Okay I'm making this post because while I'm not sure how much I believe this, it's a possibility that's been eating at my head for a while, so I gotta share it somewhere even if it's not the most solid theory in the world.
So anyways, hello members of the jury! Today I want to discuss the weirdly recurring theme of the prisoners in Milgram possibly being dead, and Milgram being some sort of afterlife thing. Given the fact it clearly has some supernatural elements, it certainly isn't impossible. So let's get into it!
CW Death, murder and suicide, abortion, child abuse, drowning, cults and indoctrination, waterboarding, gang violence
Yuno and the Allegations
The biggest hint that at least some of the prisoners might be dead is the in Yuno's second VD, Absolute Zero.
Yuno: Oh! Also, that reminds me, there was one thing I'm curious about.
Es: What? Go ahead and say it.
Y: Am I…really alive?
E: That's…what do you….
Y: Hm…if you don't know, then it's fine.
E: Yuno….
Y: Hey, it's time, right?
E: Y-yes. Prisoner number 2, Yuno. Sing your sins.
Weird thing to say, really. So, presumably, she has some reason to believe she might be dead. Which is especially worrying because Yuno is one of the most intelligent and perceptive prisoners in Milgram, and might even have higher awareness of some of the more supernatural/meta elements of the series, as seen by images from both her cover songs appearing in Umbilical and Tear Drop.
All this is to say, if Yuno has reason to believe she might be dead, we have reason to believe so as well.
There are two points of Yuno's story were I feel she could have died. One is during her abortion, given a question from Trial 2.
(T2) Q20: Did you hate the person you killed?
Y: It was too much of a pain to for me to think about anything.
So her abortion was painful, which likely means it wasn't done in a hospital, as professional abortions typically don't cause too much pain in the moment (source), even if they can cause cramping or discomfort in the recovery period. If it wasn't done professionally, and it hurt a lot, it's very possible she may have died while performing it.
However, because of a few things we'll talk about later, I'm not sure this is very likely. The answer I find more likely is that, unfortunately, she may have committed suicide by jumping off the staircase we see her standing on in her Undercover silhouette shot.
For one, because what the hell would this shot even be otherwise. I've seen people suggest infanticide as opposed to abortion, but that wouldn’t cause physical pain (you could argue that answer is about emotional pain, but I'm not sure how much that works), it doesn't match her kill-shot in Undercover, and she herself has claimed her "muder" was abortion (and I don't see reason for her to lie about that). It also doesn't seem likely she would get pregnant more than once, seeing this question:
(T2) Q10: If you could turn back time, would you commit the same murder once again?
Y: I'd make sure that I won't have to commit it. That's it.
So, then, what the hell is up with that Undercover shot? Usually they say something important about the prisoner or their crime, but it really doesn't seem to have anything to do with anything.
This is where I bring up that Yuno falls off a staircase at the end of Umbilical.
Like, obviously this is more meant to be metaphorical, as in Yuno "slipped up" and now has to avoid falling by grabbing the balloon, which ends up destroying the staircase which had previously been related to the mixing of DNA (long story). But... she still is falling from a staircase. That is what is happening in the video. This is a silly argument, but it does exist.
Now, there's a few other things which could imply this, but that will have to wait for a moment. So while there is very little evidence for now, I'd say this is the most likely reason for why Yuno believes she may be dead. Especially given she might have depression (check out this cool post by weather-cluddy), her comitting suicide is sort of the best guess we can make I feel.
Nevertheless, no matter the reason why, Yuno believes she may be dead, which opens the door to other characters, if not all of them, to be dead as well. Let's take a look at the other prisoner most likely to actually be dead in my opinion, and see if we can establish a pattern.
Haruka's Worrying Situation
I believe, even if no one else is dead, it is highly likely Haruka attempted suicide. I am not going to go too in-depth in here, because moibakadesu already made a really good post about it, which is where I got the theory from in the first place. In fact, the idea Haruka may have at least attempted suicide has existed ever since Trial 1, check out this cool post by Venus from thinkin-bout-milgram. Here's a summary of what the main points of the theory are:
-The repeated motif of water and drowning could indicate the way Haruka killed himself, especially since he lived in Naogaka, Niigata, known as the "city of water."
-Haruka repeatedly attacks and even strangles a younger version of himself in Weakness, in one occasion alongside the lyric "I've become a victim, I've become a victim."
-The young girl in Weakness might actually be a representation of the "ideal Haruka", as he's stated his mother wanted a daughter instead of a son (I don't actually agree with this part, I do think the girl is a literal girl Haruka killed, due to several lines from his VDs, such as him saying Amane "brings back bad memories." However, it's still a possibility)
-The nonchalance with which Haruka speaks of comitting suicide in his second MV, Metamorphosis of the Weak, could imply he's already done it once.
-The line "if with one click, and I can reset everything" in AKAA can be more directly translated to "if with the push of one button I could be reborn", which paired with butterflies being symbols of death and rebirth and being connected to Haruka because of the name of his second VD, could imply Haruka died and was reborn.
-Haruka standing on a chair in AKAA as his shadow lines up with the shadow of the bars in the window to create the ilusion he has a noose around his neck.
-At the end of AKAA, Haruka is surrounded in what looks to be formaldehyde, which is used to preserve the corpses of dead animals, while the aforementioned "I could be reborn" lyric plays.
As you can see, there's a lot here, which is why I think it is highly likely Haruka comitted suicide.
There is an issue with bringing this theory in, which is that part of the theory is that Haruka's silhouette in the Undercover shot doesn't have white noise, which separates him from the others and could imply he's a victim like Hinako and Mahiru's boyfriend, who similarly have no white noise. The problem for our purposes is that this theory assumes a lot of the other prisoners, such as Yuno, may have committed suicide as well, creating an inconsistency with this point. I don't have a good answer for this, beyond a really odd, Hamlet-esque "Haruka is a victim of his own madness" kind of thing which doesn't work very well, so unless any of you have another explanation, it's best for this theory to just sorta ignore the white noise thing.
