#fangan theory

[testedcatdraws]

The newest DRDT video did drop some info (spoilers for chapter 2 episode 12)

Obviously David's not the killer, his motive of lying was revealed to be that he wanted to end the killing game like Xander. Either Xander told him this or David assumed that's why Xander killed Teruko. I'm guessing it's both though, he took the info he had on Xander and concluded the reason Xander tried to kill Teruko was to end the killing game.

Also Arturo says he neglected everything not relating to his goal, maybe he also neglected his little sister? It said her death is his fault and that he left her, maybe he left her to pursue his career as a plastic surgeon. Rather or not he regrets this is another question, considering his reaction though I'm saying there's probably at least some remorse, if not remorse at least fear of what others will think. Probably a mix of both if he does feel remorse.

The alibies were switched around, due to the blackened killing in the morning instead of the night,

People who couldn't have kill Arei now are:

Hu, David, Veronica, J, and Nico.

I'll add Levi onto the didn't kill Arei list since him being the blackened is too obvious due to him being the killer, since he was revealed to be the one with the killer secret.

The Hu blackened theory's disproven, unless another plot twist happens I guess.

What I think the remaining secrets are:

The competition one belongs to Min

The blaming yourself for your family's death one is Xander

The self harm one is Veronika

The death game's your fault one is Teruko

And the Hopeless child one is Hu.

Reasonings:

Min one is because she did that Ultimate Student competition and such, I'm sure you've heard that reasoning before from someone else.

Xander is because the secret makes more since then what David said was his secret, not really much other then that.

Veronika is because she's easily bored and watches horror movies to have fun. The secret says that the person harmed themself for fun and took up their talent to distract them from this.

For Teruko it's because Xander killed her to stop the killing game some how, so the killing game seems connected to Teruko in a way. It makes since that she in some way caused the killing game, she probably didn't make it happen though. Who ever the mastermind is, they probably don't have this secret since that's too obvious.

For Hu it's just because it's the last secret, no other reason then that.

Who killer is, I think it's Arturo, for no other reason then I don't know who else it could've been. I guess it could be Rose, Whit's probably the mastermind so unless were going the THH route he ain't the blackened, Charles can't look at dead bodies. I don't see why Rose will kill anyone so we can knock her out, she has no motive that I can think of. I don't see Eden killing anyone, she seems too sweet and there's no evidence that she's secretly evil or anything. Arturo is constantly pushed back at in the trial though, and he seems the most willing to kill someone based on his reaction to Eden confronting him on his secret.

That's all I guess, feel free to agree or disagree

[cheesecakemermaid1048]

It seems that Yumeo knows Tomaya's sister, Chion, on a personal level. Either that or he greatly admires her work

 I am leaning toward the first one. It is possible they could have known each other as co-workers beforehand. If that's the case, it's not a surprise that Chion doesn't know him.

If you remember memories of her talent were erased.It wouldnt be the stretch, she would also forget the people she met while doing her work.

If I am right,that will make what Chion said about Yumeo bittersweet.He probably realized in meeting her again,she has no memories  of him,so he kept his mouth shut in order not to confuse her more.

Side notes:

Chou is already my favorite. She seems plain to me at first but now knowing she can kick ass.She is my favorite now

[mj-the-guy]

HMO ON THIS DRDT THEORY CHAT! I THINK IM COOKING.

Spoilers for all of drdt under the cut!!!

SPOILERS BITCH

So we all know the Mai catchphrases right? The whole "She was [blank]" or "A girl who [blank]"

I've seen a lot of people theorize that this is abt the cast- and I half agree. I think it IS abt the cast, but it's what THEY think, or maybe even REMEMBER about Mai.

HEAR ME OUT.

Nico's was "everyone confided in her" doesn't make sense for nico right? who confided in nico? I mean I guess I can see it bc pet therapist BUT

What if this id about Nico trusting Mai, maybe even enough to come out to her! (Which she probably accepted them with open arms)

And J's being "She kept a secret and told no one"

So what if J told Mai abt being Mariabella's daughter and KEPT THAT SECRET.

theres this theory that xander, mai, and maybe even david- rebelled against hopes peak and I believe this aligns with Xander's message- being "She couldn't stand to do nothing"

edit: I FORGOT MY SMOKING FUCKING GUN WHOOPS

Teruko's message has always been confusing right? "Years ago she was looking for someone named Teruko Tawaki" smth along those lines

BUT WE KNOW THIS IS TERUKO. Why would Teruko be looking for herself? A mental journey?

I think this eludes to Mai looking for Teruko, and I think Teruko's flashback is great evidence!

Teruko said "She wanted to help me too right?"

So maybe Mai's search was for Teruko to help her!

I believe this implies that the secret messages are what the cast remembers about Mai, maybe even the only thing they remember

Of course, this is my interpretation and ur free to believe what u want, this is just my theory but i feel like Gordon Ramsey with the way I'm COOKING.

IT MIGHT BE A LOOSE THEORY BUT IM SO PROUD OF THIS CHAT🙏🙏🙏🙏

[amarayys]

DRDT CHAPTER 1 SPOILERS!!!

okay so i was going frame by frame during the animation (because im clearly not sane about this series) where xander stabs teruko and i noticed this

While Xander says "Sorry for this" and pulls out the knife, his eyes are grey, which shows the lack of intensity in his emotions as stated by DRDT dev in a tumblr post.

When Xander actually moves to stab Teruko, his eyes turn yellow, which show he's feeling pretty intense. ...that makes sense? I'm pretty sure going to *stab* someone would produce a lot of adrenaline.

For a few lines, Xander's eyes remain grey, which is probably to make him look more threatening and/or more dead inside. He's panicking during all the lines - talking about how he's the worst, questioning why *someone* told him to stab teruko - where his eyes are grey, so there's also that. This is a little weird though, because his eyes being grey should mean he's not feeling very strong emotions, but maybe I'm overthinking it.

Once Xander (sort of) regains his composure, his eyes turn regular (Half grey, half yellow) once again. The grey's a little hard to see, but it's there. It's probably just him going calming down (again, sort of) and going to his usual energy level, but since it's just his regular eye colour I don't think there's much to it. (also it might just be the lighting and im reaching but whatever)

Once he wishes Teruko a good night, his eyes turn grey again. Probably just to make him seem desperate/maniacal. Which he is, so.

After Teruko tells him his plan wont work, his eyes go regular again. I'm a little iffy on this but my interpretation of it was that he was going on guard (his eyes "gaining" more energy) because of Teruko's words, which makes sense in the situation. Think about it. You stab someone and then they tell you your plan to kill them wont work. That almost sounds like they *know* something will intervene with the situation and save them. (cough cough min cough cough) If you belived them, it could scare you or just make you wary. Intense emotions either way. Granted, it could just be the person clinging on to hope, but I still think this works It could ALSO just be his eyes going back to normal and I'm just talking out of my ass here. (also this is really wordy im sorry lmao) Anyway, that's the last of Xander that we see until his death, where his eyes are grey. I really hope you do not need me to tell you that a dead person wouldn't have much energy and/or intense emotions. this whole post is super wordy and it sucks but im making it anyway! here are some other things that arent really important

this is the last frame of the xander stabbing teruko animation. his whole face is shrouded with a shadow. nothing special here, just thought this frame looks pretty ominous.

this frame just made me giggle. thats it. he just looks really funny here ok byebye now!!

