Migi To Dali

Initially I was sceptical and didn’t want to watch Migi To Dali. Oh you know, when the promotional poster puts up a pair of beautiful but seemingly creepy looking pair of twins, my first thoughts were this was got to be some sort of horror show. Yeah. Got to stay clear of it. Even more so the synopsis describing how the twins are acting to be a single person in their adopted household, that fuelled and ensured my beliefs that this is indeed going to be horror. Yeah, going to be a jump scare somewhere! Count me out! That would have been the end of that but somehow my curiosity or my accidental stumbling of many comments praising this show to be suspenseful and interesting, that made me rethink that I could be wrong after all. With further ‘probing’ and nothing to further suggest there were any horror elements, thus the only thing left to satisfy that curiosity was to have a look at it. Yeah, sometimes in life you need to do a double take. Sorry, not a good twin related pun.

Episode 1
An elderly couple, Osamu and Youko Sonoyama come to the orphanage looking to adopt a child. Can’t take them all. There can only be one! As they leave and decide to come back tomorrow, they spot a very beautiful child, Hitori. Attracted by his looks, they note they can’t choose one based on that. But then it suddenly rains and they see kind Hitori leaving his umbrella for a poor stray dog. That is the clincher. And so Hitori is welcomed to their home. As they help unpack his boxes, they note a huge one and don’t remember it was there before. Hitori will do the unpacking himself. When he is alone, we see the real truth that they are identical twins, Migi and Dali. They are so in sync in working together and hiding in the shadows that the couple never suspect anything. Especially at the dinner table. Man, see how they do this complicated acrobatic switch in a blink of an eye just to fool them that they are the same person! Even when giving dad a back massage, damn he feels so good at their kneading and pummelling, he doesn’t even realize 4 hands are massaging at the same time! Back in their room, the twins seem to have a nefarious plot as the plot out the layout of the house. Then they eavesdrop on the couple’s wishes on what they want to do with their child. Like mom wants to bake cherry pie and so Hitori helps her. Since she has trouble braiding it, the twins masterfully do so when she is away. What a wonderful pie. Since dad wants his child to ride on his shoulder, Hitori pretends of wanting to put this birdhouse on the tree. You bet dad wants to give him a lift. Well, now his back hurts! However the twins note he must carry them or else the plan fails. So the next time when dad tries again, he is made to close his eyes. Because as one rides on his shoulder, the other ties a rope as a counterweight to lift his twin up. Since dad’s eyes are closed, obviously he felt his son is as light as a feather! Back in their room, we see the twins pleased with their plan going as planned. Flashback shows when the twins heard a couple from Origon Village wanted to adopt a child, quickly they put their plan in motion to attract their attention. Hence it was them who created the ‘rain’ (shower from the hose) to let them see the other being kind to the stray dog (which is just a doll). I guess they have bad eyesight.

Episode 2
The twins are in the bath plotting their next move. But one of them has to hide seeing mom is coming in. She wonders why there are 2 sets of clothes but didn’t think much of it. Almost got busted there. Mom later combs his hair as Hitori laments people used to make fun of how funny it looks. Mom doesn’t care because everyone is unique. If that’s the case, hers must be the funniest! When the couple goes out, the twins suspect something amiss like as though they are hiding something. They go to investigate the rooms. Nothing in particular. But a photo hidden behind another photo. Ah, a picture of dad when he was young with a smoking hot woman. Can’t be mom. As they continue to search, pet dog Sardine seems to attack them but it is to warn them the parents have come home. They realize doggie wants to be their ally. The twins see the couple hide something in the shed and talking about some welcoming party. It is then they will give this to him. The twins take a peek at it and believes they want to scalp their hair! They’re not going to let that happen. At the party, Hitori meets the various guests like the Ichijou household, the Tsutsumi family as well as a bird lover, Shunpei Akiyama. As one of them is hiding up in the chandelier, the plan is set in motion by dripping hot sauce into mom’s drink. Then the other helps cool her down with water which is actually clear liquor. Then dad is supposed to stand near the window at a certain angle so when the sun shines, it will turn them into spontaneous combustion. The moment arrives as Hitori is blindfolded for the ‘scalping’ ceremony. However, noting something has gone awry, the other notes the plan is cancelled. But it is then Youko tells Hitori to take off his blindfold. They surprise him with a bicycle! This is their gift for him becoming their child. Hitori stood there in shock that he got burnt by the sunlight! Yeah, he jumping about, they think he is so happy! In the aftermath, the twins never really thought this was actually a real welcoming party and that woman in that picture was indeed mom! How funny a human’s body can change! And yes, that is a wig Youko is now wearing! But soon they cycle out to see their real mom. At a tombstone over the hill, they let us know they with their mom once lived in Origon. However she was murdered. Hence the reason they came back here is to find that killer and take revenge.

