#song: deep cover from milgram

[mafufuu-2-with-cheese]

{greyscale arc spoilers, cw stylized blood, syringe}

“ 5fold suffering, dissecting what is alive. “

redraw deep cover frames as wiwi

[roseofcards90]

The way in which Kotoko’s voice has been the one consistent thing that clearly shows her suffering. Not her expressions, or her actions or words, but her voice, which mimics the wolf symbolism and the howling and crying out. The way in which it seems like nothing else will work so she resorts to shouting out so at least someone will hear her pain. It can’t be mistaken by anyone, and she can’t exactly fake or hide it. It really seems like it’s the only way she can express her pain without being doubted or questioned by someone else.

[lwy-0009]

9 more days until deep cover mv

2 more days until thumbnail reveal

[good-beans]

A few more from Arthur Lounsbery (Fuuta), Miho Okasaki (Mahiru), and a whole album added for Aimi (Kotoko)!

I made a playlist of Milgram VAs singing other things if anyone's interested :)

Some quick notes:

It's not meant to be a complete list by any means. I found what I could, and I'll add any other songs I come across as time goes on. If you know of another one, feel free to shoot me a message and I'll add it 👍

Related to that, I'm sorry Amane and Es only have like one song each 😭 Amane's va had some live performances, but I thought it felt weird in the playlist. I'll keep peeking around but I promise it's nothing against their characters rip it's just tough to find things

Currently all the songs in Muu's section also have remixed versions from the soundtrack. I didn't want to put the 'same' songs back to back, but if you were interested those exist!

I included only a few duet/group songs with other actors, but some of the projects had a more songs if you enjoyed them

(Also this is the first time I've made a public/shared playlist so if there are any issues with the link let me know lol)

Oh and Jackalope's va also sings -- I didn't include it here since we don't hear him sing in Milgram (thankfully afsdfd) but jsyk he's cool and has a bunch of music too!

[doctorbunny]

More serious summary of the livestream

Unfortunately I can't provide a full translation because the entire time I was watching in autistic excitement like 😊🥰🤩 whilst my brain melted out my ears and didn't pick up on a lot

Luckily, I have a feeling someone will get around to translating this stream eventually since they finally had the BGM on a lower volume so everyone was audible the whole time Without further ado:

We started with introductions seating order is Yamanaka, Yurina (Es' VA), Minami (Amane's VA), Ryouta (Kazui's VA) and DECO (who dyed his hair blonde) They each have one of the 4th anniversary acrylic stands in front of them The actors have their characters but Yamanaka has Haruka and DECO has Muu

Yamanaka admitted to being a Haruka oshi/fan

Then Minami talks about being a Fuuta fan (she calls him cool) and she's handed the Fuuta stand and she pushes the Fuuta and Amane stand next to each other (and jokes about their height difference then imitates Fuuta going zenbu zenbu zenbu!)

But then Yurina sticks her Es stand in between them to separate them

And then they move the Amane stand next to the Kazui one and everyone coos

Before moving Amane and Fuuta back together in front of Minami Then they basically just lift all of the stands up on to the table and continue on

They discuss their thoughts on the trial

Looking at who got voted inno and guilty Minami is happy Amane got inno but has no idea how Mikoto wasn't guilty They note that the audience wasn't very happy with Kotoko for beating up the other prisoners Then they give some thoughts on the MVs from Daisuki to Deep cover They get most excited talking about Cat and Purge March Kazui says that he was able to put the right emotions into Cat because he recorded the voice drama first Yurina and Minami actually caused the microphone to peak with their excited shrieks at one point (ow)

They answer some audience submitted questions One question was answered along the lines of "Be prepared" One was submitted in English and they tried to but couldn't read it Then they got a question (in Japanese) from someone from 韓国/South Korea [side note: I feel like the south korean milgram fandom has gotten more prominent recently, its always been there but it feels bigger than ever and that's pretty cool]

After audience questions they made a few announcements Some things we already knew, the gratte cafe crossover, the Kotoko line stickers, Earbuds are still on sale (and they're making badges and stuff based on the earbud promo art) the 4th anniversary art/acrylici stands literally in front of them Then some new things: Minigram LINE stamps (everyone was especially pleased for the Kazui XP stamp) There's going to be a part 2 to the Karaoke collab (no details yet other than its coming)

They also announce this year's perk for annual members [the pain of being an annual member but living outside of Japan so you can't get these 😭] Blank lamenated cards of the prisoner's interrogations and a whiteboard pen so you can write your own interro questions and answers They bring out the cards for Kazui and Amane and do some examples

"Do you like cake?" "I don't eat it."

"What did you have for lunch today?" "Gyudon." [a beef and rice dish]

Then Minami just writes "Toilet paper" in katakana and everyone laughs (Then she writes Toilet paper rap/lap/wrap and I'm not sure what she means)

Most exciting is script books for the Hallucenation liveshow (scripts of the voice dramas and songs) The live show uses condensed versions of the voice dramas but this is the first time we'll have official transcripts of key moments to help check translations with

Then they start saying that T2 was hellish, but T3 is going to go beyond hell: They're going to send everyone to Super Hell And at this point my brain fries and overloads on eeby deeby memes as they all go back and forth talking about Super Hell

They all start doing their outros/saying goodbye

Yurina talks about upcoming challenges we have as guards meanwhile Yamanaka ominously holds the Haruka stand up in frame

Then that's basically it, not much going on because a lot of stuff (like Hallucenation, the plushes, earbuds) came out right before the 4th anniversary

[qrevo]

Was tagged by @humanaaa to make a list of 13 songs I've been listening to lately!!

Haven't listened to many different songs lately (currently my main playlist is a Disorganized Hell), but these are the ones that I've been listening to the most:

Deep Cover - Milgram

Chimera - Deco27 (MegaTeraZero Cover)

Bug - KairikiBear (Chogakusei Cover)

Zombies - Deco*27 (Giga Remix, Chogakusei Cover)

This Is How To Be In Love With You - Milgram

Overdose - natori

Turing Love - NanawoAkari & Sou

Dramaturgy - Eve

PLATONIC GIRL - MikitoP (Amatsuki & luz Cover)

Double - Milgram

Say It - Yorushika

Aesthetic Sense - wanuka

Conveying Love Or Something Like That - aimyon

(Of course Deep Cover would get first place JKSKDBKSDF!! Been hearing it non-stop since it released. Like, go seigi girl!! Banger!!)

Besides that I've been hearing mostly songs from Milgram, Deco*27 (he can't stop releasing banger after banger❗❗), and some other vocaloid producer songs. Tho I usually prefer to listen to human covers (sorry Hatsune Miku i hope you can forgive me 🙏)

I'll tag @tokyogruel @good-beans @cubelogic @nilovalentine @mukuberry and @rainbowghostcat!! As always, no pressure tags, and anyone else can join :3

[fuutaprotectionsquad]

So I've been thinking about the Milgram remix

And the first time I watched it I noticed that theres 4 times where they do this weird remix-ey noise that I can't explain in words. They do it during the pauses between lyrics.

Putting this under the cut :)

Two of the times, it sounds really similar. From 0:12 - 0:22 during Undercover, right after part of the chorus and before the actual start of the song (I'll call this one #1). And from 9:25 - 9:41, during Bring It On right after the intro/prechorus thing (which I'll call #4).

It happens again in Undercover from 0:33 - 0:42, after the "FUTURE" line (#2). And then once more from 1:33 - 1:42, during Harrow right after the intro chorus (#3). Which timestamping made me realize is exactly a minute after #2, and is the same length.

Before I start, why does this matter?

Well, artistically, it doesn't make sense to have it three times in the first 2 minutes, then only once after that. They had more opportunities to use it too. After the intro chorus in half, there's a pause they just leave as is (notably the only pause like that in the remix, aside from when it transitions). And in TIHTBILWY, the pause after her intro chorus is edited out. If anything, it'd make sense to edit out the pause during Bring It On, because it's significantly longer than the rest. But they didn't. And I think that's intentional.

So let's start with #1 and #4. Undercover and Bring It On. Es and Fuuta. They're both the same, as Fuuta says in his t2 voice drama. But more specifically, we the audience are like Fuuta, judging people from behind a screen, deciding their fates and enjoying it. "Shouldn't you look beyond your ego, before it all ends?" It was Fuuta's ego that drove him, something he couldn't look past until it was all over and his sin had been committed. I don't think I need to yap about those parallels more, so lets continue.

Next we have #3, which is clearly different from the rest. It's Kotoko's vocals, not the voice(?) we hear in the other ones. Showing how innately, she is not like Es / us. She's trying to be, as we can see very well in Deep Cover, but all she's doing is innaccurately emulating Es.

But what does her repetitive vocals sound like, then? This one may be a stretch, but listen to the transition between Fuuta and Amane from 10:52 - 11:10. That's the only other time vocals are looped. "Now let's be reasonable."