So, now we have two prisoners who very likely died before Milgram. This vaguely establishes a possible pattern: what if all the prisoners were taken right as they died?
Muu’s Mysterious Memory Mishaps
Es: You said you wanted to go back home, right? And, "suppose" we did let you… Even if you were to leave this place, you'll then have a brush with the police, won't you?
Muu: *Surprised*
E: I mean, you've killed someone anyway, so are the police not making a move in regards to that?
M: Well, I don't know. As of now, I don't have a clear memory of what happened after I did it. And then before I knew it, I was here.
E: Is… that so?
M: You guys should've known that, being the ones who brought me here after all.
This line from Muu’s first VD has always intrigued me. Muu doesn’t have a very good reason to be lying here when seen in full context, so she’s likely telling the truth. But, why? Why doesn’t Muu remember anything clearly after her crime, and why was she taken so quickly after committing it?
First idea is that perhaps all the prisoners are simply taken right after the murder they’re in Milgram for; even in the case of multiple murders, you can say Milgram just decided to take them for the last one exclusively.
However, Shidou serves as a counter example, because of the ending of Throw Down.
It’s a pretty simple logical progression. Shidou has no reason to kill after the flower person dies, so their death is after his last murder most likely, and yet he does remember it happening. Thus, Shidou has a memory of something which happened an undetermined amount of time after his final murder.
That means the "fuzzy memories" thing isn't universal. This can also be vaguely inferred by the attitudes certain prisoners have regarding their "murder(s)", like Kazui for example.
Now, you could argue Muu simply doesn't remember well because of the Trauma, and she just happened to get taken shortly after her murder. However, there is a chance now that there is a reason she was taken shortly after her murder.
You know what this post is about. You know what I'm about to imply. So I'll make the observation now:
In It's Not my Fault, one of Muu's shoes is off after she kills Rei. And we have seen this imagery of "one shoe off" to represent suicide before.
It's common in Japan to take both shoes off before comitting suicide, but if you want to read into only one of the shoes being off, you could argue it represents they're "half-suicides", as Milgram also considers them murders. In that sense, you (or Muu) could argue were Muu to commit suicide after killing Rei, then she would also become "Rei's victim", the same way Hinako and Mahiru's boyfriend are Kazui and Mahiru's victims.
This idea that Muu might still be a victim in the situation could also be implied by the lyrics here:
[It's Not my Fault]
It’s not my fault after all, after all.
Everyone wants me to be innocent.
What a relief. Can’t be helped. I’m always meant to be pitied!
(Btw I'm using the fan translation in the wiki because the English subs in that video are... odd)
Yes that sentiment is repeated a lot during the song, but Muu does shout "I'm always meant to be pitied" ("I'm always the drama queen") at the top of her lungs here.
Now, the shoe thing isn't quite like that in After Pain, but we never actually see Muu's shoes in the real world, only in the blank inner world with the broken hourglass, and there are other inconsistencies with reality there, namely Rei's body's position.
You can see her right shoe is on there, but again, this scene isn't real.
The concerning thing is that apart from that, After Pain does not help Muu beat the suicide allegations.
In particular, look at the scene of the photo I put there. You can see there's a bunch of people judging Muu for her murder, as it's usually not considered a socially acceptable thing to do. But, hold on, didn't Muu say she didn't remember anything after her murder? Correct! That means she doesn't remember this "judgement" happening, but she imagined it would. Perhaps that's what the one line means:
[After Pain]
Counterattack being a suicide note
Counterattacking Rei, killing her, is social suicide. For obvious reasons.
...
But it's still called a suicide note, which is not a good look. And yes, I do think the Japanese lyric explicitly references death, though take that with a lot of salt since that's just Google Translate and DeepL talking.
In fact, that entire set of lyrics is pretty odd.
[After Pain]
Let’s meet up inside the pain, a place just for me
Postmortem makeup to hide my heart, how to solve it is a secret
The stabbing of the little devil’s voice, counterattack being a suicide note
“I love YOU”
"Meeting up inside the pain" probably refers to hurting Rei, so now they're hurting together. The "stabbing of a little devil's voice" is probably referring to dangerous impulses, so murderous thoughts. "Counterattack being a suicide note", already explained. "I love YOU", because Muu is a girlkisser.
But the "postmortem makeup" is odd. You could argue the "death" which happened before the "makeup" was applied was the "death" of Muu's reputation, her old persona. Rei "killed" "that Muu", and now Muu is hiding her real feelings with "postmortem makeup."
But then, why would the method to solve it be a secret? Who is she keeping it secret from? Rei, and all of Muu's old 'friends', all know what lies beyond that makeup, they all saw what Muu was like before Rei stepped in.
That means there's another interpretation. If her real feelings are a secret, there's only one person they would be a secret from. Es (and us by extension). In a way, After Pain is hiding part of her heart, the less sympathetic parts shown in full in It's Not My Fault. Muu being a bully was already implied in After Pain, mind you, but it was still relatively "hidden", at least compared to It's Not my Fault.
And if that is the way we're meant to read that line, we run into the allegations again. If the makeup is for Milgram, and it's "postmortem" makeup, then Muu is already dead.
And that's without mentioning how much After Pain seems to imply suicidal tendencies in general.
[After Pain]
If I was gone, If I had just disappeared
I overheard, I found out
How much I’m not needed
There’s no special meaning, I got the short end of the stick
I overheard, I found out
How much I’m not needed
I don’t want tomorrow to come, I want to forget yesterday
I was miserable, someone please help me
Maybe I’m done
Just one more time before saying goodbye
I’m just kidding, please forget I said that
The only lyric that doesn't seem to imply it is:
I want to feel “alive”, is it ok if I breathe?
But feeling alive and being alive isn't quite the same, right? You can be alive without feeling alive, and if someone doesn't feel alive, it's possible they're not a very good state of mind.
So, what could this all imply? If we're going with the idea of murder-suicide, it's possible Muu was very worried about how people would hate her after the murder, as implied by After Pain, decided she didn't want to deal with that, and unfortunately made the decision to kill herself.
One small thing which could serve as a counterpoint is her Trial 1 Voice Reveal distorted line.
