#its jackalope from milgram

[good-beanswrites]

Where is Milgram?

I'm working on a fic, and I know a few of the theories about Milgram's actual building/location that have been passed around, but could you reblog with/send me your ideas on how the prison is physically set up in relation to the world? I want to write something encompassing a range of possibilities, not just my own headcanons. Any kind of theory -- with or without evidence, with or without every little detail worked out, just whatever you've been picturing or would like to see when the project ends :3

(Even if my fic doesn't pan out, I'll post the collection of theories I get for anyone else's research purposes👍)

[jackalopedaily]

Jackalope Daily Day 482

WE HAVE OURSELVES A CHIBI JACKALOPE NOT FULL ON RABBIT, THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS!! Can you guess what I tried going for? There's like a 99.99999999% chance you will not. BECAUSE EVERYONE IS DEAD FROM WHERE I ORIGINATED THIS. Karapon games I'm begging you please return. And if you somehow recognise that, I tried going for this tarot card from Zombie Girl 2!

Obviously I failed..... BUT I'LL GET BETTER IN THE FUTURE. OH I WILL. Zombie Girl/Boy fans where are you I yearn. I'm currently going through Zombie Girl 2 and getting like 100% completion since I might make a doc or something with all the information! I doubt anyone will drop by though.... It's ok I can drag in friends LOL most of all I think Jackalope would a scientist in this rather than a zombie but maybe that's because I love scientists. BUT TECHNICALLY HE LEADS A MENTAL EXPERIMENT SOOOOO I'm just right!

[n0-strings]

jackalope calling us out. damn. but i really dont think this kind of voting is bad because it's operating on the prisoner's safety and not their true judgement. 

but yes i voted the entire t1 guilty gang innocent in t2 - both to protect and for the changing stance on their murders.

whilst i forgive everyone in the guilty t1 group for their crimes (well except partly mikoto bc i still think mikoto had greater involvement in the murders than john lets on), i also definitely have the motivation of protecting them from kotoko's 'justice' as ironic as it may be

like i know me, personally, i am not the warden of milgram. but like isnt it a warden's job to ensure that safety of justice?

protecting them from that violence would still be protecting them from the same violence they dealt in the first place but the whole point of attempting to judge the prisoners in this scenario is so that we can overturn that kind of systematic misjudgement. if milgram is an unjust system, then (if the warden cares about their prisoners, as Es definitely does), it's the wardens burden to protect them and make the right choice.

teaching the guilty more violence against the violence done against them is both unjust and pointlessly cruel (imo).

i understand the kotoko ideology is about that; it's about that sheer mercilessness; that pure hate; it's about that anger of wanting reflect what happened to you onto the aggressor however tenfold or however fractional of the original pain you experienced.

(though well not you in kotoko's case - but for the 'yous' who didnt have enough physical power to grant themselves their own 'justice' in the first place. doing it for the people who never could, regardless if they asked for it because it's her responsibility. because she has the power too. )

(i also have that kind of biased anger when someone hurts a child, hence why i literally cannot not forgive amane. if that makes sense?but regardless i think any hurt i'd give in that scenario is unjust because it would be too biased to myself - so i try and redirect that hate more into protecting rather than hurting, which is why i disagree with kotoko)

and yes kotoko also simultaneously enjoys hurting some people (like definitely enjoys hurting some people. to me.), but i think she at least feels a little remorse when she hurts some specific people.

which is why she forces herself to do this out of everyone-

because it kills her that everyone else will do nothing when they have the option not to. because if this is such an awful job, and yet she gets some selfish joy out of it, then doesn't it make more sense for her to bear the burden, rather than a 'normal' person who would feel guilty?

clasping my hands behind my back as sweat rolls down my face. there were so many harrowing things said in the second trial report⸻dangling haruka's fate like a toy, alluding to mahiru's life⸻but jackalope remarking how kotoko's efficiency of judgement through violence worked makes me feel so sick. genuinely had to take a break from the video for a moment.

not because it's wrong per se, but because wouldn't kotoko herself disagree? she's harped repeatedly how she's not happy the scum criminals have been granted an innocent. it would be such a slap in the face to be commended for her efforts while rotting in her restraints. like, if i was her i'd crash a brick through the window, climb in, and fistfight that rabbit.

[accirax]

Meta Voting, Milgram, and Why You Should Inno Sweep Trial 3

One thing that I've always admired about MILGRAM is how clearly and frequently the series reiterates that you can vote whichever way you like for whatever reasons you like. A genuine judgment of the crime, an attempt to reach a "happy ending," what most benefits your fave, a ritual to get concert tickets-- as Jackalope says, all of these are equally valid ways to participate in the MILGRAM project. The anything-goes policy makes it really easy to introduce the series to new people, as you can assure them that there's no "wrong" way to vote. Everything is open for discussion, as the project itself refuses to railroad you towards one conclusion or another.

... So, with that philosophy as the project's baseline, why have Deco and Yamanaka tried to stop us from voting everyone innocent in Trial 3?

Many people in the MILGRAM fandom have seen and internalized the message from Yamanaka that "if we vote everyone innocent in Trial 3, they'll show us hell." However, I've begun to question whether this is advice we're really meant to follow.

As most MILGRAM fans already know, the MILGRAM project is based off of the real-life experiments performed by Stanley Milgram in 1961. In it, real college students were brought in to perform in an experiment alongside (unbeknownst to them) actors. All of the students were assigned the role of "teachers," and all of the actors were assigned the role of "learners." The learners were brought into an interrogation room, where they were hooked up to (fake) electric torture devices operated by the teachers. The "experimenters" (the scientists running the study) would tell the teachers to continuously shock the learners any time they failed to correctly repeat memorized content, with the punishments getting more and more drastic with each failure. In reality, the experiment attempted to test how much a person would be willing to hurt others while under the instruction of someone seemingly knew better. The results of Stanley Milgram's study showed that the teachers became very willing to hurt other people because someone told them to do so.

MILGRAM recreates this setup with its characters. Our ten prisoners are the learners, and while they aren't actors, their fictional nature fulfills the same purpose as the actors, making it so that no one is really being harmed through the results of our votes. Jackalope is the experimenter, because he's the one telling us to cast the votes, while Es is the teacher, as the person following instructions with very little context. Or at least, this is what the project wants us to believe.

In MILGRAM, it's pretty clear that, while Es is a person in their own right, they're also the stand-in for us as the audience. Obviously, we as real-life people are the ones actually casting the votes for who's innocent and who's guilty on the MILGRAM website and app. But that meta aspect of the project is also directly referred to within the project itself, as Es struggles with their identity as a person instead of a thought collective in many of the audio dramas. Therefore, in relation to the Milgram experiment, I would argue that we, the viewers are the equivalent to the Milgram experiment's "teachers," not Es. They're more so, like, the button that's being pressed.

However, if we're willing to accept that Es as their own entity isn't really the one being tested by the voting system, then I think we need to consider whether Jackalope as his own entity is really the one who's testing us with the voting system. Us viewers aren't really being jerked around and told to vote by the cartoon rabbit himself; we're being told to participate in the show's direction via our votes by the real-life creators of the project, Deco and Yamanaka. Thus, Jackalope is not the experimenter in this metaphor, Deco and Yamanaka are. And these experimenters have only given us one steadfast rule: "don't vote everyone innocent in Trial 3.

Hurt these characters because we told you to do so."

If the teachers in the real Milgram project wanted to "beat" the system, they needed to take a stand for themselves and say that enough was enough, refusing to administer lethal electric shocks to the learners. While Jackalope hasn't really told us to do anything, Deco and Yamanaka have. Therefore, I theorize that if we want to "beat" MILGRAM and get the best possible ending, we have to vote all of the characters innocent in the third trial. While refusing to pass verdicts by giving everyone an even 50:50 would probably be even better, the odds of that happening are basically impossible, so to the extent that MILGRAM was built with a win condition in mind, I think this has to be it.

While it might seem scary to directly defy authority in that way, deciding against defying authority was exactly how the Milgram experiment's teachers failed the test of kindness that was put before them. Not to mention, choosing forgiveness seems to fit with the question Undercover posits of whether it's really okay to judge/punish someone based merely on your own opinion, and an interview I saw once (but couldn't find again, sorry) where Yamanaka said that one of his goals with Milgram was to get his audience to think harder about so-called "villains" they might see on the news or the internet, and what circumstances might have led them into that situation.

As someone who self-identifies as a meta voter in MILGRAM, it's my belief that the heart of meta voting has always been an attempt to help everyone. We didn't vote Amane guilty in T1 or Muu guilty in T2 because we hated them, but because we thought that telling Amane that the methodology of her church was wrong and reeling back Muu's blame-shifting would be the best thing for their personal growth. Even if we were seemingly very, very wrong about what was best in some circumstances, every choice was made in an attempted act of love.

