https://starcrossedanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2023/12/MigiDaliBanner.png Animated horror can be a pretty hard genre to nail. You know what youre watching so youre expecting to be scared and it being animated removes it from the real world narrowing your options. Comedy can be similarly difficult. Due to how subjective it be its common to fall back on slapstick what with animations malleable bodies and stylized violence. But what if I were to tell you there was an anime that does both? A situational comedy that gets laughs not from banana peels or pies to the face but absurd surreal situations? That successfully transitions to a full blown horror complete with a murder mystery? Well that show is what Im here to talk about today. Animated studio GEEKTOYS directed by Mankyuu and originally created by the late Nami Sano who passed earlier this year I give to you my favorite anime of Fall 2023: Migi amp Dali. Be warned this review contains minor unmarked spoilers for Migi amp Dali. It also contains major spoilers in some sections however these will be heavily marked to avoid accidents. https://starcrossedanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2023/12/MigiDali12.6.jpg Narrative Lets start with Migi amp Dalis most defining feature its narrative. The core of Migi amp Dalis story is one of revenge as a pair of twins named you guessed it Migi and Dali return to Origon Village to discover who murdered their mother. Along the way they will find friends and allies discover all manner of secrets in this quaint little town and perhaps even find a family of their own. To do this they work to become adopted by a local family. However theres a wrinkle: That family is only looking for one child not two. But what about two who are one? One individual across two bodies acting in concert swapping in and out to accomplish tasks as needed. While one works the other investigates always watching always learning about this little town. Now I can hear you asking didnt I call Migi amp Dali a horror comedy? This sounds like pure mystery horror Well as I said Migi amp Dalis brand of comedy is very surreal. Early on the series uses its premise to justify weird situations or to create offputting scenes. Take an example from early on in episode two as an example. The twins overhear a their foster parents discussing a secret and become convinced they want to kill them. So the only thing to do? Kill them first with a plan so silly and nave only children who dont really understand killing could be. Played straight this is attempted murder. But Migi amp Dali never plays it straight so instead it comes off as this surreal humor. This sort of subversion of expectations is the shows bread and butter from episode one all the way to the end. What makes Migi amp Dali truly special though is how it manages to catch you by surprise eight nine ten episodes later. The further in you get the more serious the situations and the less nave our leads become. Slowly but surely it transforms into the mystery horror it originally billed itself as but the shift is so slow and subtle you dont notice it until you actually get spooked. Its as if the series starts at 80 humor and 20 horror before by the end flipping those percents entirely. Or perhaps its more accurate to say that it successfully merged the two together never losing either. However you want to describe it the point is that Migi amp Dali successfully balances both surrealist humor horror and lighthearted family moments into a downright heartwarming story about two twins finding closure for their mother and a new home in Origon Village. The only major criticism I have about Migi amp Dalis story is that sometimes it gets weird. Like... Teenagers in diapers acting like babies weird. While these moments are relevant to the story I cant help but feel they are unnecessary and that what Migi amp Dali was going for could have been communicated in a different more effective way. I dont think these scenes will ruin the show for anyone they are over rather quickly and there arent many of them. But they do exist and they will probably weird some people out. I know they did me which is saying something because Migi amp Dalis regular weirdness was exactly what I was looking for. Its just these few scenes where it goes to far without adding much to the actual story in return. Overall though Id say Migi amp Dali has one of the best stories of the year. Its balance of humor and horror of weird and heartwarming is almost perfect. In fact by the end I was full on crying. Even now as Im writing this review thinking back to that ending still brings tears to my eyes. Oh did I not mention that? Yeah Migi amp Dali actually ends. Theres no cliffhanger no Season Two that never comes no Go read the manga. Migi amp Dali begins and ends in this cour never overstaying its welcome and its better for it. So if a 13 episode self contained series that goes from surrealist comedy to fully fledged horror to heartwarming found family sounds like something youre looking for than stop reading this review and go watch it. Or well... Finish reading and then go watch it need that engagement. https://starcrossedanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2023/11/MigiDali7.2e1700113792171.jpg Characters Moving on we come to the characters. After how much I wrote about the narrative it should come as no surprise that the characters are great as well. For the most part at least. All of the main cast are pretty solid. This covers Migi and Dali obviously Eiji Ichijo and his mother Reiko Migis friend Akiyama and the Sonoyamas. While not all of them have arcs per se really only Migi and Dali get that much focus and we will get to them they all get enough attention to shine and show us who they really are. Whether it be Akiyama going from this weird bird kid to a true friend or the Sonoyamas from airheads to legitimately some of the best parents in anime. I guarantee youll cry for at least one of them. I did for multiple of them The only characters I would say fall short are some of the sidecast. The maid Mitchan for instance. She exists as this loosely supportive adult the first one the twins feel they can truly trust. Yet she never becomes anymore more than the wellintentioned gossiping neighborhood cleaning lady which is disappointing considering her role in the story. Maruta another local child gets a similar treatment. He starts as a twat and ends... As a slightly lesser twat. Hell it might even be more accurate to say he ends simply as our twat in that he doesnt really improve he just becomes loveable for it. Migi amp Dali tries to do something with him same with the remaining members of the Ichijo family like Karen but I cant say it succeeds. Luckily these are all relatively minor characters and dont negatively impact the show all that much. Finally we come to Migi and Dali who are fantastic. They spend the series slowly evolving from One person in two bodies into individual people with their own personalities interests and desires. We get to watch them discover