DanganRonpa 2 Theories

WARNING: THESE THEORIES ARE WRITTEN DOWN BEFORE ENTERING THE MONOKUMA MOUNTAIN FOR EACH TRIAL. THEREFORE, THEY MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS OF THE EVENTS THAT HAVE OCCURRED BEFORE THEN

Case 1

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Case 1

- How did the blackout occur?

Too many electrical appliances were on at the same time: the light in the table, the three irons in the storage room, the stove in the kitchen, and the two air conditioners. The air conditioners are notable for scheduling the blackout in advance, since somebody (likely the culprit) set them to turn on at 11:30.

- Who was using the bathroom during the blackout?

Definitely Peko. She even groaned and kneeled on one knee when we met her later. She was supposed to be guarding the duralumin case, but she needed to use the bathroom. It was a long session that started before the party started, and ended some time after the blackout.

I suspect Peko using the bathroom was not a random occurrence, but that this happened because there was something in the food that caused her to have this long session after eating some of it.

- Who tampered the food?

It's likely that Peko's long bathroom break was intentionally caused by somebody tampering the food. The obvious suspect here is Teruteru, but it could have been somebody else. However, I don't actually think there was any opportunity for anyone else to put something in the food, unless there was a time where Teruteru came to bring food while somebody was missing... I don't recall anybody missing in such moments, but I dunno.

- Why wasn't Akane affected by the food? There was even a truth bullet indicating that only Akane and Peko ate from the dish.

I'm not sure... Maybe she has better metabolism that allows her to handle whatever was added to the food, especially since she was super hungry. She mentioned that she was working out before the party specifically to build up a huge appetite. It's also possible that she avoided eating the corrupted parts of the food, but her gluttonous behavior makes this unlikely and I doubt she is the culprit, due to the tablecloth (next).

- Significance of the bloodstained tablecloth in the storage room?

The tablecloth was likely for the unused table that covers Byakuya's corpse. The blood splatter likely extended beyond the inner tablecloth and stained the outer tablecloth as well. The culprit did not want everyone else to notice that the tablecloth was bloodstained when the power came back, so the culprit removed the tablecloth, replaced it with a clean one, and then tossed out the stained tablecloth in the storage room.

The only opportunity to do this was after the murder but before people started looking for Byakuya. In other words, it had to be done when the people in the room were distracted by Mikan tripping. In fact, I think the culprit deliberately tripped Mikan, hoping that she would get into a distracting position. I revisited this scene and noticed that the only characters that were in the room during this time were Hajime, Nagito, Gundhum, Sonia, Mahiru, Nekomaru, Ibuki, Hiyoko, Akane, and Mikan herself, so these ten should be clear. That being said, I noticed that Akane didn't say anything while they were distracted by Mikan, but I doubt she would could leave the room with a bloodstained tablecloth, dispose of it, and come back without anybody noticing.

- Why would the culprit want to hide the bloodstain in the first place?

I'm actually not sure. It delays the discovery of the corpse, but the culprit wouldn't be able to do much since people would be moving around to look for Byakuya anyway. That being said, the clean tablecloth ensures that they will be distracted by Mikan instead; the bloodstained tablecloth would've probably instead alerted the students and cause some of them to leave the room early to check suspicious activity, preventing the culprit from disposing other evidence (like maybe the murder weapon).

- How Byakuya end up under the table?

After the blackout started, Byakuya immediately opened his duralumin case and put on his night vision goggles. He likely saw something suspicious near the table and went to check. My guess is that the knife with the glowing paint was placed under the table, and the glowing material causes it to be detected by the night vision goggles. Byakuya saw something in the table through the night vision goggles and went to check under the table. This fits with his "This is...!?" line that Ibuki heard.

- How did Byakuya die?

After he went under the table, he was skewered around ten times by something very thin (~5 mm). I'm pretty sure this is the missing iron skewer.

One possibility is that somebody simply stabbed him with the iron skewer from behind repeatedly while he was under the table. The problem with this theory is that he was under a table, and there doesn't seem to be much space between his back and the table surface. Of course, this is assuming that the piercings are between his front and back, as opposed to across the sides (which has no problems). The evidence doesn't actually specify this, but I think front-back is the natural assumption.

Another possibility is that the culprit was under the floorboards, stabbing Byakuya through the gaps. This is very unlikely, since (a) Chiaki was standing guard outside, (b) she verified that nobody could get under the floorboards, and (c) the culprit would not have been able to dispose of the tablecloth.

- Where was the iron skewer hidden before the blackout?

Dunno, but there should be plenty of places to hide it. In particular, it could have been under the table, alongside the knife. It might also have been between the gaps in the floorboards, but with one end directly between the floorboards (so the distance between the floorboards and the ground under it is smaller than the length of the skewer).

- How did the culprit move around during the blackout?

The culprit likely had to grope around in the dark. The table was at the end, and shouldn't be hard to find. They likely felt Byakuya and then stabbed him. This also explains why there were about ten piercings, since the culprit wouldn't know how fatal each one would be and just stabbed wildly over and over again in the hope that it would be enough to kill him.

It's also possible that the culprit had night vision goggles, but I doubt that.

- Who is the culprit?

Either Teruteru or Kazuichi, but I'm leaning more towards Teruteru. Both of them were inside the room during the blackout, and left the room before the power returned, making them prime suspects for taking out the tablecloth. I'm leaning towards Teruteru due to having a clear opportunity to tamper with the food. He is also the type of person that would have the indecency to deliberately trip Mikan to serve as a distraction. Being outside the room before the blackout allows him to turn on the three irons (while leaving the stove on) to trigger the blackout while also ensuring that Peko is inside the bathroom, securing a clear path to dispose of the tablecloth and other evidence.

The main problem with Teruteru is that he spoke during the blackout (saying that he thought the blackout was limited to the kitchen), indicating to everyone that he was in the room when nobody was expecting him to be there. I'm guessing this is because he bumped into people, and he realized that they might figure out it was him, so he spoke out to justify his presence.

The other possibility is Kazuichi, who definitely left the room with the excuse of finding the office and resetting the circuit breaker. He was absent when the power returned, and arrived later to say that he didn't actually make it to the office due to the darkness (but maybe he went to the storage room instead). However, I expect he would've bumped into Teruteru, who had definitely left the room during the blackout as well, so I think Kazuichi really was heading to the office while it was Teruteru who went to the storage room to throw out the tablecloth.

I'm also a tiny bit suspicious of Akane, since she wasn't affected negatively by the food and didn't say anything during Mikan's distaction, but I find it unlikely for her to be culprit otherwise.

- What is the culprit's motive?

Aside from wanting their memories and to leave the island (which applies to everyone), I don't think there is anything specific to a particular character. Kazuichi has been pretty paranoid lately, but I don't think that means much.

- Is this Byakuya the same guy from DR1?

Aside from being really fat, he looks like him and seems to have a similar background. It's possible that he gained a lot of weight since then. However, he already spent several years inside a Hope Academy in DR1, so I find it unlikely for him to enter a Hope Academy again, unless it was done deliberately to stop the predicted despair game. Also, my impression was that DR2 takes place in parallel with DR1, since the state of the world outside in DR1 (though very few details were given) seems unlikely to match with the start of DR2.

Case 2

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Case 2

- Who are the girls in Twilight Syndrome (TS)?

