#kotoko yuzuriha spoilers

[archivalofsins]

Kotoko really did fuck up the fandom-

By making a diss track denouncing everyone's faves. Yet, she still decided to make fun of the dude with a dissociative disorder for having a bad memory. I know it's a reference to the original Undercover if she is saying that, but damn... Girl, he's done other things, surely. You want to kill this man it cannot simply be for having a bad memory.

Like this is so fucking funny. She really went you like everyone here as much as me-

*grabs mic*

YOU HAVE SHIT TASTE- YOU SHOULD ONLY LIKE ME NOT THESE FUCKING PEOPLE!

Then started taking shots like it was going out of style. It's funny how jealous she clearly is and how in anticipation of being rejected she's begun to reject first as though that's going to make it hurt any less.

She's really pulling a love me more than you love them and that job of yours that you're no good at. I'm too here for it. She's clearly having a full fucking fit and still trying to seem like the reasonable one here.

[blueepink07]

‼️Deep cover and YONAH spoilers‼️

Just a short talk about the last lyrics ->because I find Kotoko fascinating

The last lyrics from deep cover, while they can surely show Kotoko's views about the innocent prisoners, also serve a purpose to show how the society might see the prisoners.

In YONAH, Kotoko brings up how Es is too reliant with the prisoners, because they got attached to them.

Then, she asks a question that is immediately dismissed by Es and left unanswered. Would we be as angry now if Kotoko were to beat up the prisoners, knowing just that they are murderers and what crime they committed? If we didn't know their thoughts, their feelings and distress, and where to see their crimes on the news, would we really not be happy with the outcome…?

I think that these lyrics imply a generalization of how their crimes would be seen in the eyes of an outsider, in comparison with society standards and beliefs. Kotoko is not a person to back down, in the VD she never considers accepting Es's point of view of the situation in Milgram. These feelings are still persistent in her song, hence why she portrays the innocent prisoners with such harsh words. It's also a way for her to convince Es to judge more prisoners guilty, by talking about them in an almost dehumanizing way.

Honestly I'm glad that there is a character who brought this thing up, because I was actually wondering if someone will directly state this...

[givemeanaccountalready]

One last post before I turn for the night. You know how projection is one hell of a drug? And that Kotoko doesn’t like Mikoto at all while Mikoto keeps trying to befriend her? Maybe it’s because Kotoko sees the worst of herself in Mikoto and rejecting him is how she rejects that part of herself, while Mikoto sees the most pitiable parts of himself in her (like her self-imposed isolation and high standards) and is trying to give her the treatment he wished others had given him?

Don’t get me wrong. I’m still firmly in the camp of “Mikoto killed somebody and John covered for him well enough that denying it ever happened wasn’t that hard,” but you guys ever hear that one saying: that the water that boiled the egg, softens the potato? Some people face adversity and when they see others face that same sort of adversity, they say, “I managed just fine on my own/I pulled myself up by my bootstraps so why won’t you?” Others face adversity and when they see others face it as well, their instinct is “I wish I had had help so I’m going to try and help.”

Now, let me be clear, I am not using childhood trauma to excuse what Kotoko did. But I’m extremely curious as to what you have to do to a kid to make them grow up to become what Kotoko is. Same with Mikoto. It’s less of an “I want an easy excuse to justify it,” and more of a “I want context to better understand what led up to this.”

From what I remember reading about the articles shown in Harrow, the pedophile she killed had a rich daddy who was implied to have swept it under the rug and got him released. For completely understandable reasons, Kotoko is pissed. Not only does he not show any remorse, but he is a repeat offender who will continue to hurt other young girls. I could understand why the cops decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth and wash their hands of the whole debacle by agreeing with Kotoko and the girl’s story that it was all justifiable within self-defense. The problem Kotoko then faced was that the pedophile had a rich father who could and did pay for an independent review. And then upon hearing that the injuries his son faced before he died exceeded what one could claim self-defense, went on to publish the hell out of the story to get Kotoko punished. In Harrow, when we see her storm the warehouse, there are frames showing a partial overhead view of a woman lying on the ground, a partial view of a man with a hammer who looks very similar to the pedophile, and a clear view of a young girl bound and gagged in a dark room. Did something similar happen in Kotoko’s past and that’s why she’s so stuck in her views on strength, pain, and penance?

