#doctorbunny

[purgemarchlockdown]

Ah what the heck I'll post it through here

So in some discord servers, you've seen me specualte that Amane's uniform is inspired by the private Catholic Fukuoka Kaisei girl's school affiliated primary school (福岡海星女子学院附属小学校)

Now, because of the name, I assumed this was an all girls primary school And that the picture above was of 4 girls and the school simply allowed children to wear either skirts or shorts (its uncommon for Japanese elementary schools to have uniform to begin with so I could see a laxer dress code when it comes to stuff like this)

However After a bit more reading of their website Turns out that the Fukuoka Kaisei girl's school affiliated primary school Despite the name Has in fact been a co-ed/mixed gender primary school for the last 50-so years And while I can't find a dress code on their website It does seem like all the students in pictures on their site who wear shorts are boys

Anyway to cut a long story short: Amane's uniform actually resembles the boys one more than the girls (shorts instead of skirt + no ribbon + more central buttons)

And I know you like the trans girl Amane theory so I figured you'd enjoy this info

The only disclaimer I have to give is that the long haired child whose father tattles on Amane is in the same uniform (shorts and all)

So like if this is a girl then occam's razor is that girls at Amane's school just wear shorts (also it'd be strange for Amane's cult to follow gender rolls Except for hair?? idk maybe im overthinking)

TRANS AMANE BELIEVERS WE MIGHT STAY WINNING!!!! It would be weird if they did follow the entire dress code Except for the hair. Additionally those buttons are tripping me up since their Buttoned like the girls so this actually comes somewhere more in the middle of the Both of them...if it does turn out my insane "Amane perceives gender in the same way a cat does, it's just there" catthing Amane idea is real I'm going to explode.

Regarding the girl though...I can't believe I can unveil my insane Queer Infighting Amane idea- okay so in cults it's generally heavily encouraged to outright spy and tattle on people who misbehave:

(BITE)

Information Control: Encourage spying on other members a. Impose a buddy system to monitor and control member b. Report deviant thoughts, feelings and actions to leadership c. Ensure that individual behavior is monitored by group

I think, and this is pure speculation there's is very little supporting this I just like the idea. It be fun if they were BOTH trans.

My reasoning behind this is, first of all Amane doesn't seem to have many friends. Her T2 distorted voiceline has her say:

Father is a very praiseworthy person. Once his virtue increases, he'll come back home, right? It's a little lonely, but I'm fine!

Which, okay it's fair that her homelife is lonely, this doesn't necessarily inform her school life. But if we go to the Prison she's rather isolated overall.

Even in T1. Yuno and Mahiru are people she considers "close" but that's after mulling it over a bit due to being asked.

T1Q10: Is there any prisoner you're close with? A: If I were to say, I guess it would be Yuno and Mahiru.

It's not for a lack of Trying, she tries very hard actually. It's just that people tend to note the way she acts is weird and that gets exasperated in T2 where it's said she's pretty isolated.

But also, I was discussing with a mutual about her relation with this peer and they said that it's possible that this question:

T2Q11: Did you love the person you killed? A: I loved them.

Is referring to a Second Victim (This child) and Not her mother because...well one Amane has shown Very Little Fondness for her mother, and two it's entirely possible she killed multiple people because her staff in Purge March has blood on it Before she gets to her house.

Second thing: Cat Symbolism, Cat Symbolism stay winning forever. There is substantial amount of subtext you can wring out of the Cat being representative of sin and impurity, and Amane taking care of it and also being the Cat. Same with having her be "found out" by a peer and then sold out to, to her Religious Fundamentalist parents.

So now we go into my insane, circumstantial evidence, idea of Queer Infighting. I love WKTD and a big thing in that game is that even if your a "bad kid" if there's someone "worse" than you, you can live another day. And this kid can be anyone, the devil can be Anyone.

Amane has stated an inability to be a good girl:

Only if, only if, only if I could be a good girl

And a lack of desire to exactly "be one" since it requires her not being...herself, and she's happy with who she is.

T2Q20: How do you feel about you not being like everyone else? A: Nevertheless I was born as myself, so I'm happy

So, I'm just saying on a purely speculatory "this would be fun" basis. If we got queer infighting 12 year olds who are trying their best to be "good." I would explode.

Also, she is paralleled with both Mukuhara Kazui and known Genderless Freak Es so, yknow.

[staff]

Tumblr Tuesday: Mole Interest

*Snufflethudgethurgsnorgesnuffle* Move aside, vanilla extract. Mole interest, comin' through. Thanks to all the mole artists and especially to @sabertoothwalrus for the fun little enrichment to our enclosures this week. Let's dig into it!