For any fellow meta-voters who feel the same (or non-meta voters who are willing to dip their toes into voting meta-textually for the sake of the characters' happiness), I encourage you to vote everyone innocent in Trial 3, as I believe it's the most likely path to the happiest ending we have available to us. It's scary to throw the prisoners we've tried so hard to protect directly into the line of fire of something we've been told is "hell," but hopefully this little essay has managed to convince you that that "hell" might just be a false premise designed to keep us in line.

Thank you for reading, and here's to a non-soul-crushing T3~!

[000410]

kotoko's manipulation of es

bringing this into the maintags..i wouldnt call this analysis but ive been spiraling about this for too long. for the record kotoko is my favorite. i love her.

t1- john doe/task

you could call this the Save The Cat trope. kotoko is both setting herself up and the narrative is setting her up to be admired for saving es's life(and later her saving lucky in harrow). we have to remember that kotoko snuck in for the express purpose of saving es, because she thought mikoto was suspicious. and she WAS right, but notably she let john attack es... for a while. then she stepped in to save them. and immediately brags about it. she will then continue to bring this up as a benefit to being es's fangs.

theres also the end scene which i still have a hard time parsing BUT it is a sort of breakdown she makes es have and then laughs about it

t2- yonah

the hug, we all know the hug. kotoko insults es, calling them useless and weak (Much to think about.) and then when they break down, acting more like a scared child is when she switches to comforting them gently and telling them "its okay!" and Very Importantly she hugs them when they tell her to let them go.

t3- speculation

based on her t3 quotes, and jackalopes own words, we can believe that kotoko now feels betrayed and thinks of es as her enemy...... Maybe. she's also clearly trying to do the exact same things she's Been doing this whole time.

kotokos way of manipulation seems to be to hurt es in some way and then come in to present herself as a hero, a knight in shining armor gallantly saving them-- which worked once and almost worked on es again.

kotoko says that she wanted to punish the prisoners with her own hands. this is obvious about her she is the long awaited hero shes different than the other prisoners shes the wardens fangs. shes strong and is the only one who can save the world or something.

(translations from milgram-en)

But Then. She Says Something.

This. This is what shes been doing this whole time. she hurts es- she lets them get beat up, she makes them cry, she is the main reason two people died. then she tries to save them. affirm me and i will return your anger and pain To Whoever Did This To You. not her!

we dont know if she will say these exact lines in her voice drama, but i think i know what she's going to try to do.

[milgram-en]

MILGRAM Novel 1: Chapter 1

T/N: Any additional Translator's Notes will be found in the replies. Check the original post before reblogging as TLs are occasionally revisited and edited.

A strangely chilly air caressed my cheeks. I slowly opened my eyes. It seems I had been asleep. A cold, white light illuminated an unfamiliar room. I was lying on my back in a large, soft bed. I had no idea why I was sleeping in a place like this. “Where am I?” This was not my room. The unnecessarily spacious room seemed to be about ten tatami mats big. There were extremely few things in it. Besides the bed, there was just a simple, steel desk. The room felt overwhelming with its size, raw concrete walls surrounding me, buzzing an eerie silence. Normally, if I’d woken up in such a situation, I’d be panicking. But, I just lay in bed, gazing around blankly. Why was that? —I couldn’t remember anything until I got to this place. I couldn’t even say my own name. Everything was vague as if I had no true sense of reality. So, even though I woke up in this unfamiliar place, I wasn’t disturbed; rather, I felt more confused about my loss of memory. As I slowly propped myself up, a voice came from somewhere. “You finally woke up,” a taut, dignified female voice spoke. T/N: 「やっと目を覚ましたわね」is the original line. The わ adds a feminine voice to the speaker (Jacka). There was no shadow of a person around me, but that voice I heard was clearly one in reality, not something coming from a speaker. I squinted slightly in confusion. Then, something the size that could be held within my hands jumped onto the bed with a soft thud. “I’m right here.” T/N: 「アタシはここよ」 is the original line. This Jackalope uses “atashi” pronoun, a feminine way of referring to oneself. It seemed that the thing that had come to me was speaking with the same feminine voice. I could hardly believe it. It was covered in soft, white fur. Two large, long ears protruded from its head as if asserting its presence. Just below the ears were two round eyes. It had a cute little body and a mouth. At first glance, it looked like a well-known animal. “…A rabbit?” As I said this, I understood that my words were inaccurate because the creature in front of me, in addition to the familiar physical features of a rabbit, had two magnificent stag-like antlers growing from its head. …And normal rabbits don’t talk anyways.

“I’m not a rabbit. I’m a Jackalope. Please don’t confuse the two,” the jackalope corrected me, slightly annoyed. Maybe she was often mistaken for a rabbit. I’d heard the name “Jackalope” somewhere before. It was definitely some sort of mythical creature. I couldn’t remember the exact details right at this moment but I knew for sure that it wasn’t a real creature… probably. “You can call me ‘Jacka’ for short,” Jacka said while scratching behind her ears with her hind legs. That gesture was so cute, but I debated whether or not to point out how rabbit-like it made her look. “Am I dreaming?” “No, this space truly exists. It’s not a dream. The fact that there’s beings like me who can speak human language is, well, just a margin of error. It’s nothing to be concerned about.” “If I shouldn’t worry about animals speaking fluently, then it seems I don’t have to worry about most things in the world.” “Well- Could you please get up now instead of lying in bed?” Jacka abruptly changed the subject and jumped off the bed. There were a lot of questions in my mind. Actually, I had nothing but questions. But, in that moment, I had no choice but to obey and follow Jacka. I couldn’t remember who I am and I’m in an unknown place; Jacka has complete control. I didn’t think that resisting in this situation would change anything so, I did as I was told and got out of bed. “Oh, you’re quite obedient.” Jacka looked at me as if she was curious about my obedience. “There’s no point in resisting, is there? I don’t remember anything about what happened before I got here, I don’t know if Jacka is a friend or foe. Until I fully grasp the situation I’m in, I thought it’d be best to do according to what Jacka says.” “Hm. You’re quite calm. You might be the ideal candidate for the role I’m about to assign to you.” “…Role?” “From now, you’re going to meet five people. Just like you, they all have their memories locked.” “Memories locked, huh?” Jacka’s wording made sense. When I tried to remember something, my mind felt foggy and I couldn’t find the relevant memory. It’s not that I’ve lost my memory, but it’s more so that it’s locked in some way. When I think about it like that, it makes sense. “I think that you can’t remember anything right now but, when the time comes, the key to your memories should be safely unlocked. Though, before that, I want you to complete some tasks.” “You mean I’m going to meet five people and then do something to them?” “You’re sharp— That helps. Yes, the people you’re going to meet are people who are significant to you. Just be careful— They’re not ordinary humans.” “What do you mean?” Jacka chuckled at me for asking a question—when I didn’t know anything—then responded. “The people you’re going to meet are all murderers.”

◇ As Jacka led me out of the room we found ourselves in a long hallway, footsteps echoing unnervingly. I silently glanced at my outfit. When I got up from that bed, I realized that I wasn’t wearing normal clothes. I was in a black, collared shirt and comfortable pants. I also had a cloak on and, additionally, a black brimmed hat that Jacka told me to wear while leaving the room. The clothes were adorned with golden embroidery all over, making it look like some kind of authoritative uniform. “Your role here is Warden. You will go by ‘Warden Es’.” Jacka’s voice echoed down the hallway. “Warden Es? That’s not my real name, is it?” “The rule here is that everyone must keep their names a secret. From now on, you will act as Es. You should think of it as something separate from your original self.” I nodded. Besides, I couldn’t even remember my real name anyway so I felt no resistance in using a different name. Still- the term “Warden” was something I wasn’t quite familiar with. When I looked back at my attire, now knowing that I would be playing the role of a Warden, I realized that the authoritative and overbearing design perfectly suited the image of the role of one. “The five murderers are waiting for you in the hall ahead. They—the ‘Prisoners’—and the hall—the ‘Panopticon’. Interact with them as you see fit. You can be intimidating or you can be friendly.” As ominous words lined up one after the other, I couldn’t help but grimace. “Wardens, Prisoners, Panopoticon— Jacka, what’s your aim here? Are you locking up a group of people in this creepy facility to play a game?” “A game, hm? To be precise, it’s more akin to an experiment… that I won’t deny. You can interpret it however you like, Es.” It didn’t really matter whether it was a game or an experiment. The important thing was that we were imprisoned in this place for something we didn’t know and even our memories got locked up.