Girl A: Mikan Tsumiki (reason: always apologizing)
Girl B: Hiyoko Saionji (reason: she's a jerk, and she says "Jeez" quite a bit)
Girl C: Ibuki Mioda (reason: elimination, the photo of ABC has Mikan, Hiyoko, and Ibuki)
Girl D: Mahiru Koizumi (reason: takes a lot of photographs)
Girl E: ??? Sato (reason: one of the two dead characters, with the other one easily mapped)
Guy F: Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu (reason: the only guy)
Victim in Day 1, I wanna call her Girl G: ??? Kuzuryu (reason: the little sister of Guy F, this is the only common family name)

There are two assumptions in these mappings: that the behaviors of the TS characters in the game are accurate, and that the photograph of Mikan/Hiyoko/Ibuki really does depict the scene at the start of Day 1.

- What happened in TS?

* For quite some time before Day 1, Girl G (Kuzu-imouto) was bullying Girl D (Mahiru).
* Girl E (??? Sato), who is a friend of D (Mahiru), found out about this and confronted G (Kuzu-imouto) in the music room, but it escalated into E (Sato) choking G (Kuzu-imouto) and then killing her. The window broke and the fish tank fell over, possibly during the struggle.
* E (Sato) then left the room, retrieved a key from the teacher's lounge and locked the music room door before returning the key.
* E (Sato) then broke a vase in the next room to draw in the four girls from the entrance hall. D (Mahiru) went to get the key from the teacher's lounge.
* The girls went in, with B (Hiyoko) leading the investigation to conclude that a pervert attacked G (Kuzu-imouto), attempting to rape her, and then quickly escaped by jumping out the window, tipping the fish tank over. E (Sato) supported this theory by claiming that her swimsuit is missing, implying that the pervert stole it first.
* They decided, with E's encouragement, not to report the incident, since they might become suspects then.
* After the other girls left, D stayed behind and took some pictures. She also took a picture of the broken vase in the next room at some point (likely after seeing the corpse, but it's also possible that this was earlier, when retrieving the key).

Day 2
* The girls chat in a classroom, where they discuss how the murder was reported in the news (but no mention of a missing swimsuit). A wasn't sure if they should've kept it a secret, but B and D insisted that it was fine. E also mentioned that G's swimsuit was stolen (inconsistent with her Day 1 claim).
* D showed some pictures she took, but E tore the photos and told D to erase all traces of these photos. C seemed scared of a curse, but E claimed there are no curses.

Day 3
* D called E to meet her, and then showed the photo of the broken vase, explain that she realized it wasn't the broken window that made the sound.
* E felt like she was blackmailed, but D emphasized their friendship and only wanted to know the truth. E then explained the whole story of what happened before Day 1.
* E threw the photo into the place where stuff get incinerated, but Guy F (Fuyuhiko) came in and picked it up, realizing that E likely killed his sister.

Day 4
* E returned from archery club practice, when she heard a voice (likely F's voice) that told her that the incident would not be forgotten.
* The other four girls found Girl E inside Class 1B, killed by a metal baseball hat on her head.

- What's up with the missing swimsuit?

On Day 1, E said it was her swimsuit that was missing, while in Day 2, she said the victim's swimsuit was missing. I think she made up the story about the missing swimsuit, and her lies were inconsistent.

- Why did E break the vase and attract attention to the other girls?

E realized that the other girls would notice that she was late in returning. If they first learned of the incident in the news, one of them might have disclosed to the police of their experience that day, including E joining them later on all by herself, which would paint her as a suspect. So she wanted to bring the girls to the room and discuss the incident together, with E helping to convince them not to talk.

- What was the murder weapon for Kuzu-imouto's death?

This is a tough question. No weapon was found in the music room, and the fish tank had no bloodstains. E might've tossed it outside the window, but the police would've found it then. E wouldn't have kept the weapon with her either, since it would be very suspicious, and I can't imagine that it was small enough to hide from the other girls. The newspaper clipping in Day 2 indicated that she was "clubbed to death", so it couldn't be something silly like her head banging into the window.

- What's up with the gravel near the fish tank?

Honestly not sure. It's on the second floor, so I doubt something from outside came crashing into the window.

* I'm gonna move on to the present now, but it's honestly really tough to piece everything together.

- What was the point of splitting the game into an Investigation edition and Truth edition?

Players who only completed the Investigation edition without the Truth edition may have a misunderstanding of what occurred in the game. I'm not sure if they could learn anything meaningful, however. While they could guess A's and B's identities from their behavior, the suspicion lies with Girl E.

- So who actually got the True Ending first?

My guess is Fuyuhiko. With his lone wolf attitude, he wasn't going to follow the decision of the other students to collectively avoid the game. He then learned that his sister was murdered, with explicit proof in the photograph.

Although he already achieved vengeance by killing Sato (which he forgot about), he probably still wanted to punish Mahiru since she knew the culprit (Sato) but promised to keep it a secret instead of bringing her to justice. I don't actually think he intended to kill Mahiru, but he sent her the letter to make sure she learns of the truth and he wanted to confront her later.

The letter said "what you all did to my sister", so it's likely that he also resented the other three girls, possibly because they (along with Mahiru) left his sister's corpse to rot in the classroom instead of immediately reporting it to the police (the corpse wasn't reported until 6 am the next day, iirc).

- How did Mahiru react?

She learned of the truth, and she suspected that Fuyuhiko may have sent messages to the other three girls as well (but without photographs). She then decided to gather the other three girls together so they can talk about it. This is when it starts to get tricky.

Here's what I think: she invited each of them separately to meet at the same time and place, sometime in the morning of the murder day, and all three initially agreed. Hiyoko later requested (through a note in the mailbox) to change the meeting to 2:30 pm in the beach house. I think this might be because she thought Fuyuhiko found out about the first meeting. Hiyoko may not have known that others were invited as well. Despite Hiyoko requesting the meeting to be a secret, Mahiru may have confided with Ibuki and Mikan anyway, hoping they could all meet together. Ibuki and Mikan probably turned down the invitation this time, possibly worried about Fuyuhiko's involvement.

My ideas are gonna get even sillier now. I think, at this point, one of Ibuki and Mikan secretly planned to kill Mahiru, and sent a message with Mahiru's name to Fuyuhiko, inviting him to meet at the beach house at 3:30 pm, pretending to be Mahiru.

- So what really happened in the beach house that day?

I actually think Ibuki, Mikan and Hiyoko all entered the beach house well before the appointed time. One of Ibuki/Mikan was probably worried (for good reason!) that something bad would happen to Mahiru. I think Hiyoko wanted to make sure Mahiru was completely alone and was not being followed, before she exposed herself for their meeting. She probably arrived first and hid in the closet. I'm not sure if Ibuki and Mikan planned to come together or if they bumped into each other on the way, but they still agreed to hide in the shower room together, unaware of Hiyoko. Both of them already had their swimsuits on, in preparation for the 4 pm event.

Hiyoko heard Ibuki and Mikan entering but may not have recognized them from the sounds. She may have figured out that they went to the shower room. Mahiru came later and waited, but Hiyoko didn't dare to reveal herself, even at 2:30 pm, since she knew there were people hiding in the shower room. She did eat gummies to pass the time though, and apparently dropped a yellow one at some point.

Ibuki and Mikan, however, interpreted the silence as indicating that Mahiru wasn't meeting anyone. The culprit (one of Ibuki/Mikan) convinced the other that they should probably leave, but they didn't want both of them to get caught by Mahiru. They decided to use the shower room window to allow one of them (not the culprit) to leave and go to the diner without her, while the one remaining behind (culprit) would come out normally, and awkwardly admit to Mahiru about hiding in the shower while pretending to have been there alone.

