#Dita Iliner

[ariapmdeol]

Dita!!!

[tsukimishin]

reread the interlude the other day so im dumping some old interlude specific fanart from last year + one random mutei. the mutei pic is parodying a specific scene from bad girls club s1, idr which episode. it's all casual indulgent stuff and not meant to be posted publically at that time, but hey, why not. i have more stuff i may post in the future..maybe?

[mindrole]

it's 3/3... its miwa... thats a lot of threes...

used this base

[rea-aury]

I did not,,, mean to make Dita look like he's seen The Horrors™ and Izu depressed lmao-

[ariapmdeol]

COEtober Day 2: Mirage

[ariapmdeol]

Dita Iliner!

[ariapmdeol]

kill the fake

[ariapmdeol]

thinking about cell of mirage again

[ariapmdeol]

fragment doodles!

[mindrole]

kadou's initial pitch was like this

[mindrole]

what ive been wondering lately...

honestly they are more similar than one would think probably bc they can both have the exact same audience

[ariapmdeol]

Fragments, Factors, and Hermit's Room

NOW THAT I AM CAUGHT UP, I need to update my theories! These were discussed and pieced together w/ saintshrine and worldexecutor! I am compiling them for my own reference.

This will contain spoilers for the remainder of the DLC, Hermit's Room, Interlude, and the Interlude and Cell of Mirage reports! AKA, everything that's been released so far.

You can find my other COE theories/analyses here!

THE FRAGMENTS Interlude confirms there are 7 fragments, each with a number in their last name. I believe that each fragment is linked to one of the 'Seven Gifts of God', as described in a book in the Minoru DLC. Paraphrased and in order, they are:

Fear of the Lord, Piety, Fortitude, Knowledge, Counsel, Understanding, and Wisdom.

Thus, we have Hajime Hatsutori (1), Ryu Nijou (2), Teita Miwa/Dita Iliner (3), Wadachi Azuma (4), Daigo Igarashi (5), Misumi Mutsushika (6), and Izu Nanami (7).

The first three are fairly straightforward, especially with the additional descriptions in the DLC's book, but the one that interests me is Izu. In Interlude, it's mentioned that he has CLAIRVOYANCE. A Higher knowledge, and the youngest of the Fragments...

Izu also might be using the body of the original Reiji Isoi. Mutsushika says in the Utsugi DLC that he needs a child (about 10), because he has a younger brother who can't come out into the open. Thus, he needs a vessel. He says later that the kid that Utsugi prepared is too young (four or five), but goes with it anyway.

he's talking about the little Reiji here, who's now a vessel for the 7th fragment/Izu. (credit to worldexecutor for telling me about this theory!). Is little Reiji still in there? I sure hope so, it'd be angsty ^_^

THE SEPHIRA if you remember this cipher from Reiji DLC:

Knowing now that Seodore has the Gabriel Factor, I am operating on the assumption that this refers to Factors like his and Mutei's (Harada factor).

On the sefirot wiki page, it says this:

"The sefirot are described as channels of divine creative life force or consciousness through which the unknowable divine essence is revealed to mankind." "Will and knowledge are corresponding somewhat dependent opposites."

I said before that I think Seodore is 'will', and Mutei is 'knowledge'. This is still true, but I think it means more than that.

I think Mutei's factor allows him to read the source code of the world. He can Know, but he can't affect or manipulate it in any way, which is in part why he's stuck in the Hermit's room. He can Know but he can't DO anything with it directly.

Seodore, on the other hand, doesn't care about understanding it. His factor can manipulate the code, but he can't read it. He just wants to find a world that isn't bound by Arrival Points, that isn't bound by the 'end of the game.' Which draws into focus: We the player are an acknowledged entity. A being that they cannot perceive, yet guides them all the same.

We have a factor of our own as well, that we receive at the end of the DLC:

The factor "Dawn" has been loaded. Please wait for the announcement from Online Station.

This grants us access to the Hermit's Room/chapter select screen, which is interesting and something I need to think more about! HOWEVER. I want to talk about THE LANTERN.

