otomaze

[otomaze]

CharaMani week 7 (last LI route + finale)

spoilers (obviously)

Dazai route

This route felt great to play after Haiji’s route/BEs and Gyoubu’s route, as it could almost work as a happy ending (aside though it doesn’t contain the full reveal). The feeling of triumph and then pure joy and catharsis when Dazai said “It’s our victory” and the scene changed to the tea party background asdl;fkjal;sdfjdkal !!!!!!! A lot of the other characters’ interpersonal conflicts get some sort of resolution here which is nice to see. Banjou and Sena reconciled; we talked to Akase about how he felt betrayed by Dazai; there were also some nice moments with Ebana. 

The conversation with Akase gave us something that I feel like I’ve been looking for since it’s a danganronpa-esque game, which is people finding their own way to reconcile wanting to trust someone while having reasons to doubt them. It felt like the game finally underwent a rite of passage. Sena’s decision, that she was doubting someone in order to trust them, definitely felt familiar, a classic viewpoint for these games. This is also another way that Dazai’s route feels like a culmination of the others; while in Gyoubu’s route the solution to the belief/doubt dichotomy was for the responsibility to be split between two people (Gyoubu doubting so Sena could keep believing), here each person has to grapple with both sides themself. Also, throwing this here: just like the characters, I totally forgot about Akase’s goal to bring the Producer onto their side. More things that the game managed to bring full circle!

Sena’s relationship with Ebana also improves. I liked how they connected over trying to recover their memories, and the respect and acknowledgement he showed her when he said that she was capable of remembering, something he was unable to do. Honestly I think those interactions endeared me to him much more than what I saw in his own route, but probably because the misogyny thing wasn’t in the forefront here.

In general, Sena’s relationship with the group is improved as she stops hiding her visits to the exiles. It was such a breath of fresh air to be recognized and appreciated for what she was able to learn by maintaining a relationship with the others. Even Gyoubu pointed out, he specifically chose Sena as a witness since she was the one most trusted by everyone. Also Banjou has SUCH AN IMPORTANT MOMENT when he defends her by saying that she’s the only reason they have any of the critical info they’ve learned about the exiles, so they should entrust the investigation to her. HELLO???? PERFECT RESPONSE. BOTH SUPPORTIVE AND COMPASSIONATE, YET LOGICAL AND CONVINCING. Banjou is an absolutely insane character because he exhibits some of the only realistic, reasonable behavior in this game, and also some of the most realistically abhorrent! That realism is a double-edged sword; it amplifies both the good and the bad of what he does, which I think is why he can induce such polarizing opinions (even in the same person, i.e. me). Stopping now before I completely derail this from a Dazai route writeup.

Okay, so the group finally appreciating Sena. At the same time, now that they see her value, Iochi absolutely jumps on the chance to use her even though Sena feels uncomfortable being a “spy”. Honestly, I felt a little uncomfortable too at just how blatantly Iochi switched over to using Sena. Not a criticism of the writing; the opposite actually, since this is just Iochi’s pragmatism at work, and they’ve found a new, very effective tool at their disposal.  But it’s so bold of them to just assume that Sena will go along with whatever they say, even if they have been taking the lead on investigations, especially since chapter 8. 

Gyoubu in this route: ULTIMATE WINGMAN?? Honestly there was so much of him, especially since he’s your investigation partner when Dazai just peaces* out for half the route. He and Dazai really are interconnected, and I adore his and Sena’s interactions as well. I really think he’s the best LI for Sena in terms of who she can work together with as equals. And his OTOME HEART?? Pls I just KNOW he has a whole list of shoujo tropes he’s always wanted to try out… we’ve had lending his jacket, kabedon, the bento… He 10000000% tries to give Sena his second button at graduation, this is canon, argue with a wall. (Dazai sees this, snatches it out of his hand, and yeets it into the street. Sena has not noticed any of this happening because Banjou is busy trying to get her attention and trying not to cry.)

