Anime

[blazing nacelle]

I guess Mutsumi's double ego thing will get resolved soon tho?

I think I'm watching 7 as well, just to see what made half of China break down

I mean, Sakiko seems dead set on "defeating" Mortis and reinstating the OG Mutsumi back to the body, so she'd do anything to achieve it.

Really on brand with her extremely self-centered, selfish, hypocritical, character...

Am I spoiling myself? I'll see

[blazing nacelle]

Really, Sakiko is a scammer, a tinpot dictator and the prime example of a fair-weather friend.

She controls everything in her band, and is incensed when others try to do their own thing without her explicit approval. She seduces teammates into her band by giving them lofty promises, telling them to fully rely on her, but she couldn't actually fulfil the promises. When she had her way 100%, she acts nice and is happy. When things go wrong, she spreads negativity like a plague as if she's scared that anyone dares to be happy when Sakiko is sad.

I really really hate her. She has her hardships and circumstances (her father, and the Togawa group's power), but a lot of her problems are her own doing.

[blazing nacelle]

Ep7 is... fine?

Sakiko has been running away from every trouble ever since Mutsumi-Mortis's public breakdown. Soyo hence drags Sakiko physically to Mutsumi's house to make amends. Mortis, hating Sakiko, refuses to see Sakiko, so Sakiko waited outside for days hoping to get Mutsumi's forgiveness. Mutsumi eventually manages to take over the body and speak with Sakiko for a while.

Soyo and Anon becomes increasingly distracted by Mutsumi's deteriorating condition, and it affected MyGo's practices for a coming live performance the next day. The day of live performance, Taki (who has never visited Sakiko going to Mutsumi's house; Soyo did) decided to visit Sakiko outside Mutsumi's house. Soyo was delighted to see Taki come, and the 3 chat as they go into the house, where the 4 people reconciled.

Unfortunately, they took quite a bit of time there, and MyGo's final rehearsal was due to start soon (as mentioned by Anon), and the 4 people rushed back to the live-house, where Tomori and Anon are. Tomori had been writing (revising?) old Crychic-era lyrics for Sakiko, and, with Rana absent, Anon decided to lend her guitar to Mutsumi so Crychic can have a final performance instead of MyGo's rehearsal. The Crychic crew accepted, and performed Tomori's new song, and the one Crychic old song, to Anon and Rana. Everyone cries, and everyone's happy except for Yahata Umiri who wanted to reform Ave Mujica.

@fallow slate you want to see me review this episode right? I'll go deeper.

Well I'm not finding anything to hate, this seems like a light-hearted episode in between the heavy Mutsumi and Sakiko arcs. I agree with Soyo's happiness: Despite things not really being resolved, the situation was going on a positive direction. Crychic got their closure, MyGo gets to resume operations with Anon and Soyo no longer worried about Mutsumi, and it's down to Umiri to reform Ave Mujica.

I guess this is the end of Crychic? Thank god they didn't perform to an audience, because their singing was off-tune and I think off-beat. One cannot sing while crying, and this is why.

I am coming to appreciate Anon's character more as well. On one hand she's an angel for making the Crychic reunion and goodbye possible. On the other hand, the live effectively updated everyone's Crychic memories from a happy group years ago, to terrible, off-tune music in a tearful reunion. There's no more drive to reform Crychic. Anon has successfully killed Crychic for good.

Crychic's gone for good, right? RIGHT?

Taki's tsundere caring personality continued to shine, and the Taki-Soyo interactions in the 1st half is entertaining. And honestly it's funny seeing Umiri being this troubled by a single Taki comment in episode 6.

Also, I'm seeing Sakiko in a better light now. Despite all her flaws, her dedication towards Mutsumi earned a begrudging respect from me. Scant the chance may be, I hope the loss of her best friend would wake her up to the way she ran things and dealt with people.

Despite her Crychic revival dream I'm not reducing Mutsumi's favourability, because she's so broken she's not thinking straight.

Taki = Anon > Rana = Umiri = Uika = Mortis = Mutsumi > Soyo > average Joe = Tomori >> Sakiko > Nyamu

[blazing nacelle]

Episode 8-10 will have to wait.

I'm royally pissed.

Like, really really angry.

I don't want to type out things I'll regret, so I'll wait.

[blazing nacelle]

Episode 8-13, all the way to the end.

Mutsumi seems to believe that Crychic is revived thanks to the final dream. Because of that, Sakiko decided to INVITE TOMORI TO REFORM CRYCHIC

In front of Anon no less.

Wow.

Obviously this was rejected by just about everyone in a very brief meeting, as Mortis defeated Mutsumi, and subsequently broke down.

When Sakiko said she wanted to reform Crychic, Uika (Hatsune) was incensed. She wrote a song that basically confessed her desire to abduct and sexually assault Sakiko, and Sakiko actually made that into a song. Without Crychic, Sakiko went to reform Ave Mujica instead, and set for a reunion live performance.

After that performance, Uika is taken away to her island.

As it turns out, Misumi Uika is not actually Misumi Uika, and she's instead (Misumi? Togawa?) Hatsune, who is effectively Sakiko's aunt. Sakiko's grandfather had an affair with a woman and she bore Hatsune, and that woman eventually married another man and bore the actual Uika. Because of the identity's sensitive nature, Uika was barred from meeting the other Togawa people, and Uika/Hatsune could only really play with Sakiko in secret at night. And because of that Hatsune was obsessed with Sakiko. When Sakiko's father threatened her grandfather with this (trying to legitimise Uika?) her grandfather engineered her father's downfall causing the entire story to happen.

Nyamu finally had her share of justice. As it turns out part of the reason she unmasked others was to get Mutsumi's mother's attention. Unfortunately, her acting was sub-par, and Mrs. Wakaba rejected her.

Sakiko's grandfather arranged her to leave for Switzerland, but she ran away at the last second, and travelled all the way to the island to rescue Uika/Hatsune. After that, Sakiko officially revives the band, Ave Mujica performs live, and Sakiko declares herself the master of her own (and the other bandmates') destiny, and a god...

Well, screw Sakiko. She thinks about only herself.

[blazing nacelle]

Discord hates me 😢

[blazing nacelle]

idk what, but I put it all as a txt instead.

[blazing nacelle]

It's funny, I have a lot of opinions on the way Ave Mujica's plot is handled, speculations, and various ideas about how the anime could have gone differently.

All Ave Mujica members are really pathetic in their own ways. Nyamu is short-sighted and selfish. Umiri's character shouldn't really have that kind of issue, it seems forced to a point it looks comical. Uika's yandere action paints her in a very poor light. Sakiko is just the least sympathetic character in the show by a long shot. Mutsumi gets a pass, she's unwell.

And it really really shows when the person who saw through Mutsumi's problem is Taki, and the one to comfort Mutsumi was Soyo, not an AM member.

And some of the negative qualities are also present in the MyGo people.

Despite the whole heartwarming vibe of episode 7 I do feel Soyo and Taki chose a poor time to visit Mutsumi, and the way Anon, Rana, and Tomori waited in the Ring Livehouse made Taki's previous insistence of punctuality pretty hypocritical. I don't think they've ignored MyGo based on their interactions with the rest, but communication really needs improvement.

Anon shows her scheming side with her disclosing information strategically to cause maximum distaste towards Crychic for Soyo (who remains the biggest Crychic reform supporter until Sakiko did it herself.), and made Crychic truly end itself with that practise session in episode 7. The whole implosion in episode 10 is a testament of her work.