Episode 3
In order to find the person who killed mom, they need to make friends. This means getting invited to their house and check their room. Because the room they once lived with mom has this strange water flea design wallpaper and they have doodled on it. They join the scouts as they watched how Akiyama is also ostracized. Some teasing him as the birdman. When Hitori wants to be friends, those jerks will allow it on condition that he cross the tightrope with no hands. Hitori does so and obviously falls off. However the other twin soon takes over and restarts. And falls. This process repeats itself that everyone is stumped. They wonder when he will give up but Akiyama remembers his own trauma (this guy trying to be Icarus?!) and tells Hitori not to give up. Because of that, he manages to make it to the other end. So can we be friends now? Apparently those jerks claim he used his hands so no go. However Akiyama is willing to be his. So as Hitori visits his house, one of them accompanies him as the other sneaks around the various rooms. However the sneaker enters Akiyama’s sister’s room. Although it has that wallpaper, the doodle is not there so this is not the house. The accompanying twin tries to buy time even if it means listening to Akiyama’s tragic birdman stories. So much so he has to watch Akiyama wear a f*cking strange bird flying contraption! Well, he did say he won’t laugh! I think this is cringe! Since he accepts his loneliness, Akiyama hugs him. The other twin is in a predicament because the sleeping sister hugs him as her bolster! OMG. 2 different worlds! The next friend’s house they visit is Maruta Tsutsumi. As Dali sneaks around the house while Migi accompanies Maruta. However this selfish chubby beaver as we can see starts abusing Migi as part of this friendship thingy. Dali realizes this is not the home they are looking for when he sees Migi being submissive to Maruta. Then the switch and in the next game when Maruta surprisingly loses, Dali now turns the tables and whacks his head repetitively! However Migi then protects Maruta, a reminder to his twin that they agreed not to lose their composure. But we can be assured that Maruta now fears him and won’t think twice of bullying Hitori. When Hitori returns, he sees his parents talking to a woman. She is Mitsuyama AKA Micchan the maid.

Episode 4
Because Micchan has been to everyone’s house in Origon, Hitori is interested to know more. However she can’t be telling secrets of other households so that’s that. So in order to get her to spill the details, one day as mom and Micchan are hanging the laundry outside, one of them signals to mom for help. Then the other slips in to disguise as mom and as they talk about certain wallpaper patterns, Micchan remembers a house with such: Ichijou. Now Hitori enrols in high school that Eiji Ichijou studies at. Hitori is in the same class with Akiyama. But looks like Eiji is in the elite class since he is gifted. The problem now is how to be friends with him in different class. But there’s a bigger problem. Because in the toilet when Hitori tries to talk to Eiji, especially at the welcoming party and the scouts, Eiji brushes him off and doesn’t know him. In short, Eiji doesn’t mix with stupid people! Hence the only way is to brush up their score and move to this elite class. While Dali has no problems studying, Migi is bad in it. Worse, it seems Migi has fallen in love with a beautiful transfer student known as Sali! Actually this is Dali in disguise!!! This is to motivate Migi to study. Because when Dali told him to get to know her (and he did!), Sali told him she would consider his feelings if he does well in his exams. So you bet Migi burns the midnight oil to become a smart boy! All for love! I can’t believe he can’t even sense this is his twin! The ultimate clincher is that Sali will return his love if he scores 100 in certain subjects. And boy, Migi actually does it!!! So Sali agrees to go out on a date. But on that date, Sali tells him she will be transferring far away (obviously Dali realizes it is not right to continue fooling him as Sali). Migi is sad and accepts. So back home, Dali hugs his heart broken twin. Yeah, he worked so hard. Our hearts will always be together no matter how far! Thanks to that, their scores push them up to the top of their grade! One day as Eiji inspects the bags of his fellow students, he finds a strange button in Hitori’s bag.

Episode 5
The Sonoyama are invited to have dinner with Ichijou. Such a smart child they have. As usual during the dinner, Dali sneaks around but cannot find that room. And then mother Reiko suddenly accuses Hitori of misconduct and has Eiji conduct his investigation. He shows Hitori his shirt containing this button. Migi gets defensive and this makes Eiji suspicious. Luckily Dali manages to slip in and cut off the button that Migi is wearing as a necklace. So when Eiji strips him to his undies, he finds nothing. But it’s not over as Eiji has his dobermann dog sniff the button and find it! At this rate they’ll find Dali under the table! That is when Migi improvises and admits he stole the button. His parents are in shock and pleads forgiveness. Reiko suggests for Hitori to return to the right path, he will stay here for them to take care! And now we see Hitori being chained in a room and interrogated by Eiji. He wants to know how he got this button. He lost it years ago and searched high and low, every inch of the house for it. Obviously Hitori won’t play along and keeps mum. Dali tries to rescue his twin but the dog gets in the way. It is well trained and he is trying to force his way through?! Thank goodness the dog wants to be friends with him! Dali finds Migi locked in the room. The latter suggests not to be rescued because it will be better to have everyone think there is only 1 of them (he can’t let Dali see him in this embarrassing baby outfit!). Then as they talk about that wallpaper and remember a piano playing in the background, Dali realizes a hidden room. Is that the room Migi is in now? He checks the wallpaper. And there are those doodles! Migi cannot stop crying like a baby. Dali hides as Reiko returns to feed her ‘baby’. So as Dali ponders if Eiji is the killer and if mom left a dying message, he is surprised Micchan is here. Well, she cleans this household every Wednesday. Because Hitori is looking for Ichijou’s secrets, Micchan agrees to be his accomplice to help him. Yeah, who wouldn’t want to know what this family is hiding! Going through a family photo, OMFG, Migi spots a woman like his mom in the reflection of a glass!!! HOW?! They enter a forbidden room that Micchan is not supposed to clean. Ah, a secret lever that leads them to a secret room. To their shock, a diorama of Origon! And in each house has dolls of the inhabitants! There is even a sheet of data of every citizen! Is this family keeping watch over Origon?! Hearing someone coming, Micchan hides Dali in a box. Don’t worry, she knows how to clean up this mess. Later when Dali leaves, he sees Micchan’s doll decapitated!