Same with Mikoto. DID is a rare condition that usually forms in response to extreme childhood trauma. Mikoto could be one of the unlucky few that developed it past the normal point, but it’s more likely that something happened to him when he was young. Maybe whatever happened was the reason why his parents divorced and not because his father worked all the time. Mikoto clings to his view that if he follows the rules, works hard, and checks off the boxes to the “respectability” checklist that he will be fine. Almost as much as Kotoko clings to her worldviews. It sounds like gossip-mongering I know, but I want to know to try and understand how what happened had happened the way it did and if it could have been prevented.

[ryuseiired]

my dealer: got some straight gas 🔥😛 this strain is called "deep cover" 😳 you'll be zonked out of your gourd 💯

me: yeah whatever i dont feel shit

5 minutes later: dude i swear i just saw a bunch of broken chess pieces covered in blood

my buddy kotoko turning into a werewolf: vote every prisoner guilty

[roseofcards90]

NOOO KOTOKO!!! DON'T PRIORITIZE DESTROYING THE EVIL OVER PROTECTING THE WEAK!!! THAT LITTLE GIRL YOU SAVED IS GONNA DIE BECAUSE OF THIS!!! ALL YOU'RE DOING IS PERPETUATING A CYCLE OF VIOLENCE THAT WILL ULTIMATELY HURT YOURSELF IN THE END!!! YOU ARE BECOMING THE WOLF YOU ARE NOW THE MONSTER!!! KOTOKO!!!!!!

[arcusnoel]

Whoever made the french sub for deep cover is INSANE, WHY IS KOTOKO CALLING KAZUI A "REPRESSED" ??? (Also crazy how she called Mikoto the R-slur, like... WHAT HAPPENED ?"

At least it gave me an idea

[seariii]

No... guys.... the girl came in running all happy and told kotoko "look! I got one like yours! Now i can be just like you!"

And then we literally see her trying to act like kotoko *in tears*

[fankawashitpost]

how do you think es reacted to hearing deep cover for the first time

[viewingthevoid]

Trans flag colour picked from Kotoko's mental breakdown

[derangedfanficwriter]

Milgram slander because the one my friend @googledetective made sucks/j/lh

[oboetemasuka]

Deep Cover title callbacks?

It's purely an English translation thing.

If someone has done this already, then this is your second cake. (I'll never get that analogy out of my head.)

-

“UNDER” Doltish, a codependency of the weak

“UNDER” Obscene, pulling all cords to stay warm

So ridiculous, isn’t it ridiculous

Bringing back the cocky hero again? How embarrassing

“UNDER” Incessant, this sorry round-robin of who’s queen

“UNDER” Doomed, a peddling flower thief

So ridiculous, isn’t it ridiculous

Still saying this is love, this is love, that’s tough

“UNDER” Concealing, coveting, glass half empty or full?

Unstoppable unbreachable MAGIC

So ridiculous, isn’t it ridiculous

Don’t remember a thing, not a thing, poor Me poor Me

-

Seems she didn't call back Muu or Shidou's titles, but "sorry", "round-robin", and "queen" are all big parts of Muu's songs.

So Kotoko does have title callbacks, just not for her own title.

Alright, time to actually go to sleep now.

[archivalofsins]

Now I bet nobody thought they’d see me discussing Kotoko again- Given the things I said about her ideology. I bet a lot of people think I have nothing positive to say and this is going to be full of I told you so’s.

However, that’s far from the case. So, let’s get started on what has to be the best finale to trial two. What everything has been building up to from the very beginning-

Spoilers, for Deep Cover, Yonah, the streaming heart cover and all things KOTOKO YUZURIHA!