[anderscim]

✦ i did make an insane reach, but not about what i expected

(for your information, this is not about the Elliot Cuevas MV that was recently released. this is actually about something else.)

// DRDT spoilers up until ch2 + spoilers for the Literature Girl Insane MV

i guess i’ll just get straight to the point.

admittedly, i have no idea as to how to crack the number code / footnote #14 at the end of the Literature Girl Insane MV. i think i delved a bit too deep into the mathematics and tried to find some sort of symbolism in the numbers, before realizing i was going nowhere with it. if anyone does solve it, however, let me know. (￣^￣)ゞ

but i did make a couple of observations about the specific text shown during that portion. about a week ago i found something that could be a hint regarding what the text is about—and if it holds any ground, a possible clue to a certain character’s past before the killing game.

(take this theory with a huge mountain of salt)

———

there’s nowhere i can really start from, so i guess i’ll begin by talking about one of my observations.

this screen. this specific frame may not look like anything important, but out of curiosity i decided to count the number of question marks on this screen. there’s 32 in total—16 question marks for each row.

other than it being a factor of 256 (16x16), there’s something else that’s also linked to the number. the number of students (total) that participated in the killing games. every killing game has a total of 16 students, at least when it comes to the official series. and with the assumption that DRV3 is a killing game that takes place entirely separate from the other two—this means that Hope’s Peak Academy is associated with two past killing games, which combined, involved a total of 32 students.

aside from that, the footnote “256 words” seems to connect to one of Karasuyasabou’s other songs known as “Jabberwocky Jabberwocka”—and funnily enough, Jabberwocky Island is where the second killing game (SDRA2) takes place. it seems to be too much of a coincidence to brush over.

however, we know that this part of Hope’s Peak Academy’s history has been covered up—so only few have any access to information about it. there’s even direct dialogue that supports this fact; most characters in Despair Time have no knowledge of the previous killing games.

(this does raise questions as to why Teruko has any knowledge of the previous killing games—but i don’t think we’ll be able to answer those for a while as it seems to be a major part of her character.)

in that case, why this number? (here’s where the insane reaches begin. get ready.)

if we go back to the LGI MV, there seems to be an indication that this specific code is linked to a character—which is seen by this frame here.

the roman numerals that appear throughout the MV are linked to a crossword that appears earlier in the music video—and this number (I) is specifically linked to Xander, as seen by the solution to this puzzle by @/raspbeyes here. since the code, the ampersand, the equal sign, and the question marks that follow are all in the same font, color, and transparency (as well as general format), we could also say that the text that appears during this portion is linked to Xander.

as inferred from this theory by @/1moreff-creator, it’s likely that Xander (along with Mai) was heavily involved in a (secretive?) operation or at least some sort of research involving Hope’s Peak Academy. the bonus episodes that released in between chapters 1 & 2 seem to hint at these efforts as well:

and as far as we have inferred, this project proved to be an incredible risk—leading to not only Mai’s death, not only the new killing game, but also the memories of the remaining Hope’s Peak Academy students being reset to when they were first heading to the orientation ceremony. someone was adamant about covering everything up and leaving nothing behind, but Xander and Mai’s project shattered those efforts, if only for a brief moment. but, how exactly does this relate to the LGI MV? if the dev intentionally placed 32 question marks—one for each participant of the past Hope’s Peak Academy killing games—during a frame associated with Xander, then there’s a possibility that said past killing games are also associated with Xander one way or another. and the fact that this was deliberately placed where a numerical code (possibly related to a message) appears, it’s likely that by extension the message is linked to that association as well.

putting all of this together: the question marks from the LGI MV may contain a very specific clue about the numeric code associated with footnote 14—but not how to solve it, rather what the decoded message is actually about. or, if i can word this better, Xander and Mai’s “discovery” regarding Hope’s Peak Academy was about the killing games that took place there, and the message associated with Xander in footnote #14 will be one that talks about this discovery more in detail. if the information Xander and Mai uncovered was actually about these killing games, i think the reason why it was so risky would make sense—coupled with the fact that the Academy seems adamant about covering up that part of history. though this doesn’t actually provide any proper information as to how to solve the code—and i’m sure there’s a much simpler explanation for the question marks during that specific screen in the LGI MV—i think these observations were at least worth sharing.

as always, take this theory with a huge mountain of salt. and i mean, huge. (- -;)

[honamkii]

DRDT ch2 culprit theory.

I decided to make this since the progress bar is going up quickly, and the next episode could probably come out in a month or 2.

Spoilers for DRDT obviously (≧◡≦)

My theory is that it is Charles. ( I'm sorry, I love him SM but hear me out)

In the trial Whit mentions Charles's hand writing was cursive.

And the note that was written to Arei was also written in cursive.

Something else to take note of is that the weapons list that Whit had in the first trial was also written in cursive. Charles's weapon also wasn't included on the list, Whit also says he got it from a friend, which probably means that the weapon list was written by Charles.

If you look at both the weapon list and the Note together the hand writing looks similar, messy cursive.

The one thing that confuses me is that he defended David (who said he was the killer, meaning Charles would have gotten away with it, if it wasn't for Teruko)

Now he could have easily just defended her because Teruko already basically proved he couldn't have been the killer. But he could have also said it because, he wanted people to suspect him, if helped Teruko find the real killer then he wouldn't look as suspicious.

Again that didn't work min so it was just a guess. There is a chance that Charles wrote the note but didn't do the actual murder.

.

A few bonus things • ω < =

Secret guesses, (Hu has Veronika's, I just put Ronnie.)

And also I can read Teruko hand writing.

Blue - Could easily read

Red - most likely

Purple - huge guess

Although it doesn't matter much, (since MonoTV has the secrets up) I still found it funny how Easily I could read, and seeing that other people couldn't read it.

[googledetective]

the theories that have been presented on this cast + one of my own :)

I do want to mention that I strongly believe this is a prequel due to a conversation I had with a bunch of people on discord earlier. (Everyone was 16+, dw.)

I haven’t seen anything about the first two at all so far, so I’ll be skipping over them and onto the third guy (oh my fucking lord).

(Also this post from @nesisamess helped a lot)

Staring onto the third dude,

(both posts are made by @zitherwaifuus :)

It seems that here this guy has some sort of relationship to XF-Future Tech, which if you’ve seen Min’s side story, you’d know is the company that came into her life and groomed her to be the Ultimate Student. She received special tutoring for them and worked her ass off for that title her entire life because of that. Next, this guy shares the same tie pin she does, and it’s also very notable that she dresses up with the same button down and tie in her MV. Not only do I think she is linked to the company now, but she might be working there before she was in the game. Who knows, though.

Next, I have not seen anything on the fourth girl besides a bunch of people on discord theorizing what the dandelion in her hair could mean. Unfortunately dandelions have different meanings from different cultures all over the world, so until it’s specified about where she’s from, I don’t think there’s many assumptions we can make yet.

Number Five, the purple guy.

Everyone seems to think so far that this is Elliot Cuevas, Charles Cuevas’s deceased brother. Now let me tell you that although I can’t see it based off design, the way he looks (playful and kinda weird but happy) and the way he was described by the creator in the latest qna (a popular joyous dude), can definitely make me see this being real. The only thing that is super far fetched about this is that we know he died a long time ago, and so if this is a prequel, it would have to be at least 15 years before drdt even starts.

Here’s also some more evidence from @sunlit-haru supporting the ‘that’s Elliot’ theory.