who they are as they drift further and further apart as they see more of the outside world. This of course leads to some great confrontations between the two as for the longest time they were the only other person they had. To them this separation was something to be feared not praised. Yet throughout the shows run Migi amp Dali handles it perfectly giving them just enough space to grow and fight but always bringing it back around to the central mystery. So to make a long story short: Migi amp Dali has a great core cast and even better leads. Its only a few supporting characters who fall short. https://starcrossedanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2023/10/MigitoDali3.1.jpg Visuals With that we come to Migi amp Dalis production. This is without question the shows weakest aspect. You see Migi amp Dali doesnt really move much. Or at all if Im being honest. Its barely animated at all using primarily still frames slow movement and wide shots to get everyone within a single frame. There are no big sakuga moments no subtle character acting or facial expressions it doesnt even have detailed or memorable backgrounds. This isnt terribly surprising looking at GEEKTOYS other works neither Liar Liar nor Dead Mount Death Play were visual powerhouses either. Where Migi amp Dali differs from those however is that the team seems aware of this from the beginning not even try anything particularly ambitious to begin with. So while it doesnt look great it never falls apart or gets in over its head either. Its consistent the whole way through. This is good because while Migi amp Dalis animation isnt all that strong the direction does its best to make up for it. Again theres nothing to complex or fancy here no wild SHAFT editing or fisheye lens effects none of that stuff. Instead Migi amp Dali takes a bunch of otherwise basic shots and hones them to perfection. It knows when to hold and let something sink in when to cut or quickly pan to keep up with a scenes energy how to time events with the music for maximum effect. Think of it like this. Migi amp Dali is a mom and pop show burger. Its nothing new or unique no fancy ingredients or sauces. Its just a burger. But the patty is cooked to perfection the lettuce is fresh and the buns baked that morning. Its an average dish executed as well as it can be. Because of this Migi amp Dali is able to nail the tone of most scenes. When it wants you to feel creeped out it turns up the music darkens the shadows brings in the camera and starts sliding between shots as if you were looking around frantically. When youre meant to feel happy or touched the colors get warmer and the camera pulls out brightening up the scene and getting rid of shadows to make you feel safe. Want to be sad? Lets up the blue balance in a scene same with red for anger. This is what I mean by executing what little it has to perfection. And its why I think despite its otherwise lackluster animation that Migi amp Dali comes out looking rather decent even as its the worst thing about the show. https://www..com/watch?v=PIvQo91LeXoamplist=PLsjHJgYvZrFQfxkVlr4pHsTWVB36lr36vampindex=17 OST Finally we come to the OST This is the composer Hiroko Sebus first TV length project and only her third project overall. Her other works are a short animation called What Happens Before War? and a small movie by the name of I Want to Eat Your Pancreas. Outside of anime however shes worked on a number of movies and TV shows so she is by no means new to this game. So it should come as no surprise that her work on Migi amp Dalis OST was pretty damn good. For what you can expect the OST is primarily classical in style. Hell one track titled Moonlight is literally Claude Debussys Clair De Lune. There are some exceptions to this like the bumping EDM of Detective Boys Beavers or Heaven and Hell which brings in an organ. For the most part though its classical instruments. This isnt to say Migi amp Dali doesnt have variety though. Even when restricted to just the classics tracks like foreboding and purposeful Proud Woman Reiko Ichijo manage to sound completely different from the whimsical and exploratory My First Base French Style Yes its what you think or the burst of joy at the taste of something new that is Instant hit Cherry Pie. An thats not even diving into Migi amp Dalis use of leitmotifs. That song youve been listening to as you read this assuming you clicked the video above? Thats the absolutely iconic A Boy Migi and Dali used throughout the series whenever the twins are acting in concert. Now try Mothers Memory and hear how similar they are as that same motif is born from another melody. Or try First Friend as it takes its first tentative steps towards change. Its all throughout the OST Suffice to say I enjoyed Migi amp Dalis OST quite a bit. And while it may be difficult at times while watching the show itself to pick out the different tracks I think it ends up being used rather well to boot. Some may not enjoy that its almost entirely classical music and thats fine. Theres no guitar no rock no real vocals either and thats going to turn some people off. But for those who either dont mind or enjoy the genre? I think theres a lot to love here. At the very least I think it fits the show perfectly with the evolution of the leitmotif as the show runs being absolutely fantastic. I feel like you can chart Migi and Dalis journey with that alone and I think thats pretty cool. https://starcrossedanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2023/10/MigitoDali2.6.jpg Closure Coming Out of the Closet With that we come to the personal portion of the review. This is where I drop any semblance of structure and sort of just ramble about my experience with Migi amp Dali. This is noholdsbarred spoiler territory I will be talking about the ending and what it meant to me. So if you havent watched the show and dont want to be spoiled and I highly recommend you dont spoil yourself for this than skip this section. Ive already told you why I think this is a great show just go watch it and come back. But if you have watched the show and you want to chat about it? Than read on https://starcrossedanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2023/11/MigitoDali9.7.jpg Conclusion So yeah all in all Migi amp Dali was fantastic. Its not all that great visually and it can get uncomfortably weird in the middle at times. But neither of those is enough to ruin an otherwise beautiful and emotional story about a pair of twins finding a home where they thought they never would. Nami Sanos last work before her tragic passing in August of 2023 was a beautiful one. It hurts that we will never get another work from her like this or to a lesser extent like Sakamoto Desu Ga?. Still what we got was great and I highly recommend you give it a watch. At only 13 episodes long short enough that you can knock it out in a night if you really want it is without question my favorite anime of Fall 2023. Thanks for reading If you want to leave a comment positive or negative you can leave it herehttps://anilist.co/activity/666772579.