Also, Gyoubu's everyday clothing sprite. ALDKJFALKERMAD;LAKSEJRLKAJKLF SDFLKLDKJA;LKEJRKAL

*After reading Dazai’s short story, I’m realizing he leaves for so long probably because he had already made his half-confession, and then reaffirmed his conviction to send her home however he can. 

Dazai: What is there to say? Anyone who’s played the game, Knows. He’s really just the perfect LI TTTTT I guess if anything stood out to me, it’s his motivation for bet. It’s selfish, but at the same time… can I really think badly of him for believing in Sena so strongly? And since she herself would have wanted to remember him and be with him again?

Also he is such a legend omg. I’m just trying to imagine what last round was like; no allies, no clues from returning cast members, and they weren’t told that there was a Producer among them so did he just figure it out?? Truly protagonist energy.

Okay, intermission before true route thoughts: speculation that was, uh, Not my best work :’) 

Dazai mid-route realization: I had (mistakenly!?) assumed that the Sena’s missing memories were also because she was in the last round, which has.. a lot of plot holes lol. I think this was because I had assumed that Arcadia was the only time she would’ve gotten to know Dazai, since him being a classmate wasn’t really something I had fully considered and thought through. But anyway, many of the issues are resolved that way. So I guess the whole “leaving Sena behind” thing was that by being part of broadcasts(/taking on role of Producer…?), Dazai left her behind in the real world?

COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT THE ADDITIONAL BET. WHY did I not make a note of that. GAH!

Did not properly divorce the concepts of “being the Producer” and “being a trustworthy person” (and didn’t want to suspect Dazai of anything. Wow I really can’t say anything against Akase and Sena’s reactions throughout the game) ← this was the root of many of the things I couldn’t put together, even though in retrospect the clues were all there

Assumed that extreme care and kindness was mutually exclusive with putting Sena in the position of being a cast member, and underestimated guilt as the driving force behind that (Chigasaki and again with Dazai, really fooled me twice so shame on me)

Did not connect Dazai’s unwillingness to speak with literally being unable to (which we had already seen with Chigasaki)

Thought the Producer had to be intentionally putting the cast members through all that suffering, even with Gyoubu’s hints otherwise (that the Producer isn’t the real traitor, and 

Previously I was trying to reason out how the Producer can stay hidden and I even said this: “although I guess it has to be a different Producer each time, or they can take a different name/appearance” *facepalm* I also should’ve considered erasing their memory as a way to conceal his identity, as that’s a tactic that was proven to be used.

Dazai being the (current) Producer should have been clearer after Haiji’s comments about winning his bet against “that guy”: Haiji’s not the Producer, therefore the person he made the bet is the Producer; the bet is implied to be about memory, and Dazai’s the one who was forgotten, so Dazai is likely to be the other party (i.e. the Producer)

Hedged my guess and didn’t just say that Haiji was (fully) AI lmao. Especially since part of the reason I recorded it was because I wanted to throw out one last crack theory while I still had the chance, so I might as well’ve swinged for the fences. His otherwise “real”ness was stopping me, but if I considered that the rest of the cast were only there in the form of their data, then that would have cleared the path. Anyway I do still consider that a (rare) win for me lol.

True route:

First thought after playing: that reveal was both exhaustive AND exhausting lol. Overall I’m still impressed with just how much they managed to explain (there are definitely some things not addressed, but I’ll need more time to remember them). The super blatant, literal “Ask me your questions and I’ll tell you the answers” section was something I disliked in Even if Tempest, but the answers here are more thorough and are payoff for earlier foreshadowing, so I’ll allow it.