◇ “Now, we’ve arrived at the Panopticon.” At the end of the long corridor stood a large, closed iron door. Jacka, who had been leading the way, stopped in front of it. As it recognized her presence, the heavy door slowly opened to the left and to the right. Beyond the door was a wide, circular space. In the center was a large, white, round table, surrounded by narrow cells that were divided by iron bars. It resembles a prison, I thought to myself, but then I remembered what Jacka had said earlier about the roles of Prisoner and Warden. Then, it clicked. This place truly was a “prison”. The ceiling was so high that it was impossible to see. Even if I squinted, all I could see was a dim darkness. It seemed that the panopticon was a huge cylindrical building that stretched vertically. Seated around the white round table were five prisoners, all dressed in white prison uniforms, and all watching me silently. As Jacka approached the table, her voice grew colder and more authoritative as she addressed the prisoners. “Warden Es has awakened. From this moment, the new era of ‘Judgement’ to judge the Prisoners’ sins begins.” I swallowed hard and walked over to the table where the prisoners were waiting. Each of the prisoners wore iron bracelets on their left wrists with a chain about 50 centimeters long extending from it. The chain was connected to a thick black book with a black spine. All the prisoners had a black book in their possession. The book appeared to have sturdy restraints, making it seem as if opening them freely was impossible. This combination of the white table and black books tethered by chains created a surreal atmosphere. “Hey- They call us prisoners but, in this situation where we can’t remember anything, it doesn’t really feel right to be told that we’re guilty of something,” a boy who looked to be in high school spoke up. There was a lightness in his tone that was out of place in this heavy and intimidating atmosphere of the panopticon. He let out a sigh, releasing tension, and leaned back in his chair. “But turns out it’s fine. I was kinda scared what kind of dangerous guy would come since they’re called ‘Warden’ but she’s around the same age as us. She seems harmless.” With those words, the tense atmosphere that had been ebbing between the four of them eased. It seemed that the prisoners hadn’t been told what kind of person the warden was. They were quite wary. When I entered the room, everyone stared at me in silence, not out of hostility but out of a strong sense of caution. The boy’s attitude became completely relaxed and he called out to me in a familiar manner. “My name here is Two-Side. Nice to meet you, Es.”

Two-Side smiled, his white teeth showing. He carried himself with a light-hearted attitude even in this unknown prison, but it didn’t seem like he was the type to be frivolous. It would be more accurate to describe him as friendly. It felt like he was showing his weaknesses on purpose to make the other person feel at ease. I could tell at a glance that he paid attention to even the smallest details of his appearance. He made no basic mistakes like shaving properly and even nails were polished and shiny. Considering that he was a boy around my age, he was well groomed. Combined with his handsome features, I thought it wouldn’t be surprising if he was popular with all the girls at school if he was a student. “You guys also have no memory of anything, right?” I asked just to make sure. “When you say ‘you all’, does that mean the Warden doesn’t remember anything either?” A short, pretty girl joins the conversation from the side. She wore glasses with indigo-colored frames, giving off a clean impression. Her shiny black hair reached down to her waist, without a single split end, I couldn’t help but want to touch it. “Yeah, I can’t remember anything before I got here either.” “In that case, we’re the same. None of us can remember anything, and we’re confused because that rabbit over there suddenly started calling us ‘Prisoners’.” The short girl, referred to as “Nervous”, smiled wryly, her gesture adorably innocent. I struggled to associate the word “murderer” with the small girl before me. They are called “Prisoners”, but could they really have committed murder? If they were really murderers in the first place, the police would’ve arrested them before taking them to such a suspicious place. “Nervous, let’s keep the chatter to a minimum.” Jacka shot a look at Nervous. “And I’m not a rabbit.” Nervous quickly covered her mouth in surprise. “Es, please take a seat. I will now begin a brief explanation of this prison.”

Prompted by Jacka, I shifted my gaze to the white round table where one seat remained vacant. Unlike the plain white chairs the prisoners were sitting on, the chair was adorned with the same golden ornaments as my uniform. That was my seat, it seems. The obvious luxurious design was probably to distinguish it from the Prisoners’ chairs. As I obediently took my seat, Jacka moved across the top of the table to stand right in front of me and surveyed the Prisoners. Then, she began to speak. “Now that the warden is here, I’ll say it again. Welcome, Prisoners, to MILGRAM Prison. This is a place bound not by the framework of a traditional judicial system; this is a place to redefine what crime and sin is.” MILGRAM. That seemed to be the name of this bizarre prison. However, all of this felt suspicious. Despite all those grandiloquent words being used, in a country governed by law, isn’t redefining crime outside of that system essentially lynching? “As you all know, all of you Prisoners here are murderers. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that your actions will be deemed ‘Unforgiven’ in this place.” The prisoners had various reactions to Jacka’s incomprehensible explanation. Some tilted their heads in confusion, unable to understand it. Some glared sharply. Some were waiting almost emotionlessly for Jacka’s next words. I stared at the fluffy fur on the back of Jacka’s head. “Whether to ‘Forgive’ or ‘Unforgive’ the Prisoners’ crimes is a decision entrusted to Warden Es. Her sole judgement will determine whether a Prisoner is guilty or innocent.” A deep sigh echoed. Among the four, the only one who seemed to be older by three years, a young man, was glaring suspiciously at Jacka. “Who on earth came up with such a system? Judging people based on one person’s subjective opinion doesn’t seem reasonable at all.” “Stop showing your hostility, Gentle. I don’t answer when it’s not necessary.” Jacka didn’t seem inclined to address Gentle’s remark head-on and brushed it off lightly. Then, she narrowed her eyes slightly. “Here, MILGRAM deals with crimes that the conventional judicial system cannot accurately judge. Crimes that are undoubtedly guilty, crimes that are undoubtedly innocent—such mundane cases don’t exist here.” “So, does that mean our crimes are ambiguous in terms of good and evil?” Gentle asked, continuing the discussion. This time, Jacka nodded, seeming to appreciate the question. “That’s right. Depending on the observer, the judgement of whether to ‘Forgive’ or ‘Unforgive’ your crimes may differ. Someone who knows the full story, someone who knows only the basic facts, or someone who strictly adheres to the legal standard—each person may come to different conclusions.” “I think that the current judicial system exists to eliminate that variability in conclusions.”  “In reality, each person inherently has many different answers but people are forced into a uniform judicial system for judgement. Is that truly sound? For instance, if a murderer is acquitted by reason of insanity, do you think the victim’s family members can accept that the murderer is innocent? I, personally, could never accept that. And if everyone can’t agree, it indicates a flaw in the system. That is why MILGRAM exists; as a stepping stone to a new justice system.” The panopticon fell silent. Gentle, too, refrains from speaking.

I found myself somewhat understanding Jacka’s perspective. Or so I think. Maybe the other Prisoners did too. Say that there’s a murderer who has gone completely insane. In accordance with legal procedures, a judge will declare them Not Guilty due to the lack of mental competence for responsibility*. However, given the feelings of the victim’s surviving family, no reason would justify a verdict other than Guilty. Depending on one’s position or standards of judgement, the decision to “Forgive” or “Unforgive” the person changes. [T/N: Japan’s Legal Competency/Ability to Fulfill One’s Responsibilities A person who lacks the capacity to be responsible cannot be blamed for their actions, thus it is meaningless to impose a penalty. The insanity defense is founded upon the idea of legal competency, specifically that insanity is the lack of legal competency. Insanity is defined as a state in which a person lacks the capacity to reason—discerning the right and wrong of a situation; discerning the propriety (conventionally accepted standards of behavior or morals)—and/or the capacity to control behaviour, the ability to act appropriately—or act with propriety—to a situation due to mental illness/disability/or other reasons (pathological reasons). Penalty is a consequence to a violation of responsibility and those judged to lack the capacity to be responsible cannot grasp the meaning of penalties.] Indeed, that may be true—Jacka turned to me, her small body looking up at me with a cute gesture—but the contents of her words were anything but cute. “Warden Es is free to use whatever criteria she would like for the basis for judgement. Law, sensibility, common sense, ethics, morality, instinct- It doesn’t matter. My job is to guide and observe you.” “...That’s quite an unpleasant situation for me,” I sighed. Jacka, unaffected by my reaction, simply waggled her short, round tail. “The sins and memories of the Prisoners are engraved in the ‘Book of Sins’ each of them were given. When the time comes to pass judgement, the Book of Sin will open automatically. Until then… That’s right.” A heavy atmosphere filled the room as Jacka spoke. With everyone’s attention on her, she announced something unexpectedly with a straight face. “Everyone, why not enjoy your free time?”