After the other girl leaves from the shower window, the culprit then came out of the shower room door normally and struck Mahiru to death with the baseball bat without saying anything. Mahiru was probably facing the window, watching the waves, so she was struck from behind (consistent with Mikan's autopsy). She then moved the corpse to resemble Girl E's death, blocking the street-side door. She then left from the beach-side door, but carefully shifted the sand to hide her footprints until she made it to the street. Her plan was to pretend like she came out of the street-side door and then leave with the other girl normally, while knowing that Fuyuhiko is supposed to come later, who would find the corpse and immediately be labeled as the suspect, with very little possibility of being able to prove his innocence (his footprints would be in the sand too). Unfortunately for her, the events didn't go as she planned.

Hiyoko might have heard the murder occurring, but she was probably too scared to come out of the closet. She suspected Fuyuhiko and didn't expect that he would show her any mercy.

After the other girl left the shower room from the window, she was supposed to go to the diner, but she probably saw Kazuichi and Hajime going in and got scared. The culprit met up with her in the street, and they agreed it would be odd for Kazuichi and Hajime to see them coming out of the beach. They figured out that Kazuichi and Hajime likely knew of the 4 pm event. Once Fuyuhiko started coming in, causing Kazuichi and Hajime to confront him, the two girls realized it was a good opportunity to meet up with them and pretend like they just got here in preparation for the 4 pm event. Fuyuhiko decided it wasn't a good time to go to the beach house, and ran away instead.

Later, once Hiyoko was sure that the murderer was gone, she left and saw Mahiru's corpse. She realized that this was all her fault, since she told Mahiru to come here at this time. She ran away, crying, hoping to flee the scene and hope that nobody observes her involvement. Little did she know that there were four people in the diner who saw it all, and her footsteps in the sand remained.

- How was the murder announcement triggered?

You need three observers for a murder announcement. The first was the actual culprit, the second was Hiyoko, and the third was Kazuichi. This confirms Hiyoko as innocent btw, since nobody else could've entered the beach house to see the corpse after Hiyoko left while completely avoiding Hajime's growing group at the diner.

- What is the relevance of the plastic bottles in the trash?

I think the plastic bottles are an indication that at least one person has been coming to the beach house regularly, and was consuming the refrigerated drinks over the past few days. My guess is that Akane and Nekomaru decided to train at the beach; it was the place where the others witnessed their brief duel, with Nekomaru providing useful advice for Akane. So they continued training at the beach regularly, and drank from the bottles in the fridge. However, I'm not really sure how this could be related to the murder.

- What is the relevance of the mask?

The mask is a symbol of justice. Mahiru was killed due to her actions in causing the death of Girl E (Sato), so this was her justice.

The culprit might also have come out of the shower room in her swimsuit, so Mahiru would not be able to identify the culprit through her clothes, while the face is covered by the mask. It's possible that the culprit suspected that somebody was hiding in the closet (like if the culprit has super-hearing), so she didn't want Mahiru to expose the killer's identity.

It's also possible that the culprit actually is Sparkling Justice. I suspect that Mikan might be Sparkling Justice, since she sometimes randomly says serious stuff that might come from a superhero.

- What about bloody Akane and wet Peko?

No relevance to the murder, I believe. Akane likely canceled her usual training session with Nekomaru due to the beach event, but she still sparred with him a little before heading out. Peko likely swam out to seek an escape as she said. It's possible that Peko swam from 1st Island to 2nd Island, allowing her to enter and leave the beach house without passing the diner, but I doubt she did this, since she has no actual involvement in the case, with no motive for murder, and there isn't even any truth bullets about her three-hour swimming session.

- Who is the culprit?

I'm guessing Ibuki, but it might be Mikan. I think both were hiding in the shower room. Ibuki is more likely since her sharp hearing probably allowed her to make sure Mikan was far from the beach house before the murder. Ibuki would also probably hear Hiyoko chewing gummies inside the closet, which is why she put on the mask to hide her identity.

- What was the motive for the crime?

I suspect that the culprit was close friends with Sato even before they came to Hope Academy, so she would still recall and treasure the friendship, so killing Mahiru was done out of revenge for taking actions that led to her death, especially since Sato did it for Mahiru's sake.

- Am I confident about these theories?

No, I think I'm actually really far off since there is a lot of crazy speculation here with very little evidence supporting them. But I feel like this case is pretty hard. Or maybe I'm just stupid.

Brief Case 2 Post-Trial Thoughts

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Brief Case 2 Post-Trial Thoughts

Unlike DR1, it seems DR2 has no intention of being a proper mystery, i.e., the evidence you have before the trial does not allow the player to conclusively determine the truth. There is new evidence arising during the trial (Case 1 storage room door to underground, Case 2 letter that Hiyoko received), changes within how the clues could be applied (the shower window was implied to *require* piggybacking to be utilized), and utilizing convenient coincidences (nobody noticed that Fuyuhiko and Pekoyama coming from the beach side, despite clearly noticing Hiyoko when she did so). If one assumes that these kinds of applications are valid, then there would be numerous valid theories for every murder!

I'm not saying that this is necessarily a bad thing. All I'm saying is that these cases are not designed such that the clues you have before the trial are sufficient to completely solve the mystery. Like Ace Attorney, these cases are designed for the player to just play through normally and enjoy the developments, as opposed to trying to figure out the solution before the trial.

Therefore, I decided that for future cases, I'll avoid spending too much time in trying to solve them. I'll still try to post my thoughts on various points, but I'm not going to assume that the mystery is actually completely solvable.

Case 3

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Case 3

Case 3 seems far easier than Case 2 btw

- How was Hiyoko's body prepared during the brief ten minutes in which Hajime went to the motel to call others?

Hajime seems to assume that Hiyoko was killed and taped during those ten minutes, but I think it's much simpler than that. When Hajime first entered the music hall, Hiyoko was likely already dead and taped to the pillar. I believe the pillar was actually covered by the black carpet, which was plastered with stickers (just like the actual pillar). The pillar should've looked thicker, but Hajime wouldn't have noticed something like that when he was focused on the hanging corpse. Once Hajime left to call the others, the culprit simply removed the carpet and moved it to the storage room. The culprit was still in a big hurry, so some pieces of the carpet were still left on the baton lighting.

- Why was the door sealed when Hajime returned with the others?

I'm less sure about this, but I don't actually think the drumsticks were used to block the door as Fuyuhiko suggests, since that would require the killer to be trapped inside when they broke in. I think it was entirely due to the semitransparent glob between the doors. Specifically, I think the glob was actually some strong glue applied to the doors, giving the impression it was locked. The drumsticks were probably already broken beforehand and placed on the floor to make it look like they were blocking the door.

- How was Ibuki killed?

Ibuki was suffering from the stupid Despair Disease, causing her to be super-obedient. The culprit simply ordered her to follow the culprit to the music hall, cover the face with a tote bag, and then to hang herself. The stepladder and the noose were probably already prepared beforehand. I'll discuss the timing of this event later.

- Why was Hiyoko killed?

I don't think Hiyoko was originally intended to be a target, since she wasn't kidnapped (key was deep in her kimono) and only Sonia could have guessed that Hiyoko would run out on her own (but Sonia incriminated herself by testifying about this). I think the culprit was not expecting Hiyoko to get involved at all. Hiyoko left by herself to the music hall storage room where she tied her obi (to the front instead of the back). She may have heard something (or not), but she witnessed Ibuki trying to hang herself. She likely tried to save Ibuki, which is when the culprit killed Hiyoko due to witnessing the murder. The blood splattered from Hiyoko was mostly on the stage, but some of it reached the stepladder and even the soles of Ibuki's feet (while she was hanging).