Honestly I think it went on so long, and tried to cover so much ground, that it looped back into being entertaining. Like, the game is truly, just shamelessly going back and covering EVERYTHING. When random members of the cast started piping up with their grievances (never realized Banjou was the #1 isekaijin advocate but okay?? Just a sudden reemergence of that and his hero plotline) and WHEN FUTAMI AND IOCHI STARTED FIGHTING AGAIN LMAOOOOO. I think the isekaijin is probably the plot point that has the least satisfying conclusion, especially if you try to imagine how Chigasaki must feel…

I guess this is obvious since the locked routes were grouped together and follow from an extra common route chapter, but they really do feel like their own separate entity. Not quite enough to say it feels like a completely different game, but it’s still a pretty dramatic difference. Chapter 8 escalates the situation from the previous common route and includes developments that have permanently changed the atmosphere, mainly that slowly accumulating points is not a viable option and the group split. As a result, we end up seeing character development for some of the cast members compared to their pre-chapter 8 behavior: most notably Akase who can no longer maintain his “trust everyone” attitude, and Sena who’s confronted with the reality of a traitor and has to decide how she wants to proceed. The unlocked routes branched off from a much earlier point in the story, before the stakes had been raised even higher, so they really feel like they’re from a different phase in the game.

In addition to feeling different from the previous parts of the game, the locked routes are also deeply interconnected with each other, especially Gyoubu and Dazai. Each locked LI has a strong presence in the others’ routes, and each LI route contains parts of the truth for others. This makes it feel almost like each LI’s route is extended into the others’ routes, as you have more chances to spend time with them, learn about them, and grow fond of them. Since one of the major issues of the game is the rushed relationship building, I think this effect is part of the reason the locked routes are generally better than the unlocked ones.

The story went in much stronger on its themes than I expected it to. Don’t think I have anything to say about it now, but it’s another thing I’m noting for the replay. During my chapter 8 comments, I mentioned that Sena’s lost memories arose too suddenly as the new main plot point, but after seeing the ending, I think there’s probably enough foreshadowing about memories in the beginning that I may take that back.

True route endings: Chigasaki and Futami in the “happy” end TT I feel like there’s so much to explore there, as both of them violently, abruptly lost major pillars of their world basically. I think the overall difference between the endings was that the BE (where Aster disappears) is a very crude, rudimentary understanding of happiness, like what Aster was following when he was told to end the crew members’ life support: a big happy ending where everyone’s issues are wiped away and everything is perfect. 

In the HE, there’s a more nuanced, human interpretation of it where the characters have to face their painful realities, as we see with the ex-Sponsors and how Aster is regularly being interrogated. However, there’s also signs of hope for the future since facing those issues are also the first steps to healing, and Akase’s sisters began showing signs of waking up. Finally, the appeal of the broadcasts, i.e. the core concept of what the “ideal” thing is, has changed: instead of the childish, exaggerated rumor that the broadcasts can grant you any wish you want, the benefit of the broadcasts has mellowed into bringing you a small happiness within the next several days. This is another rejection of a miracle cure that can magically make everything perfect, and instead places the focus on looking toward the future, while living the life you actually have.

Short stories:

Honestly, I felt most of these were underutilized. Why does this game hate letting us see alternate content, like BEs too TT

Ebana, Chigasaki, Futami - felt like I gained almost nothing extra from the scenes from their POV. Futami's is a little better, could put his in the next category.

Banjou, Dazai, Gyoubu, Haiji - I felt like I gained a little extra insight to their characters. For Banjou, it’s mostly the callback to the line about liking something just because of familiarity with it that I found interesting.

Akase and Iochi at least showed us some new scenes. Especially Akase’s short story showing that Dazai explained Arcadia’s final trap to him; which means that everyone besides Dazai who’s chosen to stay behind (Akase and Gyoubu) was somehow influenced by him, and also had a strong enough connection to someone that it overcame the erasure of memories. It also provides an explanation why Akase seemed prepared for that outcome and why he already had some kind of guess as to the Producer. I played his route first, long before any of the Dazai related plot points came to the fore, so it’s definitely interesting to see another layer added to those events. Once again, I look forward to my eventual replay.