THE LANTERN

At the end of Hermit's Room, we have this:

"The Record Da'at_01 has been saved. Subsequent playback is by the system."

as well as 'Do not trust Mutei Harada."

I looked up Da'at, and found this on the wikipedia page:

In Daʻat, all sefirot exist in their perfected state of infinite sharing. The three sefirot of the left column that would receive and conceal the Divine light, instead share and reveal it. Since all sefirot radiate infinitely self-giving Divine Light, it is no longer possible to distinguish one sefira from another; thus they are one. Properly, the Divine Light is always shining, but not all humans can see it.

I think THIS is what the lantern on the table is. The lantern is the condensed form of every factor at once, which is why it is able to give Mutei a presence in this room. I believe this is ALSO the light seen at the end of the S route, the three rings. By coming to this room, we have Arrived at a place beyond the typical bounds of the game. I think it's the Primum Mobile, the Ninth Heaven of the Divine Comedy. We the player are generally acting from the 10th, in Empyrean Heaven (beyond the bounds of the game), while Hermits Room/the Domain that lets Atou and Seodore tweak the definitions of the world is the Primum Mobile.

Similarly, this is what gives us the chapter select screen as well. Time works differently for us vs the characters.

One Final Cipher: At the end of the DLC, we are presented with these:

e7a59e is the Hexadecimal code for 神, aka GOD. I'm not entirely sure what the characters in front of it say (my google translate says 'draft' for the first, and 're-edited' for the second). If anyone has a more accurate translation, please let me know!

Assuming that the MTL is correct, then the 'draft' of the world is by God, and the 're-written' version is by CODE:DANTE.

CODE:DANTE seems to be at odds with Mutei. I'm operating on the assumption that they're a part of Seodore's group? Kanou is a part of this group too...

MUTEI (bastard) There is one bit in particular I want to bring up in the Interlude Reports. Specifically, CodeData 05-2. He comments (paraphrasing) that if he were God, he'd want to collect all the different outcomes and endings of his world, and that he'd want the protagonist to oppose him and make a possibility he could never have imagined.

....Seodore's already had his turn guiding/influencing a protagonist. I suspect that in Cell of Mirage, it will be Mutei trying to pull the strings. Or rather, I think he's hoping to pull OUR (the player) strings in the hope that we can influence the world (and rui lmao) for him. He does bring up in Hermit's room that he'd like us to apologize to seodore for him, if we can gain access to the world he thought was gone.... Either he's being honest about that apology OR he's doing it as a test to see if we can change the world for him.

Is it possible for a character to resist the player? Can the characters within a story break free of the definitions that Bind them? What is fiction, what is reality, and how does the world within these frames challenge that? I believe that this will be central to Cell of Mirage and it's themes.

also, side tangent, but I think it's fascinating how much Mutei parallels us as the player. I need to think more on this but I absolutely think something is there. Mans wants to play god and I think he doesn't care about the consequences. I need to think about him and seo and rangiri more...

once again, this image is relevant. Mutei Harada is a LITTLE SHIT.

Cell of Mirage and Interlude I will be referencing this translation by fleecedragon! please read through it! I think that Miwa and Eigha are aware of what's to come/their true natures, and Dita and Takagi don't. In interlude, Eigha says several things that seem to imply that he is aware that he is a fictional character, playing a role that he cannot escape.

I THINK HE KNOWS. HE KNOWS THAT HE IS FICTIONAL, and the world will end when the game does. There is nothing beyond the 'Arrival point', so the only way to preserve this world is to never finish the game.

Dita isn't aware of Miwa/Miwa's memories, so I think he's gonna have a GREAT time after he learns that he's fictional ^_^ I want to see Dita have a mental breakdown ^_^

Also I'm pretty sure the fourth wall just doesn't exist for Gajura, as he talks directly to us in his character profile.