The culprit originally intended to kill only Ibuki, but realized that Hiyoko's death could be used as an opportunity to imitate the movie. So the culprit then taped Hiyoko to the wall to resemble the lion's death. This would've been difficult for one person, so it likely took a lot of time. The culprit then raised the heat up to mess with the time of death, and wiped away the bloodstain on the stage.

- So what was the actual time of death?

Most likely, it was in the middle of the night, and not the following morning as everyone seems to think. It makes sense for Hiyoko to tie her obi at such a time when nobody would even notice her leaving the room. Likewise, the killer would've been guiding Ibuki to the music hall, which would've been suspicious as hell, so this was likely done in the middle of the night to avoid being seen by others. It really does seem to be a coincidence that these two events overlapped.

- What was the live video feed that Hajime saw in the morning?

It was not Ibuki, who actually already dead from hanging by then. I'm pretty sure the music hall surveillance camera was moved to the conference room of the hospital, and it was the culprit (not Ibuki) who put on the patient gown and tote bag, climbing the stepladder as if she was going to hang herself. Hajime was watching a live feed of an event happening right upstairs in the same building!

Note that the culprit has two tote bags, due to this buy 1 get 1 free, and used the extra unused gown from the unoccupied patient room, which is why Akane couldn't find this fourth gown. There was no stage lighting in the conference room, so the culprit used the candle (likely taken from Mahiru's memorial) for lighting the conference room, and similarly ensured that there was a candle in the stage accordingly (which was burned out beforehand).

- Did the culprit fulfill the imitation of the three murders from the movie?

Yes, despite having killed only two people. The third victim of the movie was the TinMan chopped into pieces. This is represented by the surveillance camera and receiver that were found in the music hall, which was smashed into pieces.

There is another reason why it was smashed, however. When Hajime entered the music hall for the first time, the music hall would not have a camera. It would be dangerous if Hajime subconsciously recalls the absence of this camera, so the culprit smashed the receiver beforehand so that Hajime sees smashed pieces instead. After Hajime leaves the music hall to alert others, the culprit could then mix in the pieces of the smashed camera as if they were already there.

- Why was the bloodstain in the stage wiped off?

It was to ensure that Hajime would not notice any bloodstains when entering the music hall and seeing Ibuki's corpse. This maintains the illusion that Hiyoko was killed during the ten minutes after Hajime left.

- Shouldn't the culprit have bumped into Mikan if they were moving from the conference room to the music hall while Mikan moved to the call-in room and then back down to check on patients?

They could have missed each other by coincidence, but the culprit wouldn't take such an enormous risk. This alone is enough to convince me that Mikan herself is the culprit.

- What was the murder weapon for Hiyoko?

Probably a scalpel (from the hospital) that Mikan carried just in case something happens.

- Why did Hajime wake up to find Mikan sleeping in his bed?

Mikan never went to Hajime's bed before to wake him up, nor does it fit her character to do so. And this involves going from the 3rd island to the center island and then to the 1st island; that's a long trip just for waking Hajime up, even though Hajime was supposed to wake up by himself and come to the hospital anyway. Her excuse of wanting him to see Nagito's recovery does not justify going to his cottage at all.

I think the true reason why Mikan went to Hajime is to make sure he wakes up early, much earlier than the Monokuma announcement, so she could send him to the hospital. This would help ensure that the video feed occurs before Fuyuhiko shows up; the entire plan would be ruined if Hajime and Fuyuhiko rushed to the music hall together, since one of them would alert the motel residents while the other stays behind to preserve the crime scene, preventing Mikan from making her crucial adjustments (revealing Hiyoko and adding smashed camera pieces).

Mikan going to Hajime's bed also gives herself a solid alibi for the morning; it's impossible for her to have manipulated Ibuki into killing herself in the morning while she was with Hajime for the entire time until the video feed.

- How did Nagito recover in the morning, despite doing really badly the previous night?

The murders happened in the middle of the night, not in the morning. Monokuma said he got rid of the Despair Disease once the killings started, so Nagito was perfectly fine in the morning. Yeah, I know, this whole Despair Disease thing is silly.

- So what did Mikan really do in the morning?

After sleeping in Hajime's bed, she accompanied him to the hospital to see Nagito's recovery. Then she pretended to go up to the call-in room to get some rest, knowing that Hajime would return to the lobby. Mikan instead went to the conference room, which was already set up to resemble the music hall stage. She put on the tote bag, wore the extra gown, lit the candle and started the feed. I think she made sure that the candle had a short lifetime remaining beforehand, so it ended up dying out. She knew that Hajime would then head to the music hall, so she stopped her show and took the camera with her to leave the hospital. She might have smashed the camera in the conference room, but she took the pieces with her.

This is when she bumped into Fuyuhiko, which was both good and bad news for her. The bad news is that she'd have less time to execute the final stage of her plan, but the good news is that it strengthens her alibi and makes it impossible for her to have killed and taped Hiyoko during this time (which she wanted everyone to assume as having happened in this period). Anyway, she told Fuyuhiko she was looking for Ibuki and suggested splitting up. In the brief time that they were separated, she went to the music hall, placed the camera pieces alongside the receiver pieces, tore off the black stickered cover over Hiyoko's death (some small pieces remained attached to the baton lighting) and placed the glue in the music hall doors, before leaving to the motel and meeting up with the others.

- How were the relevant items disposed of?

The previous cases emphasized the no-littering rule, so I have to take this seriously. Mikan would have ample time to clean up bloodstains and the scalpel from murdering Hiyoko in the middle of the night. But for the morning events, I'm not so sure of what she did with the stepladder, rope, and candle. She may have been able to carry the rope and candle with her, but the stepladder should have been left in the conference room. I can't actually recall whether the conference room normally carries a stepladder or not.

- What was the motive for murder?

For once, I think we have an actually good motive here. Mikan was tired of having to take care of three patients, a role forced on her by everyone else. To reduce her own burden for the sake of preserving her sanity, she decided to eliminate one patient. Ibuki's obedience should have made this very easy and simple, with the camera trick ensuring that nobody finds out (she intended to sleep in Hajime's bed anyway). Hiyoko was silenced for being a witness, which Mikan was not expecting at all, but she was able to accommodate this with the ingenious idea of imitating the movie when the corpses are discovered.

- What is the relevance of the movie invitation ticket?

...I actually have no idea.

Case 4

(spoiler break)












Case 4

- So what is up with the funhouse!?

Chiaki was right about the Strawberry and Grape Houses being the same building. However, she assumed that the two were side by side, connected at the tower. I believe the reality is that the Strawberry House is actually located on top of the Grape House. i.e. Strawberry House 1F is right above Grape House 3F. The elevator actually moves in a spiral, going up three floors and opening at the opposite side.

The tower is still the same, however, and it was likely the symmetry with the tower that caused Nagito to suspect the 180-degree compass turn. This would imply that when the button is pushed, the tower room actually moves up/down three floors until it is aligned with the floor in which the button is pushed. Note that the distance to the ceiling would change, but the ceiling is always too high for this to be noticeable (well, maybe Nagito noticed). There is no need to change the lighting or Monokumi projection; the lighting is fixed for each floor.

- What about the strawberry/grape doors in the tower then?