Episode 6
The twins talk and it seems Migi has a sure way of letting the family open up to him. And that part is to really act like a baby! Of course he cannot be acting too suspicious as Reiko still has her guard up. Reiko continues to nurse her ‘baby’ until Hitori is good enough to sit at the dinner table and eat with the rest of the family. This is Hitori’s chance to ask ‘intelligent’ questions like if Eiji wets his bed and why he is not named #1 despite being the eldest child! Yeah, they sure do have strange answers. But Hitori can’t go too far or they’ll suspect he isn’t a 5 year old he is supposed to be! Reiko then tells Hitori the good news that since the conditioning is over, he will return to his family tomorrow. So the twins gather what they know like their mom was working as a housemaid here. Hence one of the Ichijou must be the killer. To put it to the test, one dresses as mom and goes to appear as a ghost before the father, Akira. Shocked at first, he is glad Metry is still alive and tries to hug her but the twins escape. Because of this reaction, he cannot be the killer as the killer would not be expecting her to be still alive. Hence the only logical deduction is Reiko as the killer. Once again putting up this same act, Reiko screams and fears Metry is trying to take back something. She runs off but returns with a pair of scissors. Uhm, you kill ghosts with scissors? Because if that’s the case, this clearly means Reiko isn’t the killer because she is definitely looking for a human as she stabs the scissors through all possible hiding places! Thanks to Akira trying to calm her down, the twins manage to escape by the skin of their teeth. But as they make their way back, they stumble into Eiji. Guess what? He gets scared, wet his pants and runs away thinking he saw a ghost! OMG. Eiji is the killer?! Because now he is cowering in his room! Next day, the Sonoyama and Akiyama gladly welcome Hitori back. The ordeal is over. But it’s just the beginning for Eiji…

Episode 7
The twins believe Eiji is the killer. How or why, they have to interrogate further. But Dali wants to leave the interrogation to him while Migi will continue to attend classes like normal. How is Dali going to do it? Why, the return of Sali! Eiji might look perfect in school but he throws up whenever he gets a chance to go to the toilet. Sali sees this and although Eiji warns her about exposing this, Sali dares him. Thinking she wants hush money, it seems Sali wants to see his embarrassing side if he wants her mouth shut. This means he brings photos of his childhood for Sali to go through. Of course there is one on Christmas Eve night in which that button was missing on his pyjamas. Eiji tries to look for Sali but students don’t remember seeing her around. Dali’s mistake has him drop a memento Migi bought Sali on their final date. He is happy she is back. He is not convinced when Dali tells him Sali is far away. Hence Migi puts up ‘wanted’ posters of Sali! OMFG! Who could tell who in this freaking horrible doodle?! But wait! Akiyama has analysed all of Migi’s doodles. Because of his hobby in sketching parts of birds, he can make out the lines of his doodles. And soon he draws a surreal sketch of Sali! OMFG!!! Eiji goes to meet Sali as she is about to get him to reveal about Christmas Eve night. But Hitori is here to take Sali back! OMFG! Is this guys fighting over a, uhm, guy?! However Sali tells Hitori she is dating Eiji. Heartbreak. Poor Hitori goes home crying while his parents try to console him. Uhm, they’re drinking to that?! Dad says mom often rejected him but he never gave up. Look where they are now.

Meanwhile Sali visits Eiji’s place on pretence to study. Then she wants to rest. She is trying to convince him to sleep with him. The resistance is strong even if Sali is being flirtatious. But he is willing to sleep with her if they buss first. Okay. Whatever that is. Oh, that’s his term for kissing?! Can Sali do it?! But thinking of heartbroken Migi, Sali bravely does so. With that, Sali manages to somehow hypnotize Eiji and get him to tell all about that night. But soon, Migi comes knocking on their window, trying to plead Sali for another chance. But what’s this? Eiji pushes him off?! Sali grabs him and it seems the cat is almost out of the bag as Migi recognizes that voice. Migi bites Sali’s hand before escaping. Meanwhile Eiji is starting to be traumatized. He felt he was a fool to believe it. You see on that night when Eiji went to bed, someone knocked on his window. When he opened, it was Metry trying to play Santa. But as she is about to touch him, he got scared and pushed her off. During that, she ripped off that button. Metry fell to her death as Eiji called mom about this. By the time they return, the body is gone (the twins dragged her away). That was when Reiko told him there were no blonde women in Origon. Hence what he saw was a ghost! Dali rushes back as he has figured out how the whole thing happened. Now their revenge can happen. However Migi is not happy. He is angry. He will never forgive him. That bite mark on his hand…

