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  • Locked thread
Justin_Brett
Oct 23, 2012

GAMERDOME put down LOSER

I'm glad we could skip to the defusing art early this time, thank you.

And I dunno, I think they could pull it off if they really wanted to. Why they'd do the serial killer thing two games in a row is another matter.

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Warmal
Aug 12, 2011

Popo posted:

Hinata being Kirakira would be kind of terrible though. At least if the game also keeps him a good guy.
The game is all about killing being a rather horrible act (wimps), so horrible that the characters even feel bad when one of their classmates who has killed someone gets killed themselves. Having the hero be someone who has killed would almost require him to suffer some kind of punishment. I don't see how the game can have had him kill people in the past and keep him as a hero.

But it would also fit the idea brought up in the thread before about all this being a punishment for them Despair Group. It could be that this is a way to get revenge on the bad guys, or show them the horribleness that is murder.

It's true it would be tough to keep him a hero but reconcile isn't too bad. And it's not like non hero main characters have never been made before.

Coolguye
Jul 6, 2011

Required by his programming!

Zorak posted:

I realize this thread often devolves into some kind of Ninja Warrior of being the Biggest Anime, but this is really dumb and you should stop it.

Also folks let's get back to talking about the update and not fictional anime girl fictionally anime hatin' fictional anime men or whatever. That'd be really cool.

Yeah, I had forgotten it was an idiotic hot button in Games and was simply using it to say I found the two of them obnoxious for pretty much the same reason.

Had I remembered that people here still enjoy taking that dumb 'issue' into places it doesn't belong I would've not posted. I certainly regret posting now, this thread gets stupid enough as is.

orenronen
Nov 7, 2008



Chapter 2
Crime and Coconuts, Punishment and Piña Coladas
Abnormal days



Re: Despair-Syndrome

"Super High-school Level Photographer", Mahiru Koizumi...



She wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, but she was still a really kind, caring kid...

...And... she was honest.

Always honest to herself and honest to the rest of us.
...At least, that was my impression of her.

And now, she's...

Why is Koizumi...




Tropical Despair

Why is this happening?!!



Every muscle on my face stiffened...

My vision started darkening...

My legs were shaking, and I found myself leaning against the wall for support.




Hinata...
This day started so well...
We were gonna have a beach party... We were gonna... have fun...
So... How come...?



HOW COME THIS HAPPENED?!! SOMEONE, TELL ME NOW!

I had no answer. I was as confused as he was.

...Huh?



Um...
............



...Abuabuabuabuabuabuabu!



T...This ain’t the time to go into shock! Go get the others!



Music fades out

Mioda quickly ran out of the beach house.

I think... it was a while until the rest finally arrived.
Some of them would’ve had to change... So it probably took some time.

I... was in no shape to notice how much, though.

My senses had gone numb.
...And so had my emotions.

I felt... like all my thoughts and feelings were just... peeling off me..

When I finally came back to my senses, the others had arrived.




Re: Despair Syndrome

W...What's going on?!



Eeeeeeeeek! W...Why is Koizumi-san...?!

The girls were standing in front of the beach-side door, their faces pale.



W...What happened here...?!

But before they could step their shaking feet into the house...

...Someone raised their voice.




...Ah, wait!



Please be careful... not to step over here.



...Where?



Right here. In front of the door.



See the trail of footprints leading out of the house? I'm sure that's an important clue.
So you mustn't step on them.



A...A clue...? So is this really...?



............
You all heard the announcement, didn't you? We’re going to have a school trial shortly...



A...A school trial?!



Do you mean... it happened again?!



Ocean Breeze Dead End

Exactly! One of you bastards killed her!



K...Killed...?!



You sure it wasn’t just... an accident... right?



Well... if you really think about it, isn’t an accident still "death caused by someone's actions"?



So... even if it's an accident, it's still murder in my book.
Usually, you'd get into vague philosophical discussions, but on this island's everything's plain black and white.
On this island, every death is a murder. Well, maybe I'll let death by disease off.



