#backdraft mv

[1moremilgram-enjoyer]

Fuuta and the Five Man Band Trope; BG Characters, User Icons and Graffiti Patterns Analysis

Hello members of the jury! Did you know Bring it On and Backdraft are very awesome? It’s true! Look it up!

Anyways, today I want to talk about a particular aspect of Bring it On which I consider interesting, and that is the gaggle of characters who show up all throughout the video, both in the “RPG fight scenes” and in the messages all around. In particular, these four who stand besides Fuuta after Killcheroy’s defeat, before abandoning him in the next few frames.

All of them show up in all three battles in one way or another, and the fact they’re here makes me think. See, I believe there are four of them to allude to a very common narrative trope used in a lot of fantasy stories, the Five Man Band. A trope where the story follows a group of five, of which the protagonist is the leader, and all the characters fit into certain archetypes. If you want a better explanation, I’ll recommend this fantastic video by Overly Sarcastic Productions, which is how I know about the trope in the first place.

There were already a few things making me think of this trope in Bring it On, so it’s especially interesting that it seems to carry over into Backdraft as well, with only four paint cans appearing in all three graffiti campaigns.

(Yes there’s a fifth one against Killcheroy, don’t worry I’ll get to it)

Blue, orange, yellow (also looks orange in the screenshots), pink paint/purple can. So, a recurring group of five with Fuuta. Is it possible, then, that these are related? Well, that’s what I’m trying to figure out. And in doing so, I accidentally fell into a rabbit hole which ended with me trying to assign each character an user icon and trying to figure out who killed Killcheroy- ooh boy.

Yeah as a warning this post is pretty reach-y and unhinged, but I like over-analyzing background characters so.

CW: Cyberbullying and online harassment, doxxing, death and murder, mentioned sexual harassment, mention of suicide, Killcheroy choking on paint image.

I’ll talk about each character individually, their role in the Five Man Band trope, who I believe they are in terms of user icon, and which paint can I believe represents them in Backdraft.

The Hero/Leader: Fuuta

In stories where only one member of the party is the protagonist, they are most likely to be the leader. They are the most outwardly heroic, usually passionate and driven, and of course, the leader of the group, the one who makes the tough decisions. In terms of fighting style, they’re usually well-rounded short range fighters.

Obviously this is Fuuta. Not only is he obviously the protagonist, he’s the one who puts up the ‘wanted’ posters for the second and third battle (though not the first!), and in those two battles he’s shown as the first to enter battle. He’s also the one who first sprays over the graffiti in Backdraft, obviously using the red can. In terms of combat style, he also fits pretty well, as he’s a short-ranged fighter, but still has quite a bit of versatility. Looking at his move sets:

Left and top look to be simple attacks, but bottom appears to be some kind of Area of Effect attack and right appears to be a self-healing move. What the hell that would look like in the context of online discourse, I have no idea. Additionally, it is common for the protagonist to exhibit the most growth in terms of powers, which certainly fits his shifting moveset.

In case you’re not aware, he’s also “pazuzu” in the social media seen in Bring it On. He’s the only one with a consistent username, the rest all vary throughout the MV, and the only way to recognize them is through user icon. No idea what Fuuta has to do with a god of wind, but here we are.

I don’t think I have to justify this one too much. Let’s move on to the focus of the post, the other people.

The Lancer: Spear Guy

The Lancer is the Leader’s right hand man, or alternatively their second in command. They may disagree on occasion, but they can be very close friends who always have each other’s backs. The Lancer can fit a ton of archetypes, but they’re usually a foil or an opposite to the leader, and can be either the most supportive of the leader or always butting heads with them.

Incidentally, do you know what a lancer is? Like, the actual word, not the literary term? Well, it’s a warrior who uses lances. Or as you may know them, spears.

To no one’s surprise, the Lancer is Spear Guy. He’s the closest to Fuuta, as can be inferred from them always standing close and Fuuta looking to him after his big victory in the second battle. The fact he uses a lance as a weapon is a possible indication that we really are going for the Five Man Band trope here, because it makes him literally a Lancer.

Incidentally, this also makes him pretty easy to identify in terms of user icon. He's Poison (the skull icon), Rumerie.

In case you're not aware, the name Rumerie appears intertwined with "pazuzu" in Backdraft (gonna ask you to look it up yourself because I've reached the 30 image limit), implying a particularly deep connection between the two. And although the username changes like all others, the fact the very first shot of Bring it On contains Poison being referred to as "rumerie", it's safe to say they're the same. Additionally, check out what rumerie is saying. (Translation by rochisama here, it's a bit difficult to follow but it's a really good resource! As a warning, I might get some of these messages wrong because my critical lack of Japanese knowledge hinders how well I can actually check who is saying what)

[Poison] るめりえ＠D_T @/RUMERIE_... Know any good games?

(Notes: るめりえ is just "Ru me rie")

And shortly after:

Indeed, a guy in the arcade flashes green, presumably Rumerie. Note how he's in the center, as if he is the "leader" in Fuuta's absence, in case you needed any more connections to the Lancer archetype. You'll also notice he and the blue guy next to him have faces, which in Milgram signifies importance. I believe these three are all part of the Five Man Band. Why is there one missing? I'll get there.

Additionally, note how Rumerie wears a watch on his right hand. This is important because it lets us know exactly which can of paint in Backdraft belongs to him. In the scene where Killcheroy is attacked directly, we see a hand with a watch holding the blue spray paint can.

(The bottom left image is to show that the blue looks lighter than it really is in the upfront shots. When the lighting shifts a bit, it's more clear that this is specifically Rumerie's darker blue. The rest of the graffiti is the same, so Rumerie is the splotch at the bottom right.

And in the Killcheroy attack you can clearly see the difference between the two blues. The lighter one is even lighter than what it looks like in the other shots. And yes, the pattern's different, I'll get there)

So Rumerie has blue spray paint, which unfortunately means there's no clear connection between the colors in Bring it On and Backdraft.

Still, there's something interesting to note. Everyone in the Five Man Band has a particular graffiti pattern they stick to in the first two campaigns and at the start of the Killcheroy attack. For Rumerie, this is a big splotch with two small trails leaking down.

Why is this important... for me at least? Because the same patterns can be observed in the red paint over the Guilty prisoners in the section of the video dedicated to them.

And can you guess which one got Rumerie's?

Fuuta. The way I interpret this, it means Rumerie was particularly important in the reason Fuuta ended up with a Guilty verdict.

Why? Well, I believe Rumerie is the person who originally got Fuuta into cancel culture. Notice how the last message before Fuuta joins in on the Ice Gorilla attack is Poison's, and how Spear Guy fights in the frontlines of that battle, combined with what I said before, that Fuuta didn't put up a wanted poster for that battle.

