Welcome everyone to the penultimate episode of Migi & Dali! This is a tough one for me, my favorite place but I can’t get some of the trivial details out of my head. Nothing too big but still important enough to be worth mentioning. So let’s dive into the episode!
Like I said, this episode was mixed for me. The core of it, the main plot and events, all work very well. Almost everything regarding the twins, Eiji, their relationship is good. How they came together as brothers, or how Dali’s decision to take revenge on Reiko and Eiji would force him to live an imperfect life instead of dying a perfect death, it all worked. Considering those were all the most important events of the episode, this week can probably be called a success. But… There are some things I can’t get out of my head. The details, the execution of certain scenes, although within a solid episode, disappointed me as a whole. So before I talk about the rest of the good stuff, let’s talk about those.
Going right into it, the biggest thing for me was Mii-chan’s ghost. I’m willing to write this off as smoke-induced hallucinations or just a thematically appropriate way to represent finding each other in the fire using one of the few positive adult influences in their lives. However, looking at it literally, Mii-chan’s ghost is cleaning up the fire and helping them… I really don’t like that. It feels really out of place in Migi & Dali, a silly but grounded horror film. There’s definitely humor there, but that’s often clearly delineated from the more serious story. You can tell where one ends and the other begins in almost every case. And when you can’t, it’s never far from reality, instead it’s just “It can’t happen.” What I’m trying to say is, the whole “Ghost” thing was a bit too much for me and simply didn’t sit well with my mind.
Likewise, there are a lot of small details throughout the house and the escape sequence that bugged me. Some are small, like chandeliers. Why would they try to lift it when they could… crawl out from underneath it? Eiji is not pinned and Dali crawls right next to him. Yes, it made for an interesting “coming together” moment but if Eiji was actually pinned then Migi & Dali didn’t pull it off well. As for the escape, the general lack of dialogue makes the whole scene feel uncomfortable. The music isn’t too appropriate and seeing the characters yell at each other only makes things worse. I understand Migi and Dali’s purpose here, but I don’t think it works that well.
Back to the good stuff, although the lack of dialogue is strange I really loved Akiyama’s return. I cheered as the bird boy came back, blew open that door and freed them. Is it convenient? Yes, a lot. There was no way he could have known about the door. But the timing was perfect, and seeing him waltz right out of his tattered bird costume made it work. Add to that the fact that he went back for the dog, jumped out the window like a phoenix, and the show ended up calling the father a terrible father who ignored family problems me, and everyone created a very emotional moment. I’m really glad that Migi and Dali didn’t forget about either of those characters, had adults step up to help even when he failed, and really showcased Akiyama and Migi’s friendship.
Regarding Eiji and everything that happened to him, Dali’s idea of revenge to let him live “imperfectly” felt appropriate. Eiji is almost as much a victim as Migi and Dali. He was also stolen by his mother, raised by a crazy woman, and directly responsible for Metry’s death. Surely if you want to blame a child, you can call him a victim. However, I see it as a consequence of Reiko’s actions rather than his own. So by forcing him to live, rather than die a perfect death, Dali is effectively taking revenge on Reiko, robbing her of a meaningful death. Surely it didn’t mean much to her, she was already dead. But it means something to Dali and Eiji, and that’s what matters. Because now all three of them can finally find a home in a truly loving family. Maybe so.
Finally I want to talk about comedy again. I mentioned earlier how Migi & Dali often do a great job of separating the comedy from the more serious story, and I stand by that. However, in this episode we see them overlap quite a bit and I think that’s their purpose. Comedies are often reserved for fun, happy, loving times with family or friends. It signals the easy life that Migi longs for while Dali focuses on revenge. Here Migi & Dali still use that method, but it is also to draw Eiji into action. Let him become part of that happy family. To connect him with Migi and in turn Dali. It’s an overlap between a serious revenge plot and a loving family ending that ultimately serves to pull all three of them out of a place of abuse. And I think that’s pretty cool.
So overall, even though I’m conflicted on some details, the more I think about it, the more this Migi & Dali episode feels right to me. I also don’t mind that we still have one episode left, because I think there’s a lot left in the series. What happened to Eiji? How do Migi and Dali explain being twins with Sonoyamas? What happened to Karen and Maruta? There are a lot of plot threads that, while mostly complete, still deserve to be wrapped up in some kind of epilogue. Hell, maybe the show will even end with Migi and Dali showing everyone their mother’s grave and finally opening up! There are so many possibilities and I’m looking forward to what happens.