[good-beans]

I think it's so cute, Shun Horie and Aimi Terakawa had one in the first anniversary stream :') There's something healing about Haruka’s va having a lil plushie...

so was anyone else gonna tell me about the giant Jackalope arcade prize plushie or was I supposed to just find out by scrolling zenmarket out of boredom myself

[pockethep]

The only way to “win” MILGRAM would have been to not play it at all.

I say this with full confidence that there is no combination of votes that would have gotten an outcome that could be regarded as “happy” and no amount of metagaming can fully predict just where this speeding train is headed towards.

And I really like how much the Jackalope, despite being complicit and overjoyed at the outcomes in this experiment, calls out some of the BS surrounding it.

From the start it’s been known that everyone has “already been a goner” something he echoes in the video, and he also mentions the mental gymnastics people go through to prioritize certain characters for certain outcomes.

This isn’t a game like Peret em Heru or Until Dawn where there is a clear path on how to ensure everyone in the party lives. Sure there are specific choices that have cropped up (Voting Mu innocent to save Haruka and voting Amane guilty to save Shidou and, by extension, Mahiru) but this is an EXPERIMENT and its voting that forced these choices into our hands in the first place. There’s no telling what the consequences would have been even if the votes were changed or if everyone was affirmed in their beliefs from the start by an all innocent vote.

Arguably some of them would probably be worse.

He directly states this with Kazui who had been found innocent twice and a row and only got a heavier sense of self-reproach. (This was also seen with Yuno at the start of Trial 2 who didn't care much for the verdict and called out the audience for projecting all these assumptions about who she is and painting her as a tragic character or some idealized version of who she truly is.)

Shidou developed a savior complex and attached his worth to his use to the others as a healer.

Amane got affirmed in her belief in Trial 2 and started a cult.

Kotoko being voted innocent in that first trial caused shockwaves of consequences and is arguably one of the game changing events in the experiment. Mahiru's death can be directly attributed to this vote AND Fuuta would have died alongside her had Kazui not stepped in after his innocent vote. Heck arguably part of the reason Fuuta was susceptible to following Amane is because that attack weakened him mentally and physically alongside his guilty vote. Who knows if double affirming those beliefs would have made Kotoko do something similar regardless of our votes on the other prisoners. Taking justice into her own hands no matter the consequences (or lack thereof).

We are on a fast moving and burning train. No matter what track we switch to there is no happy ending at the end of the rails and there never was.

What I'm looking forward to is the possibility of one final vote. Whether Es is innocent or guilty.

[windypuddle]

now i wont pretend to know whats going on with the timeline in milgram. like haruka being born 1997 but being younger than yuno who is a 2004 baby ? My assumption would be that milgram isnt linked to a specific time, its something else entirely, which i think fits with everyones confusion and disorientation about how they got there.

But i will say one thing! A bunch of you are always saying "well Milgram started in 2020 so we can assume its set in 2020" no we can't we literally can't. Things can be set in other years than the one they're published in. come on. Also Milgram seems to be a timeless space in some ways... I don't really know what's the deal with the birthday timelines and how canon those are, but a lot of ongoing media will have characters have birthdays/birthday events but they don't actually get older in the real story (enstars timeloop theory anyone ?) so while a lot of the birthday convos line up with whats happening in milgram at the time... im not so sure that means its 1 to 1 chronologically with our world. I feel like Es or Jackalope or the prisoners would have mentioned it if they'd really spent years in milgram. Plus the amount of time between trials doesn't seem to be as long in the series as it is for us, or else a lot more would have happened.

One option for this is that the whole of milgram is sort of suspended in between videos/trials like Es sleeps, but that's clearly not the case because the prisoners are awake and free while Es "naps" in between trials.

Each prisoner's interrogation & video, in universe, also clearly happens very soon after the other (think kotoko knocking out john during mikoto's interrogation, and hers was right afterwards from a canon perspective).

My thoughts:

The events of Milgram (i.e. each interrogation and mv) happen pretty close together, possibly all in one day / a span of a few days. Obviously from our point of view they are spaced out with months in between, for production reasons, but that is not true in-universe. Between trials, when Es falls "asleep", there is a longer period of time where the prisoners are free to move around (as much as they are able with the restraints), but still probably not as long as it is on our end - my guess would be maybe a few weeks.

Now, there is a connection between our world and theirs, with us acting through Es via voting, and guilty prisoners hearing our comments; but I think this is via more sci-fi means. I think Milgram is a futuristic prison- they have technology beyond today's, with the machine to extract songs, and jackalope communicating with Es somehow, and maybe they cryogenically preserved the prisoners or put them in suspended animation until everything was ready. Now this doesnt have to mean far in the future, as I think all the prisoners are pretty much from contemporary Japan, but even in a few years science can make leaps and bounds, which is what sci-fi is all about. So maybe Milgram is set in the late 2020s/early 2030s, or maybe its much farther than that, idk. But milgram isn't realistic fiction, its a science fiction slanted thought experiment.

[waiting-on-a-dream]

LINAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[𝚙𝚛𝚎-𝚝𝟸 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚖𝚊 #𝟶𝟷] 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚞𝚕𝚎𝚜

IT'S HERE LET'S GOOOOO okay i'm slowly starting to post more t2 stuff, so uh. i hope you guys are ready for this because i'm not

also i drew this in like half an hour i kinda wanted it to look messy

(warnings: mentions of physical assault/violence and attempted suicide, also Jackalope might be a bit OOC)

[ The door opens ]

*sounds of footsteps*

Eiji: Guard 002, did you call me?

Eiji: Did you need something?

Eiji: ...

Eiji: "Huh. No response."

Eiji: Guard 002, are you here?

Eiji: Miki, are you here?..

Eiji: "Where did that girl go.."

???: Ah, finally, here you are.

Eiji: !

Eiji: "What was that?.."

Eiji: Is there anybody here? You better show yourself right now or I-

???: Now, now, calm down. I know that you're one of the scariest guards we've had, but at least try to act a bit more chill this time.

Eiji: .. "We"?

Eiji: W-wait, who am I even talking to?

Eiji: Am I.. talking to the person who created this place?

???: .. Did you not notice me yet?

???: I'm literally right in front of you.

Eiji: What are you talking about? I can't see anyone here-

Eiji: H-huh?..

Jackalope: Hello there, "Guard 001".

Eiji: ...

Jackalope: Now, I know that you're the strict and responsible type, so I hope we will have a proper conversation-

[ Eiji throws something at Jackalope ]

Jackalope: .. Seriously?

Jackalope: You know what, maybe I should've chosen the girl. I'm sure she would be much easier and nicer to talk to.

Jackalope: Wait, are you-

[ Eiji throws something at him again ]

Jackalope: .. Yeah, Guard 002 would be the better option.

Eiji: *breathing heavily* Why.. are you still.. talking?..

Eiji: .. I'm not going insane, right? I'm completely normal, I'm a completely sane person..

Jackalope: *laughs*

Eiji: T-this thing can laugh too??

Jackalope: Eiji, you're one of the least sane people I've ever met.

Eiji: YOU KNOW MY NAME??

Eiji: I..

Eiji: Maybe I should just leave. Maybe I should just leave this room.

Eiji: These last days have been.. not so easy, all this stress is getting to me.

Eiji: It's not like I hate being the guard of this prison, it's just.. It can be very hard sometimes.

Jackalope: Yeah, you actually enjoy being a guard a lot.

Eiji: YOU'RE STILL HERE??

Jackalope: *sighs* Calm down already, will you?

Jackalope: And stop throwing stuff at me, okay? You have a lot of energy for someone with a body as weak as yours.

Eiji: ...

Eiji: .. What did you say?

Jackalope: I know a lot about you, Eiji. And about your partner too.

Jackalope: I've been watching you two all this time.

Eiji: .. H-how?

Eiji: No, like, how can you..

Eiji: How can you even talk?

Eiji: Wait, is that a guard uniform?

Eiji: Does that mean that you're also-

Jackalope: Now, I understand that you have a lot of questions and you will get answers to them eventually..

Jackalope: Probably.

Jackalope: But listen, appearing like this wasn't really a part of my plan either. I have a reason to come and talk to you in person like this.

Jackalope: If it wasn't for one small thing, I would just continue to study you two, it's so entertaining to watch you and Guard 002, haha..

Jackalope: Ahem. But anyway, we do have something important to talk about. You might want to sit down for this one.

Eiji: ...

[Eiji sits down]

Jackalope: Perfect.

Jackalope: Now, Eiji, so you understand how Milgram works, right?