("Frontline" is admittedly debatable)

[Poison] み @/MiMiMiMi.... You can only get away with stuff like this when you’re a primary school kid~

[Fuuta] Storm Pazuzu @/pazuzu_soccer... Ahhhh, this is the end for you huh

(Note: み is "mi" and means either fruit according to Google translate, or what I think makes more sense, "hot water", as in, Ice Gorilla is in hot water).

(Also note: I find it interesting that Rumerie here seems more forgiving of middle schoolers than at the end, when we know he was one of the people who attacked Killcheroy. I think it may be trying to show that everyone in the group got worse, not just Fuuta).

So, Rumerie caused Fuuta to cause Killcheroy's death by getting him into the whole cyberbullying thing. We can also see him encouraging him later on, when Fuuta takes a photo of the sexual harasser.

[Poison] 恐縮です @/i_am_sorr... I’m amazed you were able to get a photo

(Notes: 恐縮です translates to "I'm afraid." I... don't have a single clue why the hell this is like this, I'm just gonna ignore it)

The final thing to note is that Rumerie's graffiti pattern is different in the post-spraying scene of Killcheroy I showed earlier. Instead, Green Paint takes Rumerie's pattern, which is incidentally the one on Fuuta's Guilty thingy. More on that later.

As to why Rumerie's pattern changes in the first place, it's possible that's trying to imply the final attack on Killcheroy was much, much different from the others, possibly more vicious. Which we know is likely true, so I think it works.

Anyways, other messages he sends (I'll skip the icon since you know it's Poison). To Ice Gorilla:

NETANASHI@DT @/NETANATASHI_darkT You’re gonna die a really dumb death

どくろっち @/DOKI_DOKI_52 You’re never gonna be able to live this down www it was a good life while it lasted www

(Notes: "Netana tashi" appears to mean something like "added information," fitting the idea of cyberattacks. darkT and therefore DT is likely a reference to the Dark Triad, which seems to be Fuuta's "guild" displayed right next to his level.

どくろっち might mean "mole cricket" (???), and doki doki is an onomatopoeia for the beating of the heart. Take that as you will.

Rumerie comes off as quite aggressive in these messages, as you can probably tell. "www" is the way Japanese people write laughter, equivalent to "hahaha" in English)

He also writes another message during the second "battle."

るめりえ＠D_T @/RUMERIE_ What a fucking pig, that’s just gross wwww

(Notes: The name Rumerie returns, if you were somehow still wondering who this is. It's the exact same username as before, funnily enough. Also has D_T for the Dark Triad)

The Heart - White Robe Wizard

The Heart is the conflict solver of the group. They are usually the most emotional and expressive member, and is often a healer or otherwise a magic user, or specializes in some combat niche like archery.

Also, if your Five Man Band has a token girl, this is most likely the token girl.

(Wow this collage sucks. Tumblr 30 image limit my arch-nemesis)

Listen, I don't usually like to assume character's gender merely by appearance, but we know less than zero about this people, so I'm gonna have to bend my principles a bit. This wizard is the most femenine looking of the Five Man Band, so I hope you forgive me for assuming both that she is a girl, and that she is the only girl of the group.

Regardless, there are other reasons to assume she's the Heart. Mainly, she seems to be by far the most expressive of the group, being the only one to show any emotion in the lead-up to the Killcheroy battle. The white of her robe may represent purity of heart, which doesn't fit anyone in this group, but would fit the Heart better than other archetypes. There are arguments for her being the Smart Guy, but I think Heart works a tiny bit better.

Then we get to icon, and I'm comfortable in saying she's the Galaxy. From the messages related to the second "battle."

(Quality's trash but I'm trying)

[Galaxy] ♡MANA♡ @/inoue_mna... Mr Inoue……? That’s scary……

(Notes: mna is likely just short for mana. No I don't know why she shares a last name with the asshole professor)

Even ignoring that galaxies are usually associated with mysticism and magic (mostly because I'm not even sure that is a galaxy), this user takes the name "♡MANA♡". As in, the thing wizards use surrounded by two hearts. Additionally, the message does sorta feel like it fits her more than other characters, I guess? I mean, it's perfectly fine for anyone to express discomfort and fear at seeing sexual harrassment, but this is a toxic Twitter community, I doubt the boys here want to express any """weakness""" as reasonable as it may be. Do you understand what I'm saying?

You could argue this should maybe go to the Purple Robe Wizard instead, but consider this other message from the same "battle."

[Galaxy] AAA@DT @/55552G4r6ggc... Has he got no shame!!! Go to hell!!! That’s so gross!!!

(Note: The 5s might be Ss. No I have no idea what the fuck that handle is)

Apart from shouting, the name has "DT" in it, for Dark Triad. There are only four icons which ever appear related to it, and since Fuuta's isn't one of them, it could be presumed that the four which have DT are the members of the Five Man Band.

Then, look at this exchange, from the batch at the start as Fuuta is walking down the street.

[Fuuta] Storm Pazuzu @/pazuzu_soccer... A L L M Y C L A S S E S A R E S O D U L L . W A S T E O F M Y S C H O O L F E E S

[Fuuta] Storm Pazuzu @/pazuzu_soccer... Everyone else there is an idiot so it’s boring

[Galaxy] YU-TA @/YUTA_199... Let’s go to the arcade then!!!!

[Fuuta] Storm Pazuzu @/pazuzu_soccer... The people in charge here are shit. I could do a much better job

(Notes: Yuta is primarily a boy's name, which sorta contradicts the thing I said about this being a girl. However, this can be easily solved by assuming she's transfem and in the closet.

That's mostly a joke, but it is a possibility, I just don't know why we're giving so much characterization to a side-side-side character you feel? The more likely explanation is that while in Japan Yuta is a boy's name, there's also a version for girls which derives from Hebrew, and is also just Yuta. Given we've already seen characters with odd names for their gender (Haruka), I don't think it's a stretch to say this is such a case.

Anyways this might imply we know the full name of this wizard, that being Inoue Yuta. Interesting)

The main takeaway her is that Galaxy did want to go to the arcade like the other members of the Five Man Band, but probably didn't since Fuuta appears to have turned her down.

(... Why did he do that, actually? He went to the arcade anyways...

Though I guess she does look at him very enthusiastically in that second post battle scene... and the Heart is often the love interest of the Leader...

CRACK THEORY: White Robe Wizard has a crush on Fuuta, and he doesn't reciprocate)

So, if Galaxy wanted to go to the arcade, we can maybe assume they're part of the Five Man Band. In fact, we specifically know they're the only one who wasn't at the arcade, which lets us completely narrow down which of the spray paint cans belongs to them.

