DanganRonpaV3 Theories

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


Case 1

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- Is this a true closed room?

Mostly. Both doors were rigged with sensors attached to cameras. So everyone who entered through any of the two doors would be snapped by the corresponding camera. The only other opening was the air vent, which connects to the classroom that Shuichi and Kaede were in. It would compromise mystery integrity if there were any other openings.

- Can the sensors/cameras be turned off?

I believe the sensors can be turned off, but this would require approaching the sensor first, causing it to take a snapshot anyway. The camera is film-based, so it should not be possible to erase this snapshot unless the film itself is tampered with, which I believe would have been reported if that were the case. Note that Shuichi did say he can turn off the receiver, but this is different from turning off the sensors itself.

- What is the sequence for the photos?

First, Rantaro entered from the sliding door, got snapped by the door camera. Then he opened the bookcase, which got snapped by the bookcase camera. Then he must have moved towards the bookcase camera, which snapped him again. After that, Kaede and the others all entered, with three snaps in total. Then Shuichi removed all sensors and cameras, getting snapped by the door cameras.

- When did Rantaro die?

It must have been after he moved towards the bookcase camera, but before Kaede and the others entered.

- Why did Rantaro move towards the bookcase camera?

He possibly noticed the sensor+camera, got suspicious, and decided to turn it off.

- How did Rantaro die then?

Two possibilities come to mind. One is that this was a remote murder, i.e., a trap of sorts, where the killer was not even in the room, but Rantaro's approach of the bookcase camera triggered a trap that killed him. The second is that somebody was in the air vent, and may have thrown the shortput from inside the air vent. Note that they could not have actually entered the library through the air vent, since Kaede's books would have been disturbed.

- Problems with trap theory?

The trap would require some elaborate mechanism to fire a shortput. It seems to be linked to the sensors, but Shuichi and Kaede were together when they set up the sensors and the sensors were activated right before they left.

- Problems with shortput air venting?

The timing. The bookcase camera only snaps when the bookcase moves. First snap is when it opened, so the second snap must be when it closed. However, Kaede saw the bookcase close right when she opened the door, so somebody would have to have been hiding in the air vent right at that time. This also means they had to enter the classroom right after Shuichi and Kaede left it. The only ones who lack an alibi to do this are characters who would have no clue about the sensor setup, so their behavior makes no sense.

- Was the killer aware of the sensor setups?

They must have been, because otherwise they would not have resorted to remote killing / air vent shortputting. This leaves only three suspects: Kaede, Shuichi, or Miu. Miu is unlikely because she should not have known the exact setup, but she designed the tech and may have guessed its application.

- Motive for murder?

If it was a trap murder, it's possible that the motive was to kill the mastermind if they tried to tamper with the sensors/camera, since this could have negated their original plan of snapping them (e.g., mastermind goes in, gets snapped, but steals the camera so they are never revealed anyway; so they laid a death trap if the mastermind attempts this). If it was an air vent shortput, it might be because they saw Rantaro turning off the sensor, which they did not expect, so they panicked and killed him before he could remove the evidence.

- Significance of Gonta in the AV Room?

No clue, because he didn't leave it for sure. He may have seen through the exit though, probably observing Rantaro entering the library. Or it could be the other way around: Rantaro observed to make sure Gonta was still in the AV Room and didn't sneak out anywhere.

- Significance of Tsumugi going to the bathroom?

She could technically have gone into the classroom and air vent and thrown the shortput, but this makes no sense at all.

- Significance of Kaede sweeping with the broomstick?

This really bugged me for some reason. Maybe it was dusty because somebody already used the air vent before and left dust on the classroom? The timing does not fit with the murder, however.

- Significance of the Monopad in Rantaro's hand?

Maybe the card reader actually just reads the monopad? I know there was a thin slot with the dust and all, but maybe the monopad is thin enough for it...

- Why didn't the murderer graduate for free?

My guess is that they killed Rantaro because they thought he was the mastermind, hoping to end the game entirely that way with no further deaths. Once they saw that he wasn't the mastermind, they probably felt terrible for killing Rantaro and also couldn't bear to leave the others in this dangerous killing game. So they decided to atone by allowing the Class Trial to occur, so there is an opportunity to be executed.

- Who is the murderer?