Now we’re up to the protagonist, who mind you is definitely my favorite so far. I will eliminate the rest of you protag dickriders so I will be the only simp left.

ANYWAYS, in the about page for this, it’s stated that this is a fangan for someone who wants to be the perfect teacher. Now with the hidden quote on the drdt tumblr page about this teacher…

( @demodraws0606 ‘s post)

Uh oh. I think we’ve figured out who this mysterious teacher might be. As for who is talking to them, I’ve personally got a few ideas, but they are not backed with any evidence.

1. The mastermind from this first killing game

2. Mai Akasaki or David Chiem still

3. The mastermind of the drdt killing game

Whoever it is, I think that these games are surely related and that each current kg participant does have a relation with one of these cast members. And that previous killing game’s end is why this one is happening.

Then, based off the post up top and a few others, people seem to think this is Teruko’s brother. I’m going to give a wild theory (no evidence) that Mai Akasaki knows him, only bc of the red in his hair. Then I think Mai would’ve found Teruko, and she would’ve been trying to reconnect them. Just a theory, though. There’s no evidence based around that this guy might be Teruko’s brother though, sadly.

Last but not least, @1moreff-creator pieced together some of the text on his badge:

I’m just gonna say that I’m seriously impressed with your efforts cause I have no fucking clue that could even be readable lmao.

*UPDATE ON TEXT: holy mother of god, @xmicrophonyx is a fucking god, and deciphered it. Here you go, and we all have got to give a serious thank you to them.

Sadly I cannot link the image of what the phone number gets to, but it gets linked to a yellow pill. I don’t have any ideas on how it would relate to the game, but I think it does. It’s used for high blood pressure and heart failure. If he’s really related to Teruko, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had high blood pressure lmao.

Also, the area code for 555 is just North America.

Here’s what I found on Wikipedia:

“The telephone number prefix 555 is a central office code in the North American Numbering Plan, used as the leading part of a group of 10,000 telephone numbers, 555-XXXX, in each numbering plan area (NPA) (area code). It has traditionally been used only for the provision of directory assistance, when dialing NPA-555-1212.

The central office code is also used for fictitious telephone numbers in North American television shows, films, video games, and other media in order to prevent practical jokers and curious callers from bothering telephone subscribers and organizations by calling telephone numbers they see in works of fiction.”

I don’t understand the first part, but it seems that this is a fictional number. If someone could explain to me wtf that first part even memes, I might be able to give more info.

Anyways, it seems that this guy ended up being a teacher at HPA, before or after the killing game. But I think this was very worth mentioning.

Unfortunately I’ve seen nothing about the next two, but I want to say that the girl in all pink (#8) I think is Felicity Giles, if that’s even possible. I just feel that’s Arturo’s sister. I know, I’m a weirdo. Even if #7 looks more like Arturo, I just cannot see it.

Moving on, nine and ten! If you look at them closely they’ve got the same eye pattern, suggesting they’re siblings, or likely twins, since they’ve got the fire/ice scheme going on.

Lastly, eleven which oh my god, Arturo’s dream girl! But she’s been theorized to be Whit’s mom. Here’s the post that argues a pretty convincing reason of why.

Oh boy. That woman is pretty cool and is very elegant, and has the same shade of blond hair that Whit dyed his too. I don’t think she’s any coincidence.

But joining along on that last little paragraph of this person’s post, it’s starting to seem a lot of characters do have connections to this cast and are seemingly mentioned quite a few times.

UPDATE: oh my lord, @accirax literally went on a deep dive for us and gave us a pretty good explanation and educated guess on everyone’s talents. I’m not going to link it because they covered pretty much every logical point as to why they have their guesses. Here’s the post if you haven’t already seen it https://www.tumblr.com/accirax/728687594893885440/drdt-new-character-talent-analysis

Anyways this is just the sum-up of everyone’s theorizing + a bit of my add on to it, and huge kudos to everyone who’s been making theories so far. I’ll be updating & crediting if there’s anymore notable things that come out.

Thanks for reading!

[markerofthemidnight]

Ellie died from a drug overdose, and the reason why Charles took up chemistry was subconsciously to make sure it didn’t happen to anyone else he loved.

(In light of the recent MV, I wanted to propose this theory.)

[accirax]

DRDT New Character Talent Analysis

WHO ARE THESE GUYS???? GOING CRAZY GOING STUPID

Ahem. 

As likely everyone has now seen at this point, DRDTdev made a very exciting announcement on Twitter– namely, that he’s been working on another fangan alongside DRDT! (Very relatable, once you make one fangan it’s kinda hard to stop.) Understandably, assuming this fangan is ever developed in full, it will be several years down the road, given that it would only be published after DRDT is complete.

However, we have these designs now, and I wanna know what their talents are, dammit! The blurb says that they are students trapped in a killing game, so I assume that they have been given Ultimate abilities. Thus, here’s my best shot and first look analysis. I tried not to look at anyone else’s work too much before presenting my opinions in order to get them out as fast as possible, so, sorry if I missed any major details that people have uncovered!

Notably, when I downloaded the images to my computer (so I could look at them without waiting for the website’s load time), all of them saved with weird number/letter codes. These probably mean nothing, although they do all end with “_o”, which could indicate that they were put through a code scramble of some kind. At the very least, the codes are a kind of convenient way to refer to the characters, so I’ll use the first three letters as a name. Also, I’ll be using they/them pronouns for all characters, since we don’t know how they identify.

We’ll start with the Protagonist, and go alphabetically by code from there. I’m so excited!!! Here we go:

I’m glad that this guy is basically confirmed as the Ultimate Teacher, because I honestly have no clue what I’d call them otherwise.

The main thing I noticed throughout their design was the repetition of red undertones everywhere. You can see them in two places: on the jacket, and in their hair. We know from the July 31st Q&A that characters in the Despair Time Fanganronpa Universe (DTFU) see blood as red, and that Monokuma’s color palette is black, white, and red. It’s kind of a suspicious color– the children’s hospital color theory of it all. O-or, maybe it’s just their favorite color…!

The bows in n9Z’s hair kind of remind me of the one on Peko’s sword case (sorry I didn’t put in a picture), although I doubt there’s a connection there. The gloves make me think of something fancy, the trenchcoat makes me think of a detective, the ID makes me think it’s something top secret… dude, what are you doing?

I guess there is the question of what exactly this person teaches. If we assume they’re the teacher Min mentions in A History of Hope’s Peak, it seems like the answer would be, “Ultimates.” If you want to teach Ultimates, you need to know and be able to do a lot of stuff, so that could explain the utilitarian design. They could have also initially had a background as something else, such as a government agent or employee of XF-ture Tech, before winding up as a teacher.

The fact that their eyes are always closed is also notable. Given DRDTdev’s penchant for putting important stuff in the eye designs, it’s possible there’s some important info in there that he's not ready to release yet. Like, if n9Z had black/red heterochromia or something, that would send us spinning. (Personally, I’m kinda hoping there’s an apple in there…) I also had the thought that n9Z might just permanently have both of their eyes closed, kind of like how Setsuka Chiebukuro of SDRA2 always keeps one eye closed. That would be a cute parallel to Min, whose eyes are always obstructed.

So, yeah. Ultimate Teacher, probably. Despite the fact that we more or less have their Ulimate talent, I somehow feel like we know the least about them…

My first impression of this person is that they’re definitely athletic in some regard. The ponytail that ends in a braid would be keeping the hair out of their eyes, and the athletic shoes would be helpful for running around.