Episode 8
Oh wow. Migi is now living at Akiyama’s house for 3 days. Eating like a dog too?! Akiyama doesn’t understand what happened but believes the strict life in Origon has got to him. Since he saved him, it is now his turn to do the same. When his sister claims a friend is here to see him, but wait, Hitori at the doorstep? But how? Confused, he brings him in again but as Hitori tells him to get water, Dali talks to Migi who has sealed himself in the closet. However Migi is not interested. With Akiyama back, Dali tries to use this talk with Akiyama to change Migi’s mind. Something about doing this for revenge (Akiyama thinks his mom abused him to study). Akiyama then tells him to be free. With that, the twins switch places and it seems Migi does not care about the revenge anymore. He goes off with Akiyama as birdman! Freedom! Dali now finds it hard to do this act by himself. How can he do the revenge himself? Until dad playfully squirts the rubber ducky at him. How closing one hole makes the spray stronger than 2 holes. This gives Dali the much needed confidence and idea to pull off this revenge thingy on his own. When Origon has this annual Halloween costume contest, Hitori goes up as a mosquito and squirts blood (tomato) on everyone! Last year’s champion, Eiji goes last. He is expected to win but what’s this? He is dressed normally and half dead?! Everyone is worried. At this rate he won’t win and thus he won’t sit on the throne where Dali has set a trap for a pumpkin to drop and smash on his head! Dali then whispers to everyone. And soon everyone gets emotional throwing him money! They think he is a beggar-cum-troubadour! Eiji wins it but he declines to sit on the chair. In fact, he refuses to accept his victory. Wow, everyone thinks he is really into his character! Because of that, the next winner is Akiyama-Migi combo! But it seems Migi heads for the throne himself. Dali panics and rushes to prevent that. Too late. Because Eiji protected him from that tragedy. The crowd horrified. Yeah, must be some real heavy pumpkin as Eiji is now hospitalized.

Episode 9
Eiji has been discharged and resting back home. However Dali is now depressed and sick in his room. Hence now it is Migi’s turn to become Sali and pay Eiji a visit. Asking why he saved Hitori, Eiji claims it is to atone his sins. He then shows Sali the diorama. It was made by mom so as to keep his secret safe. Also something about a dollhouse in his sister, Karen’s room that contains all the people who used to live in Origon. That’s where he found Metry and so he thought she was hiding somewhere in Origon and waiting a chance to get revenge on him. All suspicions now fall on the Sonoyama household. Eiji tells Dali that Hitori is in danger and to warn him. Why is he doing this? Eiji believes Sali loves Hitori. Too bad Reiko has returned and sees this. Now everyone who knows this secret must die! OMFG, she’s gonna kill with a sourdough bread?! Eiji stops Reiko as Sali runs. However Reiko manages to grab off Sali’s wig. Migi then hides in Karen’s room. Mom tries to force her way in but Karen opens the door to tell her not to interrupt her playtime. Reiko leaves. Because she rushes to the Sonoyama and has tea with them. But then it is drugged and they are put to sleep. Migi wonders why Karen is helping him as she reveals Reiko is not their real mom. Everybody is just pretending to be a happy family. She claims her real family is in this dollhouse. She tells him to get out of Origon if he wants to live.

But Migi knows Dali is in danger and rushes back. Feeling something off, he finds Dali tied up in his room. But it is a trap as Reiko captures him and now the truth is out of the bag. She commends them fooling everyone as one and although Dali dares her to kill them since she will somehow leave traces, she has a better suggestion: Kill one of them. Dali then starts saying all of Migi’s weaknesses. That is why Dali offers to be killed. As Reiko strangles him, dusts start to suffocate her. Micchan returns! Reiko is shocked! Is she a ghost?! I mean, she was killed in the attic! Well, actually she was buried alive but Karen dug her out. Micchan then went to investigate by visiting Karen’s real biological mother and discovered Reiko cannot bear children. The ladies fight but thanks to Sardine keeping Reiko at bay, Micchan frees the twins and tells them to get out of Origon and call the cops. Before she could reveal about Eiji, Reiko stabs her! The twins flee on their bicycle and take refuge at a shrine. They ponder about revenge and going back there but both have disparaging desires. Dali doesn’t want to go back there or they will be killed. But Migi still wants to taste mom’s cherry pie. Both start to fight and trade punches after Dali tries to rid of their bicycle. So living the nice life is more important than revenge for mom? Dali comes to accept this as the twins make peace and ride back. However the Sonoyama are sad. They are being talked by the police and it is believed that Hitori has killed Micchan. Bloodied knife as proof… Don’t they dust for fingerprints?

Episode 10
While the parents remain adamant Hitori did not kill Micchan, the police is sceptical since the knife is found in his room. Obviously the twins know Reiko has set them up and the only way is to expose the Ichijou family to reclaim their innocence. But first, they go to seek help from Akiyama. He believes Hitori’s story and also wants to take down Ichijou. However he notes they need another comrade and guess who he brings? Maruta! Yeah, this snobbish kid has some technology that they will need if they are to further their plans. Yeah, and so this team is called Beavers! You got to be kidding me! As the plan is to get Karen on their side, the problem is getting the message to her. The police is patrolling all over the house’s perimeter. But here is where Maruta’s technology comes in. He uses a drone to send her a letter and then use his ingenuity of his hat and the outside lamp to communicate with her via Morse code! The message replied is that she is locked in. As the guys return to draw up another plan, this is when the twins reveal themselves since extra manpower is needed. Yeah, you guys are not seeing double! Shocked at first with the deception, they accept the twins and now they are called Be Birds?! I think Beaver still sounds better… Maybe…

The plan begins with Akiyama donning his strange birdman as decoy to lure the police to chase him. Then the rest throw a rope from the tree into Karen’s room to crawl in. Maruta freezes up when all see barb wires on the entire lawn! Hurry up because the tree branch is breaking! Dali thought he had fallen to his death but Migi uses himself as a counterweight on the other rope. As they climb back up, OMFG, Karen and Maruta in love?! WTF???!!! Back to business, it is suggested Karen act as a hostage so that Reiko will confess her crimes. Karen further adds Reiko is a perfectionist and every damn thing must be perfect. She is tired of it and wants their help to bring down the Ichijou. Maruta my dear love will do it for her, right?! As Karen fakes some pain to get Akira’s attention, the rest sneak out. Being told Eiji is undergoing ‘re-education’, they find him in that room. He is acting like a real baby! The twins plan to bring Eiji upstairs to have the higher ground advantage. Hence when Reiko is downstairs, they will threaten to kill Eiji so as for her to spill the beans. Maruta will stay hidden to record the confession. Plan goes awry when the dog sneaks up on Maruta and he freezes! The sound has Reiko out of her room to check on Eiji. She panics upon realizing he is gone. The twins thought Maruta has betrayed them when he rushes upstairs but it is to distract Reiko with a recording of Eiji’s baby cries. Now that they have everything where they want, the twins Eiji at knifepoint. Confess or your baby dies. Reiko agrees to tell everything about that devil.