Fridge logic and other details that hit me after the reveal:

Futami being at their school was probably so he could spread rumors and/or was contacted by Ebana to return to Arcadia

Different alerts for dramas: The normal ones are a clearer sound and less discordant (ex: the one in the beginning of Chapter 2). The ones that Haiji forces for entertainment have a much harsher sound (ex: the corrupted drama with no characters/script that precede the Haiji route BEs). So far I’ve only checked these, but it’s something I’ll make note of in my eventual replay.

EVERYTHING in the beginning coming back to be significant, often even a second time after you already think it’s served its purpose (Palt, the virus in bangles, Yuki)

The story of the very first sponsor seems like inspiration for the choice that is offered upon reaching enough points: either one person can escape, or everyone but one

The world looks almost exactly like Sena’s city because otomate doesn’t want to make unnecessary assets everything is based on her grandmother’s memories

Fuzuki wanting Aster to call Kayo onee-chan is why he’s so fixated on calling Sena that

Gyoubu ends up sitting next to Sena at school because the desk next to hers is empty… since Dazai was erased……. Dazai giving up his place at her side to Gyoubu was both literal and figurative TTTT

Gyoubu’s boku/ore shows up as early as the end of Banjou’s route when he volunteers to stay behind. He still uses “boku” when giving a bunch of (fake) reasons for staying, like he wants to be there and he hates losing, but switches to “ore” for the line “I can’t go back yet. There’s something I still have to do.” It’s also right after Dazai asked him if he was sure about his choice, so it’s both Gyoubu and Dazai onscreen…

Intentionality with how Sena became the “chosen one” for this game. Dazai chose Sena because of her determination not to forget anything important, not even a goldfish. That determination was because she had internalized her mother’s emphasis on memories, which was also her attempt to remember her own parents even though they were erased. This is much stronger reasoning than I feel I usually see in games, which often just stops at the level of “related to important person”

Akase short episode stuff, see above

Plot holes (very incomplete, there are definitely a lot that I can’t recall right now since I’m processing an insane amount of information. a lot are based on what i saw other people mentioning):

The mole in Info Bureau being unaddressed

That audio clip of Gyoubu at the end of last round that made him seem super sus

Restoring people’s health: I know they mentioned Dazai was fine but still got his eyes checked,, but shouldn’t they have just used that Bangle program they found? Like, say they found older, compatible versions of the Bangle in the Info Bureau’s archives somewhere and everyone is fixed

Isekaijin in general but especially Chigasaki… 

Overall: I had a great time! Obviously I got very into this game, as these posts total ~14k words, I’ve made dozens of memes for it, and my brain has pretty much been consumed by it every day for the past two months (and counting). I also used this for JP practice, which extended my playtime, added a level of enjoyment (the accomplishment of . literacy lmao), maybe added a barrier of comprehension, and avoided any awkwardness in Iffy’s translation (oof).

I came in with rather lukewarm expectations about the quality of a mystery story in an otome game, and I was impressed with how much thought was put into the main plot and foreshadowing. I also think they did a great job of spreading out mysteries and clues among all the routes, so that every route revealed new information, but still left other questions unanswered so you were tempted to continue playing.

The characters are the other major strength of the game, as it’s such an interesting cast who have great interactions with each other. For me, this was enough to eclipse the rushed relationship development between Sena and (most of) the LIs, which I consider the biggest weakness of the game. Unfortunately but not unexpectedly, the strain of a large number of LIs in combination with a complex main plot, means the routes are too short for an interesting development of emotions. (For most of them; locked routes kind of play around with this, as mentioned.)

