Migi & Dali

To truly grasp what this series is all about, you'll need to stick around until the third episode. I initially dropped it after the first episode because it didn't reveal much, and given my experience with Nami Sano's previous work, I was convinced it would revolve around a boy comically disguising the fact that there are actually two of him, identical twins at that. Sakamoto desu ga? managed to sustain interest by telling one joke in twelve episodes, and the early moments of this show seemed eerily similar. Initially, characters like Migi and Dali didn't grab my attention, and the ones around them failed to captivate me. Similar to the series about Sakamoto, it often leaned too heavily into the bizarre, exaggerated, and sometimes even theatrical, offering a quirky originality that kept things from getting dull. However, it seemed to clash with the more serious mysterious and thriller plotline emerging in the second half. It felt as if the series wanted to be a comedy, drama, thriller, psychological horror, family film, theatrical performance, fairy tale, and who knows what else all at the same time. It became a wild genre mishmash that sometimes worked interestingly and unexpectedly, and other times not at all. Nevertheless, it unfolds as a well-thought-out and powerful story, and as you get to know the characters better, you genuinely come to appreciate them. Additionally, it concludes with a pleasant (considering it's Christmas) yet intriguing ending. Despite the shaky start and the genre clash that significantly disrupted my overall experience, I feel the series deserves credit, but I have to deduct a bit, giving it a strong 3 stars — 6.4/10. (12/25/2023)