What do u think of the twins? Some studies say that when one twin(kirari), have mental illness(i mean she is kinda sociopathic), chances are the other twin might also have it. Genetic and environment factors have to do with it also. And knowing how momobamis are, the twins are raised in a not loving way. And they’re also crazy and powerful people. So what do u think about kirari and ririka separately?
There is a moment in the series that indirectly addresses this point, it’s one of my favorite small moments. It’s towards the beginning of “The Zero Girl” - Rei has just told everyone the story of Yumeko’s sister being destroyed by the Momobami clan, and Suzui, ever the innocent, asks if such a horrible story could be true.
Midari (who, despite her slobbering lack of impulse control, often makes very incisive observations) knows what’s up. Why would we expect anything less from the family that produced a destroyer of worlds like Kirari?
Midari directs her last remark at Ririka, who is then given a meaningful close up, even as she does not move or respond.
btw, I LOVE when the show cuts to Ririka as if for a reaction, though she stays completely still and silent. It emphasizes her inhuman creepiness, but also encourages the viewer to imagine what she might actually be thinking. And in this case, what might she be thinking?
Is she thinking of the horrors she herself endured in that family?
Is she thinking of the terrible things she did to people like Rei? Was she passive in these injustices, or an active participant?
Is she thinking that no outsider could possibly understand what happens in the clan? That it’s boring to have to sit there and listen to Rei talk about something totally beyond their comprehension?
Does she feel guilt? Shame? Pride? Defensiveness? Anger?
We can only imagine, but the fact that Ririka offers to officiate the subsequent gamble between Yumeko and Rei may say something about what responsibility she feels to those that her clan has wronged. And of course, there is the moment afterwards where Mary asks if Ririka identified with Rei, which I wrote about briefly in this post.
So all of that is to say...I think Ririka and Kirari are very different people, though the recent flashback to their childhood in the manga seems to show that when they were very young, they were truly identical, both in body and in character. However at some point they seemed to have split into sun and shadow, an operator and a vessel. I would love to know more about what caused this fracture, I would guess it correlates with the point in time when Ririka started wearing the mask - but did the change in character necessitate the mask, or did the mask bring about the change in character? We may never know!
Final thought - while I do believe Ririka is more sensitive and fearful than Kirari, we have seen plenty of examples of her wielding power in a very cold and merciless way (her part in the poisoning of Yumeko, her defeat of Rin). Just as Midari points out that we should not be surprised by the vicious actions of the clan that raised the president, we should likewise not be surprised by the capabilities of the person who grew up alongside her.
