Welcome all, to another episode of Migi & Dali! This week the twins split, one becoming two, each walking their own path. How will they manage without each other? Can they figure out who they are independent of their twin? And what about the murder of their mother? There’s a lot to talk about this week, so lets dive in!
This episode is all about Migi splitting from Dali entirely, the opening scene ending with Migi literally and figuratively shoving him into the darkness, consumed by revenge, while he walks out towards his newfound freedom. As silly and weird as Migi & Dali can be, that doesn’t stop it from having some fantastic visual metaphors. The way Migi & Dali portrayed his desire for freedom, how he took control of his life riding off into the rain with Shunpei dressed as the birds he loves so much, was great. For the first time he doesn’t have to be “Hitori” around someone, he can simply be “Migi”. And he looks so happy doing it. The fact this ascension ends with Dali’s fall, with the two who are one becoming two once more, was icing on the cake.
Speaking Dali, while Migi is off living his best life Dali has to continue on being Hitori. He still has to live with the Sonoyama’s, has to maintain the illusion that is Hitori. But now he has to do it alone. Everything they did together in the first few episodes, massages, baking pies, even simply eating food now that the Sonoyama’s are still cooking his original portions? Now he has to do them alone, and he’s struggling. It’s a really nice way of showing us just how much Dali relied on Migi. For all that Migi was given the grunt work while Dali schemed or studied for school, now we’re seeing how valuable that was. I only wish Migi & Dali had shown us how Migi’s side of this split had gone as well, though the focus on Dali still worked out.
Instead Migi & Dali chooses to focus entirely on Dali’s half. On him doubling down on being self-sufficient, to the point where he tries to erase Migi from himself entirely. In way this is a form of self-actualization, of discovering his own identity separate from his brother just like Migi dead with Shunpei. Except with Dali it’s far more toxic and negative in nature. He’s not doing it out of a sense of freedom, but rather of proving to himself that he can make it on his own, that he doesn’t need Migi at all. And the way he plans to do this? By following through on their revenge alone. And his first target? Eiji of course.
Here is where things start to get a bit weird though. While the plan is… sound enough, in an anime sense, let Eiji win the costume contest and setup a trap on the throne, the costume contest itself is freaking weird. Maybe it’s just classic Migi & Dali presentation, but the costumes, the people, everyone’s reactions to the whole thing, it’s all really weird. And Eiji himself? The kid doesn’t even dress up. He’s so freaked out by the past few days, his experience with “ghosts” and people coming up to his window, that he can’t keep the act up anymore. Of course he still wins, Dali goes out of his way to ensure it by tricking the crowd into believing it’s a performance piece of a costume about being a beggar (which is hilarious). But even then he can’t accept the throne, showing just how messed up he is.
This of course leads to Migi winning the contest, triggering Dali’s trap and eventually forcing the brothers to interact once more. This could go a lot of ways. Migi could see it as his brother trying to get rid of him, though that seems melodramatic and even Migi should be able to recognize he’d never do that. Though after the whole thing with Sali who knows. Alternatively it could cause them to start talking, not as two sides of the same coin but as individuals with different wants and needs from the other. Personally this is the one I’m rooting for, even if the brothers team up again I don’t want them returning to being “One” person. I’d rather this be the first step towards them getting normal lives in the village. Whatever happens, it’s nice to see Migi & Dali not blueballing us on their relationship.
Finally we have the ending. Lots of little things here and there, Eiji saving Migi for reasons yet undisclosed, Reiko preparing to go on a war path. Migi & Dali continues to ask new questions every week, yet enough always happens that it never feels like it’s stringing us along. In this case, one such question on my mind is: When will Shunpei find out about the twins? He almost did this week, it feels pretty obvious that’s what Migi & Dali is setting him up for. He’s going to be the first to figure it out and, inevitably, accept them because of his friendship with Migi and his own experience being ostracized. It’s not a matter of “If” but “when”. I’m hoping sometimes soon, because I’d love for him to join in on their plotting.
So yeah, all in all this was a solid week for Migi & Dali. I got the breakup I’ve been wanting, the weirdness is still there, and Migi is finally free to be himself and truly enjoy the regular life he’s always wanted. Of course the revenge plot is still there, but it seems like it’s swiftly about to come to them rather than the other around. That Reiko is going to start proactively hunting our leads, rather than them hunting her. That would be pretty cool, set them on the back foot for the first time in a while. But honestly, who knows with a show like this. Migi & Dali could go to the moon next week and it wouldn’t be the weirdest thing it’s done. I’ll just have to wait and see how it all pans out.
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