It also frustrates me to no end that there are no BEs for a majority of the routes – it’s my biggest issue with the game besides the relationship development. There are so many obvious possibilities for BEs, and especially with a game that has a dangerous, suspenseful premise, and with the inherent questions (i.e. user input) of the mystery genre, why WOULDN’T you want to show off the grim outcomes?? I guess it helps add some oomph to the few BEs of the game, but that tradeoff is not worth it TT

The MC – I’m actually quite fond of Sena :’) Maybe this is just like Banjou said, I like her because I’ve spent so much time with her, or maybe it’s recency bias, since she really does improve toward the end of the game when she’s determined to find the truth about others and about her memories. I think her conviction about remembering things is pretty nicely characterized, as it impacts the major plot points but also manifests in everyday details of her life; even in the very beginning, she mentioned how she was looking forward to getting a souvenir from their summer trip. And I think there were some moments of really great (but ultimately unrealized) potential with her characterization; in Iochi’s route there was a lot of self-awareness over how her self-effacing for her siblings impacted her, and in the beginning there were a lot of details between her and Banjou that made it feel like they really did know each other like the back of their hands. There are definitely routes where it’s especially frustrating to be stuck with her refusal to doubt others, but since I see that as part of her pre- and post-chapter 8 character development, it’s tolerable.

Other aspects:

Art: overall liked it more than I initially thought I would based on initial glance. Some CGs and sprites look a bit weird, but most are good and there are several gorgeous ones.

UI: It’s fine, does the job. I like the flowchart, wish it would hide unseen content better and was accessible from in-game. My JP-learning self appreciated the neat, sleek font style.

Voice acting: 100/10

Music: The more high-energy songs stand out. OP and ED are super catchy, and from the OST, Pursue, Le Soleil, suspicion will raise bogies, and Future are great at eliciting the atmosphere the game is trying to make. Also, bonus for having character songs (to clarify: not in the actual game, but in extra CDs that were released at some point).

My first impressions of this game were from some fairly mixed or negative reviews. Honestly, I had forgotten most of the specifics of the negative review by the time I actually planned to play it, and I’m so glad I did because that probably would have stopped me from playing a game that I ended up really enjoying. This experience has definitely taught me that if there’s a game whose premise I’m interested in, I should really just experience it for myself or at least see more positive reviews too before writing it off completely.

Also if anyone read all of this tysm ur amazing <333

[otomaze]

CharaMani week 6

Note there are some Cupid Parasite spoilers too (along with the obvious CharaMani ones).

Chapter 8: It initially threw me off to suddenly see a “Chapter 8” instead of going into an LI route, but I really love this structure choice! There’s definitely some necessary plot development that’s common across the three locked LIs, so it’s nice that the game just makes that part a shared route instead of making us repeat it every time. I love common routes and seeing different combinations of characters interacting, so I liked having a new sub-group as well (dear god they’re even more dysfunctional than cleaning route LMAO). 

DAZAI!!! It’s been so long since I spent time with him that I forgot how fond of him I am TT I got VIVIDLY reminded of that in the scene of him and Sena cleaning up, first his panicked shout when he thought Sena was in trouble, then when he implored her to remember… I trust him 1000% He truly wants the best for me. (The Makoto Furukawa of it all… I’ve been getting major CupiPara Allen vibes with how he’s trying to be selfless and keeping quiet about the memories that only he remembers, and I think that’ll be interesting to compare later too.) Also, we get to see a lot of his savage and petty side that we don’t usually see since he generally keeps quiet, so this is so fun!! Plus he did a good job building the table, I think it looks great :) 

Misc thoughts: 

I guess since it’s the common route, Banjo is overbearing again. 

Gyoubu’s impressions of other people xDDD IT’S ALWAYS SO GOOD. Really wish I could save voice lines in this game :’) (so far I remember him imitating Sena in Banjo’s route, and him imitating Dazai in ch 8)

The dramatic irony whenever Futami opens his mouth TTT Every time he talks about working together, or finding the Producer, or whether the Sponsor is in the exiled group… oof. (Also shoutout to him in Gyoubu route for advocating against his own human rights?? Bro why are you signing yourself up to be tortured for information TT Or it’s a genius move to deflect sponsor suspicion.)

Their whole theory that the supply chain would be impacted if they exiled the Sponsor(s) is a good premise, but has major holes in it. It would work fine if they had successfully found all Sponsors, but they haven’t accounted for missing at least one (I don’t think the game has outright brought up multiple Sponsors). Just as importantly, if they had accidentally targeted only innocent people, then the strategic move by the Sponsor(s) would be to still disrupt supplies in order to frame some innocent people. So basically there’s a good chance of both false negatives and false positives using their reasoning. Well, I guess we’ve seen that no one here is a perfect logician anyway but still wanted to point that out.