Fufufu... It's your fault... for doing horrible things to me.
She seems pretty sure of herself here, and it's very likely this is after her murder. But it's perfectly possible she said this initially, then thought about the social consequences, and that's when she started to feel bad. It's also worth noting the only time in It's Not my Fault where Muu seems to hesitate is right after her murder.
[It's Not my Fault]
Wait, wait, just as a hypothetical.
What should I do if I’m actually a bad girl?
Don’t ever hate me, and don’t look for what lies “after and from” the pain.
This is immediately after the murder, when she comes out of a caccoon, presumably her arriving at Milgram. So, she was initally confident, that's when she says "I’m always meant to be pitied!" in It's Not my Fault and presumably her Voice Reveal line, then hesitated and started to feel awful as we see in After Pain.
... Well, there's also the way more uncharitable reading where Muu killed herself so people also pitied her instead of just hating her for killing Rei, but that's a bit too dark and in bad faith for my tastes. It is there, though.
So, yeah, Muu may be dead too. And she brings with her an interesting implication; the prisoners may not have clear memories of the events leading up to their death. So, even if some of them committed suicide, it's possible they simply don't remember ever taking the decision to do so, explaining their behavior in the prison.
And it also could explain away... one apparent contradiction. One which exists outside of this theory, but that this theory could explain.
Amane and the Voice Reveal Trailers
As most of you know, the Voice Reveal trailers for all these characters contain certain distorted phrases which in general seem closely linked to their murder. And as pointed out by blueepink07 in this post, it seems the First Trial Voice Reveals are things the prisoners said after their murder, while the Second Trial ones are showing a point before their murder. Check out Kazui's, for example.
(T1) "I'm so dumb... Why did I have to dream?"
(T2) "Hinako, I love you more than anything."
There's also Muu's, since I've already brought it up before.
(T1) "Fufufu... It's your fault... for doing horrible things to me."
(T2) "Hey..why don't you listen to me...? I'm telling you... Hey...HEY, I'M TALKING TO YOU"
The second being right before she killed Rei.
That works well enough for all the prisoners... except Amane.
(T1) "Ahh! I'm so sorry...! I'm sorry...! I'm sorry for breaking the rules!"
(T2) "Father is a very praiseworthy person. Once [my/his] virtue increases, he'll come back home, right? It's a little lonely, but I'm fine!"
In theory, Amane would have been punished before her murder, as we see happen after she heals the cat in the taser scene. Meanwhile, if she's lonely without her father, it could perhaps be because her mother is dead after Things Happened (yes I'm going with Mother!Victim theory on this one).
But that's not the case. Following the pattern, the line about her father coming home at some point is before her murder, and apparently, she was punished for breaking some kind of rule after her murder. The implication here, horrid as it is, could be that her father returned home after she killed her mother and punished her for doing so.
Thankfully, this is impossible. After all:
(T1) Q18: Do you regret your "murder"?
A: No. It was a natural obligation.
(T2) Q3: State the name of your victim.
A: There is no victim. Only the punished.
(Taking some liberties on the translation of Trial 2 since the questions are still coming out as I write this)
So Amane genuinely believes she was following her cult's principles to a T when she killed her mom. As much as that likely isn't the case (long story), if she had gotten punished for killing her mom, then she wouldn't think like this. If she had been punished for it, she wouldn't think her murder was a "natural obligation", but rather a mistake on her part.
What this implies is that Amane doesn't remember being punished by her father.
...
Amane... doesn't remember...
Fuck.
Yeah, remember when I said it was possible the prisoners don't have clear memories of the events leading up to their death? Going by the "T1 after - T2 before" logic the Voice Reveals seem to follow, we can infer Amane was likely punished for killing her mother, but we also know she can't remember it happening, otherwise she would regret it. And based on what we learnt from Muu, we do have a way to explain how that could happen. If Amane died while receiving the punishment the T1 Voice Reveal alludes to, she wouldn't have a clear memory of it.
And the thing is, it does seem likely Amane received this punishment. Think about it. Interrogation questions are one thing, since the creators don't fully control them, but why mention her father would possibly return home in the Voice Reveal trailer? Unless he did. Hell, you could argue we might know the exact moment he returned. Amane does look at the entrance of her apartment at the end of Purge March, though that could simply be for dramatic effect rather than being a literal thing which happened.
But there's more. Because if her father returned home, we might actually have an answer for another one of the mysteries surrounding Amane's situation. The Undercover prisoner card.
The image on her card seems to show a bathroom. It is widely assumed the images on these cards are the location the murders happened in, but to my knowledge, this isn't 100% confirmed. However, this creates a small issue with Amane. Just looking at the murder shot in Purge March is enough to confirm that.
I made a more detailed theory on her murder on this post, diagrams included (scroll to the bottom if you're only interested on the murder), but for now, there are two things to note here. One, there's a trail of water which seems to come out of the door with the light on, as the puddles are bigger the closer they get to it, implying that room is the bathroom. And two, the room the murder actually happened in seems to have a window/door behind a curtain, which isn't what Amane's bathroom looks like.
Adittionally, there isn't any blood outside of the murder room, implying the victim's body wasn't dragged there.
All this seems to imply Amane's victim didn't die in the bathroom, which is sorta a problem considering the previously mentioned commonly accepted theory. But this idea that Amane may have died while being punished, perhaps while being drowned as we know that's one of the accepted methods of punishment in her cult, brings up a different possibility.
What if the images in the prisoner cards aren't showing murder location? What if they show the last place the prisoner was seen in, the place they died?
Kotoko, Mikoto, and the Prisoner Cards
So, first, is there any indication either of these might be dead? For Mikoto, not really. Sure, there's the whole Death card at the end of MeMe thing, but that doesn't have to be taken so literally.
Kotoko has a very little potential hint in the fact she's shown alongside a wolf at the start of HARROW, but by the end the wolf is by itself. If the wolf represents a potential partner (long story), then maybe Kotoko died?
Though you can easily argue the wolf is slightly different and thus is meant to just represent Kotoko.