Episode 11
Once upon a time, Reiko lived the perfect and happy life with Akira. Until Metry came along. She was a clumsy housemaid. But seeing she admired Reiko and wanted to be perfect like her, Reiko didn’t mind teaching her a lot of stuffs. But soon Reiko heard the bad news from the doctor that she cannot conceive naturally. This hit her hard. In order not for her to give up her ideal family, she wanted Metry to sleep with Akira. Don’t worry, he won’t know. And so Reiko watch them from the shadows as they conceive. However as Metry suffers from her pregnancy syndromes, Akira approached her and knew he was making out with her. You see, he wanted Metry and not his perfect wife. It was then Reiko realized things only went wrong because Metry came into her life. But after Metry bore the twins and got locked up, Reiko became pregnant and life resumed to be normal. Metry then escaped from the room and Reiko thought she was free from her curse. Now Reiko OMFG is like a monster as she climbs up the wall and even grabs the knife with her bare hands! As she wants to take back Eiji, this scene reminds him of that of Metry’s. Eiji pushes her down! OMG. This is the THIRD time he pushed a woman off!!! He remembers Metry’s words then when she came through his window was to return to his brothers!

Plot twist: Migi, Dali and Eiji are triplets???!!! It is hinted Reiko faked her pregnancy and she took a liking for Eiji because he was not blonde. After that she locked Metry and the twins in the room for a long time. Until the twins were big enough to pick on the lock in which Metry took them to run. Then on Christmas Eve she wanted to get Eiji to join his brothers but we all know what happened. Dali refuses to accept this fact and that Metry was killed by him, a stranger. He should be more concerned with his mother. Eiji obediently picks up Reiko and wants to start over. At this point, Karen has run out of ideas on how to stall dad. Akira comes out to see the twins. He isn’t surprised? Oh yeah, lover boy Maruta takes this chance to introduce himself as Karen’s official boyfriend! But soon Reiko’s scream is heard. They check it out and she has been stabbed. Blood all over her guts. However Karen senses something amiss. As she is about to poke her eyes, Reiko gets up and sprints out! But she locks them all in! She claims she and Eiji will start a new life somewhere where nobody knows them. She comments about Akira being the ideal husband but not so ideal after all, Karen didn’t end up looking like either one of them, the twins she is sure their parents have started to look to adopt a new kid, and Maruta… No comment. Bye! Reiko and Eiji dress up as they prepare to leave the house. However Eiji really stabs he this time and claims he will soon follow her. Then he sets the Ichijou dollhouse ablaze and soon the fire engulfs the place.

Episode 12
Oh man, Maruta using his beaver teeth to chip away the door?! Better than nothing! Akira laments all this because their family had no problems. This is when Karen tells him about the baby thingy and Akira himself isn’t aware of such! She notes this is why mom became who she is. It is hinted she is his patient?! His lax ways enabled her to shape this house and then extend her influence over the town. With smoke being smelled, panic starts to set in. Gonna be burnt alive! Oh Migi, using your head to break open the door?! Maruta’s style doesn’t look so bad now, huh? Okay, maybe it is equally bad. But who shall save them? The birdman returns! He saw smoke and came back. Since the entrance is blocked, they have to jump out the window. Be careful, barb wires. The twins could easily jump across. Karen too. Don’t end like up Akira. Stuck in the barb wires! Ouch. Looks painful. Maruta scared and not even his love for Karen could make him jump? Oh well, she hints she’ll do something for him! Fat kid jumps! Finally, Akiyama turned into a phoenix to fly out?! Nah, just birdman riding on the dog! Remember dobbie boy?! Although all safe, Akiyama notes Eiji is still inside. He saw him hugging mom and called out to him but he did not response. Like as though he wants to die. Dali dashes back in followed by Migi. As Eiji lies next to mom’s corpse on the bed, he remembers all the things they did together. No matter what others say, she will always be his perfect mom. That is why he wants to be perfect like her to make her proud. Also, he wanted to be a doctor like dad to bring peace to her but looks like this is his only way. Dali enters as Eiji agrees to his revenge. Kill him and get it over with. However he won’t because his revenge is for him to live in disgrace. As he brings him out, the fire has caused damage to the surroundings as the triplets struggle. But what’s this? The spirit of Micchan cleaning up the debris and guiding the twins to Eiji stuck under the chandelier! Both cooperate to lift him out because they are looking forward to fighting over cherry pie?! Although they got out safe, Eiji hints he isn’t going back with the twins. Because he gives himself up to the cops and admits he was the one who killed Reiko and Micchan as well as starting this house’s fire.