Tomori's indecisiveness showed its worst in this place as well. What should have been the easiest "No!" in response to Crychic revival schemes turned into a shocked silence, making it a bigger trouble than it really should be. The "final Crychic song" thing was handled poorly on her side as well, the Uika-Tomori conflict could be avoided, and I did raise an eyebrow when it was (kind of?) suggested that Tomori was shafting Anon and Rana by writing lyrics for Sakiko (and Crychic).

Also, Sumita Mana and Sumimi's fate when Uika was brought back to the island was unresolved. The fate of the real Misumi Uika was unresolved. Anon's middle school friends were still not given closure.

[blazing nacelle]

Really Sakiko is the type of person I expect would be cutting Anon's and Rana's guitar strings in their debut live if she and Soyo switched places, just to humiliate them into leaving the band to pave way for Crychic. If I pulled her I'd be raising everyone to E0L2 other than her.

@fallow slate I feel like I'm a little too biased, and am missing something major. Please, what do people see in Sakiko? Why does she have such high popularity she's a 6 star?

[fallow slate]

She just a main character same as Tomori nothing more than that.
Her position as leader of band, her skills to put it together (she did discover Tomori aptitude and pulled connections to make AVE real and big thing.)
So really problem is not Sakiko herself, it's authors making her plight "bigger than her" so everything is justified.
As I tried to not spoil, were Sakiko words to Soyo about Crychic reunion harsh? Yes. Still if they stick with her father being drunk and abandoned by mega corp, mother dead and she traumatized... That would be fine. But no we have to wash her with going back on her words bending because when Soyo asks? Soyo a bitch! When Mutsumi asks? Oh my god!? My precious angel friend I will sell those other members for you!
So her stance as I have my father to deal with so I can't willy nilly sing with band into I have to be incognito for my dream into I will do everything for Mutsumi to come back! Also Uika exists!
@blazing nacelle so as not avid watcher of musical drama bands I have no idea for good storytelling but it's really falls apart when Mutsumi...
Shows her inner demons? Like I can't make conclusion on her because her mother insinuation is not that off, she is manipulative which is why only "strongest" character will survive battle royale of inner personalities. It's all about her when really... It's not and never was in MyGo there is an proverb - still water runs deep. But writing team just bended over every character to accommodate Mutsumi in Ave for that drama where "no one is at fault".

Also will point out a thing about Nyamu, she did hint she was in a band. Her audience was already on it, it's the follow up after reveal that made audience to get their fill and leave her. So she wasn't that big plotter, just naive fame chaser. She missed her opportunity with Mutsumi mother because she wanted to get back with Ave, deal wasn't off she missed deadline for the deal.

So really Mutsumi being super genius actor is more prevailed problem than Sakiko being bitchy.
Sakiko doesn't even holds any of her promises true. All her character ark from MyGo to start of AVE goes back to Mutsumi need support! Then goes back to we need AVE to go because Mutsumi onboard!
Her suffering for father? Eh.
Her trying to be incognito? Eh.
Her telling harsh truth that you can't go back when world collapse on you?
Eh.

Like again those are pretty brutal and harsh words to tell Soyo how world works and she can't be part of band because rent must be payed, her father needs extra attention as he is a mess, her heritage demands her to be pretty princess of big corporate.
She was motivated to pull strings from her corporation to make miracle band because MyGo motivated her... Nyamu betrayal? Fine, expected.
But then we get Mutsumi and it just ... Goes ways.
Why even Mutsumi was hellbend on going with Crychic? She made no effort to talk with Soyo in MyGo. When Sakiko suffered it was all fine but when Sakiko started pushing AVE... It's not fine?

Because really Sakiko is just rich princess as character. The most staple of staples character tropes, her being more than that is great but then her going against her words that were established through her own story and actions. Something that was big deal in MyGo is nothing in Ave Mujica. Even in Ave Mujica things that are important... Become unimportant because Mutsumi...
So whole drama is around Mutsumi being so great that all her band mates are worthless pieces of shit. AVE mega popular> face reveal> is that Mutsumi > Mutsumi breakdowns> audience wow look at her! Such a talent!...
Like when did after reveal Ave Mujica got any recognition? It all become Mutsumi first and then maybe music...

So those are my personal thoughts. Though I try to push back with Mutsumi character being tragic but really it can go either way if it's tragic or she is the most manipulative person on world just highlights the weak part of writing where it's just author bias or insistent idea of we need drama so Mutsumi is perfect candidate to stir shit while being goody two shoes.

@split kayak You watched as series was ongoing, how off are discussion here is on MyGo and Ave Mujica?

[split kayak]

Damn... let me read it will take a while because I'll be procrastinating the backread

Hmmm... no analysis in the Ave Mujica personas? Like Oblivionis, Mortis, etc?

[fallow slate]

No, just general story discussion. So you can expand on personas as I would like to read about them. It's an aspect that eluded me which is why I focused on Sakiko and Mutsumi real life then theatrical counterpart.

[split kayak]

#1242799399936065536 message posting the link so I remember that the Ave Muji review starts here

[blazing nacelle]

They take a while to write, I still have a lot of thoughts...

[blazing nacelle]

Well, for one I don't think Episode 7 was anger inducing at all, the moment I got angry was later when Sakiko discussed reforming Crychic with Tomori. That was when I truly lost all hope with Sakiko. No amount of whitewashing after that point could redeem her in my eyes. Ep7 was actually one of the better episodes IMO.

[fallow slate]

That my qualm as well only from other perspective
Soyo > get benched you can't go back in time!
Mutsumi > yes my girl, I will do anything so you feel better!

like even disbanding feels like if Mutsumi didn't say anything then it wouldn't happen.
So is Sakiko coded that Mutsumi is her main person and she give 0 shit about others?

[blazing nacelle]

As for the persona

Maybe it's just me but they aren't really in focus for most of the episodes? The anime went striaght into the Mortis thing, and the "world of Ace Mujica" kinda got sidelined for most of it

To be honest I thought it was just a silly world building thing with little more than atmosphere, but well

Mortis is the most fitting, Mutsumi's persona thing was themed around death, especially when Mortis actually killed the original guitar Mutsumi.

As for the other ones, I need more time to think about them because I don't have the energy to do philosophy- heavy character studies right now

[blazing nacelle]

Sakiko ignores everyone other than Mutsumi and Uika, and cares about the 2 only when their plights directly affects the operation of her bands.

She shafted Soyo in the park, she shafted Anon in her Crychic revival plan, she belittled Tomori with that Good luck remark, she ignored the opinions and feelings of everyone else.

[fallow slate]

yeap, so it feels like what character experience (band formation, family problems, trying to be independent) contradict to what she says and does (basically everything around Mutsumi and Uika at the very end). Director said and here we will wrap up and have a happy ending so lets just make sakiko go after Uika after treating her like trash all this time.

[blazing nacelle]

Also, you know what's funny?

Remember who Sakiko sought out for Crychic and AM.

Crychic: Tomori, Soyo, Mutsumi.

AM: Nyamu Uika Mutsumi Umiri.

Taki was not someone Sakiko wanted. She was recommended by Maki, Taki's sister, who is an accomplished musician. Anon and Rana are outsiders.

And guess who's the most responsible and mentally stable? Taki, Anon, and perhaps Rana. Everyone Sakiko wanted had major issues.

[blazing nacelle]

Sakiko is a sad excuse of a main character. That being said...

I support her decision to deny Soyo. Soyo's scheme, which calls for her to get Sakiko and Mutsumi back and kicking out Anon and Rana, is unquestionably evil, and motivated by only Soyo's selfish desires. There is no way any good-natured individual should accept such a proposal.

