeable lighting change. It’s easiest to tell by looking at the stack of books by the door.

Shuichi shouldn’t be blocking any major light sources or anything, and closing the library door shouldn’t make a difference, so why is the lighting so different? Was the flash for this camera actually on or something, and Shuichi quickly switched it off when he retrieved it?

Someone probably should’ve noticed if it was on, but hey, maybe the flash function on cheap, disposable cameras isn’t all that strong, and maybe everyone was too panicked to pay close attention to it.

And if that is what the library room really looks like when the camera flash is turned on... Then in the bookcase photos of Rantaro, for the flash to make that much of a lighting difference, the library must’ve been completely dark when the photos were taken...

This is just a theory, of course, the lighting change for the front entrance could be caused by something completely unrelated. But, when the issue of camera flash was brought up in the trial, Shuichi made sure to use the “accidental” photos of himself for comparison against Rantaro’s bookcase photos instead of the strangely well-lit entrance photos...

Thus conveniently avoiding any issues or questions about the odd lighting.

...Suspicious.

Problem #3: Camera Delay

The cameras clearly have a delay from when they should be triggered—when any movement is detected—to when a photo is actually taken (maybe 2-3 seconds). I’m not sure if this means anything, or can lead to any significant developments, but I figured I should at least point it out.

At the very least, it may call the legitimacy of Shuichi’s “accidental photos” into question...

Problem #4: ...Are These Even the Same Cameras?

I did a visual comparison of the cameras when they were placed in the library, and when they were retrieved after the murder, and I honestly wasn’t expecting to find anything but...

The color of that tape or whatever it is at the bottom of the cameras is pretty different, and it couldn’t have been from the tape they used to secure the cameras—that tape was clearly a beige/brown color. And, it also looks like the mechanism behind the infrared sensor slightly changed color (and possibly style) as well.

I dunno. It’s weird. But if you think about it... If someone knew about Shuichi’s plan, it wouldn’t be all that hard to swap out the cameras...

Hmm.

——

Anyway, that’s all I got. Let me know your thoughts!

[fit-artichoke8738]

I thought there might be some sort of hidden image here, so I decided to try to take some of the wavy distortion out of this purple haze behind the Ultimate Hunt.

And this is what I got...

Does it kinda look like a face to anyone? A creepy face?

I edited it a bit more to get an even clearer image:

To me, it looks a bit like the face of Ouma’s “cursed sprite” doing a shushing motion with an index finger.

I don’t know though.

Someone tell me I’m just seeing things cuz it’s creeping me out lol.

(And if anyone more skilled at editing can do this better, please do so!)

[fit-artichoke8738]

The Survivor Perk Monopad... Doesn’t Really Make Sense

[at least, the way we’re expected to believe Rantaro used it doesn’t make sense]

The story that we’re told is that Rantaro, using the information found in this Monopad, went to the library to ‘expose the mastermind’ around the time Monokuma said he would make his army of spares. In doing so, he was inadvertently lured into Shuichi and Kaede’s trap and was, in some way or another, killed.

Problem #1: There were two instances in Chapter 1 in which Monokuma needed a spare.

The first instance was when Monokuma was squashed and destroyed by the red exisal.

This was long before Monokuma revived and announced his ‘army of spares’ motive, which was when Rantaro actually went to the library.

So if he really wanted to end the game so badly, wouldn’t it have been better for him to go to the library when Monokuma was first destroyed?

Problem #2: There was no reason to open the hidden bookcase.

Rantaro was photographed opening the library door even though he had no reason to.

Rantaro seems like a smart guy. If he truly believed the info in the Monopad, he surely would’ve investigated the bookcase door beforehand. So he should know that he had no way to get inside.

Unless, of course, he had the keycard or something.

But even if he he did... What the hell was his plan? Go inside the hidden room and have a nice little chat with the mastermind? Or maybe he was planning an ambush? Did he really think that would work?

Surely, the smarter way of exposing the mastermind would have been to monitor the door somehow—similar to what Kaede and Shuichi did.

Problem #3: Rantaro really had no reason to trust the information on this Monopad.

Rantaro knows a lot more than he lets on. It’s unclear how much, but at the very least, he seems to have a pretty solid idea of how the “game” works. He even talks about what it takes to be a “winner.”

So clearly he knows a bit more than the others.

But even if he didn’t...