Not that that'll ever happen here, though. I mean, you bastards have your kind teacher Monomi to take care of that.



............



...Oops. “Speak of the rabbit”, as they say... That is what they say, right?



............



Aww, I'm getting the silent treatment! My one weakness... How did you know...?



No! I don’t care!! I won't give in to bullying! I promised myself I'd be a strong boy!



It's a nightmare... It’s a twagic, unbelievable nightmare...
Now we have another victim... and it's all Monobear's fault.



What?! This is not my fault at all!
...Oh? So whose fault is it, you ask?



Well, that’s why we’re having a school trial, isn’t it?



Speaking of, let's not waste another second! We have no time to mess around!



So here, making its regular appearance, is The Monobear File 2!



Good luck with your investigation! I'll see you at the school trial!





Another school twial...? Another investigation...?
Too cwuel... Unweasonably cwuel...



T...Then why don’t you do anything to stop those murders?!
You have the power to do that much, don't you?!



I... did, until he showed up...



I think that now, even if she tried...
...He’d probably prevent her. I mean, just from looking at their relationship...



Yes... Monobear took evewything from me... My Magical Stick... My secuwity cameras...
All I have left are my ears... And they're only thwee times more sensitive than a human's...



I see. That would mean you do not have much sense of what’s going on around the island...



Sniff... I weally am useless... Powerless and useless...





Re: Despair Syndrome

Hey, let’s just forget about her... What are we gonna do?



Hiyuuuu...! D...Do we really have to do it?
Are they really going to make us do those cruel things all over again?



It is... truly unimaginable. Who among us would want to kill Koizumi...?!



I can't take it anymore... Investigation? Trial? I can't do it!
We... all feel the same. But it's not like we have a choice...
B...Besides...
I have to know why Koizumi is dead... We can't just let something like this pass.



Yeah. We have no choice.



Because... We must never forgive something like this.
...We can't ever forgive mutual killing.
Nanami...



I know the culprit must have had their reasons. Hanamura-kun had his.
I know very well that it's Monobear who's really at fault.
But still... Still...



We can't ever forgive mutual killing.
............

She's usually so... vacant. But just now...

...She must really mean what she says.

And anyway... I completely agree.




In any case, if we don't do it, we will all be killed. We have no choice if we want to survive.



So let's do this!



I believe... that is what Koizumi-san would have wanted. She would want us to solve the mystery of her death...



I...I understand... If everyone's going on with it I'll do my best to help...
B...But... I need a little time... Just a little time to calm down.
I think... I'll go let the others know about the murder...
Yeah... that announcement didn't say where the body was found, so they must have no clue what's going on.
S...So... please excuse me...





Well... let's start.
Who killed Mahiru Koizumi-san? And why?



We have to find out. We must stop these mutual killings.

Music fades out

Yeah... we have no choice.



I hate it, but... that's exactly why I have to end it.

...I have no choice!




INVESTIGATION START

Ikoroshia

...First, I should check the Monobear File.





The victim is Mahiru Koizumi. The time of death was around 3 o'clock in the afternoon...
The body was found inside the beach house at Chandler Beach.




The cause of death was a single blow to the head from a blunt instrument.
There are no other visible wounds, nor any traces of drugs in the victim's body.




Around 3 in the afternoon... That's about when Souda and I arrived at the diner...

If we had just gone straight to the beach house instead...

...No... Now's not the time for regrets. Right now, I have to concentrate on doing what I can.
I have to find the truth behind Koizumi's death.

That's the only way the rest of us can survive.




Evidence Bullet Get posted:

Monobear File 2



The victim is Mahiru Koizumi. The time of death was around 3 o'clock in the afternoon.
The body was found inside the beach house at Chandler Beach.
The cause of death was a single blow to the head from a blunt instrument.
There are no other visible wounds, nor any traces of drugs in the victim's body.