@aces-and-anime:

@catadromously:

@chicken-mc-nuggets:

@esther-jester:

@frippp:

@tumblestones:

@leftysage:

@nqsoa:

@electricpez:

@guardianspirits13:

@m1lk-ch3rry:

@hyperkittyjkat:

@nathanielthecurious:

@doctorbunny:

@sleepingjuliette:

@cottelini:

@jaz-stories:

@teoceearts:

@possumofthedead:

@neosatsuma:

[dearmahiru]

so a while back, i wrote a post about shidou and mahiru's names and how, if you remove the wood kanji, each word reflects their character. the person who discovered this deleted their socials (sob sob) so i figured i'd post it here for archiving!

thank you so much to @doctorbunny for their corrections and additions!!

01. Haruka 櫻 -> 嬰 Sharp Music Note, Infant * infant used in words as infanticide as opposed to regular baby stuff

02. Yuno 樫 -> 堅 Strong, Resolute

03. Fuuta 梶 -> 尾 Tail, End *potentially a reference to his cowardly nature. in backdraft there's a pun where fuuta sings, "hey mouse, say cheese!"

04. Mu 楠 -> 南 South *mu is often represented by the number four (her number code, four friends, four desks, four lockers, etc)

05. Shidou 桐 -> 同 Same *appears in the lyrics: 同じ 重さにはなれない -> “Throw down”, someone’s value cannot be the same as another

06. Mahiru 椎-> 隹 Old Bird *hinako's name is spelt 雛子 with the same radical and means chick/duckling and child

05. Kazui 椋 -> 京 Capital (City) *gonna be honest i have no clue what this means in relation to kazui

08. Amane 桃 -> 兆 Omen

09. Mikoto 榧 -> 匪 Negation, Wicked Person *to quote doctorbunny "[this] is used in many bandit words as well as 匪躬 which means 'self sacrificing service' which means 'to be loyal to one's lord or nation without regards for oneself' This could describe Mikoto's experience with work but Interestingly the name kanji in 'Mikoto' 尊 means lord/highness

010. Kotoko 杠 -> 工 Labour, Work

[iris-drawing-stuff]

I just found a translation by doctorbunny of the voice lines in the Milgram earphone collab, so here's some doodles of the prisoners recording their lines. I imagine that Es just handed them the script and then shoved them into a recording booth.

[archivalofsins]

Oh yeah, I was talking about this with friends yesterday and concluded that Shidou never goes home in Triage. He's still at the hospital just pretending he went home. There are also shots in Throw Down that show that the outside of the hospital he works at literally looks like where he's walking in Triage.

Post has been edited to fix spelling errors, add read more, and information for clarification. Edited: 02/27/24 3:17pm EST

Something Shidou purposely tries to hide as he quickly cuts away from these angles in Throw Down. Favoring showing off more barren areas like this.

The inside of the hospital is shown to have the same handrail on the wall that he walks past in Triage when he arrives home. The tile floor is spaced exactly the same as it is within the hospital as is seen in his makeshift home in Triage.

The tile wall literally turns into a window when he touches it.

Plus, literally no one else's second trial music videos have completely excluded where they committed their crimes. That's even counting prisoners like Mahiru and Futa whose mental spaces were entirely warped from what they experienced over the course of the last intermission. Even still their music videos followed a similar pattern to their first ones.

Even the train Mikoto (John) is seen in throughout Double is prominently shown in MeMe. Shidou's video is the same in this regard. Calling back to his previous one, which allows the viewer to discern between the discrepancies and figure out where he actually is, at some points.

For example, the plants outside of his house are reminiscent of the ones seen in the greenhouse during Throw Down. The shot of the greenhouse and his front door are almost the same.

Except we're seeing from Shidou's perspective.

This could be why the message machine for his house picks up near the beginning. To fully illustrate that regardless of what he tells/shows us he is currently not at fucking home. He's just not there and never went there.

Hell, even if that was his cellphone voice mail that's even more damning. Considering that from the beginning, we've been shown the use of phones is prohibited in his workspace.

Reformation of the Japanese Guidelines for cellular phone use in hospitals (August 2015)

New guidelines ease restrictions on cellphone use at hospitals (August 19, 2014)

Chiba University Hospital How to spend your time during hospitalization

Something that is common for hospitals around the world.

At least, I believe that's what this sign means. However, it could mean something else. It doesn't look like it's very cellphone friendly, though.