Eiji: O-of course I do.

Eiji: We interrogate the prisoners, we extract their videos, we watch them.. and then we judge them.

Eiji: That's.. all we have to do.

Jackalope: Haha, really? Is that all?

Jackalope: I'm sure you understand that the guards have to do much, much more than that.

Eiji: I mean..

Eiji: It's not like I want to do it, but I have to cook for them and also, um..

Jackalope: Eiji, you know I mean something else.

Jackalope: You know, like making sure the prisoners don't die before their final verdict.

Eiji: !

Jackalope: Oh well, if they die, I guess it cannot be helped-

Eiji: .. W-what do you mean by that?

Eiji: How.. how much do you actually know?

Jackalope: Well, I know everything about those recent incidents.

Jackalope: One of the prisoners has tried to injure the two other prisoners, who are also some of the most vulnerable ones here.

Jackalope: One prisoner is now trying to do literally anything to make others pay attention to him, which doesn't always end well.

Jackalope: And there also was a prisoner who tried to kill himself-

Eiji: ENOUGH!

Eiji: I.. Now I understand.

Eiji: You really do know everything.

Jackalope: Haha, of course I do. Now, I'll just get straight to the point.

Jackalope: Eiji, you remember how the trial system works, right?

Eiji: Me and Guard 002 have to discuss everyone's crimes and we have to make a decision about their verdict.

Jackalope: And would you say it's hard to make those decisions?

Eiji: .. Why don't you tell me that yourself if you've been watching us all this time?

Jackalope: Wow, look at you, acting so brave already!

Jackalope: I thought you had more respect for this place.

Eiji: .. Sorry.

Eiji: It is.. hard. Me and Guard 002 have completely different opinions and values, she thinks we should forgive all the prisoners and their crimes don't matter, meanwhile I think they all deserve to die for their sins.

Eiji: So.. we often end up arguing because of that.

Jackalope: Can you say that the first trial has been stressful for you?

Eiji: .. Well, it's only the first trial, so it's natural that we're only getting used to this-

Jackalope: It takes a lot of time to come to the same conclusion, doesn't it?

Jackalope: You want to punish all the prisoners here, meanwhile Guard 002 wants to forgive them. You two couldn't be any more different than this.

Eiji: .. Yes, I don't agree with her opinion most of the time, but I still think she deserves to be a guard. She has a reason to forgive them and when she explains it, she's able to convince even someone like me that these murderers deserve a second chance.

Jackalope: Judging by the results of the first trial, one might say that she's too good at it.

Eiji: .. Of course, you know about that too, don't you?

Jackalope: I have to say, these results have.. surprised me a bit.

Jackalope: All of these people are murderers and some of them committed the worst and scariest crimes you can ever imagine, but..

Jackalope: Most of them have been voted innocent. Actually, all but three of them were forgiven.

Jackalope: I guess Guard 002 really is good at her job, isn't she?

Eiji: Are you.. disappointed?

Eiji: I promise I will be more strict with them this time. I won't hold back. I will make sure everyone gets the punishment that they deserve-

Jackalope: I'm not here to tell you what's good and what's bad to do.

Jackalope: You can judge them in any way you want, I couldn't care less. You can vote all of them innocent or you can vote all of them guilty if you want. You don't even have to judge them based on your morals or whatever. Or you can vote them based on that, if you want.

Jackalope: Also, who am I to tell you to stop agreeing with a pretty girl all the time?

Jackalope: But again, you two are completely different people which makes this whole voting process a unique and interesting experience, but also..

Jackalope: Would you say that this voting system is flawed?

Eiji: ...

Eiji: N-no, of course not..

Jackalope: You deserve to be praised for being so loyal to this place, haha.

Jackalope: And yes, I think making two guards judge a prisoner can actually be better than just making one person choose.

Jackalope: What if that person is a coward who's too afraid of making any decisions? What if that person doesn't want to take that responsibilty? What if they just refuse to vote?

Eiji: Actually.. what happens if you refuse to vote?

Jackalope: Anyway, I'm sure you two have thought at least once about just.. not agreeing with each other and not wanting to change your mind.

Eiji: .. I guess so, yes.

Jackalope: So, Eiji, can you tell me what happens when two people can't come to the same conclusion at all and they just can't make a decision?

Eiji: Wait, but what if we just.. vote the way that we want to vote? What if Guard 002 votes someone innocent, while I vote that person guilty? What happens next?

Jackalope: *sighs*

Jackalope: Can you not answer my question with another question?

Eiji: Oh, sorry.

Eiji: I guess.. They try to find a compromise in some way?

Jackalope: But what if they can't do that? I don't think you can do something like that so easily when you have to decide whether you want to forgive or punish a murderer.

Eiji: I..

Eiji: Well, I don't know. That will probably end with a fight.

Jackalope: Hm, so your mind immediately jumped to that, huh..

Jackalope: Is it because you're used to solving problems that way?

Eiji: Um..

Jackalope: Well, I don't care about your backstory, so let me just answer the question myself.

Jackalope: When two people can't make a decision and almost end up arguing because of that..

Jackalope: They might want to ask someone for a third opinion.

Eiji: ...

Eiji: Huh?

Jackalope: You know, maybe they will just ask their friend to help them out or maybe they will ask a random person what they would do in their situation.

Jackalope: Maybe that person will have a completely different opinion, but they can still be able to guide those two and give them some advice.

Jackalope: Or, well, at least they can just be there to make sure there won't be something like a 50/50 result.

Jackalope: .. Hey, are you okay? You seem kinda pale.

Eiji: .. What does that mean?

Eiji: What do you mean by "a third opinion"?

Jackalope: Well, it's not something that you have to worry about, it's not gonna change the voting process in any way.

Jackalope: Maybe we won't even have to do that-

Eiji: Third opinion.. Asking someone to "help us out"..

Eiji: Making sure there won't be a 50/50 result..

Eiji: Hey..

Eiji: Does that mean there's a third guard hiding somewhere?

Jackalope: Hey, relax, I've already told you that it most likely won't come to that.

Eiji: BUT IT MEANS YOU'RE ALREADY PLANNING TO DO THAT, RIGHT?

Eiji: .. D-does that mean there's someone else in this prison and we don't know about it?

Eiji: Are they aware of what's going on? Or maybe they're "asleep"?

Eiji: .. Wait a second.

Eiji: Me and Guard 002..

Eiji: We both are related to other prisoners.

Eiji: Me and Prisoner 005 are brothers and Guard 002 is most likely related to Prisoner 007.

Eiji: And I don't think this is a coincidence, so..

Jackalope: Wow, you really are smart.

Eiji: .. Does that mean you're hiding someone's family member here? If it has to be someone's sibling..

Eiji: Wait.. I remember. Prisoner 002 has an older brother, Prisoner 004 has an older brother and a younger sister, Prisoner 006 has a younger brother, Prisoner 009 has an older brother and two younger sisters and Prisoner 010 has a younger brother.

Eiji: If you're hiding someone's sibling, it has to be-

Jackalope: Eiji. Does this mean that you don't want to do all of this anymore?

Jackalope: Does this mean you don't want to be a guard anymore?

Jackalope: Do you really want to let Guard 002 forgive your brother like that?

Eiji: ...

Jackalope: Listen, I also wasn't a fan of this whole concept of "choosing the prisoners' siblings as the guards". Doesn't that sound like a cheap plot twist? What, is this some kind of drama?

Jackalope: But eh, I went along with it.

Eiji: .. I'm sorry.

Eiji: I'm sorry, I really do have a lot of respect for this place and if I could, I would stay here so that I can judge even more prisoners.

Eiji: It's just..

Eiji: Making two people with completely different opinions judge someone, choosing people who are related to the prisoners to be the guards, saying that if we can't make a decision, there will be a third person to help us so that the prisoners can be properly judged..

Eiji: .. All of this doesn't sound like a normal trial.

Eiji: It's like.. a game. It's like someone is playing a game and they want to see just what exactly they can do while playing it. It's like they want to see just how many possibilities this game has.

Eiji: So they start.. experimenting with it, basically.

Eiji: And if I want to punish everyone so badly and I get annoyed when I see how many prisoners have been voted innocent and I want to convince Guard 002 that I'm right and she's wrong..

Eiji: .. Doesn't that mean that I've fallen right into some kind of trap? Doesn't that mean that I'm just a character in that game and I'm getting ordered around, but I don't even notice it?

Eiji: .. Wait, where are you?

Eiji: Hey, weird rabbit thing! Where did you go?

Eiji: .. For some reason I don't feel like I'm that powerful anymore. Do my decisions even matter in this place?