Yep. In case you missed the spoiler with the color I've been using for her, she has the yellow paint can. Not only does her right hand itself look slightly different than the others, it also has a ring none of the people at the arcade had (debatable on orange guy ig but I think we would see it if he had it). Since this paint can is part of the Five Man Band, we can assume it's the missing member's, therefore Galaxy's, therefore White Robe Wizard's.

The pattern which corresponds to them is a thick, horizontal bar, which shows up over Mahiru in the Guilty prisoners section. Certainly fits with her being the Heart (and having an unrequited crush on Fuuta). The pattern changes in the Killcheroy post-spraying sequence, again possibly because that attack was expressely different.

Again remember the colors are a bit off in the front-facing shots.

(By the way; Rumerie's altered patterned after the Killcheroy thing may look extremely similar to this thick straight line pattern, but it's not quite the same. This pattern has two small trails going down, Rumerie's has four and the bar is longer)

(You could argue it's still meant to be the same thing, but I think they're different enough that I don't have to find a way to relate them)

Here are the other Galaxy messages. The only ones I haven't talked about are in the Ice Gorilla fight.

[]足 @/speed☆star Looking this I can really feel how terrifying ( ) SNS can be lmao

(Notes: We can't see the first symbol of the username, and since 足 is "feet" apparently, I don't think we can know what that is. The parenthesis are empty in the video too. SNS is Social Networking System, so social media. Fits the "That's scary" MANA message)

(…）@/NAGARERUYOURE_UfU You’ve ruined this store’s business, I hope you were charged a lot for your idiocy

(Notes: I think this is the right message? It's really hard to know which message is which in the translation I'm using. In any case, it sorta fits. Putting that handle into Google translate gives me "flow less" or "streamlined", but I'm not sure how much sense that makes)

The Smart Guy - Cloak Dude

The Smart Guy is smart. That's their thing. Usually some flavor of quirky, but the main thing is they're clever, and they have a good head on their shoulders. They're intelligent and sharp-witted, and- okay I'll stop with the synonyms. For combat, they're usually not in the frontlines. Usually they're mages in fantasy settings, but archers and other long ranged combatants aren't out of the question.

This one, frankly, is almost entirely through process of elimination.

Cloak Dude has the dubious honor of being the only one apart from Spear Guy and Fuuta to show up on all three post-battle cutscenes. He seems to be an archer.

As I said, saying he’s the Smart Guy is more process of elimination than anything else. Shield Man sorta has to be the Big Guy, so we’re left with Smart Guy for Cloak Dude.

Thankfully, I think Identifying him in the icons isn't too difficult. Remember when I said he's the only one to show up on all three post-battle scenes? As if he's slightly more important than the Heart and the Big Guy? Well, there very well may be an icon which fits both that and the Smart Guy archetype. Water Drop, and therefore the Orange Arcade Guy.

Not only do they share the first message shot with Rumerie, check out what they say.

[Water Drop] 流＠しずくと読みます @/D_TTTT... School work has really been a pain lately… I don’t want to type another word

(Notes: 流 means style. しずくと読みます apparently means something like "I read it like drop [water]" which I guess work with the icon)

Note the @/D_TTTT Dark Triad handle. So, they're tired from school work? That means they're doing their school work to some extent, and academic diligence is usually associated with the Smart Guy archetype. Other messages keep up this theme. In the Ice Gorilla battle:

[Water Drop]（…）@/drop_[...]... There’s a limit to what sort of things you should do. How are you gonna live the rest of your life after this?

And in the second battle.

[Water Drop] io @/io_dog_very... Sexual harassment is pretty much the worst thing a person can do. How are you gonna explain this???

(Notes: "io" appears to mean "say it")

Their style of speaking is quite articulate, using longer sentences than other icons and with a more serious tone. No use of www either. The one counterexample is this:

[Water Drop]（…）@/[...] You’re wasting everyone’s time, idiot

But I still think it sorta fits. There is also one message from the second battle I don't have the translation of, but it also doesn't include www so.

Why is this important? Well, it's not. But more articulate speech, while not an actual indication of intelligence in reality, is a common way to communicate a character is smart in fiction.

Their final message is particularly interesting. It's one of the only messages we have in relation to Killcheroy.

QRT [Fuuta] Storm Pazuzu @/pazuzu_soc... I think I’ve got all her details now. Based on her previous tweets I’ve worked out her school. The fact she lives so close is hilarious lol

[Water Drop] Judgement☨Onizuka @/MONSTER_BUZZ... You’re the worst offender of all

(Notes: ☨ is the Cross of Lorraine, a symbol often associated to Joan of Arc. I guess you can connect the idea of a hero being later burnt at the stake for heresy to Fuuta's story)

Water Drop, despite the fact they do attack Killcheroy themselves (more on that in a moment), are condemning Fuuta for doing exactly that. They're hypochritical, but they're trying to claim a moral high ground by distancing themselves from Killcheroy's death. Again gives me vibes of someone trying to present themselves as smarter and more level-headed than they really are, but it's hard for me to explain why that is. Do you get the vibes too? I hope so.

Anyways, graffiti. They can be either the pink or the orange paint, but I think Orange Paint fits the best. Their graffiti pattern is a thin line which vaguely looks like an arrow to my completely unhinged mind, and it's the one associated with Amane, who is not necessarily smarter than the other guiltied, but she is very diligent in her studies as implied by several Timelines conversations. Smart Guy thing again.

The other thing is that their color can't be seen in the shot right before Killcheroy's final appearance, but it can be seen in the initial "attack", and we can see his hand attacking Killcheroy later. I believe this is representing what I said before; although Water Drop attacked Killcheroy like everyone else, they later tried to distance themselves from the fact, they "erased their paint."

(The angle on the Amane thing is slightly different, but I doubt that matters)

(The latter images are to show that yes, Orange Paint did attack Killcheroy. The can may look more red because of the lighting, but as you can see on the example to the side, the orange paint can does look almost red anyways)

Now, there is one more thing to say about the missing orange at the end there. And that is the gray-ish paint to the bottom left. What's interesting is that while it follows the Heart's pattern, it doesn't correlate with any of the colors we see actually attacking Killcheroy.

So... do you wanna go insane with me for a moment?

What if that is the orange paint, but they painted over it with gray/lilac to distance themselves from the attack as stated previously? The reason it looks like the Heart's pattern is because he's trying to appear more conscientious of others' feelings than he really is. Of course, that is deranged even for my standards, but it is an explanation.

Anyways, not much more to say about this guy, since I already talked about all his messages in Bring it On.

The Big Guy - Shield Man

The Big Guy is the muscle of the group. Generally physically big, though it can also be metaphorical. Their exact personality can vary quite a bit, but the most common trait is loyalty and protectiveness over the group. Sometimes can be quite an idiot, himbo style, but not always.