Either Shuichi or Kaede, since they were aware of the sensor setup and may have been able to set up the trap behind the other person's back. Leaning towards Shuichi because Kaede is the protag, of course. Miu knows of the tech, but she'd have no opportunity to enter the Library to set up the trap afterwards, and has an alibi for shortput venting.

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Case 2

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- Where was Ryoma's body at the start of the magic show?

Most likely in the piranha tank. Angie said it seemed crammed in there, and Gonta did not see anyone inside the big tank.

- Why wasn't Ryoma's body eaten then?

My guess is that there was a divider, probably the square piece of glass, separating Ryoma from the cramped piranhas. This piece of glass was found intact later on.

- How did Ryoma's body enter the piranha tank?

This is where it gets weird. It seems that the corpse was moved from Ryoma's Lab Shower Room (though the window) across the pool, to the Gym (through the other window). It seems likely there was a long rope connecting the two windows. The rope probably had two components: a regular rope on the Gym side that was later found next to the tank, and the tennis net wire on the Ryoma's Lab Shower Room side that was later found in the lab. Ryoma's corpse was handcuffed so that the handcuffs would slide across the long rope, carrying the body from the Lab Shower to the Gym.

- Okay, the rope would carry the body across, but how would the body fall into the tank then?

I'm imagining the rope as being a long loop of sorts. From the Lab Shower Window it extends to the gym window frame and loops back into the Lab Shower window. The handcuffs would slide through two parts of the rope at once. Once the body gets stuck in the window, the culprit cuts one end from the Lab Shower, causing Ryoma's weight to fall into the tank, with the rope on that side falling nearby, while the culprit keeps the other side of the rope, which is the tennis net cable.

- Significance of the inner tube?

Not entirely sure, but maybe it was needed to secure the rope on the lab shower side. After the rope was cut, the inner tube and part of the rope fell into the pool.

- Significance of the piece of fabric?

Likely from Ryoma's clothes. A small piece may have fallen off while he was sliding across.

- Significance of the window marks?

Probably just from Ryoma's stainless steel handcuffs rubbing into them.

- When was the body moved?

Most likely the night before. It couldn't have been in the morning, since people were gathered in the gym to watch the show. Some of the evidence seems to be focused on the period from 9 pm to 11 pm, but I don't see why it could not have been later than that. I suppose the pool being off-limits at nighttime would suggest it happened before 10 pm, but my understanding was that this only referred to the swimming pool itself and not the pool room.

- Where was Ryoma killed?

Likely in the sink of his own Lab Shower. Hey, he's pretty small, and the sink is quite big...

- What was the motive for murder?

The videos, probably? My guess is that the videos were given in pairs, e.g., A gets B's video and B gets A's video. This would explain why Kaito started bonding with Shuichi, and how Angie and Himiko started to really get along. The culprit likely noticed these pair bondings and realized that Ryoma must have the culprit's video, since the culprit had Ryoma's video. I think the culprit was really disturbed that Ryoma learned something of their past.

- Who is the culprit?

Let's start by elimination. Shuuichi, Keebo, Kiyo, Tsumugi, Tenko, Angie, and Himiko were being held by Gonta and Kokichi. Kokichi himself left at 9 pm, but he was interrogated by Kirumi until 10 pm, so they're both safe too. This leaves only three people: Maki, Miu, and Kaito.

Kaito doesn't fit with the video-pairing theory, since he'd be paired with Shuichi then. His behavior in general also really doesn't feel like he was involved in any murders.

Maki is certainly very suspicious, with how protective she is of her Lab, and she likely isn't the Ultimate Child Caregiver that she claims to be. However, I also don't think she was lying about standing guard on her Lab, because she really is that protective of it. Nevertheless, if she realized somebody watched her video, she might take the risk of leaving her Lab to kill Ryoma.

Miu is an interesting case. My main suspicion is that Gonta couldn't capture her because she used her "womanly charms", and this fits with Kokichi saying he saw a woman in her underwear in the Courtyard. However, I find it ridiculous that she would remove her clothes simply to repel Gonta. Once we consider Ryoma's death, it starts to make sense. Drowning is a difficult task, and Ryoma is pretty strong (but small), so the culprit would likely get completely drenched when trying to drown Ryoma. Miu couldn't risk letting anyone see her all drenched, and it would be inconvenient for herself as well, so she removed her clothes, which is probably when Gonta encountered her. She made her way back to the room in her underwear, which is probably when Kokichi saw her.

