MILGRAM (music project)

Milgram (stylized fully capitalized, “MILGRAM”) is a 2020 interactive music project spearheaded by Vocaloid producer DECO*27. The story was co-written alongside Takuya Yamanaka and music was co-written and arranged by DECO*27's high school classmate Rockwell. The story takes place in three segments: interrogation, which is a voice drama between a prisoner and a guard, a song, cited to be the inner thoughts of the prisoner, and the voting period, where the audience votes on each prisoner and decides if they are innocent or guilty. The outcomes of the voting periods determine things like song choice, character development, and relationships between the characters.
==Premise==
The story takes place from the perspective of Es, a 15-year-old amnesiac prison guard. They are told of the basic workings of MILGRAM, the prison they're in charge of. Es gets a limited amount of time to interrogate each prisoner, asking about their motivations, their beliefs, and why they killed. At the end of each interrogation, Es extracts a song from the prisoner's mind, showing how they truly feel.
Each prisoner has their own stories to tell, and their own beliefs. These are reflected both in how they act in the interrogations, as well as the types of music that get extracted from their conscious.
==Characters==
Characters are listed in order of their prison numbers.
===Sakurai Haruka (Voice: Horie Shun)===
A shy prisoner who tends to speak in as few words as possible. He will talk more once the conversation gets going, but he takes a while to get there. He exhibits several nervous tendencies, including digging his nails into his palm, but once he feels comfortable, his true form shows: a gentle and kind man.
===Kashiki Yuno (Voice: Aisaka Yuuka)===
An upbeat girl with a whimsical attitude. A high schooler, Yuno has some childish tendencies, like adoring special attention and being extremely happy when she's the favorite. Outside of this, she likes to live life at her own pace, and makes friendly conversation almost as easily as she breathes.
===Kajiyama Fuuta (Voice: Arthur Lounsbery)===
A brash young man with a fiery spirit. His strong sense of justice overtakes everything in his mind, even common sense, causing him to act on impulse and instinct rather than thinking things through. He does have a timid side as well, but it remains hidden at almost all times as he keeps the mask of confidence on.
===Kusunoki Muu (Voice: Kouri Asura)===
A “pretty girl” of sorts, who dons a facade of indecisiveness while at the same time remaining extremely blunt. She had an extremely pleasant upbringing, which leads her to break down into tears at any sign of a negative outcome. Muu does not like fighting or arguments, especially when those she considers friends are involved.
===Kirisaki Shikoku (Voice: Nakamura Shuugo)===
One of the eldest prisoners in MILGRAM, Shidou puts on a gentle side when speaking to those who are younger than him, including Es. This gentle side is further established as he is shown to work as a doctor at an unnamed medical facility, and at all times speaks with the intent of making sure those around him are comfortable and at ease.
===Shiina Mahiru (Voice: Okasaki Miho)===
A cheerful and upbeat woman whose presence is as warm as the sun. She doesn’t pick and choose when it comes to who she talks with, but she gets attached extremely easily, almost to a fault. She is extremely talkative, as shown with her blog where she talked about nearly everything, from university life to her first love.
===Mukuhara Kazui (Voice: Takeuchi Ryouta)===
An easygoing man, and the oldest in MILGRAM. His past is one of the foggiest in all of MILGRAM. He is known to have graduated university with a major in physical education, as well as being proficient in several martial arts including Judo and karate. He considers drinking to be his number one hobby, alongside being one of three smokers in MILGRAM.
===Momose Amane (Voice: Tanaka Minami)===
The youngest prisoner in MILGRAM. Despite being a mere twelve years old, she displays a calm, mature demeanor and keeps herself polite around others. She holds a strong belief in God, and that allows her to keep a strong face in the face of fear, and she keeps herself out of conflicts between prisoners as a way of keeping herself upright.
===Kayano Mikoto (Voice: Hanae Natsuki)===
A calm, innocent man who doesn't have any recollection of why he's in MILGRAM. He does his best to adapt to everything around him, but nothing makes sense to him. He is unaware of what “crime” he committed, and merely believes MILGRAM to be a reality show, leaning into it by being overly friendly with the other prisoners.
===Yuzuriha Kotoko (Voice: Aimi)===
A logical woman with a sense of justice just as sharp as her eyes. She notes every meticulous detail of her surroundings just to understand her situation, and allows her morals to lead her on every step of the way. Her idea of justice borders on twisted, and she considers herself to be the “fangs” of Es, while the guard disagrees.
===Es (Voice: Amami Yurina)===
The warden of MILGRAM, and the vessel for which the audience views the story. Es holds a strong sense of justice, and takes up the mantle of warden with minimal resistance. They woke up alongside Jackalope with no memories prior to that moment, and they accepted the task assigned to them with no doubt.
===Jackalope (Voice: Fukuyama Jun)===
The guide and mascot of MILGRAM. He serves as one of two guards of MILGRAM alongside Es, and takes up the visage of a rabbit with antler-like horns. Only Es can hear his voice, which is laced with a facetious tone at all times. He serves as the narrator for trial introductions and results, as well as explaining the basic premise of MILGRAM to Es and the audience.
==Music and voice dramas==
Every character's voice drama comes with a two songs: an original composed for MILGRAM by DECO*27 and Rockwell, and a cover of one of DECO*27's Vocaloid songs. As well, the instrumentals for both are released alongside the main songs. For the first trial, every character's original song was covered by Amami Yurina, the voice of Es, and released separately as each original's music video crossed one million views.