How has Sena forgotten something (past round?) if she and Banjou are with each other every day? Do I need to question both of their alibis??

I only JUST realized that clearing LI routes will unlock short story episodes. I had been searching through the flowcharts trying to figure out which ones I hadn’t unlocked lol. I’ll do all of them at the end, reliving my route order.

Route order: I decided I’m going to go Haiji (least favorite out of them) > Gyoubu (my silly little guy!) > Dazai (feels like finale material). I was actually planning for Dazai to be my first route since I liked him and trusted him in the beginning, so it feels like neat little bookends to do his route last. He’s always been a little protective of Sena, and now with him saying she’s forgotten something… Idk it just feels like a good route to do last! This order also happens to be my current most to least suspicious. Or, maybe not quite that, more like, least to most trusted? Or who I feel like has the best intentions at heart?

Haiji route:

WE FINALLY GOT THE FIRST BAD ENDING OF THE GAME?

Anyway, this route had THE COOLEST moment of the game when Haiji forced you back into redoing the decisions until you say you trust him. The escalation of him going from just turning the qualia system on/off and conjuring sweets, to force-starting a drama, then to the game itself… incredible. I just wish we could’ve lingered longer in that unease as we see him mess with Arcadia’s system. Also I think it would’ve been so funny if he literally sent you back to the beginning of the game if you accuse him as Producer > refuse to be with him. Can you imagine pressing the skip button and then it starts skipping through all the text and just… doesn’t stop? LMAO. 

Not sure if Haiji feels very convincing as an LI though? The way I’ve been describing it is that his route feels like an extended BE (possibly because I’ve only played the BE) or like what would normally be a hidden LI route (though hiding it here would be even worse in terms of spoilers). The relationship development is pretty brief and they can only be together if Sena turns away from her goals and embraces escapism. (Not Sena questioning if the Producer’s identity is even important… truly a jaw-dropping line…)  I mean, I like those kinds of twisted, yandere BEs, so I can enjoy that about the route, it just feels different. Also, Haiji’s behavior isn’t different enough from when he was pretending to be twelve, so it’s still hard for me to actually feel like he’s an LI.

At this point I stopped and avoided the choice where you accuse him of being the Producer – things were looking pretty damning for him and I wanted to save that branch if it was the true end. It did seem like I was missing a lot of content, since I didn’t see the normal ED movie and was still missing CGs.

Gyoubu route:

GYOUBU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM NOT IMMUNE TO WHEN THE TRICKSTER CHARACTER FINALLY GET QUIET AND SERIOUS AND VULNERABLE TTTTTTT when he was begging her for proof (permission) to trust her TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT and the wistfulness when imagining how it might be to be to sit next to her in class TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT the voice acting when his voice gets soft and serious TTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

I think one great thing about this route is that right from the start, we have Sena proactively investigating and really trying to confront her inner conflict about dis/trusting people. I feel like this route has been the best in terms of dealing with that. Maybe part of that is because I played it right after Haiji’s route, where the whole point of it was avoidance of any difficult questions.

I think the relationship development was pretty good in this route too (but also may be biased since i already liked Gyoubu so much anyway lol). The confession and affection wasn’t just crammed at the end, there were a few different points in the story where it almost felt like it would be the end of the route (the CG w their interlocked hands and the night sky for example) and I had to remind myself that we still hadn’t figured out the Akase stuff. I think this route is helped by the fact that their difference in personalities contributes to both their relationship dynamic and the plot, so the two aspects of the route are driven by the same force and don’t feel disconnected. The later parts of the route are also based on them working together instead of resolving suspicion like in many other routes, which also helps make the relationship feel like a progression. 

