Danganronpa - Episode 9 Discussion / Poll

[Klashikari]

Welcome to the discussion thread for Danganronpa, Episode 9.

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[Solitaired]

I'll cry here first before watching the episode

[MisaoFan]

Spoiler for Episode 9:

The episode sure is a total shock for me. It turns out Aoi isn't most likely the culprit despite blaming over everything, and after understanding the behind-the-scenes cases, it turns out that Sakura actually empoisoned herself. I can't believe I thought that the supposed victim is the culprit, it's like I didn't believe this to happen. Too bad Chihiro's alter ego gets destroyed by Monokuma, and how the show will end remain a mystery to me. It seems another character joined according to the cast status that happen at the end of the episode, I wonder what purpose is he included? I will find out next week!

[White Manju Bun]

O_O

Spoiler for Epi 9:

NOOOOO AE NOOOOOO!!! Ok the suicide, I get that. Had no idea PyschoBear would destroy AE in return. Make sense though, I mean it was too easy to connect him to the school computer.

Oh boy 16th student is coming.

[Marina2]

Look like Case 4 Class Trial get the Best adaptation award.

[Solitaired]

Originally Posted by Marina2

Look like Case 4 Class Trial get the Best adaptation award.

Fully agreed. Though they can add in the part where Hagakure screams out that he's the culprit nonstop. His only brave and outstanding moment, pity...

Didn't expect them to cut out the full latter half of the investigation though. And I would prefer showing some more of the next chapter for a much better climax.

[Klashikari]

I can't say I'm fine saying so, but they literally didn't try for the investigation, lasting 45 seconds top... I guess it doesn't even matter to them anymore, since they kept the OP twice a row for the trial eps.
But really, the directing is getting worse over the episodes, with even the soundtrack used in a very odd fashion (Discussion -HEAT UP- used right from the get go just doesn't work great as an intro BGM...).

But I think the adaptation was at its worst for the trial... although it wasn't too shabby for the feelings right there.
But suffice to say, the trial rolled in a -complete different fashion-.

Spoiler for Missing Parts:

-The trial indeed started with Aoi accusing the trio. However, they had to prove that they went to see Sakura at the recreation room.
This worked on Yashuro, because Makoto noticed that Yasuhiro dropped some candy wrap when they talked each other, and this candy was from Aoi given to Sakura and no one else, and that's after the incident in the infirmary. Therefore, there is no way for Yasuhiro to have candy from Sakura "before".

-Yasuhiro admits seeing Sakura in the end, but states he didn't do anything else. He quickly jumps on the fact it is Touko, because there was evidence: a magazine had the word "Fukawa" written in blood in there.
However, Kyouko mentions it doesn't make sense for him to know that because Aoi strictly forbids the trio to investigate the room. Hence only her, Makoto and Kyouko would know of this piece of evidence. Also, even when they were present during the corpse discovery, the magazine was still in the rack, so there is no way for him to see the "dying message". Also, Sakura's hands were clean, so no way for the latter to have wrote it. The only possible conclusion is that Yasuhiro planted it.

-Yasuhiro gave up and admit he did, because he "killed Sakura". However, something doesn't make sense: the magazine was in the rack, making it more difficult to find, if it wasn't for the fact it was upside down. However, he states he left it on the ground.
Of course, the only possible suspect is Touko, because that fake evidence is inconvenient to her alone.
Touko claims it doesn't matter since Yasuhiro admits his "crime", but something is off. After Yasuhiro explains again what he did, but it conflicts with Kyouko's testimony that Sakura was struck twice.
Touko doesn't get how she found out that, but Kyouko says that not only the wounds match up, but when you look at the bottles on the shelf, it is clear there are 2 missing bottles, not only one. There is another evidence there were 6 bottles overall: each bottle had a different chess piece. On the shelf, there were: Pawn, Rook, Bishop, King. The broken Bottle had the knight piece. Therefore, the queen piece is missing. Touko claims it is possible the piece was missing to begin with, but Kyouko and Makoto did an experiment during the investigation: the remaining glass shards are heavier than a pristine bottle. Which means the culprit took off the piece and some shards, but not enough.

