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Murder. Secret identity. A pioneering mosquito outfit. Welcome back to Migi & Dali, where we’re about to get another perfect combination of absurdity and horror. The twins, having recently escaped the clutches of the Ichijo family, are even more certain of their direct involvement in the death of their mother, Metry. However, Dali’s strict measures to bring the truth to light caused a rift in the relationship between the twins.
Part is necessary. The boys existed as a single entity for a special period of time. Migi occasionally opposed Dali’s plans and plots in an attempt to gain autonomy. The first example is his romantic awakening, first in the arms of his sister Shunpei and then in his misguided love affair with Sali. Dali tried to maintain the illusion and make an apparent breakthrough, but when he assumed his female persona again, it reignited Migi’s desire for independence.
While we could get into the mud about the details, what is most important about the Migi-Sali-Dali situation is that Migi justifiably interpreted it as an act of betrayal. He is played as a fool despite his genuine feelings, and the entire script emphasizes that Dali is the mastermind of their revenge, while Migi has adapted to her new parents. them, new friend Shunpei, school and romantic possibilities. Honestly, this is probably a healthier path than Dali is currently taking, but this is anime and we need answers.
Unfortunately, while these three episodes give us quite a bit of resolution to the overall mystery, there are some aspects that haven’t been taken into account. After Dali-Sali probing, Eiji realizes that the “ghost” his mother told him about was likely a real woman he pushed out the window on Christmas Eve. We don’t know why Metry was at Eiji’s window, but the most likely conclusion is that Eiji is also her son. It has not been confirmed that Migi and Dali are the sons of the Ichijo clan chief, but it seems likely.
The next point of contention is Eiji’s mother, Reiko, telling him that there are no blonde women living in Origon Village. This seems like a stretch. Metry may have been living in a secret room in the pantry, but she was Ichijo’s housekeeper and would likely be out and about often in the house. It’s strange that Eiji wouldn’t recognize her in that context when she came to his window and would completely erase her from his memory. I believe he forgot her over time; Not many of us have many specific memories from age five, but he should have recognized her before pushing her.
Migi & Dali regularly apply “capability upgrades”, mainly to Dali, whenever convenient. Like in episode six, when the twins were able to catch ghosts using props they had no right to use, Dali has now delved into the art of hypnosis. It’s not impossible, since one twin stayed home while the other went away to school, but these kinds of developments would be more satisfying if they were set up without explanation to save the day. reveal the results later. Pulling the audience aside to say, “Actually, I’ve been reading a lot of books on hypnosis when you weren’t paying attention,” is a silly thing to do.
Regardless, it is through this arrangement that Eiji realizes the truth behind the “ghost” of Christmas and this revelation threatens to tear the Ichijo and Sonoyama families apart. Migi goes into full deep mode and takes refuge at Shunpei’s house, leaving Dali to come to terms with his choices and motives. Initially prepared to go it alone, this culminates in Halloween, where Dali makes his debut as a very fashionable mosquito. The greatest achievement of Episode 8 is continuing the separation of the twins and strengthening Migi’s determination to become her true self. There’s a great scene where Dali (as Hitori) is talking to Shunpei but to Migi while Migi hides in the closet. It was a sneaky apology, but it was Shunpei’s follow-up insisting that Hitori be honest with himself that helped Migi realize what he really wanted in life. Some of the conversations were strange, such as Dali slapping Shunpei to have an excuse to say he”didn’t mean to hurt him” to apologize to Migi about the Sali situation; Shunpei just accepted the blow even though it came from nowhere.
The boys still break up when Halloween begins, despite another switcheroo asking the audience to accept that Hitori’s parents won’t put two and two together when Migi is revealed to be one of the boys. dressed in a bird costume, at the same time Dali is completely seen in the form of a mosquito. Conflict aside, it’s time for Eiji to redeem himself and take a pumpkin to the head to protect Migi from Dali’s miscalculation. This is also the last event before Migi & Dali get caught in the horror trap again.
We knew things weren’t going well with Reiko when she raised Migi at her house. Episode nine reveals that Reiko is not the biological mother of either of her children and that she may have forcibly taken them from their parents before kicking them out of Origon Village. It seems like she’s working overtime to prevent any hint of Eiji’s accidental murder if the kick was the cause of Metry’s death. Reiko is so crazy that it’s hard to say with certainty whether she didn’t know about Metry’s death or had a loose grasp of reality.
Eiji explains most of this to Migi-Sali after he visits him after he is discharged from the hospital. The confrontation turns dark when Reiko discovers Migi-Sali and Eiji in the attic with the diorama, and that’s when the tea is spilled. There’s not much room for levity, except for the surprise appearance of MVP’s butler, Micchan. After successfully escaping from the Ichijo family, Migi comes home to find that Reiko has drugged his parents and tied Dali to the bed upstairs. She did the same to Migi, and when Dali was willing to sacrifice himself to save his brother, Micchan saved the world.
Episodes seven and eight do not mention Micchan again, despite the show inferring that she was killed while exploring the attic. In an aside from the series, Micchan explains that she was buried alive but was saved by Karen before she suffocated. Again, this is another case where perhaps if the show had a higher episode count, I would rather see this happen in real time instead of having the character explain it to the audience after the fact. Sadly, Micchan’s gun skills are short-lived as Reiko gives her the ax and scares the twins just long enough to accuse them of murder.
Reiko is an interesting villain in her own right, although I have mixed feelings about the “evil infertile woman” rearing her head. This is only alleviated by the existence of Yōko Sonoyama, Migi and Dali’s adoptive mother. She is the perfect loving parent, and her flaws only make her more lovable. However, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge that there is a fictional shortcut for infertile women in the media, and that the larger mystery of the story revolves around “who This woman cannot have children” is decreasing. It adds context to her interactions with Migi earlier in the series, but this could all be a ploy to protect her overbearing but picture-perfect family life. disappointed.
Sure, the movie would probably end with Eiji and Karen coming to Migi and Dali’s aid against Mommy Dearest to clear the boy of murder. What would surprise me the most is if their father was with her.
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Migi & Dali is now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more companies mentioned in this article are members of the Kadokawa Group.