Obviously, Fuuta and Kotoko acknowledge their similarities and differences, which also tie into their parallels with Es. As for the line itself, it sounds like something Fuuta would be saying to Kotoko, in response to her "harrowing." But what does Amane have to do with it? Well, small tangent for a second but in Kotoko's part, she's repeating the chorus of her song (i think). Which obviously represents her goals. What if the repetition in vocals represents repeating your ideologies to yourself, in particular, the ones that mirror those of someone else?

And this is pure speculation but maybe, in the same way that Kotoko is doing with Es, this represents Fuuta wanting to emulate Amane. She could be his definition of reasonable, and the line he's repeating could be directed towards himself. He sees her as more put together than he is, asking why she can bare the voices and he can't. These two instances of vocals being looped aren't particularly similar, because Kotoko and Fuuta are striving to emulate different people, but they're still doing the same thing. And they're the only ones doing it, hence why its the only time it happens in the remix.

Another detail I noticed is Haruka, Yuno, Muu and Amane are the only ones whose songs start at the beginning, but then cut out a chunk of the middle after the first chorus and play the bridge next. They're also the only ones who aren't really involved in what happened with Kotoko in t2.

There could also be something said about what I mentioned earlier with half and TIHTBILWY, if we're saying that the editing in the songs symbolizes their roles in Kotoko's attack. But idk what so I'll leave it at that.

[maristelina]

Deep Cover DECO*27/Rockwell Creator Comment: Kotoko’s MV (January, 18 2024)

Good evening, this is DECO*27.

What did you think of Kotoko's "Deep Cover"?

The lyrics are quite something, aren't they?

We delved deep into the world of MILGRAM.

I even thought, "Did I write too much in the lyrics?!" but since it passed Yamanaka-P's check, it should be okay.

We also received a comment from Rockwell, who was in charge of composing and arranging the music!

——————

I thoroughly explored the cool side of Kotoko that I also wanted to express in S1's "HARROW".

It was a good match for my natural musicality, and I think it was the fastest I've ever composed and arranged a song.

Compared to the university student-like young voice that can be felt in "HARROW", I think you can feel a sense of fleetingness as well as composure.

[gravityidol]

12th Prisoner in Milgram?

the key thing this theory is leaning on is the concept of the panopticon being 12 sectioned. whether the 12th section is a walkway or a cell doesn't matter for this theory, just that it exists.

10 sections is what you'd assume it to be considering the current canon number of prisoners. iirc there's eleven cells, though, with prisoner 11 implied to be es. my proposed theory is a metaphorical 12th prisoner, to round out the panopticon, and complete a clock face.

milgram seems to have a lot of links to time, and the passing of such, along with almost the loss or absence of time also being a factor. es with their amnesia, how the prisoners were presumably brought in moments after they committed / realized they committed murder (in what ever form it was), how there's an unspecified amount of time in between trials / es being awake.

the clock face and motif could be a natural progression to this theme. 11 confirmed prisoners (as of deep cover, kotoko calling es 011) could relate to the idiom of the 11th hour, a moment in time where it's the last possible moment or almost too late. it's sometimes used in horror or thriller narratives to pin point the moment just before everything goes wrong. having 11 prisoners on a clock face could be a really interesting way of implying guilt, or perhaps relating to how the prisoners were taken just after everything went wrong.

this leads me to the matter of the 12th section. for a clock to be complete, the 12th hour is necessary, even if time were to stop at the 11th hour. what's necessary to Milgram, even though its not explicitly shown? the audience.

the audience has been mentioned in passing, of course, as the voices the prisoners hear and as one of the driving forces behind es, but apart from mikoto saying how he thought milgram was a reality tv show, there's no acknowledgment of watching. of something outside of es or jackalope influencing the progression of milgram.

there's already been a slight commentary on the concept of watching and judging with fuuta, muu, and now kotoko as of Yonah. theres plenty of theories comparing those three to the audience, fuuta relating to the part of judging without fully understanding, muu specifically with her t2 song saying in the official English lyrics "I'm doing this just because I'm bored, we're just the same.", and kotoko with her strong belief in what she believes is true justice. there's more, of course, but those are the key points i remember.

with the commentary on the nature of judging that milgram already makes, it wouldn't be too far to assume that the audience has a bigger role than we already have. we already choose innocent or guilty, along with influencing the reasoning and contributing to the voices the prisoners hear.

es has been revealed to be their own character, with their own backstory and motives, so where would that leave us if es was supposed to be an audience insert? the milgram project is all about how the choices we make have consequences, along with the main theme of the prisoner's crimes.

i believe the 12th section has been reserved for us, the viewers. we're playing the role of judge, jury, and executioner in the same way we criticize kotoko for doing. it wouldn't surpirse me if at the end of the project, after the final verdicts for the prisoners, there's an extra set of votes. one for es, and one for us.

es is the audience mirror, and all of the prisoners have been grouped as a pair. if es is prisoner 011, the one they'd be grouped with is prisoner 012. you could argue es is a parallel to every prisoner in some way, and i'd agree, but that could also go for every character pairing possible. jackalope could also be es's duo pairing, but it feels unlikely as he's never been referenced as a prisoner, even slightly. we, on the other hand, would fit as es's duo due to the concept of the general audience having no specific gender, keeping the male and female prisoner count the same. almost opposite to es's non gender, we as the audience could technically be every gender, keeping the theme of the duos having "opposing" genders.

tldr; the audience is the 12th prisoner, being es's parallel for the prisoner duos.

feel free to add or object to this, its just an idea i've had sitting in my head for a while :]

[1moremilgram-enjoyer]

Deep Cover Partial Analysis

Updated Murder Theory, "Lucky" & Kotoko's Relationship, T2 Verdict

Hello there, members of the jury! Deep Cover, huh? There's a decent bit to talk about in this MV, more than I really want to cover in just this post. So to put down my initial thoughts somewhere, I'm writing this! An update on my old theory from HARROW, my thoughts on Kotoko's relationship with the girl with the "Lucky" hat (which I'll just call Lucky for convenience), and my verdict for Trial 2!

CW Violent murder and blood, vigilantism, child kidnapping

Me trying to figure out what's going on in this video

Updated Murder Theory

What IS Kotoko's murder?

In the aftermath of the video, there have been a few different ideas about why exactly Kotoko ended up in Milgram, what her “Milgram murder” actually is. And while there are certainly many very interesting ideas going around, and I always love seeing different interpretations of what these videos show, I feel a lot of them are overcomplicating things.

This is Kotoko's killshot from Undercover. This is the most concrete confirmation we have of why Kotoko is in Milgram. Kotoko's murder involves her kicking someone to death. And given how much focus is put on her killing the white hoodie guy, both in HARROW and in Deep Cover, I feel the simplest explanation is that Kotoko's "Milgram murder" is the murder of the white hoodie guy.

That last point is important btw. The white hoodie guy death is the only one that actually is referenced in both HARROW and Deep Cover. Every MV to date has at least included an allusion to the murder, even if really abstract like Magic and Tear Drop. If Kotoko's "Milgram murder" involves Oshii, then Deep Cover is the only MV not to reference the murder. If her "Milgram murder" involves Lucky, the HARROW is the only MV not to reference the murder. This is inconsistent with all other MVs, which would be strange. You get what I'm saying?

Plus, let’s not forget what Kotoko says in TASK.

[TASK]

Kotoko: I did kill someone

Someone, singular. Unless there’s some ambiguity that’s lost on translation, Kotoko only killed one person, and her Milgram murder is kicking someone to death. She killed the white hoodie guy by kicking him, so he’s sorta the only option as to who her Milgram murder is.

And yes, Kotoko could have lied in her MV, but she has no reason to. She also says this:

[TASK]

Kotoko: After all, Es, you can access my heart, right? Through songs and videos..

Es: That is correct.

Kotoko: Then there's no problem. People who understand will automatically do so

So Kotoko believes the videos will reveal her murder, meaning she’d likely get caught in a lie once the extraction process began. Given she’s trying to team up with Es in TASK, being seen as a liar by them is counter-productive. In other words, Kotoko shouldn’t be lying here. Unless she somehow forgot another murder, she’s only killed the white hoodie guy.

The reason it's considered an "indirect" murder (if you don't know what that means, uh, don't worry about it) is that under Japanese law, it wasn't judged as actual murder, but rather legitimate defense, as revealed in Deep Cover. Now, I fully believe Kotoko did want to kill the guy and it wasn't entirely defense, but that's the ultimate ruling. Thus, I believe an "indirect" murder in Milgram's eyes is "an act which led to someone's death, but wouldn't be judged as murder in a court of law." Which is the definition I was always working with anyways lol.

All this to say, I don't think Lucky ever died, since as far as I can tell there is no solid evidence for it. It’s a nice theory, I like reading about it, I just don’t subscribe to it.

Now, I do want to be clear. There are still inconsistencies with this being the Milgram murder. The alley in Kotoko’s prisoner card is very strange, and while there are alternatives as to what those images could represent, they’re not very strong. Indeed, the card is very weird.

