No dogs die as there are none in the series, but a tiger dies and her death is explained (and the way her body was disposed of was explained too) her death is a major part of trial 2
The characters are all 17 and the killing game probably constitutes abuse. Many characters have abusive parents. A character was kidnapped and abused as a child, too.
While the executions are offscreen and thus can’t really count, Body Discovery 4 has a female character killed onscreen in a way that seems like shock value at first. Tentative yes but correct me if this wouldn’t count.
Shigeki is mentioned to have come from a household torn apart by domestic violence, this is also a minor theme in Staffside. I don’t think it happens onscreen though.
While we don’t learn it for a while, a character is gaslit throughout Chapter 5, convinced they did things they didn’t really do and led to believe they’ve hurt people. The format also makes sure the audience doesn’t find out the truth until near the end of the trial.
Kan Toranosuke, possibly Hanano as well, and it becomes somewhat of a theme. Many characters who’ve sustained trauma or abuse become the one who inflicts it.
Not directly in-series, but a staffside thread reveals that Nakamigawa has alcohol abuse issues post-game. Completely optional to read and does not affect viewing experience.
A character beats up their bully but I think that’s it. Edit - forgot that Hanano beats up the far weaker Masanari in Ch.3 - skip Good Child if this is a trigger.
In Defence Game, a character is forced to mutilate another’s eye. I don’t think we see the results onscreen but it’s painful and described as a bad injury. Said character has a bandage over their eye for the rest of their screentime.
The killing game itself could be seen as torture, as could the executions. The first of the Ch.3 victims was tortured to death. Staffside features some of the staff being tortured by Kan.
Staffside gets into some gnarly medical horror, but calling it body horror would be a little insensitive. The fourth execution could have involved it if it was onscreen.
Chapter 2: one is posthumous, one is the cause of death. From the third trial onwards the one who died of hanging has a wound on their portrait’s neck from hanging. The BDA for this chapter features a silhouette of someone hanged.
Posthumous decapitation of the third victim. We don’t see the headless corpse or head but it is described and the character’s death silhouette has a white dotted line over the neck. The fifth killer may have been decapitated in their execution but the description is vague enough for it to possibly be a neck snap instead.
In Decision Game a character is strangled for 30 seconds During scenes with panic/anxiety attacks or crying, characters will hyperventilate The 3rd victim's is described as choking on his own blood due to his tongue being removed The 4th victim (2nd chapter 3 death) can be heard struggling to breathe as she dies
Nakamigawa in Ch.4, but he catches himself before any damage can be done and there’s no visuals. Happens to a different character the next chapter but this does result in injury.
More like impalement in some cases, but the first killer, third victims, and fifth victim all die of stab wounds. In the third investigation a character is non-fatally stabbed.
This is a voice acted project, so whether it can count or not is YMMV. There are disabled characters but I don’t know if their voice actors are disabled.
Mild audio jump scares throughout Chapter 1 in the form of an alarm. Later motive introductions also contain an alarm but these are more telegraphed. Near the end of Trial of the Double Feature, something pops up from the corner of the screen in a startling fashion. Audiovisual jump scare at the end of Call of the Void.
I don’t have trypophobia, so take this ‘no’ with a pinch of salt. Ran’s interview background may be an issue but I’m not sure, and the episode isn’t plot-necessary anyway.
Possession doesn’t seem possible in this world so far. [CHAPTER 4 SPOILERS] the execution in this chapter is meant to evoke an exorcism, but the character is not possessed.
Some characters talk to the dead but don’t really believe they’re talking to ghosts. Some Staffside posts appear to present an afterlife of sorts, but it may be Monomoko’s imagination, or something unrelated (I’m still piecing it together).
Cops have so far had little to no mention and done basically nothing as far as I know. A survivor mentions in their exit interview they plan to call the authorities but that idea is shut down.
The only character confirmed to have cheated is Shigeki, whose sexuality is currently unconfirmed but seems to be mostly attracted to women. If he’s ever confirmed to be bisexual I’ll change this to yes.