And if we're talking big and protective, there is someone who perfectly fits the trope.

Protective? Man has a shield. Physically big? The biggest of the group bar maybe Spear Guy. And just look at how he stands in that post-battle two scene! My guy has zero thoughts in that head of his. I think the archetype fits him perfectly.

Anyways, if you've been paying attention, I said before the members of the Five Man Band could be identified by which icons ever appear with D_T on their username, so by this point we could narrow it down by elimination alone. The final member by this logic is Supernova, and I think it fits enough. It also has a deep blue background, therefore we're likely seeing Blue Arcade Guy here.

[Supernova] Avyxs@D_T @/Dark_Avyxs_T... Uni is so much fun! It can be a pain depending on your subjects but my friends and teachers are hilarious

Loyalty, check.

To be clear, there is absolutely an argument that he instead should be Thunderbolt, since that icon shows up right before we cut to the first sidewalk scene, pairing it with Rumerie and Water Drop; and speaks twice during the second cancelation, the same as Rumerie, Galaxy and Water Drop. Or Rock even, some of their lines and the icon itself point to the trope's personalities. However, I personally think the D_T connection is a bit more interesting, which is why I'm going with Supernova for him. It's not like this matters much anyways.

Process of elimination also assigns him the Pink Paint/Purple Paint Can, who has a zigzaggy pattern which trails off with a weird blob at the end. Mikoto gets this one... sort of. It looks like it's flipped and rotated around a bit, but it's still a zigzag pattern which trails off with a weird blob at the end. I think it's close enough, and I also think it makes sense. Mikoto is canonically the strongest physically out of the Guilty characters. I believe there was a ranking of arm wrestling strength that put him only below Kotoko and Kazui. Additionally, the alter who killed likely did it to protect the system, which works with the protectiveness of Shield Man.

(It sure was convenient four people got guiltied in the first trial huh)

The pattern also changes pre-Killcheroy appearance, you've heard why before, the attack was different.

... Yeah maybe I'm reading too much into the repeating patterns, maybe they're just like that to make things easier on the artists, but at this point I'm in too deep to back out.

The other Supernova messages are the following. In the Ice Gorilla fight:

実家傷兵 @/super_power... He’s shut in www is the fridge your new house now ww

(Notes: 実家傷兵 means either "family wounded soldier", "soldiers garrisoned at home by their parents", or... "soldiers stationed to protect a country's territory during World War II." I assume it's the first two things)

(…）@/[...] Just stay in your beloved freezer forever wwwwwwwww

(Notes: He wrote the same message twice. Really not beating the "not particularly sharp-witted" allegations with this one)

(…）@/lightning_player Definitely not buying any ice cream there

(Notes: What the fuck did Ice Gorilla do anyways? Lock themselves in a freezer full of ice cream? I'm so confused)

There is also an obscured message where Supernova has the handle @/NaGGrYjYP2Fe or something like that. I am not gonna even try to decipher what the fuck's going on there.

Finaly, on the second cancelation.

毒門第一号 @/warokeru_080... Oof lmao she looks like she’s gonna be sick

(Notes: Focusing on the victim more than the attacker does vaguely fit Shield Man. 毒門第一号 is "poison gate number 1." No comment. "Warokeru" apparently means "meltdown." Also no comment)

The Sixth Ranger - ???

The Sixth Ranger refers to a sixth character who joins the Band during the story rather than at the start. Where they come from is very variable, but sometimes it's a reformed villain of some kind.

Funnily enough, this trope is replicated in Backdraft too. Let's circle back to the big question. Who is the extra, green paint can in the Killcheroy attack?

They paint over the part Pink Paint usually takes, and later we see their paint with the Rumerie and Guilty Fuuta pattern. Additionally, they're the only one in these cases to paint over the small name graffiti, which combined with the fact they could potentially be closely linked to Fuuta's Guilty verdict, could imply they're the ones who killed Killcheroy. Because as many know, Fuuta's victim in the Undercover kill shot has both shoes on, unlike Mahiru and Kazui's victims who have a shoe missing to represent their suicide. And this could imply Killcheroy was outright murdered by someone else, though obviously not Fuuta himself.

If that's true, given how odd this Green Paint person is, I would assume that's the person who killed Killcheroy. Let's run through the other Bring it On BG characters to see if we can narrow down a suspect. I will skip over anyone we see only in the Ice Gorilla battle, because most of them are never seen again.

The Blue Haired Soldiers

These two show up quire a bit, though weirdly, the soldier with lighter hair doesn't show up in the Ice Gorilla battle itself nor the post-second battle scene. But he's still seen in the post-first fight battle scene and in the lead-up to the second fight. Still, this odd pattern could maybe mean he's the killer? He didn't participate in the strictly online battles, but possibly yes in the Killcheroy one? I'm not sure, I think there's a better candidate so.

One reason I don't think Light Blue Haired Soldier is the killer is because I would assume he's Rock, since his hair vaguely fits the color. Additionally, his armor looks very similar to Shield Man's (see: neck guard thing), which could imply they're the same "class." That would make him a Tank probably, who is usually associated more with defense even if they have good offensive capabilities. Rocks are also usually associated with strong defense, a claim I'm basing practically entirely on Pokemon typing philosophy lol.

Aside from him, Dark Blue Haired Soldier would probably be Thunderbolt based on the fact it's sorta the only one left, and again, color fits.

Here are their messages. Sidewalk scene:

[Thunderbolt] キマ注意＠ダークトラ… @/K_I_M_... Nothing’s happened lately, it’s boring

[Rock] まっすMAN（強化中）@/MusclePu... …wait, it’s Monday? Which means uni today??? I haven’t… done my homework…

(Notes: As I said, Rock shares similarities to the "Dumb Big Guy" archetype. Again, same class.

キマ注意 means "be careful" or "pay attention", and the @/ダークトラ is @/Dark Tiger. Thunderbolt is very aggressive, so the username sorta fits.

まっす can mean a few different things, I'm not sure what the best translation is. 強化中 means "currently being strengthened", so again, fits the Tank role)

Ice Gorilla battle:

[Rock] 問答 @/s... Just get out already

[Rock] 小箱の〇 @/[...] We won’t let you get off lightly for this＾＾

[Thunderbolt] サンデー～（…）@/[...]_1004 The food looks so good wwwww you should just [...] and die

[Rock] 〇石〇じ @/[...]TAKAI As far as learning experiences go this one sure cost a lot. What you did really was a huge waste. Thanks for all your hard work. Here’s hoping you do better in your next life.

(Notes: Thunderbolt is very aggressive, as you can see. His armor is similar to Fuuta's, so likely a Warrior class, which makes sense.

