The fall anime series "Migi to Dari" is scheduled to air in October 2023. While initially a surreal and stylish comedy series, it quickly turns into a mystery and horror story. Let's take a look at what kind of work "Migi to Dari" is, taking into account its worldview, comedy, and story development!
Migi to Dari Overview!
Migi to Dari is a manga by Sano Nami that was serialized in the KADOKAEA manga magazine "Harta" from July 15, 2017 to November 15, 2021. The manga series consists of seven volumes, spanning comedy, mystery, and horror genres. The previous work, "Sakamoto Desu ga?" (I'm Sakamoto), was also serialized in "Harta" and adapted into an anime in 2016.
Where is Migi and Dari set?
Migi and Dari is set in 1983 in Oligon Village, Yamagawa, Kita Ward, Kobe City. While it's called a village, it's actually a neighborhood lined with upscale residential areas, a new town modeled after American suburbs. Perhaps because of this, the characters have an American family drama feel, throwing house parties and even having typical reactions, but all of the characters are Japanese.
The protagonist is a young boy who is adopted by a childless elderly couple!
The protagonist of this work is a young boy named "Sonoyama Hidori" who is adopted by a childless elderly couple. The elderly couple who adopted him were unable to have children, so they adopted an orphaned child from an orphanage. Hidori is a beautiful blonde boy, honest, cheerful, very filial, and well-behaved.
The boy who was thought to be alone is actually twin boys, "Migi and Dari"!
However, the "Sonoyama Hidori" we thought was one person is actually twin boys, Migi and Dari! One of the two is hidden among the moving boxes, and the two play the role of one boy. Sometimes switching places and sometimes working together, they begin to act like the ideal boy, "Sonoyama Hidori," to the elderly couple and those around them. Still only middle school students in age, the two deceive those around them as if they were playing spies.
Migi and Dari stylishly play the ideal boy!
Migi and Dari work together to perform stylish actions while playing the role of the ideal boy. For example, at Hidori's welcome party, there is more food than he can eat and he ends up leaving some behind. However, he cleverly switches places with the other twin who had sneaked under the table, perfectly playing the role of the ideal Orikon, sharing each other's meals and eating all the food that was served.
Even when he wets the bed, he manages to hide it!
To become the ideal Orikon-san, Migi must always be the perfect model for those around her. If she were to wet the bed at 13, her elderly mother and housekeeper would find out, and rumors of her bedwetting would eventually spread throughout the neighborhood. To prevent this, she must somehow outwit the elderly couple and erase all traces. To begin with, it's incredibly surreal that she would wet the bed at 13 and then try so hard to hide it, and try so hard to do something so silly and perfectly!
This is a gag scene that was also seen in the author's previous work, "Sakamoto Desu ga?"
These surreal, elegant, and stylish comedy scenes were also common in the previous film, "Sakamoto Desu ga? (Is It Sakamoto?)." Overall, the comedy scenes in this film are full of the same surreal humor seen in the previous film. I would definitely recommend this film to fans of the previous film's surreal and stylish comedy, but there's more to this film than just that!
The goal of "Migi and Dari" is to find the culprit who killed his mother!
Why do twins Migi and Dari have to perfectly play the role of one boy? They actually have a specific goal. That goal is to find the murderer of their mother, who must be somewhere in this village. The twins were born somewhere in this town and lived with their mother, despite their unique circumstances. However, they were murdered by something! This work is not only a stylish, surreal comedy, but also a mystery and suspense story with a goal of revenge.
Why do the two of them perfectly play the role of Hidori?
Initially, only one boy was adopted by the elderly couple. However, in order to achieve their revenge, the two of them had to work together. That's why they had to take on the audacity of playing the role of one boy. And playing the role of the ideal boy to those they meet is a way to gain their trust, get into their hearts, and uncover clues about the person who killed his mother!
Will you also meet some wonderful friends?
Migi and Dari will soon be entering junior high school. Before that, they will join the Boy Scouts and may meet some wonderful friends. Making friends is important to them, and they hope to find clues about their mother's murderer by being invited to their friends' homes. Migi and Dari had planned to sneak into every house in the village to find clues, but considering the risks, it would be easier to be invited into their homes.
The clue lies somewhere in this village's houses!?
The twins' earliest memory is of hiding with their mother under a bed in a dimly lit room with paisley wallpaper. They don't know why they were forced to live like that or what circumstances led to their situation, but that room must exist somewhere in this village. If they could find that room, they would surely find some clues about their mother's murderer.
Uncovering the mysteries of the mysterious Ichijo family!
The deepest mystery in the film, uncovered by the twins, is the perfect family living in the village: the Ichijo family. After hearing from the housekeeper who frequents the Ichijo household that the family has paisley-patterned wallpaper, the twins narrow their investigation to the Ichijo family. The Ichijo family was a well-behaved family, like the leaders of Origan Village. The father was a psychiatrist, the mother was the neighborhood association president, the eldest son was handsome and had excellent grades, and the daughter was a piano competition champion. They were a perfect family, without a single blemish or bad reputation, and their lack of blemishes made them seem suspicious in the first place. Unravelling the mystery of the Ichijo family is the main theme of this work, evolving into a mystery and psychological horror.
Migi and Dari infiltrate the dark Ichijo family home!
As they approach the Ichijo family home, the mystery the twins have been pursuing gradually unravels. By attracting the interest of Ichijo's eldest son, Eiji Ichijo, Migi and Dari are successfully invited into the Ichijo family home. They then discover that the Ichijo mansion is where Migi and Dari grew up, and discover a room there. The Ichijo family was undoubtedly involved in Migi and Dari's birth and the death of their mother.
Imprisonment, then Education
However, the Ichijo family's dark side runs deeper than expected, and Migi, who is effectively imprisoned, is forced by Eiji and Eiji's mother to dress like a baby and begin his education from scratch. While this serious and horrifying scene touches on the heart of the story, it also doesn't forget the surreal humor that leads to this scene. While these scenes touch upon the core of the matter, there are also humorous moments that make you wonder how things ended up that way, and heartwarming scenes in which, despite the humiliation, the twins continue to pursue their goal and pursue education, becoming the perfect baby!
The mystery that the Ichijo family has been hiding is finally revealed!
Then, the twins uncover a secret that the Ichijo family has been hiding for a long time. That mystery is the shocking truth that the perfect, well-behaved eldest son, Ichijo Eiji, still wets the bed at this age! For such a perfect, spotless family, this is a huge stain! Well, so what? You might be thinking, but so what? However, this fact will later have important implications. And so the story moves toward its climax.
[Migi and Dali] Summary
Here's a summary of what the anime "Migi and Dali," scheduled to air in the fall of 2023, is about! At first, it seems like a surreal, stylish comedy, similar to the author's previous work, "Sakamoto Desu ga?" (Is It Sakamoto Desu ga?"), but "Migi and Dali" doesn't end there; it's a work that will surprise even those who thought it was similar to "Sakamoto Desu ga?". The opening is funny, the middle is hilarious, and the climax is exciting. It's a work that's entertaining all the way through, so I highly recommend you check it out!