Rantaro was incredibly skeptical and even questioning whether he could trust himself.

Would this guy really be the type to easily believe something written in a sketchy Monopad? To the point where he’d walk into the library to “expose the mastermind” with no proof of its validity?

I really don’t think so.

Problem #4: He had no reason to bring the Survivor Perk Monopad with him to the library.

This is a nitpicky point, but I really don’t understand why he’d need to bring it with him. It’s not like he needed the map—surely he’d know where the hidden room was by that point.

~~

But anyway... All this being said, instead of looking at the story we were told to believe, let’s look at Rantaro’s actual actions and how they could relate to the info inside the Survivor Perk Monopad.

“Your best chance of exposing them is when Monokuma needs a spare. At that time, the mastermind will go to the library’s hidden room.”

Again, there were two instances in Ch. 1 where Monokuma was destroyed. I said earlier that it was silly for Rantaro to not go down to the library the first time Monokuma needed a spare, so let’s look at what he was doing instead.

Right after Monokuma was destroyed, Rantaro can be found...

...Right at the entrance of the stairs to the basement. As if watching and waiting to see who may go down to the library.

And who are the first people he sees head down to the library after Monokuma was destroyed? A time when the mastermind was supposed to go to the hidden room?

Shuichi and Kaede.

They did exactly what the Monopad foretold the mastermind would do—they went to the library’s hidden room. Note that the Monopad does not say that the mastermind would go inside the hidden room, or that they would use the room to make more Monokumas, the Monopad only said that they would go to the room. And that’s exactly what those two did.

“The first thing you will remember is the Ultimate Hunt.”

From the last point, Rantaro could probably gather that Shuichi and Kaede are suspicious. Even if he wasn’t completely trusting the info in the Monopad, such a strong lead would still be worth looking into.

So he tries “fishing”—using the info he has available as a sort of lure to see who would grab on strongest.

...And Shuichi takes the bait.

I don’t exactly know why Rantaro figured this info would be of interest to the mastermind, but perhaps he thought that the mastermind would be concerned he “knew too much,” and would question him to know exactly what he remembers.

So now, Rantaro could gather that the most likely candidate for the ‘mastermind’ is Shuichi—contingent on whether the info in the Monopad is true or not, or course. But the one Rantaro would be looking out for most would definitely be Shuichi.

But him suspecting that Shuichi is the mastermind makes his choice to just wander into the library and get caught by the camera trap even more odd. Since Shuichi had been frequenting the library, it should’ve made him even more cautious of the area.

The Survivor Perk Monopad explains some of his actions, and can resolve the first problem I listed, but the rest still persist...

How did Rantaro die exactly? Why did he go to the library? What was his plan? What was he doing? Why did he open the bookcase door?

And just what was the Survivor Perk Monopad, exactly? Was it possibly just something designed to pit Shuichi and Rantaro against one another, as a sort of motive?

Everything about his case is super sketchy...

[fit-artichoke8738]

Wayyy Too Many Connections to Other Cosplayers, Changing Appearance, and “Perfect Reproductions”...

[Long post]

Tsumugi’s Friend

Tsumugi mentions having a friend, someone popular in the cosplay community who recognized her early costume making talent. It was this friend that gave her her popularity in the community, and Tsumugi wants to make more costumes for them in the future.

On this last point, it’s very possible that Tsumugi may have made the clothes for some of the contestants in the killing game. She implies she made Shuichi’s in the Salmon Team graduation event.

So is it possible that Tsumugi could still be working for that “friend?” Maybe for the purposes of creating this killing game?...

Kaede Akamatsu

In her early FTEs with Tsumugi, Tsumugi speaks to Kaede as if she’s a cosplayer herself.

Not a lot to go off of, but I still felt it was kind of an odd interaction.

Maki’s Target

In her special event, Maki mentions that one of her past targets was some guy who was really into cosplay.

She planned to assassinate him at an event hall that just happened to be hosting a cosplay convention, and she got swarmed by people taking pictures of her and couldn’t complete the mission. She blamed the katana she had been carrying as the cause for her failure, and swore to never use swords again.

So apparently, there’s a cosplayer that exists who’s important enough to be a target for assassination.

...And the person who planned the killing game just happens to know of her failure with swords. Hm.

Atua

A God who can change appearance depending on who’s looking.