Episode 13
Eiji tells the police and doesn’t involve anyone else. Of course the police doesn’t believe him 100%. Thankfully, Maruta’s video recorder despite destroyed in the fire, the tape was miraculously in good shape. Thanks to this evidence and Akira’s hard defence, Eiji received a lighter sentence at a juvenile detention centre. Maruta and Karen have a long distance relationship while the twins continue to play Hitori. However it is Migi who has been playing Hitori ever since. This is because Dali now spots an obvious burn scar on his face. Migi is worried about his life but Dali assures that Migi’s happiness is his happiness. He is more than happy to be his shadow for the rest of his life. This continues for some time and Hitori is now a very popular person in school. Soon Akiyama is told the truth by Migi and feels sad about it. Migi too feels the same. Despite both are always connected, he doesn’t want to be Hitori anymore. He wants to be Migi AND Dali. On Christmas night, Dali dreams of everyone leaving him. Of course he gets scared and doesn’t want that to happen. When Migi wakes up, he is surprised to see 2 presents before them. Didn’t their parents say Santa only gives 1 child a present? It seems the parents hint they know there are actually 2 of them! When Migi hints to Dali about the good news they don’t have to live in the shadows anymore, Dali remains sceptical. Migi then says their paths will diverge from now and they will have their own likes and dislikes. But some things won’t change. Like how the other’s happiness is also his happiness. This finally breaks the ice for Dali as the twins for the first time appear before their parents. The parents can even tell Dali’s favourite food and remember the things that he done as Hitori. The twins have their first ‘argument’ with each other calling names. Hello, Midget and Dummy!

A few years later, we see the twins grown up into handsome hunks. Yeah, now both spot different hairstyles. Akiyama continues to love bird watching and Maruta, OH DAMN, THIS GUY IS HANDSOME NOW!!! Still spot the beaver teeth but DAYYYUUMM!!! He so hot!!! The twins help mom bake cherry pie because it seems today is Eiji’s release and his family will be dropping by. When he arrives, he spots a forlorn look. This is when Migi pleads to Dali to do it. Reluctantly, he dresses up as Sali! This makes Eiji laugh his ass off and so does everyone else! Everybody enjoys the cherry pie. Maruta and Karen are now dating?! Eiji then visits Metry’s grave and one day if he goes to see her in heaven, he will tell her the imperfect but happy life he lived. One day, we see the gang seeing the twins off at the train station. Mama obviously sad. Actually, it is Dali who is only going to study away at the university. Migi isn’t going since he intends to be an avant garde artist. This is to further prove that no matter how far apart they are, their hearts will always be connected.

The Aberrant Trap: The Twins Effect
Well, I couldn’t agree more with this ending. It shows that everyone has put their past behind and move forward forging their own path. The kind of path that makes them respectable human beings and even though they have been imperfect in the past, all that doesn’t matter since they are now living life the best way they can. The true happy ending where everybody lives happily ever after! Save for the dead ones and may their souls rest in peace.

Despite the storyline seems pretty generic and nothing mind blowing, somehow I find each episode’s pacing and flow to be quite interesting. Yes, I have to admit that the intrigue in every episode has kept me wanting to know more what happened. Because of that, perhaps it is the reason why some of the twist and turns looked pretty astonishing although some may call it pretty standard. For instance, I never knew they were triplets! That took me by surprise! Yeah, I was so intrigued with the plot that I didn’t have time to form conspiracy theories like I do for many other animes! So is that a good thing or what? So when this twist hit me, you bet I was almost knocked off my seat!

What began as a story to seek out revenge for a dead mom and hence all the strange amateur detective work to smoke out the killer, it all quickly turned into an act of redemption. After all, what would we think of the twins had they followed true to their path to get revenge on their mother’s killer? Because that would change nothing and in fact I believe it would make them feel emptier. They found out mom’s killer. Took their revenge by taking the killer’s life. End of story. What now? Goal completed. Life still carries on. I’ll bet they’ll be facing some sort of trauma after that. Even if their mom had her life wrongfully snatched from them at an awful young age, it doesn’t give them the right to take others. For better or worse, living is the only way to atone for one’s sins. It might not erased the pain and scars of the past but they can build upon a better life from that point.

Though, there are some parts of the story which I don’t really get or at least questions that were never answered. For instance, when Metry died, how did the twins end up in a faraway orphanage? Who sent them there? Did they just walk in and decided to stay there? And during their stay at the orphanage, were they acting as a single person of do they know there were twins? Oddly, how come the twins know the name of the town where their mother died but not even know their mom’s own name? Oh well, not surprising. Many kids will call their mom as mama or something similar but how do they know the name Origon? Unless they heard mom say it during those lockup periods. And to think that they were waiting to be adopted by someone from Origon. Was this all part of their plan? What if they never get adopted from someone there? Thankfully they did because sneaking around as suspicious strangers would be even more dangerous. Metry’s grave rests on the cliff of the hill overseeing Origon. Uhm, how deep to the twins dig to bury her body because damn, I can imagine how funny it is if the body just slip and fell through the ground below! Unless of course it was buried somewhere else and here just lies the tombstone serving as a reminder for their revenge.

