Creepy New Crunchyroll Thriller is Already One of the Year’s Most Unsettling Anime

Warning: Spoilers for Migi&Dali episode #4The ongoing thriller Migi & Dali is undoubtedly one of Crunchyroll‘s creepiest releases this year and easily topped the platform’s fall roster in this regard upon the anime’s debut earlier in the fall. The first episode is so unsettling that the series has yet to reach that same level again in later installments, but those who particularly enjoy off-putting anime have still been continuously feasting well for the past few weeks since the creepiness is still there, even when the focus changes dramatically by episode #3.

Adapted from the late Nami Sano’s original manga, the unsettling nature of Migi & Dali partly comes from the deceptiveness of the protagonists, one that feels especially sinister since their targets are an elderly couple who adopted them so they could finally share certain experiences they never got to have with children of their own.

In fact, Migi and Dali have hidden from their foster parents that there is more than one of them, since the elderly couple only intended on adopting one boy named Hitori and weren’t even aware that he was a twin. Although absurd, the sheer lengths Migi and Dali go to conceal this truth from their foster parents is chilling in part because of how unnaturally they contort their bodies.

Migi & Dali is One of the Year’s Creepiest Anime

Although later revealed in episode #3, the eeriness is amplified by the mystery behind their deceitfulness, especially since the series creates the impression that the many acts of kindness these twins show their foster parents are to their own benefit and will somehow work against the elderly couple. This fills the viewer with a sense of impending dread as they are left wondering how seemingly thoughtful acts could somehow be a bad thing. That sense of foreboding still remains even when the truth behind Migi and Dali’s deceitfulness is revealed in episode #3.

The same can be said even when the eponymous boys’ main targets extend beyond the elderly couple. Although it’s unlikely that the boys could victimize anyone as innocent as their foster parents, the stakes behind Migi and Dali’s true mission preserve the fearful anticipation that has hung over the series since the first episode. The twins’ inherent creepiness is complemented by their new victims’ personalities as their range broadens. It becomes increasingly clear with each episode that their new targets are deeply disturbed individuals, allowing the off-putting atmosphere to continue even though the elderly couple is no longer the main target of Migi and Dali’s deceit.

Of course, the off-putting atmosphere of Migi & Dali wouldn’t be as effective as it is without the eerie music that lurks in the background of every unsettling scene. Some moments would actually feel innocuous and possibly even sweet if there wasn’t even a soundtrack. Similar to horror master Junji Ito, the series sometimes twists actually innocent moments into something horrific just to terrify its viewers. Migi & Dali is clearly for thriller enthusiasts, even horror connoisseurs, because of the haunting atmosphere permeating each episode of this soon-to-be Crunchyroll classic.

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