Miu also fits in that her inventor sense would've allowed her to design and implement the rope system to safely move Ryoma's corpse across to the Gym successfully. On the whydunnit side, while Maki is still stronger in this area, I noticed that Miu is quite docile when anyone stands up against her, suggesting that she probably has a secret vulnerability that she tries to hide with her tough (and profane) girl act, so she would be utterly terrified at the possibility that someone (Ryoma) could learn of her secret.

Overall, I'm leaning towards Miu as the culprit, with Maki as a close second.

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Case 3

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- Is Angie's Lab a perfect closed room?

Sure seems like it. Both doors were locked from the inside. There are two ways I can think of in how this was set up.

The first is that the cylindrical knob lock can be locked from the inside while the door is open, and then the door can be closed from the outside while in a locked state. This is my experience with cylindrical locks in general. However, if this were possible, it would utterly negate the whole emphasis on the closed room.

The second is a far crazier idea, which is that the back door has a very sensitive lock, where the handle slides at the slightest touch. The culprit may have swung the hanging Kaede doll (with the gold sword) away from the door like a pendulum, and then quickly left through this back door. When the Kaede doll swings back, the gold sword hits the sliding lock handle, causing it to lock. This would explain why the four wax dolls were hung upside-down; only one was needed for this trick, but it would have been suspicious if it was just one.

I know, both of these ideas are really stupid, but there's so little information about Angie's room that I couldn't think of anything else.

- What happened to Angie?

The clues suggest that the culprit did some stuff with Angie, with the duct tape in her hair and the laceration on her forehead. Even the dried bloodstain under the floorboards of the seance room might suggest that Angie was injured over there. However, I have no clue why she was there or what the culprit was doing to her.

- Why was Angie killed?

Probably because her student council cult leader overlord behavior was being too annoying, especially after she broke a Flashback Light. It's possible that she was tortured, but I'm not quite sure why.

- Why was Tenko killed?

Because it's standard for DanganRonpa Case 3 to have two victims. Seriously though, my guess is that the culprit may have feared that the seance would actually work, and it would expose them, so they intended to sabotage the seance by killing the medium. I don't think Tenko specifically was targeted, since they only decided on her as the medium at the last minute.

- How did she die?

She couldn't have been killed through the covering, since there were no holes or tears in the white cover, nor could it have been removed when a 175-pound dog statue was over it. The only possibility is that she was killed from under the cage. Specifically, the killer pierced her neck with the scythe from under the floorboards.

- What's with the neatly cut crosspiece?

The neat cutting suggests that it was done beforehand for some intended purpose. I don't think it relates to Tenko's death, since that seemed to be a hasty reaction. I think the crosspiece somehow relates to what happened to Angie in this room.

- Who killed Angie and Tenko?

It was said that Angie was locked in her lab all night and would not have opened it for anyone except a student council member, so those are the obvious suspects. However, I think Tenko's death reveals an important clue: it was completely dark in the room and under the floorboards. Given the improvised nature of Tenko's death, the culprit may not have prepared any matches or candles to light under the floorboards. Instead, the culprit may have had their own source of light: a nice upgrade that Miu added. Yeah, I'm suggesting that Keebo might be the killer, but there is honestly too little to work with.

A minor note: Keebo did not volunteer to join the seance, but seemed annoyed that he was being kicked out of it. Possibly he was thinking about how to sabotage the seance, but he lost his chance after being kicked out. So he quickly moved to the next room, went under the floorboards, turned on his light, and killed the medium before the seance could be completed.

- So what was the loud sound during the seance?

I think it was Keebo dropping down under the floorboards in the next room. Humans wouldn't make much noise, but Keebo is all metal.

- Significance of Kokichi injuring his head?

I think it was just to establish that the next room had a loose floorboard too, with a crosspiece cut off. The culprit likely used this next room to get down and kill Tenko. I'm still confused about the purpose behind cutting off the crosspieces though.

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Case 4

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- What is the secret of the Virtual World?

I believe the Virtual World does not have any borders on the east or west ends of the map. Instead, the two ends wrap around each other, i.e., going further east on the east border causes one to come out of the west border and vice versa. This is consistent with the map, where there is a path going east to the chapel and it connects nicely with the path that goes west from the mansion. The horizontal part of the river also flows smoothly across the border.