Love them or hate them, Migi and Dali as the main characters of this series start off as weird. Look at the way they masterfully do acrobatic stuffs and play as a single character to fool everyone, while it may look amusing but the way they move sometimes gives off this creepy feeling. Like as though they are aliens! They are slender and look at the way they hide and slip around without others knowing. So yeah, perhaps this part made me think that there were going to be some sort of horror-like jump scares but thankfully none. All just in my overthinking head. Because of their strange character and interaction with each other, it gives the perception like the situation could be graver than we think it is. For example, they wanted to expose their adopted parents at their welcoming party. It was shown in a way like as though the parents had a dark secret to hide and that they were some evil people. However it all turned out to be just nothing burger and the ‘prank’ backfired. In many instances, this is how the twins operate and the reason why a lot of suspense was given off. But this is only right since they are searching for their mom’s killer with no clues to begin with and have to be wary and suspect everyone. Everyone!

Because of that, the comedy factor of this series sometimes feel a bit weird. I don’t know if I should go so far as to say it is creepy because sometimes the scene looked like it is supposed to be funny but somehow I don’t. Like how Eiji stripped Hitori to his undies and the latter daring him and then the former starts groping his ass and underwear… Like, what the hell???!!! More eyebrow raising than funny. Sure, still funny but is it really? And like the part Dali repetitively hit Maruta’s head as punishment, that’s supposed to be funny, right? Well, if they didn’t show it in such an ominous angle or manner. Yeah, I thought Maruta’s head was going to be smacked off! Ugh. My overthinking has once again reared its ugly head. Then there’s Akiyama’s sketch of Sali and Reiko trying to kill with a sourdough bread. OMG. Not sure if this is funny or creepy! Or both!

Initially, the twins were so close to each other that I believe many including yours truly have a hard time differentiating them apart (I think they part their hairs in a different direction, but I wouldn’t bother to notice that either). It is apparent in my early parts of the blog when I would just avoid naming them to avoid the confusion! Yeah, even by the middle of the season, I was still wrapping my head around which one is Migi and which one is Dali. I believed Migi is the weaker one and Dali the one who is more authoritative and calling the shots. But as the series carries on, we soon start to see them differently and telling them apart. This is good since despite being twins, they are still individuals. They are not clones of each other despite coming from the same zygote. Even in earlier episodes you can tell that the twins are individuals as they possess their own unique strengths to cover the weaknesses of the other. Like how Migi is good with his hands and that is why he becomes an artist while Dali is more of the brainy type and decided to go further his studies. It was just that they look so similar and we couldn’t tell them apart, confusing the hell out of us which twin is which. But now they’ve grown into their own individual with their own preferences. Hope they won’t fall for the same girl!

But the one mind boggling thing about them is the case of Sali. Ah yes, how can Dali be impersonating as such a perfect cool beauty when his twin doesn’t even know about it! Yes, I did mention that twins have their own personalities, strengths and weaknesses. But they are still identical twins. Unless I have the wrong idea about the whole thing, twins should be able to tell the other apart even when Dali is perfectly disguised as Sali. Or are you saying Dali is so freaking perfect that not even his twin could tell! But yeah, I guess this silly part was to have some sort of development as well as plot twist! Hey, even I was fooled to think Sali was a real person had they not pointed out it was Dali behind that wig! Uh huh. Imagine some weird incest sh*t and even more complication when Eiji was in the love triangle! HOLY F*CK! I CAN SEE SOME YAOI INCEST SH*T COMING UP ON THE DARK SIDE OF THE WEB!!! Yeah, it was really weird. And now Dali is condemned to play that role as pranks since he is the only one who can pull it off perfectly. Don’t worry, we all had a good laugh!

Thanks to the twins’ decision, Eiji now has a better life than before. Smiling and living happily, sharing the delicious cherry pie of Youko, is this considered living disgracefully? Well, perhaps under Reiko’s standards. But all that doesn’t matter now seeing Eiji looks freed from all that oppression. He looks a lot happier now. But yeah, to think he pushed 3 different women, all somewhat the love of his life (Metry, Reiko and… Sali!) from the edge, was this some kind of running joke?! I don’t know if it was the right thing for him to kill Reiko but I guess at that point in time he was a minor so thankfully in Japanese law, can’t be tried as an adult for murder. Phew? Had Reiko lived, the same madness will continue so perhaps this was the only way to save her. Unlike everyone else, Reiko cannot be changed.

Reiko is painted as the antagonist of this series when she is just some perfectionist psycho. All she wanted was just a perfect family and went to great lengths to do that even if it was all just pretending. It was never stated what kind of job Akira does but from what I understand, he could be a doctor and that Reiko was one of his patients. Not sure how she charmed him into marrying her or he just took a pity on her and did so. Either way, he wasn’t keeping a good tabs on her seeing he doesn’t even know what is going on even in his own family! Is he one of the most blur dads in the world? When Karen screamed of wanting to get out of this crazy household, this is a sign something is not right already. Because of Reiko being left to her own device, she maintains a stranglehold on the entire town and her children fearing her because of the leash she puts on them. Yeah, what are they going to do if they don’t like something? It’s the re-education room for you! Reiko was even crazy enough to kill. RIP, Micchan. The only other casualty other than Reiko. And of course the unfortunate Metry.

The most unexpected character would be Maruta. Damn, you thought this chubby little beaver would be some sort of a comical relief but he proves himself useful at many times! Moral of the story, never look down on anyone and especially never judge a book by its cover! We are all so guilty just like the twins themselves who don’t think much of this arrogant little kid. They think he can’t make it or pull it off but what do you know? He does it! Oh my. Aren’t we the shameful ones now? Even more so, he is the biggest winner hitting the biggest jackpot because he is dating cutie pie Karen! OMFG!!! Oh mah f*cking gawd!!!!! Beauty and the beast? Oh well, now he is a handsome hunk and continues to date Karen. The greatest untold love story ever! Sure, he has his own funny flaws like becoming a stiff log when he panics or is in danger but that serves as a defence mechanism. Otherwise, this guy is truly the greatest levelled up character among those here!