Not anymore as the series is over, but while it was in progress the audience could vote on who would be sent to the student spotlights. This feature carries onto the sequel. I believe Staffside (which is hosted on Twitter/X) has interactive polls.
A character attempted 4 times before the game started and was never successful. During the game, another attempts suicide but is talked down. In Staffside, several staff members contemplate or attempt and a few succeed, including a fairly major one.
Posthumous examination of a character’s corpse reveals they self-harmed. Another character cuts themselves offscreen to make use of luminol (makes blood light up) during the darkness motive.
The most major autistic character, Ken Hasegawa, seems to have a fairly positive upbringing and decent support. While the killing game he’s in probably counts as abuse, it’s not specific to him.
Not that I remember, but in one of the exit interviews a character mentions that if he could go back and do the game again, he’d kill himself, which could be a similar trigger.
There are some implications of it, particularly with the Plane and a couple instances in the fifth chapter. Tentative yes as it’s not too bad but it’s likely to get worse in the sequels.
No characters are confirmed to have DID. Other mental illnesses have been respectfully, accurately represented so far, so if it pops up in the sequels, it will likely be decent representation there.
Body Discovery 4 features a squicky impalement and the sound of blood falling on the floor. Sudden harsh/glitchy noises. Onscreen violence is accompanied by sound effects.
In the chapter 2 investigation a character with claustrophobia is locked in a bathroom stall by another character In chapter 3 the same character traps him in a storage closet as well
The red screen jump scares aren’t flashy enough, I don’t think, but I will warn you they happen several times in the first chapter and near the end of Trial of the Final Sacrifice Part 2.
The fourth wall is a little shaky in the Student Spotlights as the audience’s questions are answered by the students — these episodes are easily skippable without missing much. However, Ken leans heavily on the fourth wall in Call of the Void, addressing the viewers (who, if it helps, he admits he doesn’t know really exist) and calling them out for enjoying the suffering and death in the series. It has also been confirmed that the spotlights are canonical (they’re still skippable though).
Not that I know of, but at one point a character makes a remark about another’s eating habits and warns they’ll ‘grow huge’, another character refutes this by pointing out there’s basically no chance the character would ever be huge.
A character who dissociates and maladaptively daydreams is called ‘dumb’ as a result. At a different point, a character having a panic attack is knocked unconscious, but the one knocking them out is reprimanded. Private medical information is revealed as evidence in trials. Dr. Kan is ableist, but a highly unsympathetic character. Not sure how many of these count but they’re worth mentioning.
Sou Yaitabashi, a character from the sequel, is introduced in silhouette form in one of the final episodes, but no one points out his crossdressing yet.
About half the cast is confirmed or implied LGBTQ+, and some of them die, but others are still alive as of writing (Ch.5). Edit: While several die, at least 3 LGBTQ+ characters do make it out alive.
Not in the videos, but Staffside touches on it with a backstory relationship. It’s portrayed as disturbing and ends very badly. A character was also sexually assaulted as a very young child by their presumably adult uncle - not shown, but described.
Ran is a demonologist and performs exorcisms. He also believes he’s set for Hell due to his ‘demonic cursed arm’. However, it’s unknown how real these demons are and they play no part in the story besides this.
There are no traditional end credits as the credits are provided in each episode’s description. However, an episode was released long after the story concluded that could count as either this or an opening to the sequel and it’s plot-important as it concerns a major character thought to be a survivor dying. Idk if that counts.
All but five of the main cast die in the killing game, the survivors are traumatised for life and blackmailed into not telling anyone about their experiences, one of these survivors dies afterwards anyway to the distress of one of the others, and the scientists running the game get away with their crimes and set the sequel into motion. The ending is possibly as bleak as it could get without everyone dying but at least there’ll be two sequels which bring hope that some closure/comeuppance could happen eventually.
A gun is fired in Chapter 2. There’s an armoury hidden in the school with guns discovered at the end of the fourth chapter but they never end up used, save one person who fetches one for self-defence but still never uses it.
Mostly described instead of shown due to the podcast-like format, but the trial videos and fourth body discovery video do feature blood, and the descriptions are very grisly.
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