Next time, some actual investigation!

orenronen fucked around with this message at 21:24 on Jul 2, 2013

gimme the GOD DAMN candy
Jul 1, 2007
Souda and Gundam are in the clear, I guess.

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!
I think the first order of business should be to go let our partner know what happened.

...Come to think of it, has anyone actually fed him? Hinata left without doing so.

Phelddagrif
Jan 28, 2009

Before I do anything, I think, well what hasn't been seen. Sometimes, that turns out to be something ghastly and not fit for society. And sometimes that inspiration becomes something that's really worthwhile.


That's... an unusual photo.

Warmal
Aug 12, 2011

Was it ever mentioned that Koizumi dyed her hair?

I imagine it could be a simple overlook if it was an early idea for her to have a different colour of hair. But that's stretching it quite a bit.

Considering no reaction from Hinata however makes me think that it isn't too unusual that she didn't have red hair in the photo.

Rhonne
Feb 13, 2012

Do you want to know what we do to artists?
It kind of looks like everything from the her shoulders up is just in black and white.

Orfeo
Nov 27, 2007

Ectobiology sure does involve a lot of button pushing.

Warmal posted:

Was it ever mentioned that Koizumi dyed her hair?

I imagine it could be a simple overlook if it was an early idea for her to have a different colour of hair. But that's stretching it quite a bit.

Considering no reaction from Hinata however makes me think that it isn't too unusual that she didn't have red hair in the photo.

It's just that her head is in black and white. I assume that's sort of a visual indicator of where wounds are.

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!
Togami's picture did the same thing, y'all.

Suspicious Cook
Oct 9, 2012

Onward to burgers!

Rhonne posted:

It kind of looks like everything from the her shoulders up is just in black and white.

Makes me think that maybe it was some screen effect that was just captured mid-pass by the screenshot or something. That, or she was a brunette and dyed her hair red and that's somehow important.

So I'm assuming the footprints are Saioji's and she bolted after discovering the body by herself which was why we saw her running past the fan service locale. Perhaps it was actually an accident and she was only planning to brain Souda for peeking but hit Koizumi without seeing who it really was shuffling around. Too early to say at this point.

Popo
Apr 24, 2008

Homestuck is a true work of art surpassing all of Shakespeare's works.

Warmal posted:

Considering no reaction from Hinata however makes me think that it isn't too unusual that she didn't have red hair in the photo.

Considering her shoulders (notably the tie and bag strap) are grey scale and so are her eyes I'm going to go with it being partly black and white because... I dunno. From what I've seen black and white photos are a standard part of Japanese family shrines so that might be it.

CandyCrazy
Oct 20, 2012

The grey scale is probably applied relative to the cause of death. Togami was stabbed all across his torso, so his whole picture was greyed out. Mahiru was bashed over the head, so only the upper half of her body was grayed out.

What caught my eye though, is that Monobear made a point about accidental murder still being murder. In other words, we're all but guaranteed to have one on our hands at some point.

JT Jag
Aug 30, 2009

#1 Jaguars Sunk Cost Fallacy-Haver
Everything is murder but disease? How would you apply that for some things? Like, what if someone just accidentally slips off a ladder and breaks their neck? Is the guy who brought the ladder from the supermarket deemed the murderer?

Finger Wagon
Nov 25, 2009

Three heaping helpings of finger for you, sir.

CandyCrazy posted:

The grey scale is probably applied relative to the cause of death. Togami was stabbed all across his torso, so his whole picture was greyed out. Mahiru was bashed over the head, so only the upper half of her body was grayed out.

What caught my eye though, is that Monobear made a point about accidental murder still being murder. In other words, we're all but guaranteed to have one on our hands at some point.

Or, worse yet, a murder in legitimate self-defense. That would be a whole new level of horrifying, because unlike Hanamura (who still saw it as an opportunity, albeit for very sympathetic reasons) it would be something that really couldn't be considered the fault of the "killer" by any reasonable human being. Especially if the act of self-defense was intended to be nonlethal but went horribly awry, hence, an accident.