Since the Strawberry and Grape houses are stacked on one side of the tower, the closed door that is visible from the tower does not lead to the Strawberry or Grape house, despite the strawberry/grape image. It was never shown what lies beyond these doors. I believe at least one of these two doors leads to the outside world. My guess is that the one in 4F (grape door seen from Strawberry house) leads to the outside world, while the one in 1F (strawberry door seen from Grape house) leads to the Class Trial Room.

- How did Nagito go to Grape House before the elevator was fixed?

The Octagon (accessed from clearing the Final Dead Room) had a door on the floor. Since this was supposed to be 1F of Strawberry House, the door on the floor would have led to 3F of Grape House. Nagito did say that he could move between the houses without clearing the Final Dead room, so it's possible that this floor door actually led to a network with other openings, i.e., there exists a secret passage between Grape 3F and Strawberry 1F which doesn't involve the Final Dead room.

Note that anyone who cleared the Final Dead room would learn of the funhouse structure (Strawberry stacked above Grape), and would likely even be aware of the secret passage connecting the two.

- What did Nagito learn from observing the window?

It could simply be that he saw the Grape House underneath the Strawberry House, and also that the tower does not have the two houses on either side as previously assumed, thus revealing the truth behind the funhouse structure. However, I get the feeling that he actually saw something even more meaningful, which probably extends beyond the scope of this murder case.

- What's up with the clocks?

We know that Hajime and the girls discovered the body at around 7 am, since they were coming for Monokuma Tai Chi. However, Mechamaru's clock was stopped at around 7:30. This implies that the clocks in the funhouse are actually lagging, i.e., they show an earlier time than the actual time. Kazuichi checked the clocks and found them consistent, so all clocks are equally laggy.

The harder question is on how this lag is relevant. The only explanation I can think of is that this was done to create a discrepancy between the perceptions of the time for Mechamaru and everyone else. I think somebody deliberately changed the time for all the clocks, so this incident would actually involve at least three characters: Mechamaru (who always knows the absolute time and likely never looks at clocks), a person X who changed the clock times, and a person Y who was deceived by the changing clock time and was therefore working under a different time zone as Mechamaru, exactly as X planned. I believe X is the true culprit, while Y is somebody who made plans with Mechamaru to do stuff at certain specific times.

- What was the murder weapon?

The "oil" stains clearly indicate that Mechamaru's head was crushed by the top of the pillar. However, even if there was some way to get the pillar to land on Mechamaru's head (people can't lift it, the hammer was perfectly clean and there were no other useful tools found in this case), this should cause many of the stone fragments to land on top of Mechamaru's body, but the evidence specifically indicates that there are no stone fragments.

The only remaining possibility I can think of is that Mechamaru's head collided with the pillar with a strong enough force to cause his head to get crushed. Specifically, I think Mechamaru actually fell from high up (three floors up, to be specific) and his head landed on the pillar, crushing it, while the rest of the body was also badly damaged (two detachable limps dislocated) when it landed on the floor.

- How did Mechamaru fall from so high up?

At some point, when the tower room was aligned to the Strawberry House (so it was in the fourth floor of the tower), Mechamaru was likely tied up with the strong wire, where the two ends of the wire were tied into a loop that looped into the doorknob of the grape door (the door in 4F that is made to look like it leads to Grape House, while actually leading to an unknown destination). Mechamaru was in sleep mode when this happened.

Then somebody (possibly the same person who tied Mechamaru up) tried to open the door from the Grape House side. When pushing the button, the sensors did not detect any living creatures (sleep mode Mechamaru does not count), so the floor moved down to 1F to align with Grape House. This does suggest that Mechamaru was briefly dangling from the wire, which was supported by the doorknob, but this support was quickly weakening. I believe that Mechamaru woke up shortly after the room moved down, detached two limbs to loosen the wires, and used the remaining hand to grab on to the door knob supporting him. However, this was when the doorknob, no longer able to withstand Mechamaru's weight, ended up breaking out, along with the screws, falling down with Mechamaru and the wire. The scratch marks from the doorknob are from Mechamaru's hand. Mechamaru then landed on the pillar, crushing his head and killing him, while also causing the pillar to collapse. The rest of his body (along with the wire and doorknob) fell on the ground with a strong impact. At this point, the doorknob would come out of the wire loop so it landed somewhere amidst the pillar fragments.

- What about the hammer?

I think the killer deliberately left the hammer in the room after tying Mechamaru up so that those who find the body will assume that the hammer was used to smash Mechamaru. The killer may not have anticipated oil stains, and probably did not predict that Mechamaru would land on the pillar.

It's also possible that the killer brought the hammer with them to Grape House and opened the door, keeping the hammer just in case Mechamaru somehow survived. Since Mechamaru really died, the hammer became unnecessary and would only raise suspicion if others saw the killer with the hammer, so the killer left it in the crime scene.

I'm leaning towards the former, since I think that the one who tied Mechamaru up is not the one who tried to enter from the Grape side.

- How could the culprit have been able to get Mechamaru to enter Sleep Mode in the first place?

There are two reasonable possibilities I can think of. The first is that Mechamaru himself went to sleep mode, likely due to a pre-arranged plan with someone else. For example, Mechamaru may have wanted to see if entering from the Strawberry side and going to sleep mode will allow person Y to enter from the Grape side and release Mechamaru's sleep mode. It's also possible that Mechamaru may have suspected the truth behind the funhouse structure and deliberately waited near the grape door, so that person Y can then check whether Mechamaru is sitting near the strawberry door or the open door.

The other possibility is that somebody else was able to push the Sleep Mode button. Most characters would never have an opportunity to get behind Mechamaru and push the button, but there is one person I can think of that can pull this off: Gundhum. More specifically, one of Gundhum's trained hamsters may be able to climb up Mechamaru's body and push the button.

- If Mechamaru chose to go to sleep mode, why would he allow himself to be so vulnerable?

I believe Mechamaru assumed that person Y was waiting right in front of the Grape side entrance to the tower room and that Y was continuously pushing the button so that she could get in immediately release his sleep mode. So he would not be vulnerable for very long. I think he also deliberately scheduled this plan to occur shortly before Monokuma's Tai Chi (7 am) so that even if somebody else came in, they wouldn't risk doing anything when others are expected to arrive as well. In the worst-case scenario, if nobody is able to get him out of sleep mode, he set up an alarm to wake him up at 7:30 am. This was likely all discussed with person Y, with person X possibly overhearing it all. By changing the clock times, person X broke down Mechamaru's assumptions, with nobody else, not even person Y, was approaching the tower room during the time of the murder.

Since Mechamaru must have really trusted Y, I think the only possible candidate for Y is Akane.

- Shouldn't Monokuma have held a Tai Chi session shortly half an hour before Mechamaru woke up?

I think Mechamaru was sleeping when it was time for the session. Monokuma saw nobody showing up (except maybe the killer) and probably decided not to take immediate action, since he was well-aware that the clocks shifted back. It's very unusual for Monokuma to make important decisions in a way that conveniently benefits the killer, but it is a fact that Mechamaru's alarm broke half an hour after the scheduled Tai Chi session, with nobody else actually participating in any such Tai Chi session on that day.

- So why were the elevator and the Strawberry side entrance to the tower sabotaged?

The Strawberry side entrance to the tower was likely broken to ensure that nobody else accidentally enters and finds Mechamaru tied up, since they would likely free him then. The elevator was likely sabotaged to create the illusion that the culprit was in the Grape House when the body was discovered.

The reality is likely that the killer was aware of the true funhouse structure and used the secret passageway to return to the Strawberry House. This would imply that the killer is somebody who was in the Strawberry house when the body was discovered, i.e., one of Fuyuhiko, Kazuichi, Gundum, or Nagito.

