Perhaps Yandere-chan's grandmother has a brother who decided to follow family tradition name-wise. Given YandereDev's preferences, any boys born into the Aishi family are unlikely to be yanderes themselves. However, they might be "carriers" of the traits, so to speak. So Yan-chan's great uncle grows up and marries a non-yandere woman. Then they have a daughter. Since she's the daughter of an Aishi man and a normal woman, she is not a full-blown yandere. However, since her father is a "carrier," she has a few yandere traits: clinginess, attraction to anyone who is extremely dependent. This is the woman who married the journalist. The journalist likely would not want to marry anyone with the surname Aishi, because merely hearing that name probably would make him sick. That's why it's good that her father, an Aishi by birth, took his wife's name. So the journalist's wife is Ryoba Aishi's first cousin.
Now when you and your first cousin each have a child, your child and your first cousin's child are second cousins. Ryoba had Yandere-chan. The journalist's wife had... someone. Therefore, the journalist's daughter is Yandere-chan's second cousin.
- Then who would she be in a universe when Senpai is male?
- Senpai's little sister? The journalist never explicitly said he didn't have a son too.
- The Journalist made it very clear that he never remarried after his wife died giving birth to their daughter, which he explicitly says was their first (and only) child.
- It could be possible that senpai when he is male, is a child had out of wedlock before he met his wife. Probably at a one night stand or something similar the women he slept with probably got full custody of him and he just had to pay child support. This would explain why Hanako suddenly moves to senpai's school and why she's so clingy about senpai as her father who raised her was neglectful.
- Senpai's little sister? The journalist never explicitly said he didn't have a son too.
(from the wiki-page) "The Journalist's wife died while giving birth to an only daughter. At this point, it was practically impossible for the Journalist to take care of himself. He neglected his child, who raised herself into an independent teenage girl who could possibly attend Akademi High School."
Info-chan certainly fits the mysterious and computer-obsessed description. Her income is probably from the blackmail she obtains from the students and the panty shots she sells to the boys at her school. The source of the blood is still up to speculation, since the idea that she's also a Yandere was scrapped.
Ryoba destroyed her father's life, and because of that, her father became too depressed to raise his own daughter, neglecting her terribly. And now, Ryoba is back, having chased Info's father out of the country to destroy him yet again.
But Info-chan is going to get back at her, by going after her daughter. Killing Yandere-Chan isn't good enough; no, Info-chan's going to break her. She'll push Yandere-chan into pursuing Senpai, killing and bullying her way through all of the potential rivals. And when Yandere-chan almost has him, Info will take it all away by exposing Yandere-chan as the monster that she is.
Exposing Yandere-chan as a violent sociopath will certainly hurt Ryoba — if not emotionally, then at least it will hurt her reputation — and possibly clear the journalist's name if Yandere's misdeeds eventually lead to Ryoba's misdeeds being exposed. A fitting retribution for the woman who destroyed her life by ruining Info-chan's father all those years ago.
So one day, her father disappears. At the same time, Ryoba's daughter starts stalking someone in a similar way. Info-chan, being the crafty yet morally corrupt girl that she is, starts nudging her towards repeating history. Then, when she has killed enough people, she turns her in. Because she is good at finding out information about people, she has plenty of evidence beforehand that won't incriminate her personally. This will have tons of benefits for her: she'll be seen as a brave girl who found and took down a Yandere, she'll exact karmic justice on Ryoba and her family, she'll receive acclaim as a young journalist, she will get her father's approval, and she'll get panty shot photos to sell. It will be a task towards the end of the game to stop her in some way. One way this might happen would be to also repeat history by discrediting her. Info-chan is already established to be a sleazy, corrupt girl who sells upskirt shots. Yandere-chan will have the ability to provide evidence that Info-chan has a history of criminal behavior. If done successfully, she will get arrested for sexual harassment, blackmail, and incitement to murder, as well being a suspect in the killings. In the end, she does become like her father, just not in the way she intended.
Word of God also says that what will happen if you don't help her by killing people or taking panty shots will be a spoiler. It might be because it'll ruin her plan, and she'll attempt other means at getting Yandere-chan arrested.
