#akushima route

[mink-shit-shrine]

took me quite a while but here it is! a cursed thought that has been living in my head rent free ever since the stream happened.

thank you, fuuchan.

- C.

[slybluehologhost]

DRAMAtical Murder ＞ Sprites [JAST USA Release, 2021]

I'm quite sure other folks have pulled the sprites from this game before, but I figured I'd still do it anyway just for the sake of completion. Lots of different sizes & crops for these bad boys, so feel free to take your pick. (Clear even comes with a whole host of emotion assets that you can add to anyone else!) These are great for fan games, sprite edits, or making a big cardboard cutout to bring on dates.

Package details & links are under the cut, or you can click here for a static page.

Sprites — [ L I N K ] ＞ Includes sprites for Aoba, major characters [Clear, Koujaku, Mink, Noiz, Ren, Trip, & Virus], other notable characters [Akushima, Alpha, Alpha-2, Haga, Kio, Mio, Mizuki, Nao, Ryuuhou, Sei, Tae, Toue, & Yoshie], Allmates [Beni, Clara, Junker, Tori, Usagimodoki, & Usui], & NPCs ＞ Sprites are organized by character & categorized further by cropping, variant, &/or affiliation ＞ These files contain spoilers for all routes — proceed with caution if you have not yet 100% completed the game

Looking for even more DMMd assets? ＞ [ L I N K ]

[sadecomestwelving]

I was just thinking about how strange it is that Toue doesn't have a route, looking back and considering that Arbitro had one. The fact that Aoba never ends up somehow slipping beneath the cracks in such a specific way to end up in his hands instead of Virus and Trip's feels like a missed opportunity to do some really interesting stuff and get some actual characterization in.

And on that, sweet pool already had a criminally minuscule number of routes and I'm imagining what the game could have been like if it was padded out a little. A short route, maybe the length of Arbitro's, where Kamiya snaps from prolonged exposure to Youji's pheromones and kidnaps him in his insanity, trying to beget his own Purebreed with him.

Or Toue tortures Aoba worse than anyone else in the game does in any bad ending on the back of the methods he used on Mink.

Secret route of Aoba "bribing" Akushima during a false identification while he's out running packages.

I don't know, hidden route with specific preconditions (your computer's date has to be set to certain Christian holidays, say) where Takeru actually survives his encounter with Keisuke and, within an inch of his life, he spends his last hour with Akira, talking about his past life as it slips away. All his walls are down. Intimate, if you want.

In the beginning of the game you can choose to make out with Ace or Dee and whichever one you choose visits Akira while he's being held in prison.

Everything, anything. I'm so fixated on the supporting characters.

[ghostoftheyear]

The DMMd Stage Plays

No one asked, but I can’t shut up about them, so I thought I’d talk a bit about these.

There’s a tradition, it seems like, of making stage plays about just about every subject imaginable in Japan. Search any anime you’re into on youtube and add “stage play”, and you will find everything. There are stage plays for Haikyuu!, Demon Slayer, SK8 the Infinity, Sailor Moon, Persona 5, Sarazanmai, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Given, Ace Attorney... that’s just off the top of my head. The productions are always creative and interestingly staged. If you’re into theater at all, I do recommend investigating.

It was a bit of a surprise, no doubt, that a stage play for DMMd ran in 2019, given that the game came out seven years prior; still, it did well enough to warrant another run, so we can’t argue with that. The production ran over a two-week period (stage plays don’t seem to be long-running; following any of the actors on social media, you’ll see they do several plays a year), and what’s particularly fascinating is that they did all of the love interest routes in that time period on alternate days.

The cast:

Nagata Seiichiro as Aoba

Kohatsu Allen as Koujaku

Yamagata Yuki as Clear

Tomizono Rikiya as Noiz

Takanori Yamaki as Mink

Yamazaki Shogo as Ren/Sei

Iwaki Naoya as Mizuki

Tominaga Yuya as Virus

Yoshioka Yu as Trip

Hayato Moriya as Akushima

The cast is rounded out by four dancers who added to the background in a variety of ways; Hayato Moriya also played multiple roles as a member of Bug Bomb, the person welcoming Aoba to Platinum Jail, and so on.