About the marks under the eyes... While the comparison to my superhero design for Arturo is still a lighthearted jest, the reason for them being there may be fueled by the same reasoning. The superpower that @1moreff-creator gave Arturo was a skill that involved his vision, so I put those marks under his eyes as a natural mark that would mimic eye black. If you don’t want to read the entire link, eye black is those lines of paint (or sometimes stickers) that baseball or American football players wear under their eyes. While it’s not entirely scientifically proven, the point of the marks is supposed to be absorbing the rays of sun around the eyes to reduce the glare you would see. Thus, 0a6 may have these marks under their eyes to make it easier to see in a fast-paced situation (even though they're not particularly dark in color).

Additionally, if we didn’t already know who the protagonist was, I would guess it was 0a6. They have an ahoge in very much the same way that Teruko does, and they share an eye design with Hajime Hinata. The styling of their belt buckle also reminded me of how truth bullets are designed. However, 0a6 is NOT the protagonist, which must mean that these things mean something else. I don’t have much to say about the ahoge, but the eye design might instead imply that this person’s talent has to do with rejecting, opposing, or ending something. The bullet could be a regular bullet, and therefore imply that this person’s talent has something to do with guns.

For whatever reason, the hairstyle already made me think Ultimate Archer at first glance, so with the gun thing, I’m going to submit my guess as Ultimate Sharpshooter. This talent (and other slight variations of it) shows up pretty commonly in fangans (Kiyoka Maki of DRA, Desmond Hall of P:EG), and for good reason. It’s a talent that gives off a cool vibe, a potentially level headed yet aggressive personality, and can obviously be involved in many cool murder tricks.

My other guesses besides Ultimate Sharpshooter are in a similar ballpark– aforementioned Archer, Ultimate Bounty Hunter, Ultimate Spy, etc– but I could be way off track. I don’t see any weapons on 0a6, which would be weird for any of those talents. It could be more of a Debater type talent (with the eye symbol and truth bullet), or the blue gloves could hint at something more scientific (a la Charles and Arturo), although I don’t see the benefit to the sporty under-eye mark in either of those cases.

3Km is interesting, because they’ve got a lot going on. Hexagons, fire, zebra print– put it all together, and what does it mean? One interpretation is that their personality, too, is a lot.

I was immediately drawn to the markings on the left side of 3Km’s face, because I don’t know what they are. They could be angry veins, but… I don’t think veins really work like that in the shoulder. It’s far more than the typical anime stylization, not in the same place, and they don’t look particularly angry, so that's probably wrong. In that case, it’s probably a scar. But, what kind? Acid? An animal? Fire, like the symbol on their shirt?

Let’s move on for now and take a look at their pants. There’s a zebra pattern, which could imply a connection to animals/zoos or travel/Africa. The kind of pants they’re wearing are called chaps, which, hey, are typically ridden by horse riders! They’re meant to protect the rider’s legs from “thorny vegetation, extreme temperatures, and the animals they work with.” That definitely makes it seem like the zebra is important, as an equine animal.

Thus, my guess for this character is Ultimate Wild Animal Tamer. They wear chaps and gloves to protect them from the untamed animals they work with, yet they may have gotten a scar from a taming gone wrong. They’re strong so that they can get the upper hand, and the fire and piercings could speak to their rebellious, similarly wild personality. @venus-is-thinking also suggested that, as a Wild Animal Tamer, this character could work in the circus, which could further explain the flamboyant clothing and fire motif. They definitely seem like a character who could be putting on a show.

As for the other character pictured… that person is almost certainly 3Km’s sibling, likely a twin. However, as a fellow member of the killing game cast, we’ll get to them later! For now, let’s check out somebody else.

This character is one of the ones that I’m the most baffled about. They don’t wear a lot of symbols or field-specific clothing, so, it’s kind of a shot in the dark.

They definitely seem kind of fancy, what with the super swirly hair. Square scarves also typically seem to be worn in professional circumstances for stylish people. They’re wearing a lot of layers (including said scarf and a sweater), so it’s possible they work in a cold environment? Or maybe they just naturally run cold. There’s a lot of draping elements in their clothing, between the folded jacket and two-layered skirt, but that doesn’t really correlate to a specific location or profession.

The eyes patterns are also weird. They’re very spiky and not perfectly circular. What they reminded me of first were either an explosion, a loud noise, or a circular blade distorted while spinning quickly. Glasses are typically associated with nerdy or smart characters (like Eden and Charles), but anyone can wear glasses, so I wouldn’t use that as a huge selling point.

Anyways, the combination of fanciness, loudness, and potential nerdiness made me think some kind of talent incorporating a voice and art. I had ideas ranging from Ultimate Opera Singer to Ultimate Art Critic. In the end, I settled on Ultimate Stage Director, mostly as a vibe check. I could imagine this character ordering writers, actors, and set designers around with the goal of following their vision. A person like that who’s used to being in charge could be an interesting figure in a killing game. Again, though, I don’t have super strong feelings about this, so I’m extra looking forward to learning more.

I was going to slam dunk this one as the Ultimate Shepherd until @fuji-iri pointed out to me that there’s actually a sewing needle pattern in their eye! I’m kind of glad, because it gives me more to talk about and might explain some of the weird things I noticed if this character were the Ultimate Shepherd.

Besides the sewing needle, the eyes are definitely reminiscent of a sheep. Same with the braids in their hair– they’re arranged in a spiral reminiscent of a sheep’s horns. The cloud-like pattern on their cloak, as well as the soft-looking trim, seem fluffy and wool-like. 9lt definitely has a sheep motif, but that doesn’t mean it’s the talent exactly.

9lt’s bell hints at that concept. Although sheep often wear bells, according to google images, they’re more often regular bells than the circular bell depicted in their outfit. It seems like sheep can wear these bells, but they’re more commonly seen on cats.

There’s also a strong focus on pastel colors in the design, particularly pink. The design is very fun and childlike, it’s silhouette appearing smaller due to the large bow and lack of visible arms. (They’re also just pretty short.) The cloak, which obscures most of their body, kind of reminds me of Toshiko Kayura of P:EG. Small, cute, and childish, yet kind of mysterious and strange: that’s the vibes this design is giving me.

Given the sewing needle, it’s tempting to give this character a talent in fashion design. They do have a very specific style, which could play into their designs. However, with the strong connections to animals and fluffiness makes me think that they actually might be something along the lines of the Ultimate Plush Maker. It’s cozy and cuddly while also involving the sharp eye (of the needle) that a creator needs to have.

Now, this is a character with a lot going on. They’ve got symbols all over and a really fun hairstyle, so, let’s see how it could all fit together.

One of the aspects that first caught my eye was the flower in hwR’s hair. I’m pretty sure it’s a dandelion, which could be read in a couple of ways. The first is that a dandelion is a weed. hwR could be a character who often isn’t wanted, but manages to persist regardless. Secondly, dandelions have a lot of medicinal benefits if you consume them. So, hwR could be a character focused on health, especially in alternative ways. Thirdly, there’s the superstition that blowing on a dandelion will grant you a wish. I’d lean against this one because the dandelion isn’t… ripe(???) enough to be blown on yet, but the interpretation is still there.

The bunny symbol also has a lot of interpretations. As I listed out in the image, some options are good luck, longevity, opportunity, and adventure. The white rabbit is also a main character in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, which DRDTdev is clearly familiar with if the LGI MV is anything to go by. Generally, rabbits are also fast, cute, and known for multiplying. White rabbits seem to have generally positive connotations, which is a good sign for this character.