問答 means Q&A basically. Huh. 小箱の〇 is missing a character, but what we have appears to translate to "small box." 〇石〇じ also has characters which haven't been recognized.

サンデー～ means Sunday～)

Second battle (how long until my readers notice I don't remember the name of the second guy-):

[Thunderbolt] 自由（ちきゅうじん）@/not_jiyuun... My uni is done for now wwww

[Thunderbolt] kakikukeko@ド @/DONK... What an idiot, you should just (…) already

[Rock] まっすMAN（強化中）@/MusclePu... Super gross, thanks for exposing a lowlife sexual harasser

(Notes: Interestingly, Rock takes their original username again. Thunderbolt is once again a dick, caring more about his uni being "done" than the victim.

自由 means freedom, which I guess fits the tweet? Interestingly, though, jiyuun is also freedom, so "freedom @/not_freedom"? What is this fucking naming scheme.

ちきゅうじん means earthling (?). I couldn't find something solid for kakikukeko or ド but "DONK" is funny)

Purple Robe Wizard

If you're like me, you've seen me mention this person and immediately asked "is that Killcheroy." But no, since we see them in the lead-up to the Killcheroy battle in Bring it On, as we see every other character mentioned here. Additionally, I believe they might be the one responsible for the big attack which takes away like half of Killcheroy's life bar, but not the one who kills her, as Killcheroy still has health after that attack disappears.

If we do assume that attack is theirs (because there's no indication of who else is in the Killcheroy fight otherwise), then they have to be represented by one of the paint cans attacking Killcheroy at the end of Backdraft. Since they also attack Ice Gorilla, they are unlikely to be Green Paint, and therefore are most likely Light Blue Paint.

No recognizable pattern there.

Unfortunately, we have an issue. We've run out of user icons, which, uh...

You could maybe argue they share an icon with someone else? Or something? Or maybe they exclusively send DMs so Fuuta can't see their harrassment. I hope this isn't too big of an issue.

So, here's the thing. I don't think any of these three characters, the blue haired soldiers and the purple robe wizard, are Green Paint. Because they lack one critical feature: being the "Sixth Ranger." The Green Paint isn't notable just because it appears, it's notable because it appears alongside the Five Man Band. In particular, it has a penchant for replacing Five Man Band members. It paints over Pink Paint when the gang first attacks Killcheroy, it steals Rumerie's pattern in the aftermath shot, and it shows up when Orange Paint doesn't in said aftermath shot. It doesn't really matter who they replace, they have a pattern of replacing someone.

And wouldn't you know, there is a character that sorta fits that in Bring it On. The only character who is never seen attacking Ice Gorilla, neither in the shot of the battle itself or the aftermath.

The Black Knight

I'm calling them that because their armor is darker than everyone else's and I think they killed Killcheroy lol.

Do you see an interesting pattern here? They don't show up in the first battle at all (and I cannot stress enough, it’s the only character that doesn’t), but after the second battle, they're always seen with the Five Man Band minus the Heart. As if they replaced her, in the same way Green Paint usually replaces a member of the Five Man Band.

And you could argue it should be the other way around, that White Robe Wizard replaced the Black Knight, except White Robe Wizard shows up in the Ice Gorilla battle while Black Knight doesn't, so if someone's Green Paint of the two, it would have to be Black Knight.

But hold on, you may say. Black Knight shows up in the second battle, they can't be Green Paint!

Except for one detail. Yes, Black Knight is in the post-Rypirotes (finally looked up the name) fight scene, but there's one person in that post-battle scene who didn't fight Rypirotes. Check out the minimaps:

(I'm ignoring the distorted minimap because, well, it's distorted, and it's before the Killcheroy battle, not during)

The blue triangle is Fuuta, the red dot is the "enemy," so the green dots are the other people in the battle.

The Ice Gorilla battle minimap shows 11 green dots, which perfectly fits the amount of people on screen there. The Killcheroy battle shows 6 green dots, which perfectly fits the amount of paint cans we see attack Killcheroy in Backdraft.

And yet, there are seven people in the post-Rypirotes battle scene, but only six dots in the minimap. Which means one person in that post-battle scene didn't fight.

Obviously, it's impossible to know who didn't fight. All this does is open the possibility that the one who didn't fight there is Black Knight.

But here's the thing. Everyone else in the post-Pyrites battle scene is displayed in the Ice Gorilla minimap. The only other recurring character who Green Paint could be, then, is Light Blue Haired Soldier. But as stated before, they're never seen as part of the Five Man Band, so I find it unlikely this is the case. Also because color-scheme wise they fit Rock, and Rock does "attack" both Ice Gorilla and Rypirotes, just not at the same time as the time we see the minimaps I guess.

So there’s the thing. Because Black Knight didn’t fight either Ice Gorilla or Rypirotes, we don’t have an user icon for them, which makes it all the more suspicious that they show up in the lead up to the Killcheroy battle. I guess the blue haired soldiers didn’t attack her for some reason, since there’s only six paint cans.

And then there's the class thing. You remember how I said Light Blue Haired Soldier fits with Rock because he seems to be a Tank by armor? Well, Black Knight wears the same armor as Fuuta and Thunderbolt, they're a Warrior. What could this mean? Well, if Fuuta is the guy that doxxed Killcheroy, and Thunderbolt is one of the most aggressive "attackers" as seen by their comments, we can infer Warriors may represent particularly dangerous or vicious characters. Keep in mind these aren't actually videogame classes but they're metaphorical. Thus, it would fit Killcheroy's killer to be a Warrior.

... Ok, to be fair a lot of this is based on like a hundred different assumptions stacked on top of each other like a house of cards, I feel like I'm reading too much into too many things and I'm pulling conclusions out of my ass, but I think these interpretations are at least interesting enough to share, which is why I'm sharing my brainrot with you all. You can probably find several thousands of holes here if you think critically, but you know. Vote Black Knight Guilty (wait that’s not-)

Conclusion

I am never beating the insanity allegations.

I do think the Black Knight is probably the one who killed Killcheroy, but knowing that, and everything else I said in this post, is more for curiosity's sake than anything else. This doesn't really add much to Fuuta's character or anything, but eh. I enjoyed going crazy over these side-side-side characters, and I hope you enjoyed my ramblings as well.

If you actually managed to read all that, then you deserve a Five Man Band all for you! Which role do you think you fit best? You don't have to answer that this isn't YT. Take care!

[mirururuguramu]

Personally, I think Fuuta does acknowledge in his 2nd MV that what he did is wrong.

Since he doesn't see himself as a hero delivering justice anymore.

But as someone who engages in grafitti instead, which isn't exactly a legal activity either

As grafitti is described as

a form of visual communication, usually illegal, involving the unauthorized marking of public space

So yeah, Fuuta doesn't see himself to be all that righteous anymore.