Spatula City
Oct 21, 2010

LET ME EXPLAIN TO YOU WHY YOU ARE WRONG ABOUT EVERYTHING
So yeah, Souda and Gundam are out. I daresay we'll find out in the next update or the one after that Nagito couldn't have possibly done it because he was tied up still. Not surprising, but nobody on the scene is acting super-suspicious. Gundam, Kuryuzuu, Saonji, and Nidai are not on the scene, predictably. Well, I wonder where Nidai is, but I seriously doubt he's the killer. Also predictably, the report is not super-detailed. But this is seems to be a cut-and-dried blunt instrument killing. Well, probably the finding out of the identity of the killer will be as complex, if not more so, than the first trial. I mean, we've got THREE probably decoy suspects (although, you never know): Saonji, Akane, and Kuryuzuu.

Zereth
Jul 9, 2003



JT Jag posted:

Everything is murder but disease? How would you apply that for some things? Like, what if someone just accidentally slips off a ladder and breaks their neck? Is the guy who brought the ladder from the supermarket deemed the murderer?
I think they just need to determine that it was an accident, otherwise they lose the trial and die.

kidcoelacanth
Sep 23, 2009

I'm sick of these boring-rear end blow to the head deaths. The last game had like four of them!! Sheesh.

Axle_Stukov
Feb 26, 2011

Stylin'

JT Jag posted:

Everything is murder but disease? How would you apply that for some things? Like, what if someone just accidentally slips off a ladder and breaks their neck? Is the guy who brought the ladder from the supermarket deemed the murderer?

Going by Monobear's logic, it'd probably count as a suicide.

Warmal
Aug 12, 2011

JT Jag posted:

Everything is murder but disease? How would you apply that for some things? Like, what if someone just accidentally slips off a ladder and breaks their neck? Is the guy who brought the ladder from the supermarket deemed the murderer?

It'd probably be dealt with the same way the Suicide was in the first game.

Blueberry Pancakes
Aug 18, 2012

Jack in!! MegaMan, Execute!
Souda is really starting to remind me of Ishimaru.

I hope he doesn't meet the same fate. :ohdear:

orenronen posted:

So... even if it's an accident, it's still murder in my book.
Usually, you'd get into vague philosophical discussions, but on this island's everything's plain black and white.
On this island, every death is a murder. Well, maybe I'll let death by disease off.

That rule seems pretty interesting and makes me wonder if it'll come up again.

Maybe Mikan will end up tripping and breaking her neck on a slippery floor and we'll have to execute the person who mopped it. :smith:

JT Jag posted:

Everything is murder but disease? How would you apply that for some things? Like, what if someone just accidentally slips off a ladder and breaks their neck? Is the guy who brought the ladder from the supermarket deemed the murderer?

The ladder is thrown into an elaborate death trap for its sins and made into toothpicks for a fancy dinner party that Monobear will be attending later in the evening.

Finger Wagon
Nov 25, 2009

Three heaping helpings of finger for you, sir.

Hobgoblin2099 posted:

That rule seems pretty interesting and makes me wonder if it'll come up again.

Maybe Mikan will end up tripping and breaking her neck on a slippery floor and we'll have to execute the person who mopped it. :smith:

Oh god, you're making me sad.

Or Mikan accidentally kills someone while attempting to treat them, given her wild love of needles.

Actually, if that happened, I could more easily see it being someone trying to exploit that rule by sneaking something nefarious into her medical supplies. I guess we'll see.

Edit: the ladder is the seventeenth student. Super High School Level Elevation!

Who What Now
Sep 10, 2006

by Azathoth
Nanami is acting wildly out of character, and that's making me suspicious.

kidcoelacanth
Sep 23, 2009

Who What Now posted:

Nanami is acting wildly out of character, and that's making me suspicious.