- What about the lock and chain on the strawberry door in 1F of the tower room?

Anyone who was aware of the funhouse structure would know that it's useless to seal this door; the door was already sealed and was never opened during the time in which they were living in the funhouse. I have two theories on why this was locked: either the person who locked it was not aware of the true structure of the funhouse (so they falsely assumed that locking this door would really cause the tower to be inaccessible from the Strawberry side) or that the person knew about the truth but wanted to create the illusion that the tower is inaccessible from the Strawberry side. The elevator sabotage makes me believe the latter.

In particular, the culprit probably hoped that Kazuichi would not even bother to try fixing the Strawberry side entrance to the tower, since the lock would have implied it to be pointless, so none of the characters would become aware of the truth and would not even see the Grape door with its missing doorknob. Kazuichi wouldn't even have the parts to fix it, and the killer wouldn't expect anybody to pressure him to use Mechamaru's parts when the lock is in place. Unfortunately, Nagito was aware of the truth and betrayed the killer's expectations.

- What was with the 5:30 am alarm in the Strawberry House?

I think the alarm was deliberately placed to coincide with the rumble (Mechamaru crashing), thus creating an alibi for the three in the room who were dealing with the alarm clock and heard the rumble. This implies that the one who set this up was one of Gundhum, Kazuichi, or Fuyuhiko, and that this culprit knew that somebody would try entering the tower from the Grape House at 5:30 am.

- Why didn't Nagito hear the alarm?

I honestly have no idea. Maybe he was exploring Strawberry 3F (since there seems to be nothing special there) or he was using the bathroom in Strawberry 1F. I am pretty sure that Nagito's absence here is important, but I can't really come up with a good reason why.

- So who tried entering the tower from the Grape side in accordance with the killer's plans to kill Mechamaru?

Whoever tried to enter from the Grape side ended up causing (intentional or not) Mechamaru to fall to his death. For any person except the culprit, they would have seen the corpse and alerted the others. However, the culprit deliberately set up an alarm at Strawberry House to create an alibi for the rumble. So who could this have been?

My answer: it wasn't a person. It was one of Gundhum's trained hamsters.

- Wait what?

So, here is my theory of the entire event: Gundhum had completed the Final Dead game at some point (but likely took the 1/6 Russian roulette instead of the 5/6) and learned the secret of the funhouse (Strawberry House being stacked on top of the Grape House). Gundhum then made a careful plan to kill Mechamaru with a very strong alibi. First, he set all clocks in both houses to lag by 2 hours. This means 7 am (which is when Monokuma Tai Chi starts) would appear as 5 am in all clocks. He additionally set a 5:30 am alarm for the clock in the Strawberry Lounge.

Before all this, I think Mechamaru might have scheduled something for 7:30 am (after Tai Chi), possibly training with Akane, and set the alarm accordingly. Gundhum may have been aware of this meeting.

Gundhum was also aware that Mechamaru doesn't check clocks due to relying on his own internal time, which is always the correct time. Mechamaru left for Monokuma's Tai Chi a litle before 7 am, which Fuyuhiko observed. Note that Fuyuhiko's account suggests that Mechamaru did not notice Fuyuhiko, so Mechamaru didn't get suspicious about others not joining in.

Mechamaru entered the tower room from the Grape House (required for Monokuma Tai Chi) and found only Gundhum (everyone else was asleep, and anybody who woke up naturally would see 5 am in the clock and go back to sleep). One of Gundhum's hamsters snuck up behind Mechamaru's neck and pushed the sleep mode button. He may have been able to kill Mechamaru at that time, but he instead had plans for a timed murder that would give him the perfect alibi. Gundhum then left the tower room (from the Grape side) but assigned a trained hamster to wait in front of the button.

Gundhum then went to Strawberry House (through either the elevator or the secret passageway) entered the tower room from the Strawberry side (which is possible since Mechamaru was in sleep mode inside), and used the wire to tie Mechamaru to the grape door (the one that's always locked). He probably also left the hammer here now, since he wanted others to find something to consider as the murder weapon. He might have been unaware that there would be oil stains in Mechamaru's death. He then left the tower room and sabotaged the button so that nobody else would accidentally enter the room (from the Strawberry side) and ruin his careful plan.

Right before 7:30 am (clock time 5:30 am), the trained hamster waiting in front of the Grape side entrance to the tower room kicked the button and pushed it. It's possible that Gundhum may have set an alarm for 5:29 am in Grape 1F to trigger the hamster's action. Mechamaru was still asleep, but the floor moved down to align with the Grape side entrance. Mechamaru was literally suspended from the doorknob, which would not have lasted long.

At 7:30 am, the alarm in the lounge clock (for 5:30 am) rang, with all three of Gundhum, Kazuichi and Fuyuhiko gathering in the lounge to shut it off, securing Gundhum's alibi. Mechamaru's own internal alarm of 7:30 am also woke him up, and he detached two of his limbs to loosen the wires, allowing his remaining arm to grab on to the doorknob (hence the scratches). It was futile, however, and the doorknob couldn't withstand Mechamaru's weight any further, causing it to break off (with screws). Mechamaru happened to land head-first on a pillar, crushing his head and killing him, and causing the pillar to crash down with Mechamaru's body lying on the floor (but no rock fragments would end up on top of his body). This was the rumble that everyone heard, including the three guys dealing with the 5:30 alarm, securing Gundhum's alibi.

Afterwards, Gundhum took the elevator to the Grape House and then sabotaged the controls (from the Grape side) to further ensure that nobody would suspect Strawberry House residents of murder. He retrieved the hamster that he left behind, (possibly turned off the 5:29 am if it was still ringing), entered the tower room, and placed the lock and chain in the strawberry door (despite knowing that nobody could go through it anyway) to discourage anyone from trying to fix the Strawberry side entrance of the tower room. He then utilized the secret passageway (which he learned of after clearing the Final Dead) to move from the Grape House to the Strawberry House.

The previous paragraph is not actually necessary; Gundhum may have sabotaged the controls earlier between 7 am and 7:30 am (right after putting Mechamaru to sleep but before tying him up) and placed the lock+chain on the strawberry door at that time too. This would mean that a hamster would be stuck in Grape House, but it's possible that this hamster was further trained to use the secret passageway to return to the Strawberry House.

- Are you serious?

Yes. I think there is a good chance that I am completely off, especially with the whole idea of hamster accomplices, but this is the best I could come up with that addresses ALL of the evidence, unless I missed something.

- What was the culprit's motive?

Escaping from the funhouse? I don't think there were hints of anybody here (not just Gundhum) as having a deeper motive to kill Mechamaru.

Case 5

(spoiler break)












Case 5

For several reasons, I actually don't think that this case will be resolved during this class trial, so I probably won't try too hard to figure out everything.

- What happened to Nagito before he died?

Yeah, I'm jumping straight into this because a lot of the evidence points to a very specific scenario. Nagito was lying there with his limbs tied up and mouth taped, as we can see. However, his left hand was likely gripping the whip of the spear. I believe the spear whip forms a pulley, with the iron weight on one side and the spear on the other, with the whip supported by the ceiling girder above. The culprit set this up so that if Nagito were to release the whip, the spear would fall straight to his stomach and kill him. The culprit then proceeded to torture Nagito by using the military knife to stab various parts of Nagito's body, while being careful to avoid any fatal wounds.

This is consistent with pretty much all of the evidence on Nagito's body. Most of the whip had no bloodstains, since they were up above; only the spear and the area near the iron weight (the lower parts of the pulley) were bloody. And even near the iron weight, there is a section with no blood, which is where Nagito was holding the whip. The bloodstains on Nagito's left hand also indicate that he was gripping something.