Additionally, her Trial 2 Voice Trailer distorted line doesn’t fit perfectly either. The lines in that trailer are generally understood to be from before the murder, but Kotoko’s seems to be directed at Lucky, which would place it after the warehouse incident. It could be directed at a different character, but it would have to be someone we’ve never seen before.

That said, no current theory about Kotoko’s murder is perfect. At some point you have to accept some inconsistencies somewhere, and I feel like the white hoodie guy murder being the Milgram murder is the least inconsistent of the answers. Occam’s razor; the simplest explanation, the one which makes the least assumptions, is usually the most accurate.

The Article and New Details

In Deep Cover, Kotoko is seen reading an article about her murder.

I'll leave two translations: Translation 1 and Translation 2. I recommend reading both for a full picture of what the text seems to say.

Now, this article gives us a few more details than we had in HARROW. First, white hoodie guy's name is Kaneshiro Tsugumichi (or Michi for short) and his father's name is Kaneshiro Isamu. Second, we also learn that Kotoko actually faced trial for her murder, but as she vaguely implied in TASK, the case was ruled as "justifiable defense", despite later investigations going against that idea. And of course they did, Kotoko tracked this guy down and went in fully intending to kill him. The ruling is at best a technicality and at worst a complete mistake. Still enough to qualify as "indirect" murder in my eyes though.

Kotoko's testimony of justifiable defense was corroborated by Lucky, although Lucky later retracted her statement. We'll get there.

Finally, the article ends by revealing that the case had become a bit of an internet meme. People claimed there were "multiple murderers" (referring to Michi and Kotoko) and that Kotoko was a hero. Or, rather, a "female university student." Given the wording in the article, I believe it's possible Kotoko's identity was never revealed to the public, as there would be no point in hiding her name if that weren't the case. I don't know enough about Japanese law to know if this makes sense or not, but I feel it's at least a possibility.

The article doesn't add much to what we already knew, but it's nice to get some extra details.

The Shots for the Updated Theory

Given how little this murder is actually referenced in the MV, you'd think there isn't much we can learn here, but there are two moments that I feel can help build on my previous (pretty outdated) theory.

What do we learn from these shots? Well, the main thing is that Lucky was actually in the room when the murder happened. Because while it's true the lighting and Lucky's position are slightly inconsistent, the water in the dark floor combined with Kotoko's kneeling position heavily implies these two shots happen one after the other.

More importantly, though, we actually see the restraints she had in the room she was being kept in in the floor.

This would imply she didn't go there on her own, and wasn't moved by Kotoko, who would have naturally removed the restraints before moving her. That means Michi moved her from the small room to the death room. And this fixes one of the biggest issues with HARROW's depiction of the murder: the switching rooms.

(Yes the shot in Deep Cover is flipped. No I don't know why)

As you can see, the walls are slightly different. And of course, they're way more open than the room the girl was being kept in. My original explanation for why this happens was more complicated than necessary, but now we have a bit more context.

First, the difference in the warehouse walls can just be explained by assuming these are two different sections of the warehouse, or even two warehouses which are connected somehow. This is somewhat consistent with the outside appearance of the warehouse:

You see how there's two buildings that share a wall? If that wall has a door, it would be possible to go from one to the other. And if they have different walls for some reason, it's possible the wall change simply happens because they enter one and end up in the other.

And why did they move? Well, because of the discarded restraints in Deep Cover, we can assume that perhaps Michi attempted to escape from Kotoko with Lucky in tow. He could have stunned Kotoko somehow (hammer maybe?), and ran away to the death room. Here's a diagram!

Pretty simple, right?

The Time Skip Confirmation

This is also a continuation of my previous theory. If you're not aware, Kotoko sees Michi kidnapping Lucky while she's wearing her blue and yellow hoodie, but attacks with her red hoodie.

I believed this, among other things, implied there was actually a period of time between when Kotoko spots the kidnapping and when she actually steps in. And the shot of Lucky on the floor corroborates this, as she's already bruised as if she had spent a decent amount of time under Michi's grasp.

As to why Kotoko didn't step in immediately, while I originally believed she was disheartened in some way, I now think it may have more to do with trying to hide her identity as she did when she attacked Oshii. Men's sneakers, red hoodie, etc. Except this time there was a witness, and since she apparently forgot her face covering at home, she couldn’t avoid being recognized and had to go to court. Perhaps that's why she seems so distressed when Lucky hugs her? She didn't want the attention, she didn't want to be recognized, because it would mean having to deal with the law.

Anyways, what does this mean? Well, not much, really. But it’s important because it means Kotoko wasn’t prepared to see a kidnapping that day, which in my eyes throws out some theories I’ve seen around about her possibly setting up Lucky as bait for Michi. If she had done that, surely she would have already been wearing the correct outfit, wouldn’t she?

And speaking of Lucky…

On Kotoko and Lucky's Relationship

This has almost become the main point of discussion around the MV, so I feel compelled to talk about it. Here’s what we know:

-Lucky originally testified to corroborate Kotoko’s testimony in court, but later, apparently while speaking to Isamu, retracted it. We don’t know what, if anything, Kotoko told her after the murder, but we can assume Kotoko lied to her the same way she lied to everyone else; “killing Michi was the only way to stop him, it was legitimate defense.” We also don’t know why she retracted her statement, but I’ll get to it in a moment.

By the way, Isamu claims Lucky may have been threatened, but I just don’t believe him. Lucky doesn’t seem scared of Kotoko until the very end (after the retraction), and Isamu has been involved in cover-ups of his son’s crimes before, as implied in HARROW. It’s in his best interest to defend his family name if he can cast doubt on Lucky’s testimony (more on this later).

-After the retraction of the statement, Kotoko is sitting on a park bench reading an article about it when Lucky comes up to her to show her the matching hat. Kotoko distractedly pats her head, but mostly ignores her in favor of the article. We don’t know if this meeting was arranged, or if Lucky just stumbled into Kotoko randomly and wanted to show off her cool hat. I’m leaning on the latter, personally. We also don’t know if they interacted further, or if Lucky just left immediately after. There’s no way to tell.

-After the park scene (note that Lucky already has the hat on her head, unlike when she first shows it off), Lucky waits outside a book store, mimicking Kotoko’s wall lean from HARROW. Lucky sees Kotoko and walks up to her, but becomes horrified when she sees the look in Kotoko’s eyes. Kotoko is wearing her murder outfit, and looks very angry. She ignores Lucky for the most part, only giving her a spare glance as she walks past. This means the meeting was not arranged, as Kotoko clearly wasn’t in the mood for it.

We don’t know why Lucky was waiting in front of the book store (was she waiting for Kotoko? did she know where Kotoko would be? Or was she waiting for something/someone else and just happened to recognize Kotoko walking by?). We don’t know if they met in more occasions, or if we’re shown the full extent of their interactions after meeting in court (did Lucky start mimicking Kotoko after hanging out a lot? or did she pick up the habit almost instantly, having seen Kotoko do the wall lean after the murder/during court procedure?).

I repeat that we don’t know much because, well, that’s the main problem here. We just don’t know, and we can’t know based just on the events of Deep Cover what their deal is. The only info we definitely have is:

-Lucky likes Kotoko, even after retracting her statement, though she’s scared of her meaner side.

-Kotoko appears dismissive of Lucky, at least from what we saw.

And that’s it! The only way we can further try to infer what their relationship is like is by looking at Kotoko’s character and speculating on what she would act like around this child. Thankfully, Kotoko’s actions are very straightforwardly informed by her overly simplistic worldview.

According to Kotoko, there are essentially three types of people. The Evil People who oppress and hurt those weaker than them:

(T1) Q20: What do you think is evil?

K: Oppressing innocent weaklings.

The Hero who will protect the Weaklings by destroying the Evil People:

[Deep Cover]

Come on, rely on me, go on

I became your fangs

As the long-awaited hero I engraved the answer

Tell me why you tell me, “Stop”

Don’t you dare stop now

I want a reason for judgment execution, I want it

Give me the next target

(I hate mobile formatting I hate mobile formatting I hate-)

And the Weaklings, who need to stay out of the way.

[Trial 2 Voice Trailer]

Kotoko: From the beginning I've never asked for your understanding! My actions, one by one, are bringing earth closer to peace. Useless weaklings should just shut up and let me protect them!

Weaklings shouldn’t meddle with the actions of the Hero, because the Hero knows best. If a decision or course of action is too difficult for a Weakling, they have to sit back and let the Hero choose for them.

[YONAH]

Kotoko: Weak... You're too weak. With that fragile body of yours, you can't stop anyone. You can't protect anyone. You can't even do your justice. All imperfect.

[…]

K: You're unable to do it yourself, that's why you need me. The fangs to do your will.

This fits with Kotoko, the Hero, being so dismissive towards Lucky, a Weakling. She probably wouldn’t want someone like Lucky to mimick her, because Lucky is Weak and should just rely on Kotoko for protection. It’s what gives Kotoko’s life meaning, after all.

