Migi to Dali – 13 (END)

「ミギとダリ」 (Migi to Dali)
“Migi and Dali”

The final episode of Migi to Dali gives a final sendoff to the twins by giving them their own identities. While they spent so much time in each other’s shadows, the finale aims to use its leftover time to contemplate who Migi and Dali truly are after their revenge plot is said and done.

HEADS AND TAILS

I was wondering what the story had up its sleeve after the revenge plot was wrapped up, but what they cooked up was something special. Now that there is peace in Migi and Dali’s life, they’re having a hard time going back to the status quo, especially since Dali’s scar forces him to be Migi’s shadow if they want to maintain the Hitori illusion.

It was a mature move for the story to have the final conflict involve Migi and Dali learning to be their own people now that neither of the two brothers are happy with keeping up the illusion of Hitori, especially since it comes at the expense of Dali’s wellbeing.

Most of the preceding episodes had conflict centered around whether Migi could commit to Dali’s plans and whether Dali could keep up with Migi’s emotional state. As time went on, it became more apparent that they were two completely different people who were often at odds in spite of their synergy.

But while having different strengths and flaws that set them apart made it difficult to perform as Hitori, the final episode posits the question of whether they could live an entire life like this while stifling their own personal interests and pursuits. Can Migi keep pushing Dali to be civil, or can Dali keep pushing Migi to be methodical if neither of the two are comfy with these distinctions? Can Hitori survive as a person when he’s two different people fighting to prop him up?

Migi’s outgoing personality and empathy is what made him the perfect Hitori for making friends and bonding with his parents. It also made it difficult for him to be fully on-board with some of Dali’s plans and made him far touchier when it came to his emotional state. Migi absolutely wasn’t a good Hitori when it came to being a model student.

Dali was the better Hitori for keeping a poker face and blending in with the background. But with the revenge plot gone and his face scarred, he has to search for a sense of purpose is far more difficult especially since he’s less interested in making friends and needs to set goals to thrive. Without a revenge plot, all Dali can do is help Migi turn Hitori into an affable boy who is also a model student.

Dali needed Migi because he forces him to confront his emotional needs that he’d kept long suppressed, while Migi needed Dali to retain focus and take urgent matters seriously. In times of peace, however, the two brothers are tasked with finding out what they truly want as they grow older, and what life path will allow them to flourish as their own people.

TIS THE SEASON TO BE JOLLY

It makes sense for the finale to air on Christmas not only because of how the holiday plays a significant role in how Migi and Dali seek to have warmer family memories from the holidays, but also because it’s a very life-affirming episode. It’s hard not to be swept up in the merrier mood when it turns out that Migi and Dali don’t have to maintain the Hitori role any further, and can be lovingly embraced as themselves. Even though they could’ve said something sooner to help them integrate more easily since it was around the time Migi ran away, I’ll chalk it up to them not truly knowing until they had to plan for Christmas gifts.

I got choked up when Osamu and Youko encouraged Migi and Dali to come out of their room as themselves after letting it known that they are happy to find out about Hitori’s secret. With the two out of their room, showing themselves off in front of their foster parents for the first time, there’s a kind of joy you could only capture around the holiday season of seeing the brothers rediscover the warm, loving family they were adopted into.

The timeskip was also greatly appreciated as it gave us a little extra time with the characters now that they’ve all found a noble pursuit, and with Eiji’s return, have found a reassuring sense of closure from their problem. It’s amusing to see them prank Eiji with Sali’s reappearance, even though it might’ve awoken something within Akiyama.

It’s wonderful that the story ends with a timeskip as Migi’s expressive side was channeled into a future in art while Dali’s scientific pursuits encouraged him to pull the trigger and head off to college. On top of the gifts they received earlier foreshadowing their futures, it was also neat how their outfits also expressed this with Dali’s refined appearance and Migi’s adorable painter look.

It makes for a heartwarming yet bittersweet conclusion where their bond, while strong and unsevered, helps them understand that they should both seek to be their own people. Where their truest expression of brotherly love is to encourage each other to do what they do best.

Dali used to be tormented by the notion of feeling over reliant on his brother’s presence to become Hitori only to be the one to move away and distinguish himself as Dali the scientist. Meanwhile, Migi, who had felt stifled by his brother’s revenge plot, channeled his creativity into artwork. While they have an inseparable bond as brothers, they have a better understanding of each other enough now that Migi’s unorthodox art and Dali’s interest in science has helped emphasize the distinction between their personalities.

FINAL IMPRESSIONS

It’s been taking me some time to collect my thoughts about Migi to Dali because it’s one of the most fascinating shows I’ve seen this year. It comes off like a comedy that plays into the extravagant measure the two brothers have to take to blend in, and blossoms into this disturbing, haunting thriller where the brothers have to go through foreboding trials to avenge their mother.

I was surprised at how well the animation was because the studio and director aren’t well-known for being sakuga-heavy. But the way they adapted Nami Sato’s artstyle to the show brings out both the flamboyant elegance of her designs and the morose atmosphere of the town’s seedier side.

It makes for such a memorable experience to see these sleek characters bathed in murky shadows as they twist, turn, and contort through their surroundings to survive. It made it easy to play with the atmosphere and strike a balance between its light-hearted moments and its grizzly, uncomfortable scenes.

All of the characters also had this very human connection to them, making each interaction feel important, whether it is on good or bad terms. The brotherhood between Migi and Dali in particular has a lived-in experience as the two begin to learn about each other even when they’re at their most confident in their bond.

The friendships they make are also entertaining as it adds even wilder characters to the show. Akiyama is the MVP as the touchy-feely best friend whose love for all things avian compels him to don a bird costume and fly his bike off of cliffs. Even Maruta comes into his own as the vindictive, cunning jerk who becomes far more approachable once he discovers love.

But nothing compares to how enigmatic the Ichijou family is with Eiji and Reiko being the scariest opponents the twins must face. Eiji’s striking appearance gives him that unsettling Yoshikage Kira vibe as his efforts to preserve the illusion of a prim, proper, and stable family are put to the test. It makes it off-putting when his emotional state becomes more erratic and less stable after being constantly reminded of his traumatic past.

Reiko is such an amazing antagonist as her presence truly casts the bleakest shadow over everything and everyone in the anime. Her calm, tranquil judgment is what introduces us to the scarier elements of the town’s peace as her influence is strong enough to imprison and indoctrinate whoever she wishes.

Many of the seiyuu in the show did an outstanding job (kudos to the guttural sounds Horie Shun pulls out of nowhere as Migi), but Romi Park blew the lid off the roof with her role as Reiko. Through Romi’s voice, you see both the ironclad armor the Ichijou’s don as they create an image of unshakeable might and the cracking facade that is twisted, sociopathic, and delightfully relieved to stop pretending to be perfect.

What Nami Sato created with Migi to Dali is a story that was sentimental, scary, creepy, pervy, heartbreaking, and outright hilarious. Her passing earlier this year was a terrible tragedy as we lost a mangaka who told such heartfelt and hilarious stories. With this and Sakamoto-kun, she used her love for elegance and flamboyance, and created stories that had personality, flair, humor, and heart. I wish we could’ve had more time with her and seen what else was up her sleeve since I believe there’s a radiant light that she casted on those who read her works, and this radiance shines through at full capacity in the anime adaptation of Migi to Dali.