Jun 06, 2024
Author's Commentary #104:
Time to talk about Chapter 104: Closure.
This chapter showcases quite a few things. First, it shows what became of Michiko following the end of the fallen maestro arc. Second, it showcases a bit of how Daria truly felt about the entire ordeal. And third, it shows just how irredeemable Michiko truly is.
First off, let's talk a bit more about Michiko. Raymond essentially plans to reduce her to nothing but a brain in a jar. He doesn't intend to let her die, both to make her suffer and because killing her could allow her soul to simply escape to one of her proxies. Her loss to Okisato is currently what prevents her from taking control of her proxies, however, she still has some connections to them.
As for Okisato's comment regarding her pawns, that was a concept I decided to go with while I was writing Season 2. First off, the fact that Michiko had all her proxies go bald was not just to satisfy Ai's desires, but to also denote their status as pawns. To recap, Ai, Xiao Lin, Taira, Safumi, Mizuse, Doraaki, Tenju, and the mysterious hooded woman were all Michiko's pawns. That doesn't mean they were all her proxies though, as Tenju was moreso manipulated by her rather than outright controlled by her. One thing I will confirm is that the SPCMs she brainwashed can no longer be controlled by her due to losing DESPER matches. Xiao Lin and the hooded woman on the other hand might be a different story. Even though Michiko never once took control of Xiao Lin or influenced her thoughts through mind control, she still made one of her conditions for losing the DESPER match against Ai, becoming her proxy.
Since Raymond has the power to view DESPER wagers thanks to both his authority as WWCF president and his gold skeleton key, he was able to access the match data and learn the exact language of the wager. This is why he gave Okisato such specific instructions on how to save Daria when he faced off against Michiko.
As for Daria herself, while she's mainly been bottling up her emotions, she truly is devastated over Kotora's death. When she first heard about it, she cried her eyes dry, though made sure to do it when Mimoko wasn't around. She was also unsure if Michiko was truly acting on her own will and had wanted to speak with her face to face in order to confirm things for herself. Upon seeing Michiko's true nature, she realized that Michiko was never truly her friend and lost any remorse she had for her over her current predicament.
As for Okisato, he seems to have a history with Raymond. All I'll say on that is more will be revealed as the story continues.
That's all for this commentary. I hope you enjoyed it.
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