-Yasuhiro also testify he saw Touko going in the rec room a lil before Sakura went in. That's why he entered, thinking he would be fine if there was someone else, but he got scared shitless because he was then alone with Sakura.
In the end, Makoto proves Touko was there due to the handprints found in the locket of the rec room. Byakuya made them cut the chase and order Touko to answer, to which is begrudgedly confirms.

-Touko left the locker immediately after Yasuhiro left, so that she would be able to deal with the fake evidence. However, Sakura was still alive and Touko saw her after putting the magazine back in the rack. As explained in the anime, Touko fainted because of Sakura's bloody face, and Genocider Shou counterattacked as she woke up.

-Aoi insists again they should cast their vote, but Byakuya stops on her track, saying something doesn't add up there. Like in the anime, Shou hit Sakura close to the magazine rack, but it doesn't make sense with Sakura's corpse location. Shou says there is no way she could move Sakura's corpse like that, and Kyouko states it doesn't explain the closed room either. Aoi claims Touko hide there until they opened the room, but it doesn't make sense because when they were trying to open the door, Makoto and Kyouko saw the locket was already open, so there was no way for Touko/Shou to hide in the rec room.

-They debate on the way she died, and Aoi claims it is Touko/Shou's strike, but Makoto points out that the Monokuma File stated Sakura vomited a large quantity of blood. Byakuya is certain it is due to poison, and he presents the C-9 bottle found in the cabinet A. Byakuya claims the culprit switched out the bottles and prove it by drinking it, like in the anime.
It is basically the same: proving who is the culprit with the footprints found at the chemical lab. Trivia: Makoto was also wearing sneakers in the game, so when they investigated the chemical lab, Byakuya checked on the spot Makoto's shoes.

-Aoi is admiting she "did it" but Kyouko stops her on her tracks, refusing such conclusion. While Aoi remains silent and apologetic, Byakuya claims this game isn't stuck with morality, dogma whatsoever. However, Kyouko still doesn't accept that Aoi could be the culprit, because there is still something unexplained: the closed room.
Aoi claims it doesn't matter how she constructed the closed room, but Kyouko wonders why she can't tell them. Byakuya can't believe she believes someone else is the murderer.
Makoto agrees there is something fishy: it doesn't make sense for Aoi not to do something about the footprints left blatantly in the chemical lab. Aoi claims she was in a hurry and didn't realize she left footprints.

-Kyouko asks Aoi how she swapped the poison and protein drink, while Byakuya complains there is no suspect other than her. Aoi pretends she went for the C cabinet for the poison bottle, dropping another one, then went to the A cabinet. This doesn't make sense because the footprints clearly indicate she went straight to the A cabinet and left afterwards. There is no footprint coming from C cabinet to A cabinet. Yasuhiro speculates she went the long way to avoid leaving footprints from the C cabinet, but it contradicts Aoi's statement she didn't pay attention at all. At this point, Byakuya has no idea what's going on. Thereafter, Kyouko says there is another piece of evidence, the glass shard in the poison bottle. Since there was a shard in there, it had to be there when the room was unsealed by Makoto's rash action. Therefore, this bottle was in the room before that point, hence Aoi picked the bottle when they unsealed the room, and swapped only after that with the protein drink container. Byakuya says the poison bottle was swapped afterwards, but the protein bottle could have been there already, which kyouko asks if anyone has "kicked" the container. Since no one did, it is obvious it was brought after the room was unsealed, because of the glass shards being underneath it.

-Makoto and Kyouko prove it was Sakura all along who brought the poison bottle at the rec room, due to the powder on her shoes. Hence it is the evidence it was Sakura who spilled the first poison bottle.
Therefore, it has to be Sakura who took the poison, and drink the poison herself. This also explains how the closed room was constructed.
Recalling how it went, Kyouko and Makoto also add Aoi's behaviour was too weird: instead of rushing to Sakura's side, she went looking for the others, obviously using her athletic abilities to run to the chem lab and pick a protein container before looking for the trio.

