Last episode of Flip Flappers pulled the curtains and revealed who Mimi is though it was also clear that some more explaining is in order. To my relief, Flip Flappers wastes no time and promptly shares more information in the next episode.
This time around, we get to see Mimi as a young adult who soon gives birth to Cocona. Papika is revealed to have aged along with her best friend (a bit of an off-putting image after seeing her as a teenager for ten episodes). The show does not explicitly confirm if Salt is Cocona’s father though given how close he was with Mimi and how shocked he was when he learned about Cocona’s existence, him being the father is all but confirmed. You also surprisingly learn the origins of Asclepius. Apparently, Salt’s father became delirious after Mimi and Papika ventured in and affected his Pure Illusion. Combined with the Asclepius leaders’ demeanor, it’s highly implied the organization was founded by Salt’s father and his peers.
When Salt’s father attempts to separate Mimi from Cocona, this awakens a new, deadlier personality in Mimi who can use her connection to Pure Illusion to warp reality. Mimi destroys the research facility and seemingly disappears with her infant daughter. Papika tries to follow her only to disappear as well. Some things are still left rather vague. It’s implied that Mimi becomes the amorphous fragments and Papika ages back to a kid as a byproduct to that but without further elaboration, it sounds rather random. Past episodes did imply that Asclepius and FlipFlap retrieve Cocona and Papika respectively though I still have to wonder how they did that considering that Mimi was the sole link to Pure Illusion. I wouldn’t if the next episode sheds some light on all this though I also understand that at the the penultimate episode, it’d be cutting close.
Evidently, Mimi is the real villain in Flip Flappers. She flat out annihilates Asclepius with her powers (the leader later dies from trying to enter Pure Illusion) and continues to possess Cocona’s body, arguing that only she can protect her daughter. I’ll admit: I’m a little mixed on how Asclepius gets treated here. Ten episodes of building them up as the primary threat and not only are they ultimately not defeated by our heroines, they get sidelined in favor of someone else. You still have the amorphous children but what are they going to do from here on out? Toto and Yuyu followed orders and now they don’t have any superiors to order them around. The third amorphous child, Nyunyu (Marika Kouno), briefly confronts FlipFlap before then forming a truce with them because reasons. The people we’re used to seeing as the antagonists are in a weird spot now.
That all said, I do think Mimi is a great villain in concept. Aside from the fact that she’s insanely powerful, she’s motivated. All she wants is to keep Cocona safe and her efforts to do so are woefully misguided, deeming everyone a threat and taking Cocona back into Pure Illusion. In a grand sense, Mimi’s powers allow Pure Illusion to affect the real world on a wider scale. On a more personal level, Cocona is happy to finally meet her mother but is also put off by the latter wanting her to stay in Pure Illusion forever. To Flip Flappers, the set-up for Mimi is terrific. I suppose Mimi’s character is maybe undermined by the fact that this is technically a split personality of Mimi’s though it is implied that the personality is a product of her maternal instincts and the original persona does allow it to take over. Chances are the two Mimis are indiscernible now.
There’s a lot to discern from Salt’s confrontation with Mimi. The two of them stand by the same lake they used to hang around at when they were kids only now, they meet as enemies. In both personality and appearance, Mimi is the not the same person Salt once knew of. Some of Salt’s dialogue raises an eyebrow. He talks about how he wants to atone but what exactly he wants to atone for could either be his failure in helping Mimi and Papika escape or his failure to keep Cocona safe. Curiously, he refers to Cocona as exclusively Mimi’s daughter and not theirs. Assuming he is the father, it sounds like he’s trying to distance himself from Cocona, either because he failed to protect her or because he’s about to harm her in order to stop Mimi.
Seeing as how Cocona is more or less in danger, you have her two best friends setting aside their differences and teaming up to save her. Papika is initially dejected by her confusing Cocona for Mimi but she eventually decides that she at the very least wants Cocona safe. Yayaka more or less just decides to drop the pretense and declares that Cocona is her friend and she’s heading off to save her. Part of me kind of wishes there was more build up to Yayaka coming to this decision though I suppose Flip Flappers has built up to this moment for long enough. I also like that Yayaka starts off as the more determined of the two, being the one who encourages Papika to stop sulking and instead accompany her. In a way, Yayaka’s resolve really does end up being different from our heroines’. Also, Yayaka receives an amorphous fragment from Salt. Might we see her Flip Flap along with our heroines?
I’m very much looking forward to the last two episodes. Seeing the story to the end is certainly one reason though I must admit that I’m also excited to see Pure Illusion again. Save for brief appearances in the flashbacks, you really feel its absence in these past two episodes. It’s about time, we see it again. Considering Mimi’s sheer dominion over the dimension, I’m sure wild things are about to happen.
Xenodude's Scribbles 