Character Analysis: Shidou Kirisaki, Fate and Inevitability
in loving memory of 005, a post-mortem
contains spoilers
despite the lack of content for shidou in trial 3, a recurring problem with the other dead prisoners, I wanted to compile a post about his death and how it impacts his story. this might be a little messy, just bits and pieces thrown together, but I hope it’ll help you understand shidou’s character better!
I: T3 Sprite Design
(see image above) shidou’s post-mortem artwork depicts him, in what I like to think, his mindset during the time of his death.
starting from the top, his head is tilted slightly down, and he faces fully forwards, towards the pov of the reader. this is different from haruka and mahiru, both of whom have their heads tilted slightly to the side, and upwards.
shidou’s gaze, even in the grunge artwork where his eyes are open, is always downcast. this aligns with how his expression is said to ‘make it hard to tell whether he’s alive or dead’ (quote by es in aesculapius, his t2 voice drama), which is also another death metaphor.
shidou’s lowered head, as if in surrender, reflects his mindset of ‘nothing can be changed and he can’t change anything’, and if so then he might as well die anyway as retribution for his crimes. it’s noteworthy that this isn’t even true; because he’s alive, mahiru and fuuta can receive medical treatment, changing fuuta’s fate and postponing mahiru’s death, tying in with ‘mors certa, hora incerta’ (death is certain, the hour is uncertain), the quote on the dead prisoner’s sash.
this also implies haruka and mahiru are in acceptance of their deaths, haruka because his is self-inflicted and mahiru because of a) her deteriorating mental state, b) she was repeatedly stated to be on the verge of death, and c) she was reminiscing of happy memories with a close friend when she died content and peaceful. unlike shidou, who had his road to recovery disrupted and was killed without him knowing nor him agreeing to it.
moving down from there is his facial expression. at first glance it looks like he’s smiling, but if you zoom in it’s evident that only the corners of his lips are upturned; he’s actually frowning, while the other two prisoners are smiling. while this is another point to the previous argument, it also has the separate implication that he did not want death as much as he said he did. he mimics being at peace with death despite not actually doing so, where he was ‘lying’ to himself all the way to the end, where his last words to amane were both wishing her well and to reassure her that this is the fate he wants the most, even if it isn’t.
the theme of being a ‘liar’ is pretty prevalent in shidou’s story, mostly through his cover songs, although I feel like ‘hypocrisy’ or ‘selfishness’ would be more accurate. he doesn’t face reality until it bites him in the back; nor does he accept the ‘truth’, that the organ transplants were most definitely not ethical, until they come to bite him in the back with the death of his oldest son.
down from that is the doctor’s coat. it’s worn over his shoulders instead of how it’s supposed to be put on, almost like it had been placed by someone else. this, supports my personal opinion that shidou never wanted to be a doctor. his reason for doing so being ‘I wanted to contribute to society’ instead of an actual desire to help others, which sounds like something instilled in him by a senior. (imo, his parents, which could be a reason why he treasures family so much: both because he was raised to see family as sacred and potentially because his wife showed him what a family really feels like without pressure?)
it could also be how Shidou was pretty much forced into the position of doctor once he was in milgram again. he’s never shown to want to pick up the tools in t1, not until it really is necessary to save fuuta and mahiru. this would add to his dilemma in t2– ‘he doesn’t want to live, but because he did, other lives could be saved’, but also, ‘by taking a role that I don’t want, I prevent other people from dying’. with this in mind, it also makes more sense why he was willing to operate on brain dead patients; his goal never was to heal people, it was just to make the decision that benefits society as a whole. this doesn’t mean shidou didn’t want to help people, just that it wasn’t his original, main plan.
moving on from that are his hands, which, unlike almost every other artwork, ungloved. shidou’s gloves are worn for comfort; he claims that not wearing them makes his fingers ache. this symbolises the front he puts up in order not to feel the pain of his family’s loss, aka his cold exterior as mentioned in the part about his facial expression. additionally, during t2, he switches from a regular pair to plastic white ones, more commonly used in the medical fieldc showing that he takes on the duty as a doctor, but he still doesn’t face the truth head on.
only in his death he no longer has them, and instead, we can see his wedding ring, representing the happiness of his marriage and how raw losing everything was to shidou now that he’s been stripped of his coping mechanism. the hand with the ring is clasped over his wrist, where there’s a watch, a symbol of time and perhaps that his has been cut short. something to note is that he’s rarely ever depicted with a watch, but another prisoner is, which is kazui.
