That was spectacularly, gloriously batshit nuts. Migi to Dari is a damn good series – one of many being criminally ignored this season. But that episode took things to another level (which is saying a lot). To have something that absurd and scattershot hold together is some damn fine writing, which just makes the loss of mangaka Sano Nami that much more heartbreaking. In all the chaos, there is order. The plot makes sense, the characters – as loopy as they are – behave in a way that’s true to themselves. All these fascinating and weird elements have been laid out for six episodes, but this is where they really started to come together.
The driver for this newest batch of insanity is Dari’s decision to go undercover as Sali again, this time to spy on Eiji. Dari is a master of hypnosis apparently (naturally), and plans to get close to Eiji and use it on him. There’s also some blackmail involved, after Sali catches Eiji having a barf-laden panic attack in the boys room after some lunchroom comments about blondes hit too close to the mark. There’s risk in taking Sali out of storage of course, given her past with Migi. But Dali is nothing if not overconfident.
Dari’s manipulation of Eiji does seemingly go quite well – “she” manages to wrap him around her little finger quickly enough. But he starts to do a little digging around, and realizes there’s no one matching her description at the school. Meanwhile Migi has found Sali’s half of the dolphin pendant (Dari’s right, that was a whopper of a mistake) and put up some hilariously bad wanted posters of Sali. Shunpei has apparently become Hitori’s stalker/dogsbody, and he refines Migi’s outrageously childish doodles into a perfect mug shot of the girl of Migi’s dreams.
All this builds towards a confrontation when Migi finally spots the pair of them, putting Dari in one hell of a tough spot. He sticks with the plan, telling his brother he’s dating Eiji. Mama-san decides that the right sort of parenting with a distraught and lovestruck 12 year-old is to get everyone drunk on red wine, and Dari gets himself invited to the Ichijou mansion for a study session. The master plan is to get Eiji hypnotized, but that means getting him onto the bed first and that proves to be a real challenge. Eiji is a real freak too, for what it’s worth.
It just keeps building and building. Eiji’s reaction to Sali trying to seduce him is so preposterous you can’t help but laugh. And that bit where he put all the Origon dolls in bed with her, I just about lost it. And then that “buss”, thing – I thought maybe that was a day when I was sleeping in Japanese pop culture 101 but no, Dari had no idea either. Turns out he meant “kiss” – but how in his freakish mind did that become “buss”? Anything for the cause, and Dari doesn’t bail – but when Migi shows up at the (second-floor) window, that’s when all hell really breaks loose (how did Migi walk away from that fall?).
Via this development, it seems we have virtual confirmation of what happened to the boys’ mother. She tried to come through Eiji’s window on Christmas Eve, he panicked and pushed her (apparently to her death). The big question here is, why was she doing this? Did she think she was entering Akira’s (presumably her lover) room – or (my preferred theory) is she in fact Eiji’s mother too, and she wanted to bond with him on Christmas Eve? I think it’s pretty obvious Reiko knew what was going on between her husband and the maid, but in a place like Origon Village appearance is everything.
Utterly ridiculous, completely logical, and fabulously entertaining – a remarkable trifecta for Migi and Dali. What happens next is a big question mark, now that Migi (with a strategic bite) has learned the truth about Sali. That’s a lot to forgive, and to me Migi never seemed as committed to the revenge obsession as Dari. Could this be the start of the major fissure between the brothers that I’ve speculated on? We’ll see, but if we get more episodes as delightfully unhinged as this one I’m just going to enjoy the ride.
Laura
November 15, 2023 at 3:11 amThe manga translation I read had “baiser” there instead of “buss”, but both work pretty well! Loving the adaption of this every week; its so delightfully all-in weird.
Simone
November 16, 2023 at 12:10 amI think the translation change might have been appropriate for any French viewers. While it sounded like they were indeed saying “baiser” in Japanese (probably a unusually sophisticated loan word), in French while baiser means literally “to kiss” it also can mean “to have sex” more colloquially so that would have only added to the confusion of the scene.