However, the reason I'm bringing them into this is because their prisoner cards are completely nonsensical under "murder location" theory for the images shown. Let's start with Kotoko.
It shows an alleyway, which at first seems like it makes sense. We do see her attacking a man in an alleyway. However, after that happens, one of the pieces of background text says this:
◆ A wanted thief was assaulted by an unknown assailant
Early yesterday morning, a nearby shop employee reported hearing screaming and seeing a man lying on the ground. According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, the man had lost consciousness after being beaten on his face, stomach, and other areas, and was taken to the hospital. The police are currently trying to identify the suspect.
[...]
According to previous investigations, the male victim was wanted throughout Tokyo for theft and assault charges and was identified as the suspect, Mikio Oshii.
(Translation by Maristelina)
Mikio Oshii is the name of the man Kotoko assaulted in the alleyway. It seems odd to me that we would learn he was taken to the hospital if he later died in it somehow, especially because Kotoko didn't want to kill him. We can clearly see this because of a crucial difference between her attack on him and her attack on the serial killer who likely is her victim.
She covers her face while attacking Oshii, because she doesn't want to be recognized. She is committing assault, after all. However, that only matters if she's planning to keep him alive. Conversely, she doesn't cover her face while attacking the serial killer, because she knows he won't be a witness. She went into that warehouse planning to kill.
Of course, she could have accidentally done too much damage, but the issue there is that she would probably express some remorse in that case. She doesn't, and the fact she only ever talks about one victim-
[TASK (T1 VD)]
I did kill someone. [...] I don't have a single regret.
-it really seems like Oshii was able to survive her attack.
That creates an issue with her prisoner card. It shows an alleyway, but her only victim died in a warehouse. As confusing as that sequence is, he did die in the warehouse.
You know when we do see an alleyway again, though?
But she's not wearing her face covering. And if this was the alley with the one sign about a car accident that shows up over and over in HARROW, I'd imagine we'd see the sign, even if it was obscured in some way. So once again, a silhouette shot which seems to have nothing to do with her murder or her general situation.
So, is it possible she died in this alleyway? That's the only other reason I can imagine why it'd show up in her prisoner card, so. As for what exactly happened, I imagine she may have been murdered at the whim of her victim's father?
Shocking revelation: The heinous criminal behind the crime is the privileged son of a high-ranking official!
(Article referring to Kotoko's victim)
So, she got found out and immediately assassinated? It's a bit out there, but it would explain both her prisoner card and her attitude in the prison.
And then there's Mikoto.
As you can see, his card shows a street. The issue with Mikoto is one of format. The cards only ever show one location, but we know Mikoto has at least two victims.
[Text: To the right, the Subway Murder, which clearly has a ceiling. The murderer has blood on his right cheek, his left cheek is hidden. There's also the bathhtub scene, where the right cheek is hidden, but the left cheek has blood already trailing off, which doesn't quite fit what we see in the other murder if you think about the bath chronologically.
To the left, a murder out in the street, with an open sky. The murderer has blood on their left cheek, but not on their right. This is seen in both the crime and the shower scene]
So yeah, at least two. You could argue the bathtub murder is actually a third one, which... huh. Two things that absolutely exist and a Secret Third Thing, the existance of which is disputed? Trikoto vibes.
Point is, Mikoto has two different murder locations at least. The street, yes, but also the subway. This creates a problem with the "images in the prisoner cards are murder locations" idea, because it only shows one. You could try to gymnastics your way out of this by saying maybe Hostkoto committed the street murder while Orekoto killed the other victim(s), and because only Hostkoto is considered a prisoner by Milgram, only his murder is shown? But I feel that raises more questions than it answers.
Instead, if we assume the images to be death locations, the ambiguity disappears, because Mikoto as a system can only have one death location. The issue is you have to explain how Mikoto died in the middle of the street, which is a bit difficult.
The best guess I can give is related to the subway victim. It's been pointed out before that guy looks a lot like a stereotypical Japanese delinquent, which could imply he was part of a gang. If that's the case, it's possible the killer angered the wrong people by killing him, similar to Kotoko, and thus was later murdered himself. We know that street isn't very safe, on account of one of the alters getting away with murder there. It's a pretty large stretch, and has like zero evidence, but it's physically possible at least.
Let's take a quick look at the other prisoners and see if their images can also be explained by the "death image" theory.
We know Muu would share a death location with her victim if she really committed suicide as the theory states, so nothing weird there. Haruka's a bit more awkward, because it shows the forest he very likely killed the girl in, but I'm not entirely sure if the forests near Nagaoka has bodies of water deep enough to drown oneself. There is the Shinano river, which has... trees, around it.
This was taken from Google Street View in Nagaoka. Again, not sure how deep it is, but assuming it's deep enough to drown, it could work if you ignore the trees don't look too much like the ones irl. Maybe Haruka threw himself off the bridge?
Alternatively, Nagaoka borders the sea, and it seems like there's forest almost all the way up to it. So maybe that could work? Unsure.
Worst comes to worst, we can maybe change it to saying Haruka didn't drown himself, but killed himself in some other way in the forest. Point is, I think Haruka's isn't too big of an issue.
Fuuta, Mahiru and Kazui don't have a lot of evidence towards what the hell would have happened, but the best assumption I can make is they all committed suicide because of guilt. Fuuta in his room, Mahiru in the suicide forest (likely also where her boyfriend committed suicide), and Kazui by jumping off a building like Hinako. As for their evidence...
>Fuuta burns at the end of Backdraft, which is the same thing that happens to Killcheroy, so you could argue that's meant to show he's dying. It's not great, it absolutely is just meant to be metaphorical most likely, but it is there.
Additionally, he's also an outlier for the "muder location image" theory, since what one would consider his "murder location" is very ambiguous. Is it his room, where he sent online hate from? Is it Killcheroy's room, where she assumedly died? Wouldn't it be the front of Killcheroy's house, where Fuuta took the picture to dox her? Again, death location is less ambiguous.
Fuuta's attitude during Trial 1 could be seen as a bit weird if he was suicidal, but I'm not sure we can comfortably say that with the limited information we have.