that’ll be in another section, but the last thing I could point out in his artwork was the lack of detail on his clothes, a simple shirt and jeans, which is in contrast with haruka’s school uniform, representing his dreams of being a normal, loved child; and mahiru’s bridal dress, representing her dream of getting married. shidou himself has no dreams; because the only thing he wants is to be reunited with his family again.
meanwhile, in previous sprites, shidou’s pants have a snakeskin pattern to them. snakes mean ‘transformation, healing, and duality’, all three of which are related to shidou. transformation being both how he went from a prestigious surgeon who had the best family he could ask for to a lonely, mourning widow; but also how he slowly regained his will to live between t1 and t2, and rekindle his desire to help others. healing is self-explanatory, in addition to the ‘snake coiled around staff’ symbol of medicine, which is also aesculapius’ sign, the god of which his voice drama is named after. finally duality would be the difference in how he treats his patients to his family, specifically those who get in his way— the truck driver being an example; and also the softer and significantly more pathetic self of him underneath his facade. there’s also the theme of immortality due to how they shed skin, this’ll tie into a point later.
II: Implications of Language
i personally think it’s odd how shidou is set up to be ‘doomed’, like his death is inevitable despite the fact I can’t really see the writers originally intending to have him die. in fact, both his and mahiru’s death feel… unplanned, in contrast to haruka, who seemed to be pushed towards that direction from the very start (him likely being in a codependent relationship with another prisoner and the stronger impact because he’s the ‘first’ prisoner). in t2, it felt like they were really going with the rebirth thing and that his t3 would have a large focus on him rediscovering the value of life and wanting to live again.
still, the use of language is interesting. like how I pointed out earlier, he is described to have a corpse-like expression. in his t1 voice drama, he specifically points out the scent of death in the prison; which is interesting. at least in t1, he showed support for the system, like kotoko did.
in a similar way than kotoko, who sees it as a way for her to enact her justice, he genuinely thought, at first, that it was a suitable way for him to get the death that he wanted so badly. it gives him an almost self-centred view on things; he’s okay with such a non-traditional and inhumane situation because it benefits himself. in t2 though, kotoko goes deeper in her vigilante justice, escalating to violence, and shidou no longer supports milgram because of this. their parallels are interesting, especially with shidou stating that he wants to ‘extract the fang’ (Kotoko) but Kotoko herself probably respects shidou more than the other prisoners because he’s a doctor (Kotoko fans correct me if I’m wrong)
on the topic of Kotoko, in deep cover, she describes shidou, and I quote:
Doomed, a peddling flower thief
Doomed, “005 Dissection Pawn”
the word ‘doomed’ implies kotoko thinks shidou is going to die. the unofficial translation uses ‘unsavable’ instead, which again, communicates that shidou has a fate that he can’t avoid. I see this as kotoko looking down on his attempt at redemption and maybe even not believing that he’s actually trying that hard to change. which… well, she would be kind of right, as seen with how he instantly just gave up once amane attacked him. also, her describing shidou as a flower thief is a very direct interpretation of his t1 mv, showing kotoko’s… lack of direction, to put it nicely
back to milgram as a whole. it’s interesting to me that shidou’s more often shown with milgram language instead of japanese? like on muu, mikoto, and kotoko’s phones, the texts/articles are in japanese, maybe because they’re directly from their memories. meanwhile, the graves in the background of shidou’s triage mv are engraved in milgram language, and the cover of his album also reads ‘abandon hope, all ye who enter here’ (rough translation) on the top of his door, famously what was written above the gates of hell in dante alighieri’s ‘inferno’ poem.
again, that second point ties in with how he’s ‘doomed’ by milgram standards. there is ‘no hope’ for his survival. as for the graves, I suppose it’s meant to imply that shidou doesnt actually remember the names of his victims. instead, that information was supplanted by milgram. if this is true, that means milgram definitely knows a lot more about the prisoners than we thought? at least it’s probably the same way they get the case reports that we see in the end of t3 mvs.
anyway, all this goes to show that shidou has an odd relationship with milgram? it’s rather strange how he’s the exception in treatment of dead prisoners, being the one that’s unhappy, really, despite him being the one who wanted to die from the very beginning.
another odd thing is Shidou’s association with ‘romance’. in es’ voice drama, Shidou is described as the kind of guy ‘who always causes a commotion in dating shows’, hinting at his attractiveness and ‘cool scary guy’ demeanour. it’s interesting, because he’s always paired with 006 mahiru, who, as we all know, is definitely the most romance-oriented prisoner.