[mindrole]

so, in the databook, in shinano's entry, the detail that yellow is dita's image color was dropped, right? shinano's favorite color is yellow for this reason, that's why in the dlc he's wearing a yellow shirt, because of its association with dita. but he is not the only one who is observing this i think.

look at this...

the color yellow i think is strongly associated with miwa as it is. he uses it everywhere in his apartment, and he wears yellow in the magazine cover in his room (our only representation of him outside of "dita"). even in the bedding! yellow! of course this is a connection to dita as well, something more subtle that all the merch he's displaying, which could still be dismissed as stuff he was given as the lead. i'm sure actors are given merch of shows/movies they star in all the time, and some might come to the conclusion that even if it's displayed so neatly, that could just be his personality, etc. (even though i think the way it's displayed, he clearly cares on a deep level)

i think one of the reasons it was ryuu's segment in the interlude that had the investigating bits was because miwa is a character important to com, but he's not present in the interlude in person because he's already in rosemaria. this is a way to learn about him without him being on screen and talking to the camera. since ryuu is approaching with about more or less as much information as we have, he's a good audience surrogate. there's not much we need to know about ryuu, but we do end up learning about him a little while he's snooping around miwa's apartment.

so... the conclusion... miwa actually does love ditasword...

"you've already made this clear in other posts", is what you're thinking, probably but...

yes, it validated what i thought further! that's not what i realized!!

what i realized was this: miwa doesn't seperate between himself and dita that much. it would be apt to say he wants to be as close to dita as possible. not in an identity crisis sort of way, in real life he never thought of himself as dita iliner at any point. that's not it. but rather he has an unhealthy attachment and obsession with dita. is dita a state of being? i don't know, but what i do know is that when he's playing dita, he can be... well not himself, because frankly dita is a (2.5D/3DPD) anime character and miwa is a grown man in his 60s, but he can present the part of himself he can't show the world.

remember the report? to miwa the end of ditasword, is the end of him, too. (what the fuck is wrong with him?) so he can't picture a world he can exist in once he can't play dita anymore. even though he's famous? even though most idols in this situation either transition into serious roles, or retire and get married? he doesn't want to play anyone but dita, a role likely conceptualized with his status as a fragment in mind. he can't just randomly have pink hair for any old regular decular drama role, it's weird. especially when the public perception is usually to try and get away from your most well known kiddie role. and it looks like dita and eigha are getting killed off in the movie, so...

i have no doubt in my mind anymore that at some point, he wanted rosemaria to last forever for himself. it was something he wanted because without ditasword, he had nowhere to exist anymore. whether or not he changed his mind in the space between february and july no one knows yet. does this mean he's the mastermind this entire time? ...i don't know. coe had a big unreliable narrator element to it, but i still think we do not know enough. at the very least, he clearly has some guilt about it if the email on his computer is anything to go by. not to mention he went to the detective agency for a reason (we don't know why. was he offering tips on the mirage incident so someone could solve it? did he think his life was in danger? who knows..). here are the possibilities:

this is something he fully had a hand in. (i think this has a bit of evidence backing it up)

he's in on it, but is only an accessory, and agreed to it because his dream would come true. so he doesn't have a lot of autonomy if at all. (this has probably the most evidence)

it was against his will from the start (this is highly unlikely)

whether or not "this is something miwa thought he wanted", like i said, there's just not enough information. obviously we will find out in com itself, but i can't think tossing away your entire self to embody a fictional character you used to cope with being a (to be frank) freak of nature is a good thing, especially now that it seems like the relationship is a deeply codependent one. doubly so that there were ulterior motives from almost everyone high up in the operation... (kadou and azuma, and even miwa, they all have ulterior motives when it comes to ditasword)

in february, he was counting down the days to the movie coming out. but there was a lot happening, and things did not go as planned, i think factors that messed with everything can be narrowed down to these two:

the mirage incidents and subsequent disappearances

harada shiyo.

in the beginning of the post i said that miwa's apartment being the debut of the investigation mechanics is a way to learn about miwa in a way that's more profound than one would realize on their first playthrough. there's a lot of details that seem mundane until you link them together. for the mirage incidents, they're represented by the email on miwa's computer. for shiyo, it's the bathroom poster (this is more information in shiyo himself though) and the hydrangea photo (miwa's obsession with shiyo). they're important aspects that will end up influencing miwa's decisions leading up to com. i don't want to elaborate because i go into shiyo and my thoughts on him in the other post that's rotting in my drafts right now. there's already a bunch of overlap between this and that. though tbh i might end up scrapping it and rewriting it entirely, so if you wanna know about this specific thing, just ask~

honestly, it is really unfortunate. because miwa can never be dita. and dita could never be him. one part is always going to end up neglected. and both "dita" and "miwa (idol)" aren't particularly real, yeah, perfect blue, blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda. they can't exist independently of each other. it's a fool's errand.