>Mahiru in I Love You goes to sleep after seeing her boyfriend dead, which could be read as her committing suicide. You know, if you're insane like me.
Especially given this question from Trial 1:
(T1) Q20: What do you think about smoking?
M: I've never smoked before, but I might copy him if who I love smokes.
That, alongside a lot of the bg text from TIHTBILWY, implies Mahiru likes the idea of copying her lover. Not the greatest quality to have when your lover commits suicide.
>Kazui has this:
Where the smoke of his cigarette turns into a noose. Of course, that's meant to represent self-destruction in general, but it could also be taken more literally. He... doesn't have much else.
Thus, everyone else vaguely fits the idea of "death image"... except him.
Our favorite headache inducing doctor strikes again! His card shows a hospital room, which is a very strange death location, but perfectly fits his murders. You could argue he runs into the same issue as Mikoto, but it's actually possible Shidou just killed all his victims in the same room, so.
Yeah, Shidou's probably the biggest counterargument for this theory. Because while it's possible he died in a hospital, there is zero evidence for it, beyond the image itself. Hell, neither Throw Down or Triage ever seems to imply he died in the first place, which is an issue. This theory's already heavily dependant on the extremely flawed "you can't disprove it" argument, but at least most of the other ones have some kind of logical progression which gets you to how they died.
So, to complete the theory, we have to make the pretty big jump that Shidou died inside a hospital room, without knowing how that happened.
... Wait, inside the room?
Wait wait wait, show me Fuuta's and Amane's again.
Hmmm... 0308... hmmmm... 0308... I totally didn't just do this to put the two together... hm...
Yeah, same thing. They both show the inside of a room. Which, along with Shidou's, shows that these images can show the inside of buildings, right?
But, then... why is Yuno's outside?
That very clearly isn't the inside of a building. But this generates a problem for the "murder location image" theory, because Yuno's "murder" was abortion. Even if it wasn't done professionally, she would have still done it inside, presumably. This creates an inconsistency with Fuuta, Amane and Shidou. If their murder locations are shown from inside, why is Yuno different?
However, this inconsistency disappears if we assume the images to be death locations. I previously established if Yuno died, she likely committed suicide by jumping off a staircase, which does vaguely fit this image. It's similar to Kazui's in that way.
Now, I don't want to get too ahead of myself here. Murder location is still absolutely the more straightforward answer, but it does come with its issues. As stated, Fuuta's image would face some ambiguity, Mikoto's would face extreme ambiguity, Amane's seems to contradict the evidence we're shown in Purge March, Yuno's is wildly inconsistent with the other images, and Kotoko's is straight up nonsensical.
Meanwhile, death locations physically work with all the cases, even if Shidou's case is extremely weird, but it requires huge assumptions and stretches. It relies heavily on how impossible it is to disprove, which is not a good sign. Russell's Teapot, and all that.
Summary of the Theory
>Everyone in Milgram is dead, and their prisoner cards in Undercover show the place where they died.
>Prisoner's memories of the events leading up to their deaths are extremely fuzzy, explaining why only Yuno seems to even suspect it.
+Haruka: Committed suicide by drowning himself, possibly in the Shinano river or the sea. [Most likely to be dead]
+Yuno: Committed suicide by jumping off the staircase we see her standing in on her Undercover silhouette shot. [Most likely to be dead]
+Fuuta: Committed suicide in his room out of guilt. [Very little evidence]
+Muu: Murder-suicide, she committed suicide after killing Rei. [A bit more evidence than others]
+Shidou: Died in a hospital room [???]
+Mahiru: "Copied" her boyfriend by killing herself in the suicide forest. [Very little evidence]
+Kazui: Jumped off a building, like Hinako. [Very little evidence]
+Amane: Drowned by her father as "punishment" for her murder. [Unfortunately, sorta likely]
+Mikoto: Murdered by one of the members of Subway Victim's gang. [Sort of filling in the blanks here]
+Kotoko: Murdered at the order of her victim's father. [Very little evidence]
Conclusion
Do I believe this theory? Honestly, I don't know. It makes a few too many assumptions for me to fully believe it, but I do think it's a decent possibility, so I wanted to share it with you all. In any case, that's all I have to say for now. If you have any thoughts about any of this, feel free to share! Also I didn't even touch on Es but you can try to fit them in somehow if you feel like it.
Anyways, if you made it this far, you deserve a hug, this post was depressing. Take care!
with mahiru, i saw someone talk about her potentially planning to commit a lovers suicide so maybe she actually did die along side her boyfrind
also i wonder if voting them innocent in the end means they get to live bcuz it would be lame if the innocent ones still have to die with the guilty. or maybe milgram is purgatory and innocent prisoners go to heaven while guilty ones go to hell idk
I think the biggest reason I'm still suspicious of the boyfriend is distinctly due to this entry. The talk about not being able to remember anything (a truama response), and then all the entries from then on getting distorted feels to me like something really bad happened and mahiru is refusing to show. Idk maybe im seeing shadows where there aren't any, but this weirds me out too much to be ignored
yuno and kazui are biologically related: my dissection of kashiki-mukuhara
also huge shouts out to @nikoberry who helped me put this theory together!
for ease of reading, yuno's information will be on the left side of this post, with kazui's information on the right- to the best of my ability. sources are linked best i can
disclaimer: i dont know how canon it is that the prisoners experience memory loss of their lives & parts of their murders before milgram, but this theory works best under that assumption
this will also all be under a cut, for the sake of your dashboard... it's very long...
