Basically, I fully believe that Mikoto is the murderer. Not John, not an alter. Mikoto himself. I'll be presenting evidence and such below the cut, but I would like to preface this all with a disclaimer: I'm pretty sure I don't have DID, and while I've researched it quite a bit, sometimes research is wrong or the research isn't enough. If I get something wrong about it, please let me know! I will try my best not to be, but I'm only human. However, this analysis won't focus a whole lot on his DID? If that makes sense. Now, onto the post.
After examining Undercover, Mikoto's trial 1 & 2 voice dramas, MeMe, and Double, I'm fairly confident that Mikoto is the one who killed.
First off, in Undercover:
In Mikoto's main section of the song, the shots that linger have Mikoto looking unsure of himself, and deep in thought as he sings about how he's done nothing wrong. In the beginning of his first Voice Drama, too, he's quietly questioning why he's been brought here- if Es hadn't interrupted, I think he would've been trying to convince himself that he didn't do anything. Sort of like a few lines in MeMe.
Probably. Probably. Probably.
Mikoto isn't sure. The chorus asks Es, and us viewers, to really look at him- to look at him, fully, and to try to see that he's a good person, that he doesn't belong in Milgram. He asks Es to do this in his first Voice Drama, as well.
Mikoto wants confirmation that he didn't do anything wrong. Es mentions that it's possible Mikoto forgot the memory of him killing someone as a way to cope with the stress of it. As someone who suffers quite a bit from that, it can feel as though there's something just under the surface that you can't see. You know that something happened, but you can't figure out what. You can't remember. Maybe you don't want to remember.
I think Mikoto is suffering from that, as well.
Now, in the Trial 2 Voice Drama, John has stated that he's the murderer, not Mikoto. Quite a few times. He also asks us to look at Mikoto fairly, just like Mikoto himself did back in Trial 1.
But John doesn't remember the details of the murder, either. He says it's fuzzy. He can't even tell us how many, or their identities. Of course, he also adds that he had just split from Mikoto, but... why? What caused it? Neither Mikoto nor John have been able to point to what caused the split- John says he was born to protect Mikoto, but from what?
Well, you may have seen the theory going around that Mikoto was being stalked. And honestly? I agree.
From all of the tv-recording imagery in MeMe, the countless eyes in Double (there was so many I don't even think it's necessary to screenshot), how his first assumption was that Milgram was a TV show and he was being monitored... being watched without consent is definitely something Mikoto is worried about. Being stalked is extremely stressful. Plus, Mikoto most likely works at a company that overworks him.
This is from Undercover. And, in Double, there's a person called "Chief" texting generally dismissive and rude things to Mikoto before he calls. So, I think it's safe to say that the stalking theory and the bad workplace theory are correct- or, if it isn't stalking, it could also be symbolic of how society is always watching, and how you have to act properly or you'll get in trouble. Which, of course, is stressful too. However, I think it's moreso supposed to hint at stalking. Now, I have to wonder if both of these things are further connected. Maybe a coworker/superior was stalking him. That could make sense, though I won't claim its definite- we don't really have any evidence.
Despite John saying that Mikoto would have reached his limit if he hadn't been born, I think Mikoto DID reach his limit, and THATS why John was born. Mikoto killed, and John was born to help him get through it. Honestly, I don't think John killed anyone at all. Yes, John is aggressive in plenty of cases, but I think he simply feels it's the best way to protect Mikoto.
Now, I have run out of space for more images, so I will continue this post in a reblog in just a moment. I'd like to go more into proof that Mikoto is the culprit, John's characterization, and also how this all is affecting my voting.
I've started to work on the pre-release trailer. This is also for a class. This time, it's for my Commercial Production class. It's based off of the first PV that was released for MILGRAM. A lot of the information is just a placeholder until I have the correct information.
Other Stuff
The past month I've been sorta burnt out on and off. So I haven't done as much work as I wanted to. I've worked on some music and the poster a little. I recorded like, 10 lines of the voice over. The VO edit is progressing nicely. I've gotten the first 2 batches back from my guy.