but yeah, i have a lot of thoughts re:com in general, shiyo+eigha etc, since i'm scrapping the one post i'm leaving it to whoever would like to hear about it. it's kind of unsalvageable rn because i had too many new thoughts and also there's an increasing overlap... (and i ran out of motivation...)

[mindrole]

i feel like its obvious that com will deal with issues of identity given it is touched on with hatsutori specifically regarding his fragment status— compartmentalized in the conflict of "savior or human"— of course it is not so binary as i word it, there is a fluidity between the humanity that minoru saw in hatsutori and the supposed godhood that noriyuki latched onto in his idolatry of him... of course at the end of the tunnel is theodore's "you are just a normal person anything extraordinary about you came from me".

but in and of itself, the fact that hatsutori existed, he exists beyond what minor or noriyuki or even theodore think. between all these schools of thought is his own lived reality, and his own lived experience, his own lived delusion and chasing of being "a savior" even if he laughs and knows there is an element of farce to it, though in the next moment he's on the ground throwing a tantrum and foaming at the mouth because it is a farce. i think com will be similar...

though i think the issue is, hatsutori never hid his condition, he used it possibly to its full potential. ryuu is probably the same, being a mercenary he probably had no issues running around with pink hair and red eyes and not aging at all. of course the fact that he is sheepish about his appearance is more about the fact that he has skin grafts and eyes that do not belong to him that are supposedly mot easy on the eyes, rather than the traits of a fragment. but my point is, these two don't have to conceal it. hatsutori being some kind of christ-like figure, ryuu coming from a dark "anything goes" background.

azuma, igarashi and misumi are public figures, we know nothing about the lengths that azuma and igarashi take to hide their physical abnormalities, but misumi shaved his entire head + wore sunglasses indoors for a while at some point and still hides it now.

i think for miwa his lived reality is much, much more complicated. because his existence is a lie predicated on a lie. and then some. no one else is going to the lengths of concealing his identity as a fragment as far as he goes (based on current information). without exaggeration i think one of the most important moments in the interlude is ryuu finding the wig and contacts in miwa's bathroom. which of course means that dita's appearance is pretty much what miwa actually looks like aside from the cosplay. how much would that fuck anyone up, honestly... but it is not just two modes. imo, if i were to make it as simple as possible:

teita miwa, boy idol and i bold this because the boy idol part is the important part here

dita iliner, magical boy, a fictional character

the teita miwa who embodies the ideal, the middle of the venn diagram, which basically does not exist. it is not possible for such a thing to exist.

teita miwa himself, the lived reality that exists between all of these, the one who wishes for such an impossible ideal

anyway, i think assertions like "dita is the real person" and "miwa wants to become dita" are either wildly off or are undercooked and surface level. i do not think miwa wants to become dita. i think what is likely is that it is not normal to have the qualities that fragments have. he's an unaging manlet with pink hair and red eyes. in the real world i do not think that is an easy pill to swallow for most people. he takes off the wig and it's over really. so he's bound to that. it would be easy to drift into "but dita isn't real, so it's fine if he's like that". it goes without saying but dita was absolutely modeled after miwa from the start, a character tailor made for him to play, so that does not help things. so possibly, miwa wants a world where being himself is acceptable and normal. that place is obviously rosemaria, a fictional world where a magical boy with strange powers and exaggerated qualities can exist. he would not be judged in such a place. so perhaps it starts out like that.