there’s also the fact that shidou is a romantic, evidenced both from how much he loves his wife (me/j) and his answer to the last question in his second interrogation: ‘what is the ultimate form of love?’ ‘being together until death do us part’ (translation from miraheze wiki), in addition to his idealism.
this is making me think that one of the possible routes for shidou would be a 'romance' option, or at least an implied relationship like that, maybe with mappi or kazui? whatever you want to ship, lol. perhaps it would be after a guilty verdict and he starts subconsciously relying on another prisoner from support (his 19th interrogation question in t2: ‘what was your lover like?’ ‘she was a strong person. I was quite careless in private, so I’ve been relying on her’)
shidou clearly has horrible coping mechanisms (smoking as SH, his entire t1 mindset, taking care of others instead of himself), but it almost makes him seem 'selfless' when he's anything but (not caring about the truck driver nor his victims before he experienced their pain firsthand, how he STILL doesn't care about the truck driver), mostly 'self-loathing' instead. id he were to enter a romantic relationship with another prisoner, it'd likely be toxic and bad for both of them, most likely ending up like 0104 did in canon.
shidou's relationship with his late wife is something that i wish more people explored. i do think that if shidou entered a new relationship, he would most likely project his dead wife onto the new person, and it's kind of sad how he never moves on, nor does he want to move in. perhaps this is another interpretation of 'doomed', that he doesn't really want to get better, or that he doesn't think he can, which unfortunately a lot of real victims of mental illness experience too. his last words 'i'll see you soon' and his belief in reincarnation (trial 1 interrogation question 19) shows that all he wanted to see his family more than he wanted to repay for the lives he's taken; 'selfish' until the end.
III: Parallels With Kazui and Amane
you can skip this part if you hate 0507. it’s not strictly romantic but the implication is there
firstly, design wise, aside from the black and white thing with their hair (alluding to duality, as seen below, and a yin-yang opposites attract relationship, with their personalities being quite different, uptight vs laidback, but still meshing well), theres the tidbit i mentioned earlier with shidou's watch in his t3 sprite. again, usually, the one wearing the watch is kazui, not shidou. watches tend to symbolise 1. the passing of time, which i think is the main context behind it's addition to shidou's death design, 2. social status, this is probably why kazui has it, with his need for approval, and 3. personal legacy, which is another point to shidou because... he's dead. its arguable his 'legacy' is the worst out of the three dead prisoners, though? haruka is remembered through muu's righteous anger, mahiru through yuno's 'rebirth', while shidou... is clowned on by amane relentlessly even after death. this is a joke, obviously, but it's sad to see the one who his death has the biggest impact on is his murderer, even if i do think amane is innocent. he really thought he was good with kids.
otherwise i think that the watches might have another meaning, the potential relationship between shidou and kazui, and how i think that in a universe where shidou was alive, kazui would he dead. maybe a route where either one of them had gotten a guilty, although i'm not sure how that would work and how yamanaka would pull it off. aside from the 'doomed black and white duo' jokes they do seem to be a pair in milgram, beingg the two oldest prisoners, the two prisoners with the most timelines together, and as you can see below, two prisoners with a startling amount of similarities once you get into the finer details.
there’s also the smoking. in one of kazui’s birthday timelines, he asks shidou for a smoke. smoking symbolises a few things, 1. the acceptance of human nature, perhaps more to illustrate the concept of milgram rather than kazui and shidou individually, 2. bad coping mechanisms, self-explanatory, 3. autonomy. this is interesting because it implies kazui and shidou have some sort of authority? which they do, as the main ‘protector’ and the doctor of milgram, in addition to them being the oldest. 4. mortality, again, putting both of them on a ticking time bomb and supporting my theory that both of them were meant to die in some way, 5 being power and gender dynamics, which in kazui’s case is used to present his toxic masculinity. in shidou’s case, however, it’s different. at least in comparison to Kazui, shidou presents as much more feminine in terms of stance and also in his expressions, which are much more gentle and elegant. there’s also his profession, with healers typically being associated with feminine traits and unfortunately, sexualisation. still, in reality, he does take on the assertive role instead of kazui, who mostly follows shidou instead of leading on his own. finally, it’s a way of bonding and shows an emotional connection, again, highlighting their relationship and their ‘duoship’.