Other symbols include the crescent moon and sparkle type shapes, which seem to indicate nighttime or mystery. The symbol in hwR’s eyes is a spiral, which is also mysterious and could have to do with hypnosis. Apparently they also represent the circle of life, which could be suspicious…? Dying and living, killing games, and the like.

Anyways, with all this supernatural and superstitious imagery, I feel like the talent has to deal with something similar. I’m not exactly sure what to call it, or what the specific niche is. The one I wrote down in my notes was the Ultimate Alternative Medicine Practicioner, tying in the medicinal uses of dandelions and therapeutic uses of hypnotism. However, that title is a mouthful, and there are definitely other options. I sort of wanted the talent to just be someone who believes in spiritual practices, but given that a spiritualist is apparently someone who believes in talking to ghosts, the best name I could come up with for that was Ultimate Believer. hwR could also be something like an Ultimate Fortune Teller or a straight up Hypnotist, or a Lucky Student who really leans into the title. There are plenty of options, but I think it’s something in this genre.

This guy is fun! The fashion is pretty plain so there’s not a lot to work with, but I’ll give it my best shot.

As compared to 8CT (the one with the curly hair), Jfl at least has the very obvious symbol on their shirt to point us in the right direction. I’m pretty sure those are audio levels, which means that their talent probably combines something with sound with something with technology. I don’t know why they would need a lot of pockets or a hat with a visor for that, but hey, always good to be prepared.

The hat is pretty plain, but there is that green square on it. It may just be a large tab, as appears on many baseball caps to show off a logo. This one is blank, though, so it could be something else. It kind of looks like the press marker that appears on stereotypical reporter hats in, like, the 1920s, but those weren’t typically lime green, either (unless the black and white movies are fooling me hard).

The overall color scheme plus the fingerless gloves sort of make this character look like an Ultimate Hacker to me, but then I’m not sure what the connection to the audio levels are. They could also be something more like an Ultimate DJ, but the hat, jacket, and cargo pants make me feel like it’s something a little more active/outdoorsy. Thus, I’m going to go with the kinda-compromise that this character is the Ultimate Podcaster. In my mind, they would do some field reporting first (hence something that looks kind of like a reporter hat), and then come back to their home office and talk about it to publish in a podcast.

With my argument about the clothes feeling more outdoorsy, I have a few ideas for what the podcast could be about. The first is something along the lines of hunting cryptids. Jfl goes into the woods, looks around, and then reports their findings in, like, a ghost log. A little more in the realm of realism, Jfl could tail important figures around, either as a paparazzi-type person or someone who’s unraveling a conspiracy, and then release a report on them. That could also get Jfl involved in some kind of scuffle with XF-ture tech, which makes me lean more in that direction.

With the fish scales, knA is pretty obviously nautically coded. Their talent probably has something to do with water, but, in what way? Let’s look at the other details.

Just like Nico, knA has slit eyes. In Nico’s design, it was meant to make them look catlike, due to their profession as the Ultimate Pet Therapist. Similarly, 9lt has horizontal slit eyes, which are meant to make them look like a sheep. It seems like these elongated pupils are meant to make us think of animals, so knA’s talent probably heads in that direction. They also have a catlike mouth ( :3 ) and wear a collar, which (like Nico) makes them lean feline. Maybe it’s a catfish? Or maybe that’s more of a personality beat.

On the other hand, knA’s eye pattern has two circles in it, a larger one that goes around the long pupil and a smaller one that’s sort of hidden behind it. In context, this most reminded me of a sonar/radar system, which sailors use at sea to make sure they aren’t running into anything. Through that lens, the belt(?) that wraps around their leg reminded me of an anchor wrapped around a post. That’s kinda confirmation bias with the water thing, but it may have been intentional.

To be honest, I was really back and forth on whether to call this character the Ultimate Angler or the Ultimate Diver, but by the bolding, you can tell I settled on the former. I liked Ultimate Diver because it would place the character more among the fish (why they’re coded as an animal) as opposed to someone who catches them. But also, cats are known for catching fish, right? Plus, my interpretations of a sonar and an anchor would connect the character to a boat, which is less important for diving and more important for fishing.

Now this is the character that seems to be the talk of the town! And for good reason, too: they have a lot more recognizable imagery that specifically ties them to DRDT than anybody else.

First off, there’s the obvious XF-ture Tech logo, shaped like a hexagon, which appears on u1l’s jacket. That certainly connects them to the company in some way, whether they’re an employee or just someone who received some merch. This is extra interesting given that u1l wears the same pin that Min has on her design. In A History of Hope’s Peak, Min says she was sponsored by XF-Ture Tech, so maybe this guy was, too? It could be a kind of alternate company logo. Or it could have some kind of bug to listen in with. That’d be fun.

Otherwise, it’s pretty nondescript. They have regular eyes, a regular shirt, and a regular ol’ pink tie (other than the connection it may have to the Sleepy MV). The jacket is tied really weirdly at the bottom, kind of looking like a fish tail, but I think it’s a normal jacket. The boot design kind of reminded me of Xander’s, which could indicate that this character has to be prepared to run around.

Pinning down u1l’s talent is kinda hard because… honestly, I kinda feel like they’re just “Ultimate XF-Ture Tech Guy.” Like, they’re clearly connected to the company, and may be here as their representative. Thus, in my notes, I called this guy the Ultimate Technician.

A technician is “a worker in a field of technology who is proficient in the relevant field and technique, with a relatively practical understanding of the theoretical principles.” Is that vaguely tech-ish as hell? Yeah. Is XF-Ture a tech company that also does vague other things? Yeah. Ultimate Technician lets this u1l have a lot of skills yet not have to elaborate on it at all, which is something that I feel like they would enjoy. Just like how they might enjoy how all of us are chomping at the bit to learn more about them, and yet, we probably won’t hear anything for a while…

A very pretty addition to the cast! I love their vibes. Time to figure out what they mean.

There’s a lot here that signifies wealth. The crown hairpin is very obvious in that regard, as is the cape. Purple is often thought of as a color of royalty, and uBg is wearing a lot of it. Same with the cape– it’s an article of clothing often worn by kings. Their eye pattern contains a diamond within a circle. Diamonds are a jewel; wealth, royalty, etc.

This character also has some elements of promiscuity to them. Garter socks (which is what I think is what they’re wearing on their left leg?) are typically thought of as a sexually-charged thing to wear, and their other leg is fully exposed (oh my!). You can also see their bra peeking out from under their shirt, as well as some cleavage. Is this related to talent, or just to personality? I’m not sure.

While it’s tempting to go with something more along the lines of Ultimate Celebrity or Ultimate Heiress, I’m actually kind of partial to my interpretation of Ultimate Treasure Hunter. They wear a crown because it’s the treasure they’ve won, and there are diamonds in their eyes because that’s what they’re looking for! The cape could read as more of a heroic/adventurer thing, and the gloves also feel like ones belonging to someone more active. I’m aware this has nothing to do with the promiscuous aspects, but… like I said, that could just relate to personality! Plus, if you’re traveling the world searching for treasure, you might want a chance to tour the people, too.

Finally, we’ve returned to the probable sibling of 3Km, the potential Ultimate Wild Animal Tamer! If the similar color schemes and eye designs weren’t enough, the fact that their little chibis were obviously paired together makes it pretty obvious that they’re related. Assuming that everyone in this cast is the same age (18+), they would be twins.