- YandereDev says there is no more Rival Yandere, so this is likely jossed.
- If the theory that there will be another Yandere who's NOT a rival comes true, then maybe the Journalist's daughter will be that Yandere.
- Megami Saikou is the daughter of the CEO of the Saikou Corp. The journalist is disgraced. Also: #3 "They probably know of him, but don't know him personally." Wouldn't make sense if he was their wayward son.
- Then maybe the Journalist is her uncle! But That's another WMG all together.
- I take it uncle from the non-Saikou side of the family?
- Then maybe the Journalist is her uncle! But That's another WMG all together.
- A rival's father was a policeman involved in the case.
- A rival's father was Ryoba's defense attorney or the judge.
- In Mida and Muja's cases, they could have been former Akademi students themselves and testified against the journalist or for Ryoba.
- One of them's related to whoever ended up getting the blame for the murder.
The big question mark then is why Hanako would be on the list too, unless there's something about the Yamada family we don't know about yet.
- Finally got an idea: Senpai's dad was the Journalist's boss.
- In the sixth tape, the Journalist states that he met and married his wife a few years after Ryoba was declared innocent of Sumire Saitozaki's murder. He describes her as being possesive of him and never wanting to let him go. Achieving the S+ ending in 1980s mode shows you a timeline which reveals that Ryoba has a little sister who met and married her Senpai in 1994, five years after Ryoba's trial. The year would fit with the time the Journalist got married, and the way he describes his wife sounds very similar to how an Aishi acts when they find their Senpai.
- Most of the evidence points at Info-Chan being the Journalist's daughter, and with the possibility of Ryoba's sister being the Journalist's wife, the idea of Info-chan being an Aishi is not far-fetched.
- Let's not forget, Info-chan was initially planned to be a second Yandere. And while YanDev dropped the idea, there's no reason he can't undrop it.
- Alternatively, her status as Butt-Monkey will be inverted. As much as life beats her down, she'll find ways to try and gain control over her life, and that may include self-defence. Trying to face her in a direct conflict will be slightly less difficult than taking on a teacher.
- Or any adult, really. Or the swim team captain or the delinquents' leader.
- Maybe she is going to become the final rival of the game?
- Signs are pointing to Drama Club President. That rival's image got leaked a while back and looks a lot like Kokona, plus the dev admitted it would be an easy choice.
- The Dev has all but confirmed that Kokona and Kizana will not be the same character. Most likely, Kokona will be demoted to regular NPC. This is arguably for the best, as Kokona has over a year's worth of characterization that gives her a much different personality from any of the rivals, and fans like her the way she is. The big questions at this point are whether Kokona retains her character arc as a side quest or if it'll be split up and redistributed to proper rivals – it seems Osana is gaining the bulk of it.
- The final rival of the game will be the Student Council President, who has already appeared (via live-stream on a laptop). Fun Fact
- Signs are pointing to Drama Club President. That rival's image got leaked a while back and looks a lot like Kokona, plus the dev admitted it would be an easy choice.
- Confirmed! Except for that Midori never appeared in that video.
- But why would Yandere-chan kill her after Kokona gets paired up? There would be no point. If she would do that, why pair Kokona up in the first place?
- Because the dev simply cannot help himself when it comes to Kokona. She's his Cosmic Plaything.
- Jossed. He decided to cut the poor girl a break. Also, Kokona cannot be stabbed after her confession, as the prompt is disabled.note
- That silhouette is of Kizana Sunobu, the Drama Club President. What relation, if any, she has to Kokona is unknown. See WMG below.
- I think YD said that there aren't going to be that many direct blood relationships. However, I think a better option would be to make the DCP Kokona's cousin. That way, she could retain the familial relationship/Strong Family Resemblance while at the same time not have to deal with all the baggage that Kokona's going through, since as her sister, she'd be in a crappy situation too.
- The Drama Club President is named Kizana Sunobu – a Punny Name to be sure, but not the same one as speculated.
- Possibly confirmed. The October 2016 update video (and an accidental inclusion of a partially-made Osana) heavily implies Osana is inheriting at least some of Kokona's issues.