This was apparently not the highest-budget production out there, but they got around that with a stage resembling a generic Rhyme field onto which could be projected a variety of images, using that and lighting to make its appearance change significantly to the plot.

Unfortunately, due to (I believe) contractual issues, DVDs were not released for this production. They were livestreamed, and the final route was pro-filmed and can be rented on JP Hulu and U-Next, but that’s all we got. Sadface. However, there was a special after-show “curtain call” segment where the audience was allowed to film on their phones, resulting in a wave of clips that can be viewed here. In a couple of cases, Goatbed also performed “AI Catch” for this segment.

There was a wave of merch released for the plays, including bromides (postcard-size, collectible pictures, many of which can be found on secondary markets), a pamphlet, can badges and such. One presumes we will have another round of these with the new production.

Now the new production is coming up at the end of April 2023, and in addition to being “evolved” from the last one, a Virus/Trip route has been added. It’ll be interesting to see how this goes down, since before, it was only hinted at during the final route.

Recently and devastatingly, it was announced that Seiichiro would not be able to perform as Aoba again. While he was part of the initial lineup for this new cast, the official twitter stated that due to illness, he was being forced to step down and the role was recast with understudy Tsuchiya Naotake. I sincerely hope that Seiichiro is getting better and wish him all the best. Hopefully this is something he’ll be able to bounce back from. What’s particularly shattering is that Seiichiro has been working with Shogo on the recent run of Touken Ranbu in whatever incarnation it’s on now, so to have them not be reunited again absolutely sucks.

In other casting news, both the roles of Trip and Akushima were recast. Trip is now being played by Isono Dai, and Akushima by Makita Tetsuya. Presumably the dancers are all new as well; at the very least, I don’t recognize any of their faces, though as all the cast photos have everyone masked for safety, that makes it more of a challenge. The play is being directed by the same person as before, however.

As to whether DVD/BRs will be released this time, we can only hope that the legal issues have been worked out and we’ll get actual releases. If not, I’m sure there will at least be livestreams, though I haven’t seen anything announced yet. We will no doubt need a VPN for them at minimum; beyond that, we’ll have to wait and see.

[bunycube]

Any thoughts on Akushima x Aoba? Like, a route where Akushima chases after Aoba and they wind up handcuffed together while in Platinum Jail. Akushima loses the key because it’s him and they’re forced to bond. Akushima shouting on his microphone how cute his boyfriend is.

THATD B SO CUTEE i ve actually considered the idea of an akushima route b4 like i had it all plabned out n all . but its heen a while so i forgot a lot of tje details,,, but yeah omg. the handcuff thing sounds so silly i just imagine them walking around platinum jail sulking bcz theyre handcuffed 😭😭😭😭

hrmm i think an akushima route could b v possible actually i can even see a scrap scene happening since i think in noizroute or smth akushima was all fucked up from mind control 🤔 and he prob has a lot of insider info alsooo itd jsut be so funny 😭😭😭😭 its hard to imagine him not yellig but itd be fun!!

[aoiraincoat]

In Noiz' route Desire surfaces in Aoba's mind twice. And it's only once when he does so to protect Aoba, which is in Oval Tower. The other time is when Akushima nearly kills Noiz in Platinum Jail, and Desire pushes Aoba to use Scrap to protect him. SlyNoi is canon. End of post.

[chulipgaming]

14, 15 and 21 for the ask game!

Awawawa thank you for sending some numbers in oomfie~

Here’s some of My Epic DMMD Takes(tm)

14. Who is your favorite love interest?

Big Woke(tm) will never take Mink away from me. I understand him, I respect him, I cherish him. If the world is against Mink then I am against the world.