Eiji: Oh, there you are-

[Eiji goes silent for a moment]

Eiji: .. Wait, what am I even thinking?

Eiji: I'm the guard of the Milgram prison. I have a job to do.

Eiji: I have to go and tell everyone about the second trial.

[jackalopedaily]

Jackalope Daily Day 447

Just a goober today just a. Doodl

Hab fun guys

[into-the-milgramverse]

Regardless of our stances on characters, I think we should vote them all Innocent, since this is the last trial and it's very likely the guilty vote will result in death (the images for dead prisoners are labeled as "guilty")

I'll only mention here the characters I feel like people really wanna vote guilty now

First, Muu.

So what if you see her as just stereotypical bully? So what if you consider her to be responsible for Haruka's death all because she was the one who brought him food and then expected a pat on the back? We knew he'll kill himself if Muu gets voted guilty, and we knew Muu was supportive of that "because that's what friends do". Our own choices lead to Haruka's death. Sure, being further encouraged by Muu and Kotoko didn't help. And also, what if T2 Guilty vote he received too felt like further encouragement? He basically had only one person tell him not to do it, vs 2 people + entirety of the audience tell him to go ahead.

Her being voted guilty this trial will not bring back Haruka.

Second, Fuuta.

No, he didn't kill Shidou as some claim just to paint him in bad light. And also, so what if he turned to religion? I'd like you to go through constantly feeling like you're watched and hearing voices judge every single thing about you, not being able to sleep properly for a year and longer, and have constant pain from an untreated injury, all the while guilt over your past actions that your friend group also participated in is weighing heavily on you. Let's see if you wouldn't latch onto first thing that promises relief from all of that. Can you seriously blame him for that?

I'm gonna be honest tho, given he has an untreated eye injury, I feel like he'll die regardless (eye infection can be very dangerous if left untreated and its a short way from eye to brain). At very least, he should be allowed to go home to see his family for last time.

Third, Amane.

Even Jackalope, who's painting her as this evil brat who's out to murder everyone who's against her beliefs, tells us that it's just a domino effect of Kotoko's actions. I'd also say her current beliefs are heavily formed by our own voting. First MV showed her simply helping a cat and then getting punished for it. And what do we do? We voted her guilty. We punished her. After seeing her help a cat. I think it's clear here that this results in strengthening the "You deserve to be punished for practicing medicine" belief.

I get it, you're sad, you're hurt, you're angry, you need someone to blame, which is Amane T2 Inno voters and Amane herself, but Amane being voted guilty will not bring back Shidou and Mahiru. Voting her guilty this trial will just result in her getting killed.

Fourth, Kotoko.

Yes, her actions caused this and if we voted her guilty T1, they wouldn't have happened. But, look back at her actions during T1: do any of them give a very clear signal that she sees all crime equally, that voting her inno would have given her a go ahead to do as she pleases and that she'll just beat up anyone to brink of death? They don't. We might look back now and see some signs, but given we didn't vote her guilty back then, that tells you those signs weren't very clear. Also, plenty of people didn't take voting seriously at that time, and many voted her simply because she looked cool. Even if you were somehow able to see into the future, she'd still get inno, maybe just at smaller percentage. Also, her crime is indirect murder, not the one we see in first MV. The murder we see her do in her MV was already judged outside of Milgram.

Her being voted guilty will not bring back Haruka, Shidou or Mahiru. And I don't think it's fair to vote her based on our assumption that she will just go back to killing people once she's out — even if she does, she still hasn't actually done that. How different does that make us from Amane if we simply killed her now in advance to prevent her from interfering with other people's lives?

[mayimkjs]

SO THIS IS A THING IN THE MANGA

This is from the end of chapter 15.

Spoilers under the cut.

TR by u/Disastrous_Resist495

The translator was not familiar w/ MILGRAM at the time of translating it for me

I have no idea what the second panel is talking about, so if someone who read the original could elaborate, that would be nice

So, that is most likely our Jackalope.

This jackalope also acts the same as ours. He also uses Ore-sama. Jackalope thinks that the current system is the perfect system. This one in the manga did propose the current system after all.

Based on the manga, he seems to be high-ranking amongst admin. He had the ability to detain Jackie, who also reported directly to him, and take over the trial.

This scene also further confirms that the jackalopes in MILGRAM have a human form, as we can see Jackalope’s foot and the top of his head. Since the character in the last panel has a speech bubble associated with them, it's safe to assume that its Jackalope. Since the jackalopes have influence over Es, it would make sense that they can choose their uniform.

[givemeanaccountalready]

"Undercover" Makes Me Suspect Things

I went into watching "Undercover" thinking I could make a fun analysis post, and now I just have a Tumblr post with enough red string that I could make scarlet letters for all the Milgram prisoners.

Let me just address the elephant in the room: I understand that Es's "Undercover" probably just serves as a hook to get people's attention and that I am probably reading too much into this. But consider this, wouldn't it be great if I'm right? Now, right about what exactly?

Well, namely, I think Es's song is either a prophecy/warning, or it was not extracted until the three trials ended or at least after the first trial concluded because Es seems to know far more than they should about the prisoners if this song was extracted after the first day of Milgram when Es and Jackalope's voice drama took place.

Now, “Undercover” is very fast, and even at 0.25x speed, I constantly had to rewind and pause to take screenshots. A picture is worth a thousand words and holy guacamole, there were so many frames. To be honest, even if I don’t have the words for everything, I will be showing off what I found to be the most interesting.

The Song Extraction Device & the Panopticon:

First, I want to get into the Song Extraction Device (SED). We know from Jackalope’s “This is Milgram” that the SED can pull mental images from a person’s mind and turn them into a music video. Thanks to Jackalope, we also know the SED can’t pull them all in one go, hence the three trials. Jackalope also states that the verdict of a trial will affect what the SED will pull in the succeeding trial. In the opening and closing shots of "Undercover" we can see that 000 is stamped in its red button/latch.

When I rewatched the “This is Milgram” video, you can see the rooms in the Panopticon spinning on the projection board. In the first voice drama with Es and Jackalope, “Es”, Jackalope tells Es to think of the Panopticon as a clock, with the entrance being the 12 o’clock position and the prisoner rooms being the rest of the corresponding numbers. You can see the room numbers on each room. The first room moving clockwise from the entrance is 001, but the first room moving counterclockwise from the entrance is 000, not 011.

In “Es”, Es asks if there was someone in that room at the 11th o’clock position. They even note that the door looked even older than the others thanks to the rust, and it didn’t even have a lock like the others. Jackalope tells Es not to worry, and before Es can even respond, a bell rings, and Jackalope diverts the conversation by announcing that the prisoners should be waking up soon.

The normal pattern is voice drama, then musical number, but to be honest, I don't know for 100% certainty if the voice drama came before the musical number. I would assume so, but you know what they say about assuming. It would be interesting if Es, because they are different from the ten prisoners, had a musical number and then woke up to have their voice drama with Jackalope. The 000 room is very suspicious to me. It's the oldest room, and if it used to be Es's, then that is a point to the Es is the eleventh prisoner theory. My only point detracting from the Es is the eleventh prisoner theory is that Es didn't get a second song during the second trial like the ten prisoners receiving. That, and besides the amnesia, what made Es so special that Milgram inducted them into their odd prison? Did Es prevent a murder?

Bookend Frames & Chalk Es:

Let’s kick things off with the bookends. We open up on Es walking towards the SED with Jackalope following him, and then the song closes with only Jackalope in view.

Bookends are a framing device primarily used to link the beginning and end of a story in a satisfying way. The ending can be a word for word copy of the beginning, or it can be a mirror of the beginning.

The most obvious mirror moment is the beginning shot ending on the SED opening up and the ending shot starting on the SED closing. The location of both shots are the same and the fog seems to be about the same amount and concentrated in the same area in both shots. Jackalope is on the viewer’s left at the start, facing the viewer, and then at the end, he’s on the viewer’s right with his back towards the viewer. But Es is gone.

Where is my child cop, Jackalope?

Let’s focus on the opening shot. We have Es and Jackalope entering from the viewer’s left, which is stage right. While I was trying to get a good shot of the two in the opening, I noticed that Jackalope spends a considerable amount of time in the fog compared to Es. It could just be that Es is considerably bigger than our most honorable warden, Jackalope, and that the mist is heavily concentrated on stage right. Since Es has amnesia, perhaps the fog he walks through is literal brain fog or just the intrigue of Milgram in general. Intrigue fits why Jackalope is so hidden in the beginning. It's not deep or hidden, but it is nice and straightforward.

