Right on cue, Nyamu exposes Mortis’ act to everyone that isn’t Rāna. I’m of two minds with Nyamu’s choice here. Frankly, I think Nyamu has a nasty habit of instigating stuff without a care in the world. I can’t however say that this isn’t exactly what Nyamu would do and in her defense, it probably is better to spill the beans than have everyone else find out later and get mad about it. Unable to act her way out of the situation, Mortis suffers a breakdown. Soyo helps Mortis leave RiNG and get back home, with the others in MyGO!!!!! following her lead. I really like the brief exchange where Taki convinces Umiri to look after Mutsumi rather than argue with Sakiko some more. Taki’s right; Mortis’ wellbeing should be more important than the stupid band. If Umiri’s serious about the band, she’d recognize this and fortunately, she does. Once again, Umiri is the sanest main character in the show. After this scene, MyGO!!!! disappears for the rest of the episode. It’s like they don’t want anything more to do with Ave Mujica. Honestly, I wouldn’t blame them if that actually is the case. They’ve already helped enough at this point, it’s time to let the other band sort things out on their own.
Sakiko becomes distressed at losing Mutsumi again. Uika tries to change the subject back to Ave Mujica though that only makes Sakiko more upset, prompting the latter to leave RiNG. Afraid that she and Sakiko are drifting away from each other, Uika spends the night writing up lyrics about their relationship. If this was Tomori, I wouldn’t really bat an eye over this. That’s just how Tomori expresses herself. In Uika’s case however, it comes across as deeply concerning. Was Uika always this obsessive? Her attachment towards Sakiko is getting weird. The next day, Nyamu sees Uika’s lyrics and snatches the latter’s phone to send them in the group chat. Again, this is what I mean about Nyamu instigating stuff but also having a point. I don’t necessarily like her embarrassing Uika like that but Sakiko has been throwing Uika under the bus. At least those lyrics can potentially remind Sakiko that she has another friend besides Mutsumi. Also, I had a good laugh with Umiri being a good sport about the lyrics. Sanest member of the band right there.
Having done the dirty deed, Nyamu decides the last thing she can do is confront Sakiko directly so she forces Uika to take her to the Togawa manor. I understand Uika being afraid to see Sakiko again but I don’t know, her panic and hesitance is so extreme that it makes me think even more that there’s something going on with her. Anyway, Nyamu cites Sakiko’s tendency to run away from her problems and her failure to keep the band together to pressure her into coming back to the band. It’s all pretty harsh but also pretty on point. To be honest, I’m a little surprised that Nyamu is now in favor of reforming Ave Mujica. Last episode made it seem like she wasn’t going to budge just yet. Nyamu explicitly states in this scene that the band is all she has left now, which I can believe given that her acting and livestreaming careers are on the decline, but it feels cheap for Nyamu to realize this offscreen. Frankly, it’s just as plausible that she does it because she’s tired of Sakiko’s shenanigans and she joins the bandwagon with Umiri and Uika out of to spite. If nothing else, it fits her character to end up as one of the more vocal characters on the matter.
After Nyamu and Uika leave, Sakiko contemplates on Nyamu’s words and her own past comments and decisions. In the end, she hesitantly composes instrumentals for Uika’s lyrics and decides to come back to Ave Mujica. I’m honestly a bit surprised here. I mean, it’s great to do Sakiko do some reflection for a change but she’s been so bad at this that I half-expected her not to do any at all. I haven’t had the time to think about it before (a con of trying to blog about a TV anime back to back) but it’s interesting that Sakiko asked her bandmates to entrust her with their lives when Ave Mujica started. It’s very much like Tomori asking her friends in MyGO!!!!! to commit to the band for rest of their lives. I have to wonder then if Tomori was influenced by Sakiko when she came up with that request (though knowing Tomori, it’s just as likely for her to develop it independently). Also intriguing is how that request ultimately plays out in each band. Both Tomori and Sakiko made their request because they’re effectively at the center of their respective bands and they need the rest of their groups to commit in order for their vision of their band to be realized. Sakiko however was more demanding in that regard and ironically, she doesn’t unite Ave Mujica the same way Tomori ultimately did with MyGO!!!!!. If anything, Sakiko was one of the big reasons Ave Mujica fell apart and she ultimately is the last person to agree to its revival.