Antony Shepherd
November 15, 2023 at 6:17 amSuspect Eiji might have been reading Shakespeare as back in his day ‘buss’ was a word for ‘kiss’. That’s the only way I see that making sense!
Guardian Enzo
November 15, 2023 at 7:51 amI did not know that!
L0ken
November 15, 2023 at 9:07 amNot the first time this season we see translation using “bussing” as “kissing” in this season, in episode 4 of 100 girlfriends it also used in that context.
Guardian Enzo
November 15, 2023 at 10:22 amWas not aware of that either.
Simone
November 16, 2023 at 12:15 amYeah, I have to love how this show is both utterly ridiculous and entirely *committed* to that ridiculousness being the cornerstone of the plot. Dari posing as Sali and honey potting his own brother isn’t some one-off gag but a concept that actually bears consequences. Peak surrealist writing.
Nicc
November 16, 2023 at 6:53 amIt does start with a little blackmailing and Migi picks up good bits of info from those photos, which include the ones from Christmas (The upcoming Blu-Ray sets confirm it as getting 13 episodes, which means barring a delay, the finale will be on Christmas Day. Perfectly timed) he’s the most interested in. It doesn’t take Eiji long to show interest in Sali and he’s trying to find out who she is. Migi then finds the half of the pendant that Dali dropped while Eiji was pursuing “Sali”, and now thinks that she’s back. And, yes, it seems that birdman Shunpei has somehow become “Hitori’s” flunky. Dali isn’t too worried at first as nobody’s going to recognize any human from the sketches that Migi has posted all over the school grounds. However, birdman Shunpei was somehow able to interpret Migi’s drawings and sketch a dead ringer for Sali. If the whole being-a-bird thing doesn’t work out, he should try being a forensic artist.
It’s the same girl that Eiji is also looking for and Migi manages to track down the both of them. Let’s see, a love triangle between might-be brothers. Okay, time to get a bigger bingo card. “Sali” has no choice but to break Migi’s heart and tell him that she’s dating Eiji. Sali gets an invite to the Ichijou household while Migi… drowns his sorrows with his folks? Wait, they really didn’t give alcohol to a minor, right?
Then, it gets even more strange. Sali has Eiji right where he wants him and to use hypnosis. However, Eiji has to be lying in bed. The first two attempts don’t work out (And, one of them involves some creepy dolls). Then, there’s a bra stolen from mom that’s involved and then the “buss” thing. I thought it was a translation error, but it seems that it was “kiss” after all. I gotta give Sali credit for fully committing like that. With Eiji now under hypnosis, that night is re-played. Migi finds his way to the Ichijou household (Hopefully not because of the liquid courage from his parents) and he can’t let go of Sali.
Eiji, still under hypnosis, walks over to the window and pushes Migi down. Yep, I have no idea how Migi walked away from that fall unscatched. “Sali” did get a hand on him, but it shouldn’t have made a difference. Now, we get a picture of what happened; A ragged-looking Metry climbed up to the window to Eiji’s room, where he pushed her to hear death. Merty tears off that button as she falls. We already saw earlier that any evidence of the death was cleaned up very quickly. Now, the concept of repressed memories is controversial both in the field of medicine and law and there’s certainly more reveals to come. Dali runs back home with that big discovery to share with Migi, but Migi learn that he has been played. You did mention about a rift between the brothers in an earlier episode review and there is indeed going to be a lot to forgive. While all this going on, it seems that Micchan is still a no-show and nobody seems to be asking why yet.
Guardian Enzo
November 16, 2023 at 7:50 amI saw three full glasses.
Simone
November 17, 2023 at 3:58 amAlcohol to a minor is usually seen as sacrilegious in anime (a later chapter of 100 Girlfriends openly mocks this too for example), but honestly it’s not the same everywhere in the world. When I was a kid Migi’s age my parents wouldn’t have had me drink buckets with them of course, but if I had asked to try a bit of beer or wine I’m sure they would have been fine with it.