- It's confirmed that she is in the drama club.
- That actually sounds like a decent idea. If it gets implemented into the game, it can lay out more possibilities that will make the game both harder and easier to beat.
- Possible reasons why the difficulty would be decreased
- Yandere-chan could ask help from Kokona in doing tasks for other students (YandereDev has stated that this will be put in the final game). Of course, this can only apply to tasks Kokona can do so as not to make the game too easy.
- Kokona could serve as an easier access to information. After all, you're more likely to give information freely to your friend and Kokona is quite a nice girl. However, Kokona's share of information won't be as detailed as Info-Chan's. Additionally, Kokona may not have little to no information to share for the rivals of the later half of the game.
- On a slightly darker note, it would give Yandere-chan more opportunities to be able to dispose of murder evidence. YandereDev did say it's possible to trick a student into disposing a corpse.
- Possible reasons why the difficulty would be increased
- Since Kokona is just as important as Senpai to Yandere-chan, it means your chances of getting a game over would be greater. I'm pretty sure Yandere-chan would be just as devastated with her friend seeing her kill someone as she would be if her crush saw her do that.
- Eavesdropping and getting panty shots may make Kokona suspicious over Yandere-chan. While the other students witnessing those actions may make your reputation drop, Kokona may think that your behavior is because someone is blackmailing you or you're also going through a rough time. As a result, she may have a slightly changed routine, one where she would stay closer to you out of concern.
- Possible reasons why the difficulty would be decreased
- She won't be talking to Ayano like the Student Counsil Members.
- She will be able to stop a direct attack from Ayano like the teachers.
- She will avoid facing large bodies of water so that Ayano can't drown her.
- If someone pours water on her while she is using the toilet and the lights went out, she will be using her cellphone to see if the lightswitch is safe.
- She will not stand at the outside wall of the school to avoid getting crushed by dumbbells.
- She will always keep her lunch with her, so that Ayano can't poison it.
- She will check her desk and bag for things that could get her in trouble and tells her teacher about it.
- If her cell phone gets stolen and reappears later she will check it for panty shots and other lewd pictures and deletes them.
Osana Najimi
- Confirmed. If Osana is peacefully eliminated by any method and the player goes for the Amai Challenge, Osana will have short hair.
Amai Odayaka
Muja Kina
... is Otohiko Meichi. He looks somewhat like her, he spends a lot of time in the infirmary (where he could get to know her), and Muja is too nice to judge him for any girly habits he has.
Mida Rana
... is Toga Tabara. He's noted to mostly spend time wandering aimlessly and contemplating his future, while Mida, as a substitute teacher, could serve as a career counselor.
Osoro Shidesu
As the school's faculty will now have evidence of the bullies' true natures, they (or at least, whichever one you exposed) will be suspended, and the delinquents will turn from their current ways, their primary issue with Akademi's authority figures (namely, their failure to handle the bullies) resolved. Osoro will be grateful for your help in resolving the delinquents' problem, and will stop her pursuit of Senpai out of gratitude.
Furthermore, Ayano might get a reputation boost if her role in dethroning the bullies becomes known. The trade-off, of course, is that the bullies will either be unusable or less effective against Hanako and Megami, as the other students will be less inclined to go along with their nonsense.
... is Umeji Kizuguchi, her second in command. She clearly trusts him, he likes her enough to give her sweet bread (in a drawing of the delinquents pre-delinquency), and his crush is listed as '????'.
Hanako Yamada
Megami Saikou
- Well, it's actually hinted that Fun Girl is the missing daughter, but I did have a similar theory that Megami's mother was an Aishi as well, possibly Ryoba's sister or cousin.
This may explain her interest in Senpai — she empathizes with him as he's similarly unlucky in love (thanks to Yandere-chan). Perhaps the extra security isn't just to catch Yandere-chan; Megami genuinely likes Senpai and is determined not to let anyone ruin yet another potential relationship for her.
(Bonus points if Megami's alternate suitor has a yandere streak of his own and has been scaring off his own rivals.)
