Gifs And Content For Whatever I’m Hyperfixated On

And here's the finished version - I love these two your honour! 😭

I hope you like it! 💙 (This painting is included in my IWTV art book - https://www.peecho.com/print/en/1675240)

This is a beloved character created by a beloved friend <:

I painted some versions of him a few years ago, but when I saw them again recently I shuddered! I think I improved a bit since then, so this is the version 2.0 <;

Okay so some other people have noticed that we have almost no information in Toto other than some very thin slices he’s provided and what Ron has deduced.

So here’s my theory:

The facts:

Toto is suspiciously bad at a job that he should not have otherwise been given without qualifying for it.

He almost never talks about himself or his past

Ron deducted that he must have grown up in a refined environment and was spoiled

He grew up with his grandparents

His age is constantly censored or left out of identifying documents and promo material related to the manga and anime, including the chapters in which they celebrated his birthday

He acts as a coil, constantly providing Ron with motivation and opening up his ability to move on or investigate when he would otherwise have looked something over or not been able to proceed

Which all seems far too convenient when we look at the broader scope of things.

So I have two theories here actually and this does contain spoilers for the most recent chapters so proceed with caution-

Toto is working for Alice specifically and before you get all puffy about it HEAR ME OUT:

if not for Toto, Ron wouldn’t have started investigating again, which would would have never lead to him confronting Elliot, ultimately leading to his downfall- something that also never would have happened without Toto being present and injured at the time.

Ron only knows what Toto has given him: very obvious clues that tell a story so he doesn’t have to.

Alice also has a lot of candid photos of Ron, which could have only been taken by someone close to him.

Now mind you I hate this theory personally. Toto to me is a ball of genuine fluff and must be protected at all costs but he’s just too convenient.

Which leads me to my second theory, which has started forming within the last few chapter releases (somewhere around 150-153)

Toto is working for Ron’s mother.

Mainly spurred on by the fact that in both correspondences she has sent to Ron, she has singled out Toto specifically. Now this could be just a mom worrying for the safety of her child’s only close friend but it seems odd.

“I’m glad you get along so well with Isshiki-san but you can’t keep selfishly dragging him along”

Okay fair, she’s smart, she knows what’s going on is life or death and that Toto always gets pulled into these things

BUT THEN she sends Kiku over with a message to “Give Totomaru her best” without giving Ron anything else and I’m not going to lie guys my theory is now leaning more heavily into the Toto is working for Alice territory because this seems like

A) she was trying to encourage Ron to leave Toto out of things which means she may know he’s connected in some way

B) a threat not a well wish, “I know what you’re doing and good luck with that”

I LOVE it! Toto being evil sounds right up Akira-sensei's alley, and if he were to show his true intentions, it would probably be now, in the current arc.

Imagine

Toto's role is the murderer and ron is his target (though I believe Akira-sensei wouldn't kill off Ron)

Or

Ron's role is the murderer and Toto is his target, then at some point Toto turns on him and-

We see a lot of Toto's internal monologues. From the manga's perspective, HE'S the main character, we don't know what Ron thinks half the time, but we always know what Toto is thinking. Either it's "wowza!" Or "ahhhh this case is so hard!!" So I really think he's just like that. An idiot. My beloved idiot but an idiot still. Information being withheld is super duper suspicious tho, doesn't he ever think about his parents? He doesn't even say they've passed away, they're just "too busy." Considering how stupid Toto is all the time, Alice actually hiring him would be a stupid idea, even if he was evil and hated Ron's guts.

I do think that it would be so insane if he was actually "working" for Alice in a way. Not in the traditional sense though. Alice has been pulling strings on Toto this entire time, and since Toto is stupid, he has no idea. Alice is the reason he got his job in the first place despite how bad he is. Alice (somehow??) set up Ron and Toto being best friends. Alice made them build their relationship so strongly that Ron is DEPENDENT on Toto. Ron cannot think about solving mysteries without him. Toto was never going to get fired in his job, if he did Alice would find another way to get him to befriend Ron, one way or another.