Sure does sound convenient, but quickly changing appearances is something we’ve already witnessed.

So what if Atua is someone who can do something similar to what Tsumugi can, but even better? (And without the ridiculous “cospox” stipulation)

Kaito’s “Crafty” Friend

Though less related to the “costume” aspect of cosplay, one of the main goals of cosplaying is creating things that are indistinguishable from the original. “Perfect reproductions,” as Tsumugi had called it.

I don’t know how well this practice would translate to paper forgeries, but it’s not hard to imagine that someone with a very keen eye for detail, someone well-versed in making perfect copies, would be able to pull it off.

Korekiyo’s Sister

Korekiyo’s sister apparently made his uniform for him, saying it suited him better than his other clothes.

Tsumugi has mentioned multiple times that she enjoys making costumes and cosplay rather than wearing them, and considering how both Tsumugi and Korekiyo have incestuous thoughts/fantasies about siblings...

Well, maybe their backstories are more connected than we may think.

————

TLDR: The possibility of participants other than Tsumugi being in disguise, hiding their identities, or having Ultimate Cosplayer level (or even better) abilities is very real

[fit-artichoke8738]

It’s already suspicious enough that he locked himself in the A/V room to watch a movie with that ridiculously loud “Let’s Start the Killing Game” music blaring over the speakers...

But there’s not even a video in the player, either?...

I find it a bit hard to believe that when Gonta heard Tenko’s scream, he calmly took out the bug movie he had been watching, put it back in its case, and put it back on the shelf before heading over to the library to see what happened.

Especially not when he somehow arrived in the library before those in the game room...

[fit-artichoke8738]

General Appearance Comparison

-Biggest difference is probably the candles. They’re considerably brighter (and more orangey) in the flashback light version, and may even be larger in size as well.

-The lighting is different in general—not just the brightness, but the tone and saturation as well.

-Kaede’s portrait has a solid blue background in the Ch2 version, but in the flashback light version it has a white reflective stripe

-The scene’s background color is different, though this could be due to the change in lighting.

-Shouldn’t Shuichi be wearing his hat? Like he is in every other flashback?

-In the version shown at the start of Ch2, Kaede’s name, “赤松楓” is clearly visible, but the others are too blurry to read clearly. It looks like the one to her right might say Amami, 天海, but I can’t tell for sure. In the flashback light version, no close up shots are shown so all names are indiscernible.

So... What’s the deal here? I could excuse changing the lighting a bit to show the other students’ portraits more clearly, but then... Even with the lighting change, what’s up with the change in candles? Why is Kaede’s portrait background different?

Come to think of it, why are we even shown two versions of this scene to begin with? It really didn’t do much narratively.

Could one version of this scene be real while the other is some sort of... replication or something?

[fit-artichoke8738]

So I was taking a look at the Ch4 logs when I noticed some coding script hidden behind the other windows.

So I decided to enhance the image a bit to take a closer look and this is what it says. It’s still hard to read, so I did my own transcription on the side (to the best of my ability).

Some important things:

-“Kibougamine,” in English, “Hope’s Peak,” is mentioned multiple times. First time they seem to be “creating” Hope’s Peak (or some aspect of Hope’s Peak), and the second they’re referencing the “cast” and something about it in regards to Hope’s Peak.

-With the line referencing the cast, they use the command flag “-r.” This could mean a few different things, but my best guess is it means the command is “removing” something about Hope’s Peak from the cast. However, it could also mean, “recover,” or basically any other R word. What it means depends on the program.

-Multiple classrooms were built

-When object details were searched, the result was “M/E” which might mean “missing entry,” but I don’t know for sure. If this code is about the virtual world, we’re told Miu set her avatar to ‘object’ status, so this line may be about that

-“Memory” is also mentioned in the script with the flag “-sp.” Though this line is likely about system memory, it’s possible it could be about Gonta’s memory. I have no idea what “-sp” means.

And one other thing:

At the bottom, the filter script set name is “lanbert” (or it might also be “lambert”). I have no idea what this means, but I thought I should point it out.

Anyway, that’s about all I could discern from this. I was assuming this code would be about the virtual world, but since it mentioned Hope’s Peak so much, I’m really not sure... But maybe that some sort of a reference template before the world was edited? I don’t know.

Please let me know if you know/find anything else! Also, feel free to make fun of my lack of coding knowledge lol