-The rest remains more or less the same, although it was Aoi who explained what happened after the infirmary scene, not Makoto. Then, when Monokuma reveals the real suicide note, things are a tad different.
After Makoto claims Sakura didn't die in vain, Monokuma is really pissed off by this pseudo "fake friendship", saying it is the kids fault and all, to which Byakuya agrees. While Monokuma is relieved that someone finally get it, Byakuya says he won't take part of the game anymore. He also explains why: The game is a matter of giving your all in a life and death situation, but since Sakura and Aoi rejected the very fundamental point of the game, people are no longer afraid of the game. At this point, it is pointless for him since the excitment of the game is no longer there.

-Of course, AE's execution was shocking to everyone. To begin with, when Monokuma declared there will be an execution, people thought he will execute Aoi regardless, but since the culprit is already dead, he indeed prefer a special guest for that.
After the execution, Makoto was downright pissed off like no tomorrow, as AE was one of them. Of course, Monokuma doesn't get why he is so upset over a lame laptop.
As Kyouko questions him, Monokuma says he knew from the start that Chihiro was fixing the laptop and knew about its content. However he let it slide on purpose as a "reward" should they are able to decrypt the data. Nothing more nothing less. However, AE being connected to the network was not in his plan at all, so the moment he realized what AE was doing, he took action.
Makoto claims once again AE's "death" wasn't in vain, just like everyone else's. Makoto says their deaths make them stronger and will drive this point to Monokuma at the right moment.

[Solitaired]

^ To me this is the best effort put in to display the emotions of the characters. Although they should emphasize a lot more of how Naegi and gang treat Alter Ego as one of their own, to make his loss feels sadder. Also, switching into the ED and going onto the next chapter immediately after his execution makes his death a little forgettable in my opinion

[Klashikari]

I will admit they did a good job with Aoi's outburst (Saito's performance is once again tremendously powerful) along with Makoto's reactions to it. However, they really failed hard with AE's execution aftermath, making people rather apathetic towards it, especially Makoto who was supposed to be downright pissed off.

But frankly, I don't see the point of the investigations at all, if not only they skip some relevant clues, but also ignore the ones they presented in the anime. I mean, what was the point in showing the glass bottle and the magazine if they weren't used -at all-? Seriously, it begs the question why there is an investigation with obvious "CLUE GET!" if they aren't even used.

You know what's even funnier? The fact not only they kept with the door lock nonsense, but the lock in episode 9 is ABOVE the doorknob. However, in episode 8, it was BELOW the doorknob. Quality check isn't their forte at all, and while it is obvious with the general quality of the series, messing with their own extra detail by themselves is silly at best.

[Solitaired]

Yes, I facepalmed when they still insists that the door is locked while showing that scene with the door. I would rather prefer they retcon it, showing us they admit to their mistakes (few of the Japanese community wrote to the production company about it). Making the door locked and not punishing Naegi either makes the new rule useless or showing that Monokuma did not adhere to his own rules. I am suspecting that this is ONCE again the same move they used as the toolkits to make the later plots more acceptable.

[Marina2]

About the lock, you can just say that:

1. Monobear specially allows it because students have to break into the room for investigation.

2. Monobear only prohibits them from breaking the lock of a room/an area that he doesn't intend to let anyone go in. Therefore, in Sakura case, the room that Sakura is in was already unlocked by Monobear earier when the new floor open so breaking the lock made by Sakura is no problem here.

[Klashikari]

1. That would have make sense if Monokuma made an announcement, which he didn't. The game also insist that Monokuma is really hardass on his rules, unless you find a loophole.

2. No, it doesn't work this way either, otherwise Monokuma would have specified his rules. Otherwise, he would have stated "no one can break a door -I- locked" and so forth.

Adding the lock was completely unecessary, period.
Because of that, and the fact they made Monokuma talk to them through the monitor all the frigging time aside of the trials and incentives, it makes Monokuma incredibly passive and lenient.

[AC-Phoenix]

The door knob stuff is a bit tricky.
First off the lock shouldn't have been there. The game clearly states that the room has no lock.
It also defeats the purpose of the lock Oogami created.
As for the rule break you can explain it with the loophole this rule left:

Thee rule only prohibits you from destroying the door.

So you can get several loopholes out of it:

- It is not forbidden to bypass the lock
- It is not forbidden to damage the door as long as it is not destroyed
- The door's window is not counted as part of it and can thus get destroyed.