Also this Minao art goes stupid hard

15. Has your favorite love interest changed since your first playthrough?

Yes and no? Technically, I’m still in my first full playthrough since I haven’t finished Ren route yet (I’ve watched the ending before elsewhere and also it’s just kinda boring to play so I’m procrastinating tbh…)

BUT, going into DMMD and after finishing his route first, I was convinced my fave was Koujaku. He’s still my blorbo bingus but obvi Mink overtook him. He ain’t even second place either, that goes to Clear, lol rip.

21. Is there a character you want as a love interest but isn’t?

Mizuki is the obvious answer but I do also like the subversion wherein his route in Re:code is not a “romance” due to his and Sly’s relationship being too complicated for it to work out.

Otherwise uhhhhh… Not really? I’ve joked about Akushima deserving a route but genuinely idek what it would look like. Probably Aoba radicalizes that old man into becoming a whistleblower.

[cyberpunkboytoy]

Fuck it, DMMD English dream casting

I doubt any of these actors would agree to provide an English dub for the game, but...I can dream. I can specifically dream of:

Sean Chiplock as Aoba

Ben Diskin as Noiz

Bryce Papenbrook as Clear (+ Alpha)

Chris Hackney as Koujaku

SungWon Cho as Ren

Linda Young as Tae

Johnny Yong Bosch as Virus 

Keith Silverstein as Trip

Max Mittelman as Beni

Robbie Daymond as Ryuuhou

Zeno Robinson as Akushima

Yuri Lownethal as Sei

Rambling justifications & voice examples below

Typed in order of how strong my feelings are about the idea:

This whole list is purely because I was going through Koujaku’s route and had the thought “Robbie Daymond would fucking Kill It as Ryuuhou.” I think Yuri Lownethal would also be very fitting, specifically to match the original seiyuu’s sweet, light voice, but I’d personally prefer to see Daymond’s interpretation more. He could perform the hell out of cloyingly sweet to slow, crazed theatrics. He’s like, too good for this role. God it’d rule so much.

I always imagine Tae with Linda Young’s voice, primarily based on her performance of Genkai from Yu Yu Hakusho. That’s the OG old lady voice for me, and it feels so fitting sometimes I forget it isn’t already canon.

Noiz as Benjamin Diskin is a very biased choice (he’s one of my favorite VAs), & not the one I think most people would choose for the character. But he has a massive vocal range, including some low vocal performances, and I think would add a hint of boyishness that would compliment Noiz well. (also he’s been the English counterpart for another Satoshi Hino role so I just think it’d be funny.)

I knew Ren needed a low voice that was incredible to listen to, so of course SungWon Cho is the perfect man for the job. Also he rules.

I originally had Johnny Yong Bosch and Sean Chiplock swapped, with Chiplock being Virus (if only because he’s a furry and therefore it’s funny). But the more I thought about it the more I realized Johnny Yong Bosch seemed to suit Virus more. His voice just feels right in the role.

It was very difficult to think of an actor for Aoba. He needs a fantastic voice to listen to, very nice sounding, but also be able to have some grit and anger, and also be able to play Sly as well. I originally thought Johnny Yong Bosch because he’s well known for playing very different roles in the same media, but eventually I decided Sean Chiplock would be better suited for capturing Aoba’s unique charm and attitude. Sean Chiplock has massive range, so I kind of want him to be...everybody? He and Yuri Lowenthal could just do every single male extra and I’d be happy. But also Chiplock’s acting rules so he can’t just be extras, but he can nail any role so it was hard to chose who? I thought Toue and Sei and Virus, but I think he deserves Aoba. Ultimately I don’t know of a voice he’s done that screams Aoba to me, but I’m sure he could find it.

Like Aoba, thinking of a voice for Clear was similarly tricky (especially to also act as Alpha, who doesn’t share a VA with Clear in the original Japanese but I think would be a neat choice), but Bryce Papenbrook has the acting chops. Not only do I think he could nail that silly, boyish comedy-relief vibe, but also put himself into the more melancholic moments of Clear’s arc. And then get completely crazed as Alpha. (Papenbrook is incredible at playing diametrically-different roles within the same series and I wanted to highlight that.)