Firstly- Man really giving up soon? Is it really over with just that? It’s hard to think that people even liked her character at all if this is all it takes to have people switch up. I’ve been honest about it from the jump these characters could be the worst people imaginable, and I could still be able to find a way to like them. Calling it game over before the starting bell even chimes it’s kind of weak, isn’t it?

So, what have we learned about Kotoko that we didn’t know before? She’s judgmental of everyone around her including herself. Hardheaded and never considers the idea that what she believes could be wrong. Quick to run with her own assumptions and doesn’t show mercy to anyone regardless of their perceived weaknesses or shortcomings. She’s been the pull yourself up by your bootstraps or get stumped under hers type from the jump.

What exactly has changed here?

That she’s pointing some of that vitriol and hatred in our direction now? That she reiterated the fact that she does not intend to go easy on someone just because they’re young? That her morals weren’t as righteous as people assumed them to be? Well, it’s not Kotoko’s fault everyone conflated the definition of vigilante with hero. Because of what- how they’re commonly portrayed in media?

Vigilantes are consistently shown as people with immense privilege who believe themselves to be above the law for one reason or another. Some do in fact attack children, some do in fact kill people regardless of if they’re weak or strong just because they’re in their way, to some the ends really do justify the means and morals are simply a weakness to be ignored that stops them from meeting those ends.

I don’t know what anyone else here thought a vigilante was but maybe how mainstream comics and superhero culture has become watered down that word for a few.

Yes, Kotoko is still a vigilante if she attacks people that others find to be weak or worth protecting. Because a vigilante is simply someone who believes that they themselves are the law. That only they know what is truly right and have the will to act on it.

Literally anyone can be a vigilante, it doesn’t mean they’re morally just or right. It just means they’ve said that everyone else is inadequate and only they can right the wrongs they see within society regardless of what anyone says or whose job it actually is to do so.

Oh, she’s not a vigilante like Batman from Batman the Animated Series. Yeah, Bruce Wayne literally went to a mountain to train and has a psychiatry degree. Kotoko is on a break from law school. I don’t know what made anyone here conflate Kotoko with the traditional idolized concept of vigilantism but- Unfortunate that whoever did played themselves on that one.

A vigilante has never been and will never be a person that is morally correct.

Bruce Wayne commits crimes and lets others commit them. His no kill rule has led to the deaths of thousands including his own sidekicks and romantic partners. People play by his rules or hit the fucking bricks. He’s not always the good guy or the pinnacle of morality. He’s just a guy with his own morals.

Just because people disliked the individuals she was attacking before does not mean she will only attack people whom we dislike. That’s the point of being a vigilante, you don’t act on other people’s orders, you work under your own discretion.

From the beginning of trial two everyone has told us Kotoko is this way from Jackalope-

To Yuno,

Yuno: Yep! Kotoko, who you forgave, went super violent, and then injured people came rolling in one after the other! Es: You mean Mahiru and Fuuta. That was an incident even I had not expected. Yuno: Really? If you ask me, Kotoko is someone I would never want to make my friend, though. She’s the type who picks a conclusion from the very beginning and won’t actually talk with you.

And what does she do from the beginning of her second voice drama Yonah. Pick a conclusion from the very beginning instead of actually speaking with Es. When Kotoko sees that Es is upset she assumes that they are upset because she wasn’t able to properly punish Mikoto Kayano and Amane Momose. This is after she tells Es that they were late as well.

Throughout her second voice drama based on the translation I’ve seen she makes minute references to some of the second trial interrogations of the prisoners and even their trial songs.

For example,

“In order to stop someone, you have to squeeze their throat without mercy.”

Purge March

“So nary a sound can be uttered a second time, I’ll crush your throat too.”

“You’ll forgive their sins just because they’re close to you? Make their punishments less sever just because you get along with them? What next- Are you going to start giving them leniency based off their looks? Their personality? How long you’ve known them?”

Despite that Kotoko says she’s playing by Milgram’s rules and taking into consideration what Es' superiors want her statements are in direct contradiction to Jackalope’s own desires. Her getting upset with Es for forming attachments and voting based on biases is directly antithetical to the project Jackalope is trying to have and has claimed to want to have from the beginning.