While grafitti is about wanting to send a message, it's commonly understood imo that this is usually done via underhanded means.

In a way, this points to Fuuta acknowledging that his means of 'delivering justice' (a.k.a. making callout posts & possibly online harassment) is underhanded & not entirely legal too.

The beginning of his 2nd MV suggests this too, where he asks "Is it all ok if I offer penance?" while showing that there's light behind him, as if he considered repenting and backing out on what he's been doing to behave and be a good citizen again.

He ultimately decides against it, thinking that it'd be futile anyway.

(And after Es told him in the 2nd voice drama that they won't grant him mercy either way, this line of thinking is understandable.)

So he willingly walks into the darkness, willingly dabbles in not-so-legal activities and proceeds from there.

Another thing that suggests Fuuta acknowledging his past actions to be wrong:

He sees their grafitti to be an act of defacing someone.

They override someone's image with the colors, views, that they project onto them.

Which ultimately leads to the erasure and demise of the original image.

This contrasts how Fuuta perceived the situation back in the first MV

Where most of the time, it's a fantasy RPG consisting of a hero and his party that go on quests to defeat monsters.

Not to mention, when everyone turned against him in the end, the scene abruptly shifted & became more grounded in reality.

Fuuta's party wasn’t shown to have turned against him and targeted Fuuta as the next monster to eliminate.

Hinting at Fuuta having a hierarchy in mind in the 1st MV.

He saw himself and his team as human, while he saw their targets as monsters.

And since the monsters were always defeated in that MV, it almost seemed like Fuuta saw himself and his team to be above them.

But this isn't quite the case with his 2nd MV anymore. There’s no more hierarchy between the monsters (the targets) and humans (Fuuta and his team). 

By then, the playing ground’s been leveled in Fuuta’s mind, and sees himself to be at the same level as his targets & those who targeted them with him.

At the very least, we see in the latter half of his 2nd MV that all the 'players' are human— both the wielders of spray cans and the one being sprayed on.

And Fuuta brings down Es, with the entirety of MILGRAM, to their level.

As he believes that Es is committing the same crime as them. That they’ve only been projecting their own views— their own color— onto the prisoners, and that as a result, the unforgiven are slowly defaced because of their actions

(In a literal sense, this might mean that they’ve been slowly losing their sense of self as a result of the constant invalidation through our verdict)

And will be permanently erased over time if they kept that up, either from the mental strain caused by their (”our”) verdict, or from the physical damage that Kotoko’s been inflicting, especially since she’s made it clear that she’s out to eliminate those who Es chose not to forgive— those who didn’t align with their views basically.

So TLDR, I suspect that Fuuta’s already learned his lesson, he knows at this point that what he did is straight-up wrong.  Because if he didn’t, he wouldn’t have painted himself to be doing illegal things in his MV— chose to do them even, despite knowing that they aren’t right.

He wouldn’t have shown himself, along with his group, doing something that ultimately led to the death of someone— shown not as a monster, but as a person.

Which means that him being like this in the 2nd Trial isn’t simply because he was caught for his crimes, although I acknowledge that he may have only backtracked in the first place because that happened.

Fuuta: Right…! It wasn’t just me alone who was ganging up on the person who died! There’s no way to know whose comments lead to their death!

Because of that, I have hopes that he won’t simply... bounce back to being a jerk if ever he’s forgiven this round, what with his MV already showing his acknowledgment of being involved in someone’s death.  

By this point, the only thing that he can’t accept is that he’s the only one receiving punishment for these sins, if these lines from the Trial 2 voice drama are anything to go by:

Es: That might be true. You might not be the only one who needs to be judged for this. But…

Fuuta: Then – isn’t it weird that I’m the only one who has to go through all of this? Being locked up in a weird nonsensical prison, having to let some brat lecture me, being faced with eyes constantly judging me…

+

Fuuta: (laughs) There’s nothing that sets you and me apart. You’re also getting entertainment out of my– out of our sins!

Es: I… just do this because I want to get to know more about y—

Fuuta: (laughs) You and I are exactly the same breed! The only difference between us is the clothes we’re wearing. Like I’d let someone like this judge whether I should be forgiven or not!

The reason for this is because he believes his group, as well as MILGRAM, are equally as guilty as him, and thus shouldn’t be getting away scot-free. Not when they’ve committed the same crimes as him.

Either way, this doesn’t change the fact that imo, Fuuta’s already acknowledged that he’s in the wrong.

[purgemarchlockdown]

Was staring at Bring it On's Game UI and I find how it tells its story real fun.

In the first scene Fuuta is low leveled and is far away from the fight itself, he's basically on the sidelines and is just helping out however he can.

(Also Dark Triad is interesting...I'd assume it's a guild name of sorts? Dark Triad is also a psychological theory of personality that describes three personality traits, Machiavellianism, Psychopathy, and Narcissism. I don't know much about it but I thought it be important to mention.)

The next scene though has a big jump in level and Fuuta is now the one leading the group and doing most of the fighting, unlike previously where it was a group effort this is mostly Just Fuuta. I wonder how big the gap in time between these two scenes were considering the massive increase in level.

When we get to Fuuta's victim though the increase in level isn't as big as it was previously and Fuuta is still doing most of the fighting, with everyone else being pretty far away from Fuuta's victim. It really seems like Fuuta is much more responsible for what happened to the girl than he would Like to admit.

If anyone who is super into MMORPGs would like to have some input I'd love to see it, I don't play much MMOs and it seems like Bring It On's game world is based around MMOs. With the people their fighting being Raid Bosses.

[boxx-sama]

The Usage of a Rotary Telephone in Ai Nan Desu Yo

This was just something I happened to notice when rewatching the MV!

As pictured here, we can see Mahiru using a rotary telephone to communicate with her boyfriend. It may not be of much significance to some, but there is/could be a deeper meaning to this specific phone being used, rather than a modern one!

This specific one happens to be a vintage telephone. The development of rotary telephones dates back to the late 19th century, which is all the way back in the 1800s!

The concept of a rotary dial for selecting numbers on a telephone was first proposed by inventors and engineers in the 1870s. Almon Strowger, an undertaker from Kansas City, is often credited with inventing the first practical rotary dial telephone system in the late 19th century. His system aimed to eliminate the need for human operators to manually connect calls.

As amazing as the invention itself is, however, it did have flaws, especially considering the time period this was invented in! There wasn't modern technology, so using this phone had some issues.

Error-Prone: Rotary dialing was EXTREMELY susceptible to dialing errors! Users could miscount the number of digits, skip a digit accidentally, or make other mistakes while dialing.