UPDATE

@doctorbunny has informed me about what this sign reads. In the older version of Throw Down on the Milgram App this sign was in color and clearly read.

おしずかに 通話禁止 please set to silent mode oshizuka = silent/silence ni = marks silence as the target (IE set _ to silent) tsuuwa = telephone call kinshi = prohibited So, set your phone to silent, phone calls not allowed. (Because operations are going on.)

So, yeah calls are prohibited in this area. Plus this confirms the area that he is in throughout Throw Down is one where operations are actively being held.

Oh, and as a kicker, we've seen what this man's home actually looks like.

It is far less extravagant than the presentation he shows us in Triage. I'm not saying that anyone even believed he went home. Because honestly why would he have mausoleum for his victims attached to his house. What we see in Triage at least to me is clearly an artistic rendention of his work place and showcases how he views it as his personal organ collecting spot.

Then, to add insult to injury, here's the scene mirroring this one from Triage showing us when he's actually home through the lighting and the repetition of body language.

I mean he's better at hiding it than most but not by much.

Other moments that parallel Throw Down in Triage highlighting that we are more than likely still at the hospital and never left.

The metal bars in his kitchen call back to those around the greenhouse.

The place he eats in as well within Throw Down.

And this part of Triage directly calls back to the climax of Throw Down.

[milk-ly]

I really love how in Backdraft, the spray paint is used to mimic spotlights!!

The smoke mimics smoke machines in performances too!

Spotlights are used in theatrical performances to direct attention to a particular thing. By spraying the image on the wall, Fuuta was casting a spotlight on her work, her image. But it’s also basically casting a spotlight on her, behind the screen.

Yet, Fuuta didn’t realize that until it was too late. The spotlight casted too much judgement and eyes on her, metaphorically burning her alive.

I find it so interesting because if you’ve ever been under a spotlight on stage, it’s HOT up there. Just really neat details!

Plus, based on the lyrics, there’s a sense that this is meant to be like a theatrical performance. Like a battle for others to see!

Lines from backdraft that show this:

“Tolerate, impress those spectators”

“The fight’s up here! Come up to the ring and face me!”

“Applause receding far away”

If you turn up your volume in the second verse, you can actually faintly hear an audience cheering and clapping.

Not to mention, there’s also the lyrics “pick up your mouth piece, grind your teeth and strike a pose” being a pun! I don’t know Japanese so I don’t know how it works exactly, but it’s a Japanese pun that basically juxtaposes a big boxer in a ring with a small mouse eating cheese. The boxer makes a lot of sense considering the lyrics “come up to the ring and face me!” Boxing is akin to a theatrical performance after all. Plus, you COULD argue that the victim is the mouse and Fuuta is the boxer.

Edit: thinking more about the pun (thanks doctorbunny!!) it’s probably meant to be referring to fuuta

[gunsli-01]

Picrew tag game!- Create yourself now vs how you looked when you were a kid

Thanks @apatchworkstar for tagging me in this! It was really funny to do!

I've said this before but I was pretty different as a kid. Very combatative and direct. When I showed my dad Magic he said he'd find Amane innocent because she reminded him of me at that age. Which says more than I ever could.

I'd tag Star but she already tagged me so. @siverfanweedo @peccadrome @doctorbunny @not-too-many-eyes @xenonsense @rainbowghostcat @urcaptainvrodani @kikithedeceiver @qrevo @ruby-dear if any of you want to do this please do if you already did it feel free to ignore this though I'd like to see if you did. Also if you want me to untag you feel free to ask!

[laniemae]

this new interrogation hurst my soul so badly

Q: Haven’t you considered changing your job?

A: No way. I went through a lot to get into such a big company. Even if its draining, if I work hard my efforts will pay off

(TL by @doctorbunny)

It’s interesting how John just really wants mikoto to stop overworking himself and it's so sad seeing how his mindset is only pushing him into depression. He neglects the journey only for the goal and he thinks all suffering is worth it but that's only letting him be abused by his job as peers. I think this might have something to do with his backstory and maybe why he's so obsessed with this idea as maybe he picked it up when he was younger. And how he lies about how much suffering he’s going through as he doesn’t want people to worry about him but that just makes everything worse.