===1st Trial===
;Sakurai Hakura
*Weakness - Original
*Weakness (Instrumental) - Original
*Two Breaths Walking - Cover
*Two Breaths Walking (Instrumental) - Cover
*The Writhing Of The Weak - Voice Drama
;Kashiki Yuno
*Umblical - Original
*Umbilical (Instrumental) - Original
*Sticky Bug - Cover
*Sticky Bug (Instrumental) - Cover
*Relative Zero - Voice Drama
;Kajiyama Fuuta
*Bring It On - Original
*Bring It On (Instrumental) - Original
*Mozaik Role - Cover
*Mozaik Role (Instrumental) - Cover
*Braze You!! - Voice Drama
;Kusunoki Muu
*After Pain - Original
*After Pain (Instrumental) - Original
*Otome Dissection - Cover
*Otome Diessection (Instrumental) - Cover
*Crying B - Voice Drama
;Kirisaki Shidou
*Throw Down - Original
*Throw Down (Instrumental) - Original
*Liar Dance - Cover
*Liar Dance (Instrumental) - Cover
*Molech - Voice Drama
;Shiina Mahiru
*This Is How To Be In Love With You - Original
*This Is How To Be In Love With You (Instrumental) - Original
*Psychogram - Cover
*Psychogram (Instrumental) - Cover
*Love Is Mine - Voice Drama
;Mukuhara Kazui
*Half - Original
*Half (Instrumental) - Original
*Yowamushi Montblanc - Cover
*Yowamushi Montblanc (Instrumental) - Cover
*Gouging In The Night - Voice Drama
;Momose Amane
*Magic - Original
*Magic (Instrumental) - Original
*Positive Parade - Cover
*Positive Parade (Instrumental) - Cover
*Apostle and Death - Voice Drama
;Kayano Mikoto
*MeMe - Original
*MeMe (Instrumental) - Original
*Monopoisoner - Cover
*Monopoisoner (Instrumental) - Cover
*John Doe - Voice Drama
;Yuzuriha Kotoko
*Harrow - Original
*Harrow (Instrumental) - Original
*Anti Beat - Cover
*Anti Beat (Instrumental) - Cover
*Task - Voice Drama
;Es
*Undercover - Original
*Undercover (Instrumental) - Original
*Undercover (Hatsune Miku Cover) - Original Cover
*Hibana - Cover
*Hibana (Instrumental) - Cover
*Weakness - Original Cover
*Umbilical - Original Cover
*Bring It On - Original Cover
*After Pain - Original Cover
*Throw Down - Original Cover
*This Is How To Be In Love With You - Original Cover
*Half - Original Cover
*Magic - Original Cover
*MeMe - Original Cover
*Harrow - Original Cover
*Es - Voice Drama
*Es is present in every prisoner's voice dramas.
===2nd Trial*===
;Sakurai Haruka
*All-Knowing and All-Agony - Original
*All-Knowing and All-Agony (Instrumental) - Original
*Android Girl - Cover
*Android Girl (Instrumental) - Cover
*Metamorphosis of the Weak - Voice Drama
;Kashiki Yuno
*Tear Drop - Original
*Tear Drop (Instrumental) - Original
*Vampire - Cover
*Vampire (Instrumental) - Cover
*-273.15°C - Voice Drama
;Kajiyama Fuuta
*Backdraft - Original
*Backdraft (Instrumental) - Original
*Salamander - Cover
*Salamander (Instrumental) - Cover
*Baptism of Fire - Voice Drama
;Kusunoki Muu
*It's Not My Fault - Original
*It's Not My Fault (Instrumental) - Original
*Delusion Sensation Compensation Federation - Cover**
*Delusion Sensation Compensation Federation (Instrumental) - Cover
*Queen B - Voice Drama
;Kirisaki Shidou
*Triage - Original
*Triage (Instrumental) - Original
*Delusion Tax - Cover
*Delusion Tax (Instrumental) - Cover
*Aesculapius - Voice Drama
;Shiina Mahiru
*I Love You - Original
*I Love You (Instrumental) - Original
*Parasite - Cover
*Parasite (Instrumental) - Cover
*Love Is (Un)Dead - Voice Drama
;Mukuhara Kazui
*Cat - Original
*Cat (Instrumental) - Original
*Neo-Neon - Cover
*Neo-Neon (Instrumental) - Cover
*Imposter Boulevard - Voice Drama***
;Momose Amane
*The Purge March - Original
*The Purge March (Instrumental) - Original
*Animal - Cover
*Animal (Instrumental) - Cover
*Of Blessedness and Punishment - Voice Drama
;Kayano Mikoto
*Double - Original
*Double (Instrumental) - Original
*Reversible Campaign - Cover
*Reversible Campaign (Instrumental) - Cover
*Neoplasm - Voice Drama
;Yuzuriha Kotoko
*Deep Cover - Original
*Deep Cover (Instrumental) - Original
*Streaming Heart - Cover
*Streaming Heart (Instrumental) - Cover
*YONAH - Voice Drama
===Notes===
(1) Outside of the voice dramas, Es is absent from the 2nd trial.
(2) Often abbreviated to DSCF or MKDR, the abbreviation of the Japanese title “Mousou Kanshou Daishou Renmei”.
(3) “Imposter Boulevard” does have the word impostor misspelled in the title, per the MILGRAM Wiki.
Category:2020 in music
Category:Voice acting
Category:Vocaloid