Mutsumi's situation seemed like a life-or-death situation, because the Mortis vs guitar Mutsumi contest could only have 1 ultimate victor. Sakiko is trying to save the original Mutsumi, which I guess is a justification?

Unfortunately, Sakiko failed (willfully ignored) the opinions of all 8 other people, who are more or less against such a move. Her indifference to others' opinions can be seen when she invited Anon alongside Tomori for the initial negotiation, fully aware that Anon's band is in major jeopardy if such a scheme is materialised.

She also failed to explain Mutsumi's circumstances to anyone else, so that an alternative solution could be made. In fact, she has consistently and stubbornly refused any external help or opinions on solving her problems, even when her preferred options are objectively horrible solutions.

Her thought process has always been

I do something. Something goes wrong. I think of a solution. This solution must be implemented, screw everything else.

Seriously that sounds like the thought process of a villain, not a hero.

[blazing nacelle]

I assume the whole Soyo-Mutsumi thing in MyGo is because of Soyo hyperfocusing on bringing Sakiko back directly using Mutsumi as a messenger pigeon. In hindsight the better thing for Soyo to do would be convincing Mutsumi to go back to the band directly (while kicking Anon out for incompetence, for early on Taki would be on-board as well, while Tomori presents the only resistance). With Mutsumi back, Sakiko's extreme obsession with Mutsumi would make convincing Sakiko easier.

[fallow slate]

Like the more I think how flawed is Sakiko and makes no sense... The more I remember Mutsumi is a child genius that can be perfect for any occasion be it interview, acting or anything else.
I just rationalize her as being character from special powers anime rather than grounded music band at this point.

[blazing nacelle]

Well, Anon was apparently a beginner at the start of MyGo who can barely play chords.

1 week later she performed decently well in a live-house alongside Rana and Taki-Soyo-Tomori. 1 week of practise.

In addition to justifying Taki's nightmare training regiment, this also shows that Anon is absolutely a guitar genius.

Perhaps long, pink hair does translate to godly guitar skills (looking at you Bocchi the Rock)

[blazing nacelle]

As for the Mutsumi-Mortis persona thing

Well,

I don't really have an opinion on the executive decision for this to be a plot. This is the roughest of plot points, and it can work depending on the execution.

What went wrong was the execution . The whole Mutsumi saga spanned from episode 4 up to 10, and, if setup is included, all the way from 1 to 10. And during this time the persona conflict was at the forefront, costing Umiri and Nyamu character development, and making Uika barely appear.

I don't think this is an issue to solve, but I guess they could have made it a less severe thing at the start, placing it in the background, and ramping up importance up until the end?

Well, let me try something...
(WORD LIMIT DAMMIT I HATE DISCORD)

[split kayak]

What went wrong was the execution . The whole Mutsumi saga spanned from episode 4 up to 10, and, if setup is included, all the way from 1 to 10. And during this time the persona conflict was at the forefront, costing Umiri and Nyamu character development, and making Uika barely appear.
Yeah, I think the same thing, it was just too long and poor Umiri got like, 5 minutes of screentime about her

[blazing nacelle]

Like, let me try...

Episode 1, Nyamu betrayed the band as usual. Mutsumi was horrified at her reveal. Episode 2-3 has Mutsumi breaking down and Mortis starts surfacing. Episode 4 has Mortis finally appearing.

Instead of permanent switches as rival personas, Mutsumi could freely change personas with Mortis to handle speeches and stuff, while Mutsumi does the guitar. Ave Mujica's dissolution is averted.

Mortis, being Mutsumi's guardian persona, started fixing her issues with other people, chief of them Soyo, because their relations were terrible after Mutsumi repeatedly sided with Sakiko in MyGo anime, and Mutsumi seemingly betrayed Soyo by joining Ave Mujica. This caused rumours, however, and Ave Mujica and MyGo became hotly debated topics throughout the Internet.

Meanwhile, Nyamu's vanity and Umiri's trust issues started causing problems, as Nyamu attempted to exploit Mortis/Mutsumi more, while Umiri tried to create trust by blindly smoothing everything over regardless (because she has no experience in actually managing a band, unlike Taki). Nyamu's exploitation angers Mortis, and it eventually exploded.

As Sakiko was already angry with Nyamu for betraying, Nyamu was against Sakiko for going back on her promise of gaining popularity, and Mortis was against both Sakiko and Nyamu for exploiting Mutsumi's fame and breakdown, a massive 3-way argument happened, with Umiri (and Uika) unable to resolve the many conflicts the 3 had...

The conflict was, of course, recorded, and Nyamu’s unethical actions as a bandmember was revealed (through the mouths of Sakiko and Mortis), and she quickly became infamous online. As she lost friends and sponsors left and right, Nyamu finally realised how corrupt and twisted her relentless chase of clicks made her to become. After posting an apology video, Nyamu stopped social media activities to let it die down. Meanwhile, Umiri reflected her failures at mediating conflict between band-members, and she sought advice from Taki. Taki referred her to Soyo, and the two started working on conflict resolution. A week later, Umiri would start posting videos with Nyamu, rehabilitating Nyamu’s online reputation.

Depressed by Mutsumi/Mortis's outburst, Sakiko became depressed. Being firmly rejected by one of the people she cared the most hurt a lot, and she knew this could not continue. As Sakiko finally realised her failure to account for others' problems, she repented and began to make amends with Mutsumi and the other Crychic members in MyGo, seeking help from Anon, the cheeky schemer. A tearful reunion and a reveal of Sakiko’s circumstances is followed, and Taki, Tomori, and Soyo are finally given closure.

Mutsumi, moved by Sakiko’s actions, tried to convince Mortis, but Mortis was unwilling to forgive Sakiko. When Sakiko went to Mutsumi’s residence to make amends with her, Mortis fought hard against Mutsumi’s acceptance, and the two fight and suppress each other, and Mutsumi falls into a coma. With that, the Ave Mujica dissolution rumours start intensifying, and Sakiko’s grandfather decided everything was up, announced Ave Mujica’s dissolution, brought Uika back to the island, and arranged Sakiko to be sent to Switzerland. A broken Sakiko accepted.

Naturally, nobody was happy with the development. As Taki, Soyo, and Tomori tended to an unconscious Mutsumi, Umiri, partnering with Nyamu and Anon (outsider, but for her scheming and social skills; maybe Tomori instead? idk), went to the airport, intercepting Sakiko and convincing her to defy her grandfather again by going with them to reclaim Uika. Sakiko accepted, and the four of them set out for Uika. On the island, Uika’s past is revealed, and through communication, her unhealthy obsession of Sakiko is lessened, or outright eliminated. Uika is also convinced to defy Sakiko’s grandfather, and the five of them went back to Tokyo.

Everyone gathers around Mutsumi, who remains unconscious. Organised by Umiri, everyone brought Mutsumi’s unconscious body to the livehouse, where a MyGo live performance was scheduled to begin. After the live performance, Tomori and Soyo recounted the founding and dissolution of Crychic, the formation of MyGo, and the MyGo crew’s wishes for Sakiko and Mutsumi to find their happiness in a separate band. Then, Anon and Taki brought Sakiko up to the stage, who publicly apologised to the abrupt dismantlement of Crychic, and how she unintentionally hurt her friends and bandmates because of her selfish actions. Sakiko also pledged to not repeat those actions again. These words finally caused Mortis to forgive Sakiko, and as the two personas mostly align with each other, they merge, and Mutsumi wakes up again. The rest of Ave Mujica joins MyGo on stage, where they announce the revival of Ave Mujica, and a joint performance with MyGo sometime in the future.

