#trial 3

HARUKA’S video was perfect, in my opinion. His development during T1, T2 and T3 feel coherent and complex. To me, his and Amane’s case are the most nuanced and complicated of the bunch, and Haruka’s final report did not disappoint. They pulled no punches when explaining his heinous acts but it’s completely comprehensible (not necessarily justifiable) how he ended up in that situation. 10/10.

YUNO’s left me a little confused at the time, but I was still hopeful. Looking back, though, I’m a lot more critical of the choices made for her story. What we thought was a case meant to debate abortion was actually about a misscarriage. Yuno didn’t choose or plan to terminate her own pregnancy, she went to the top of an abandoned staircase, hopeless for what her future might hold, and (implicitly) wanted to end her own life but ended up falling by accident.

What crime is there to judge, exactly? The point of MILGRAM is to analyse situations of “murder” where the law wouldn’t be able to/would have a hard time dissecting, but what blame does Yuno have in this case? There was no intention on her part. Was her crime simply the thought of not wanting a teen pregnancy? 

I know she considers herself a murderer and maybe that’s why she’s in MILGRAM, but regardless of how one might feel about the subject of abortion, pregnancy and the like; it’s undeniable that this narrative choice makes Yuno INNOCENT (forgiveable) to the eyes of the great majority, robbing it of the nuance it could’ve had if it were more along the lines of a reckless pregnancy and a careless abortion (which, just to be clear, would still be super forgivable in my eyes, but at least there would be more to debate on).

FUUTA’S case is not bad, really. I mean, I think the whole "hat" plot point was very silly, and I guess that’s kinda the point? They wanted to show how such a large disaster came from such a tiny “mistake” and how Fuuta was so eager to call out misdeeds that he went even after the smallest offenses… still feels a little too silly to me though, almost illogical that so many people would band together behind his cause. I still have a hard time understanding what the whole deal about copyright even meant kjsahkjahskajas.

But that’s more of a nitpick than anything, because what really bothered me about Fuuta’s case was his Voice Drama and Q&A. The video shows someone who embraced the role of a “villain” instead of a “hero”, who’s so regretful of his actions that he clings to Amane’s religion without caring for what it means, only that it can save him (he holds a flag without any of its symbols), almost fanatic, in a way. His voice lines on the website also push that narrative. 

Then comes the Audio Drama and he’s… Weirdly lucid and aware of his mistakes. In the Q&A’s he’s changed and evolved… And that’s not really what his music video communicated? I know, the project is multi-media because it’s trying to tell such a complex story, but in previous trials I don’t remember having such conflicting representations of the same character depending on your source. The MV’s, in my opinion, should be the main source of information and how you form your opinion of the character, since it’s taken directly from their psyche.

Such a drastic difference makes me wonder if halfway through production they thought Fuuta would be considered too GUILTY (unforgiveable) and decided to make him more sympathetic after the video. It feels a little anticlimactic to me when they build up a certain image of a character based off of our choices and the way they’ve damaged them, and then suddenly make them “nicer” for the sake of giving them “closure” with Es. It's a little boring.

MUU’s case suffers from the same issues as Yuno and Fuuta, in my opinion. 

She wasn’t an active bully, didn’t order or influence anything on purpose. Everything just happened around her, without Muu’s input, because of her “aura”. Loss of agency, intention and action, so again, loss of nuance to Muu’s character (also, everyone suddenly turning on her because she was the one who got attacked is a bit unrealistic but I can normally let that slide, I’m just being nitpicky because I’m already unsatisfied with the rest of the story).

In her video she’s angry, unseeing of her own flaws, blaming Es and us for everything, including Haruka's death. In the Voice Drama, she starts out angry but kinda quickly we get a tearful, “emotional” moment of forgiveness between the two and… It feels forced and unearned, again, for the sake of an artificial, emotional closure. Both Muu and Fuuta feel like different versions of themselves between the MV’s and Interrogations. Conflict is intringuing, so getting rid of it so fast is a bit annoying.

Our voting feels meaningless when the resentment the characters have harbored towards us because of our choices is easily forgotten near the end. Our theories feel meaningless when the cases which were supposed to be nuanced end up being complex only because they’re logically contrived. 

SHIDOU, to me, has always been the most mysterious character when it comes to his crime, so I was really curious for his final report. Not to mention we didn’t know how Amane had managed to kill him, with the limited resources inside the prison. His death was a lot simpler than what I expected, but I still think it’s well-done, and I like his video. But the final report… The idea of a doctor purposefully failing a surgery to end the patient’s life is super interesting and nuanced. A death that was already on its way and was only allowed to happen due to inaction from one who could’ve prevented it is 100% the sort of stuff MILGRAM is made for.

The concept of a doctor struggling with the morality of “killing” patients for organ transplants after a loved one becomes brain-dead themselves and refusing to donate their organs, in a way possibling “killing” others who might need those organs, is also very interesting, nuanced, and very MILGRAM.

Now, were either of those concepts explored and properly expanded upon in the first two trials? I don't really think so. I know it’s been memed a lot but, really, THE TRUCK DRIVER??? That came absolutely out of nowhere!!

His case isn’t bad, it just wasn’t explored in the narrative in a satisfying way and maybe involved too many different angles to allow it to develop naturally. I feel like they should’ve just chosen one plot (truck driver or brain dead patients) and stuck with it, either a selfish revenge or a complex moral dilemma (not to mention how contrived and unrealistic it is for Shidou to be allowed to operate on the driver or his family, but whatever).

MAHIRU. Oh, Mahiru. This may be the case I’m most heated about because It’s the most recent, but I feel like Mahiru was the least well-handled character and case.

I’ll try not to linger too much on her death, but I did think it was kind of forced. I don’t really understand how her injuries would need Shidou constantly around to keep her alive, or how none of the other characters (Yuno, who was helping and learning with Shidou, or Kazui, who was a police officer with some semblance of first aid knowledge) couldn’t have stepped up in his place, it feels like an artificial conflict and artificial consequence for our voting, but I digress. Once again, this is a nitpick.

Her final report suffers from the same issue as Shidou and maybe a little of Yuno’s. A plot point that was never hinted towards, an unrealistic set-up, and loss of nuance. 

The arranged marriage plot is confusing, it’s never mentionedd before, and, I might be wrong due to my limited knowledge about japanese society, but again, feels a little out of place in such a modern setting. This idea alone wouldn’t be so odd to me if it also didn’t lead towards the strangest choice I’ve ever seen in all prisoner reports so far. 

WHY did Mahiru and her boyfriend flee to the MOUNTAINS in the FOREST of all places??? It’s so, so silly… I know it has been memed to death, but the rats were literal…? The forest was literal…? I know they still represent the central theme of codependency disguised as a sweet fantasy, but I just can’t take it seriously when the setting is so fantastical and far-fetched compared to all the other cases.

The idea of a person who has psychological issues and/or a distorted world-view due to their upbringing, leading them to harm others in their delusion/naivety/self-centeredness is a super nuanced idea (it’s also the basis for Amane’s, Muu’s and Haruka’s cases). The themes of oppressive, manipulative love inside a toxic relationship is also a concept that fits perfectly inside MILGRAM, and the debate around how much “blame” someone has if they push someone towards suicide, intentionally or not, is also a great basis for discussion around a character (the basis for Fuuta’s and Kazui’s cases).

But these super relevant topics and meaningful discussions, to me, get completely overshadowed by how absurd the setting is. Her situation is so out there and involves so many hyper-specific aspects that it's hard judge and analyse it properly. Where I think Fuuta's is the most relatable and probable situation for one to end up in, Mahiru's is the oposite. --------