In fact, I think it's possible that the original map is supposed to have the chapel in the west and the mansion at the east, where the east/west border is the map-loading line. It makes more sense that the loading time is actually for warping the avatar from the extreme east to the extreme west or vice versa.

- So what was the wall that Miu added?

Originally, I think the map did not have any y-aligned walls. The only boundary walls where the two x-aligned walls. Miu added a single y-aligned wall east of the chapel and west of the mansion, which the other characters assumed were the east and west borders of the map. Therefore, as far as the other characters are concerned, the map could be represented as having four walls along the four borders, with the mansion being located west, the chapel located east, and a map-loading line in the middle.

The only way for the human characters to travel between the mansion and the chapel was by crossing the bridge. But for non-human objects, which includes Miu's avatar, they can move east from the chapel to arrive at the mansion area, and vice versa. This also includes the bridge as well, where the eastward current carried it to the southeast of the chapel, causing it to continue in the river from the southwest of the mansion, before it got stuck in the rock near the mansion.

- So why did Miu do all this?

I think it's very likely that she was planning to commit murder. She deliberately avoided telling the others that dying in the virtual world would kill the person in real life. After dividing the characters into groups, she made a show of letting the bridge fall, giving the impression that she (along with Keebo, Maki, and Himiko) was trapped in the chapel side of the map. In reality, however, her avatar, as a non-human object, could travel across the y-aligned wall to reach the mansion freely.

Specifically, I think her plan was to go to the roof to meet up with Kokichi as planned, and then she was going to touch him to trigger the paralysis effect. Once he was immobilized, she could smash him with the hammer, kill him, and then use her cell phone to force him to log out. Then she could return to the chapel and continue searching. Even if the other characters ever suspect that Kokichi's death occurred from the game, she could claim that she was trapped on the chapel side with Keebo, Maki, and Himiko, and so these four must all be innocent.

- So how did her plan get messed up?

For one, it seems that Tsumugi saw her to the west of the mansion, through the window. Miu likely did not realize this. But when Miu approached the roof (to meet Kokichi), she likely noticed that it was Kaito in the roof. She decided to get rid of him by using her cellphone to forcibly log him out.

After that... I'm not sure what happened. Logically, she should have been waiting in the roof for Kokichi. But Kokichi later claimed that the roof was locked and that he continued searching the salon. Was this while Kaito was still in the roof, or was it after Miu arrived at the roof? If it's the former, what did Miu do after seeing the roof locked, and how did the roof eventually become unlocked for the others to later investigate? If it's the latter, why did she lock the roof if she was planning to meet Kokichi?

- How does the roof lock work?

I really hate that Tsumugi's explanation of how the lock works isn't very clear. While they were on the roof, she said the door can be locked from the "outside". Outside the roof, so from indoors? Or did she mean that it could be locked from the roof side? I guess if Kokichi couldn't enter the roof, this would suggest that the door can only be locked from the roof side.

If the roof can be locked from indoors, causing anyone in the roof to be trapped, then I have an idea on what happened. Miu went to the roof, and Kokichi then locked the door, causing Miu to be trapped in the roof. Panicking, she went to the storage shed and took out the lattice. She couldn't stay in the roof, and needed to get back to the chapel before they noticed she was missing. So she attempted to sled from the roof using the lattice, launching herself to the chapel. She crashed into the wall of the chapel, falling with the lattice while her hammer and cellphone fell out as well. The problem with this theory is that it's rather silly to be able to lock someone in the roof, and Kokichi was obviously lying about being unable to go to the roof due to the lock.

On the other hand, if the door can be locked from the roof side, then Miu likely locked it, preventing Kokichi from meeting her. She may still have attempted to sled herself out, but it makes no sense why she would do this when she could just walk out normally. I really wish Tsumugi was clearer when explaining how the roof lock works (and there doesn't seem to be any Truth Bullets about such an important point).

- Significance of the toilet paper?

I honestly have no clue.

- Significance of the poison?

I think it was Miu who planted the poison in Kokichi's seat. Note that she was the last avatar to log in, and it was two minutes before the previous logins (Gonta and Kokichi), so she probably quickly placed the poison in Kokichi's seat before logging in. She likely did this to make Kokichi's death look like a suicide, because she didn't want players to assume that Kokichi could have died from the game (but she used the wall to make sure she appears innocent even if the players do suspect that Kokichi died from the game).