In the finale, the two bands join together in a massive joint live performance, playing Haruhikage (the Crychic song) as a grand finale, an a nod to both bands’ common heritage. Everyone is happy, the end.

[blazing nacelle]

Also, I forgot to do a final ranking of characters.

Taki = Anon > Rana >= Soyo > Umiri = average Joe = Sumita Mana > Mutsumi > Tomori = Uika > Nyamu > Sakiko's father > Mutsumi's mother = trash on the side of the road > Sakiko

Soyo gained quite a few marks with her caring about her bandmates and Mutsumi, while Umiri just suffered a massive loss of aura in her random trust issue breakdown halfway through the show. Tomori's indecisiveness lost a lot of marks for me, and Uika lost all rationality the moment Sakiko is mentioned.

If I have to pick people from this group to form a band, I'd go with Taki, Anon, Umiri, and recruit random people in RiNG. Those three people are the ones I can trust to actually running a band efficiently without too many problems.

Do I need to glaze Taki more? She's responsible, competent, has a strong desire to prove herself, and is a great judge of character (as long as their name isn't Takamatsu Tomori). She has a foul mouth, but that's a problem that can be easily solved with a team of normal bandmates alongside her.

Yes, out of all guitarists I am choosing Anon because 1. she's stable and well, and 2. she's an insane prodigy who reached semi-professional guitar proficiency in <7 days of training. Her ability would only improve as time goes on, she's reaching professional level in no time.

Umiri is a competent bassist without any insane mental issues. Given enough time, she'll grow to be a trusted member in the band, and her trust issue solves itself.

Rana and Soyo, although ranked high, are pretty unstable. Rana is a free soul who skips training sessions randomly, and is unreachable by phone. Soyo is prone to hyperfixations and unethical schemes like Crychic.

The rest are either redundant (Sumita and Tomori, when Anon sings already) or have major obvious crippling issues that make them terrible to work with.

Oh, and another thing

Umiri spent a ton of money in her shopping spree. I cannot imagine just how much money she spent while buying every single piece of jewelry merchandise in the shop. And she bought 2 armfuls of bags worth of random expensive stuff.

This means that Umiri is rich. VERY rich.

There is no information about how rich Umiri's family is. But if I have to guess, her family should be average, because while they have enough money to buy her her bass guitar and basic training, the school she's in isn't that prestigious I think (Soyo's school is for rich students, Anon's school is academically focused, while Taki/Umiri's school is the worst of the 3, meaning it's more a vocational school for non-elites)

If that's the case, Umiri gets paid a lot for her bass mercenary work.

And if that's the case SAKIKO YOU STUPID IDIOT YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN A KEYBOARD MERCENARY THAT SOLVES YOUR FINANCIAL ISSUE RIGHT AWAY AAAAAAAAAA

I'm still not done with sillier thoughts yet.

[blazing nacelle]

Poor Umiri turned from being a cool mercenary into a crying clown desperately craving validation. It's too short, and there was no time for her issues to truly show itself, so the final reveal seems forced and childish in a way. It's as if one Taki sentence caused Umiri to question her entire life up to that point, which is hilarious.

Plus the way she went on to gain trust don't really work, and by the end of the anime, when Sakiko announced her godhood (shudder), I still don't think she's gained the trust she wanted from her teammates.

And her choice to quit all the other bands (as a testament of her "trust") is questionable as well. Umiri, of all 30+ total bands and 10+ active ones, you chose Ave Mujica? The band that performed for like 2 months, and then immediately imploded because everyone is more or less crazy in their own way? That's the one place you want to call home? What next, do you want to move in and live with Sakiko's father?

(Sorry for ping, stupid Discord defaults it to ping enabled)

[blazing nacelle]

(Or perhaps Taki's words are really that important to Umiri. In other words...)

And another thing

Is the real Misumi Uika really real? If she's real, is she confirmed to be alive in any way?

Maybe because I read too many fanfictions but

Imagine if Misumi Uika is a delusion of Misumi Hatsune. There are 2 ways I can think of right now. Keep in mind that Hatsune is demonstrably mentally unwell.

One, Uika never existed. Hatsune and Uika are the same person.

Imagine when the Togawa barred Hatsune from meeting Sakiko, so Hatsune made a delusion, a fake persona named Misumi Uika, who is not barred from visiting Sakiko when they were children. Hence, Hatsune was the one who played with Sakiko the entire time. When she finally told Sakiko the truth (Uika had a "fever", Hatsune replaced her), Sakiko either accepted or rejected her, and told her family, which made any further meetings impossible. Subsequently Hatsune used Uika as a pseudonym as she sought to reconnect with Sakiko in Tokyo.

Two, Uika did exist but the real Uika died.

Isn't it strange how nobody, from the actual Misumi family to the real Uika, ever said anything about the Misumi Uika in Sumimi being clearly a result of identity theft? Well, it's not weird when they're all dead. Perhaps the Uika-Hatsune meetings with Sakiko was actually Uika and Hatsune in that order, but then on the final secret meeting, when Hatsune (pretending to be Uika) was meeting with Sakiko, some sort of unfortunate accident happened to the Misumi household, killing all of them. Hatsune was the sole survivor. Wrecked with survivor's guilt, Hatsune decided to complete Uika's idol dream by assuming Uika's identity and becoming an idol herself... Of course, in the final story she told Sakiko that part was conveniently left out.

Uhm, or more...
Three, real Uika did exist, and is actually in front of us the entire time...

Cherkhov's gun compels that, if a seemingly unrelated plot point is introduced, it would become important later on.
Skin doesn't matter (they're all Japanese). Hair can be dyed. Eye colour can be faked by contact lens. Faces grow to be unrecognisable. Which means, one of our band members is the real Misumi Uika, unbeknownst to them. Or they know, just don't want to spill the beans...

Or, Two plus three.

Hatsune thought Uika died, but Uika actually survived, and was adopted into a different family under a different name...

Or, two but darker

Sakiko's grandfather actually wanted Hatsune dead, to remove a threat of his power. Unfortunately, the first time killed everyone but the target, and the second time had Sakiko interfere before he could land the blow...

Or, one times three

Mutsumi has split personas, right?

Guess what, so does Sakiko. She has two personas, the nice one that's active right up until Crychic died, upon which she's shocked to sleep, and the egotistical one took over until right this moment.

And guess what, so does Uika. One is Hatsune, one is Uika. Rest is history.

I don't want to theorise/speculate too wildly into secret twins and secret societies/mafias and similar things...

But...

Did Anon plan everything out? On the surface she seems like a perfect bandmate. She's kind, talkative, friendly, and nice. The only problem she has is her bad guitar skills, but by the end of MyGo episode 7 she's competent enough, even if not competitive or professional.

Which means, she's not as she seems. She's actually a master manipulator behind the scenes, to cement her position in her band, as the most important member. She's extremely smart after all, able to go to Britain to study.

She saw everything Soyo was planning all along, and pretended to be fooled. Instead, she encouraged Taki to put Haruhikage as a training music despite Soyo's objections, and Rana to play it a lot so she'd play it unprompted in the live. Sakiko thus abandons any thought of reforming Crychic as she ran out of RiNG.

She forged close bonds with everyone in MyGo, from giving candies to Rana to being the one bringing Soyo back to the band. Tomori was also close thanks to the mutually saving, and her banter with Taki turned friendly.