I thought Akiyama would play a more prominent role in the series but he continues to be the meek and strange bird lover. Sure, overshadowed by Maruta’s greatness but he still plays a helpful role during Beavers like saving everyone’s skin from the fire. That’s it I guess. The rest of the people in Origon, I guess they are all nice people after all. Only Reiko was the exception. Because the twins painted like as though everyone has a dark secret to hide and perhaps in cohorts with Metry’s death. So like the twins’ adopted parents, they are actually very nice people with no ulterior motives whatsoever. Not sure why at such an old age they decided to adopt a child because from the way I see it, they don’t have any children of their own. Could Youko be infertile too? And before it gets too late, they want to experience some parenthood and hence the adoption? Smells like plot convenience to me.

But I am giving them the benefit of the doubt that they have been fooled a lot by the twins’ switcheroo tactics because as they are old, they cannot see or hear well and have slower reaction times. Thus most of the stunts the twins pulled off in this context are believable. Although I am not sure why it took them so long to realize there was another person. Perhaps they have suspected it for some time, just that they haven’t had some sort of proof until this incident and they start to think about it. Hitori was their beloved child and at some points, he did act like 2 different people despite how similar the twins tried to pull it off. But it all doesn’t matter because they truly love their child like their own and that is all that matters.

On a side note, I wonder why the f*ck Metry’s name sounded so funny and weird. Oh, I mispronounced it at first as in Mee-Trai! Me try… Me try being a good mother! HAHAHA!!! Oops, sorry. Turned out to be meh-tree. Looks like metric… Not sure what nationality that name is because even the twins are oddly named as Migi and Dali. But obviously it is termed left and right in Japanese (migi and hidari). Funny, why wasn’t Eiji named the centre or the likes? Oh well, he is always on the edge and hence Eiji! HAHAHA!!! Oops, sorry again. But better than naming a dog, Sardine! WTF?! If that’s a cat’s name I would understand, but SARDINE?!

Art and animation are quite standard and satisfactory. Nothing much to complain (or praise like hell!) but I want to note how the twins dress up so similar to Steve Jobs! OMFG! Yeah, before I could point this out, Youko did the honours by pointing out the obvious reference! Sure, having such a simple outfit avoids the suspicious part if they start to wear different flamboyant clothes and they can switch easily with this Steve Jobs’ trademark outfit. Now, since this series set in the early 90’s, it made me wonder if Dali went on to be Steve Jobs in reality! OMFG!!! I can imagine a whole lot of dumb conspiracy theories now! Also, why does Eiji look like a serious version of Ren from Persona 5? This anime is jointly done by Geek Toys (Liar Liar, Date A Live IV, Dead Mount Death Play, Plunderer) and CompTown.

For the voice acting, I only recognized Romi Paku as Reiko. Yeah, she really sounds like in psycho mode alright. To further differentiate the twins, both even have different seiyuus who voice them, Shun Horie as Migi (Kazuya in Kanojo Okarishimasu) and Ayumu Murase as Dali (Luck in Black Clover). Funnily, I thought it was the other way round since Migi was the weaker one and sounded a bit gay. Oh wait. Don’t tell me I got the whole twins thingy mixed up! The other casts are Kengo Kawanishi as Eiji (Rei in 3-gatsu No Lion), Shintarou Asanuma as Akiyama (Tsuda in Seitokai Yakuindomo), Shunsuke Takeuchi as Maruta (Yamato in Nanbaka), Akira Sekine as Karen (Princess in Princess Principal), Kimiko Saitou as Micchan (Sofia in Golden Kamuy), Tokuyoshi Kawashima as Akira (William in Emma: A Victorian Romance), Kotono Mitsuishi as Youko (Boa Hancock in One Piece), Takashi Matsuyama as Osamu (Taizou in Nanaka 6/17) and Sumire Morohoshi as Metry (Gerharde in Nanatsu No Taizai). The opening theme, Yuuma Ga Doki by Soraru & Rib has a lively beat and doesn’t give the mystery and suspense feel of the series itself. The ending theme, Skyline by Nulbarich sounds more like a slow hip hop. But the very sketchy-like ending credits animation somehow reminds me of one of Shingeki No Kyojin’s ending… Is this creepy?

Overall, what turned out to be one of the reluctant anime series to watch of the season, turned out to be one of the best! OMG. I’m so glad that I took a look at this. While it may not be a superb masterpiece but hey, the intrigue had me glued to the screen all the way so in my books, that is way good enough and a contender for this year’s best anime! Let’s not get ahead of myself. Sorry if you sophisticated people expected more but I have no regrets watching this. Now that this series has ended (the manga ended back in 2021) and leaving me with some bittersweet feelings, it couldn’t be even sadder because the creator of this series, Nami Sano (famed for Sakamoto Desu Ga) died of cancer back in August 2023! Also, she shared the same birthday with me!!! OMFG!!! Why do I feel so sad even though I don’t even know her personally???!!! Yeah, we’re not twins anyway! Thank for such a wonderful series. Now I have to do a double take on other series I have initially written off. Oh boy. Anime schedule gonna get busier. But still, crappy and garbage animes still crappy and sh*tty no matter how many takes I give!