The fact that Alice has so many good photos of Ron close-up could be explained by having people working for her just get close enough to Ron to take photos of him discretely. Though it would be crazy if she managed to hack Toto's phone at some point and steal his photos of Ron.

Let's start with the fact that even though the manga is told from his perspective, the fact that we don't get anything about him already says something. You can't be such an idiot that you can't miss a single thought about yourself. It is very likely that Toto TRYS not to think about anything personal because he has a habit of speaking out loud. Plus there were a small moment in Cruise arc. when even Ron was in question from Toto's actions and thoughts. And let's not forget that in the manga there are empty frames where Toto doesn't think or say anything. And which are placed at random moments.

Secondly It was said that he COULD notice + GET the Alliance agent off his tail. If he is a naive idiot, how could he do this, considering that the Alliance employs are professionals.

Thirdly, Doesn't it seem suspicious how little anyone cares about Toto? Let me explain what I mean. In the arc about Ron's father, none of the guests had any questions about what Toto was doing there. Everyone present was somehow connected to the events about that scientist (except Dan, since he is an imposter). There was a chef to whom no questions (bc he was just hired), and Ron, who had been sent an invitation. So the only one to whom there are must be questions is Toto. No one invited him, he wasn't hired and he wasn't connected to that crime. So what is he even doing there? 🤨

Also, Family M doesn't seem to care about him because he wasn't threatened or anything like that. And he has a grandmother who could be taken hostage. Maybe it's because without him Ron won't solve the crime, but isn't Milo's goal to lead him to despair???? Alice also didn't do anything with that even tho Family M. call him "Irritating".

( however I had a schizotheory that Milo and Toto knew each other before canon, but it doesn't matter. )

The another point is how did he even get into the department at such an age if he is NOT a genius. Notice the age of his colleagues and how they look, they are all clearly older than Toto. The exceptions are Kawasemi and Amamiya but they are literally very smart (so they are exceptions to the rule). Besides, let's take the same Kawasemi, he and Toto are about the same age range , since they are under <30 and they looks like peers. And Kawasemi is clearly a very smart, so question then, how exactly Toto could be with Amamiya. (Bc Amamiya and Kawasemi were a partners in the past). I believe Toto is around 26+ bc he clearly older than Ron who is around 22+ (Bloody trip happened 5 years before when he was around 17-18). Plus, if it was based on the Japanese police system, then Toto at least studied for 4-5 years at the academy, then several years in the lower ranks, and only recently was able to rise to the top. Since at the beginning of the manga Amamiya calls him a newbie (even though he worked as a newbie for about a year before canon in the department). So the question is, if he is so bad at his job, how did he manage to rise so high up?

In the Auberge case I'd say it's because Ron brought Toto with him, Toto is his plus 1. Plus if he was that suspicious for being a plus 1, you'd think the people who were linked to that case be super untrustworthy of him. They accept his (true) story of coming to the auberge because he's with Ron, and Ron is DIRECTLY related to the case. If you were in the Auberge you'd want an official police officer helping you live this murder mystery, wouldn't you?

I do agree tho that Toto is around 26 years of age, it's exactly because he's a newbie that he's so young and entered the division. The division doesn't only hire seasoned professionals, they hire fresh blood like any job, maybe it's just that that specific division got sent Toto from their prefecture's list of new officers fresh out the academy.

As for the manga just showing Toto without his thoughts. Have you considered: No thought head empty. On a less joke-y note, it's probably just to show Toto's expression. We don't need to hear EVERY ONE of Toto's thoughts. Ron suspecting Toto's action in the Cruise arc… I must've missed it during my binge, you gotta point me to that for me to fully dissect it. What IS weird tho is Toto not thinking a single thing about himself, him not thinking about himself so he doesn't speak his thoughts out loud is what you'd do if you were him and was actually a spy, but it's like that thought experiment: If you're told not to think of a pink elephant, you'd think of a pink elephant immediately. Toto would have to constantly distract himself with other thoughts to stop this, and we don't see any of that at all.

the last time I reblogged this post right before I got a great job, in a permanent work-from-home position, with benefits, retirement, and a salary literally 3x what I was making before, doing something I really like. 

So you know.