She encouraged Nyamu's vanity by being her top fan and sending many encouraging messages, making a ~80k subscriber youtuber to think she's bigger than she actually was. She knew Sakiko would invite such a person into Ave Mujica, and such a vain person would crash out. All that's left, is for Ave Mujica to crash and burn.

That's a big gambit. She needed Sakiko to reform Crychic, and fail miserably, for Crychic to truly die. And it paid off. By telling Soyo Sakiko's Ave Mujica plan, Sakiko's rude words towards Crychic, and giving her guitar to Mutsumi for Crychic's farewell live (to nobody but her and Rana), she was doing everything to make the prospects of reforming Crychic increasingly stupid and universally loathed.

And it worked. By episode 10 reforming Crychic was a joke, and nobody really paid it any attention...

[blazing nacelle]

Despite her being an initial outsider, thanks to her increasing participation in MyGo and Ave Mujica's activities, she's now friends with basically everyone. MyGo cannot function without her. And it really shows, when in the final live performance it was Anon, not Tomori, who stood in the middle in the finale...

[blazing nacelle]

Oh, and when I said Fanfiction I mean ones of other stories I'm interested in

I don't know why the first result I searched for MyGo fanfiction had Anon x Sakiko of all pairings. The next is Anon x Soyo. Are writers sadomasochists or something?

Reminds me of the absolutely cursed Harry Potter x Lord Voldemort pairing...

(But to be fair if there's a fanfiction I want to read it would be a hyperevil Soyo cutting Anon's guitar strings, and everyone beings to question everyone else...)

Anyway...

[blazing nacelle]

Or, or, four!

Uika and Hatsune has never stopped the twin switcharoo prank thing. On Monday it's Uika, Tuesday it's Hatsune, etc etc etc.

And when Hatsune is captured back, Uika became full-time Sumimi, while Hatsune became full-time Ave Mujica... As for why nobody mentioned it well idk

[blazing nacelle]

And honestly Tomori's proposal for a lifelong band is sweet when first looking at it, but outright impossible functionally.

Mostly because what happens when one of them die?

Regardless MyGo is the more cohesive band of the two, though that's more because Ave Mujica is a circus than MyGo being particularly impressive

[blazing nacelle]

Okay, so the Ave Mujica personas (and the world of Ave Mujica as a whole)

The worldview is simple. A bunch of dolls getting reanimated by the magical moon, who performs in a masquerade ball (cut short by Amoris/Nyamu's betrayal)

Now, the characters. I'm not a literature student, I don't have too much experience in philosophy so it's probably shallow, but I try my best.

First, Amoris, who does not fear love. Nyamu comes from a family of multiple children who was struggling financially, so she was desperately trying to gain fame to get money. Of all people she's the most materialistic. She was also an aspiring actor, trying to gain an in-road to the acting industry by getting near to Mutsumi's actress mother, which in hindsight failed.

For her career as an influencer and an actress to succeed, she needs to be liked, or loved, by the general public and the audience, and this is where her character's primary conflict lies. Her character arc is supposed to be her overcoming it, which she kinda did by ditching all that for Ave Mujica.

(Cont'd below, discord messages are short...

Second, Timoris, who does not fear fear (Goofy name, huh). Umiri's character really is not that well developed, but her main trouble came from her being overbearing to her former bandmates, and when they refused to turn up in their band audition, she was traumatised. She feared that other bands would leave her alone as well, so she 1. proved her worth by having great bass skills, 2. joined 30+ bands so if one ditches her she still has the others, and 3. mostly adopted a professional, standoff stance uninvolved in band drama. Unfortunately this also led to her unable to solve Ave Mujica's problems when Nyamu Nyamu'd and Sakiko Sakiko'd.

(Really, I think a better fit would be Solitudinis, who does not fear being alone? Whatever)

Umiri is contradictory. On one hand, she wants to be a trusted and integrated member in the band; on the other hand, her own fear of abandonment made her into the cold bass mercenary who is unable to forge the connections she wanted. Her fear is the one thing that holds her back, and her arc is for her to overcome it. I don't think the anime portrayed this growth well, but I guess her quitting all other bands to focus on Ave Mujica, who (at least on surface) gave her that trust is indicating a success?

Third, Mortis, who does not fear death. Well, Mutsumi's multi-persona nature naturally meant that she has experienced many deaths (of personalities) without her actually dying. Her many personalities were created as a coping mechanism against the many things her mother forced on her, and over time she has seemingly stabilised by reabsorbing all those personalities back into her, barring Mortis.

Her problem was amplified once again, when Ave Mujica collapsed. For the next few episodes, Mutsumi and Mortis were fighting for control of the body. Mortis, in particular, has contradicting goals, saving the original Mutsumi persona, and not disappearing en route, which means that for all subsequent episodes, Mortis was flip-flopping between supporting Mutsumi and opposing Mutsumi dominance. Mutsumi, meanwhile, was just depressed the entire time, right until near the end, where the Mortis-Mutsumi conflict is externalised into a battle between reforming Ave Mujica or reforming Crychic.

Mutsumi and Mortis's ultimate ultimate goal actually aligns, which is to have one stable persona controlling Wakaba Mutsumi, who is not afraid of social interactions and can play guitar well. Unfortunately, to achieve this, both Mortis and Mutsumi needs to die and merge, something neither is very willing to do. Eventually, however, this goal is completed when they actually did merge (while singing Uika's Sakiko tribute song no less)

Fourth, Doloris, who does not fear sorrow. Hatsune's life has been consistently sad, being an illegitimate daughter of Sakiko's grandfather. Her entire life was isolated, and Sakiko was effectively her only friend outside of family. When Sakiko left, Hatsune's goal has consistently been to be together with Sakiko.

But that was hard. Even when she ran away from her hopeless destiny, she was unable to reunite with Sakiko thanks to Crychic. When she finally had the chance to form Ave Mujica, the band collapsed almost immediately thanks to Nyamu's betrayal.

But that was not even the main problem. Because of her sensitive identity, she always knew that her past would catch up to her one day, and that she would one day be forced to return to the island, never truly be able to be together with Sakiko forever. Her thought process was likely along the line of "this nice thing won't be able to last, so I might as well enjoy this illusion while it lasts", while sombrely waiting for her time to end. While this is actually true, she did not realise Sakiko was actually more powerful (as the actual heiress by blood) than her grandfather (who was Togawa only by marriage).

Hence, the thing stopping her from happiness (i.e. being with Sakiko) is her wallowing in perceived hopelessness and self-pity because of her birth. And in the anime, Hatsune's problem is solved when Sakiko ran from the airport to see her on the island, and for Sakiko to assert Sakiko's power over her grandfather, annulling everything Uika was sad about.

(I'm really not sure this is the correct reading, Uika's arc is weird. I also don't think it's a good resolution because it isn't solved by Hatsune-Uika herself, but by external forces)

[blazing nacelle]

And finally, Sakiko. Despite my extreme distaste, I will try to make it fair.

Oblivionis, who does not fear being forgotten. Sakiko's whole character is very contradictory. At first, she's a nice person, but after her father was kicked out, and she followed her father, she became a lot more vicious and self-centred.

Sakiko's goal is pretty consistent, despite her abandoning it in the middle of the show: Living by herself (and perhaps her father) without any external help, maintaining her pride, while remaining a reliable and responsible leader of a band. In my opinion, she failed at everything, but I digress.

I... really don't know what to go on from here. I guess Sakiko's greatest obstacle is her memories of Crychic and her mother preventing her from truly letting go of her past? Or Sakiko remembering all her past deeds, and wants to throw off those shackles to start anew?