But he's neglecting how he's broken because of that and John is trying his best to stop that mindset. It's interesting as we always think of John trying to save mikoto as protecting him from threats but here it's also extreme stress. I should think more about maybe how John is trying to make Mikoto's job less stressful for him or to quit But knowing him it's likely he'd accidentally make things worse and that's why he regrets everything

[waivyjellyfish]

What If... [reposted]

ALERT: These calculations are based only on the idea that what if their time flowing just like us. Made for fun. [Read pictures counterclockwise] History: Yesterday, after seven hours of nonstop walking and showing Milgram to a friend, I remembered that Mahiru was not 26 but 22 (at the moment of the beginning of Milgram). After that my remark in the discord a nightmare began. Because I was so tired and freaked out so I decided to count ages properly in Excel. Spoiler alert: It didn’t go well.

Outcomes:

For Es birthday I took the undercover release

Yamanaka, tell me Es birthday I fucking can’t

and everything about them

Kotoko is imposter because she’s December child, and in the 20th year she’s 20. So she’s from 1999

I forgot at the beginning that we start counting from zero instead of one

Excel helped but not completely, had to finish it myself

There are two numbers because the first is the calculations, the second is on the end of the year (I did it to be sure)

My perception of time is very, very strange

never, never calculate anything when you’re exhausted, you’ll be wrong about everything. Thank you @kyanako5972 for mentioning my mistake with Fuuta, and GREAT THANKS for @doctorbunny who made me double-check others and notice that each year of birth was moved one year later than it really was

Conclusions: Perceiving characters in a vacuum is many times easier than THAT SHIT👆

[maristelina]

idk who to ask this but was it officially stated somewhere that milgram has a death penalty? i keep seeing it mentioned as a possible outcome in theories but can't remember from the main source

I have a headache right now so I can't remember too well, but I'm pretty sure it's in Novel II. In Novel I they just disappeared if I remember correctly. @doctorbunny can probably correct me on this.

[doctorbunny]

CEO's being a dipshit so I'll remind everyone I'm also on cohost under the exact same username @doctorbunny

If enough of us MILGRAM people move over there we can get a small community going!

[purgemarchlockdown]

Guess who's finally watching Hallucination.

[captainstrawberrywings]

Weakness I love You Positive Parade and Sticky bug are dead

Sorry @doctorbunny but weakness had a good run

[motivation-ga-shinderu]

i was on a roll today i apologize

og post by @doctorbunny

[1moremilgram-enjoyer]

i’m new to Tumblr and i’m not sure if this is the place to ask but i’m a drdt fan and milgram looks really cool, however i’m not sure where to start or how to get into it, is there anything specific i should do or?

Ah, the DRDT -> Milgram pipeline strikes again I see. Welcome! And yeah, you can ask me anything! Milgram is really fun, even if it can feel a bit intimidating. Take your time! It's quite a bit.

Here is a playlist with some of the most important things in chronological order, and I'll also recommend this masterlink post by doctorbunny, but you can take things at your own pace and do whatever you want forever. However, I'll explain the main things, since there's a lot!

1- Jackalope's Announcements

The first thing you should probably watch is "Jackalope's "This is the MILGRAM"", which explains the premise of the series.

Inside a prison named the Panopticon reside 10 prisoners, all of which are, by some definition of the word, murderers. There is a Warden of this prison, named Es, who must observe their sins and decide whether they should be Forgiven* for their murder, or if they shouldn't be. This is done in a system of three trials. At the time of writing, the First Trial has been completed, the Second Trial is about to end, but we still have the entire Third Trial ahead of us!

Es learns of the prisoners' crimes mainly by watching music videos extracted directly from their minds, though they also interrogate them beforehand.

The twist? Es' decisions on Forgiveness are decided by the audience. Every Trial, after a prisoner's MV (music video) is released, for a period of time (three months), the audience votes whether the prisoner should be Forgiven or not for that Trial. This can be done in the Judge page of the official website or the app (link is for browser), and you can vote once per day. (Technically twice if you use both the official website and the app). You can also just not vote if you don't feel like it. Again you can consume media in any way you want.

[*The localization actually says "Innocent" and "Guilty" instead of "Forgiven" and "Unforgiven", but keep in mind when you vote you're not voting innocence or guilt, but forgiveness and unforgiveness.]

The next of Jackalope's announcements is the "Report on the End of the First Trial", which only really tells you about how each prisoner was voted T1 (Trial 1), something you'll learn about in other videos anyways, so it's not too important beyond some characterization for Jackalope if you care.

However, before you start watching the Second Trial MVs, I would recommend you watch "Second Trial Commencement Notice", which will give you insight into how the verdicts affected each prisoner. The consequences weren't made very clear during the first trial, but this video establishes them a bit more explicitly.

2- Music Videos

Welcome to the main event! The music videos are the main draw of Milgram, and through vague symbolism, extremely fun visuals, beautifully written lyrics, and banger songs, they tell you things about each prisoner. Don't worry if you don't quite get them at first, they're really complex and understanding them is a community effort! Feel free to come to your own conclusions or read analyses or anything else!