Either way the door was never really destroyed or broken down. In fact he damaged the window to be able to open the lock that should not have been there in the first place.
Admittingly pure speculation, though the only way to justify that lock

[Kirito]

This was a really emotionally well done episode with good amounts of twists and turns that come right at you at interesting ways. Monokuma inadvertently setting up Aoi to nearly kill herself along with the rest of her peers was a "expected" twist in itself due to the fact that she was in a state of grief and sorrow that allowed him to take advantage of her, and in a sense, the whole situation. It's to be expected how he possibly knew of Alter Ego's existence and the role he played, but is there more that he knew, but chose not to disclose it. Who knows, the guy's a troll, but he doesn't really give big info away as long as it suits his interests.

I was displeased with how Alter Ego's execution aftermath. I mean, I was literally crushed when it happened because he's been such a great help despite his short comings. I was expecting Makoto to be really affected by it because he was greatly concerned for his safety, and they promised to leave the academy together. Too bad it won't happen, but I wonder how his death will affect and push him into the direction he needs to go.

I wonder where Kirigiri went while Makoto went to check out the Data Processing Room? The fact that she showed up when Monokuma was question him, made me think "Why isn't he also asking Kyoko where she went?" Made me think, was Makoto used as a blindspot of sorts to check when or how he shows up at times when it's strangely convenient.

So there are a total of 16 students now - Mukuro Ikusaba. So all we know is that person is a "Super High School Level Despair", but I wonder if there are other ways to identify the mystery student that moniker that defines that persons talent or trait. It's safe to say now that assailant who showed up and attacked Makoto pretty much summed up my conclusions and doubts, but I wonder how his/her role will play in this Academy Coliseum.

[ChampDream]

I really like this episode
It have a lot of emotion well show and was really interesting.
is sad how Oogami die to protect her friends and Aoi crying because of her best friend were really emotional.
Alter Ego execution came out of nowhere to me, but I guess it was Monokuma's way to tell them they don't have hope.
Now we know the name of the 16th student and his/her title seem fitting for the situation.

[JShaggy]

Just finished watching the episode, and it was indeed an emotional one. You have to feel bad for Aoi on this one. Losing a friend in Sakura Oogami took a heavy toll on her heart to a point in which Aoi framed others and then wanting the entire class to get punished after reading Sakura's final will, which was switched with a fake one by Monokuma itself.

Originally Posted by Clarami

So there are a total of 16 students now - Mukuro Ikusaba. So all we know is that person is a "Super High School Level Despair", but I wonder if there are other ways to identify the mystery student that moniker that defines that persons talent or trait. It's safe to say now that assailant who showed up and attacked Makoto pretty much summed up my conclusions and doubts, but I wonder how his/her role will play in this Academy Coliseum.

It could mean that this Mukuro person is the real puppet master of this story and that Monokuma (whom for some reason reminds me of Jigsaw from the Saw movies) was nothing more than a "co-conspirator" to the overall plot. For whatever reason Mukuro would want everyone to live without hope is something we will likely find out before the series ends.

[HandofFate]

dang, decent episode.
RIP Oogami. Thought that Aoi really was the killer for a sec.

The 'execution' of the laptop was kind of funny. At least it feels no pain...

Even though Togami has been an ass the whole time, for some reason with just a few lines he jumps to badass level. argh rubberband effect.

If Monobear did temper with everyone's bodies and memories, it makes it even more tragic since they really were all friends that knew eachother and ended up killing eachother.

[~Yami~]

lots of emotion and feels are used in this episode

Aoi's outburst is the best... and Byakuya's confused face also priceless
Sakura is also one of the best character who still maintain her composure even after witnessing so many death and murder
honestly, I still hope Celes will replace Hagakure's place right now. Hagakure did nothing during class trials.. only shouting and screaming.. not deserve to live..

the only question left is...... how did Kirigiri know about 16th student's stuff?

[Nvis]

Originally Posted by ~Yami~

the only question left is...... how did Kirigiri know about 16th student's stuff?

I want to know is how she got into Naegi's room?

[Sute443]

Okay, I admit that I was wrong about AE being the mastermind's pawn. Oy, that execution was a shocker. When Monokuma said there would be a special guest, I thought he was going to drag in Sakura's corpse and subject it to an "execution."

And I second the question of how Kirigiri got into Naegi's room.