It's actually pretty in-line from what we've seen from her before? When it comes to to investigation time, she switches to serious mode.

HoneyBoy
Oct 12, 2012

get murked son

Who What Now posted:

Nanami is acting wildly out of character, and that's making me suspicious.

Or maybe she's acting precisely in character, that of a video game detective or something.

She's been doing so when not in sleep-mode or whatever her idle nose bubble animation is.

JT Jag
Aug 30, 2009

#1 Jaguars Sunk Cost Fallacy-Haver
Yeah, Nanami gets really revved up doing the investigations and trials.

Color Printer
May 9, 2011

You get used to it. I don't
even see the code. All I see
is Ipecac, Scapular, Polyphemus...


I'm willing to bet she has something in her backstory, whether it shows up in-game or in her free time events, that explains why she enters super serious mode when the murders happen.

mangoman321
Apr 10, 2009

orenronen posted:

On this island, every death is a murder. Well, maybe I'll let death by disease off.



Not that that'll ever happen here, though. I mean, you bastards have your kind teacher Monomi to take care of that.

This is a really weird thing to say. Why is disease not something to worry about, and why is Monomi the person to thank for it? Even more mounting evidence they're in some kind of VR, or at least highly controlled environment, and that Monomi is the environment's caretaker.

Not much to comment on for the actual murder, aside from I doubt Saionji could have swung a bat hard enough to kill Mahiru in a single blow. Puts more suspicion on Pekoyama, I'd say.

Who What Now
Sep 10, 2006

by Azathoth
In the last trial Nanami still had long pauses before bringing up her points. She's never been so quick and active that I can remember. I could just not remember and am probably wrong though.

Breakman
Jun 1, 2013

orenronen posted:

I...I understand... If everyone's going on with it I'll do my best to help...
B...But... I need a little time... Just a little time to calm down.
I think... I'll go let the others know about the murder...
Yeah... that announcement didn't say where the body was found, so they must have no clue what's going on.
S...So... please excuse me...

I know this is in line with her character, but for some reason, this makes me suspicious of Mikan. Combined with her earlier weird line about "never forgiving" someone, she could either be doing one of two things before she fetches the others: cleaning up evidence, or locking herself in a room like Fukawa because she thinks that she's responsible for the murder as kira-kira.

kidcoelacanth
Sep 23, 2009

Mikan knows that Koizumi killed herself and used getting the others as an excuse to hide the protein shake.

tiistai
Nov 1, 2012

Solo Melodica

Who What Now posted:

In the last trial Nanami still had long pauses before bringing up her points. She's never been so quick and active that I can remember. I could just not remember and am probably wrong though.

Nah, she just delivered her points infrequently to steer the conversation rather than explicitly lead it. And then adding "...I guess?" to make it seem like she wasn't so assertive about it.

Spatula City
Oct 21, 2010

LET ME EXPLAIN TO YOU WHY YOU ARE WRONG ABOUT EVERYTHING
Chiaki has really been this assertive since the first trial, although she was more subtle about it before. This is just an extension of what we've already seen from her.
Also, Monobear's aside to Monomi implying the kids can't get sick is REALLY loving ODD.

Dias
Feb 20, 2011

by sebmojo
Aww, man, the Monofile only clears Souda and Hinata (and Gundam, I guess). Everyone else's still a suspect if the murder was around 3pm. Monobear, you're useless!

"A single blow to the head" does take a bit of my suspicions about Saionji away, much like the time of death. It also puts Peko as a prime suspect, being the resident "hit people with sticks really hard" person. But that's all we can take from this update, sadly.

qwertyasdf
Nov 11, 2003

Spatula City posted:

Also, Monobear's aside to Monomi implying the kids can't get sick is REALLY loving ODD.

I said this earlier, but monobear was pretty clear in DR1 that something had gone wrong outside early on, and indeed it had. VR is looking pretty plausible.