Now, the order you watch these MVs in... there's really no set order, beyond "you should probably watch the First Trial videos before the Second and Third Trial ones." You can watch them following the prisoner order listed in that playlist I linked, but if there's a character you're particularly interested in, you can also just watch theirs before anyone else's. In my personal experience, I actually watched Amane's and Kazui's before anyone else's because their Second Trial Voting was going on, then hopped around between Shidou, Muu, Kotoko... until a month later I realized "wait I never actually watched This is How to be in Love With You" I am so sorry Mahiru-

My point is: Do what you want, experience Milgram at your own pace.

There is one exception, of an MV you should probably watch before the others, and that's Undercover. This is a video connected to Es, which serves as an introduction to all the other characters. There is a lot to talk about in this video, from Es' characterization to a lot of symbolism for the prisoners, but it's a great starting point to theorize on what exactly each prisoner's murder was.

In any case, these videos are probably the most important pieces of information for the prisoners, to the point some Milgram fans just watch the videos and nothing else, but there's still a lot more if you want to dig deeper.

3- Voice Dramas

In-universe, before the songs are extracted, Es holds an interrogation with the prisoners, which are the Voice Dramas (VDs). The exception is Es' own Voice Drama, which in typical Es fashion is an introduction which also has some interesting information.

If you want to fully put yourself in Es' shoes, you can watch a subtitled version/read a transcript of the VD before watching the MV for that Trial, which is the way they're ordered in the playlist I linked. But again, do what you want.

The only reason I'm only mentioning them after the MVs is that not everyone feels like watching/reading them in full, which is fine, but be careful, you might be missing some critical information. The things stated in VDs are maybe not always as revealing as the MVs, but they're usually more direct and offer great characterization, so I'd recommend at least reading transcripts. Although the voice acting is always on point, so listening to them is always a fun experience!

4- Interrogation Questions

During the course of the Trials, there comes a point when the fans are asked to send the prisoners questions, and a selection of them will be answered by them. Since the creators hand-pick the questions they actually want the prisoners to answer, they range from very interesting to "why the hell are we asking this?" level questions. They're very fun and add a lot of information and characterization to the prisoners!

They're usually done in prisoner duos, so 01-02 (Haruka and Yuno) get the same questions, then 03-04 (Fuuta and Muu) get a different set, etc. The exception for now is T1 Mikoto and Kotoko, because Kotoko's T1 MV was delayed, and it may happen again since Kotoko's T2 MV was also delayed (not confirmed yet).

5- Timelines

In the Milgram app, there will occasionally be updates to the "Timelines" tab, generally during prisoners' birthdays. These feature conversations between the prisoners, which range from extremely funny, very interesting, extremely depressing, etc. They help build up the dynamics between prisoners and are the origin of certain fan-favorite platonic pairings. They sometimes give hints to the prisoners' backstories, but usually they're more for characterization purposes. You can find links to translations of these timelines in the masterlink post I linked to before (thanks doctorbunny you're very cool).

6- Cover Songs

Every Trial, apart from their original song for Milgram, each prisoner gets to cover one song from DECO*27's catalogue. There is no official confirmation these songs are chosen for any reason other than "they sound cool" (which they do!), but as someone who's looked at all of them pretty closely... listen, a lot of them fit extremely well. I personally think they are important, but that's up for interpretation. Also Es had one for T1, Hibana.

These are not to be confused with the Es prisoner song covers, which are done as celebration for when an MV reaches a million views. They are released in hiatus periods, which is why at the time of writing there are no T2 Es covers. These are mostly just for fun, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's a bit of characterization hidden here. I haven't actually heard them all yet oops.

7- And a lot more!

Milgram never really runs out of ways to reveal lore. From distorted lines in the Character Voice Trailers, fun visuals in the "Songs of Prisoners" teasers, fun symbolism in promotional art such as the birthday cakes, album covers, etc etc... There's no real way I can compile it all, just be patient and take your time! Most of it isn't too important, so don't worry too much.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Again, take things at your own pace! Milgram is a really unique experience, and given how the story is presented, you can engage with it in the way that feels the most comfortable for you! Just make sure you're always having fun! Take care!

[archivalofsins]

Weird gripe but it kind of ticks me off that people are still treating Haruka like he has more than just communication issues. Especially since his song titles have been the most complicated out of the prisoners since trial one.

Or how it's bluntly stated in his character description on the website he has communication issues and nothing more.