01. Age
to start off, it is not far-fetched that kazui could be yuno's biological father, as he would have been ~21 when yuno was born
02. Design
milgram character designs are made with a lot of intent and deliberation, the characters in the main cast look very different from one another, though yuno and kazui have a few key details that tie them together
note 1. posing; yuno and kazui are both posed in very similar ways for each of their trials. for trial 2: they seem excited, greeting you with a wave or acknowledging you wtih a nod for trial 1, they seem relaxed, but prepared. theyre meeting us for the first time, warmly, but not exposing who they are just yet
note 2. hair; these two have a handful of similarities with their hair. their hair color looks to be the same, but tinted with their respective colors they also have their bangs cut similarly, cut just under the eyebrow, a straight edge on their right side, with their hair parting on the left side
note 3, facial structure; both have a more "straight faces" (more noticeable in yuno's t2), coy smiles, and droopy/soft eyes
note 4, color;
03. Personality
excerpts pulled from the milgram wikia
04. Interrogations
yuno does not have a father present in her life
kazui's response to his question "Who do you want to see right now?" is "I can't meet them anymore."
he says "meet." not "see" or "be with", implying it is someone he has not met before: perhaps a child he knows of, but has not been told anything about them
(it could also be "meeting up", though i am not able to translate the original. in this case, it could be "meeting up" with the woman at the bar)
this one ^ mostly just tickles me
and i was almost going to dismiss this next one as him talking about his marriage
buuut... niko twisted my arm on keeping it in for the theory!
these next two are likely more about kazui's childhood friend, and his adultery, but theyre fun to apply to this theory, so im keeping them in.
05. Name Meanings
im not well versed in interpreting japanese names, so these are again, pulled from the milgram wikia
06. Timelines
muu mentions just before this that she does not interact much with men around kazui's age, save for her father
kazui mentions himself having a child out of the blue, and quickly dismisses it. muu does not comment on this in the full timeline, so it could be that he is talking to himself. but why?
(translation source)
connecting this timeline to the one above is interesting as well, as yuno mentions that she and muu could be seen as the same age. perhaps muu reminds kazui of a child he has not met, yet knows is around muus general age
(translation source)
it's important to note that the above timeline was posted 2 days after kazui's t1 video, half, premiered on the MILGRAM youtube channel. kazui makes no mention of children in his voice drama, but mentions them to shidou a few days after his song extraction
07. Cats
kazui's next song is titled "cat," and yuno's t2 video, tear drop, has very VERY brief flashes of cat imagery used for her
08. Doors
there is a great comparison that @dearmahiru has made for their respective t2 song artwork!
though, i would also like to point out that their doors are made with a very very similar wood (re: the significance of the kanji used for their names)
the only prisoner thus far with a somewhat similar door to these two would be haruka
though the wood finish is almost entirely smooth, with hardly any visible grain, unlike yuno and kazui, who have woodgrain very visible on their doors. haruka's door is also not curved at the top
09. Etc, The End
i was mostly going to note that he says "float" in this translation, which corresponds to yuno's balloon imagery
however, i started looking into the potential symbolism behind chairs and..
(i would also like to note that the chair has hearts on it, which im sure has significance- but at the moment is just a cute detail to me)
if you made it this far, thank you for reading, and please tell me your thoughts on this!! id love to hear what everyone else thinks about this theory!
im know there are more well put-together and stronger supported theories than this one, but it's my first full theory ive come up with on my own, and im just excited to share it! at the very least, it's a fun headcanon, and i will also go ballistic if it gets confirmed
i know this isn’t relevant yet, since her song isn’t even out and we’re still dealing with the little homo. but it is urgent. i know that we’re all talking about how amane might hypothetically hurt shidou is she gets an inno, but that is 100% not the most pressing issue with her. if amane gets an inno here, i feel like there’s an incredibly high chance of her killing mappi. her original murder was against someone who RECEIVED medical care, as if she was trying to ‘set it right’ and put things back to ‘how they should be’. even though shidou gave the medical care, mappi is still the one who would’ve died without it. also, such a huge deal was made about the fact that she would die if one more bad thing happened to her. do i think there’s a chance of amane attacking shidou? yes. do i think there’s a much higher chance of her killing mahiru? also yes.
long story short if amane gets an inno then she will try to kill mappi i am like 90% certain, and if that happens, mappi will die. that has been apparent, if something bad happens to her, mappi will die, and no interference from kazui or shidou will stop that. i know we want to help amane, but giving her an inno here will not help her, and it will most likely get mappi killed.
Not sure if I ever shared this, but I finished this months ago using the cheapest materials a college student can buy. I definitely want to redo it in the future.
Using this picrew, make how you currently look vs how you want to look! (Or just one of those, doesn't matter!) Anyone can join, but I'll tag people too!
For Good (Wicked) vs You Gotta Die Sometime (Falsettos)
For Good
You Gotta Die Sometime
Voting ended onJun 23, 2023
Submitter’s propaganda under the cut
For Good
It's beautifully tragic, and it centers on the importance of a friendship that has shaped them both perhaps more than anyone else in their lives. For me it's also in a way a very comforting song, the idea that having loved someoe matters even if you are torn apart from each other.
You Gotta Die Sometime
There are so many emotion and it ALSO MAKES DEATH KINDA HOT !!!
It's about him coping with a terminal diagnosis (AIDs in the 1980s) and it's like, it feels really real and emotional? Helps me whenever I panic about maybe going blind one day, also it's a banger, this whole musical is honestly, it's so good man
Hate the excuse that people joking about the falsettos ending are young and haven’t been educated on the AIDS crisis before. Like sure it’s not their fault that the education system sucks
But at the same time, a lot of the people making those jokes have at least seen RENT or some other media that covers the AIDS crisis, and if not they’ve clearly learnt about it since. What I’m really annoyed by is the people who go and make jokes about it as if it’s something silly.
Because if it was a post like “I was so taken aback by the falsettos ending, it was heartbreaking and I had no idea that was something people lived through before falsettos.” I wouldn’t care. But most of the jokes boil down to “what happened to my silly gay musical?” Or “act 1: ☺️ act 2: AIDS 😳”.
"how can you support mahiru? her partner killed themselves because of her—"
kazui mukuhara your days are numbered
you know, when kazui's trial drops i expect the same vitriolic disgust for being the cause of his wife's suicide because i've never seen anyone bash him for it, much less claim he was an abuser (i'm sure he has been but it's likely not to degree of mahiru). that's because kazui isn't abusive, and claiming he isn't one doesn't mean erasing the strife hanako must've endured their relationship either.
