In an effort to make up for how she treated Mutsumi in the past, Sakiko decides that she can’t return to Ave Mujica and instead pivots towards reforming CRYCHIC. The next day, she pitches the idea to Anon and Tomori, though she does not expect an immediate response and she adds the asterisk that she doesn’t want to cause trouble for MyGO!!!!!. Anon relays the pitch to the rest of the band, with neither Taki and Soyo looking terribly enthused at the idea. I imagine Soyo is especially exhausted. She spent so much of last season trying to revive CRYCHIC, only for Sakiko to shoot it down. Now, Sakiko wants to bring it back? If anyone has the right to roll her eyes, it’s Soyo.
While everyone leaves her on read, Anon is contacted by Uika, who asks to meet up with her at a cafe. Uika discovered a recent social media post Soyo made on CRYCHIC’s account, leading Anon to admit about the one-off performance and relay Sakiko’s recent invitation to bring the band back. Shocked, Uika decides to accept Umiri’s invitation to reform Ave Mujica. She also tries to get her agency to make the band’s revival official though her manager explains that her hands are tied. I’m guessing Sadaharu has final say on the matter, seeing as he’s the one who helped dissolve it. Uika manages to recover Ave Mujica’s costumes though the fact they were listed under “discarded” alarms her. I get why Uika is upset. After a good friend to Sakiko in the early episodes of the season, she ought to feel betrayed that Sakiko seemingly plans on moving on without her. Still, I was a bit taken back at how badly Uika reacts when Anon shares the news with her. I thought she was one of the more levelheaded members of Ave Mujica but after this scene, I’m starting to have my doubts. Believe it or not though, this is not the lowest point for Uika this episode.
Elsewhere, Nyamu participates in an audition, though she drops the ball when she gets reminded again of Mutsumi and Mortis and her insecurity gets the best of her. She also finds herself struggling to livestream, resulting in her popularity taking a big hit. Umiri tries to invite Nyamu back into Ave Mujica, now that she’s kind of sort of gotten Mutsumi on board. I like how Nyamu repeatedly makes it clear that she’s not in the mood and Umiri fails to pick up every single hint because she’s that adamant in resurrecting the band. I don’t know why Umiri is now the comic relief character but it’s working quite well. Unfortunately, Umiri fails once again in recruiting Nyamu. She’s hesitant to clarify that she has Mortis but not Mutsumi as well, leading Nyamu to grow suspicious. Nyamu refuses anyway, on the basis that there’s no point in joining the band if it’ll crumble apart again. I suspect Nyamu will eventually bite, though. Her fixation on Mutsumi and Mortis is proving to be detrimental to her and I doubt avoiding them will do her much good.
To my confusion, the next scene reveals that Mortis is currently learning how to convincingly pretend to play the guitar to a music recording. I suppose that’s a start but wouldn’t it just make more sense for Umiri to teach Mortis how to actually play the guitar? It also appears that Umiri is keeping the lessons brief as she explains that her time is still divided among different bands such as Disruption. That has me thinking that Umiri is rushing through getting Mortis up to speed. If so, it’s a bit baffling since there really shouldn’t be a deadline for Ave Mujica to come back. What’s interesting then is when Mortis tells Umiri that she’s serious about playing the guitar and reviving Ave Mujica, briefly making Umiri to rethink how she’s tackling things (more on that in a bit).
While going home, Mutsumi reassumes control of her body and runs into Tomori by chance. Tomori offers to take Mutsumi to the planetarium (which hasn’t been shown since late last season). On their way there however, they bump into Uika just as she’s leaving the planetarium, leading Uika to ask if CRYCHIC really is coming back and Tomori to explain what Sakiko is up to. This spurs Mutsumi into begging Tomori to rejoin CRYCHIC with her. Probably the most insane moment in this scene is Uika briefly considering pushing Mutsumi down some steps in retaliation for hogging up Sakiko’s attention. Fortunately, she quickly realizes that she’s in a bad headspace and leaves. Frankly, I have mixed feelings on this part. She is increasingly upset that she’s become chopped liver to Sakiko but given her demeanor throughout both this season and the last one, it’s hard to believe that she’d go that far and it feels like the show has her consider it for shock value. While all of this is going on, Mutsumi and Mortis internally wrestle for control. The scuffle ends with Mortis accidentally sending Mutsumi into the depths of their mind, effectively killing the latter. What I love most about this scene is that Mortis’ “victory” is actually greeted with applause by an imaginary audience comprised of other Mutsumis. It’s as though the ghosts of Mutsumi’s other personalities were all rooting for the main Mutsumi’s demise and now that the the main one has gotten her comeuppance, they’re all like “good riddance”. That’s so dark, I can’t help but adore it.
The next day, Sakiko meets up with MyGO!!!!! to discuss reviving CRYCHIC. As one might expect, MyGO!!!!! have some reservations. Honestly, if Soyo is saying they can’t go back to the good old days, that ought to tell Sakiko that it’s over. Umiri, Uika, and Mortis show up to advocate reforming Ave Mujica instead. Umiri also reveals that she’s quit every other band she’s in, to better show how serious she is about bringing the band back together. Most likely, she came to that decision after Mortis’ comment a couple scenes prior. I think Umiri is lowkey becoming my favorite character in Ave Mujica. Not only is she the sanest member of the band, she’s quite good at reflecting on her past choices and growing from them, which is more than I can say about the others. I must admit that Sakiko really irks me in this scene. She has a good intention here but her willingness to throw her Mujica bandmates under the bus and let Mortis die bothers me.
As for Mortis, she’s in a really awkward position. Without Mutsumi, Mortis realizes that she could very well cease to exist as well. She also can’t tell everyone that Mutsumi is dead as that would complicate matters even further. To save herself and change Sakiko’s mind, Mortis decides to impersonate Mutsumi and advocate on Ave Mujica’s behalf. The act fools almost everyone though Rāna has her suspicions (don’t ask me how, she just does) and Nyamu shows up, equally unconvinced. Rāna would probably keep her mouth shut, she does find Mortis and Mutsumi amusing after all, but there’s no way Nyamu isn’t going to rat Mortis out.
Watch Ave Mujica – The Die is Cast – on Crunchyroll
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