[Deep Cover]

I want a reason for judgment execution, I want it

Give me the next target

This is what makes me believe that Kotoko and Lucky may have never really hung out outside of what we’re shown in Deep Cover. Because simply put, there’s no reason for Kotoko to be hanging out with her after the court case. Even back then, the only thing Kotoko had to tell her was that her murder was legitimate defense, which again is just what she was telling everyone else. Kotoko most likely had no reason to believe Lucky would retract her statement, and she doesn’t seem interested in hanging out with her for any other reason.

To be clear, I do think Kotoko cares about Lucky to some extent. She did show up in the magic subconscious video, after all. Kotoko is most likely glad to see Lucky happy, at least. I’m just saying that I don’t think their relationship really extended beyond “it’s nice to bump into each other in the street occasionally.” Of course, that’s only my interpretation, it’s perfectly fine if you interpret it in some other way.

Temporary CW Grooming

No, I don’t think Kotoko groomed Lucky. Unless you count lying to her about how legitimate the defense was, which again is more of a lie Kotoko told everyone than anything Lucky specific. I can definitely see the angle, the few scenes we have are pretty damn sketchy if you look at them a certain way, but I don’t think we have to assume the worst. Again, there is no reason for Kotoko to even groom her in the first place. She wouldn’t want Lucky to follow in her footsteps; she has no reason to be worried about the testimony, at least up until the retraction; and there’s not many other reasons she would have to do it. And Kotoko is decently pragmatic, she doesn’t usually bother doing things she doesn’t need.

To be clear, I absolutely believe Kotoko would have groomed Lucky, if it had been convenient for her. She does it to Es in YONAH, the lines I already used.

[YONAH]

Kotoko: Weak... You're too weak. With that fragile body of yours, you can't stop anyone. You can't protect anyone. You can't even do your justice. All imperfect.

[…]

K: You're unable to do it yourself, that's why you need me. The fangs to do your will.

That’s grooming. That’s what’s happening there. I’m not trying to defend this or even Kotoko, she absolutely is a groomer and this is Very Horrible. This deserves discussion, but it’s not what this post is about.

However, in YONAH, Kotoko has a reason to be doing it. She needs Es to hand out the Guilty judgements she wants. That doesn’t make it better, it just makes it in line with her character. She has no reason to manipulate Lucky, and again, she’s always shown to be dismissive of her.

Again, I do see where the concern comes from, and I wouldn’t be 100% surprised if it turned out to be true. I just don’t like to jump to conclusions on this sort of thing on principle, not when we have so little context for what we’re seeing, and especially not when it’s somewhat contradictory to Kotoko’s character and the central themes of her story.

Temporary CW Over

The Withdrawal of the Statement

This is one of the weirdest details of the MV, so I feel I should address it before signing off. Here’s what we know:

-Lucky testified in court that she was saved by “a female university student” according to the article (read: saved by Kotoko), and corroborated Kotoko’s testimony. Which was likely: she was being kidnapped (true), Kotoko caught the kidnapper red-handed (basically true, Lucky was tied up and on the floor with Michi beside her), Kotoko and Michi got into a fight over it (true), and Kotoko had to kill Michi to stop him (debatable, but Lucky likely believed it true).

-After the trial, Kaneshiro Isamu, the CEO of a big newspaper company, launches a private investigation that concludes Kotoko used excessive force.

-After that, it’s mentioned Isamu claims that Lucky retracted her statement.

-Isamu also claims some other stuff, trying to muddy up whether or not his son really was a kidnapper or not, but being The Guy That Covered Up a Bunch of Child Murders, I’m not inclined to believe him.

When I lay it all out like this, it seems like there’s a pretty simple explanation for what happened here. There is only one part of Lucky’s statement that could have needed retracting, the “legitimate defense” part, and that’s exactly what Isamu’s investigation contradicted. Given it’s Isamu, a newspaper company CEO of all things, the one who reveals the withdrawal, it’s assumed Lucky retracted it in his presence or in the presence of someone working for him. Meaning they could have told Lucky there was evidence of excessive force.

With that in mind, I believe it’s possible Lucky was told Kotoko may have used excessive force, and decided just in case to go back on the whole “legitimate defense” thing. Which of course Isamu spins into “she retracted the entire statement” because that’s what’s most convenient for him, who is likely trying to protect the family name from accusations of kidnapping.

I feel this is the most straightforward answer as to what could have happened. It’s consistent with Lucky still wanting to hang out with Kotoko and getting matching hats, it fits with her being scared of Kotoko later as she fully realizes Isamu and his people may have had a point, it fits Isamu’s known behavior, and it fits the context of the article.

It could even vaguely fit Lucky’s design choices. You know how her outfit looks like a prisoner’s outfit? Well, she sure is trapped in a weird situation between the kidnapping, Kotoko lying, Isamu trying to get her to retract the statement… I don’t know if this makes sense or not but I’m saying it anyways!

Is it the only possibility? Hell no. We have way too little context about the withdrawal to say anything definitive, so I’m perfectly open to hearing different reasons for why it could have happened. At the moment, though, I believe this to be one of the more solid possibilities.

This idea could also indicate who Kotoko wants to kill at the end, given she is wearing her murder outfit and all. She could take this as Isamu and his people manipulating a “weakling”, and we know she doesn’t take kindly to that kind of thing. That’s complete speculation, though, so don’t take it very seriously. I still think she only killed one person anyways, because of the whole “killed someone (singular)” thing.

Verdict

With all of it laid out, what am I voting her this Trial?

To what I imagine is no one’s surprise, Guilty.

I know this post has been kinder to her than a lot of other posts going around, but that doesn’t mean I’m ignoring the awful things Kotoko has done, and would continue to do if Forgiven this Trial. Already, she is stuck in a cycle of violence where the only way she can find fulfillment is by attacking those she considers worthy of punishment, a problem she’s had since Trial 1. While I don’t think regret is necessary for forgiveness (I’m the “Local Amane Momose Apologist” for a reason), it is important for forgiveness that I can believe they won’t continue to do the same bad thing in the future, which is not the case with Kotoko. At least from what we know, it seems she would absolutely kill someone else if fully Forgiven.

And that’s without the very obvious meta aspect. There are quite a few prisoners who could be in real danger if she’s Forgiven. The most obvious ones being Muu and Haruka (even if Haruka does have other stuff to worry about too), but Amane and Mikoto could also be targets because Kotoko didn’t manage to get to them in Trial 1. Oh, and Es. She would probably try manipulating them further if she sees them as an ally, which is what a Forgiven verdict would cause.

Mind you, an Unforgiven verdict isn’t perfect, either. She will certainly become antagonistic towards Es if she’s Unforgiven, so I doubt she’d actually listen to the verdict. She’ll likely close herself off and become isolated, which is the worst thing that can happen to someone with a mindset like hers.

Hell, it’s not even perfect for prison safety purposes. A restrained Kotoko is still probably stronger than a restrained Muu, a restrained Haruka and even an unrestrained Amane. Just, hopefully not strong enough to cause serious damage.

More pressingly, though, Kotoko herself is a massive target, given she’s antagonized basically the entire prison. Fuuta has a vendetta and a strong sense of justice, and while I’d hope he’s learnt the lesson that he shouldn’t take justice into his own hands, Amane’s religion (which is clearly starting to influence him) also places a lot of value on punishing those who go against destiny, so. Then there’s the fact Kotoko’s clearly shown herself as a threat to Mikoto, and while violence landed them into the Milgram mess in the first place, John might decide Kotoko’s dangerous enough to warrant becoming a “savior” again.

And God forbid she does get hurt and Shidou doesn’t have enough time or resources to treat all the injured people around. Because Mr “someone’s value cannot be the same as another” Kirisaki is not going to help Kotoko at anyone else’s expense.

But ultimately, we have to pick the lesser of two evils. From a meta sense, I’m more worried about what Kotoko could do to Muu/Amane than what Fuuta/John/whoever else could do to Kotoko. More importantly, from a mindset sense, I’m more worried about enabling and encouraging her current behavior (which at this point would be practically irreversible, given there’s only one Trial left) than antagonizing her and causing her to isolate. Both are bad, but one of them has a chance of getting the personification of the death penalty (death penalty without trial, no less) to change her ways.

See, what I’m hoping is that (depending of what happens from this point on) we can try to make amends and Forgive on Trial 3, with the hope she understands we believe she’s in the wrong, but that we won’t abandon her and she deserves a chance to better herself. That compassion could be enough for her to start working towards improvement… maybe.

I’m definitely being way too optimistic, but when we’re working with The Worst System in History, all that’s left is to try our best and hope things turn out alright, even when we lack good tools to try and make that happen.