However, I also want to propose that 3Km isn’t the only character XWu is “related” to. Remember how I mentioned that the XF-Ture logo was a hexagon? Well, the pattern in 3Km and XWu’s eyes is a hexagon. Could they also have a connection to XF-Ture tech, and thus, u1l? Maybe they’re part of the family who founded the company. It’s a big stretch, but it’s possible. Just wanted to bring it up.

Back to XWu, it’s interesting that they’re probably the twin of 3Km, ‘cause their designs are pretty opposite. While 3Km seems wild, XWu is very fancy. They have a chain, much like uBg; some boots that look sort of princely; and a very fancily-patterned vest. I didn’t notice while I was making my visual, but I think that the vest has snowflakes on it to mirror 3Km’s fire. Honestly, I don’t know if that means it’s more likely that it has something to do with their talents, or less…

I feel like XWu might have some kind of managerial talent. It could be something more business-y, related to XF-Ture Tech, or if 3Km is part of the circus, XWu could be, like, the Ultimate Ringleader. Leaning on the former, I settled for the Ultimate Business Consultant. I was thinking about 3Km going around the world taming animals or whatever, and XWu tagging along, making business connections and deals along the way. The “X” in their bangs makes me think that they might have a talent or personality that revolves around rejecting things. That could lean business leadership, so… yay?

-

And that’s that! To summarize, the cast of talents as I determined them were Ultimate Teacher, Ultimate Sharpshooter, Ultimate Wild Animal Tamer, Ultimate Stage Director, Ultimate Plush Maker, Ultimate Alternative Medicine Practicioner, Ultimate Podcaster, Ultimate Angler, Ultimate Technician, Ultimate Treasure Hunter, and Ultimate Business Consultant.

Obviously none of this is concrete, and I’m speculating based on very few details. I won’t be disappointed no matter what the talents are because, hey! We get more fangan content from DRDTdev either way! I feel like the Ultimate Winner with that fact.

I hope you all enjoyed reading this, and, if you have alternate interpretations or design elements I missed, I'd love to hear about them! I might make an update if we get any additional information any time soon.

[classtrialguru]

Hu is the original attempted murderer Theory

So I want to start with the mechanism that almost ended Ace's life. Well we already know that the mechanism acquires the wire to be wrapped around one's neck and we know that the fan that had the wire taped to it had to be turned on to raise the person being murdered. Now when I was looking at the way it was supposed to be set up before it got botched and I realized something. Tension! The way of how the wire can work is the tension of Ace's body weight being hugged by the fan. Then after realizing that I came up with a thought. "This seems really familiar to how you would string up an instrument."

And this was my smoking gun! So the chain of events I think happened went like this.

Scene one

It was the middle of day two when Ace and Nico started fighting again, but Ace was going to take it too far this time. He was going to expose Nico's secret. Backed up in a corner with a feeling of desperation Nico threatened Ace's life to just scare him off. Things escalated though when Hu came in and smacked Ace across the face. With feelings of rage and sympathy to a victim that didn't do anything to elicit such aggressive bullying and all in all one big thorn in the group that if left unattended would leave the whole group unravelled. She had to do something, she had to do something quick no matter the consequence.

Scene two

It has been almost a whole day and Hu had a plan to get rid of Ace. She had the weapon of choice which was her wire, She steeled her resolve not actually taking Ace's life, all she needed was a way to make sure that he didn't struggle when she put him in the mechanism. Now I know this is going to sound a little farfetched believe me when I say that it is very out there, but Hu needed something to knock Ace out which is definitely Rose's tuberpine, now comes the unbelievable part and her name is Eden Tobisa. Thanks to thebadjoe for the idea that Eden was the one to swipe the tuberpine the day before for her own murder scheme. Now we know that both Hu and Eden clean the dishes after the meals so they would be kinda close to each other and both are trying to get the group to work together and fight against the killing game. So maybe Eden lets Hu use the tuberpine for her murder plan, because she had a glimmer of hope that she didn't have to kill Arei, she didn't need to kill her new friends that saved her from being killed.Eden became an accomplice. Both couldn't out the ones plan without the other outing them.

Scene 3

With two people in on the plan it was fool proof. Eden would act as the lookout and Hu would wait in the gym waiting for Ace. She brought two things to commit murder, a broom to prop Ace up and a step stool to reach the upper side of the fan. When Ace came into the gym, Hu came from behind and used the tuberpine on him. After Ace was knocked out the only thing she had to do was tape the one end of the wire to the top side of the fan and wrap the other end around Ace's neck. With a flip of a switch the fan was turned on, tightening the wire around Ace's neck. While Eden was distracting Teruko in the dressing room Hu made her get away, but she wasn't aware of one person on the floor.

Scene four

After feeding the fish Nico was coming out of the relaxation room when they noticed something off. It was Hu going into the elevator, "Huh why would Hu be on this floor at this hour?" Nico decided to go and investigate. When they looked in the gym the first thing they saw was Ace being choked by the wire. They panickely tried to find a way to get Ace down. They turned off the fans, but that wasn't enough. They would try to take the wire off of Ace's neck, but it was to taunt. Using the broom and step stool that Hu brought in the Gym Nico swatted at the fan till it broke off the ceiling. Nico went to prop Ace on the wall and started to take off the wire wrapped around his neck when Teruko and Eden came into the gym to investigate the noise of the fallen fan.

Scene five

A million thoughts were rushing around their head. "Why would Hu do this?" "What do I do now?" "Could this have been avoided if I just stood up for myself?!" "How can I explain this?" They couldn't explain what looked like a murder attempt that was done by them. They panicked and ran away. They knew that Hu was the one that tried to kill Ace but who would believe him, they were the one caught with the wire in hand.Back in the gym Teruko and Eden started to investigate when Ace woke up. Just because he was knocked out doesn't mean he couldn't hear anything and multiple people were saying Nico's name. Ace connected that and the death threat that Nico told him earlier in the day and jumped to the conclusion that Nico tried to kill him. He was furious and he wanted to get back at them.

Scene six

It was the next day and Hu gave Eden the tuberpine back. Eden told Hu what happened after she left the second floor and Hu felt guilty. When Ace came in to get on Nico about how he was a killer, Hu was quick to jump in and defend Nico, because she knew that they weren't the one trying to take Ace's life. She felt so guilty about dragging the very person that she was trying to stand up for the day before into this mess.

Conclusion

So that's how everything played down. I think more of what happened will be revealed in chapter three and I can't wait for what happens next. If anyone wants to add anything feel free to do so.

[demodraws0606]

You know I feel like people don't point out how unsettling Whit's reactions to the killing game is. How in the fuck did he react in a tamer way than Veronika during Min's execution, Veronika...the person that ENJOYS the killing game.

I mean it could be easy to say that he's just repressing it all but even then someone would have to be TRAINED to act so comfortable around gruesome events let alone joke about it. Not even characters like David who actively have a facade manage to keep it up perfectly under stress. In fact it more so seem like Whit is trying to blend in more than anything, trying to say words that would fit in the situation (ex :"that's horrible") but it coming off completely different than what a normal reaction would be.

