Part 63: Episode 3 - Future Side, Episode 2: Hang the Witch

We begin our next episode with Kyosuke talking to Makoto, saying that if he really believes in hope... he'll commit suicide.



I only now noticed that Despair Side doesn't seem to have episode title cards.



Next, we get a little interlude from Monokuma, explaining the rules of this game, because things have quite changed compared to the first two killing games we've seen.





Rule #1: If the time limit hits zero, everybody gets injected with a powerful anaesthetic. Huh. A powerful sleeping drug that gets injected via a bracelet that shows a time limit. Sounds familiar somehow.





Rule #2: There's an attacker. While everybody else is sleeping, the attacker will wake up and be able to kill.



So basically, we're doing the old traitor dance again.



Rule #3: If a sleeping phase goes by without anybody being killed - because the traitor has been found out and killed - then the game is won!



Rule #4: There's forbidden actions. Everybody has a particular action they're not allowed to do, and if they do actually do that action, then they're injected with a poison via the bracelets and poof, they're dead.



Kyoko checks her forbidden action and doesn't seem to like what she sees.



Furthermore, the events are once more being recorded and broadcast.



It is at this point we are introduced to Miaya's thing - she's a leading programmer on the Neo World Program, and also so shy she only ever communicates through her avatar, which comes out through the screen at the front of her wheelchair. Usami here gets righteously pissed and demands to know who's behind this.



Monokuma responds by crawling out of the TV...



...and into the display, where he basically replays DR2 for a bit...



...by beating up Usami and turning her into Monomi.



And with that, Monokuma says his goodbyes and leaves our gang to themselves.



Makoto goes into his usual M.O. of trying to keep the group together, talking about how Monokuma wants to tear them apart. Valiant effort, but he forgot he was literally on trial for treason like, half an hour ago. However, Kyosuke immediately agrees.



So, everybody kind of splits into small groups for a bit. Gozu and Juzo tend to Chisa's corpse, Kyoko does her detective thing and takes a look at the door, and Miaya tries to get any sort of connection going, but fails. Aoi says that she would have expected Future Foundation to have a better firewall, but Miaya retorts that it was good enough for any attack from the outside, but this was an inside job. Meaning that indeed, somebody in here is a traitor.



Daisaku comes back from scouting the area outside the meeting room. There is nobody outside in the hallways, and all windows and elevators are sealed shut.



So, with that determined, it's time to start figuring out who the traitor is. Juzo suggests killing them once they find out who it is, which Makoto objects to, saying that restraining them would be enough. Juzo objects that Makoto would just wriggle out of the restraints using his Ultimate Luck (yeah, remember that that was a thing?), and Kazuo concurs. Tensions start flaring.



Juzo once again states that he thinks Makoto is with the Remnants and is clearly spoiling for a fight, though others start coming around to plead for not jumping to violence right away.



With, uh, mixed success, as Ryota finds out.



Daisaku freaks out, and we hear the jingle that was supposed to announce that somebody has broken their forbidden action.







And, well, that's it for Daisaku.



Seiko tries to help with some medicine she had, but to no avail.



With our first confirmed kill from forbidden actions, tensions start going even higher. Miaya suggests everybody reveal their forbidden action to keep this from happening again, but the rest isn't too into it. Kyoko also brings up a good point - revealing their forbidden action might actually be someone's forbidden action. So basically, it's the motives from DR1 all over again.



Kyosuke declares that they need to find a course of action, and since it seems impossible to stop the game itself, they need to win it by finding the attacker. And since everybody has probably already an idea who they think the traitor is, he asks that everybody point towards the person they think is the traitor.



Koichi kicks us off by picking Miaya, admitting it's just a hunch.



The others, well... it was obvious, wasn't it? Anyway, so here we replay the part from before the opening where Kyosuke asks Makoto to commit suicide.



Kyosuke has this plan figured out - basically, they kill the winner of the vote, check and see if somebody gets killed, and if yes, vote again and murder that one. I mean, it's a plan, but somehow I don't think that somebody that went through all this trouble to set this up would pick the one that would immediately get suspected as a traitor. But that's just me. Kazuo objects, but Kyosuke just says the Remnants have to be eliminated at all costs.



He talks about how cooperation is important in crisis situations and that kind of guff in an attempt to guilt trip Makoto into killing himself.



Kyoko eyes a fire extinguisher.



Juzo decides he had enough of this shit and just outright charges Makoto with a knife...





...but he's stopped by Gozu, who just breaks the blade with his bare hand because he's built like a brick shithouse, and declares that hope won't come in the form of a comrade's death.





