What they say:
Matsumoto catches up to Ophelia on the roof, only to discover it was Antonio leading him up there! Not only that, at the same time, Vivy (still using the name Diva), is tied up by that mysterious man who has a connection with an older A.I. model from his past. Diva and Matsumoto work to prevent Ophelia’s suicide and save humanity. Five years later, Vivy reflects on her mission and the Singularity Project
The Review:
Content: (Please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
There is…a lot to take in with these two episodes, which finish off the Ophelia story and begin the climax, respectively. Let’s start with the first part. There’s one important thing that gets revealed before all hell breaks loose. The mysterious man in question is an A.I. version of Yugo, the Toak terrorist. His hatred of A.I. stems from the fact that as a child, he lost his piano A.I. teacher in a crash when it deviated from its programming to protect Yugo. The piano teacher’s death was treated in some ways like a human funeral and in some ways like an A.I. funeral. They put it in a coffin but also played its data/memories for everyone to see. It’s not hard to see why this would spark such a visceral reaction. Of course, humans have limited lifespans, so with the help of an anonymous backer also from the future, Yugo’s memories are implanted into an A.I. and it is given the mission to find out why Vivy deviated from her own original mission.
At the same time, Antonio criticizes Matsumoto for only existing for his mission. Matsumoto almost falls for it but breaks free when he realizes he cares for Diva and his mission isn’t to stop the suicide of Ophelia, but to carry out the Project with Vivy.
At this point, we’re treated to a delectable fight scene, probably the best in the series so far and one of the best in recent memory. I mean my god, it’s just amazing. There isn’t much I can say to describe it other than that. It’s not any symbolism or fancy tricks that make it amazing. It’s just pure directorial edge. Diva goes at it with Yugo while Matsumoto engages in a battle of circuits against Antonio.
Ultimately Diva and Matsumoto are the winners. Before Yugo dies/shuts down, he tells Diva not to forget about her journey, and Matsumoto frees Ophelia from Antonio’s hacking. The two are able to affirm their love for each other before shutting down as well. Last but not least to exit the stage is Diva, who must now leave so Vivy can be reawakened. Vivy is in a tough spot and can’t sing due to the trauma from Metal Float. In order to help, Diva sings her song for the festival and this is truly really the first time we get to see a Diva/Vivy song. She’s singing for herself (other personality?) and not others but nonetheless, it’s a nice treat even if the context is bittersweet. It’s time for Diva to shut down so Vivy can once again awaken and fulfill her own mission.
The incident is ruled a double suicide but no other A.I. incidents followed suit like in the original timeline so to Matsumoto this is a mitigation of the negative effects and therefore a success. The Project is declared to be over as this was supposedly the last singularity point in history.
Five years pass and Vivy has been relegated to an A.I. museum as the world’s first autonomous A.I. Vivy, still unable to sing after the Zodiac festival, retired without a final song and is donated to the museum. It is here where she meets Matsumoto again, in two ways. First is the cube she’s known all along. Matsumoto affirms that the Project is indeed over as the Ophelia incident is the last singularity point in history that leads to the war. It is declared a success and he continues researching the mysterious backer who equipped Yugo with that future tech. As for the other Matsumoto, he’s a human with the full name Osamu Matsumoto. He is A.I. Matsumoto’s original inventor in the original timeline. Of course, it would happen eventually. Vivy, still realizing she needs a purpose, goes to the Archive and reviews her birth. The professor was curious how Vivy, as an A.I., would respond to the mission of singing from the heart. There isn’t any big reveal here other than why Vivy is autonomous but it’s nice to see the writers haven’t forgotten about that. While seeing both Matsumoto’s, she spends the next 20 years writing a song of her own, something no A.I. has done before. The years pass and human Matsumoto grows older, marries, has a child, and loses his wife. He still visits Vivy to check on her while A.I. Matsumoto checks in through the Archive to see how progress is coming on her song.
The montage is powerful. While Vivy’s song plays (revealed as the ED song for the series), we’re shown flashbacks of the 100-year journey she and Matsumoto have taken so far, all the experiences with the A.I. and humans they’ve met. Vivy packs all that emotion into one song and after 20 years completes it. Matsumoto finds the music data and Vivy is implicitly supposedly shut down for good, having complete her mission with a song of her own.
Of course, things can’t be that tidy, right? Come on, this is brought to you by the Re:Zero duo and we still have some run time. More time, more despair. And so Vivy actually awakens with her mission incomplete. She instead finds A.I. killing humans and war has broken out, reminiscent of the very beginning of the series. To add icing to the cake, the A.I. are singing her song while they kill the humans. The Singularity Projects has failed.
How this gets resolved (if it does, which it might not) is going to be the interesting part. One concern I have is if this leads to a time loop situation where Vivy and Matsumoto must try again with Matsumoto going back 100 years in the past for a second try. That would be a bit disappointing given how familiar we are with this idea from Re:Zero. Then again we haven’t seen human Matsumoto and A.I. Matsumoto interact yet. Will the original Matsumoto confront his creator before the invention of himself in the future? Who was that mysterious entity who have Yugo the power of A.I.? Given how important a figure Yugo has been so far, is it even possible he’s not truly erased from the picture? And to top it off, is it possible Vivy can save the day after potentially being traumatized a second time when the first time was enough to stop her from singing for decades? All these questions are floating around and they need answers. Obviously, we will have to wait and see for that, but given how many still exist and only so little to go, we’re headed for a high-risk-high reward ending. If Vivy can land the ending, we’ll have a memorable masterclass anime. If not, it’ll be relegated to the “what could have been” pile along with so many others before it.
In Summary:
Episode 9 of Vivy is action-packed with a bittersweet ending and shows the strongest strengths of the series to date and delivers some of the biggest payoffs for fans. Episode 10 is a beautiful trip down memory lane while it gives us all the questions in hand we need as we head into the final act. All that’s left is to see how the series answers those questions. Will it take the road less traveled, or will the writers resort to the same beats as their previous project, and potentially crash land the series they’ve spent so long building and driving in the lead? Like with Vivy, only time will tell.
Grade: A+
Streamed by: Funimation