- Why was Nagito tortured?

It was not for the purpose of gaining any information from him, since the duct tape prevented him from speaking. As far as I can see, the culprit simply wanted to torture Nagito, and then have him die. However, this method of killing is very significant for the handling of the Class Trial.

- Why was the spear pulley set up?

I believe that the reason behind this set-up (as opposed to the culprit killing Nagito directly once they were satisfied with the torture) was to pressure Nagito to release the whip and cause his own death. As a result, for the purposes of the Class Trial, the "murderer" for Nagito's death should be Nagito himself, since it would be Nagito that deliberately released the whip and caused himself to die. The true culprit would not be considered the murderer, despite forcing this depraved situation on to Nagito.

However, I believe that if the torture causes Nagito to lose the strength to grip the whip (e.g., if Nagito passes out from blood loss), then it should not be considered as Nagito killing himself, since he had no control over this fate. In such a case, the murderer would be the culprit that inflicted the torture. I believe this is the reason why Nagito continued to grip the whip and endure so much torture, despite knowing that he would die anyway. Basically, I think Nagito HOPED that his will would be greater than his physical endurance, so that the culprit would ultimately become the murderer. I don't think the crime scene indicates whether or not he was correct, but I want to believe in Nagito's hope.

I will still refer to the culprit as the one who tortured Nagito, even if they are not considered to be the murderer with respect to the Class Trial. It's possible that even the culprit does not know whether Nagito died from losing his will or his phy

- So the culprit was not even aiming for graduation?

Indeed. As we can see from the setup and the torture, the culprit really hoped for the outcome in which Nagito kills himself. In this case, the Class trial would either kill everyone or kill no one, with no possibility for the culprit escaping. It seems that the culprit's motive was entirely restricted to torturing Nagito, and have him die in such a manner such that the culprit is able to remain alive while the Despair Game continues.

- Is the traitor the culprit?

Most likely. The fact that the culprit wanted Nagito to kill himself (instead of killing Nagito directly) suggests that the culprit has an ulterior motive for wanting the Despair Game to continue. Nobody except the traitor should have a special interest in the continuation of the Despair Game itself, especially since they never expected to find themselves participating in such a game. The traitor, on the other hand, was likely sent in for some objective involving the Despair Game, so they are the only person that should have a motive for killing in a manner that avoids graduation.

It is possible that the culprit is not the traitor, in which case their objective was simply to eliminate Nagito (who is a danger to everyone) and allow the remaining students to live on for two more days until the game ends, hoping for a happy ending there. However, I can't imagine that such a naive and optimistic person would actually be able to set up such a heartless torture session for Nagito, so I very much doubt this to be the case.

- Was Nagito expecting such an outcome?

It's very likely that Nagito was fully expecting to die, which is why he set up video recordings to be played on the laptop, including one that is triggered by the detonation. He also mentioned that Monokuma does not need to provide a motive.

I believe Nagito's goal here was simply to eliminate the traitor, even if he sacrifices his own life for it. His plan was to pressure the traitor into becoming either a murderer or a victim, which likely contradicts the traitor's objectives. Nagito was too much of a threat to the Future Foundation, forcing the traitor to get involved. Note that Nagito was able to enter the Ancient Ruins, so he might have caused more chaos there.

In any case, Nagito wanted to either identify the traitor and kill them directly, or get killed by the traitor while hoping that the other students would be able to execute the traitor in the Class Trial. The traitor could not ignore Nagito but set up the torture session in order to pressure Nagito into killing himself. It was very risky for the traitor, but there was no other way to stop Nagito without involving the traitor in murder. If the traitor were to commit murder directly (as recognized by the Class Trial), I believe this would ruin the traitor's objective, regardless of whether the traitor is found guilty or not.

It's also possible that Nagito actually cooperated with the traitor in this torture session, i.e., the traitor presented this challenge of testing Nagito's will vs physical endurance, and Nagito accepted it, believing in the strength of his will and in the ability for the other students to identify and vote for the culprit. There may not have been any struggle involved in getting Nagito all tied up.

I believe even the traitor is unaware of whether Nagito's death was caused by losing the will to resist (so Nagito is considered to be the murderer in the Class Trial) or losing the strength to hold on (so the culprit is considered to be the murderer in the Class Trial). The traitor likely has no choice but to hope for the former, so even this outcome was quite a gamble for the traitor. Nagito was very thorough in cornering the traitor here.

- So what is the traitor's objective?

Based on Nagito's behavior and the torture session setup, I believe the traitor's objective is simply to cause the game to end naturally after the timer runs out, while the traitor is alive. This also means that the traitor must ensure that nobody (including the traitor himself/herself) will successfully graduate.

It's possible that this entire Despair Game is simply a test for this single traitor, to see whether they can overcome despair and survive until the game ends. I can see why Nagito would be incredibly pissed to learn something like this, that everyone except the traitor is simply a disposable tool utilized for this traitor's objective.

- Now for a completely different direction, how did the fire start?

After the culprit finished torturing Nagito (I'm not sure if Nagito was dead or alive at this point), they likely left the lighter on, but there was nothing for it to burn. However, the culprit carefully and deliberately set up the stacks of Monokuma panels, such that toppling the first one would cause all the others topple in sequence like dominos. One of these stacks (probably at the end) would reach the lighter, therefore causing the fire to spread.

- How did the culprit leave the warehouse in this state?

I don't think this is an actual closed room. The culprit could have pulled the last Monokuma panel while closing the door from outside. While this would create some resistance when trying to open the door normally, it should be easy for Akane to force her way through, but this would end up causing the fire.

- What was the purpose of the fire?

The natural assumption is that it was used to burn away something that was inside the warehouse, but... I can't seem to find any evidence that could hint at what this might be.

- What's up with the bloody Monokuma plushie, the MP3 player, and the clean right sleeve?

I honestly have no idea. I think it's important that the bloody Monookuma resembles Nagito's death, but I'm not sure what that could mean, nor on why there would be actual blood there. The truth bullet seems to emphasize that it was near the origin of the fire (oil lighter), but I still can't figure out how this is relevant.

As for the MP3 player, it was apparently playing some loud music, so I suspect it was used to drown out the sound of something else. I considered that it might've been used to cover Nagito's dying scream, but the tape would prevent him from screaming anyway.

As for the clean right sleeve, I'm not sure how the rope could burn out without also burning Nagito's clothes. It doesn't make sense for the burned rope to be tied to the sleeve afterwards, since nobody else could've been present with Nagito during the fire.

- How did Nagito know that the bombs were fake?

While it's possible that he simply tested one somewhere, I think it's more likely that he learned of it from Monomi's diary, since the truth bullet emphasized that Monomi watched Sonia as she tried to blow up the Ancient Ruins door.

- Who was writing in Monomi's diary?

Monomi is affiliated with the Future Foundation iirc, but like Monokuma, I am pretty sure she is simply a robot of sorts, being controlled by someone else. Most likely, the diary was written by the traitor, who is able to see everything Monomi sees. This would also explain why the diary was found in Nagito's room; he likely stole it from Monomi's house and figured out that it would have the traitor's writing on it, but it seems that the traitor disguised the handwriting (making it look like Monomi wrote it) and was careful to avoid writing anything that would imply the traitor's identity. I believe this also means that the traitor would write about themselves in third person, as seen through Monomi's eyes.

- Was the poison used?