Right before the third chorus, Es sings, “losers please exit left.” Did Es exit stage left from the frame? Did Jackalope follow him across the stage but didn’t step offstage? But here is what really skeeves me out about Es not being in the ending. The song ends after the last chorus, and once Es finished the third and final chorus, we see what looks like a chalk outline of Es. Es is not wearing their full prison guard uniform. Their hat and cape/cloak are missing.

Now, chalk Es first has their back turned to us and is watching the prisoner montage. Their silhouette is hazy at first, but it becomes more clear as the montage continues. And then they turn around. I don't know what causes Es to turn around, but they look like they are trying to figure out what caught their attention. Then, what seems to be a spotlight directly overhead turns on, blinding Es so they shut their eyes. They bring up their hand to their eyes and they open them again. Their eyes adjust, and they make something out. Whatever it is/was, it appears to have surprised or shocked Es.

Now, Es isn't exactly stoic. They're very touchy about their role as prison warden, and they become very agitated whenever the prisoners throw them for a loop. But chalk Es doesn't lash out like Es does in the voice dramas. They may not have had the time to react, but even when Orekoto was beating the crap out of them, Es was still taunting him. Something definitely caught chalk Es off-guard. The question is what exactly is capable of rendering him silent.

I think it has to do with whoever is running Milgram. We know Es relies on social hierarchies to maintain a sense of control. They lash out when the prisoners, their social inferiors, disrupt that hierarchy and act familiar with them. I don't think Es would lash out if it was their superior in Milgram. Es can be short with Jackalope and even tease him, but they tend to take Jackalope at his word, albeit with exasperation for the not-rabbit's antics. Perhaps, it's not a superior calling for Es's attention, but something Milgram is doing to the prisoners. Something that goes against his firm belief that Milgram is all-good.

The Prisoners & the Choruses

(EDIT: WHOOPSIE DAISY. It turns out that Milgram had changed the subtitles for the third anniversary. The vibes between the lyrics quoted below and the original one are quite similar, but let me do a quick review and reblog for corrections.) While the lyrics played over the prisoners aren’t directly pulled from their respective Trial 1 songs themselves, all of them reference the titles to their respective Trial 1 songs (see bold).

I only highlighted one of Kazui's "half"s since it was not doubled like MeMe was for Mikoto.

The information presented in each two line sets is not something Es could have known before the trials began. Es can only remember their name and age. This is what got me thinking that maybe "Undercover" takes place between the first and second trials, or after all the trials had been completed. At first, I thought maybe "Undercover" took place before the three trials had even started, and this was what Milgram was erasing from Es's mind: his knowledge of what they had done. Because during the third and final chorus, we see the prisoners 'kill' Es just like how they killed their victims. Did Es learn of their crimes and had to have his memories removed to ensure a fair three trials? Or is this even the first time these prisoners have been tried through Milgram's system?

Here are the two line sets overlaid on the prisoners during their respective mugshot montage.

Haruka: “If you say INNOCENT, you’re complicit and weak / I’m so lonesome, please love me”

Yuno: “My cord is being pulled but nothing’s ever enough / Contractual desires, oh what to do”

Fuuta: “Hiding and seeking from sin / Bring it, submit, and also shut your trap”

Muu: “Clutching a broken heart / The pain’s still there, after all this time”

Shidou: “Which way will you throw down your weight / To be the deceived, or the deceiver”

Mahiru: “I don’t wanna just give / Giving and taking, this is how to be in love”

Kazui: “I just keep on dreaming / half in, half out, I’m doomed”

Amane: “The magic is in believing / There is no righteousness in broken promises”

Mikoto: “Don’t you lie about Me / Me, I’ve done nothing wrong”

Kotoko: “Dedicating my life / Harrowing, burying the thing I want erased”

During the third chorus of the song, we get a rapid sequence of frames that are supposed to clue us in to each prisoner’s murder. But what I did not notice during my previous viewings was that the expressions and the positions of the prisoners during the first chorus change to something different in the second chorus.

Haruka & Yuno:

Fuuta & Mu:

Shidou & Mahiru:

Kazui & Amane:

Mikoto & Kotoko:

You can see that the lyrics overlaid on the prisoners in the first and second choruses match, but that may just be luck on my part. Or maybe it means something, I don't know anymore.

Something clearly happened between the first and second choruses. I think that the first chorus images were the prisoners' reactions to being dropped into Milgram, but what caused their second chorus expressions? Is this supposed to be their reactions to being moved out of Milgram? Something is clearly happening, and they are restrained. Kazui looks like he is avoiding a hit while Kotoko is rearing up to charge full-steam ahead. They're both the heavy hitters of the ten prisoners. Amane, the youngest, smallest, and weakest prisoner, is stumbling backwards like she was hit or she was scared enough to try and retreat from harm's way. The remaining prisoners look scared and/or worried. What exactly is going on here? Is something happening to them? Or to Es? Mikoto (must be Bokuto) and Mahiru are leaning over like they are checking up on someone. Are they escaping? Do we get an escape musical number to conclude the series? How baller would that be?

Very, but in all seriousness, something is up. There's just something about "Undercover" that is making me pause. This very well could all be useless speculation, and "Undercover" is canon in the way that the timeline conversations are canon without actually aging the characters.

TL;DR: Milgram is sus, and come the conclusion of this series, I have a <2% chance of being vindicated.

[samlee2224]

Can we hear about your milgram oc 🥺🥺

( no pressure ofc )

I have 12 Milgram OCs! But now there are only 8 ( or 9 ? ) people who have stories. I'll introduce them to you!!↓

(I use Translate app and my little abilities, hope you can read and understand it.)

In Samleegram, We have 2 prison guards and 10 prisoners

Prison Guards

[000]

Name : Es (エス)

CV : Sakamoto Maaya (坂本 真綾)

Gender : Unknown

Age : 15

Birthday : Unknown

Height : 153 cm.

Bloodtype : Unknown

Image color : #8EC6BB (Monte Carlo)

Es bright and cheerful, They is close to almost every prisoner. They always make free time to talk with prisoners. But no one knew that they was secretly recording prisoners' information all the time.

They patrolled at night every day. Many people think it's because they works hard. But actually they was just trying to find a way out of here.

Es often gets teased by Ar for being short. So they asks Jackalope for a new pair of shoes. That makes them 160 cm tall. which is higher than Ar. LOL

((Es rarely wears a hat because it makes seeing difficult.😢 Es always cooks for everyone to eat, sometimes some prisoners come to help them. (but Ar doesn't help.)))

__________

[000]

Name : Ar (アル)

CV : Uchiyama Yumi (内山 夕実)

Gender : Unknown

Age : 15

Birthday : Unknown

Height : 159 cm.

Bloodtype : Unknown

Image color : #8EB8C6 (Polo Blue)

In fact, Ar was the assistant prison guard. Its main duty is to interrogate prisoners. They was verbally violent during the interrogation. In this prison, there was hardly anyone to like them. (← It should be like that)

Ar is very foul-mouthed and has a temper. (💀) Do you see that whistle? They usually blow it when prisoners don't behave as they please. ( Why does it sound cute..? )

((Ar doesn't often wear hats either. But it's because he's just lazy. Sometimes Ar wears Es’s hat because Ar can't find their own.))

__________

Prisoners

[021]

Name : Kinoshita Haru (木下 晴)

CV : Kitamura Eri (喜多村 英梨)

Gender : Female

Age : 22

Birthday : January 6

Height : 173 cm.

Bloodtype : A

Image color : #F59795 (Wewak)

Haru hardly speaks to anyone. She usually communicates by writing on the board. She also isn't good at facial expressions, which makes some people think she's strange.

Haru often smokes with Masato (024) regularly. And She seem to be trying to approach Akihiko (26) for unknown reasons.

She used to like to sing and play music, she used to set up a band with a close friend before. But why did she stop doing it? Hmmm? you'll have to wait until this part of the story is revealed.✌️

((I intend to design Haru to look like a man. Due to her past story But she is a woman. However You can use the anypronoun with her that she/her he/him or they/them. She doesn't seriously about this.))

__________

[022]

Name : Murata Kei (村田 軽 )

CV : Murata Ayumu (村瀬 歩)

Gender : Male

Age : 14

Birthday : August 19

Height : 154 cm.

Bloodtype : AB

Image color : #BCCCD1 (Link Water)

Kei is the youngest prisoner. He has dark circles under his eyes that are clearly visible. It's because he almost didn't sleep. Even though he went to sleep, he had a nightmare anyway, so he thought it was better to take that time to study.

He often said that he was not guilty , Never kill people , Milgram caught him wrong. And he wanted to leave here very much. 'My father will definitely find me.' He always said that.