Estimated Release Date Correction
In my last update, I said that I was pushing back the release date due to technical issues, and in the research doc, the release was set as summer 2025. What I forgot to mention in the last update was that I've decided to turn what was originally a project for my documentary class into my capstone because of its size. What that means is that it's pretty much going to be my final project now. So now I'm fixing the estimated release to the fall since that is what I meant for it to be. Sorry for any confusion!
General Life Updates
This was going to be its own post, but I guess I'll put it here. I don't wanna be that person, but due to the scale of this project and the fact that I will be continuing to do stuff like this, I've opened a Patreon. Join it if you want. I won't force anyone. There's already some stuff up there for some tiers.
FOOL's MATE is an in-production documentary about Kayano Mikoto from MILGRAM. The goal of FOOL's MATE is to discuss all of the theories and dive into all of the aspects of his character.
MILGRAM (ミルグラム) is an ongoing interactive music project by DECO*27 and Takuya Yamanaka that was first established in April 2020. MILGRAM is a mysterious, magical prison that houses 10 prisoners who have all committed a murder, and it’s the job of the guard to determine if their crimes are forgivable. Mikoto, the 9th prisoner, has Dissociative Identity Disorder. This means that he has multiple personalities/identities called “Alters”. Because of this, he has the most complex and confusing story out of all the prisoners. No one knows who truly committed "his" murder.
Why am I doing this?
I'm currently getting my Bachelor's in Digital Media Production, and I'm having a documentary class. I thought I'd get a head start on pre-production so I could make something big and not waste my time on research. I'm also making this as something for my portfolio.
FOOL's MATE is currently in full-on production mode right now!
Notes
The research document is sorta like a jumping-off point for multiple other things like the script and a shot list. Because I'm basing my script off of this, it's sorta wordy and there are some jokes (one's an inside joke).
So far in terms of filming, I'm planning on having a scene where I go to an actual psychic to get their opinion on Mikoto's tarot reading in MeMe. There will also be a continuous scene that's going to be sorta inspired by Mystery Files, so me presenting this shit to my friends like an insane person.
Disclaimers
I do not claim to be a mental health professional by any means. This documentary is being made for entertainment purposes only. If I get anything wrong, please correct me.
I do not condone the harassment of any involved party due to the contents of this project.
The content in this documentary is supposed to have a neutral viewpoint and be based on fact and common theories unless stated otherwise.
Haven't done much this month. Mainly just house keeping stuff. Most of the changes to the research doc have been made in the past week because I wanted to have this update out on the 6th.
Obligatory happy birthday to our favorite mentally ill twink. I'll be adding today's timeline to all of the documents that it needs later today. So It wont be in today's research compile. I'll give a little bit of what I think here though. I find it interesting that it's John who's in it and that he's still playing the monster act. I'll make a full post about it soon.
I was also watching Akidearest's newest video which reminded me that I should probably define what Japan counts as murder. So I wrote up a quick slide that takes what she read off of an article about if writing in the Death Note counts as murder. I'll expand it using other and more appropriate sources soon. I just want to have that slide and those ideas down so I don't forget about it.
Pre-Pro Mode
I have officially started my Pre-Production class. I'll be posting work that I do for that class whenever I have it done. The main assignments for the class, in order of due date, are the project proposal, budget, scripts and storyboards. I have the class Tuesdays, so these posts will likely be on Tuesdays.
Prototype Intro
Here's the finalized prototype intro. There isn't any audio in this version. There was audio in the version I turned into my teacher. I would have had to cut some things out and the timeline got messed up somehow, so I just rendered a different comp that contains everything that I wanted to render.
Promo Video
I've started to make the first promo video. I wanted to have it ready for Mikoto's birthday, but that's obviously not happening. So now my goal is to have this done for Double's anniversary. Here's the storyboard.
Changes
Added
How did he not get caught
General Music Info
What in Japan counts as murder?
English Covers
Finished
Vocal styles
Expanded
Birthstones
The Role of Jackalopes in MILGRAM
Links
Mikoto’s & John’s Speech Patterns
Moved
The Kayano System in a Musical Context under Mikoto’s & John’s Speech Patterns
Before I start this post, I would like to bring up something that I saw on the cancer that it Twitter. DO NOT HARASS THE STAFF OVER THE T2 SUMMERY AND T3 COMMENCEMENT. Sucks that that needs to be said.