Chris Hackney can do a laid back, casual sort of friendly voice, but also perform incredible growls and violent anger. If he found the right voice for Koujaku he’d absolutely kill the performance.

Keith Silverstein could do a good Trip. Simple as that.

Zeno Robinson could do a good Akushima and also I just. Want him in things. 

Max Mittelman could perform a really funny Beni, I think. The only similar role I’ve seen him do is Plagg but I bet he has more mascot character energy in him.

Yuri Lownethal could do a good Sei. Seems like a waste of his potential though. Have him do 50 extras as well, I need more Yuri Lowenthal.

You might notice Mink isn’t here. I am terrified to even begin the process of choosing an actor for Mink.

[akatsuki-shin]

UPDATE:「Brain Crash Theater 『DRAMAtical Murder』」

New Visual of Nagata Seiichirou as Seragaki Aoba for 「Brain Crash Theater 『DRAMAtical Murder』」

Also, more casts have been announced, although still no visuals yet.

1. KOUJAKU  (Kohatsu Allen)

2. NOIZ (Tomizono Rikiya)

3. MINK (Yamaki Takanori)

4. CLEAR (Yamagata Yuki)

5. MIZUKI (Iwaki Naoya)

6. VIRUS (Tominaga Yuuya)

7. TRIP (Yoshioka Yuu)

8. AKUSHIMA (Moriya Hayato)

9. SEI (Yamazaki Shogo) //FUCKING ENKIDU PLAYING AS SEI JUST KILL ME NOW

Also, there will be 5 different routes to choose: Koujaku, Noiz, Mink, Clear, Sei

That means there will be 5 different performances (to rob your bank account, but we'll leave it at that).

[nanashinohime]

Some (long) thoughts regarding the Dramatical Murder stage play.

So, I’ve personally watched Mink’s route twice (December 21 and December 29 show) and Ren’s route also twice (once, via live stream) so, unfortunately, i don’t know what happened to the other routes.

First, some general thought about the stage play. I think the stage play was really fun. Some of the actors (especially Noiz’s actor Tomizono Rikiya) sound almost the same as their game counterparts. But, there are some things that they cut from the game which is understandable since the stage play is around 2 hours long-only (including the 15 mins break). The stage play is basically, the summarized version of the game.

Mizuki’s actor (Iwaki Naoya) was really good. You can feel the emotions during his Scrap scene. I wished that they added Mizuki’s route for the stage play since he has a route in ps vita version of the game. Clear’s actor (Yamagata Yuuki) was really cute and funny (Wished I could watch his route and all other routes, unfortunately, it's too expensive for me). I don’t know what to say for Koujaku and Noiz since I wasn’t able to watch their route but I think that they’ve chosen the right actor for Noiz because Tomizono Rikiya acts and sound a little bit like Noiz. I rarely play/choose Noiz route whenever I play DMMD, but after watching him on stage, it made me appreciate Noiz more. I love the scene after Tae scold Koujaku, Clear, Noiz and Aoba for being noisy/fighting in Aoba’s room. Some of Koujaku's actor (Kohatsu Allen) lines during the stage were really funny and he looks cool wearing Koujaku’s kimono. 

Akushima’s actor (Moriya Hayato) was also good. I’m amazed that his voice/throat was able to handle his dialogue and last until the last show (because he was constantly shouting on his megaphone). Hopefully, his skit with Virus and Trip won’t be cut during the DMMD stage replay. Virus (Tominaga Yuuya) and Trip ( Yoshioka Yu) actors were really good too. I love their skits and I’ve noticed that their skits change every performance. They’ve portrayed their characters well.