- Well, my theory just got a big hole in it that the Phantom Girl was actually the first victim.
In a serious note, her grandfather is confirmed to hold a very poor opinion of the LGBT+ community, although he keeps it to himself to avoid harming his company's image. YandereDev clearly included that tidbit for a reason. Furthermore, it's mentioned that Megami would prefer to marry someone she truly loves as opposed to her father's Arranged Marriage (note that it's someone, not necessarily a man). She's also implied to be The Not-Love Interest to Senpai - while that made sense for Hanako (her being his little sister and all), it sticks out a lot more with Megami, who's presumably unrelated to Senpai. According to YandereDev, Aoi Ryugoku is the only person whom Megami becomes less formal and speaks in a rather casual manner (implying that Megami has a hidden softer side that she won't show openly, even to her own family). Finally, Megami is rumored In-Universe to have some issues with men. Put all of those together, and it's likely that one elimination method will involve either outing her (if she actually is attracted to girls) or setting her up to be Mistaken for Gay (if she isn't). Doing so will probably require a few attempts - one seemingly-compromising piece of evidence she could explain away, but five would be a lot harder. Doing this could have varying knock-on effects on her life:
- Megami's father could disown her (given that Generation Xerox applies to Yan-chan's family, and possibly to the Journalist's if, as widely suspected, Info-chan is his daughter, it wouldn't be surprising if there was something among the Saikous as well). Given that Megami is implied to have spent her entire life going through Training from Hell, having her status suddenly yanked away would do some serious damage, leading her to either leave Akademi or be Driven to Suicide, depending on how you play your cards. On the other side, it would give her an ample opportunity to break away from her conservative family and call them out for disowning her aunt for her socially liberal views.
- If the Bullies are still active at this point, getting the evidence to them could lead to them targeting Megami, with their Villain with Good Publicity status helping damage Megami's reputation while you keep your hands (relatively) clean. Again, how Megami responds to this will depend on how you play your cards.
- If you plant the evidence (real or fake) successfully enough times, Senpai will reject Megami's confession (assuming, of course, that she's actually interested in him romantically) under the belief that Incompatible Orientation is in play, and he wants her to be happy as her true self, not using him as a disguise.
Just saying, YandereDev wouldn't have set up as much info as he did about her family if it wouldn't come up at some point, and the most likely point, given what kind of game this is, is an elimination method. - Technically, all rivals have Schrodinger's Bisexuality; their alternate suitors will always be men, but they'll still be attracted to Senpai if she's a woman. The idea about some of Megami's elimination methods being through outing this status in-universe is still valid, though.
- If this is the case, then you might be able to work it into a larger plan to dispose of Megami. She values the lives of the other members of the student council, so much so that if someone kills a member, no matter who it is, she'll suspect you, and instill security measures that would be draconian in any high school. However, at the same time, Megami wants nothing more than to actually BE at Akademi, and in addition, people seem to view her as a hardass who nonetheless has a degree of logic to her strictness. If you can make it seem like she's gone nuts; blaming you for something she has no concrete proof that you did, mindbreaking Akane into a murderslave, when pretty much the entire school saw Akane, rumored to be a bitch under the facade, murder another member of the council unprovoked, and making sure everyone suffers for it, you might be able to use that to get her to stay away from Senpai. Everyone already thinks she's a tyrant. It would be very easy to force her out of the school she so desperately wants to attend via mob mentality.
- Killed someone
- Seduced a Saikou
- Pedophile
- Embezzlement
- Stalking
- Rape
Or, you know, he could've been framed for any of the above.
- I go with "helped cover up the myriad of crap that has gone down at Akademi High over the years."
- I was thinking looking at porno. Not even necessarily the illegal stuff. A headmaster's rep could be ruined if any perversion was revealed.
- One of the Headmaster tapes suggests he filmed someone without their consent, and given that he referred to it as 'taboo'...it was probably students.
- Another tape also hinted that he considered framing someone else for Ryoba's crimes just to try and get people to enroll at Akademi again, so if he went through with that idea it could be that.
- So by that logic, Ayano's dad was the previous avatar, correct?