"A quiet young prisoner who always keeps his eyes downcast. At first, he only responds with a word or two in response to Es's questions. By communicating with each other through meetings, the number of words gradually increases. Once we are able to have a conversation with him, we can begin to see his true kind nature. He has a quiet temperament and shows no signs of dissatisfaction with Milgram's environment. He tries to communicate with Es and the other prisoners, but there is something off about them and they don't really get along."

Outside of his literal character description, there's an abundance of evidence in the Portal Timeline and his trial songs that continue to showcase that his issues are solely verbal/communication based. Along with the fact that interacting with all of the prisoners and being given guidance from a particular one has been a great help to him in becoming a better communicator.

So, let's go over what I mean.

Let's start with his trial songs.

Weakness bringing it to attention through its lyrics,

"The word I tried to say was “You’re unfair”." "If I tried and couldn’t say it, You would get angry at me and say “You’re hopeless.”"

And it's Japanese title. Something so complicated that it needed to be explained to me again. Thanks @doctorbunny-

So, that's definitely not the naming conventions of someone lacking when it comes to literacy. Shockingly enough it is possible to have very advanced literacy comprehension and low communication skills. Something that is highlighted through Haruka's character greatly. Yet, they translated his songs title as Weakness due to it being a bit too complicated to translate over.

His second song is called All-knowing All-agony for fucks sake. Stop treating him as though he doesn't know anything just because he's autistic coded. It's real ableist bullshit. Autism isn't a monolith it's a spectrum. People with it can have issues reading/writing, communicating verbally, or both. So, it'd be great if the fandom could stop fucking around with disorders they know nothing about.

It's embarrassing. Also here's timeline interactions where we are expressly shown the other prisoners helping Haruka work through his communication issues in various ways. Further showcasing his issues are verbal.

20/06/05 Haruka: Ah…… ah, u-um, Mikoto-san. The c-communication……? thing, that you were saying was important. I-I thought, I’d give it my best…… Um, so, Mikoto-san, what’s your favourite food……? Mikoto: Ooh? Nice going, Haru-kun~ Yeah, we still have no idea how long this lifestyle will go on for, so it’s best if we all get along together here. My favourite food…… I like pasta and horse-meat sashimi. Also bubble tea, and recently I’ve been big on custard puddings. What about you? Haruka: ……ah, I, I wonder…… H-hamburg steak, and omurice, a-and also…… what else? Ah. Cotton candy…… Mikoto: C-cotton candy!? That’s the first time I’ve met someone who has that in their top three favourites!? ……man, Haru-kun, you really are hilarious.

Mikoto introduces Haruka to the concept of small talk. Asking others questions in order to better get to know them.

20/06/12 (Haruka’s First Trial) Mu: ……Haruka-kun…… are you going? Are you going to be ok……? You don’t know what’s going to happen, so it’s scary, huh…… Haruka: Ah, y-yeah, I don’t know. But I definitely have to go, th-that’s the feeling I get. Mu: ……is that right. Let me know whether it hurts or not…… All the best…… Haruka: Ah, eek…… o-ok. ……I’ll…… be off……

Mu introduces Haruka to the concept of checking in on others who are either about to do something difficult or troubling or seems to be having a rough time.

20/06/22 (Haruka’s Birthday) Haruka: ……*sigh*…… Mahiru: Haruka-chaaan, come over here a bit! I’m looking up everyone’s horoscopes right now to check our compatibility~ What’s your star sign~? Haruka: Ah, erm…… s-star sign……? I-I don’t know. Can’t remember…… B-but, my birthday’s June…… 22nd…… I think, that was it…… Mahiru: Ok then. June 22nd is Cancer, so…… A kind person who prioritises their feelings, and…… hm? That’s today!? June 22nd! You should have told us~ Happy birthday~! Haruka: Huh? Ah, yeah…… Th-thank you…… very…… much…… hehe……

Mahiru introduces wishing remembering and wishing others a happy birthday to Haruka. Something he will attempt to do several times until he succeeds at saying it.

20/06/28 Futa: You said you don’t play any games, right? Do you not watch league or premier either? Haruka: E-eh, I, I don’t understand, what that is…… That… uh, “leeg”? Futa: Huh!? It’s international soccer. It’s normal for guys your age to know stuff like that. What a pain… I really have nothing to talk to you about, huh. Even though we’re around the same age. Also don’t speak to me so formally. It’s gross. Haruka: Ah, e-excu-, I don’t, I uh… got it…… Futa… kun……

Futa introduces the concept of formality. Showing that people near your age will find it gross or inappropriate for him to refer to them to formally. This comes up again later.

