I feel like I'm watching two Danganronpa characters argue. Y'all are right and wrong about various things and are getting kinda heated over it. I just finished Trail 1 last night and want to discuss it so I'll throw in my two cents.
1. I agree with Tlittle that the time scale of Diana the Cosmetologist being in the basement doesn't make sense. Her story could have only been about 5 or 6 minutes as it currently stands. She spends a little time waiting for her eyes to adjust to the darkness before calling out to Wolfgang the Lawyer. He responds, she tries to help, and he lashes out at her. He goes on a rant for a bit before the explosion. That's not a lot of things to happen, so it could not have been long and doesn't match with the timescale of the rest of the case.
This is made somewhat worse because the story does give an explanation for why Diana was down there for so long, it's just that the explanation doesn't make any sense. The explanation given by the story is that Diana was trying to pick the lock on the door so she could escape. She was doing it blind in the dark and had no experience with lockpicking so she just kept trying til she got lucky. The explanation doesn't make sense because that would require a lot of time after the explosion and not before it. I think was some miscommunication or oversight as the rest of the writing is generally very quality.
2. I agree with Parece here. The blackmail does seem random. I think we only hear 4. Toshiko the Matchmaker's was a load of nothing from her childhood. Cassidy the Pro Gamer's was about a fear of spiders I think? (Weird that she's the spider of the cast) Desmond the Marksman's was a vague reference to that he has weapons. Lastly, Wolfgang's was a vague reference to how he's a wolf is sheep's clothing (fitting that he's the sheep of the cast). The only common thread is that they reflect poorly on the person they are tied too, and that all of them are... kinda weak? This makes sense though. Tozu admits that he got the idea from something Eva the Liar said when the cast were looking at their student profiles. Tozu handed out the blackmail the next morning so he clearly didn't put a lot of time into it. Combine this with his admission that it was hard to find actual good dirt on the characters and it only stands to reason that the blackmail is random and weak. He was probably twisting words to make mountains from molehills because he only had molehills.
3. I agree with both of you here on different parts. Parece is right that the cast had Eva dead to rights at the end of the trial. She was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. She was the only one who could have possible dropped the battery and killed Wolfgang. Everything else is practically irrelevant at that point as it doesn't matter who stole what; Eva triggered the murder mechanism and is the killer. Nothing else truly needs to be answered.
Tlittle does have a good point in that a stone unturned is a plot point unfulfilled. Especially cause this plot point has a very easy explanation. She had access to the cameras because of the Traitor Perk. She could have just seen where everyone is, seen where the objects are in the rooms, and slipped in and out of the rooms in just a minute or two. Stealing the stuff would have been extremely easy for her.
4. This is just a repeat of 3. Does it actually need to be answered? Not really. There are plenty of places to hide a screwdriver and plenty of time to flip the lock over the several days especially with the aforementioned camera access. The details don't really matter. At the same time, including those details, even just educated guesses at them, would have been quite easy and satisfying to the player.
That's that. This was fun. Trail 1 has some flaws for sure and can be a bit unsatisfactory a times. I can't believe they killed Eva, one of the more interesting characters and the probable Eve of the Garden of Eden. However, it was over all very enjoyable and I'm very much looking forward to the rest of the game and specifically how it develops from this first chapter. Here's hoping Eden's Garden is successful and doesn't peter out into nothingness like so many other Fanganronpas.