Murakami may not be the Orchestrator despite Dandadan chapter 185's events

With the official release of Dandadan chapter 185 earlier this week, fans saw Kouki Yukishiro officially rescued, allowing her to identify Murakami as her blackmailer. Likewise, given that the Orchestrator was believed to be the one who blackmailed Kouki in the first place, many fans readily accept Murakami as the Orchestrator.

However, this may not be as safe a presumption as fans think given what fans see and learn of Murakami in Dandadan chapter 185. This information is extremely incongruous with what the Orchestrator’s ultimate goals seem to be based on the actions taken by them so far. There’s also nothing in the issue explicitly identifying him as the Orchestrator, further suggesting that the two aren’t the same.

Disclaimer: This article is a speculative theory and reflects the writer's opinion.

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Nothing in Dandadan chapter 185 fully confirms Murakami as the Orchestrator

The first and biggest piece of evidence casting doubt on Murakami being the Orchestrator is that nothing in Dandadan chapter 185 explicitly identifies him as this individual. Firstly, Kouki simply says Murakami is the one who blackmailed her, not the Orchestrator.

While she does add that there may be other blackmailed girls who received knives from him, it’s entirely possible that the Orchestrator gave Murakami these knives to distribute as a middleman.

There’s also nothing in the panel of Murakami in what appears to be a highrise apartment that suggests him to be the Orchestrator. This includes a lack of kozuka knives and a lack of dialogue from Murakami that suggests he may be the Orchestrator in any way.

If anything, his being in a high-rise apartment may tease that he’s currently with the Orchestrator, as it’s unlikely a public school employee could afford such lavish living standards.

While this is the most important piece of evidence that Murakami isn’t the Orchestrator, there’s more to be found in Dandadan chapter 185 to support this. The first is Murakami’s apparent goals, which seem to end with s*xually abusing high school girls by blackmailing them into sending him pictures of them in their underwear. It’s nonsensical that the Orchestrator went to such lengths as stealing the cursed sword Asura just to commit these inexcusable acts.

Moreover, such a goal wouldn’t require the use of the kozuka knives made from the cursed sword Asura at all. The yokai powers of Momo Ayase and others would offer no benefit in Murakami’s apparent goal of s*xually abusing these high school girls. Likewise, targeting Seiko Ayase and Ken “Okarun” Takakura for their respective powers is equally nonsensical should Murakami be the Orchestrator and this his ultimate goal.

There’s also the fact that Murakami was previously seen asking Sanjome where Adachi was while she was attacking Seiko and co on the Orchestrator’s orders. If he is the Orchestrator, then he’d have known where she was.

There’s no apparent benefit to be gained by Murakami establishing a lack of knowledge of Adachi’s whereabouts. At the very least, this evidence casts doubt on the idea that Murakami is the Orchestrator.

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Final thoughts

Count Saint-Germain isn't quite proven innocent in Dandadan chapter 185 (Image via Shueisha)

While the above is still speculative, there is a clear argument to be made for the doubtfulness of Murakami being the Orchestrator. The incongruence of the Orchestrator’s actions with what seems to be Murakami’s endgame of s*xually abusing underage girls is one of the biggest red flags.

Considering that chapter 185 doesn’t explicitly call Murakami the Orchestrator at any point, it seems there’s more to this story than what fans currently think.

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Related links

• Dandadan chapter 186 release date and time
• Dandadan chapter 185 highlights
• Dandadan chapter 184 highlights