Mechanical Complexity: Rotary phones were mechanical devices with many moving parts, which made them more prone to wear and tear. This complexity also meant that maintenance and repairs could be more challenging compared to modern electronic phones.

Lack of Advanced Features: Rotary telephones were designed primarily for basic voice communication! They lacked many of the advanced features that modern phones offer, such as caller ID, call waiting, voicemail, and speed dial.

Considering some of these, it is rather odd, isn't it? Mahiru is clearly pictured to be taking inspiration from modern blogs and such for her perfect journey of love.

So how is this particularly standout in any way?

Well, it's simple! Rotary telephones had many communication issues. They were difficult to handle, very slow, and had to be used in specific ways. (Dialing certain numbers, etc.)

I think that the usage of a rotary telephone in such a modern world that Ai Nan Desu Yo portrays might just be Mahiru's lack of communication with her boyfriend when it came to more serious matters!

This also may be a stretch on my part, but even the lyrics at this part of the MV kind of add to my small theory here.

Ring ring, I’m calling you in the middle of the night Forcing you to wake up, and I say “Good Morning!” But I fall asleep before you, I really feel bad you know? We can both feel lonely sometimes, but wonder if you’ll get angry soon I’m going to start relying on you if you’re kind to me, so please forgive me, thanks!

It just feels like there's some sort of communication issue here, if that makes sense. Mahiru is being a biiiiit over-reliant and wishing for forgiveness from her boyfriend due to her clear needs, and it's unsure whether they were actually met or not. Daisuki kind of paints a clearer picture on this with the whole cake feeding metaphor, but that may be a theory for another time.

It can also be noted that Mahiru is not happy at all when she uses the telephone, implying that she is also stressed, despite sharing the feeling of love with her boyfriend.

But, to her, it wasn't a big issue at all! Because in the end, all of this is love in of itself. And even if their communication is flimsy, surely love will power through.

Again, using the lyrics to support this:

If you don’t hug me, even our hearts will start drifting apart

This is a claim of responsibility from the two of us with matching love

We fought sometimes, I was happy to get hurt Let’s have matching pain, this sickness is pretty bad?

Mahiru seems to idealize love and the idea of being together to an unhealthy point, believing that if she can experience all of love's ups and downs and remain with her S/O, then everything is all okay in the end! That being said, I do NOT see her as completely naive, and she definitely had some awareness in the situation.

I guess that's all for my little theory! Let me know what you guys thought of it.

[asherenjoysbeingtransparent]

“Backdraft” (one scene) - ES

[good-beanswrites]

hiiii lights camera sing your sins ask, sorry if these are lengthy or tedious to answer aughghgng

for backdraft, did they get an Es look-a-like for their cameo at the end? also, i was wondering how (or if) undercover was filmed + recorded. was it something es did prior to the memory wipe?

Ghgngjgkg I haven’t been normal ever since I read it i love the fic sooo so much thank you for writing !!!!!!!

Hello!!! Omg not at all, I love thinking about the story, and it makes me so happy others are as excited about the ideas! Thank you so much for sending :D

Yes, I did picture it to be look-alike/stunt double! It makes sense why it’s such a short moment and you can’t see their face -- while a double wouldn’t be a big deal in most projects, Jackalope is very worried that Es will catch on when they watch the videos and see someone clearly Not Them onscreen. That's why he keeps their mv appearances to a minimum, denying a few of the others’ requests to feature Es in their own. (I was really expecting them to pop up in Triage or Purge March given the themes, so it’s fun to imagine this is the reason why they don’t.)

And yup, I pictured Undercover being filmed at the very beginning, before they forget everything! Everyone recorded their parts separately, so unfortunately they still never met the prisoners. (Even though their memory was going to be wiped, Milgram needed the data on the prisoner’s natural reactions to meeting each other/Es for the first time.) Es still gets to have the same fun of singing and filming, though! Taking various murder-victim-pose photos was certainly an interesting experience, but overall they had a good time :)

For canon, I always liked the theory that Undercover is from Es testing out the mv machine, so in the au I like to believe they're told the same thing. They get to watch it after their memory is wiped -- they're so amazed by seeing themselves, it convinces them that the machine is the real deal after all.

And a super quick Deep Cover mention 👀

I think there’s a high chance of the whole cast appearing in the new mv, (I'm hoping even more prominently than the Backdraft silhouettes) which will be a ton of fun for the au!! It may be a bit harder to swing the “mysterious look-alike” thing depending on how a big a part Es plays, but I’ll make it work when we get there 😅

[mayoiayasep]

i absolutely love the ending of backdraft it was soooo good like

[ID: a screenshot of es holding up a can of black spray paint and spraying it at the viewer/fuuta, their face and hands have been blacked out. End ID]

this is so cool

[minnwaa]

fuuta analysis pt. 2, visual edition

i swear i like fuuta the normal amount, it's not like he's my little meow meow and it's not like I'm projecting to him in any way whatsoever.

lmao anyway i'm here to talk about the visual of backdraft. i'm mainly going to talk about the possible symbolism, the story in the mv, and hopefully can convince you to vote forgiven at least in this turn. long post ahoy (i even included the pictures to the point tumblr said "you used too many pics bruh")

we'll start the analysis with this image. i believe the can and him facing the camera to spray the paint was him saying that this is his time to tell the story through milgram. the can itself (+ barcode) actually led you to milgram's judgement page, so in a way it's like "this is my story, but I'm telling you through this medium (spray can/milgram)"

also just love that red color. red can either means passion, love, or danger. so in a way the color red REALLY suits him. just remember the color red for his "tag".

before we continue, let me write down the history of graffiti because it is heavily used in this instance. graffiti can either signifies the marking of territory or as part of a social/political movement. the marking of the environment is especially popular where gangs are prominent, so the graffiti sign can either act as a deterrent or just to show who actually owns the area. so in a way, it is connected to identity. a person's life. so let's use the graffiti as the symbol of someone's identity.

in the beginning, we see him looking forward with a smile on his face. this might mean that he was looking forward to and anticipating the task at hand.

using football/soccer terminology, he kicks off the first shoot. so he is the one who is starting the job.

in graffiti, you can use tags to show who created the graffiti. kind of like a signature. we can see there's "backdraft", "SAP", and one that i can't read. perhaps in Japanese? there's another one but i can't get a clear glimpse of it at the beginning of the graffiti on the left.

there's also this one, but much like the last tag on the first graffiti, this one is also unreadable.

but seeing that we have multiple tags in two artworks here, meaning that this is a collaborative act. this isn't just fuuta just leading them and them being ignorant, this is "them" working together to create an artwork, or in this case, a situation.

this is the first set of "pressure" graffiti that we've seen. no eyes, warm color, all bright and fiery. this shows that the pressure actually fueled fuuta's ambition. he's still all smirky and smiley, even looking at his target with a smile on his face.