20/08/05 (Kazui’s Birthday) Haruka: ……Kazui-san…… um…… Are you, happy…… on your birthday……? Kazui: Hm? If I’m being honest, at this age I don’t really think much about birthdays any more. But…… it can be nice to have as a means to start something. Like, for a friend you haven’t seen in a long while, it’s a good excuse to suddenly start up a conversation, you know? Being able to hear from a bunch of people like that makes it fun. Haruka: I-is that, so…… That’s… nice…… I’m, kind of… jealous. But, I’d also, want to hear from people…… e-even if, there isn’t a reason…… Kazui: Haha, but it can’t always be like that. You know, for us adults…… we always want a reason or an excuse for everything. ……hm? Wait, is today my birthday? So is that why you went out of your way to talk to me yourself for once, Haruka?

This is the first instance Haruka tries to apply what he saw Mahiru do. But doesn't really succeed at saying Happy Birthday to Kazui. Instead just asking if he's happy on his birthday.

20/08/18 (Haruka and Yuno’s Interrogation) Yuno: Hey, Haruka, did you fill those out too? I remember doing profile notes like this in like prima11ry school and middle school too. Wasn’t it nostalgic? Haruka: ……e-eh? I don’t… k-know about that…… B-but, if someone wants to hear, I thought I… should answer…… as much as I can……

More practice with small talk and engaging with conversation even though it's a short one.

20/12/15 (Kotoko’s Birthday) Kotoko: I still need more information before I make my move. ……I wish my turn would get here faster. Haruka: Um, Koto-Kotoko-san. I h-heard that it’s your birth, day…… Kotoko: Ah, that’s right. ……what about it? Haruka: !! A-ah, no, um, it’s, uh, nothing…… S-sorry for, bothering… L-later……! Kotoko: ……what was that about??

Here's his second attempt at wishing someone happy birthday but he gets scared off by Kotoko's blunt nature.

21/04/19 (Futa’s Birthday) Haruka: U-uh, um, Futa-kun! Um! Um!! Futa: Huh? Shut up already… Didn’t I already say not to make a big fuss about my birthday. I’m not some kid who gets excited by stuff like that anymore! Haruka: ……?? Ah, er, i-is it your birthday……? Th-that, ah, um, h-happy birthday…… Futa: …………You will tell nobody about this conversation.

Look he did it. This was not his intended purpose in this conversation. He did not know it was Futa's birthday but it counts.

21/06/22 (Haruka’s Birthday) Mu: Haruka-kun, are you awake……? Happy birthday. Haruka: M-Mu-san? I… I-I’m awake…… Th-thank you, very much. I’m… glad…… Mu: ………… Shall we talk? You know, recently I’ve been pretty interested in you. Haruka: ……!! I-in me…? Hehe, hehehe…… interested, in me.

This comes in right after this in a very interesting way.

21/09/02  (Yuno’s Birthday) Haruka: Y-Yuno-san. Good morning! T-today’s your birthday, right……? Ha-happy birthday……!! Yuno: Oooh…… Thanks? You’ve definitely changed a bit huh, Haruka. You speak a little louder now, and actually look people in the eyes when you talk. Haruka: Eh, ah, i-is that so…… I wasn’t, aware of it myself, but…… Heh, hehe. Is that so. Yuno: Ding ding! My sensor is telling me…… this is probably a girl’s influence. Well, everyone here is slowly changing, I guess. Even me.

Oh Haruka is speaking more clearly and looking people in the eye while talking to them. Now who could he have gotten that from. A girl's influence well hm. Let's keep going to be sure.

21/12/15 (Kotoko’s Birthday) Haruka: Ah…… H-happy birthday, Kotoko-san. Kotoko: ……thanks. You’ve definitely changed a bit. Do you remember before? You could barely even talk to me. Haruka: I-is that so? Now that you mention it, I, I maybe have got a bit better since then. ……m-maybe I’ve got more used to being around people. There’s other people here who are interested in me, and, um, in particular Mu-san pays a lot of notice to me…… I… I’m enjoying myself here…… Kotoko: ……hmm. It’s just a theory I have right now, but I get the feeling the outcome of Milgram’s judgements are having some influence on our mental state. Well, I only noticed because I happened to be last up though. Good for you, then. This must mean that you’re fine. ……I’ll accept those birthday wishes.

Success he wished Kotoko a Happy Birthday too. Hm, in particular Mu-san? Isn't Mu younger than Haruka why use san instead of chan. Whelp probably nothing.