like this its still a little simple. i will not go into it and will give an abstract of it, but my theory is that ditasword was a machination of azuma created to test mutei's theories in a multitude of ways, including visiting other dimensions. i personally think that miwa is absolutely a pawn in this plan. whether it is escapism founded in acting out a fictional character that carries your undesirable traits and is loved and accepted for it that eventually morphs into wanting to go to rosemaria OR if it was the latter from the start... it would simply be that miwa would have that single minded goal. until the filming of the final movie or perhaps before but at the latest around that time, when he has his retirement date silently set months in advance, presumably preparing to disappear forever and become his ideal self. its not so simple, but this is the plan. i think in this moment he begins to realize that he still wants to be teita miwa, the boy idol. that he grew attached to that lie. dita and idol miwa are both flagrant lies, but having lived both in some form, there is a lived reality in them. just because he was pretending and lying doesn't suddenly mean the years he lived working as an idol were fake. they were him, and he did that himself. hell, "boy idol" teita miwa is something he may be more attached to than the identity of dita. but it has an expiration date so it's not like he can call it off (nevermind the fact that the false identity of teita miwa the boy idol itself is probably also starting to get a little too old for the "boy" part, but he doesn't age so...), nor can he abandon what he wanted the entire time, which is to live freely. FREELY without having to lie about who he is.

it goes without saying that the idea of "going to rosemaria" is a farce. yes he is going, but there is something very fishy about it, and his going of it in com is absolutely predicated on foul play, considering the condition of his apartment. if he goes there, what happens next? does he just stay there? dita is still just a character he plays, and eventually a fake world like that is just like gum you chew too much, what happens then? will azuma extract him? or will he be abandoned in a fake world and be left to rot there? we don't know if gajra and eigha are fake or not (eigha is likely sentient and possessing one of the actors who portrayed him... but that is a topic of another post) but it is strange. either way, one day the honeymoon period will be over.

there is a teita miwa that exists beyond all of this and com will definitely largely look into that. its not unlikely has a great dislike for his abnormalities, and is only able to accept that part of him when he's playing a corny and highly heightened fictional existence. he might want to be free of hiding it, but also wants it to go away all together so he can be "normal". more than any other fragment. what miwa wants most of all is the love and acceptance and ironically, the mundane "normal" that dita is privileged with. going to rosemaria is the only way to achieve this in his mind, but it really is all a farce from start to finish.

(there is also a lot to unpack about how eigha plays into this, like is it a desire for loving family or what, there is simply too much we do not know about miwa and other players involved but lol. it goes without saying there are parallels between ryuu and eigha even if i want to be very careful and say that im not ever implying theyre the same or share the relationship that miwa and dita have at all. its likely eigha is much more linked to other things.. but multifaceted things exist, you know?) but it's really not possible the way things are right now (pre-com 2018)

anyway, i drew this horrible picture while thinking about how to word all this (theres probably stuff i forgot to mention and i wont realize until i publish this):

[mindrole]

~a certain messageboard when ditasword started airing~

miwa (quoted in OP): i hope you guys like this version of the work and continue your support this production. im a big fan of it myself! i consider dita to be a part of me!! i even took the care to do all the stunts myself. everyone worked really hard!!!

otaku 1: why did they cast a guy? he's outgrowing the role in 10 seconds. dita-kun has to be cute forever. why didn't they hire a female idol? neither of them can act anyway so it doesn't make a difference

otaku 2: why is the work animated only to have dita-kun and eigha-san be played by 3D pig disgusting? is this some kind of monkey paw situation?

otaku 3: teita-san*, you said you do stunts yourself, can you please do a shocking stunt that gets you fired and barrels you right into retirement? make it a funny and ridiculous scandal so we can at least have something to laugh about when we remember this embarrassing attempt at adapting this god work

otaku 4: how can he be a fan of ditasword when he's only 16 years old lol, literal fetus, its all PR lip service in the end. i bet he doesn't even know how the iliner mama and papa died

otaku 1: >>2

well at least eigha-san's actor seems to be taking it seriously. i feel bad that he got cast next to such an amateur

*coldest "lastname-san" in the world

all four otaku were orie rin behind 7 proxies. thank you very much.

he has since repented for his excessive trolling.

miwa, angrily scrolling through the thread: i meant every word i said, you disgusting ungrateful pigs..........