Kei looks particularly close to Hinata(023), maybe because of his similar age, he often follows her like a chick(?) Everyone in prison always sees them next to each other.

((He used to ask for cosmetics from Es, so Es thought that in fact, he might love beauty?))

__________

[023]

Name : Tsugiyama Hinata (杉山 日向)

CV : Hanazawa Kana (花澤 香菜)

Gender : Female

Age : 15

Birthday : March 23

Height : 148 cm.

Bloodtype : A

Image color : #F4CFC5 (Coral Candy)

Hinata is a friendly person and always talks to others. Everyone sees her cheerful and looks polite all the time. But once in a while she accidentally slipped out of a rude word. Make everyone shock…

She bandaged her arms all the time. Ritsu (028) volunteered to change the bandage for her often, but she often refused him and did it on her own. She didn't want anyone to see the that wound.

Hinata didn't have the attitude of wanting to leave milgram at all. Hinata thought that this place was much more comfortable than her house. If not sticking to the vote that she didn't like it.

((Hinata doesn't like the uniform that Milgram provides. Because it makes everyone see the bandage clearly.💢))

__________

[024]

Name : Kimura Masato (木村 正人)

CV : Hirata Hiroki (平田 広明)

Gender : Male

Age : 43

Birthday : February 20

Height : 187 cm.

Bloodtype : O

Image color : #78BC8E (Bay Leaf)

He is the oldest person in milgram. He lived a sluggish life as if he had completely lost faith in this world. Sometimes he acted like a father of children in prison.👴

Masato talks to Ritsu(028) most often. discussing life problems, adult edition (sounds depressing). He often smokes with Haru(021) on a regular basis, even if the other party lets him talk to a single swim.

Masato didn't pay much attention to milgram, But if he could choose, he wanted to get out of here, Because he still didn't complete his duty.

((He thinks it's not bad to have free cigarettes.))

__________

[026]

Name : Matsui Akihiko (松井 昭彦)

CV : Taniyama Kishou (谷山 紀章)

Gender : Male

Age : 18

Birthday : April 1

Height : 169 cm.

Bloodtype : A

Image color : #FFBF65 (Rajah)

I haven't made much of his story yet. But as you can see, He's not very friendly.

Akihiko often quarrels with Ar regularly (He actually quarrels with everyone but.. uh… with Ar the most.)

__________

[028]

Name : Itsuki Ritsu (樹 律)

CV : Furukawa Makoto (古川 慎)

Gender : Male

Age : 35

Birthday : June 30

Height : 182 cm.

Bloodtype : B

Image color : #3359BF (Cerulean Blue)

Please marry m- NO, I mean, Ritsu always takes care of others, maybe because he's a doctor, so he's trusted by everyone.

He is very close to Masato(024), probably because Masato is the male of his age closest to himself.

((Look at his smile ^^ 🥺))

__________

[030]

Name : Higuchi Ryota (樋口 僚太)

CV : Uchida Yuma (内田 雄馬)

Gender : Male

Age : 20

Birthday : October 12

Height : 174 cm.

Bloodtype : O

Image color : #C1D48C (Deco)

Ryota doesn't have any other information yet, I'll update it later!

__________

Thank you for reading to the end!!

[sunnymothmoss]

Discussing OCD through the prisoners of Milgram

What if all the milgram characters had ocd? Besides jackalope. (and Es, but I might come back to them). These aren't serious headcanons this is just to explore the diversity of the disorder and potential scenarios.

Just to get some things straight for people who don't know much about ocd - ocd themes and the intrusive thoughts around them are EGODYSTONIC, meaning they go against everything the person actually wants and who they are as a person. This will be at the forefront of what I will be discussing here. Furthermore my experience of ocd has been primarily "Pure O" (internal compulsions) so I know less about more externally compulsive ocd presentations.

Haruka - trauma-based/real event/harm ocd. Going off the theory that the 'second child' was himself, this doesn't work otherwise. I truly believe that Haruka really didn't want to hurt anything anymore after his horror at his murder. I believe that event deeply traumatised him and he became terrified of himself. Now, theoretically, this could result in constant intrusive thoughts about hurting others, despite it now being the absolute opposite of what he wants, particularly animals and children. In this scenario, his avoidance of those things is a compulsion, his eventual ability to overcome his fear of Amane is the start of his recovery from this. However, he died so that didn't get very far.

I will clarify, I'm not an ocd expert but I do have personal experience with the disorder. And the trauma-based/real event/harm combo, in particular, was one of my two main themes, though for myself it was sh.

Yuno - I doubt Yuno has ocd but for the sake of this I could theoretically see an existential theme. Existential topics are definitely something that weigh on her mind a lot and doubt over existential questions (e.g am I really alive?) seem consistent with her character. However I don't think we really see her having anxiety or anything around these so likely not.

Fuuta - moral scrupulosity ocd. Someone has already discussed this an I agree with what they said. Shout out to @azuremist, that's where this idea came from (me impulsively saying give all the milgram characters ocd like I wanted to make milgram worse for them or something 😭)

Muu - I don't think Muu has ocd tbh and I'm struggling to think of an idea for a scenario that fits with canon where she could have? Though this may be more on the basis of her having low empathy and my experience of ocd being empathy-based? People with low-empathy can have ocd but it looks different so I know less about it. This is not at all a judgement against people with low empathy btw! I am part of the autistic community and likely have a personality disorder so I know and understand a lot of people with low empathy (cognitive/emotional or both).

Shidou - ah 100%, someone else has also already discussed this. I think moral/harm ocd as well though. @vividstardustrevolution has written a theory post about it which was very thorough in analysis and I don't really have anything to add though idk if its on tumblr. Shidou is actually a character I really relate to

Mahiru - okay let's use our brain sunny. Relationship ocd - cheaters are who she hates the most, hence intrusive thoughts about cheating. I could definitely see that. Alongside her likely having bpd it would add to the intensity of her anxiety her relationship. The constant checking and calling could have doubled as compulsions to reassure herself that she still loves him and everything's okay between them.

Kazui - this is a hard one because he has a lot of irrational guilt but that's likely over internalised homophobia, it's seen that he does actually have a desire and genuine attraction towards men, he enjoys it, just feels that he shouldn't - so he can't have sexual orientation ocd. I also think due to the fact that he genuinely didn't love Hinako romantically, he didn't have relationship ocd. Unrelated to his main struggles, he definitely has excessive feelings of responsibility but I feel that that's more due to the situation he's in. Conclusion: I can't think of a way Kazui can have ocd, hell maybe he has somatic ocd or something who knows.

Amane - trauma-based/religious ocd. Almost self-explanatory. I think it's perfectly plausible that Amane experiences obsessive religious intrusive thoughts about 'sinning' and has to perform compulsions, maybe even continuing the abusive punishments her parents subjected her to or just simply praying, to in her mind, neutralise these thoughts.

Mikoto - again I don't know, don't really think Mikoto or John have ocd. Mikoto maybe? But I don't know what theme. EDIT - thank you @bravadoting for helping me come up with this idea: Mikoto somatic ocd headcanons fr. Because Mikoto is so hyperaware of how others percieve him he is constantly worrying about people noticing the tiniest noises and movements he makes. He worries about whether not being able to stop noticing his blinking or mouth noises will get in the way of his productivity or whether he is unprofessional for having to go to the loo often to make sure his bladders empty. He gets anxious when talking to his boss that he's blinking too much/too little, getting muscle twitches/tics in the 'wrong' body parts or making too loud mouth noises and that those things will be seen as unprofessional or creepy. He worries he'll get fired because he's not moving right. This extends to his interactions with everyone but his symptoms were most severe when he was at work/trying to do work due to the stress. John starts fronting whenever this becomes too overwhelming for Mikoto and has to mask as him to cover the rest of the situation.

Kotoko - yeah possibly? Stick with me here guys. Kotoko has very strong, if pretty skewed due to black and white thinking, moral convictions. She believes with all her heart that the bad guys should die but evidently has some deep seated self hatred towards herself as well (she views everyone as victim or monster and constantly reminds us she is apparently not a victim). Anyway I think Kotoko could totally have a taboo ocd theme or any moral related theme (tho not anything related to physical violence as we see she has no problem with that and probably not pocd as she doesn't seem scared of kids at all/doesn't avoid them). I just feel it'd make sense given she probably spends a lot of time thinking about how evil and unforgivable some people are then her brain responds to that with intrusive thoughts, worrying she could be like them (istg this happens to me whenever my annoying ocd brain comments about something being unthinkable, honestly at this point I've had intrusive thoughts about every 'unthinkable' thing) which further motivates her vigilantism because she feels she needs to prove to herself that she's not evil.