remember when i said remember red as his tag? with this, it's low-key a confirmation that he started the action of erasing someone's mark. in fuuta's case, we know that he bullied people online, so this is him basically erasing the other person's identity. he started it, then followed by other people, signifies by the other color of the spray.

we can see 5 colors here, so it can mean that he was bullying a person with 4 other people. note that the character being erased seems monstrous in nature, so i believe this is fuuta basically saying "we have erased a monster!" which then continued on with another monster, started by fuuta and followed by other colors.

still the same 5 colors, meaning that this squad was the "original" so to speak.

i think fuuta has an extra grudge against the second person he targeted because he's taken the extra step to REALLY cover the artwork with more red. and he thought with this, his "task" is over.

he lets go of his spray can, or his medium to tell a story because he probably thinks that he doesn't need it anymore. his grudge is satisfied, and he can rest easy.

using the spray can as the symbol for his medium for a story, i think his modus operandi is basically overwriting the other story's person. with him covering the artwork/story of another person, instead of him being upfront in his attack, he might've worked by spreading rumors, thus overwriting the old story/artwork with his own spray, destroying the artwork. but he let go of that responsibility, he's done with it. BUT.

even though he let go of that spray can, it still followed his footsteps. the story/medium demanded that he continued by appearing once again, even though he wanted to walk away.

i think this marks the first time a milgram prisoner acknowledged the current reality--mahiru and mikoto are tagged "red" means that they are guilty, while yuno and shido aren't, so they're innocent.

i think that the red spray specifically marked the worst damage the person had in the fight. so mahiru broke her rib (or maybe her collarbone), mikoto has his whole torso marked, amane has less spray on her (which made me to believe that kotoko didn't attack her as much but still though.), and fuuta on the left side of his face. he's currently using an eyepatch, and according to the voice drama he could no longer see in that eye... so...

this then continued by him marking his own neck with the "off with your head" gesture (you know this gesture used over and over again to mean that 'you're dead') with now the eyes appearing, first staring at the fuuta who killed his graffiti-self, then to the graffiti itself. i think that the fuuta who "killed" his graffiti self was the fuuta who got beaten up by kotoko (so our current fuuta), while the graffiti fuuta is his old story. remember when i say that the graffiti represented the identity/the story of a person, him killing it off means that he doesn't like his old self, but the eyes are judging him now. that's pressure. what is Very Interesting is the color used for the pupils. the purple and the blue is the exact same one as the color tag, and the green and magenta one is new. it might signify that two members disappeared, but two new people took their position. they wanted the old fuuta back, and the current fuuta is horrified by it.

the eyes then multiplied, not just the original four. it means that the eyes on him have increased, and the pressure that once upon a time fueled his ambition now became poisonous. the purple here probably meant as poisonous than mysterious, because the shade reminded me of the poison-type pokemon. it's bright purple instead of royal purple which signifies a mysterious person. so now, all this pressure added with the eyes on him made the whole thing... unbearable for him.

when he turned around and realized his impact, he just realized that there is a fuck-ton of people who followed his example. see that the spray cans are now a lot more than just the previous five, and we even see colors that did not show up as the eyes, which probably means that they weren't exactly actively pressuring him, but only followed along for the ride.

remember when i said that the other graffiti reminded me of monsters? this one is the closest one we've got to a humanoid artwork. meaning, that this person (which then we see as a high-school girl) is different from the previous target. this one is a "human", so to speak, so he basically targeted an innocent person.

fuuta of course jumpstarted the attack on the person but notice that his spray is a lot lighter than before. he wasn't covering the face of the artwork, he literally barely covered it. this means that his story was flimsy at best, and he relied on his "friends" to cover the person in the spray.

it is now literally a group effort instead of just him being the leader and doing most of the job. his part even covered by another color, basically saying that yeah he only started it, but the others genuinely followed his steps. and fuuta didn't like that. fuuta is genuinely terrified of it. and if i see the color correctly (i might've missed some, sorry) the color used here is the same color on the pupil that starred at fuuta to pressure him.

again with spray as a medium to tell a story, they are quite literally covering the person with their "story" and we can see that it's not just teenagers who did this, noticed the person on the left with a ring on their finger, meaning that they either already married OR had a fiancee. that's an adult. not just male hands, we also have female hands. fuuta's army is literally filled with not just people his age, but both older and younger. and that terrifies the absolute shit of fuuta who only watched the attack from afar.

under "fire", the girl became a statue and broke under pressure. the hands reaching upward mean that she's probably asking for help, but there's no one to save her. so she broke up with no one by her side, and killed herself to end her suffering.

notice how the statue fell pointing to him. i think this represent the fact that the girl might've asked for his help or he might've saw her reaching out to him post-her death. it might be when he knew that his action has killed a person. sure, it's unintentional, but he created a situation where she might've considered death than surviving. and look at fuuta's expression.

he was also under "fire" and he is feeling the effect of the attack AND the guilt, and moments later his can of spray/medium of story exploded on him, both damaging him AND not allowing him to tell the story. this marks the moment where his "squad" turned their backs on him and now attacked him, probably for his moment of weakness. i also find it interesting that the can is "bloodied" so to speak, to basically say he's no longer innocent and his hands are now covered in blood.

he is running for his LIFE. notice that the gray color on his hand reached up his forearms now, meaning that he definitely did not leave his confrontation unscathed.

and now es, with their own medium to tell a story, covered him with black spray, meaning that "his story" is now overwritten by es, or by extension, milgram, and of course, the judgemental eyes that followed es' steps.

so this mv basically tells the story of him starting something and it went so big that it's uncontrollable. he never meant it to go this far, but it did, and someone died because of his action. he definitely bite more than he can chew. he showed remorse for his action, which is more than i can say for some people... *cough*

[trophygony]

[sylhea-raemi]

When you realize this moment isn't him getting backlash from cancelling a middle schooler online or finding out the victim died because of it...

...but it's him watching the cyber bullying continue even without him participating in it any longer, watching everything unfold from the sidelines, not doing anything about the situation, until the end of it.

[biueprint]

"It's not my fault, not even slightly"

— Fuuta, right before being voted unforgiven

(backdraft spoilers in the tags)

[mirururuguramu]

That comment was so big brain I had to 😭

[mihai-florescu]

Oh my god

[asherenjoysbeingtransparent]

“Backdraft” (one scene) — Fuuta Kajiyama

[genderqueer-miharu]

I am kinda worried that the guilty prisoners possibly being stuck in a single symbolic space for their second mvs means we won't get to clearly see more of what they've done, because i feel like those three specifically were the characters we needed the most information from

[mayoiayasep]

fuuta got put through the horrors🎉🎉🎉