Sakiko visits the Wakaba manor to inform Umiri and Mortis of her decision and gather the whole band to practice and plan once more. So yeah, Ave Mujica is back. If that sounds a bit surprising to you, I can assure you that I felt the same way. I even found myself wondering if the episode will eventually reveal that there’s a catch of some sort (and there actually is one after the credits but I’ll get that to that later). I guess that speaks to how different the group dynamic of Ave Mujica is compared to MyGO!!!!. When MyGO!!!!! reunited, it was this big, emotionally cathartic moment where the five of them reconcile their differences and finally become friends. In Ave Mujica’s case, they kind of reunite by collectively shrugging their shoulders and they don’t have that same level of camaraderie seen in the other band. I don’t know if it’s necessarily satisfying but I also don’t know how else this would’ve played out.
I take issue with Sakiko referring to Mortis as “Mutsumi”. It comes across as Sakiko refusing to acknowledge Mutsumi’s other personality. I understand that Sakiko is uncomfortable around Mortis and she’s extremely attached to Mutsumi but she does strike to me as a very flawed friend with how badly she handles Mutsumi’s different personalities. On the topic of Mutsumi and Mortis’ complicated relationships, you also have Nyamu who admits to Mortis that she actually loves and admires her and Mutsumi, in spite of their talents driving her nuts. I doubt this means a legitimate romance between Nyamu and Mutsumi/Mortis. Considering other fan favorite ships haven’t sailed, I don’t see any reason to think Bandori will make an exception for once. Still, it’s fascinating to see Nyamu openly admit how enamored she is towards Mutsumi/Mortis. Nyamu is so full of herself so for her to put her pride aside, you know she’s serious. My only issue is that I don’t know if this means Nyamu will actually treat Mutsumi/Mortis better (and I agree with Mortis that Nyamu should’ve this earlier as Mutsumi would’ve really appreciated it).
So at long last, we finally get to a new Ave Mujica concert. I’m not kidding, this is the first time since the first episode where the show treats the viewer with any insert songs (and you could argue the first song, “KillKiss”, doesn’t count since it’s actually the same one used in the OP). MyGO!!!!! had decently long gaps and it technically doesn’t have the titular band perform until the halfway point but it never got this bad. For a band anime, Ave Mujica sure has been light on the actual band part. There’s an argument to be made that a band anime can get away with a lack of music so long as the story is still good. That said, the long gap is a valid criticism because you’d think an anime whose ultimate goal is to advertise a band’s music would have more of their music. I’m actually surprised to learn that the band only performs one song in this episode, “Crucifix X”. I thought for sure that it was two as it starts off on an atypically sentimental tone before switching to the gothic rock that’s more expected of them. The tonal shift works quite well, though. In the context of this marking Ave Mujica’s comeback, the song effectively conveys the band reconnecting with their fans before giving them what they came for. Seeing as the lyrics are supposed to be written by Uika, the tone also denotes how attached she is towards Sakiko.
Besides the music, there’s a couple of little plot details to note. During the concert, Mortis searches within her mind for Mutsumi. Once Mortis finds Mutsumi, the two personalities reconcile and seemingly vanish. On the surface, this results in Mutsumi/Mortis playing the guitar legitimately. That said, this begs the question as to who Mutsumi is now, whether her and Mortis have merged or we are now dealing with a third, entirely new personality. After the concert, Uika encourages Sakiko to move back into her place (which I’d find heartwarming if Uika hasn’t been weirding me out lately) but the two get interrupted by Sadaharu. Much to my and Sakiko’s surprise, Sadaharu addresses Uika as “Hatsune”. It’s been established that Uika is a childhood friend of Sakiko but now, I have to wonder if she actually is connected to the Togawa family. Otherwise, I don’t know how Sadaharu would know her, let alone address her by a completely different name.
Watch Ave Mujica – The Die is Cast – on Crunchyroll
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