Love + Fate = Crap Crush and bye Disgusting playing house + disguise + fake Devotion-love, lame, cheating
Let's make it victim and assailant
mahiru and her boyfriend's relationship does not have to be strictly be abuser/victim because it's not. they are both bluebirds suffocating within a small birdcage, they are both feeding eachother cake, they are both riding the carousel, and they are both damaged within the forest. the only difference between them is that her boyfriend broke first.
"abusive" is a loaded term which implies mahiru had the intentions of hurting her boyfriend which we know isn't the case. out of two mvs not once is mahiru depicted knowingly harming her partner. if this was actually the case then all of their symbolism wouldn't paint them as equals and mahiru wouldn't say they have "matching pain."
We fought sometimes, I was happy to get hurt
Let's have matching pain, this sickness is pretty bad
This is a claim of responsibility
From the two of us with matching love
Wanting to know everything about you, but wanting to die because it can't come true
It's all because of love
acknowledging how mahiru also suffered doesn't mean shifting the blame onto her boyfriend either. it's shouldn't be a binary of "mahiru is an evil abusive stalker and her boyfriend's an innocent victim" or "mahiru did everything right and her boyfriend is the abusive one!"
Yamanaka: "This can be said about all of Milgram, but I want to make it so that your interpretation of it changes depending on your standpoint, thinking processes, and ways of life. I pay great attention to avoid writing the story in a way that depicts something as absolute good or absolute bad, or one thing is right and the other is wrong. I want the story to elicit a different opinion from you when you revisit it as you get older."
(sorry for stealing the quote from your recent post @honeyfizzly ily please forgive me)
just like kazui and hanako, mahiru and her boyfriend are just messy people who hurt one another. if you wish for mahiru to recieve a comeuppance for her actions then so be it but most of the reasons i've been given have a shaky foundation.
This is just one of many parts of my comprehensive analysis of Mikoto Kayano.
Mikoto Kayano is what I would call a high-concept character. What does high-concept mean?
✦ High-concept works tend to be attention-grabbing and appeal to a broad audience, often because they can be easily understood and appreciated on a surface level.
✦ The idea behind the character design may be simple or generic on the surface, but upon closer examination, it reveals intricate details and nuances that add to its complexity and depth. This can make the character design stand out and be memorable to audiences, even if the character's appearance is initially unremarkable or conventional.
Examples of high-concept: (For the inexperienced)
✦ In terms of illustration, Composition (Golden Ratio, Rule of Thirds, etc.) is like a puzzle that the artist puts together, with each piece adding to the overall picture. The main focus is usually in the center of the image or off-center to create visual interest, and other elements are arranged around it in a way that enhances the story being told to reward the inquisitive.
✦ In video games, Platinum’s Hideki Kamiya (Bayonetta, Devil May Cry, etc.) is known for this exact concept. You can finish the game by just casually engaging with mechanics, but if you look deeper into the systems, you are able to execute flawless stylish moves that are very rewarding to execute.
Whenever designing characters, Japan tends to place a strong emphasis on the following:
✦ Name Symbolism - The names are usually a great clue to what a character is about. This includes potential wordplay.
✦ Blood Type - Determines the type of personality they have and their chemistry with the rest of the cast. Think of it as the equivalent of Zodiac signs.
✦Mikoto Kayano Name Breakdown
✦ Kanji - 【榧野 尊】
✦ Katakana - 【カヤノ ミコト】
✦ To get the definitions for the kanji used in this document, I used Goo and Jisho.
【榧】Kaya
✦ Japanese nutmeg tree (Torreya Nucifera)
✦ Flowers bloom around April, and elliptical fruits are produced in the following autumn. The fruit is used for edible oil and hair oil, as well as for food. The wood is hard and used for construction materials, furniture, Go and Shogi boards, and as a carving material.
✦ The flower language for Kaya is “effort”
✦ In Go, the concept of "building a house" refers to creating a territory on the board by enclosing a certain area with your stones. This can be seen as analogous to building a house, where you create a defined space for yourself to live in. The process of building a territory requires strategic thinking, and players must balance offensive and defensive moves to secure the most advantageous positions on the board.
✦ In Shogi, there is a similar concept called "castle." Where certain pieces are used to create a fortress-like structure around the king, making it difficult for the opponent to attack and capture it.
‼️ I feel like anyone with DID/OSDD understands what it feels like. I hope this could be a good allegory for you to use? Although I have shown this example to people with systems, feel free to leave your own thoughts too.
"Kaya no soto" (茅の外) is a Japanese idiom that literally translates to "outside the fence made of kaya grass". The phrase is used to describe someone who is uninformed or ignorant of a situation, or who is excluded from a group or organization.
The kaya grass referred to in the idiom is a type of sedge grass that grows in Japan and other parts of Asia. Historically, it was used to make fences and walls, and was seen as a symbol of exclusion or separation.
The idiom "kaya no soto" is often used in situations where someone is unaware of important information or events, or is not involved in a particular group or community. It can also be used in a humorous or self-deprecating way to indicate one's own ignorance or exclusion.
【野】 No
✦ Field or plain. "野営 (yaei)" means camping, and "原野 (genya)" means wilderness.
✦Field, cultivated land. "野菜 (yasai)" means vegetables, and "田野 (denya)" means rice field.
✦ Folk, civilian. "野党 (yato)" means opposition party, and "在野 (zaiya)" means out of office. [Antonym] Morning.
✦ Natural, wild. "野生 (yasei)" means wild, and "野鳥 (yachou)" means wild birds.
✦ Rough, uncivilized. "野蛮 (yaban)" means barbaric, and "粗野 (soya)" means uncivilized.
✦ Ambitious, exceeding one's status. "野心 (yashin)" means ambition, and "野望 (yabou)" means aspiration.
✦ Classified area. "視野 (shiya)" means field of vision, and "分野 (bunya)" means field of study.
✦ Abbreviation of "下野の国 (Shimotsuke no Kuni)". "野州 (Yashuu)" means Shimotsuke Province. 【Kanji 2】Sho Countryside villa, summer house.
