Muu's Manipulation Masterclass (MILGRAM)

Muu Kusunoki

Muu Kusunoki is a 16 year old French-Japanese girl, who has been imprisoned for murder. (Spoilers ahead!)

 In her first trial/music video, titled "After Pain" we see a series of images that depict Muu as a victim of bullying. The first three lines are: "If I was gone / If I had just disappeared/ I overheard, I found out/ How much I'm not needed." The visual at the beginning are her in a destroyed classroom, with her head down at the front desk.

Once the chorus hits, "Why won't you stop / Hurting-hurting-hurting-hurting me?" They shift to Muu trapped in an hourglass, some weird green slime pouring onto her that is filled with school supplies; scissors, protractors, pens, pushpins, etc. It then shifts into reality, with Muu on the floor, surrounded with these same supplies with more added. It also seems that her locker has been rummaged through and all of it is spilt out onto the floor.

When watching "After Pain" and reading the lyrics (translated), the view is very inclined to believe that Muu is the victim here, and that her murder was simply because she was pushed to her breaking point. We see later on in the video that she is on the bathroom floor, covered in water and toilet paper and someone steps over her, not attempting to help her in any way, and that causes Muu to chase after her, eventually killing her with a box-cutter after pleading to her with a sweaty face and being ignored. The hourglass breaks, and she commits her crime.

When I was first watching this, I was conflicted. My main point for her verdict was guilty because I watched her stab this girl, basically admitting this murder and what actually happened. I was conflicted because, yes, I watched her do it, but the reasoning was very confusing. It genuinely seemed like she had hit her breaking point and snapped. The entire song she kept mentioning apologies, and saying how her "sorry spells must be wearing off" so I was very conflicted in my opinion. There was also a lot of bullying happening, other girls standing over her as she's on the floor, and they also laugh at her. There is also a scene where it shows Muu's phone, and those same girls are her screensaver, so it's even more layered about what she was going through.

I was undecided on my vote on whether or not she was guilty, but the majority of the voters voted her innocent by only a slim margin. 50.34% people voted her innocent, while 49.66% voted her guilty.

This innocent vote completely changed Muu in her next trial. She went from a very reserved, apologetic girl to completely entitled, and had a heavy superiority complex. Her next trial/music video is titled "It's Not My Fault".

She transforms from this timid schoolgirl to a literal, towering queen bee figure. The first lines are: "I told you I’m queen, and it’s always the same/ God gave me everything, everything is as I wish" She becomes this insect-like creature in her own mind, taking on a sense of grandeur and authority. Those same girls we saw with Muu on her phonescreen are with her now, but as smaller worker insects that she towers over. There is also a scene where they are in reality, and we see Muu with these same friends, bullying another girl, until one notices the same girl Muu murdered standing behind them.

Art by akka

The chorus is literally her saying that it's not her fault because WE voted her innocent. Because of our vote in the first trial, she believes herself to be innocent because of how we voted on her. She even calls herself the "drama queen". She used our own vote against her, and the people the voted did NOT like it. After this second trial she was voted guilty by a LARGE difference. She was voted 74.46% guilty.

I found it so interesting how different her two trials were, with her first one being such a plea for help, for her to turn it around on the viewer, using how we saw her for her own benefit, and letting it inflate her own ego.

One more interesting image throughout the two videos is that of the hourglass. In the first video we Muu trapped inside of it, being on the bottom half while the neon green slime pours onto her. At the very beginning of her second trial, we see a hand flip over an hourglass, with the same slime, starting the timer over again. Her third trial has been teased, releasing on October 22nd 2025, and the title of it "Pain".

A very fun working theory is that what she does is a complete cycle. She's revealed that whenever she is faced with any pushback she shuts down and starts to cry. Something happens to her ("Pain"), and then goes into a mood of being the victim("After Pain"), and is able to justify her actions because of other people ("It's Not My Fault").

She's a manipulator, and a very good one at that.