It's gonna sound like I'm reaching but that added onto the fact that he will actively keep the secrets of people who are obviously suspicious and could be culprits (david and eden) mixed onto the secret phrase "We often idolize the dead" makes me wonder a lot of things. Like outside of my own personal beliefs of Whit being the mastermind, I genuinely think his mother might've been...a serial killer or at least murdered A person. Now that is a huge fucking jump and it sounds ridiculous but like after pointing out everything you can kinda get an idea of where I'm coming from. Whit's non-reaction to the killing game and the murders that happen within it along with his obsession of keeping people's secrets. That and the fact his father very much abandonned him (tbf dad's do do that sometimes so idk) makes me turn towards the idea that his mom wasn't the best person. Honestly the thing that raises the most flags for me is the word "idolisation", like it's not him obsessing over or not being able to move on, it's idolising her. Painting his mom as like a perfect person who did nothing wrong, putting her on a pedestal. Idk that wording would have a lot more meaning if his mom wasn't actually as great as Whit pretended she was.

Maybe he thought his mom was justified or was allowed to keep people and therefore that's why he has that mentality of always keeping secrets to protect people.

Whit often talks about how "normal" he is during the killing game and how "nothing happened in his life guys" that it pretty much just feels like it has to be some kind of subvertion especially with how suspicious and mysterious his entire behavior is.

[xtinaangelicax]

J Being on the Chapter 2 Title Card?? Theorizing (sorta... I'm clueless ;-;)

Can we talk about the fact that J is on the chapter 2 title card rn?? Like... I see ALMOST NO ONE so far in the fandom theorizing about what this could mean. We know that her secret about Mariabella being her mom was revealed during this chapter, but... I don't really feel like that's big enough to warrant her being on the title card yet so far? I think? It's an important secret, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't rly rival the importance of the actual murders going on imo.

I mean-- Teruko and Xander were on the first chapter title card. That is a big deal. Xander died after trying to kill Teruko, and got killed by Min instead: Teruko's our protagonist. Being on the title card is obviously the most indicative clue of a character being insanely important to the narrative for that chapter, possibly even a culprit or victim, but we all just been sleepin on that clue lately and ignoring it lol wut--

Like... I mean, J tries enlisting Teruko's help getting away from Arturo for a minute in this chapter- the dressing room scene- and has a frigging knife pulled on her. She got her secret she desperately wanted to cover up, probably for a large portion of her life, exposed by some jerk in the very same, what, 24 hour period? And she's constantly now being stalked by said jerk, too. Poor gal.

I don't know if J maybe snapped from it all, and murdered Arei. I'm not sure how she WOULD have, given Arturo stalking her. So... maybe it's... something else? But like? SOMETHING is being set up with J here, and if anyone has any ideas feel free to suggest, cuz I can't figure out what it is yet. I'm thinking randomly off the top of my head of stuff we know... like...

J was the first to go to Arei's room to check for her body, after they realized she was missing? Also, J was the first to complain about Teruko possibly being in cahoots with the culprit and choosing who guards the body based on that. After which, J was then promptly chosen to guard the body as well. Important? Possibly. Maybe. Idk...

She goes on a whole spiel about how serious murder is that gains a lot of spotlight for a few minutes, when she was talking to Nico... also, she has this new sadistic grin sprite after revealing Arturo's secret. UH is that sprite gonna be used again for something?

I think there's literally no way J isn't gonna have some sort of big reveal of significance to the plot during the rest of the chapter 2 trial.

There's a bit of evidence that could point to her being the killer, but I don't wanna say I believe that for sure. Just that... SOMETHING'S up.

J being on the chapter 2 title card is definitely important.

ALSO FINALLY: J's hidden quote is "Please don't call me your daughter ever again."

????????how the frick is J going to say this quote?? So far, all the hidden quotes have been said a little while before the character dies, before/during a pivotal moment in the plot and their development... therefore, J is gonna say this line at some point. That's indisputable.

But??? How?? Will it be said during a flashback where she said it to Mariabella in the past? Or... are we gonna see J get in contact with her mom somehow? Is J the culprit, and MonoTV calls in a 'special guest viewer video call' right before her execution just to rub it in her face, and it's her mom, and... J says her hidden quote there?

Is one of the future motives gonna involve being able to communicate something with your family, maybe, and then J says it?

I'm probably gonna look back more and see if there's any other sort of hints or foreshadowing going on with J, but... I just wanted to point all this out and possibly open up discussion/theorizing about this :)

[cheesecakemermaid1048]

HOLY SHIT,THEY BROADCASTING THIS!?!

Well, it seems like the Mastermind has similar motives to Junko doing this. By live streaming this event they will able to bring the entire public into "despair".While not to the extent as Junko(definitely NOT). I can see more like causing a divide between the public & police. You know general distrust, eventual rioting, etc

[mj-the-guy]

does anyone else find it sus that charles birthday is on boypussy thursday....? just saying...

[amarayys]

DRDT CHP 2 EPISODE 12 SPOILERS!!

OKAY so according to a tweet from DRDTdev apparantly the whole fandom misinterpreted David's words and he actually doesn't remember Xander from before?? which like...it's kind of funny lmao. this means that David is just trying to kill everyone for a person he heard of online and then was friends with for like. a few days. which is really funny to me. .... .... ..... BUT YOU KNOW WHO DOES REMEMBER SOMETHING??????? teruko (I love you teruko but you're so stupidly suspicious). maybe she isn't aware of it, maybe she is, but THIS LINE.

Which, weird enough. But then VERONIKA says

Okay, even weirder. before we begin: 1. i suck at theories. 2. i suck at formatting, too. 3. this was made at like 1 am. so dont count on some points here being particulary sane. 4. Points that are started with "-" are just extra inputs that aren't too relevant, but I thought i should bring up anyway. So. Veronika, of all people, doesn't know about a killing game that happened in the past. You could argue: "But Amari, what if the killing game was covered up/erased from history?" Hm.. maybe, but this has some holes. A past killing game is a weird thing to *not* know about. If Teruko's talking about THH, that was broadcasted (worldwide, I think... but I can't remember. Even if it was only brodcasted in Japan, you'd think the news would spread, especially with the internet.) , you'd think most people, ESPECIALLY Veronika would know about it. We know from Min's bonus episode that students were taught about the tragedy, and someone like Veronika definitely wouldn't forget about a killing game that happened during it easily. If it was another killing game not related to the main dr games (ill explain this more later, I swear) , I'd still imagine people would know about it. I'm going to take a complete guess here and say it's not too unlikely that if a past killing game happened, it was broadcast similar to our current one. Same argument as before, people would know about it. If it wasn't broadcast, I still don't think it would be very easy to cover up a killing game. Remember - Veronika is the Ultimate Horror Fanatic. She is quite literally *THE BEST* at researching and knowing about this stuff. If Veronika doesn't know about it, Teruko, who kind of lives under a rock, (me too , me too.) being the only one as far as we know to remember it is WEIRD. Also, before someone says "what about memory erasure?" that answers Veronika, but why does Teruko know about it? - However, if it was covered up, I think it's quite likely the company who Min mentions in her bonus episode has something to do with it. Why? Cause introducing too many companies and sht would be confusing. Not very strudy arguement, I know, but I have a feeling the company is more connected to this than we think. Teruko knows about a past killing game. Which killing game is Teruko referencing? Is she referencing THH, or something completely separate? Like... a past killing game she was in? Okay, I'm reaching, but hear me out, okay? It's sort of maybe kind of implied that Teruko was in a past killing game.