This is especially interesting considering that Kotoko calls Es imperfect but from a conversation from the bonus story that came with the Milgram novel we know for certain that Jackalope considers Es the perfect guard.

So, if Kotoko thinks Es is bad at their job and that they are an imperfect guard her statements are directly in conflict with Jackalope’s our superior and the one running this Milgram/advising us.

A second reference to another interrogation comes up during this statement as well-

“…Hey, Es. Please, listen. I don’t want this either. I’m at my limit. I can’t stand it anymore. If someone died because I bashed them online and you find out about it- Even if I learn my lesson from it that won’t put an end to all this.” Futa… “Listen, I’ll forgive you for what you’ve done too. I’ll accept this pain. SO- please- Forgive me, I’m begging you!” … “It hurt… It hurt so bad, I thought I was going to die. I was scared!” Huh… “The feeling of getting judged by countless people at once is the worst, too… I can’t sleep feeling like the whole world is watching me.” … “I’m tired of everything hurting and being difficult. PLEASE! I’m sorry! ES!!” … Sigh… Futa. It’s not like I hate you guys. “… …!” I’ve been by your side for a long time, and I’ve had a look inside your hearts. Even if you are murderers, you’re no longer just strangers to me. That connection is something that can’t be cut so easily. “R-right-?!” Seeing you hurt like this makes me regret my actions too. Haahh… I’m feeling torn since my judgement my judgment may have made the situation more complicated for you guys. “…!” And also…first and foremost. I’m starting to think of you all as something like comrades. “Es…!” It’s a pity… that I’m…the warden. “Eh?” No matter what kind of suffering you’re going through, that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to evade justice. “…?! That’s…!” Either way I have yet to figure out what the relationship between your current hurt self and the crime that you committed is. “…” Of course I can’t blame you for not having words of apology to say to the person you killed. “…!!” But even if you apologize to me about things that happened in the past- It’s not like I care. “Gwuahh, you’re wrong! YOU’RE WRONG!” Thank you, Futa. I realized that this requires resolve. “…!!!” The warden has to… I have to judge the sins of my comrades without holding back even while they’re weeping right in front of me. Phew- That’s all the interrogation is over.

Like honestly Es came into Kotoko’s interrogation acting real different from how they came into trial two.

Throughout her second trial cd everything given to us restates and further highlights the sort of character Kotoko has always been.

Streaming Heart perfectly following up on the disdain she's shown towards herself and receiving affection that was alluded to with her previous cover Anti Beat.

While her voice drama and song show off just how much she knows about Milgram in subtle ways without just laying it out on the table for all to see.

Heavily alluding to the fact that she’s been looking over things in her own way since the series began. Something that was heavily implied during Mikoto’s first voice drama when she came out of hiding from somewhere to help Es.

So, what does this mean exactly? Kotoko isn’t just being a pain in the ass because that’s her regular state. I mean it is but- She’s heard every prisoner's statement on her since the beginning of trial two. She’s seen every music video, heard every excuse, see how they behave in front of the guard- and did what Yuno told us she did from the drew her own conclusions about them without talking to any of them.

Kotoko also admits she’s been eavesdropping from her first voice drama because when Es asks her how much she knows she says,

Even if it’s true that you saved me, I don’t remember promising to forgive you for that rogue-like behavior.

“Is that so? Then, I’d like to ask- is Milgram purposefully designed that way?” Designed that way…as in letting prisoners do what they want? “You should be the one to know about this. The cells here don’t even have locks.” I…should know? “For example me being suspicious of Mikoto Kayano’s actions, carefully tracking him and his behavior, it’s all under your permission.” In deciding whether to forgive or not… One has to observe human nature… “It’s something like that.”

From the beginning up until now Kotoko has been using Es to get the information she wanted on the other prisoners. Because that’s expressly the deal she made. Something she reiterates in Yonah.

