The thing about making a show like Migi to Dari is, you have to be fully committed to the concept. That’s the key to why this series is able to be completely bonkers yet still internally make sense. It never sells out too soon in the name of realism. It never self-indulgently winks at the audience, treating the absurdity like a big joke. There’s a satirical element here to be sure, but the characters all behave as if the stuff that’s happening is perfectly logical. They have to, or the whole thing would come tumbling down like a house of cards in a typhoon.
Migi and Dari breaking up is rather complicated, given their secret. Migi is indeed so furious over the Sali deception that he cuts Dari off altogether – but how does that work, exactly, when Hitori is supposed to be only one person? Migi, it seems, has gone off to hide out in Shunpei’s room, which I guess works as long as Shunpei has no idea Hitori is also at home. Dari is finding this rather uncomfortable, not just because his other half is missing but because he constantly bullied Migi into doing all the things he didn’t want to do. And that plays a big role in all this, believe me.
Migi is liking the idea of no longer following orders – embracing freedom even if not exactly in the way Shunpei thinks he is. Frankly, he should – this has not been by any means an equal partnership. I don’t know if we can take Migi at his word that he’s given up on revenge, but he does seem to have firmly rebelled against being led around by the nose. Dari, on the other hand, is determined to prove he doesn’t need Migi – either for the mundane things in life like neck massages and braiding pie crust, or for grand revenge schemes. The truth is, he’s wrong on both counts.
Things take a turn for the hard-core insane when Youko-san (I love the fact that she’s Sailor Moon) enters Hitori into the Halloween costume contest. Her idea? A “vampire mosquito“, and this monstrosity is yet another reminder to Dari that he really misses having his brother around to do the dirty jobs. But he soon gets the “inspiration” to turn this into part of his grand vengeance on Eiji. A vengeance which, in fact, consists of attempted murder, which does rather up the ante a bit. One wonders if Migi would have talked his brother out of that if Saligate had never happened, or would have gone along with it.
The whole Halloween party is a complete freakshow Origon-style.. Shunpei’s great costume idea (which includes Migi) is some sort of evolved dinosaur-bird thing, and Dari accentuates his mosquito act by squirting fake blood all over the audience (which prompts a “bad boy” from Mom). Finally it’s Eiji’s turn, but he’s mailing it in this year to say the least. This rather puts a crimp in Dari’s plan to have him sit on the winner’s throne and be killed by a pumpkin, so he convinces the voting audience that Eiji is some sort of vagrant troubadour or something. But when Eiji refuses to accept victory by acclamation, Migi Gilooly’s Shunpei and heads for the throne himself.
Is the jig up? I mean, Migi’s exposed his face in Shunpei’s costume, and vampire mosquito is right there in plain sight. At the very least Eiji seems to be in serious condition after that blow to the head (as well you would be). Migi putting himself in harm’s way throws suspicion off Hitori, but Reiko-san is no dummy and that pumpkin thing was obviously no accident. Then we have the question of why Eiji acted to save Migi. Maybe it was a simple impulse, or maybe there’s something more – like he believes he was acting to save his half-brother?
Nicc
November 22, 2023 at 9:33 amI agree that this series has been balancing itself well on a tightrope. Otherwise, it’ll just fall over. The break-up happens off-screen, but Migi and Dali have went their separate ways for now. Now, there exist two “Hitori’s”. Dali is still staying with the Sonomayas while Migi is rooming with birdman Shunpei. I’m not sure how the school thing works, but I assume that Dali is still attending as a solo act. After doing things together for so long, Dali is finding it difficult to act all by himself and he’s aware that he has pushed much of the unpleasant stuff to Migi to handle.
Much of this episode is from Dali’s point of view and we don’t get to see much of what Migi does with his new-found freedom. There’s that sequence where Dali is off his game as he’s so used to doubling-up with Migi, including meals. I saw that the Sonomayas were eating omurice, which is just about the only Japanese dish I’ve seen so far.
With Migi seemingly tapping out from the revenge plot, it’s up to Dali to carry on. He sees an opportunity when there’s going to be a Halloween costume contest. Mom’s choice of costume for him is a vampire mosquito… Okay, I’ll just tear up my bingo card now. He learns that Eiji is going to be there too and that he always wins and so he hatches up a plot.
Just from looking at the background characters, it’s quite the menagerie of different costumes. Shunpei and Migi join in with the crude-looking costumes. It’s right at home with all of the other crazy outfits. Then, it’s Dali’s turn as he does whatever a vampire mosquito can and throws in some ketchup blood for good measure. I would have given him extra points for that. Then, here comes the one who’s everybody is waiting for as Eiji steps in. His parents still put him up to this even if he’s clearly not in the mood. The mopey act isn’t cutting it, but Dali needs Eiji to win. That’s because he has set up a death-by-pumpkin trap. Oh right, I tore my bingo card already. Right, Dali manages to convince the crowd that he’s playing as some kind of homeless poet. He still doesn’t accept victory and so that goes to the runners up, which are the bird bros. However, Migi wants the glory all to himself (Shunpei has had it rough this episode. He gets slapped by Dali, and then Migi shoves him aside). It looks like Migi is about to trigger the trap as Dali rushes in, but it’s too late. However, it’s Eiji who took the hit. He survives, but seems to be in a comatose state.
I also have to believe that the two brothers have been seen now, though it’s possible that everybody was paying attention to Eiji instead and didn’t notice. At the very end, Reiko suddenly snaps to attention and it possible that she was recalling that. Indeed, why did Eiji step in and how is going to be like when he wakes up. Also, another episode with no sign of Micchan. It really does seem like the Ichijous did something to her.
Simone
November 26, 2023 at 1:42 am> some sort of evolved dinosaur-bird thing
I believe Shunpei is a vulture and Migi a shoebill stork, who surprisingly enough is a real bird (though indeed one that looks like it didn’t get the memo since the Cretaceous). Fun fact, that makes Migi only the second anime character this season to wear a shoebill stork mask – the protagonist of Shangri-la Frontier also wears one.