- Significance of the avatar glitch?

It's likely that somebody got the two wires mixed up. The game suggested that Himiko was struggling with this, so maybe it was Himiko? It's not clear what the consequences of the glitch are though, since neither Himiko nor anyone else seemed to report anything odd. Maybe Miu herself mixed them up and got mentally broken to the extent that she sledded herself out of the roof to her death?

- Significance of Keebo's voice that Tsumugi and Shuichi heard?

The reality is that the mansion is right next to the chapel, separated by the y-aligned wall. They're close enough that loud sounds would actually carry between the two buildings, so Keebo's voice being heard is nothing unusual.

- So who killed Miu?

I think it really depends on how the rooftop door lock works. If Kokichi locked it from indoors, trapping Miu in the roof, then Miu may have had no choice but to sled out to her death. This may be considered a suicide, or Kokichi may be held responsible.

On the other hand, if Miu locked the door from the rooftop side, then the question is on how she fell off from the roof. Even if she really did meet Kokichi, he could not have pushed her off since even touching her would freeze him. I think Tsumugi is innocent, because she was with Shuichi when they heard the crash. Himiko, Maki, and Keebo were on the chapel side and could not cross either the y-aligned wall or the bridge. So this only leaves... Gonta, who was conveniently searching the area outside the mansion, but I find it unlikely that he met Miu, let alone that he would push her to her death.

I'm leaning towards Miu sledding off on her own, possibly because Kokichi locked her in the roof, while she hoped to land safely near the chapel, but actually ended up crashing and dying instead, in which case this may be considered as a "suicide", i.e. Miu's killer is herself.

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Case 5

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- What happened in the bathroom?

During the day before, Kaito likely requested Himiko to bring the crossbow bag from Maki's Lab, which she did (and Keebo saw her). She likely passed it through the bathroom window. Kaito then assembled the crossbow, ready to strike. Once Kokichi entered the bathroom later, Kaito probably fired. There seemed to be a struggle, with two arrows striking Kokichi and one arrow striking Kaito.

It's not clear who won, but I think the victor later dragged the body of the other into the hydraulic press.

- What's with the clothes?

There seems to be two possibilities. If Kaito won against Kokichi, then it is likely that he took off Kokichi's clothes and attempted to flush it down the toilet. After moving Kokichi under the hydraulic press, he placed his pink coat over there as well, to give the illusion that the corpse was actually Kaito himself. The problem here is that he could still place his coat over Kokichi without having to take out Kokichi's clothes.

The other possibility is that Kokichi won, and simply moved Kaito (including his coat) to the hydraulic press. The problem here is that it doesn't make sense for Kokichi to try flushing his own outfit down the toilet. Also, if Kokichi won, it's unlikely that he would actually go as far as kill Kaito; while he did kidnap Kaito, I expect he had bigger plans and wouldn't kill Kaito off simply due to some resistance.

Neither possibility explains why Kokichi's clothes were flushed down the toilet, as opposed to leaving them on Kokichi (regardless of whether Kokichi is alive or dead). It's possible that the culprit was expected it to clog the toilet, and anticipated that it would get fished up, wanting the others to believe that there was an attempt to swap clothes. In other words, the culprit wanted the characters to think that Kaito placed his coat on Kokichi, when in reality, it was Kokichi who won and killed Kaito.

- If Kaito was the victor, why would he plant the coat on Kokichi's body?

For some reason, he wanted the other characters to think that he was the one who died. Note that Kaito did not experience the flashback light, so he was in a state of complete despair after learning of the state of the outside world. It's possible that he gave up on the others and actually wanted them all to die out of mercy (like Gonta). As long as Kaito doesn't get the most votes, the other classmates would get executed.

- What about the safety system on the hydraulic press?

The hydraulic press should not be able to crush a human. In fact, I don't think it would even crush a corpse, since the sensor seems to be based on the physical composition of the body, which is why it did not recognize Keebo, despite his life signals. I think the only way for the hydraulic press to crush the body is by disabling the sensor using either an electrohammer or an electrobomb. In fact, it's possible that Maki's electrobomb usage is what disabled the sensor (50 yards is quite some distance) and caused the hydraulic press to crush the body.