So, on Ren’s actor (Yamazaki Shougo) performance and route. His performance was really good. He played two characters for the stage: Ren and Sei and he even voiced Toue. Ren’s avatar costume suits him, especially without his headgear. I’m amazed that he can switch character voices and costumes fast. I like his scrap scene with Aoba and I was almost crying during his reunion/end scene with Aoba.

So, on Mink’s Route. As we know by now, Mink’s route is probably one of the most “controversial” in the DMMD fandom due to the “violence” on that route. I decided to watch his route twice because I like the Re-Connect/post-main game Mink but, watching those scenes from the main game live, especially the club scene, was hard to watch. I think that Mink’s actor (Yamaki Takanori) did well on portraying him. I’m also glad that they tried to follow the character’s height order because I noticed that Mink’s actor was the tallest in the cast while Aoba and Ren’s actor was the smallest just like in the game. 

One of my favorite scenes during his route in the play (and also in the game), was Mink’s monologue on the Oval Tower after he killed Toue. I’m really glad that they didn’t remove it. I’m also very happy that they showed the good end Mink because his actor looks really good wearing Re-Connect/post-main game Mink’s clothing. While not part of the script/stage, I love when he gently patted Aoba’s actor in the head when he was stopped by Aoba’s actor while he was exiting the stage (hopefully they’ll show it on the replay because everyone, including me, just screamed during that time ). 

On, Aoba’s actor (Nagata Seiichirou), I think he did well especially that there are 5 routes in the stage. I’m really glad that he was chosen to play as Aoba. His acting was really good and his Sly scenes were amazing. But, I felt bad when he (as Sly) got manhandled during Mink’s route

Some things that I don’t like with the stage is that they removed Mink’s Allmate Tori/Lulakan. I understand that the time is limited but it feels weird seeing Mink without Tori. The image of Koujaku’s Allmate, Beni, was also shown when Koujaku was being introduced, however, Beni didn’t talk, so I’m not sure if Beni is also in the stage play because I wasn’t able to watch Koujaku’s route. I also wished that they showed Toue and Tae on stage instead of using the image from the game.

Other than that, I think that the DMMD stage was really good and I don’t mind watching it again live if they decided to show it again or if they decided to add other routes (Virus/Trip route or Mizuki’s route) or show Re-connect, especially that DMMD stage actors don’t mind/are onboard on doing those routes. 

While waiting for the curtain call to start (can’t remember which performance day is it but I think it was during Ren’s route), I remember hearing Trip actor saying that he wants to do a Virus/Trip route with Aoba (which is probably hard to do considering that the scenes in ViTri route are really difficult to show on stage). Mizuki’s actor was also saying that it was unfortunate that he wasn’t able to kiss Aoba (which he can if they decided to add Mizuki’s route based on the ps vita version of the game). Mink’s actor (who sometimes speaks in Kansai-dialect, which surprised me because I can’t imagine Mink speaking in Kansai-dialect) says that he wasn’t able to it with his route now but wants to kiss Aoba too next time (which he can, if they do Re-Connect). While Noiz’s actor proudly says that he was able to kiss Aoba 5 times

[nyxravessnow]

Next the actors I saw all of but were on stage less than the previous three.

Mizuki - Iwaki Naoya

Naoya, Shougo (Ren and Sei), Seichan, Allen, Yu (Trip) and Yamaki (Mink) are all the actors I’ve seen before watching this play. While I’ve seen Naoya and Allen the least of all of those above I think Naoya left the strongest impression on me, apart from Shougo who I have actually spoken to twice. 

I’ve loved all the actors I’ve seen him as and always thought his acting was great and this time was no exception. While Mizuki has less to do than the others who have their own routes, he is a vital part of dramatical murder as he is the one that triggers Aoba finding out about his powers and I didn’t feel like the stage play downplayed this importance at all. 

Naoya absolutely shined in his scene where he was going insane and I was so impressed by his acting. He’s definitely in my top three cast members, which I will say at the end of all my summaries

Trip - Yoshioka Yu

Yu is probably the actor I have seen most as I have seen him in at least six other things playing major characters and I was very excited to finally see him live. 