I sincerely hope she can break the toxic mindset she’s stuck in and gets to a place where I can vote her Forgiven in Trial 3, but as of right now, a Trial 2 Forgiven is just not on the table for me. Sorry Kotoko, I do feel kinda bad for you still, Milgram’s punishment for the Unforgiven is awful :(

Conclusion

That’s it for now! I’ll maybe make some other posts discussing other stuff in this MV, since there’s surprisingly quite a bit in it, but for now I’ve said what I needed to say. Take care!

[sakuharuka]

Imagine a MILGRAM x Danganronpa thingie where MILGRAM characters (the prisoners, Es and some more) get into a Danganronpa-like game!!!

Jackalope gets the role of Monokuma with his teasing persona, often making unnecessary comments about the girls, specially Muu and Mahiru, also with a sadistic side to himself that only Es knows about for some reason.

Es is the ultimate prison guard and the protag! They wake up with no memories in the beach and meet a few more people! In their head, all they know is their name and ultimate. There's a lot to cover.... or rather, recover.

I believe that Haruka's the ultimate unlucky student due to ""his only ability being bringing misfortune to others"", according to himself. During a free time event, he told Es to call him "the second ultimate artist" to at least make himself slightly happier due to his love for art, albeit he draws rather childishly and his pieces come across as shaky every time. Of course, it's the same ultimate as Mirai's.

Yuno would call herself 'ultimate socialite' -- actually an enjo joshi -- due to her track record of enjo kosai. She's not a fan of her true title due to having recently aborted a child, yet she's willing to hide it with a title just as "dirty" to draw attention off herself.

Fuuta would end up as the ultimate grafitti artist as a connection to Backdraft. He comments that he'd prefer to be a gamer or a soccer player, as being a grafitti artist, for some reason, is something that made him hold deep regret.

Muu would call herself 'ultimate queen bee' -- formally 'ultimate social queen', a title she seems to take as 'too confusing but kind of nice'. Haruka just calls her the ultimate queen. She appreciates it, but she states that she loves bees.

Shidou, of course, is the ultimate surgeon. He reveals in-game that, after a car accident that put his wife and older son in the hospital -- the younger dying instantly, he ended up killing them while just trying to do his job. After that, he gave up on being a surgeon, depressed and suicidal, missing his children and the love of his life.

Mahiru, due to TIHTBILWY, would be the ultimate blogger! She states that her blog is lovable and 'ultra romantic', which even Es, someone rather stoic, gets surprised and lets out a smile by its layout. Mikoto tells her that it's the blog of a professional guru. She seems to get much more excited by that.

As a reference to Half and Cat, Kazui is the ultimate kyogen master. In-game, he bonds with Shidou about "his ultimate having killed his wife", however, his case is more in an abstract sense: Kazui pretending to like her, being something that he's not. Well.... he did like her, just not romantically. He feels quite guilty by that.

Amane's formal title is li'l ultimate devotee, however, she calls herself the 'ultimate cleric' for the sake of her cult. She seems to not like anyone except for Fuuta and Kazui, who she sees as family, calling the rest 'sinners who should rot in hell' much to everyone's dismay. Even Jackalope, well... a jackalope, is a reason for distrust.

Mikoto's the ultimate designer. His formal ultimate specifies *what kind* of designer -- either graphic or fashion-related, but, for some reason different from Es's, his memories are also pretty foggy. Well.... of course he remembers his job..! Just.... not his full title. Rumors during the motives say that he was diagnosed with DID some time ago.

Kotoko's the ultimate vigilante, a title she carries with pride. She has killed a few in a way quite subtle and, much to Es's surprise, neither her nor themself are connected to the government somehow. She seems to be pretty wolf-like in attitude, even biting and scratching others, growling or howling by impulse at times. She seems to connect it with her talent.

Yura Kashiki, Yuno's little brother! He ends up as the li'l ultimate acapella performer. He's a really nice boy and supports Yuno when he can, also trying to sing songs to his older folks. He ends up friends with Amane due to the two of them having similar ages. Although not joining her cult, he seems to memorize its songs due to the green-haired girl's constant prayers. He's quite attached to Yuno and the other way round! Their relationship is quite wholesome!

"Miss Magic", also known as Mana, li'l ultimate magical girl wannabe formally, calls herself 'ultimate good witch' or just 'ultimate witch' despite not able to make true magic. Loves Kazui, sees him as a teacher and loves learning with him due to his ultimate. Amane's not a fan of her due to her name. For some reason revealed in-game, she's terrified of Fuuta and Rumerie. The feelings seem to be mutual for the former, as he gets ungodly disturbed when he sees her, but not for the latter, who finds her weak.

(Fun fact: In that context, Mana is a kirakira name in Japanese that uses the "Ma" kanji as if in "Mahou", magic !! Can represent her username/nickname and also how 'Fuuta thought she had bad intentions before noticing that she was just a middle school girl' since 'Ma', by itself, can also mean the devil!) Mirai, the ultimate artist! Quite fashionable and kind, calm under pressure but secretly pretty overwhelmed under her mask of whimsical kindness. In a free time event with Es, their usual unintentionally cold and rude demeanor with Haruka prompts her to confess about his violent meltdowns, ones who are difficult to control. She states that the two were childhood friends and that her worst trauma was almost dying after seeing her missing dog also dead because she panicked in the wrong moment. Haruka never really liked animals. Mirai loves taking pictures of herself, others, the scenery and moments. Her favorite pictures are of fireworks, a moment she shared with Haruka back when they were children. She likes to fluctuate between styles, sometimes similar to anime, sometimes cartoon-esque, abstract or even realistic.

Rumerie, the ultimate gamer! He's rather mean-spirited, oftentimes mocking everyone for everything. He likes to call himself Fuuta's friend, a title the guy's not a fan of. Rumerie finds Fuuta's ultimate way more interesting than his, so the two have this complex of wanting to swap ultimates. Just like Fuuta has his easily frightened side, Rumerie shows a softer one with either children that aren't Mana (Amane and Yura) or people who show themselves to be slightly more childish in nature (Haruka). He's quite good at all sorts of videogames and, despite insisting that he prefers fighting games, secretly loves taking care of virtual pets. He tries to hide how cute he finds Jackalope by the beginning of the killing game.

Rei, the ultimate writer! Secretly had a crush on Muu back when she was solely an observer until she ended up as the victim of her and her group's actions. By then, Rei grew to hate her a lot. She's collected, usually expressionless. Hates Muu, Haruka's attachment to the same gives Rei the ick. She's friends with Mirai, almost becoming Yuno's before her inevitable fate. Despite being stoic and disengaged, she wishes to protect everyone from Jackalope and whoever's behind the killing game, including Muu.

[archivalofsins]

Sometimes I want to be the biggest fucking hater alive then I remember Not Like Us exists as a song and mellow out a small bit. Then I think damn the Milgram casts songs are all fucking diss tracks aren't they. Like we call out Kotoko because she talked about characters we feel like we know personally in Deep Cover but like every prisoners song is talking shit about someone else. Like quite directly.

Mahiru starts off implying that the person she killed just doesn't know what love is. Yuno fucking trash talks one of her clients and the audience through all of Tear Drop. Futa and Kotoko both imply that people just don't know what morals are, how to take accountability for themselves, or what real justice is. Mikoto fucking goes from if you don't tell me I'm right I'm kicking your ass to following through on that threat by jumping Kotoko during the first trial intermission someone parading around saying they work for Es when she wasn't even attacking him. Man went, okay I can't get them well I'll get their associate, "You work for Es bet.". Kazui is like woe is me why won't this picky bitch have a change of heart why did she create this distance that's misleading me throughout all of Half.

Shidou is pretty much like well it's these people's fault for needing help they're the reason I'm doing this- I did what I had to and I can't stop myself from doing what needs to be done now either. So, I want you to end this for me. Haruka is like well if you were nicer to me, then this wouldn't have happened- Why did you change? Amane is like yeah I was wrong but everyone fucks up sometimes let's just laugh about it and move on- Then when told no she's just goes alright fuck you die.

Like legitimate hater energy throughout- Yet people are still able to see that they are remorseful and to an extent regret their actions. Which yeah true but every person here is petty as fuck, actually. They didn't come on the mic with I'm so sorry for what I did they came in with multiple justifications for what they did except for Amane she like did start by admitting she messed up and never defended it in either song she just kind of went I did that shit before even Mu did.

Like her entire first song is like yeah I'm gonna mess up sometimes, but I can only become better. This isn't even me being biased. I would love it if Amane was more petty, but that's actually just where she started. Yuno started there too saying she messed up and found out but like immediately upon having all of her agency in the situation ignored went alright fuck you people too- You all think you're soooo smart, huh.

It's really impressive how reactionary they all are and how it looks in hindsight.

[blueepink07]

‼️Deep cover and YONAH spoilers‼️

Just a short talk about the last lyrics ->because I find Kotoko fascinating

The last lyrics from deep cover, while they can surely show Kotoko's views about the innocent prisoners, also serve a purpose to show how the society might see the prisoners.

In YONAH, Kotoko brings up how Es is too reliant with the prisoners, because they got attached to them.