22/06/22 (Haruka’s Birthday) Mu: What’s wrong, Haruka-kun? Did something happen? You shouldn’t look away like that when you’re together with me. Haruka: Ah, s-sorry, Mu-san. Um…… No, it’s nothing. I just, suddenly got a feeling. That something is about to happen. Mu: Isn’t that because it’s your birthday? Or perhaps it’s a sign the guard is about to wake up again soon? Fufufu, I bet they’ll be really surprised at a lot of things. Haruka: That, might be true. But, I want the the guard to see. ……the new, me…….

"You speak a little louder now, and actually look people in the eyes when you talk." "A girl's influence." "Mu-san pays a lot of notice to me……" "You shouldn't look away like that."

Well, with some active reading we've determined whats going on here. Haruka has been learning to better communicate with the prisoners through various parties. However, Mu-san the one who pays the most attention with him has been helping him learn how to better communcate with others. Telling him to look people in the eye when speaking to them and to speak clearly as to be heard.

Haruka even asks Mikoto a very similar question to the one Mu asked him when he was going to his first interrogation on his brithday.

Are you going to be ok……?

22/10/06 (Mikoto’s Birthday) Haruka: Mikoto-san. Um, are you ok……? Mikoto: Ah, Haru-kun. It’s been a while since we last talked, huh. Yeah, I’m fine. Are you doing ok……? Haruka: Ah, I’m fine. I’ve been enjoying myself, a lot. Um, I’m sorry, for avoiding you. I was a bit scared. Of you, honestly…… Mikoto: Ahhh, yeah. I’ve been lashing out whenever I go to sleep, right? ……it’s fine. Even I think you’re right to be scared. You know, I kinda just hate that I don’t even know what’s going on myself….haha. Ah, but despite all that you still came and talked to me because it’s my birthday, right? Thank you, you’ve grown into a good man.

(Star barging in real quickly! Wanted to say that the way Haruka almost doubles back to apologize after Mikoto responds welcomingly to Haruka's attempt to talk with him reminds me of how Muu apologizes to Shidou for finding him scary after he actively shows worry for her.

20/06/17 Shidou: ……do you mind if we talk? It seems you’ve relaxed a bit more recently, Kusunoki-kun. Mu: Eh... yeah, definitely compared to the start... just a bit. But I’m still scared… we still don’t know what they might do to us. I want to go home soon… I wonder what’s happening there… Papa and Mama must be really worried… Shidou: That’s good… You were crying so much, so I was concerned for you.… yeah, I’m sure. Your family will definitely be worrying about you. I… hope you can go back soon. Mu: Shidou-san…… did you come here to comfort me…? I’m sorry, I’d thought you were… a scary person… fufu.

Though there are obvious differences, such as Haruka being the instigator of his interaction vs Muu, who was the one being interacted with. Haruka also apologizes for the actions he took, wheras Muu apologized for her old perception. Also when excited or pleased they both end their sentences with a laugh Mu going "Fufu" and Haruka going "Hehe". This has nothing to do with her helping him communicate it's just a cute thing Gunsli and I noticed.)

Then Haruka continues to use his newfound communication skills throughout trial two. For Mu-san's sake that is.

23/02/19 Haruka: Guard, can you hear me? You can, can’t you? Haruka: I meant what I said in the interrogation. ……please forgive Mu-san. 23/04/07 Haruka: Please forgive Mu-san. Please forgive Mu-san. Please forgive Mu-san. Please forgive Mu-san. Please forgive Mu-san. Please forgive Mu-san. Please forgive Mu-san. Please forgive Mu-san. Please forgive Mu-san. Please forgive Mu-san. Please forgive Mu-san. PleaseforgiveMu-sanpleaseforgiveMu-sanpleaseforgiveMu-sanpleaseforgiveMu-sanpleaseforgiveMu-sanpleaseforgiveMu-san

Up until the point that won't even work anymore of course.

23/06/22 (Haruka’s Birthday) Mu: Haruka-kun, I brought your food. Are you still alive? Has any mould started growing? Haruka: ……ah, thank you very much. Mu-san. Sorry, um…… I…… Mu: You shouldn’t just lock yourself in your room all day. You have to eat your food properly. Hm, well…… I do understand why you’re feeling down. It feels bad. The atmosphere recently Haruka: Um, I’m totally fine…… Just a bit, I’m thinking, about how to do it. What to do, what to do, to…… fulfil my promise. For Mu-san’s sake……

At that point the only thing left for him to do is figure out how to act all for Mu's sake of course.