✦ The kanji 【野】 means "field" or "wilderness" in Japanese. It can also refer to "rough" or "uncivilized" behavior or nature. In some cases, it is used to indicate that a plant or animal is in its natural, wild state. It can be combined with other kanji to create words such as 野菜 (yasai) meaning "vegetables," 野生 (yasei) meaning "wild" or "untamed," and 野球 (yakyuu) meaning "baseball."
✦ Added to nouns representing people to express contempt for their uncivilized behavior. "野幇間 (daiko)" means wild street performer, and "野育ち (no sodachi)" means someone who grew up in a rough or uncivilized environment.
✦ It can also be used to combine with words like spacious farm or field to create an expression. "朝早くから野に出て働く (asa hayaku kara no ni dete hataraku)" means going out to work in the fields early in the morning.
✦ High value or rank; noble. "尊厳" (dignity), "尊属" (noble family), "尊大" (majestic), "尊卑" (social status), "独尊" (supremacy).
✦ To respect and cherish. "尊敬" (respect), "尊崇" (reverence), "尊重" (esteem), "追尊" (posthumous honor), "自尊心" (self-esteem).
✦ A word expressing respect for the other person's matters. "尊翰" (esteemed writing), "尊顔" (honorable face), "尊兄" (esteemed elder brother), "尊体" (respected body), "尊父" (honorable father), "尊慮" (thoughtful consideration).
✦ A word used to express reverence for Buddha or noble people. "三尊" (three pure ones), "至尊" (supreme honor), "釈尊" (Shakyamuni Buddha), "世尊" (World Honored One), "本尊" (principal image of worship).
✦ One very interesting to note is Mikoto’s name and its association with deities. To be specific, the Three Pure Ones. They are often portrayed as elderly deities robed in the three basic colors from which all colors originated: Red, Blue and Yellow (or Green) depending on personal interpretation of color origins by additive or subtractive means.
✦ The impression Mikoto’s name gives is, “Someone who has a strong sense of hard work and dedication.”
But here are also possible interpretations of his name:
✦ Noble of the Torreya Fields.
In this interpretation, the name can be seen as suggesting a person who is noble and respected in the fields where Torreya trees grow.
✦ Revered One from the Kaya Field
In this interpretation, the name emphasizes the noble or revered status of the individual who comes from a place where Kaya trees grow (Kaya Fields).
✦ Honorable Torreya Tree Guardian
If we consider 尊 (Mikoto) as representing honor and reverence, it could be interpreted as someone who is an honorable guardian or protector of the Torreya trees or the fields they grow in.
✦ Divine of the Torreya Fields
In this interpretation, Mikoto as "divine" signifies someone who possesses divine or sacred qualities, and is connected to the fields where Torreya trees grow.
✦ Divine One from the Kaya Fields
This interpretation suggests a person with sacred attributes originating from the Kaya fields.
✦ Divine Torreya Tree Guardian
The name could be interpreted as someone who is a divine or sacred guardian or protector of the Torreya trees or the fields they grow in.
✦ A lot of Mikoto's name meanings is about PROTECTION.
Goroawase (ごあわらせ) is a Japanese wordplay technique that uses the first kana character of each word to create a new word or phrase. For Mikoto’s name (カヤノ ミコト) these would be the meaning:
✦ カミ (KAMI): "kami" (神) can mean "god" or "deity."
✦ ヤミ (YAMI): "Yami" (闇) means "darkness" or "shadow."
✦ ヤコ (YAKO): "Yako" (夜光) means "night light" or "luminescence."
Mikoto also has symbols that connect him to the Polaris Binary Star (if I am remembering this correctly). Let me show you a visual about Mikoto as a character.
✦Mikoto Kayano's Blood Type: AB
Mikoto Kayano's is Blood Type AB. The only one. It already represents him as an outcast and someone highly unique.
In Japan, the concept of blood type personality theory, known as ketsueki-gata, has gained significant popularity since its introduction in the 1920s. Although the theory has no scientific basis, many people in Japan believe that an individual's blood type can determine their personality traits, temperament, compatibility with others, and even influence their career and romantic prospects. The idea is not dissimilar to the way some people in Western cultures view astrological signs.
Blood type AB is one of the four primary blood types in the ABO blood group system, along with A, B, and O. According to Japanese beliefs, people with blood type AB possess unique characteristics due to the combination of both type A and type B antigens. These traits can be both positive and negative, and individuals with this blood type are often perceived as:
✦ Creative and artistic: Type AB individuals are thought to be highly imaginative, innovative, and capable of thinking outside the box. They may excel in fields that require original ideas and creative problem-solving.
✦ Rational and analytical: People with blood type AB are often seen as intellectually curious, possessing strong analytical abilities and a keen interest in understanding complex subjects.
✦ Calm and composed: Type AB individuals are believed to maintain a sense of emotional balance and are not easily swayed by external events or circumstances.
✦ Ambiguous or mysterious: Due to the mix of traits from both type A and type B blood groups, individuals with blood type AB may be seen as enigmatic and difficult to predict.
✦ Diplomatic and adaptable: As type AB individuals carry characteristics of both A and B blood types, they are thought to be adept at navigating social situations and building bridges between conflicting perspectives.
✦ Aloof and detached: On the negative side, people with blood type AB might be perceived as emotionally distant or reserved, which could make it challenging for them to form close relationships.
✦ Indecisive and disorganized: The blending of type A and type B traits may lead to difficulty in making decisions, a lack of focus, or trouble maintaining an organized lifestyle.
✦Mikoto's Character Design and DID
Mikoto is often described as someone who is "Mass produced" and an "Everyday Man."
But despite this, Mikoto's hair is a great way to describe his complexity. Based on what we know, here's how I would break it down.
You must be wondering why the Ahoge is seen as a separate identity. With character design, they are considered as a character by themselves. When you register them for ownership, the Ahoge or "Character Mark" would be the one registered. The rest is considered generic.
This is Mikoto in a nutshell. Try removing the ahoge, he is almost unrecognizable.
In short, this is genius character design. More explanation about the RGBY colors later on.
✦ We will end this analysis here for now. Please look forward for the next part!