Then, she asks a question that is immediately dismissed by Es and left unanswered. Would we be as angry now if Kotoko were to beat up the prisoners, knowing just that they are murderers and what crime they committed? If we didn't know their thoughts, their feelings and distress, and where to see their crimes on the news, would we really not be happy with the outcome…?

I think that these lyrics imply a generalization of how their crimes would be seen in the eyes of an outsider, in comparison with society standards and beliefs. Kotoko is not a person to back down, in the VD she never considers accepting Es's point of view of the situation in Milgram. These feelings are still persistent in her song, hence why she portrays the innocent prisoners with such harsh words. It's also a way for her to convince Es to judge more prisoners guilty, by talking about them in an almost dehumanizing way.

Honestly I'm glad that there is a character who brought this thing up, because I was actually wondering if someone will directly state this...

[purgemarchlockdown]

My family member who's a musician has recently informed me that most people don't usually hear the instrumental separately from the vocals when they hear the song, they hear the vocals and instrumental as one thing and usually focus on the vocals

...anyway this is an Official Milgram Instrumental Appreciation post. I like how every time Amane does "Zetai" there's a buzzing sound in the background like static and how it goes away in the first Zetai but become a intense sound of electrical buzz at the second one. I love Cat's Jazz feel and extremely good drums and brass + THAT PIANO!!!!!!! I love Deep Cover's guitar and the thing that sounds like shining (? I dont got a better word for it) in the back. I love Magic's electrical guitar with the xylophone sounding instruments in the back + the organ!!!! I love the Milgram Instrumentals so much and I love how well the vocals mix in with them.

[randaccidents]

Tentative Heartless Playlist baybeeeeee

These are just songs that I am pegging to them. It can be either vibes or lyrics (most of the time its lyrics). I'll probably post a better one one day. Enjoy the implications folks! (by folks I am looking at kitkatriel and tallyhoot EDIT AND tadsstrange).

Heart songs:

Evl Ppl - Chonny Jash cover (yes I failed to avoid CJ rip)

Scum (it eats you alive) - Lovejoy

Home - Cavetown

If I Can Stop One Heart From Breaking - Honkai Star Rail OST (not officially released or smth?)

Goodbye to a World - Porter Robinson

Shinkai Shojo (Deep Sea Girl) - Yuuyu BUT SPECIFICALLY this cover here by Lizz Robinett for the english lyrics I want (the vibes are also impeccably sad)

Perseverance songs:

MKDR (DSCF) - DECO*27

Throwdown - Milgram: Shidou trial 1

花に風, Wind Over the Flower - balloon (?)

Penitence songs:

Cosmic Rendezvous - DECO*27

Consequences - Lovejoy

quiet room - Yoh Kamiyama

Perseverance and Penitence songs (duo):

Weight of the World - Nier:Automata OST BUT SPECIFICALLY this cover here by Amalee and Peter Hollins for the VIBES

Hated by Life itself - Iori Kanzaki (please please listen to the relay chorus tho)

Regression - Honkai Impact 3rd OST performed by Ayanga

Song that I have no idea if it should go to Heart or to Penitence:

我問天 (I ask Heaven) - Theme song for a Taiwanese Love drama? apparently? I only know it for the memes (I wish i could give yall an english translation for this hokkien song but I only found this one here and its still pretty inaccurate)

Also head in hands I couldnt quite fit it but go listen to JJ Lin's 修炼爱情 (Practice Love) I swear to god that it fits the story of Heartless entirely or something. I'm just. Not Entirely Convinced Yet. But I swear the vibes are too strong for it not to. This is me shoving old chinese songs at my audience go listen to chinese songs.

[linagram]

[ linagram season 3 albums info ]

this post includes season 3 album covers, original song titles, s3 voice drama titles, cover songs, album, character and song trailer voicelines and song previews! so yeah, very long post! but i feel like it's probably better to have everything in one place..

i've planned to go with a completely original concept for season 3 album covers but.. drawing all that would take too long.. and drawing the designs alone was already too much work for me, so i went with season 1-like album covers bc i actually haven't made these before! i've still tried to make them more. "linacore" and instead of a black background, i tried to make them more colorful. i think they came out too colorful.. apologies if they look too eyestrain-y..

(also i really tried to make them more hd but my editing apps kept ruining the quality. so sorry.. maybe that will make analyzing them more interesting in some way..)

[ TRACK LIST ]

Miyagawa Akio.

01. [ Original song ] Experiment: Failed

02. [ Cover song ] Mosquito (Original by DECO*27)

03. [ Cover song ] Unfriendly Hater (Original by Meddmia)

04. [ MILGRAM Cover song ] All-knowing All-agony

05. [ Voice drama ] The Right-Hand Man's Betrayal

[ Creator's comments ]

IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO COME UP WITH A TITLE FOR HIS SONG I'VE LITERALLY TRIED EVERYTHING BUT ALL OF THEM SOUNDED TOO BORING.. i really wanted to have more fun with the song titles this time, so hopefully this one sounds cool.. okay, so his covers! literally all of them are about his relationship with arata, haha. COME ON UNFRIENDLY HATER IS LITERALLY THEM BEFORE THEY STARTED DATING. (or. "dating" as akio likes to say) mosquito is a much more angsty AND realistic take on their relationship ("in any case, in any case, you're the only one getting high", "the more we pursue one another, the more unsavory you become", "i'll die if i stop sucking from you, 'cause i'm a mosquito", "i wonder why it was so beautiful despite being so warped"). meanwhile akaa is like, the saddest one out of them all since in this case it's basically akio begging arata to stay with him, continue to praise him and call him a genius no matter what. i wish i could've given him something that could tell more about his relationship with chise too..

Hanasaki Aimi.

01. [ Original song ] Blooming Connection

02. [ Cover song ] Starlight Girl (Original by DECO*27)

03. [ Cover song ] XxX Cat (Original by Kikuo)

04. [ MILGRAM Cover song ] Deep Cover

05. [ Voice drama ] The End of All Friendships

[ Creator's comments ]

i think aimi's mv theme will be obvious, hehe. you won't have to think much about flower language and stuff like that tho, so don't worry. i really don't think i have to explain why i gave xxx cat to her, like. i think it's obvious jdkslsls (i also thought of maybe giving her bacterial contamination, but i changed my mind since even though the lyrics sound a lot like her, the aesthetic is.. not very aimicore). starlight girl was mostly given to her bc i thought it'd sound cute, but some lyrics do remind me of her and her relationship with her victim ("whispering that sweet lie, you disappeared", "but i still haven't been able to fill up this hole you left inside me"). was deep cover assigned to her only bc of the aimi (kotoko's va) pun?.. maybe. but no, no, i really do have a deeper reason for that! but for now, all i can say is. her relationship with miki and all other prisoners at the moment.

Ishizu Shun.

01. [ Original song ] ???

02. [ Cover song ] Zombies (Original by DECO*27)

03. [ Cover song ] Aishiteitanoni (Original by MARETU)

04. [ MILGRAM Cover song ] MeMe

05. [ Voice drama ] Loving Too Much, Remembering Too Little

[ Creator's comments ]

i honestly gave up while trying to think of a title for his song, so i think "???" perfectly describes shun's character and how tired i felt. if you need to know how it's supposed to be pronounced, i imagine it being something like "uhh..", showing how shun is confused 24/7. AND FINALLY HE'S OFFICIALLY GETTING A ZOMBIES COVER.. the reason why i went with zombies is bc shun just.. feels like a zombie to me. like the way he talks, how i imagine him moving, his color palette.. and also the imagery of his victims' dead bodies. like aww, he's drinking tea and eating cake while both his "ex-gf" and her new bf are dead <3 how cute.. i think his character trailer voiceline will really show how much the lines like "your body is cold even when we hug", "i love you, half-decomposed isn't bad", etc, fit him.. about aishiteitanoni, I DON'T THINK I HAVE TO EXPLAIN ANYTHING, IT'S PERFECT FOR HIM, I SCREAMED WHEN I SAW IT SHOW UP IN MY NOTIFS HSHAHSHSJS. meme is. meme. that's what a guilty verdict does to a guy. and yes, his vd's title is supposed to be a reference to his t1 vd :)

Chiba Naomi.

01. [ Original song ] Like An Adult

02. [ Cover song ] Miraise (Original by DECO*27)

03. [ Cover song ] It's Just Life (Original by nulut)

04. [ MILGRAM Cover song ] Double

05. [ Voice drama ] A Grown Up Child's Tantrum

[ Creator's comments ]

oh naomi.. if only it was easier to come up with song titles for you.. i was giggling while typing her vd's title tho LIKE YES NAOMI EMBRACE THE FACT THAT YOU WERE NEVER ABLE TO TRULY GROW UP!! her miraise cover is really up to interpretation, it can be both about her relationship with her mother and her trying to express her true feelings and make her mother listen, but it also can be about her relationship with tao ("you went before me, didn't you?", "how long do i have to wait? how long do i have to cry?", "i'm singing to the you that will be born after tomorrow") i felt like "it's just life" really fits her and her cover would sound very pretty and it's also just. sad. like naomi really is a smart and talented woman, she could have a bright future, she could have lots of friends, but.. she has way too many issues. and she can't accept that. HER DOUBLE COVER WOULD BE SO GOOD. THE INSTRUMENTAL WOULD MOSTLY BE THE SAME BUT HER VOICE WOULD STILL SOUND SOFT AND REALLY ANNOYED AT THE SAME TIME.. i get chills while thinking about her version of the scene where mikoto calls his mom..

