Ave Mujica - The Die is Cast -

Episode 8

You didn't think it would be that easy, did you? Issues may have at last been mostly resolved for CRYCHIC, but recall how that came about as sort of an end-run around dealing with the matter of Mutsumi and Mortis. The show didn't just gloss over that in one crying, cathartic performance—it's still a whole situation, even as Sakiko seems to think (hope) it isn't.

Now, if I was to get a little critical in my criticism of Ave Mujica, I'd say I don't know that I expected the arc of Mutsumi and Mortis to take up so much of this show's storyline. It's been a fascinating ride, but even as I appreciate the arguably realistic detailing of how complex this situation would be to resolve, I can see some viewers getting fatigued by the constant pendulum swings. As with so many parts of this plot, though, each step is critical. This isn't yet another slack-jawed stare at Mutsumi's struggles; Sakiko has taken on the responsibility for looking after her, but now needs to realize that isn't going to be as easy as helping Little Beepo with her homework.

The other questionable quality of this ongoing story comes from this episode's efforts to give a more detailed explanation of Mutsumi and Mortis's identity situation. It could arguably be seen as reductive, to say nothing of coming with the big, threatening asterisk of revealing that Mutsumi's multiple personalities were never "real," instead being an elaborate projection of her acting ability. Apart from the pedigree of this series' writing, however, I'll give this the benefit of the doubt for the moment for the main reason those detailing it, Mutsumi's mom and Mortis, are some of the most unreliable narrators ever to narrate unreliably. First off, Mutsumi's mom has continued to find new ways to suck every time she's appeared in this series. Her justifying her shunning of her own daughter down to, effectively, unpleasant vibes is just one more knock. This is a woman who can only consider people and situations as they revolve around her—no wonder she immediately recognized Nyamu for who she was.

Mortis' side of the explanation feels like it might be more earnest, if still couched in a child's understanding of things. Lord knows plenty of people could sympathize with Mutsumi's initial experience of needing to craft different facades to show in different situations. Acting was a survival skill for this scared little girl who never got any other guidance from her parents. The idea that she would "settle on" one or two of those personalities to represent herself full-time reflects this series' core use of masks as a motif, and the way everyone in this group has struggled with "who" they are. Just as Mutsumi panicked at the removal of her Mortis mask in the first episode, seeing it as a death of self, Mortis fears her own death if the body she's inhabiting dons the "Mutsumi-chan" mask full-time.

It's all an interesting pitch, if a bit more overt and flowery than I might like compared to how raw and real It's MyGO!!!!!'s treatment of Tomori's neurodivergence was. But I suppose that difference in tone has been part of the distinction between that preceding series and Ave Mujica so far. There's a pin in it for the time being, and the good news for the show's pacing is that the Sakiko/Mutsumi/Mortis side is only one facet of this episode. Umiri takes a perhaps-unexpected step into the spotlight following her being saddled with unnecessary feelings last week. She's always been intriguing on the surface level, to say nothing of her hilarious fumbling of Taki this season. But now she at last reveals herself to be entertaining in ways I'd never have expected. It could not be funnier that this is who Taki originally tapped to serve as the more stable replacement for Soyo.

Umiri is inscrutable in extremely knowable ways. That is, she has no idea what she is doing. The opposite of Taki's (unhealthy) singular dedication to Tomori, Umiri acts out her attachment issues by being openly mercenary. But this just means she has no one to reflect off of and get an understanding of herself; she won't even talk face-to-face to her own mother on the phone; it all speaks to an image issue of some kind. Her response to being confronted with her problems with trust and familial attachment: a metric crap-ton of retail therapy, buying armloads of accessories to take home to her apartment where she displays virtually no other possessions. I understand the limitations of character models for CGI anime made on a schedule and budget, but if SANZIGEN really knows what they're doing, Umiri will be decked out in a whole suite of new earrings and jewelry in the next episode.

This leads into reiterating the point that even as it plumbs the darker recesses of these characters, Ave Mujica can also be darkly funny with them. Who else is better to play that off with Umiri than Nyamu, who's already done her own share of eating shit this episode on account of her mercenary hubris. She's still in the right to be exasperated with Umiri for invoking her tragic backstory and self-satisfying request to return to the band. It's like a pointedly emotionally detached parallel to Soyo's own imploding appeal to Sakiko in It's MyGO!!!!!'s eighth episode. Bassists, am I right?

This is another episode that was both boarded and directed by Hiroshi Morita. It shows in confident deployments of flourishes like the drowning imagery in the opening or the always appreciated visits to the Mutsumi/Mortis Mind Palace (this time with Special Guest Sakiko!). But Morita's hand is most effectively on display in this would-be pedestrian scene of Umiri appealing to Nyamu. The latter's body language is so coordinated, so evocatively managed to make clear how little she gives a shit about what Umiri's selling. This is what turns the scene into the comedic goldmine it is as one more fuck-up on Umiri's pile of fumbles.

After all that, it makes sense that Umiri would wind up finding Mortis again. Umiri, like Mutsumi, is a doll made to take on any role, except this was a methodology she foisted on herself. "Everyone starts by imitating," she says, speaking from the experience of slotting her bass into the backing of whatever band would have her. She's tasted the fulfillment of truly being part of a group now, and just like Mortis, and Soyo before, she's willing to take whatever desperate measures she can think of to retain that group. However, I cannot overstate how bad an idea teaching Mortis to play the guitar is as one of those measures. Her intentions aren't even really "good" in a move this misguided, and I can only watch ecstatically as Umiri prepares to confidently bring her hand down onto the world's hottest stove.

Rating:

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Ave Mujica - The Die is Cast - is currently streaming on Crunchyroll on Thursdays.

Chris is a fan of angsty music girls, BANG Dream or otherwise, and has even written a few posts about them over on his blog. You can also hit up his BlueSky where he's surely reskeeting all sorts of wild Ave Mujica art.