Then Kyosuke pulls out a fucking cyber-katana or something because I don't fucking know, I guess why wouldn't he have a cyber-katana if he could have one? He talks about how many comrades have already lost their lives, and they have to fight fire with fire if they don't want those deaths to be in vain.



Then, the entire room gets filled with fog because Kyoko used the fire extinguisher to create a distraction.



Aoi and Makoto take the opportunity to bail.





Juzo tries to pursue them, but finds himself slammed back into the room because Gozu is covering for the other two.





Juzo then tries to get up and fight Gozu, but instead gets tazered by Miaya.



Meanwhile, Aoi wants Makoto to run, but there's a problem...



...OK, looks like the subtitles took a nap here. Regardless, Makoto's forbidden action is "running in the hallways".



So they take an alternate solution.



Meanwhile, back in the meeting room, Kyoko hears someone walking up behind her and grabs a rock, probably ready to bash someone's skull in...



...but Kazuo just tells her that violence won't solve anything and will only lead to more despair. He says she's safe.



Makoto and Aoi feel like they've run away far enough...



...but that turns out to be wrong as Gozu is sent flying through a wall right next to them.



And Kyosuke follows right after that.



We then get a fight scene between Gozu and Kyosuke for a bit, which also involves the two having a clash of philosophies, where Gozu believes that killing comrades is a line that can never be crossed, and Kyosuke believes that all Remnants must be wiped out without exception or they'll just come back, and some collateral damage along the way is inevitable. It also has Gozu saying "you've gone too far, asshole", which is great.



Miaya then shows up like a race car and points out a fire extinguisher near Aoi.



However, when she tries to use it, it jams.



So she just chucks the fucking thing, which causes Kyosuke to have to avoid it, giving Gozu an opportunity to get some distance.





Which he then uses to literally elbow drop a massive hole into the floor they can use to escape.



Makoto then barely manages to close a door behind them before Kyosuke's katana, which he just threw at them, reaches them.



He then checks his forbidden action and just kinda looks vaguely determined.



As Aoi and Gozu talk about where they should head next, Makoto points out that they're almost at the time limit, and they decide to find somewhere to hide.



Miaya also shows up because she doesn't want to stay out there alone, which is a reasonable fear to have.



We then cut to Ruruka and Sonozuke, walking along a hallway. Ruruka asks if it's only her that thinks it's obvious the traitor is Seiko. Sonozuke agrees, saying it would be easy to betray your friends twice if you already betrayed them once, and Ruruka says that Seiko is the same as Hope's Peak and Future Foundation - rotten to the core. Seems they have history.



Meanwhile, back with our main group, Gozu is blocking the door of the room they decided to hide in with a large closet of sorts.



Aoi is getting depressed over how all this is happening again, and it's all the same, but Makoto says that it's not the same - he and Kyoko are there, too. They're friends now, and so they know they're not alone. That cheers her up.



Gozu then comes in to share his admiration for Makoto from back when the events of DR1 were being broadcast, and how Future Foundation needs him. He also says that Kazuo was very excited to have Makoto on board, and that Future Foundation would be revolutionized with him.



He then caps it off with a slap on the shoulder so hard it has Makoto coughing, and a "so spare me your slump-shouldered modesty - people are rooting for you, jackass!". I like this guy. He's got all the right things to say.



Meanwhile, Juzo and Kyosuke meet up together. Turns out everybody else ran away - Juzo couldn't find anybody else. Kyosuke's plan remains unchanged.



Juzo says that he'll protect Kyosuke - as long as he survives, Future Foundation can rebuild. He also doesn't want to let Chisa's murder go unavenged.



Back with our main group, Aoi is still worried, but Makoto is positive as ever and just says that if they stay close, his Ultimate Luck will rub off on them.



Then, the time limit runs out, and they conk out in a couple seconds.



The monitors all over the facility spring to life, and Monokuma adresses the attacker, telling them to get out there and kill someone.



Next, we see Makoto waking up. He goes to rub his eyes, and, uh...





...fucking *welp*. That's the episode!

What the fuck just happened?: The killing game is explained, and it's basically Mafia plus everybody gets a specific action they're not allowed to do. Tensions rise and Juzo ends up attacking someone, which kills Bandai, because his forbidden action was to witness violence between the participants. Groups develop quickly, and Juzo and Kyosuke try to kill Makoto, though they fail. Kyosuke pursues Makoto, Aoi and Gozu, but is eventually stymied by a door. Makoto, Aoi, Gozu and Miaya barricade themselves in a room and fall asleep as the time limit expires. When Makoto wakes up, Aoi has been stabbed.