Sanada Kei.

01. [ Original song ] Love=Pain

02. [ Cover song ] Rabbit Hole (Original by DECO*27)

03. [ Cover song ] Bad Honey Hunt (Original by Vell)

04. [ MILGRAM Cover song ] This Is How To Be In Love With You

05. [ Voice drama ] Rose-Tinted Misery

[ Creator's comments ]

his song title was originally supposed to be a pun on the theme of his mv, but it sounded kinda meh to me, so i just went with his main philosophy instead sjskslsl. (the reference to that pun is still there on the cover though) also nO I'VE DECIDED THAT RABBIT HOLE IS VERY KEICORE A LONG TIME AGO EVEN BEFORE THAT ANIMATION SIT DOWN I'M POINTING MY GUN AT YOU SIT DOWN!!!! thank you now i didn't just go with rabbit hole bc "haha funny horny song", it actually does fit kei's aesthetic very well and the lyrics sound a lot like him because rabbit hole always sounded very.. childish to me? like yes, it's supposed to sound all silly and playful, but kei's whole thing is that even though he claims he's so cool and mature and gets all the bitches, this guy still feels like he's younger than eiji (who is six years younger than him), unconsciously regresses to cope with whatever life throws at him and rarely takes dark, scary and tragic stuff seriously. it does reveal some stuff about his crime and his relationship with the victims too! ("you want me to repent? what can i say?", "little miss devotion, the exit's over there, oh, so not going home after all?") as for his other covers, BAD HONEY HUNT FITS HIM SO WELL. LOOK AT THE THUMBNAIL. COME ON THAT'S SO HIM. and the lyrics sound a lot like him as well! about him getting tihtbilwy.. that's him taking his rose-colored glasses on again and singing about how he sees his relationship with ruka :')

Yoshioka Eiko.

01. [ Original song ] Miss Grave Robber

02. [ Cover song ] Parasite (Original by DECO*27)

03. [ Cover song ] Getcha (Original by Giga and Kira)

04. [ MILGRAM Cover song ] Cat

05. [ Voice drama ] Funeral For The Alive

[ Creator's comments ]

EIKO IS OVER HERE GOING FULL SLAY MODE!!! i originally wanted the title to be smth like "grave robber-chan/san", since i prefer to use jp honorifics in my writing, but i felt like no honorifics would fit the song's vibe, so i went with good old "miss" instead. parasite fits eiko so well.. it describes her relationship with her victim perfectly.. the reason why i gave her cat is. well first of all IT WOULD SOUND REALLY COOL, but also, i actually don't see it as eiko singing about herself, i like to think that she's singing about takeru instead, making fun of him for lying to her and manipulating her ("lie until it gets better, follow the king of the masquerade", "victim and perpetrator, let's keep it simple", "i just wanted to ask, so it's out in the open, i just got a little greedy"). MY BRAIN EXPLODED WHEN I REALIZED HER COVER CAN BE INTERPRETED IN THAT WAY LIKE IMAGINE HER SINGING ABOUT HOW MUCH HE SUCKS WHILE STILL HAVING THE ORIGINAL INSTRUMENTAL. (also considering what he did to her, "let's take a breather" sounds very... sad) about her getting getcha. let's just. let her have her girlboss moment one last time.

Yano Asahi.

01. [ Original song ] Caterpillar's Cries

02. [ Cover song ] Hitojichi Koukan (Original by DECO*27)

03. [ Cover song ] Givuṛta (Original by Vell)

04. [ MILGRAM Cover song ] Umbilical

05. [ Voice drama ] The Taste of Abandonment

[ Creator's comments ]

we're getting another insect themed mv!! (though spider isn't really an insect but kei's t2 mv also had butterfly motifs so...) the caterpillar motif won't be that strong in asahi's mv description, but it will be there. i think i should draw him in his t3 mv outfit to show it better.. i think his hitojichi koukan cover would sound very cute and sad and the lyrics describe his relationship with satsuki so well.. ("no matter how much you love me, all i do is get itchy", "i can't drag you along so let's say goodbye", "after all, i want to make you my servant") YES ANOTHER VELL SONG I LOVE VELL'S SONGS OKAY they're so short but so catchy.. i feel like the voice that i imagine asahi to have would fit perfectly, like it'd sound so cute, but so punchable, like this kid goes "noooo, relationships are more important than money!!" and then literally the next lyrics are "money and personal connections make the world go round" 😭😭 but also, to be more serious, the lyrics are very asahicore!! ("naturally i always put myself first", "it's boring that people's desires never end", "in a nutshell i do that because it's funny to me", "that's a trust relationship! if it's not enough, you should buy it") about his umbilical cover... well. first of all, again, it'd sound cute! but also, um. considering the way his biological mom died, i thought that him getting this song would be very. ironic.

Maruyama Yurika.

01. [ Original song ] Secret Ingredient

02. [ Cover song ] Salamander (Original by DECO*27)

03. [ Cover song ] Binomi (Original by MARETU)

04. [ MILGRAM Cover song ] I Love You

05. [ Voice drama ] A Killer by Moonlight, A Maid by Daylight

[ Creator's comments ]

her voice drama's title is a sailor moon reference and her original song's title can be seen as a spongebob reference. i cannot take this woman seriously. but i actually like her mv's aesthetic a lot! i should definitely draw her in her t3 mv outfit one day.. (i say that even though i still haven't drawn her as that monster from her t2 mv. so sorry yurikers..) I HAD TO GIVE HER SALAMANDER OKAY!! I HAD TO!! it's literally perfect for one of the hunger prisoners, it's very yurikacore and the lyrics remind me a lot of her relationship with takame and just her personality in general. ("i surrender, i'm already hooked, i can't function without you anymore", "can i get seconds? one more time", "i'm already obsessed, is it doing super great?") love me some toxic spicy ramen yuri <3 binomi came out VERY recently and before that i was thinking of giving her eye by kanaria simply bc of the vibes, but maretu saved me once again 🙏 the hunger theme is so strong.. yurika deserves to cover all the cannibalism songs ever.. (fun fact yurika actually WAS supposed to be a cannibal but then i changed her crime. i think her current crime fits her better but still. we could've had a cannibal prisoner everyone) and again, i went with "i love you" bc 1) her relationship with takame and 2) i think there's something beautiful and horrifying about the concept of yurika feeding takame rats that she sees as a cake while also going "why can't i just do it right", considering the huge power imbalance they had with takame being older and being her boss and giving yurika literally everything she could've asked for and making yurika feel like she owes her in the process..

Kuroki Riku.

01. [ Original song ] Sun Sets, Games End

02. [ Cover song ] Undead Alice (Original by DECO*27)

03. [ Cover song ] Shinitagari (Original by Nashimoto-P)

04. [ MILGRAM Cover song ] It's Not My Fault

05. [ Voice drama ] Have a Breakdown, Call It a Show

[ Creator's comments ]

OH RIKU..... and also nope, riku's mv won't exactly have a video game theme, that's shun's thing, but the lyrics will reference them a few times. riku's mv is actually one of my favorites so hopefully you guys like it too.. he's my special little boy he always gets the best mvs.. (/j i don't have any faves sjsklssl but riku definitely always gets my creative juices going) i originally wanted undead alice to be his t2 cover but chimera is just so rikucore and i thought it'd go with his t2 mv really well, so i changed it though i still think that maybe chimera would be better as his t3 cover bc of the guilty verdict vibes chimera has.. so anyway undead alice is literally yueriku ("live by feeding on me, since you can’t go out like you want to", "i'm starting to hate the butterflies in my stomach, so please die before i kill you", "let’s bury this cowardly love here, let’s stop and forget all this, it’s better to hate since it's easier that way" AND BASICALLY THE WHOLE SONG). about shinitagari, i actually was planning to assign it to riku as a cover back when i first came up with him and riku's character even was kinda inspired by it! except shinitagari has a more positive meaning meanwhile riku took "wanna die? go ahead and die then" a bit too literally.. also yeah, he's the one who gets inmf this time. i imagine him making a rock cover of it too.. he surely took his guilty verdict well <3

Himura Reina.