Well, I really don't know...

[blazing nacelle]

Well to be fair, I think most people's arcs aren't really solved.

Anon hasn't truly faced her past yet, the last time she saw her middle school friends she ran away. Even though she's not running away from stuff anymore, and perseveres in her guitar training, the shadow of her British studies and her past still lingers.

Taki remains sensitive about her sister, at least that's my impression. She's still be prone to recklessly overworking just to prove herself.

Soyo's arc is solved I think. After 26 episodes of anime I feel she has truly put Crychic in the past, and is moving forwards.

Rana doesn't really have an arc, she found her home in MyGo!!!!!, and that's it. Her hyper-focusing on her guitar, and inability to communicate with fellow bandmates effectively, remains major issues.

Tomori has got out of her shell. She's a lot more confident and is effectively asserting her opinions, which is great. Her arc is finished. Perhaps her will to include everyone is noble and doesn't warrant any changes (and I am too cynical)

But Ave Mujica, well...

Nyamu's arc I guess has finished? Maybe? She did put the band's collective before her self, which works?

Umiri's arc is resolved, but in a really bad way. I don't feel the band truly trusting her.

Uika's arc is "solved" by having Sakiko solve her issues. Uika remains a mess of a person.

Mutsumi's whole arc is so esoteric I don't really get what she improved as a person. I guess she's no longer multiple personalities in one shell? That's an improvement right?

Sakiko started the anime shows as a prideful, unsympathising, yet stressed and desperate person who sought to lead an independent life. Sakiko ended the show as an psychopathic narcissistic hypocrite who uses her Togawa heiress influence to get her way. She did take on AM's debt when they cancelled the show, but that's the most generous thing she's ever done. What a character arc.

[blazing nacelle]

Wait, no no, after a day of work I finally had a shower thought.

Oblivionis, who does not fear forgetting, not being forgotten.

When looking at Sakiko's actions, there is one common theme: She likes running away. When her father was removed from Togawa, Sakiko evaded confronting her grandfather in favour of running away with her father. When she realised she was unable to continue Crychic, she chose to leave the band without telling anyone why. She refused to meet Soyo to give Soyo closure about why she left Crychic. When she ran away from the RiNG livehouse after hearing Haruhikage, she called Uika to make her forget about it all. When Mutsumi started having troubles after being pressured by the media, Sakiko ignored it. When Mutsumi collapsed mentally, Sakiko decided to disband Ave Mujica without trying to fix the issues. When Mutsumi's mental health visibly deteriorated, Sakiko decided to blame herself, but do nothing. Only when Soyo dragged her to see Mutsumi in Ave Mujica episode 7 did she finally end the whole running away thing.

In this context, "forgetting" means Sakiko running away from her responsibilities, and try to start anew by covering up her past and forgetting about it all. Sakiko doesn't truly have a big goal in the series I feel, merely being a successful musician while surviving with her pride intact. However, by constantly running away from her projects the moment problems show up, she could overcome none of them, dooming her to an endless cycle of starting a project, seeing the project initially thrive, problems show, and Sakiko running away abandoning her former teammates and the project.

In a way, Sakiko did overcome this forgetting thing. From episode 7 onwards, Sakiko finally took steps to confront her issues, from properly ending Crychic, to dealing with Mutsumi, and finally confronting her family in the Uika arc.

So, @split kayak

How accurate are my interpretations? I'm sure there are more to the persona. I don't really know what their masks mean, the patterns on them and the shapes, for instance. It's a band anime, is it supposed to be deep?

[split kayak]

Oh finally, that's what I was thinking.

Yeah, Oblivionis is just about forgetting about her problems or all kind of things

Even when she tried to make Crychic again, she was literally forgetting about Ave Mujica...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YNMV7xljD4 Also, this song was released while the anime was airing

[blazing nacelle]

Speaking of Sakiko...

I actually consider Ave Mujica episode 7 to be one of the better ones in the anime. Why did this become the start of AM bashing?

Really, if someone showed me this episode after MyGo, and told me it's part of its sequel, I'd have (at least somewhat) liked it.

Soyo finally stopped Sakiko from running away after 19 episodes, and Sakiko went on to beg Mortis-Mutsumi to forgive her. When Mutsumi refused, Sakiko proceeded to stand outside for days without moving an inch.

Meanwhile, Taki put aside her ire towards Sakiko (for abandoning Crychic and Tomori), and went to resupply Sakiko in Anon's stead, because it's a Crychic related trouble, and it shouldn't affect Anon, who wasn't Crychic in the first place.

After a while, Sakiko's efforts paid off, and Mutsumi invited her, and Soyo and Taki outside in for a talk. The live was starting soon, and Anon was telling the 2 MyGo people to come. Taki was acting Tsundere, so Soyo basically made Taki admit her caring about Anon (Taki vs Anon was an obvious frequent argument pair in MyGo) by refusing to reply. It's another sort of teambuilding thing?

And finally, the 4 people went back to the livehouse for the final rehearsal. Anon lent her guitar to Mutsumi so the Crychic people could all get closure. The singing was horrible, but really nobody was listening (barring Anon and Rana) so it's mostly fine. The only sad person is Umiri who thought Crychic was coming back. And a misunderstanding by Mutsumi who thought Crychic was actually coming back.

It's a very wholesome episode where Sakiko, Soyo, Taki, and Anon got to show their best sides. Other than the horrible offtune singing at the end it's great. What's to hate? The worst thing that happened to this episode was episode 10 which had Sakiko plan to reform Crychic anyway, but that's another story.

[blazing nacelle]

The theme song for yanderes. Yeah, Uika wasn't right in her head...

[split kayak]

Let me read what you wrote about Mutsumi. I think everything was kinda fine... except the passing I guess. Would have been perfect if it had more episodes at least

I mean, Mutsumi already had enough episodes about her, I just say more episodes in general so the other band members could have got more screentime about themselves

Specially for Nyamu, Umiri and maybe Uika

[blazing nacelle]

I really feel Uika's arc should have been set up for longer, or at least hinted at before episode 9-13. Something like her refusing to produce an ID for registration, anonymous people (maybe her sister?) claiming Uika isn't actually Uika, something like Gravity Falls "Stan is not what he seems" type of clue

And Nyamu and Umiri are just shafted big time. Nyamu seems like a perfectly reasonable person by the second half of the show, mostly because she didn't do anything after the unmasking. Umiri's collapse seemed sudden, and her attempts at solving it is ineffective and comical, making her seem like a clown really...

[blazing nacelle]

Passing? What do you mean

[split kayak]

I sometimes felt that things were cut short or simply end too abruptly...

They could have been portrayed or developed for longer but because they were in a margin of 12 episodes, they had to cut things at least I felt it was like that...

[split kayak]

#1242799399936065536 message marker of where I left... I'll keep reading

Hmmm... so you think there's twins? Hatsune/Uika?

[blazing nacelle]

I'm under the impression that it goes

The original Togawa family line goes down to Old Madam Togawa.

Togawa Sr. married Old Madam Togawa matrilineally, the two had sex, and Old Madam Togawa gave birth to Ms. Togawa.

Ms. Togawa married Mr. Togawa matrilineally, the two had sex, and Ms. Togawa gave birth to Sakiko.

Togawa Sr. cheated on Old Madam Togawa with Ms. Misumi. Ms. Misumi gave birth to Hatsune.

Ms. Misumi then married Mr. Misumi. The two had sex, and Ms. Misumi gave birth to Uika.

But somehow child Hatsune and child Uika looked very very similar, similar enough for everyone to confuse the two.