Cooperation is about doing what the other party cannot do. Meaning she is cooperating with us so we can do what she cannot. Not just that we’re just cooperating with her because she can do what we can’t. Es/us are the guards we can interrogate and interact with the prisoners how we see fit.

“Guard-san… no. Es. Don’t you want to join forces with me? I think the two of us would make good partners.” Join…forces with you? “With, you in the role of prison guard with the information you gather from interrogations, and me in the role of prisoner with the information I gather from my daily life in here… Working together and sharing our findings what do you think?”

But that’s weird, isn’t it?

She said sharing our findings but during her first interrogation and her second Es never shared any information, did they?

They never willfully told Kotoko any of their opinions on the prisoners. Yet she still acts as though information was shared. Because she wasn’t really asking. Throughout both of her voice dramas and over the course of Milgram one thing is consistently showcased about Kotoko. She doesn’t ask for permission ahead of time.

She takes the fact that Milgram is not taking precautions to stop prisoners from observing each other as permission enough to start observing Mikoto. Probably why he doesn’t fucking sleep too. Since she implies, she’s been observing him since Milgram started simply because he was acting funny and emphasizes their cells don’t have locks. To be honest just because no one is saying that you can’t do something doesn’t mean they’re in support of your doing it. The lack of an objection is not indicative of consent but okay Kotoko okay.

So, why did Es or really anyone here think Kotoko would treat them differently?

Especially when she showed off, she was already observing the interrogations from the jump. Then she never answered how she got into the room either. She just kept that a trade secret and diverted the conversation to a secondary issue.

How did I break into the interrogation room- What a funny question. Es the cells don’t have locks here. Hey, do you want to team up with me? To someone like Kotoko who can get anywhere she wants to and see whatever she wants within Milgram-

Someone like Es who barely has a full grasp of what's going on is always going to be beneath her or just another prisoner. We still don't even know how she figured out who had the highest guilty percentages. She's that ahead of us and that's an issue.

Guilty or Innocent might not even stop her at this point.

Her voice drama puts on full display her disgust in disappointment at not only Es' behavior over trial two but the audience's behavior as well. Then Deep Cover barrels in with all the vitriol she feels towards the other prisoners who spent all their interrogations framing her as a threat to them- People who are no better than garbage to her.

Going around crying about unfairness for someone giving them back what they gave and deserve. Going as far to say just like Futa that's karma isn't it. Even pointing out Es and the audience wouldn't care at all if they didn't feel like they knew these people or her. They'd just see a bad guy getting what they deserved just like they saw with her first mv and everyone would be oh so happy right?

Why is it any different when it happens to a bad guy that you know? If something is bad it's bad regardless of, who does it right? Why should it matter if you think they're nice, if they're just a kid, if they were having a hard time- It's so dumb because none of those things cancel out what the person has done. It doesn't bring back the people they've killed it's just making yourself feel good.

Taking those things into account won't make them change, won't stop them from offending again- It's so dumb. What about their victim's reasons, their lives, their struggles? People like that who just go forgiving the unforgivable because of those sorts of feelings alone can't change anything. The only thing they can do is excuse everything then act like what happens after that is nobody's fault.

It's nobody's fault I just did what I thought was right, I didn't think this would happen, it'd be good if I could have made it so it wouldn't have happened, even if my choices were bad ones they were still my own, to save the things that couldn't be saved I had to try it's all nonsense and never ending justification all the way down. Can any of that be considered taking responsibility at all?

While still carrying that feeling of self-loathing and recognition. that just screams I hate it because it's like me and that means i'm like you. It's annoying and depressing because that's just how people are. They're contradictory. Their morals are flexible. They're not subservient to any will but their own and even if someone else were to come a long and call them stupid, weak, overly sentimental, delusional, self-righteous, promiscuous, entitled, or a liar literally they don't have to fucking listen.

That's the entire point of Milgram, it's not about giving anybody what they want but everyone being able to do what they want because they want to. Plain and simple. But when you play like that the least you can do is take responsibility for your actions instead of conveniently putting all your problems on someone else.

Like Es said to Futa-

No matter what kind of suffering you’re going through, that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to evade justice.