01. [ Original song ] (Un) Forgivable

02. [ Cover song ] Fake Actor (Original by DECO*27)

03. [ Cover song ] Hello Dystopia (Original by Mafumafu)

04. [ MILGRAM Cover song ] Triage

05. [ Voice drama ] Accepting The Innocence (For Now)

[ Creator's comments ]

reina's album cover doesn't really have much to show but i think it actually fits her character a lot. also idk if it's that noticeable, but i tried to make her album cover more glitchy than the others. when it comes to her deco cover, i mostly went with it bc of her name meaning, but some lyrics are very reinacore (+ they remind me a lot of her relationship with her brother)! ("so please, shut up before i feel too embarrassed to speak to you again", "because no matter how many times you fool me with "i'm going to change," it'll just end all over again", "so let’s play the "whose fault is it game," the rules are rather hard, even for the winners") hello dystopia reminds me a lot of her character in general and i also just think she deserves to get at least one cover where she goes absolutely wild. fake actor and triage are just her being all sad but in hello dystopia she can go a little insane!! a little crazy even!!

[ Album Trailer Voicelines ]

Akio: "He continued to try to get the rope off his neck."

Aimi: "I'm just glad he's dead."

Shun: "Do I have to jog your memory, Guard 002-san?"

Naomi: "End my suffering, just like I've ended Tao's."

Kei: "Someone is planning to kill Eiji?"

Eiko: "He told me it wasn't even a big deal."

Asahi: "And after that, something.. changed."

Yurika: "Haha. You got me. Congrats."

Riku: "Come on, I was just.. bullying him a little."

Reina: "That stupid kid was obsessed with "saving" me."

[ Song Trailer Voicelines ]

Akio: "You don't have to be a genius like me to put all these things together."

Aimi: "You see me as a victim. A perfect and fragile victim."

Shun: "Are you implying that we never were a couple?"

Naomi: "Why would I be jealous of that brat?"

Kei: "The truth is kinda lame, honestly."

Eiko: "I will take good care of Shun, Kei and Yurika for you."

Asahi: "What did you just call me, Miki-nee?"

Yurika: "I-it's like.. s-she really.. loved me.."

Riku: "He's just another source of attention to me."

Reina: "I guess you could say this was my plan all along."

[ Song Previews ]

Akio:

"Solve the problem! You know the answer! Good job! I love you, love you, you can do it!

I can't concentrate with those words playing in my head!

Well, whatever, I know I'll get the best grade in loving you anyway

So keep looking at me, keep saying I'm a genius, please praise me once more"

Aimi:

"Come on, accept my gift, tell me you're grateful, tell me how thoughtful I am

Did I do great? Am I a good friend? I know I am, I know I am

"This flower reminds me of you" I'm the sweetest person you've ever met, right?

"Sorry, but I gotta go" Hey, what do you think you're doing?"

Shun:

"It's a crime for me to be in love, so I'll play it safe

No more heartbreaks, no more lying to myself

I'm ready to live a happy loveless life 

So please, just forgive me already!"

Naomi:

"Your looks, your posture, your voice, your face

Everything about you is not mature enough

Don't laugh, don't cry, look them right in the eyes but not for too long

Go on, look at me, be honest with me, don't feel sorry for me, just like an adult would"

Kei:

"My love means nothing, if it doesn't make you cry

I don't want the kind of love that doesn't hurt me

"Play it safe"? Nah, that's not for me

Now can I get praised for being everyone's PERFECT lover?"

Eiko:

"Our love is dead, oh no, let us sing our prayers

Your lies were the only thing that kept me alive

Except I don't see your name on our grave, oh no, don't just leave me like this

Let's get buried next to each other, rotting together doesn't sound so bad"

Asahi:

""Stop, that's enough!" But it will never be enough

Sweet or sour, I don't care, I want everything I could never have

Even if it's rotten, even if it's broken, I just want to have something

Do you understand now? I live like I can die at any moment"

Yurika:

"What do you two think you're doing? Hey, hey, don't you know it's dangerous here?

Well, it's your fault now, shouldn't have taken a walk in the woods when it's this dark

What should we do with you? Should we tie you up? Should we cut off your limbs?

I bet you two taste like fear and betrayal, let me take a bite!"

Riku:

"Let's play until the sun goes down, let's play until we see the sky turn purple

That's what they want us to do anyway

Hey, are you having fun? Aren't you tired? Don't you wanna go home already?

"Nope, I'm just getting started!" Well, let me end everything here"

Reina:

"All of them? So guilty, guilty! 

"You are innocent" Haha, no, I am innocence itself!

This kind of behavior is unforgivable?

Then why did you still forgive me?"

[ Character Trailer Voicelines ]

Akio: "Uh.. Good morning, I guess.. No, it doesn't hurt as much as before, thankfully.. Hey. Why did you.. I mean.. Of course, I'm glad you've finally realized I'm innocent, but.. How could you just.. change your mind like that? What did you see in my video? Did you.. feel bad for me?"

".. Arata. Arata, I don't think he's supposed to- ARATA, WHY IS HE STILL ALIVE?!"

Aimi: "Hello, Miki-chan!~.. Hm? What? I mean, we're friends, so it's only right for me to call you that, right? Ehehe, you're like, my only friend here.. Ah, Akio-kun.. He's good too, I guess. But he's not really struggling anymore, so.. I don't think he will continue to rely on me anymore. I don't think he.. still likes me."

"It's okay.. It's okay, Nii-san couldn't be wrong.. They deserve it. All of them."

Shun: "LEAVE ME ALONE! STOP- DID MY PARENTS SEND YOU TO ME?! I SWEAR, IF YOU EVEN LOOK AT MY... Huh? Where.. am I? Where's Hina?.. And where's Jouhei?.. O-oh, it's you.. No, no, it's okay, I remember now. Even though I really.. don't want to remember."

"Ehehe, I've slept well.. Hey, what do you two want for breakfast? Come on, don't be shy~" 

Naomi: "I'M SORRY! I SAID I'M SORRY! PLEASE, MOM, I WILL DO ANYTHING, JUST DON'T.. Ah. It's you, Miki-san.. Hold on, where's Eiji-san?..��Well, I don't really care. So.. Guilty, huh.." *laughs* "I know I've said I'll be okay with any verdict, but.. How could you change your decision so quickly? Did you just remember how young my victim was?"

"When.. When will I finally be enough for her? Wait, is that.. Ah, whatever."

Kei: "Oh, Miki, it's you. And.. you're Hinode, right? Haha, I'm sure we'll have lots of fun together~.. Hey, is Eiji doing okay? This place doesn't have any doctors, so.. No, no, stop saying I'm kind. I'm just mad that I wasn't the one who has caused him so much pain. It's like someone stole a chance to show him more love from me.. Are you expecting me to thank you for saving me? Haha.. Dear, I know you're just playing with our lives as if we were your toys."

*crying* "Ruka.. I don't know why I did it.. It just.. It hurts so much.. C-can you hug me, please?" 

Eiko: "Takeru.. Takeru, please.. Did I do something wrong- O-oh, it's you, Miki-chan. And.. Woah, this new guy sure is handsome!.. But I still miss Eiji-kun. Hey, he's gonna come back, right? He will be okay, right?.." *in a lower voice* "It was her, right?.. I'll have to make her pay for this."

"Thanks for helping, I guess. Wow, it's like you have a lot of experience with this stuff.. Hey. What do you guys even do?"

Asahi: "A-ah, it's you, Miki-nee.. A-and who are you? Ugh, I just hope that he treats you better than Eiji-nii did.. Oh, I'm doing great! I mean, you forgave me again and all. Um.. I kinda miss Eiji-nii's cooking though. There's no point in trying to steal the guilty guys' food now.. Hm? S-shut up, I'm not fucking scared of them!"

"I'M SORRY! I JUST- I WAS SO AFRAID, I THOUGHT SHE- I THOUGHT SHE DOESN'T LOVE ME ANYMORE! PLEASE, LET ME STAY!"

Yurika: ".. I'm going to kill you. All three of you. And all the prisoners here. I hate you all. I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I HATE YOU SO-.. Oh, it's you. What do you want from me? I know the third trial is starting, you don't have to tell me anything. Just leave already. Stop looking at me like that! If you don't leave, I will do what I promised to do to those two."

"We're finally done.. I won't have to deal with them anymore, I'm so happy.. U-uh, you're not mad at me, right?" 

Riku: ".. What do you want? Ugh, I still feel sick.. I don't want to talk to you. And you, especially.. Hey, do you feel proud of yourself, Miki? Didn't you say that "your forgiveness has its limits"? You're sooooo cool for voting me guilty. That was sooooo unexpected. You may have used that thing on me, but I still remember what you said. And I'm still mad."

"Come on. You knew it was me." *laughs* "Now.. Won't you do all of us a favor and die already?"

Reina: "Well, well, well. I got voted innocent. Again. What a surprise." *sighs* "When will this end, Miki? When will it end? It feels like my own personal hell at this point. And I agree that I should be punished, but.. Not like this. Come on. Would you want to be forgiven for killing your own little brother? If that's so, then you are truly heartless-" 

"Please, leave. I don't want to talk about it. It was my fault. My fault, my fault, my fault, my fault, my f-"