Welcome all, to the finale of Migi & Dali! We have a lot to talk about this week, as Migi & Dali may have just given us the best finale of the season. That’s not a joke or an exaggeration, I cannot understate how much I loved this episode. So without further ado, let’s dive into it!
As I said, I thought this episode was fantastic. In fact I would go so far as to call it the perfect ending. No matter how I look at it, I can’t think of something Migi & Dali could have done better. Maybe cut it out with the Mit-chan stuff? But even that was used for a humerous pen-pal joke with Mrs. Sonoyama, so I can let that pass. It covers basically everything I was looking for from an ending. Migi and Dali’s relationship with the Sonoyama’s, coming out to them and the community at large. Akiyama and Migi’s friendship, Maruta, Eiji. It’s all there! More than that, Migi & Dali handles it in a genuinely emotional way. I cried at multiple points in this episode. I never cry! I’m a soulless husk! But when Dali got that omelet I just… I couldn’t help it. I loved it.
Diving into the details, lets first talk about Migi and Dali. I loved everything about this. How they weren’t the ones to come out, rather it was the Sonoyama’s who figured it out for themselves. I love that they were legitimately good and attentive parents, noticing what they kid(s) liked and disliked, what they were good at, picking up on the fact that Migi and Dali were, in fact, two different people even before they did. And then they went out of there way to subtly show their acceptance of the twins. They didn’t push the issue or force it out of them, they instead laid hints and suggestions, leaving the final decision up to them. It’s just… it’s so god damn beautiful, and it feels so rare for an anime to have actually good parents. Not “The anime says they are good”, but demonstrably good through their actions.
And that’s not even mentioning Dali’s hang-up in all of this. How their experience at the Ichijo household scarred his face, meaning they can no longer switch places. How he resolves to support Migi from the shadows for the rest of their lives because he’s afraid to come out and try to truly live as Dali. Only that eventually morphs into a fear of being left behind and forgotten as Migi inevitably grows up and finds a life of his own. It was honestly rather tragic for a bit. And when you consider the parallels to being LGBTQ, the whole coming out of the closet imagery, the Sali cross-play, being afraid that you won’t be accepted for who you are, Migi’s refusal to out Dali without his permission makes a lot more sense. It’s a very personal issue for him, and Migi & Dali handles it beautifully.
With that we come to the time-skip, where Migi & Dali continues to get even better. I really enjoyed how different the twins have become. Their new hairstyles, clothing, hobbies. I love getting to see them grow up and become different people while still maintaining that connection, that mutual understanding. At this point the final scene of Dali going off to college while Migi stays home for his art, their quest to prove that they can live apart and still be connected, is a formality in my eyes. It’s Migi & Dali spelling it out for people that hadn’t yet figured it out for themselves. Because to me, they already have proven this.
Finally I want to talk about Eiji, and his return. While I could have maybe done with a bit more here, I still think what Migi & Dali did with him was good. I appreciated him coming back to reconnect with his brothers, apologizing to them and trying to start over. Same with visiting Metry’s grave, recognizing that his mother wasn’t there and he never truly knew her. Plus that resolve to live a happy, though imperfect, life, as if he was spitting on Reiko’s grave and acknowledging Metry’s. It was solid! Oh also, I had completely forgotten about that Sali kiss, which is hilarious looking back with the knowledge we have now. It’s also further evidence for my “Dali is meant to be gay” theory, but we’ll leave that for the review.
Finally there’s the side cast. Seeing Akiyama and Maruta all grown up was cute, as was Akiyama and Mr. Sonoyama hanging out bird watching. The main thing I enjoyed here was seeing how Migi and Dali interacted with each of them differently. Showing us that, despite them all being friends, they are separate people at this point with separate relationships and friends. Sure Maruta no longer being a chubby-faced brat was amusing, same with Karen having grown up and Eiji having shaved his head. But this is the finale, and Migi and Dali are where my focus is at.
So yeah, all in all I loved this episode. It was a fantastic and emotional finale that hit everything I wanted it too. The twins got to come out to their community, the Sonoyama’s revealed themselves to be phenomenal parents, Akiyama and the others continued to be great friends. And most of all? Migi and Dali got to become their own people, with their own interests and likes. They weren’t just “Hitori” anymore, they were truly free to live their own lives. And that was beautiful. I’m really looking forward to writing this review now.