Plus unless Monomi is able to show up at the exact instant some one is going to be murdered or hurt and save them, how could she prevent it before monobear changed the situation? The no destruction of school property could also be a rule to stop them from figuring out they are in VR.

Peko seems like the prime suspect, she was in the area, could wash it off, and probably knows exactly where to hit someone to kill them in one blow. Also the game from earlier, A-ko, C-ko, P-ko.

qwertyasdf fucked around with this message at 00:35 on Jun 29, 2013

Wyvernil
Mar 10, 2007

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons... for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

Dias posted:

Aww, man, the Monofile only clears Souda and Hinata (and Gundam, I guess). Everyone else's still a suspect if the murder was around 3pm. Monobear, you're useless!

"A single blow to the head" does take a bit of my suspicions about Saionji away, much like the time of death. It also puts Peko as a prime suspect, being the resident "hit people with sticks really hard" person. But that's all we can take from this update, sadly.

The file does establish one thing, though. The murder happened at around the same time that Souda and Hinata arrived at the diner. Since the only way to the beach passes by the diner, that means that the killer has to be someone who passed that way.

That, at least, rules out Gundam, Nidai, and Nagito(as well as Hinata and Souda, like you said), since we didn't see them there.

xxlicious
Feb 19, 2013

Wyvernil posted:

The file does establish one thing, though. The murder happened at around the same time that Souda and Hinata arrived at the diner. Since the only way to the beach passes by the diner, that means that the killer has to be someone who passed that way.

That, at least, rules out Gundam, Nidai, and Nagito(as well as Hinata and Souda, like you said), since we didn't see them there.

Couldn't they have gone to the beach house and maybe hid there before we arrived at the diner?

xxlicious fucked around with this message at 02:45 on Jun 29, 2013

TKMobile
Apr 30, 2009
Hrmm.

Hinata, Souda, and Gundam are in the clear because we know where they were at 3:00.

Nagito is more than likely still tied up.

Akane and Nidai can corroborate each other's whereabouts; if she were lying, all Nidai has to do is sound confused when asked about the head wound and it would be fairly damning.

Kuzuryuu and Saionji seem to be the first two people who found the body, with Souda as third, but we can't confirm this just yet. However, Saionji can't be guilty of committing this murder because she's physically incapable of one-hitting someone given her outfit constraints and size. Not to mention that the footprints Nanami points out aren't the same kind of footwear she has on; those were made by heeled shoes and she's wearing sandals. Kuzuryuu is yet again seemingly in a red-herring role. Sorry to meta but they wouldn't have two trials in a row where he's unable to account for his whereabouts but gets caught the second time.

Unfortunately, with the Time of Death at three o'clock, this means that all the remaining girls are now suspects again. Mikan and Ibuki are... possibly less suspicious than the others given that they may have spent time together before arriving at the diner at 3:30 but that's no longer as definite. Nanami, Peko, and Sonia are still in the foreground until we can scrounge up some more evidence, though what I like is how all three of them still have plausible excuses that would exonerate them by this point...

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Eldataluta
May 31, 2012
I'm willing to put Kuzuryuu and Saionji in the clear for now. Until Mikan does her analysis or more clues are given at the crime scene, I'm going to assume that Miharu was attacked while she was standing. The blow appears to be to the top of her head. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me that the height difference between Kuzuryuu and Miharu is too great for him to have hit her at that angle. The same goes for Saionji. It's possible that Miharu was killed while seated or kneeling, but from what I see that seems unlikely. Judging from where the blood pooled, it didn't look like she was killed over by the chairs. I suppose it's possible that she was crouching down to get a better angle of something for a photo, but we have no real evidence for that just yet. Further, her body was obviously posed like that, but judging from where the blood pooled she wasn't moved from where she was killed. I wonder if Kuzuryuu or Saionji would be physically capable of positioning a dead body like that. They are rather heavy, after all.

In short, the suspects we should be looking at are those who are as tall, or taller, than Miharu.

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