I was a little surprised by how much the last part focused on Gyoubu’s history with Dazai (maybe since there was that recent thread about how people felt about LIxLI content in games, so I was primed to look for things like that). I guess in retrospect it’s the culmination of the unanswered question of Gyoubu’s motivation + the burgeoning friendship between Dazai and Gyoubu in chapter 8. Still, the game is now extremely focused on what Sena (and Gyoubu) have forgotten, and I wish there had been more buildup of that in earlier parts of the game. When Sena talked about how she always felt like there had been something missing or forgotten, I was like… that would’ve been nice to know earlier? She talked about it as something she had always lived with, but we’re only just now hearing about it (unless I missed something). Also I’m just not a fan of having the main character watching everything happen… I mean I enjoy the story of it, I’m anticipating what the whole deal with the previous round was, but I wish Sena had more of a role in proving Gyoubu’s/Dazai’s credibility and sending everyone home than just sitting by and watching their drama. 

It also took me a really long time to put together the whole Dazai thing, I was just thinking their little spats were cute and it was funny that there was one-way trust (like when someone’s your best friend but you’re not theirs TT). It was only until Gyoubu was literally explaining it that I realized, Oh, Dazai. Gyoubu requested an eye penalty specifically to echo the penalty Dazai took for him. There’s also another resonance between them, as so far they (and Akase) are the only ones who’ve chosen to stay behind so the others can leave. And it’s nice to get further confirmation that Dazai’s a good person but the way Gyoubu talked about it reminded me of how Futami talked about the Producer (someone who would reach out a helping hand to anyone), so :/ don’t like that but I still trust Dazai.

Gyoubu and Ebana’s friendship… I couldn’t quite pin it down before since there were things that didn’t add up, but it’s nice to finally see that it’s genuine, or at least they can rely on each other! I do think it’s touching that the two most abrasive, uncooperative, annoying, openly distrustful people (I have a point here I promise) had chosen to place their trust in another person, and that their very ability to exist unobstructed in Arcadia hinged on the other maintaining that promise. Even though it was a mutually-assured-destruction type of situation, it’s wild to think that Gyoubu just made that proposal on night one and they both kept it until now, even going above and beyond to keep that secret for the other. Gyoubu’s friendship game is insane. 

It’s interesting to see how Gyoubu was following his own principle for determining if people were suspicious (if they suspected him, they were more likely to be innocent since actual Producers/Sponsors know the identities). Everyone, both characters and the players themselves, operate with their own ideas of what would constitute suspicious behavior. (For me, I thought blending in too well with the group and having the opportunity/competence to do things were suspicious.) Also, he notes that being a previous cast member doesn’t clear someone of suspicion which, yes!!! exactly!!

Also it’s so funny how the last routes are just like, no-holds-barred interference with other LIs. Either open suspicion and interrupting their alone time, or vouching for them and giving a stamp of approval for the relationship. 

Suspicion: Gyoubu at the end of his route said that the Producer wasn’t the one really betraying them (maybe NOIRC is?) so I decided to go back and finish Haiji’s route (thinking he was the Producer, but that wouldn’t be the finale reveal). He’s neither Director (which we know, I think it was Iochi’s route where they said it was a very advanced AI?) nor Producer??? Huh???  I guess there’s something else you need to unlock (still have an unknown part of his route’s flowchart) or an actual finale route (Director secret LI???? LOL jk but yellow is still an unclaimed theme color and this is not my first rodeotome.)

Honestly I went back to suspecting Akase a little since we know there’s a mole or something fishy going on with info HQ/NOIRC, but that stuff with Futami hard clears Akase. And Iochi’s route ending was too bleak for me to suspect them. Gyoubu also said that he could guess the real mastermind (notably, he didn’t say Producer) thanks to clues from Sena. Which again suggests Haiji, as he was the other one most involved in Gyoubu’s route (Dazai and Gyoubu are besties).

This is my last chance for theories so let’s just go through all my remaining questions and improbable answers: 

Haiji:

Why’s he Like This if he’s not Producer?