If the body was actually alive before getting crushed, then this would mean that the culprit, based on the game rules, would be Maki.

- What's with the Exisals?

Four of them were instructed to watch Monokuma the day before. Later, however, it seems that the green one entered the hangar, possibly summoned by whoever had the autopilot remote. What's interesting is that the green one was found with the cockpit exposed. Normally, only the Monokubs can open the cockpit, so this implies that an electrohammer (or an electrobomb) was used on the green Exisal, causing its cockpit to be forced open.

This electrohammer might be the one found near the other three Exisals. Note that an electrohammer is drained after negating one Exisal, so it seems impossible for this hammer to have attacked three Exisals. Instead, it was likely used only on the green one, and then placed next to the three outside to give the impression that it was used on those three.

- Why didn't Maki's electrobomb disable Keebo?

I'm actually very curious about this, and the characters should have considered this. Maybe the range wasn't as broad as 50 yards. Or maybe Keebo doesn't count as electronic for some reason.

- Why was the hangar door control system all scratched?

It's possible that the culprit didn't want the other classmates to enter and find the corpse. They probably didn't want a Class Trial. So they tried to break the door control in the hopes of keeping the hangar permanently inaccessible. This didn't work, so it's possible that this was when they decided on moving the body below the hydraulic press so that the others at least fail to identify the body.

- What's with the poison?

This is rather tricky. If somebody brought Spike-9 from Shuichi's Lab, they should have taken the bottle itself, instead of pouring a bit of the poison out somewhere. It seems that somebody also checked through the antitodes, and happened to leave a few on the desk while they were looking for a specific one.

My guess is that Kokichi added Spike-9 into a different bottle, and may have tried forcing Kaito to drink it. Kaito didn't know that this poison was Spike-9 and may have thought it was a different poison. He later went to Shuichi's Lab and looked for the antidote. If he didn't consume the Spike-9 antidote, however, then it should have killed him eventually... It's possible that Kaito realized it was Spike-9 based on the quantity and from reading its effect, in which case he may have actually found the correct antidote.

- Where is the victor now?

I don't know. Regardless of who it is, they likely had the opportunity to walk freely after they left the hangar. They might have even gone to Shuichi's Lab to find the antidote. They must have been very careful to avoid being seen by any of the characters though.

- Who is the culprit?

Depends on the cause of death. If it was from arrow injuries or poison, then the killer would likely be whichever of Kokichi/Kaito won the battle. I'm leaning towards Kaito as the survivor. If the death was caused by the hydraulic press, then Maki may be considered the killer due to disabling the safety system with her electrobomb.

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Case 6

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- Are the flashback light memories reliable?

Likely not, since Shuichi found the room where flashlights are produced, where there are many options for what the memories will be. It's more likely that the flashback light implants fake memories that the characters believe are real. That being said, I don't think ALL of the memories are fake; in particular, I think the flashbacks from Monokuma at the end of Case 6, which have been occasionally awakening various memories throughout Case 6, might be legitimate.

- So why are the characters here in this school?

In particular, I think the memories relating to the students being the last 16 of the human race that are sent to find a new inhabitable planet are all fabrications. The key here, I believe, is Rantaro's video, which indicated that there was a killing game before, which Rantaro survived, and it also implied that Rantaro was well aware that he was going into another killing game. In fact, it suggested that Rantaro agreed or wanted to participate in this killing game.

Another indication that the killing game was pre-planned (as opposed to being hijacked by Monokuma later) is the secret passage from the girl's bathroom to the mastermind's room, indicating that the building was designed to accommodate such a passageway. The Motherkuma seems to be a giant machine that was likely prepared there beforehand for a while, as opposed to Monokuma simply installing it there later. Basically, I think the building design itself was intended for the killing game.

- Why would the characters participate in the killing game?

I'm not entirely sure, but it does seem to be voluntary; Rantaro's wording did not sound like it was coerced whatsoever. In fact, he was even aware that there would be memory loss, suggested that participants consented to having their memories wiped out to be thrown into this dangerous killing game without correct information about how they got here.

- Are characters actually dying in this game?

This has been bugging me ever since Case 3, where Monokuma insisted that the revival would have worked. The possibility is that this is all a simulation, just like DR2. However, what's different is what happens when someone dies. It's possible that before somebody is about to die (including executions), their senses become disconnected from the simulation, so the death in the game world does not actually trigger a death in the real world. This would allow them to return to the game under certain conditions (Necromicon), and it means that nobody actually dies in reality.