shidou is constantly referred to as a 'liar', such as his liar dance cover in t1, or his undercover line ('which way will you throw down your weight, to be the deceived or the deceiver'), in reference to his hypocrisy and the double life he lives; as a single-minded doctor who mercilessly tears families apart; and the loving husband and father who would quite literally kill for his family. his lies benefit himself, because no matter which way you look at shidou he takes the easy way out, instead of trying to fight back against the medical system that made organ transplants so hard in the first place, he targets the families he's meant to save; instead of thinking things through and you know, not killing, he impulsively murders the truck driver in an act of revenge even though he doesn't even know whether doing so would let him get to his family in time. which, spoiler alert, it didn't.
meanwhile, kazui constantly refers to himself as a liar, because of the dichotomy between society's expectations of him and his true self, hence, for a technically selfless reason; and you could argue that him being honest with himself; resulting in hinako's death, was a 'selfish' action (not saying this is what i believe). it can be argued that he's the opposite of shidou, in a way. for shidou, his lies make his life simpler, and for kazui, they make his life miserable. they're two sides of the same coin. kazui's lies are carefully thought out to construct the image of a 'strong man', while shidou's lies are haphazard decisions that threaten everything he claims he stands for. in kazui's words, him no longer lying was what killed hinako. for shidou, it's his lying that ruined everything for him. in a way, their crimes are both because of their 'selfishness'.
there's also the similarities between their wives. i'd like to point out the physical resemblance between shidou's wife and kazui. they both have black hair and blue eyes. maybe im splitting hairs here, but it reminds me of the resemblance between yuno and rei. maybe this points to kazui's more 'submissive' role? he does seem happy to give shidou massages, after all, and even in camouflage, his fantasies show him being the one who's picked up and spun around, him who takes on the role of, crudely, the bottom.
(for sub shidou enjoyers, please never feel like you have to force yourself to hc kazui as the sub instead because it's 'canon'. do what you want, write what you want, read what you want, they're not even real.)
something i haven't noticed a lot of people talk about are the parallels between shidou and his wife, and kazui and the bartender (who i will never call ry*suke). it's noted that the bartender and kazui are childhood friends; shidou and his wife also happen to be childhood friends. kazui became sure of his feelings for him in middle school, shidou and his wife started dating in middle school. but while shidou and shiwife get married, kazui never marries him (because he deserves better) and instead enters the lifelong charade with hinako. and in the end, hinako died because of kazui; shiwife and family died in spite of shidou's efforts.
on the amane side of things, shidou has his own religious imagery, in the form of his voice drama names, 'molech' and 'aesculapius', both greek gods. this could be a reference to how he 'plays god' in deciding who lives or dies? i think this is also why amane is so infuriated by him, both because of how he treats her but also because his actions as a doctor are even worse than normal because he didn't do so in the first trial and only chose to do so once he 'felt like it', in her eyes, mocking the trials God had given.
shidou's first voice drama features 'molech', a deity of child sacrifice mentioned and condemned in the bible (correct me if im wrong!). with amane's religious beliefs, i wouldn't be too surprised if this is a reference to how she rejects his medicinal practices and views them as an act against God Himself. besides that, molech is also used to describe any immoral sacrifice for the sake of the 'greater good', which sounds a lot like shidou's organ transplant shenanigans. his second voice trial, aesculapius, is what i find more interesting, though. shidou's commonly depicted with the rod of aesculapius, aka the snake around staff symbol, commonly used to represent medicine and healthcare. aside from that, aesculapius is also said to be the orignator of the hypocratic oath (that shidou... clearly did not take to heart) and was the god of medicine, again, shidou is a doctor (even though he might not want to be), this is self-explanatory. additionally, though, the myth of aesculapius follows him being struck down by lightning from zeus in order to prevent him from disrupting the natural order of life and death. sound familiar? shidou was also struck down by amane, a devotee to religion, for going against her cult's values and 'extending life', thereby refusing god's trials. however, in the legend, aesculapius is shortly elevated to the status of god afterward. could this point to a possible shidou resurrection? is how dirty he's been done in trial 3 going to be worth it??? only time will tell... but i really hope so. foreshadowing, right? please don't retcon this, mr milgram.
all in all, I really enjoy the little details in milgram (and obsessing over random interrogation questions) because I guess that’s most of the appeal for me. it feels like lately, with t3, the train’s been running out of steam, and it does make me sad to see even if I haven’t even been a fan for that long. still, I hope we can ride this out until the end, I have high hopes for mikoto and kotoko’s trial!! queen, please NEVER be sorry!!!
this thing might be a bit disjointed, because I typed this out in intervals over the course of a few days, but I hope you can still enjoy!! spread the word of shidou kirisaki!!!