Heavy Spoilers

Speechless. I began MyGO purely to get to this "sequel" after hearing KiLLKiSS for the first time, and it was absolutely more than I could have ever imagined it to be. Before watching MyGO, I was just expecting a simple cute girls doing cute things band anime with a more edgy theme to the band, but after finishing MyGO, I knew that there would definitely be more to Ave Mujica than I had originally thought. Nothing could prepare me for what this anime truly had in store, though.

Despite my overall high rating and enjoyment of MyGO, there was this feeling that I couldn't shake after finishing it, one that was hard to describe, but I think the closest thing would be a feeling of vexation. I understood that the over-the-top drama was a part of the appeal, but I felt like in MyGO, everyone equally losing their minds over a band breakup was just too much. I wasn't saying that this response from the characters was necessarily inappropriate, but it was hard for me to get truly devoted to the story because I felt like it simply wasn't a big enough deal for so much drama to subsequently occur as a result, even if every character had their own deep-rooted reasons for being so unstable from the breakup. This feeling of uneasiness was absolutely flipped in Ave Mujica, where I felt like there were many more pressing issues that made the drama seem more appropriate and in line with the severity of the conflicts.

Most obviously, one of those conflicts was Saki's relationship with her father and problems with her grandfather. All of the questions about Saki were finally revealed in this "sequel", hopefully dispelling any hate for Saki that anyone might have had while watching MyGO. In episode 1 of Ave Mujica, with the full scene of CRYCHIC's breakup being shown, Saki's crying was such an initial gut punch that really set the tone for the rest of the series. You couldn't feel anything but pity for her while watching her sob in the rain, starkly contrasting her usually happy disposition when in CRYCHIC. Someone trying to do their best to please everyone, yet with no support from anyone but herself. Despite trying her best to be so mature and handle everything on her own, the reality of her just being a high school student with very little power came crashing down on her in the form of endless conflict with almost everyone she made relationships with due to her inability to fully explain her woes from mental instability. I thought most, if not all, of the members of CRYCHIC needed therapy, but Saki's case was truly on another level. I could never have imagined such a character being made for an anime I had previously seen as a throwaway band show.

The other biggest conflict in this series was the case of Mutsumi. Where to even begin. A character with dissociative identity disorder in my supposedly cute girls do cute things band anime? Absolutely unimaginable. While watching, it was hard for me to determine whether I was more shocked about the reveal itself or the fact that the writers even chose to dig this deep. When this was first revealed, I knew that I was watching something special. I watched this series fresh off the heels of reading Inside Mari and was in absolute disbelief at my luck in seeing this illness again so soon. Just like with that story, I was thrust into a spiral of past encounters with this illness, and it felt unreal to see it portrayed in such a scarily understandable and relatable way as it was with Mutsumi. Perfectly fitting into the theatrical theming of Ave Mujica, the classic presentation of this illness in the form of watching yourself on a TV screen just worked so well, and it was comforting to see it given such clear representation in such a large franchise.

While not a huge "conflict" due to only being given a handful of episodes for her character arc, I would definitely like to touch on my favorite, Uika. It's beyond lame for me to say, "I just like her so much! It's just...a feeling in my heart!" as an explanation for why I’m so fond of her, but unfortunately, that's a big part of it. It's difficult for me to put into words, but I think the closest reason would be because her flavor of mental illness simply resonated with me more. While objectively I may have had more experiences "as a Mutsumi," my feelings regarding this topic felt more in line with Uika's experiences and emotions. I'm being vague about myself, but oh well, it's in the past anyway, and I've already discussed this too much at this point. Regarding Uika herself, though, she wasn't directly as mentally ill as Mutsumi, but the way she felt about herself was what really made me warm up to her. A feeling of disgust with yourself. A feeling of disgust with yourself after doing something wrong, understanding how wrong it was, and being forced to only put yourself down over it even more because you're simply too weak to come out and be honest with yourself. In combination with her extremely dangerous feelings of obsession that were scarily relatable, seeing her play out on her stage was like looking into a mirror at points—an experience that truly frightened me. The fact that I put so much into this series, specifically this character, was something that scared me, and I take that as a testament to how good this series really was.

For the other two members of the band, Umiri and Nyamu, I unfortunately can't say much about them because I wasn't a massive fan of them. I always thought Umiri was cool like everyone else ever since MyGO, and it was nice to see a different side of her as she became more vulnerable about Ave Mujica, but unfortunately, this was also a downfall for me. The aura loss was truly off the charts with her switch-up. One moment she was emotionless and cold, and the next she was full of jealousy and was putting it on full display. I understood that this was, for the most part, explained in her episode or two of backstory, but it still seemed so random and without enough build-up that it was hard for me to truly appreciate the change in her character. For Nyamu, I actually just straight-up hated her. It may have been a bit endearing for her to be the quintessential stuck-up attention seeker, but she just took it too far in so many scenes. She lost basically all of my respect when she first tore off everyone's masks, and she was never able to get it back in my eyes. While most of the other characters went through actual growth, I felt like Nyamu just learned to suck it up and submit to the fact that she was a bad actor and that her only chance at success was with Ave Mujica. Mutsumi's mother was admittedly horrible and way too harsh, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't therapeutic to see Nyamu get put down by her.

Finally, I'd like to briefly touch on the most obvious part about this show—the band itself. Damn, was it good. The best I've seen in an anime, I think, maybe even dethroning Kessoku and TogeToge for me. I'm an absolute gothic-themed media glazer after growing up with shows like Black Butler, and Ave Mujica just ticked all the right boxes. I would usually find the combination with theater cringe, but I never found myself actually being icked by the acting that occurred in between songs or before they began a performance. I thought it was a creative way to not only make the band unique but also present the themes and character conflicts in new ways. The music itself was just banger after banger, with a heavier lean on metal than standard J-Rock. There's no doubt in my mind that Ave Mujica will become a staple in my shuffle, especially after I already have 66 plays of KiLLKiSS in the past month.

Objectively, this show isn't a 10, but I don't rate completely objectively, and I like to make a point that any series that makes me contemplate and feel such strong feelings as this deserves a perfect score in my list. Ave Mujica touched me so much more than I ever imagined, and it was an absolutely exhilarating ride that had me on the edge of my seat every episode. After how much this show affected me, I think it’s fair for me to say that I unwittingly answered the question of "Will you give me the rest of your life?"