Why does he have so much control over Arcadia’s system? (Maybe just because he’s been here so long? After all, Gyoubu did have some control and he said he had to build the programs from scratch)

What exactly were the conditions of his game with the Producer? (He said he won against “that guy” after Sena accused him, so maybe his win condition is to be accused as Producer? It’s a common role in werewolf style games. Or his comment also suggested that it has to do with betting whether Sena will remember her memories/people will remember Dazai. Was the Producer betting on the side of human emotions overcoming all?)

Is he human? He keeps making sweeping comments about what humans are like, and he’s unfamiliar with emotions and cold (literally, physically). My ideas were isekaijin (though he doesn’t feel muddy) or partly an AI. 

For the AI theory: he made gestures like the Director, who was hypothesized to be a kind of AI earlier, has been raised on videos but not real experiences, has some control over Arcadia’s systems/programs, and feels kinship even with non-living things. Also he’s in some ways similar to the Bouncers, an even more primitive level of AI: it was pointed out once again in his route that Sena is unexpectedly kind to Bouncers, and his actions when playing games are extremely predictable (Gyoubu’s complaint about Bouncers; Haiji pantomiming ice cream for the charades game).

Last round:

How exactly did the last round end? Multiple people have spoken ominously about the way they were able to return (Ebana in ch8, I think Gyoubu too, and Dazai saying he’ll never leave Sena behind might also count. It seems like it also ended in a “either one person or everyone but one person returns”. There were some other comments but I can’t really remember the exact phrasing and don’t know where to check for them TT)

What happened in the last round/what have Sena and Gyoubu forgotten?

Why was Dazai erased from everything? (It feels like a special game/bet with the Producer? Also maybe a plot hole but why is he still in the roster if he was so totally erased from every other kind of record)

Why did it feel like Dazai was intentionally cutting off any further discussion at the end of Gyoubu’s route?

→ Okay writing it out, I guess we could piece it together like: last round Sena was the one to stay behind so the others could go home; but Dazai had won some sort of concession from the Producer to be able to switch places with her,  though in return he’s erased from all their memories; and part of the conditions are that he can’t interfere with her process of remembering (which is why he ended things suddenly?)

Misc:

Repeated theme of the connection between appearances and reality: Introduced during the lecture at school when the teacher says to confirm things with your own two eyes, but the experience of Arcadia casts doubt on experience being equivalent to evidence. Futami and also Gyoubu stress that things are not what they appear and that Sena should be careful not to get fooled, meanwhile Haiji seems to say that appearance is as good as reality since if the bangles can make unwanted things invisible, it’s like they don’t exist.

Still not sure... why the Producer picked these cast members. Maybe bc they each kind of need something from Arcadia (prev cast members with regrets, Sponsors with no better options, people trying to take down Arcadia, etc) but that feels so vague? I'm sorry Chigasaki i have failed u

Is Sena’s mom a sponsor or connected to the broadcasts from NOIRC? She had viewing access to them, tried to convince Sena to just forget what she saw, and also is very positive about the Morpheus project.

Dazai: Two random things from earlier in the game: he seems anxious to get back to school (supposedly a different one from Sena's, but he might just be hiding their connections?) and we still don't know why he made somewhat strained comments about his older siblings (u have no idea the wild theories i had about this. at one point i was staring at each character's eyes to see if they were similar to Dazai's (for a hot minute I entertained the thought of Futami being Dazai's older brother))

There’s like. World-buildy stuff like Ioichi’s route and the moons being used for access whatever bases and I’m just not getting into that. 

That building they use for exiling people and how there’s older technology there, and the records and laptop that they were unable to touch? There’s some kind of connection to how Arcadia’s based on the past and possibly also Haiji’s tower of junk. Idk I’m so bad at this I’m just taking the L.

Speaking of, there's also that area that Akase was trying to break apart in Futami's route. Those sleeping pod things seem like places you could keep people as you trap their mind in a VR-cadia.