After timeskip, all "Misumi Uika" is actually Hatsune, the actual Uika had 0 screen time.

This means that Togawa Sr. is a grandfather of Sakiko, and the father of Hatsune, making Hatsune Sakiko's aunt.

Uika is Hatsune's half-sister.

Sakiko has no blood-related relationship with Uika.

[split kayak]

Hmmm... if they are really similar then how can grandfather tell Hatsune from Uika...

[blazing nacelle]

Well, given that a 3rd season is green-lit, the time thing is even more questionable.

And I'm saying that, because apparently Ave Mujica bombed in China and Japan (Mostly China) really hard. Really, I just searched it up in Chinese web and it's flooded with people hating on it, It's unreal.

And if Ave Mujica can still get a 3rd season despite bombing like this, I am reasonably confident in asserting that a 3rd season is inevitable no matter Ave Mujica's performance.

With that said, I feel that the hard limit of 1. bands must comprise of 5 people, and performances must have 5 people on stage, and 2. the final episode must be a triumphant live performance where everyone plays happily are the main limitations of the story.

I'm willing to let MyGo slide, because it's a pilot season, and should tell a self-contained story, but the second season shouldn't limit itself to forcing Ave Mujica to reunite by episode 13 and do a live. With most of her band's problems unresolved, having Sakiko attend a successful MyGo performance in Budokan and developing into a full-fledged professional band by themselves, while Sakiko's own band falls apart, would be a better S2 ending IMO. And wait for S3's 13 episodes to properly solve all of Ave Mujica's issues. And after that, have a reformed AM (still a professional) and MyGo (rising to the top, also professional) do a massive joint performance to end the whole series...

[split kayak]

And that similarity... it could happen but it's really weird.

[blazing nacelle]

Ms. Misumi's genes work really hard. In other words, Togawa Sr.'s and Mr. Misumi's genes are pathetic...

[split kayak]

At the end of that episode when the Grandpa called Uika Hatsune... I started to schizothink... then I noticed that both had the same eye color that's how I infered that Uika/Hatsune might be Grandpa's daughter

[blazing nacelle]

(Well given it's a world completely dominated by the female musicians, maybe the genes reflect it as well)

(Like, I haven't seen a single male human in RiNG. Where did the fundings towards boy bands go?)

[split kayak]

and there's no mention of a sister... she used the Uika persona to get closer to Sakiko

[blazing nacelle]

And speaking about eye colours...

You know who have purple eyes?

Uika. Taki. Nyamu.

Imagine if Taki/Nyamu are actually Uika...

(Well Taki is unlikely, given Maki and the whole Shiina family, and Taki's sister inferiority complex)

[split kayak]

She always wore a mask to get closer to her.

That's why you can see in Imprisoned XII that she's the first one to wear the mask

Behind the mask of Doloris/Uika Misumi is Hatsune Misumi

[blazing nacelle]

Well I do have 4 theories on Uika/Hatsune

One: Uika doesn't exist, Hatsune hallucinated Uika either as a coping mechanism to justify her seeing Sakiko despite the ban, or a lie to Sakiko and others to justify it.

Two: Uika exists, but died sometime between the last Hatsune visit and Hatsune leaving the island; Hatsune uses her sister's name to complete Uika's idol dream.

Three: Uika is one of the other 9 band girls featured. Primary suspect is Nyamu, given her eye colour, but can be anyone (contact lenses)

Four: Uika/Hatsune does the twin swap prank every day. Monday: Uika, Tuesday: Hatsune, etc etc etc. Up until Togawa Sr. calls it. That's why Sumimi is still active despite Hatsune's recall.

Or, you know, combinations of the above, like Uika surviving, but Hatsune doesn't know (Two plus three)

Or, assassination plot against Hatsune made by Togawa Sr. failed and got Uika instead (Two, darker)

Or, Hatsune/Uika having a split personality a la Mutsumi/Mortis

[split kayak]

No split personality because you can't tell Uika from Hatsune, where would you put the line between them?

Which episodes can you tell that Uika is herself or Hatsune or viceversa?

[blazing nacelle]

I think real Uika never actually existed on-screen? All Sakiko/Hatsune flashbacks are Hatsune onscreen.

That's not a solid indicator that Uika never existed though, Maki never appeared on-screen.

[split kayak]

I agree that Uika never existed. It's a name Hatsune herself created because... (I forgot all the drama about Togawa) ... but basically did that so the name Hatsune isn't revealed... only coming out as Uika to everyone

So to everyone, she was Uika, as real as anybody.

But that was since the start a mask, no one knew about Hatsune

[blazing nacelle]

But if it's the split personality theory, then I guess

Nice Uika, seen in MyGo helping Tomori

Yandere crawler Uika, screaming "Saki-chan" on the ground

Those 2 are sufficiently different from each other I can definitely say are different personalities if the theory stands. I guess Hatsune is the yandere one, while Uika is the nice one?

[split kayak]

She was always obsessed about Sakiko

Why would you she go to see the stars every time?

[blazing nacelle]

God dammit I'm so tired of masks

Who doesn't wear a mask in the 10 people?

Tomori Taki Umiri Rana

Even Anon has one, she mentioned that acting extroverted is exhausting.

[blazing nacelle]

Well, people can like stars without being romantically attracted to Sakiko.

Well, not really examples in the anime because Tomori also kinda likes Sakiko?

[split kayak]

Hmmm... nah, the mask is 100% an Ave Mujica thing... MyGO... it was fine

[blazing nacelle]

I was talking about social masks.

Like the type Soyo was "wearing" pretending to be nice to Anon and Rana while plotting to kick them out to reform Crychic

[blazing nacelle]

But yeah, overall I do rank the plausibility of these theories to be 1, 2, 3, (2+3), 4, split personalities simply in terms of narration

I can see the writers pulling off 2, 3, and 2+3 well, but if that's the setting then they wouldn't have written Ep11 and 12 that way.

[split kayak]

Well, I don't know what to say because I don't think it was that big of a deal about trying to reform Crychic...

[blazing nacelle]

Well the Soyo Crychic reform plan did cause her to have a bad outburst in MyGo episode 7, her leaving the team causing the unnamed band to effectively disband, Soyo tearfully begging Sakiko to go back with no avail, and Tomori (and later Anon) bringing the band back together with great effort, so it's a really major plot point

[split kayak]

It isn't as serious as a double personality, just a double persona with one being a front and the other a secret true persona

[blazing nacelle]

Really Soyo fucked her plan up from the start, she should have reconnected with Taki first (really easy, she's at RiNG), be friendly with Mutsumi and inviting Mutsumi back, and then investigated Anon's and Taki's schools for Sakiko's whereabouts. That would have brought back most of the band. Sakiko's problem is tricky though...

I misread...

[blazing nacelle]

Now that there're all these theories I'm actually a little excited about season 3 to explain away all the issues Ave Mujica raised but never solved...

And that's despite my antipathy towards Sakiko to the point where I genuinely don't care what happens to her anymore

[split kayak]

Of course it wasn't going to happen, Sakiko was in the "forget about it" phase

[split kayak]

Hmmm... a Season 3 that links with Ave Mujica...? I don't think so...

MyGO and Ave Mujica were supposed to be apart by 1 or 2 years but Covid happened and Ave Mujica airing was delayed

The story was already planned. Still... I feel that it should have had more episodes

[blazing nacelle]

I have a feeling that Soyo actually has a shot, if she can just connect the dots of Sakiko's father's downfall and uncover the truth.