If this is true, it would be extremely disappointing. It would, however, explain why the characters would be willing to provide informed consent to joining this killing game, where it's ultimately all a simulation where nobody actually dies in the real world.

- Okay, but why is there a killing game to begin with?

I don't know. Participation seems voluntary, and there's definitely people watching this show, but I'm not sure why this show is necessary to begin with. Maybe they are anticipating a future crisis or they fear another Ultimate Despair incident, so they're running these killing game simulations to train students into utilizing their talents to reach Hope instead of Despair. Basically, it's a character-building exercise, which sounds really stupid, but I'm not quite sure why else there would be a killing game with voluntary participation.

- Who is the headmaster of Hope's Peak Academy?

I have to bring this up, because from the interview, it seemed that the headmaster had that distinct raised hair, which suggests that it's none other than Makoto Naegi. We also know that he's part of the Future Foundation in DR2, so it's not a stretch for him to later become the Headmaster of Hope's Peak Academy. He is probably the one who is running all this.

- Speaking of which, who is the mastermind within the killing game?

It's likely Tsumugi. The secret passage from the girl's bathroom to the mastermind's room suggests that the mastermind is female, so she can easily visit the mastermind's room by pretending to use the bathroom. As for why Tsumugi specifically, I remember in Case 1 that it was mentioned that she briefly went to the bathroom during the incident, a detail that was included in the truth bullets but was ultimately irrelevant after it was confirmed that she could not impersonate anyone. But now it seems likely that she visited the mastermind room after all, exactly as Shuichi + Kaede predicted, except they weren't aware that there was an alternate passage besides the bookcase.

Furthermore, Tsumugi fits in how she is emphasized at being really "plain", to the extent that she even said she'd be able to enter concerts without a ticket due to being so plain. I doubt that's true, but it's fitting for the mastermind to be hiding in plain sight. She also basically did nothing in the previous cases, occasionally providing useful testimony, but otherwise avoiding behaving in a manner that could influence the events. In fact, I think she is literally the only one who did not visit the hangar on the day Kokichi died.

By the way, she is the only female survivor who did not observe Shuichi entering the girl's bathroom, so we didn't get to see her reaction to seeing Shuichi discover her secret passage. I expect this would be saved for the trial.

- Oh, yeah, why is there a trial now?

My guess is that Shuichi is going to pin Rantaro's death on Tsumugi. The key evidence is the shot put ball in the trash of the mastermind room. It had pink strands, implying that this was the ball that Kaede put in her bag, wrapped under her spare vest (which is pink). However, this is not the ball that killed Rantaro. It's likely that Kaede's plan actually failed, and that the shot pull ball did not conveniently roll to Rantaro's head as she planned; the air vent itself probably did not have such a convenient passage. Despite this, Rantaro was killed anyway, possibly because Monokuma really wanted a murder to occur anyway and couldn't afford to let Kaede fail and ruin the killing game, so a (different) shot put ball was prepared to come out of the air vent and kill Rantaro, thus starting the killing game and holding a class trial.

- Significance of Kaede having a twin sister?

I don't know, since it's unlikely for the sister to be involved in this killing game. That being, Kaede not remembering that she had a twin sister in Case 1 further suggests that their memories are fake.

- Significance of the photograph before Rantaro's death?

It seems Shuichi found something there that reveals a lie, but I'm not sure what it is. Maybe it's related to the monopad, where the way he is holding is consistent with the bloodstains on the secret monopad detailing the Ultimate Survivor's Perk, but Monokuma may have swapped it with his regular monopad, to avoid letting the other characters know about this perk.

- Significance of not needing a card key to enter the library from the mastermind room?

I'm not sure. It's possible that Tsumugi actually came out into the library after Rantaro opened the bookcase, but the second picture shows Rantaro very much alive and alone, which is when the bookcase was closing. So I doubt Tsumugi actually did anything.

- Significance of the bug vacuum?

I think the bugs might actually be nanomachines, possibly recording videos and sounds all over the school for Monokuma to process. Gonta got lucky in seeing some, possibly a bunch happened to clump together to become briefly visible. The bug vacuum probably still sucks them in, but they are too small for human visibility nonetheless.