This line is said by the guy at the start of the prologue (WHICH IM LIKE 90% SURE IS XANDER BUT THAT'S UNRELATED TO THIS.) , after they claim they have to end a killing game. Why do we need to kill sweet, amazing, perfect Teruko? Well, here are some ideas. 1. Teruko is responsible for the past killing game, or is at least the reason it's happening. Not necessarily the mastermind of it, more similar to the theory where the killing game was made to contain Teruko's bad luck (context because yeah). Not necessarily her fault, but she is the reason for it. I'd like to point out that this matches up scarily well with what basically the whole fandom agrees is Teruko's secret.

(How could I even select what secret to be your motive? Just about everything you've done in your life is worth killing for. The killing game is all your fault.) ...oh my. What if the killing game referred to in the secret isn't the current one? To be fair, all the above does match up with if this secret was referring to the current killing game, but I still think it's viable. 2. Teruko did something to someone and that someone wants revenge. What is "something"? Well, it could be again that the killing game is her fault, but probably not. "someone" could be PROLOUGE GUY AGAIN. I have this really weird theory that Teruko is the one who attacked prolouge guy with the fork (aka xander check out this post for clarification) - Technically, David could also be the one wanting revenge, as he also tried to kill Teruko (indirectly, through failing the trial) , but then Xander stabbing Teruko makes no sense. Xander writes future himself a note (the one saying "Kill Teruko Tawaki, again, whole other theory i can talk more on if you want) explaining the attack, and telling him to kill Teruko, as he thinks she is the mastermind or just an unsafe person (which, fair??) - And if we really want to start reaching, Xander is the mastermind and made the killing game in an attempt to kill Teruko. But like... is the killing game necessary? Why not just kill her regularly? Her luck preventing her death, maybe? This entire point is based on theories, though. So probably not lmao. I want to say point 2 but I think realistically I've gotta go with point 1. There's actually some evidence supporting it, unlike point 2. For Veronika's memory, the memory erasure does actually work here. MonoTV probably wanted interesting shit to happen, or it couldn't erase that part of Teruko's memory without her noticing a large gap in her memories and getting suspiscious. Now, let me get some stuff cleared up. I don't think Teruko remembers actually being in a killing game before present time, just that there was one. She brushes her memory off as just not paying attention in history when Veronika denies a killing game happening before this one (though she does hesitate when Veronika points this out - which is VERY weird) so she probably has *some* fuzzy memories regarding the past killing game.

- If my theory of her attacking prologue guy is correct, I don't think she remembers doing it. As i've mentioned way too many times, I think prologue guy is Xander, and she didn't seem wary whatsoever when she first met Xander, which you think she would be if she knew him, let alone attacked him. SUMMARY: 1. Teruko and Xander were in a past killing game together. At some point, Teruko attacks Xander's eye, although we aren't sure why. Xander realises that she's to blame for the killing game, and writes a note to himself, telling him to get rid of Teruko, and then he passes out. 2. Teruko and Xander meet in our current killing game. Teruko doesn't recognise Xander (or she at least doesn't have time to dwell on the faint memories she does have on him before he passes out), and stays around him for a lot of the killing game. Xander's memory was probably erased, but I'm not sure whether he had the note yet or not. 3. Xander goes stabbity stab stab on Teruko, due to the note. he panics, questioning why he made himself stab her. Teruko might have gotten a flash of memories (you know, the saying my life flashed before my eyes when something life threatening happens??), causing her to tell Xander that his plan wont work because she cant die. 4. (this point is straight flavour text) After Teruko wakes up, she might've remembered a bit more about the killing game, although still not the whole story. (playing into why she was so much more distrustful) Maybe she remembered knowing Xander at some point? Nothing too important regarding Teruko's memory happens after this. this summary really sucks, please dont take this too seriously. just some points to keep in mind.

Anddd yeah. That's it. This has so many holes but it's 1 am, I'm tired and cant be bothered to fix them lmao. Just thought I should give my input. I might edit over this tomorrow, who knows.

[anderscim]

✦ i actually talk about something other than DRDT for once (minor detail analysis)

// spoilers for up to chapter 4 of MDA:RC

you know the drill. (rain code edition) and yes, i’m actually in other fandoms. i have way too many hyperfixtations. lord help me.

basically, there was a small detail i noticed about a specific character’s mystery phantom in the chapter 4 labyrinth, so i just wanted to point that out and make connections as to what it could possibly mean.

let’s get straight to it! ^^

yes, this is about yomi’s mystery phantom. but likely not in the way that you’d think.

of course, i love the fact that yomi’s mystery phantom form doesn’t have any colorful accents like the others, and i could honestly talk for hours about that aspect—but this post is actually about a separate detail.

just what in hell is going on with yomi’s hair?

yep, that’s what i’m going to talk about. and i’m not flaming him for this wild hairstyle, trust me.

when you look at it, the mystery phantom’s hairstyle is divided into three separate parts:

the left(?) portion of his hair, which is on the messier side and pointing in all directions

the middle portion, which is the most similar to yomi’s actual hairstyle (checked his sprite for reference)

and the rightmost portion, which looks like someone used a straightening iron on it.

in a way, he almost doesn’t look like yomi. all other mystery phantoms have at least partial semblance to their real-life counterparts—especially with their eye-shape and the general flow of their hair—but in the case of this specific mystery phantom, there wasn’t a lot.

though, that isn’t too important, right? it’s just a unique part of his mystery phantom design so i shouldn’t think too hard into it, surely it can’t be anything more than tha—

huh

wait, if this is what i think it is-

…oh.

what’s unique about this moment is that yakou’s apparition(?) appears as if to directly replace yomi’s mystery phantom. which doesn’t happen anywhere else.

which means, there’s a possibility that this cutscene was intentionally created to show that “yomi’s” mystery phantom was a front for the true culprit. (the truth was right in front of yuma all this time, but disguised under a facade. yuma just couldn’t get himself to face it head-on until the very end) there’s a multitude of theories i can come up with about why they decided to show this, but unfortunately that’s not what i’m here to talk about. though, if you don’t mind, here’s a side tangent: my main theory is that yakou felt horrible about essentially using the detectives in his crime and couldn’t face the rest of the NDA after what he did; the only way he could directly argue against their deductions was to act as someone else. after his true identity was exposed he had nothing more to say to them, other than a non-verbal expression of the regret he carried behind his back) okay side tangent over

my point is—if the theory of “yakou hid behind the guise of yomi’s mystery phantom” is true, it provides an explanation for the mystery phantom’s hair style.

after all, the two other “parts” of his hair i described earlier are quite similar to the hairstyles of two other characters.

…yeah. yakou and his wife. it’s not an exact replica of their hairstyles, but the general flow and concept is there.

in a way, this subtle detail is a nod to yakou’s true motive behind murdering huesca—to protect his wife / avenge his wife’s death. but yakou didn’t want to reveal this and hid it all the way through to the end, even going as far as obscuring his face on the photo with his blood so others couldn’t identify it, and hiding behind the guise of yomi’s mystery phantom in the labyrinth.

despite this “facade,” however—yakou’s true motives behind the crime are still visible. they’re just not up front and center until someone points them out.

god, chapter 4 has reshaped my mental process in ways i can’t describe. there’s so much i still want to talk about with “yomi’s” mystery phantom design (like how the part of the hairstyle that resembles yakou is on the mystery phantom’s “demon(?)-like” half and how the part that resembles his wife is on the “angelic” half), but that will have to wait until later.

for now, take this with a grain of salt ^^