Fed up with Sakiko, Soyo decides to confront her before school starts and drag her all the way to Mutsumi’s house to patch things up. The last time Soyo met up with Sakiko, it went poorly so on paper, them meeting again sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. As you might expect then, things get pretty intense during this reunion. I was a little surprised that Soyo succeeds in the end but then again, we are halfway through the season. At this point, someone has to knock some sense into Sakiko. Plus, it makes perfect sense for Sakiko to concede the second Soyo reveals that she knows what’s been going on with her. With the cat out of the bag, there’s no longer any point in pretending as if nothing happened so Sakiko has no choice but to cooperate.
Of course, now Sakiko has to contend with Mortis being willing to talk to Sakiko that naturally takes a while to get going. Mutsumi wants to see Sakiko; she recognizes that her friend is remorseful for how she treated her in the past. Mortis on the other hand refuses to let Mutsumi take the wheel, fearing that Sakiko will only hurt her again (which is perfectly understandable). For the next couple of days, the two personalities argue over what to do and wrestle for control. Given Sakiko’s track record, I half-expected her to give up on day one and go back to feeling miserable about herself. I have to give her credit then that throughout this whole situation, she waits outside of Mutsumi’s house day in and day out, in the slim chance that her friend will come out to speak to her. She’s that determined to make amends and it’s easily the most likable the character has been in quite some time.
Over at RiNG, MyGO!!!! practices for their next live performance, though Soyo and Anon struggle to stay focused due to their concern for Sakiko and Mutsumi. Having largely stayed out of the drama up until now, Taki decides to pay Mutsumi a visit, resulting in her meeting up with Sakiko as well. Kind of crazy that this is the first time Taki talks to either Mutsumi or Sakiko since CRYCHIC’s breakup. Honestly, I’m glad that Taki and Sakiko’s reunion doesn’t happen until halfway through the “second” season. If they had met during MyGO, it would’ve been unproductive, not to mention extremely unpleasant. It feels right for them to meet again after enough time has passed, Taki has grown a lot, and Sakiko begins to undergo some character development herself. I really like that Taki starts off by telling Sakiko not to cause problems with MyGO!!!!!, before actually trying to reconcile with her. Not only is that characteristic of Taki, it also sums up how complicated she feels about Sakiko. She’s still bitter about CRYCHIC’s breakup, she has every right to be, and she wants to move on with her new band. But at the same time, she feels bad about the hurtful things she said to Sakiko, now that she knows what happened on her friend’s end.
Sakiko and Taki are soon joined by Soyo. A cute little detail in this moment is Soyo bringing a bag of cucumbers which, if you recall, is Mutsumi’s favorite food. I can’t help but think it would’ve been funny if Mortis rejected them, just like Soyo did when Mutsumi offered some to her. It’d be very mean-spirited and out of place with the rest of the episode but still. As amusing as it would be to have all three girls camping outside of Mutsumi’s house, the three are invited in by Mutsumi’s attendant. The girls have some small talk as they wait in front of Mutsumi’s room. A very easy to miss bit of info that pops up in the conversation is Taki admitting that she deliberately chose not to apply for Haneoka as her older sister Maki is an alumn there and she wants to avoid being compared to her. This apparent inferiority complex is something that was brought up very briefly in MyGO. I appreciate that it’s not entirely forgotten but it does feel too little too late to bring it up again. An odd choice since, in hindsight, I think it helps explain why Tomori’s lyrics resonates so much with her.
The girls then start to talk about CRYCHIC’s breakup. When Taki brings up Mutsumi’s dissatisfaction with the band, Sakiko reveals that Mutsumi actually did care about it. In reality, Mutsumi was unhappy with how she was playing the guitar at the time. It sounds odd at first but it definitely tracks, considering how pressured Mutsumi feels about herself. Mortis overhears all of this and finally decides to give the wheel to Mutsumi, allowing the latter to apologize and reconcile with the others. My guess is that Mortis realizes that she and Mutsumi have their fair share of doing hurtful things to others and that it’s better to actually work it all out than simply pin all the blame on Sakiko. I really appreciate that Taki outright apologizes to Mutsumi for her behavior. Taki tends to struggle in that department so it means a lot that with Tomori or Mutsumi, people who need others to be upfront with them, Taki manages to pull through.
I’m curious if this episode is the last I see of Mortis. It’d feel weird for her to disappear from the plot and I think I’d really miss the contrast Mortis provided against Mutsumi’s meek character. Also, it kind of irks me that everyone, certainly Sakiko at least, seems to only care about Mutsumi and not Mortis. I doubt that’s the intended effect and I get that Mutsumi is the friend they want back but I don’t know, it would’ve been nice to see Mortis be more accepted. I guess if it’s smooth sailing from here on out then Mortis would have no reason to take control. That said, I have my doubts that this season is now free of drama so who knows.
The girls head over to RiNG so that Sakiko and Mutsumi can reconcile with Tomori (and also because MyGO!!!!! is about to perform in the live show). Tomori presents Sakiko and Mutsumi with the latest version of some lyrics she’s been working on, having revised them with those two in mind. Given the lyrics’ connection, Anon decides to loan her guitar to Mutsumi and she encourages CRYCHIC to reunite use MyGO’s sound check to perform the song. That Anon so willingly resigns from the spotlight is a terrific demonstration of how far she’s grown from her selfish ambitions last season and how much she cares about her friends, both within and outside of her band. Truth be told, the sound check isn’t the best performance in the show. At the very least, Tomori sounds pretty off. This is admittedly a deliberate choice, however. Everyone in CRYCHIC is finally getting the closure they never got when the band broke up. They’re all overwhelmed with emotion. Of course, they’re not going to sound that good. It’s a bold choice given how dry Ave Mujica has been with insert songs but I respect making the scene feel more raw. Finishing up the sound check with “Haruhikage” is a pretty cheeky choice. I don’t know if you noticed but this song is pretty darn cursed with how often it leads to a band breaking up. But joking aside, it’s not like there’s a better song to go with. It effectively brings the band to full circle. Assuming the sound check is CRYCHIC’s last performance, it’s only right that they end things with the song they originally ended off on.
Coincidentally, Umiri happens to show up at RiNG and see CRYCHIC perform. Surprisingly, Umiri becomes envious of the performance, so much so that she later approaches Sakiko and Mutsumi about reviving Ave Mujica. I couldn’t help but chuckle. Like, I got so wrapped up in CRYCHIC finally getting the closure they deserve that I honestly forgot that there is this other band that the show is actually supposed to revolve around. I suppose the last six episodes of the show will be spent getting Ave Mujica back on track (and since there is six episodes, I just know it’ll be a bumpy road). Having Umiri pitch the band’s revival is kind of poetic, considering that she arguably cared about the band the least. There probably is an ulterior motive to her decision but I think deep down, Umiri realizes that Taki was right about her not caring about Ave Mujica and she’s hoping that things will be different the second time around.
Watch Ave Mujica – The Die is Cast – on Crunchyroll
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