I don’t think his acting as Trip could have been anymore perfect. He nailed Trip’s listless and indifferent persona whilst hinting at something darker lying underneath. The adlib he had with Virus was very good and worked very well in character. The two acted as narrators for the first half which I think worked well with their always-watching-vibe

Virus - Tominaga Yuya

I don’t really have much to say for him other than pretty much the exact same as Yu, apart from the bit about having seen him before. 

He nailed the persona and hinted at something within and everything else is the same as Trip.

Akushima -  Moriya Hayato

I don’t actually remember this character at all. And he also was on stage for about 7 minutes total so I have nothing to say about him apart from the fact that I think he did good.

[littlerabidfox]

Is there a route where they kill Akushima? Because I'm needing one

[kanna172014]

Can someone explain why in the HELL Akushima is there? All the others are either Aoba’s friends/lovers/people he’s been fucked by but Akushima?? Did the developers originally intend to give Akushima a route too? What if there is a hidden route that no one’s discovered yet?

[dratinimartini]

dmmd for the fandom ask meme

Omg you asked this one at a good time, I’m actually... replaying dmmd rn lol...

But here u go 

the character i least understand: Virus probably? Everyone else kind of has some ulterior motive for being a jerkwad but I’m pretty sure Virus was just born a shit. interactions i enjoyed the most: Fffffuck there were a lot of good ones. I think most valuable were the ones where Aoba found himself able to forgive someone even after they did something shitty to him, and then the other character in the situation changes their behavior so that they won’t hurt him again. Mink’s re:connect is the best example of this, but it happens many more times. the character who scares me the most: Akushima bc he yells so much lolthe character who is mostly like me: dkfgxhjdkf clear? Thinking a lot about death and one’s place in the universe, a love for cooking, and being a little weird are all similar. I’m not an ass eating maniac tho. hottest looks character: Rhyme ren 100 percentone thing i dislike about my fave character: Ren can be a bit too much of a pushover at times outside and inside his own route, boy needs to stand up for himself >:v!one thing i like about my hated character: I don’t rly hate any of them, but on the topic of Virus I guess, I like his sense of style and his manner of speaking. a quote or scene that haunts me: I don’t think I was EVER able to finish Noiz’s bad end. The others were all easy enough for me to get through, but the voice acting performance in his realllllly made my stomach churn. a death that left me indifferent: Ryuuhou, I didn’t feel particularly upset when he died, even tho I liked him as a character. a character i wish died but didn’t: I think everyone who needed to die did tbh? Either that or they disappeared and never returned, so we could assume they died.my ship that never sailed: I wanted that good end mizuki route man. Fucking re:code playing with my heart

[bunycube]

Akushima blushing slightly as he tries to hide the cute bento his boyfriend, Aoba, made for him. He gets caught by the other police at the station and they LOUDLY announce that Akushima has a cuuuuute bento made by his boyfriend and start stealing food.

akushima?! (is this bc of the post i made abt pairing random dmmd chars together 🤔) (tho i mightve mentioned b4 tho i obv dont ship him w aoba i have a whole route planned out for him in my head)

anyway yeah In the route i planned out in my head 100% this would happen in a post good end drama cd (also in my head)

[bunycube]

The fact we never got a Akushima route makes me sad. Imagine him handcuffing himself and Aoba together and they have to stay at Glitter. Aoba viciously pulling Akushima off the bed they’re forced to share when he has to pee at night.

i feel like if akushima had a route itd actually be so fun 😭😭 hes a funny guy his route would b so chaotic

i imagine itd be very easy for them to enter oval tower too since it seems like he has access to it jsbfdbbs

in all honesty i cannot picture him with aoba 😔😔 but thibking abt it srsly i can imagine how itd go like aoba is running away frm the cops n then akushima catches him like UR UNDER ARREST then agrees to go to platinum jail w him (why? i can dxplain but m not good w words) etc etc.