People Suck Man + Delays
I was planning on filming the interview and I emailed probably about 50 people. Not a single positive response. At least this got me to buy a small light kit.
I was also planning on listening to a Jekyll & Hyde audio book while on a plane and work on that section of the doc. My volume was at 100% and it was too quiet. So that's been delayed.
I Made an Anonymous Feedback Form
Made this so that people who don't wanna publicly give feedback for whatever reason feel comfortable doing so. However, if ANYONE abuses this, I will have to enable email collection. You can't see others responses, so you will still be anonymous. The email collection would just be in case I have to block someone.
https://forms.gle/Wv5S5744asszjmGf7
Finally got to do Audio Related Things
I can't really do that stuff at school because there is constant noise. So since I've been home, I was able to do this stuff. I didn't get through it all so I'll try to do Double if I don't have noisy neighbors this year.
Poster Update
I held a poll over a month ago to decide between 4 drafts for the poster/key art/thumbnail. Option 3 won so here's the sketch of John. I haven't been actively working on this and mainly have been working on this when I want to draw. If you have any critiques, feel free to share.
Illustrations and Assets
So, Adobe fucked up Photoshop a few months ago and recently Illustrator. So I've had to downgrade to Photoshop 25.4 which was released in January so I can use it for more then 1 minute. Then Illustrator was just really fucking laggy. Other from that, I'm about half way done with vector graphics. I still have to go through a bunch of pictures and get rid of the backgrounds.
I also decided to try to make some 3D graphics so I've finally decided to learn Blender. Me and a friend are also probably going to work together to make a prop since he has a 3D printer. I also bought Paintstorm Studio which is more of a digital painting software then drawing, but I've found that it's really good for design. I just wish I bought it during 2020 when it was $10.
I've also been working on adding image credits to the research doc. There are a bunch of images that I don't know who made them. I have a list on the beginning of the doc if you want to help with that.
Since I'm expanding on the DID section, I would like to make a request.
Since I've seen some systems floating around here, can you fact check me? I really DO NOT want to get important information wrong. I don't think I've gotten much wrong if at all, but I just wanna be 100% sure.
Changes
Expanded
Foils
DID Terms
Extra info here & there
Modified
Prisoner Genres
Got rid of “(Tentative)” on title page
Moved
Theories about who Es is into Ch8
“The Kayano System and Es are more connected than we think.” into “MILGRAM Theories”
Q: Why do we talk about his relationships with the others?
A: The relationships amongst the prisoners can affect each other. For example, if one person does not like someone else, there might be a major conflict.
Q: Are you going to talk about the other prisoners in detail?
A: Only if they become relevant.
Q: Do you know Japanese?
A: Sort of. I’m not that good at it, but I can do very simple translations.
Q: Can you legally do this?
A: Yes. This falls under fair use as parody/critique. As for the use of the music, I just need to get a license
Q: Where/when will the be released? Will it be free?
A: The current plan is to release this on YouTube in fall 2025 for free on YouTube.
Q: Will there be any merch available?
A: I’m planning on making a permanent poster and t-shirts, likely with Forthwall. I am also hoping on making a limited edition DVD with some extra merch after the initial public release.
Q: What about the novel, manga, covers, or Minigram? Are you going to cover those?
A: I will be going into the novel. I won’t be going into the covers since they were confirmed to be non-canon some time between the release of Umbilical and Bring it On. I won’t be going into Minigram in much detail, as it’s a spinoff.
Q: Isn't Mikoto a negative stereotype?
A: Not necessarily. He's a positive spin on a negative stereotype. There's a lot of depth and detail put into Mikoto and John as characters. Their story isn't just "oooo, evil murder alter".
Q: Why are you doing this?
A: I think Mikoto is an interesting character. He has a lot of depth and is well written.
Q: Are you doing any promotional events?
A: Maybe. As of now, I don't think I'll do much if anything. I might do a screening if I have the money, but that's probably on the bottom of my list of things to advertise FOOL's MATE.
Should I mention John's Minigram appearances in FOOL's MATE?
I'm on the fence about it. Technically, Minigram is, at most, level 2 canon as it's a comedy spin off that takes place during T1. I've put together the slides with basic info for now.