It's hard so what- Would it be more fun if it were easy? Is living a fulfilling life something that can just be handed to everyone as simply as forgiving a transgression that didn't happen to you? It's different because it does feel like it's happening to you.

Because that's how people are and that's how they're always going to be.

[amugoffandoms]

okay I know this is bisexual lighting but also I had thoughts on this lighting, too!!

So, uh, red and blue lighting! It could also be a reference to law enforcement (at least in the U.S., the stereotypical police car had similar lighting.)

So, she's acting like her own law enforcement, which is basically what she says in YONAH. She says something to the effect of "I know you can't punish them, so let me do it for you."

Also, didn't she drop out of law school or something??

(Edit: She paused her classes, you can check out my theories on why she did here!)

[givemeanaccountalready]

Quick questions before I begin my commute back:

1.) Isn’t this hat just unfortunate?

It says “Lucky” and this child is unlucky as hell if she does end up being Kotoko’s victim (I’m like 92% sure but no evidence arranged yet beyond that quick post from this morning).

2.) This is Es’s chess piece and it’s a modified pawn, right?

I am no chess expert but that looks like a pawn that someone had superglued a scale to the top of it. It doesn’t have any color on it until the very end with the magenta colored blood covering it, Kotoko, and her werewolf-sona.

3.) Was anyone else used to the fan-made versions of Deep Cover that the real thing was kind of a shock?

Still bummed that they went with “inept” instead of “unloved” or “useless” because those two just roll more psychological damage to Es than “inept”

[ryuseiired]

deep cover thoughts, or: who is kotoko's victim, really?

ok. so now that we've seen the deep cover mv, it's late but before i go to bed i want to post my biggest thought/theory on it. that being?

this girl is the victim that kotoko is in milgram for, and the murder we see in the warehouse is a red herring.

now. one thing about the prisoners that are grouped together is that each duo appears, largely, to have a direct murder and an indirect murder in it.

haruka is seen directly killing in his mvs; yuno's murder is an abortion, something so indirect many people don't even consider it to be such. muu is clearly seen directly stabbing rei in her mvs; fuuta's victim dies indirectly due to him starting online backlash against her. whatever shidou is doing to his patients appears to be pretty direct, while mahiru's boyfriend seems to have died indirectly due to having killed himself. kazui is in the same indirect boat as mahiru with hinako's apparent suicide; meanwhile amane is shown in purge march to have directly attacked and killed her mother.

with one duo, up until now, having been an apparent exception.

we can see these groupings clearly in the first anniversary art with all the prisoners together:

all the direct murderers are on one side of the table, and their indirect counterpart on the other. all the patterns outlined above, we can see here.

mikoto is on the direct murderers' side of the table, and this makes clear sense with what we see in MeMe's opening shots: as vague as mikoto's mvs can be sometimes, we definitely see him hit that guy with the baseball bat pretty explicitly.

and kotoko? kotoko, as his counterpart, is on the indirect side of the table. this seemed weird, because from what we knew of her murder in harrow... we see her track a guy down into a warehouse and kill him pretty directly. it seems like these two are an exception. but now, we have deep cover, and... are they really both in milgram for a direct murder?

it seems like something bad is happening in this shot, judging by the girl's expression. what do we see right after? kotoko leaving this girl behind, walking past her. she's looking for her next target, and she doesn't have time to play around right now. only... i think it goes wrong. i think kotoko leaving this girl when she does is a mistake, and that her disregard for the girl leads to her getting hurt and dying somehow. after all... the images on the prisoner cards appear to correspond to the murder location. and kotoko's...

kotoko's looks an awful lot more like this than it does like that warehouse.

it seems like this girl idealizes kotoko an awful lot for having saved her. maybe she tries to follow kotoko, but something happens. maybe she gets caught by whoever it is that kotoko is trying to hunt down... and maybe this time, she doesn't make it out okay.

[roseofcards90]

Girlies when they perpetuate the cycle of violence and they become the very same monster they wanted to destroy