My impression of Sakiko's character is that she's is strong against weak opponents (like a half-despaired Soyo and Tomori) but really weak against someone with actual ammunition (she lost terribly against Nyamu, even if Nyamu's arguments are very shallow as well)

So if Soyo manages to get Taki, Tomori, and potentially Mutsumi as well, while knowing Sakiko's problems I give her quite a good chance to convince Sakiko back.

[blazing nacelle]

They did announce a season 3, no?

[split kayak]

Mugendai?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkpYy32ik7E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fdSXo-be7o

That girl in the cover? The TRUE Uika... trust!

[blazing nacelle]

This one

Or is it an April Fool's prank?

[split kayak]

Oh that one, I truly forgot about it

No, it's real

but... they just announced the production. No date yet

[blazing nacelle]

Also, one more thing

Why did Mutsumi get so much attention when she's revealed as Mortis in Ave Mujica, but seemingly none at all when she was playing in the open with Crychic?

I guess there is a difference between "Look an actress's daughter is playing in a band!" and "OMG this popular band's member turns out to be someone famous as well!!!", but the former shouldn't translate to 0 topic at all...

[blazing nacelle]

What does this server block...

AGAIN

And another thing, on who's compatible with who...

Anon, with pretty much everyone in MyGo. Really, she has pretty deep bonds with everyone in her band. Tomori for the comraderie, Soyo because Anon was the one guiding Soyo out of her Crychic delusions and subsequent implosion. Taki, well, over the course of MyGo the Anon-Taki bond was slowly strengthening and by the end they are pretty much great friends already. Rana, well, the matcha candy method was invented by Anon.

Tomori, with Anon. Anon and Sakiko are the ones who managed to make Tomori express herself by themselves. And then Sakiko did Sakiko things.

Taki, with Umiri, Anon, and maybe Soyo. Not Tomori. T/U are already basically an old couple based on interactions, while T/S by the end of the shows are like a pair of parents managing 3 troublesome kids.

No Taki-Tomori, because Taki was basically deifying Tomori to an unhealthy extreme. Taki was worshipping an idealised Tomori, and this prevents either of them from truly knowing each other.

Soyo, with Anon, Taki and maybe Mutsumi. Anon was the one who got to save Soyo by the end, Taki with their mutual understanding, and Mutsumi because Soyo was the most caring towards Mutsumi (actually alongside Taki) by the end of AM.

Rana with Anon or Taki, leaning Taki, but both are a stretch. Rana is hard to work with...

MyGo Sakiko actually has sparks with Tomori (Ep7), and Mutsumi. But AveMujica Sakiko shat on MyGo as a whole and Mutsumi, which killed everything.

Uika, Sakiko. Saki-chan Saki-chan Saki-chan OTZ!!!!!

Mutsumi, Soyo and Taki, and both are very far away stretches. Really, nobody truly cared about Mutsumi in 26 episodes barring the two.

Umiri, Taki.

Nyamu, nobody. Perhaps Umiri? I don't see any meaningful interactions with her, other than Umiri. The last 2 are barely explored.

Huh, it's fine with multiple messages.

Well, I'm not really into shipping, but the two pairs I truly get behind are Anon/Tomori and Taki/Umiri. Those two relationships are demonstrably healthy between mentally sane people. The rest are iffy.

[blazing nacelle]

I did rewatch Episode 7. If I don't take AM Sakiko into account, and only take MyGo Sakiko as reference

(Because otherwise I feel that Sakiko was just really angry at Soyo/Taki/Tomori's betrayal, and goes to form AM as a revenge)

Sakiko was probably genuinely happy with how Tomori and the other 2 are moving on with their newly formed unnamed band. The initial apprehension was Sakiko sad that Tomori, who was able to sing really well after a little friendship boost back in Crychic's era, was performing badly. But after Tomori noticed Sakiko and started singing well, Sakiko was relieved and happy.

And the first song was basically telling hard-working people they are great, and deserves rest and recognition, something that a Sakiko, who had to work and support her drunkard father, really resonated with, leaving her in an emotionally vulnerable state. And so, when Haruhikage was played, Sakiko was unable to maintain her composure and fled (the song reminded her about the great time Crychic had, and how she could no longer hope to have it anymore)

Which means that, ignoring everything else, if Soyo could convince Sakiko in that moment, or any time before that, that Crychic could be brought back, everyone would actually welcome Sakiko back, Sakiko is likely to return.

In other words, if Soyo can pull a MyGo episode 10, and go down to the auditorium inviting Sakiko (and Mutsumi) back on-stage, while everyone is smiling or cry-smiling, and hand Sakiko and Mutsumi their instruments, Crychic revival may be possible right then and there.

Or, if Rana didn't play Haruhikage (Tomori actually finished her MC session, Anon doesn't make her mistakes, Taki doesn't promise matcha parfaits to Rana, etc etc) things wouldn't be too bad.

But really I feel that the worst thing Soyo did was being Soyo, stalking and harrassing Sakiko and Mutsumi. Those actions only angered Sakiko. Tomori's words, in contrast, got to Sakiko, showing that not all hope is lost.

[blazing nacelle]

But the other problem in Soyo's scheme is that nobody else really wanted it. By episode 7, from all the interactions between the MyGo 5,

Rana follows Taki, because matcha parfait.

Taki affirms Tomori unconditionally. Taki is also very caring towards Anon, as shown in how she handled Anon's 3 mistakes at the live performance's start.

Tomori likes Anon, as shown in all the interactions Tomori had with Anon up until she started to sing.

In other words, Rana, Taki, and Tomori are all pro-Anon.

Which means that, by Episode 7, nobody aside from Soyo would actually entertain the idea to reform Crychic by inviting Saki/Muts and kicking Anon/Rana. And that's in spite of all the machinations Soyo did in the past 6 episodes to pressure Anon into leaving.

Which means that, for Soyo's scheme to succeed, Anon must not be there.

Which leads to how I think Soyo should have done.

Talk with Mutsumi, cozy up with her. Convince Mutsumi that Soyo knows Mutsumi was covering for Sakiko, and Mutsumi's not at fault. Float Crychic revival idea to her.

Meet with Taki, exchange information: Tomori is not in either school. Which means Tomori can only be in the last school. Taki would not form a band with Soyo alone (as evidenced by them not being in a band together in Ep1), but would with Tomori (as evidenced by Taki's actions post Anon meeting)

Go with Taki (and perhaps Mutsumi) and convince Tomori that Tomori's not at fault. Tomori wants to form a band too actually, so that checks out. By this point Crychic is basically complete, except for Sakiko.

Tomori sings, Taki drums, Mutsumi plays the melody, Soyo does the bass. Tomori has the lyrics, Taki composes the tune. The 4 can basically operate as a band now.

Book a live performance. Convince Sakiko to come. Pull a MyGo Ep10. Crychic reforms.

[outer lintel]

i don't know if anyone here's watching ikoku nikki but you probably should be

[restive tree]

https://fixvx.com/feviknight/status/2014742035392299107

feviknight (@feviknight)

THEY DID THE MEME IN THE NEW EPISODE LOOL

vxTwitter / fixvx · Jan 23, 2026, 4:48 PM

[blazing nacelle]

Someone named Ann annoyed me so much I'm ranting about MyGo again

Anon, you hypocrite, you cheerfully called Soyo "Soyo-rin" and Taki Rikki despite their objections, repeatedly. Yet, you crumbled in England the moment they called you Ann.

Curious, very curious indeed.

[outer lintel]

shimeji simulation is incredible

manga only, but

if anyone's looking for something to read, i'd highly recommend it