The blue aluminium paper was likely used to seal the poison, so it seems that the bottle was at least unsealed in Nagito's room. It's likely that he did use it, but I have no idea where he did so.

- What's up with the gas mask and gloves?

I think Nagito intended to use the gas mask alongside the vaporized poison, but it doesn't seem like he had the opportunity to do so. I can't see how the gas mask and gloves relates to anything that did happen.

- When was Nagito restrained and tortured?

Well, it had to be after the other six saw Nagito in the restaurant in the morning, but before the six met up in the plushie factory, since the six were together from that point on. In other words, the torture session happened while the culprit was supposed to be searching their respective island, or when they were supposed to be heading to the plushie base. Note that Sonia joined the rest of them later, due to verifying that the "bombs" (fireworks) at the military base were missing.

- When was the spear retrieved?

While it's possible that the spear was retrieved in the previous day, I don't think the characters could have kept it hidden if they brought it to the restaurant on the day of the murder, and most of them would not have had an opportunity to take the spear after that. It's possible that they kept the spear in the warehouse before that though, but that would imply that they knew of Nagito being in the warehouse the day before. Also, if the spear was taken before, then Hajime should have noticed the missing spear then, when searching 4th Island.

- Who is the culprit?

With only six other people, I think I can consider them one by one, ordered by least likely to most likely.

* Chiaki: Not the traitor. This is confirmed by her scanning the ID on the detonation device and being rejected. She seemed to be moving really slow when searching her island, which is suspicious, but I don't think she is the culprit since she isn't the traitor.

* Akane: She is the only one who had an opportunity to retrieve the spear from her cottage, if the spear was retrieved in the previous day. If that was the case, however, Hajime should've noticed the missing spear while searching 4th Island, so I doubt Akane is the culprit.

* Fuyuhiko: He was in charge of searching the 5th Island, so he had the greatest opportunity to find Nagito and torture him. Nobody else would have more time to torture Nagito than Fuyuhiko does. Despite this, I don't think he's the culprit because he would have no opportunity to retrieve the spear from Nezumi Castle. He was the one who notified Hajime of the bomb's location, so he did go to 4th Island, but he would have missed the golden opportunity to torture Nagito by then. I also have a meta reason for believing in Fuyuhiko's innocence, where Fuyuhiko was the true culprit that caused Mahiru's death, while despite Peko being recognized as the murderer by the Class Trial; this is similar to the torture session surrounding Nagito's death, and I doubt the game would have Fuyuhiko as the culprit again in the same manner.

* Kazuichi: It's a pretty standard tactic for the traitor to be the one that accuses everyone else of being a traitor. What's really notable is that he was very behaving very suspiciously when Nagito presented the scenario of having the traitor scan their ID. He kept trying to find excuses to oppose the obvious solution to have everyone scan their IDs one by one. He persisted even after Chiaki scanned her ID with no side effects. While this suggests that he might be the traitor, I don't see how he could have the opportunity to retrieve the spear from 4th island and torture Nagito. There are other explanations for his suspicious behavior, like that maybe he didn't bring his handbook, e.g., he hides the handbook under his doormat so he can enter his cottage without worrying about losing the handbook when he goes outside. I think, however, that he might actually suspect Sonia of being the traitor and didn't want to expose her.

* Sonia: She was spending a long time on the military base. If all she wanted to do was check if the bombs (fireworks) were there, she shouldn't have taken so much time. After checking the bombs, she would have a good opportunity to torture Nagito and setting up the warehouse before joining the others. Furthermore, she was the one who refused to believe that there was a traitor; it makes sense for the actual traitor to assert that a traitor does not exist, in the hopes of pressuring others to stop looking for one.

* Hajime: That's right, my top suspect is the narrator himself! My biggest reason is actually kinda a meta one: when he checked Nazumi Castle, the game did not show the inside. The game said he checked it and didn't find any bombs, but did not show the inside of the castle. I found this odd back then when I didn't even know that the spear would be relevant, and now it becomes far more suspicious upon reflection. In any case, he had the biggest opportunity to retrieve the spear, which was on the island he was in charge of searching. Even if the spear was retrieved earlier, he would have noticed it missing in Nezumi Castle when he searched.

As for torturing Nagito, he was the second to last person to arrive at the Monokuma plushie factory (Sonia was last), so he probably stopped by the warehouse first and tortured Nagito. Admittedly, he probably didn't have a lot of time (compared to Sonia), but it might have been enough anyway. He is still the only one with an opportunity to get the spear AND to torture Nagito.

There is also his memory loss, how he was supposedly unaware of being a Reserve student. I actually wasn't too careful about which claims were written in blue (reflecting his actual thoughts), so it's even possible that he knew all along that he was the traitor and was well aware of his status in the game. He might have known that he was a Reserve student too. It also explains why a Reserve student is even participating in the game in the first place. Of course, others have pointed out how suspicious Hajime is, but it's actually possible for them to be correct for a change.

Another reason for me to suspect Hajime is that I think it would make perfect sense for the traitor to go through Nagito's stuff and retrieve all of the data he has on the Future Foundation and the other students. In fact, I would expect this to be part of the killer's motive for killing Nagito. However, it was only Hajime and Chiaki that visited Nagito's cottage, and Chiaki is confirmed as not being the traitor, so that only leaves Hajime. We know that nobody else visited the cottage since we witnessed Monokuma opening the door, and the investigation period ended while Hajime and Chiaki were inside the cottage.

Nagito was likely suspicious of Hajime too. While most of what he says might not be taken at face value, he was very explicit about claiming that the file he found only had information on Hajime. If Hajime is the traitor, this would have really terrified him, because it would be very suspicious for him to be singled out, allowing others to interpret it as him being the traitor. It makes sense for Hajime to seek to eliminate Nagito and then find out what the file actually contained.

Nagito also explicitly told Hajime about a book he read about the protagonist actually being the killer (and being aware of it too), where the story was very cleverly written to avoid exposing it early. This may have been actual foreshadowing for this game too.

- Some thoughts about culprit Hajime

I'm not exactly sure, but I think the blue text (Hajime's thoughts) seemed mostly neutral about the evidence around Nagito's corpse (i.e., the thoughts could fit the murderer as well) while being more subjective with regards to Nagito's actions and plans, e.g., Hajime seemed genuinely clueless about Nagito's poison. Even if there were thoughts about not knowing who killed Nagito, it might actually be referring to whether Nagito's death was due to losing the will to endure the pain (so Nagito killed himself) or if he lost his strength to hold on to the whip (so Hajime would be the killer then).

It's interesting to note that if Hajime was the traitor, he was actually the one writing Monomi's diary. As I mentioned before, he would've written about himself in third-person anyway, but it's still interesting that he would write it as if the writer assumes that Hajime is faking the memory loss. I think he was being completely honest about what he wrote, probably intending for the diary to serve as an accurate log of events.

Case 6

(spoiler break)












Case 6

Uhhh, there isn't really much to analyze. I'm in front of the big red door, but everything so far was just a giant infodump. The only point that bugged me was on how the founder of Hope's Peak Academy has the same name as the "Ultimate Hope" student (that apparently killed 13 students). I suppose the real antagonist for this game is whoever installed the Monokuma virus, but that shouldn't even be one of the 16 students I'm familiar with in this game, so it doesn't seem to be a relevant point. There are some random questions, like on how Hajime survived while everyone else in the Reserve department apparently died, but this really doesn't seem like a "case" to be "solved". I guess I'll just go through the red door and enjoy the show. I hope it's not just more infodumps, since I'm getting really tired of them.