91 Days Episode 12 Discussion

R_TF said:
Did he survive or not?

insignificant101 said:
Edit: I forgot to mention, did anybody else notice how the music at the very end is the same one from episode one , when they were showing the credits in the middle of the episode?! Damn that music was beautifully haunting *....*

Raz1515 said:

I noticed too, they're a bit different though.
The one from the 1st ep is the main theme while the one from this ep is called "digress from the main theme"
Both equally chilling and beautiful though

Zeally said:
It was a decent attempt at a mafia show, but I felt like Angelo didn't really have much of personality. His sole motive in the entire show was to seek revenge on the Vanettis, and i felt that was a bit too 1 dimensional. I did however enjoy the manipulation that Angelo orchestrated throughout the show. I also think Nero spared him. He probably felt remorse for taking part in wiping out his family, and it seems like both Nero and Angelo liked/respected each other. However, I wished it was a bit more conclusive.

7/10

Barcia said:


Amen to this. Average, just average

Dishonest said:

I think Nero's 'you dont live for a reason, you just live'(or however it was), meaning he let him live was the other interpretation of the ending. I liked it, the whole part since min. 12 was very well made. I would give the show a 7/10 but the ending and soundtrack bumped it to 8/10. I also liked the many Shakespear references(like I mentioned in ep. 11 discussion)

juliagatari said:
The bromance level in this episode was over 9000.
hahaha

Visceras said:

Third, at the beach, we see where the footprints end, tho we see no body or blood, and no the water did not wash everything or else it would have washed the footprints as well. I think there is a double meaning to this, first that Angelo lived, so as Nero (there were 2 trails ..) second that their relation, everything that has happened, ended there.

The water washing away both trails kinda tells us that they just went seperate ways. Nero is gonna be running away from the Galassia for the rest of his life, and Angelo, as he told us, has no reason to live. Both are, let's say, screwd ..

DeathfireD said:
He's still alive. Avillio kept walking while Nero shot. If Nero had killed him the foot prints wouldn't have stopped at the same exact place. Avillio's prints would have been longer. My hypothesis is that Nero shot and missed. Avillio stopped. Nero walked up to him and told him goodbye and to live. Nero gets in his car and leaves because he knew the mob was still after him. He gave Avillio a chance to live a life outside of the mob. With Avillio not returning with Nero, the mob will assume he's dead because they've seen the two together.

Bushishi said:


But at the same time, both kinda seemed to have lost their desire to kill the other. Nearly every scene with the two had a feeling of worn outness, fed up with all the death that's happened.

Yamada2 said:
Nero's plans worked perfectly for Strega. Strega is now the don and he wouldn't have to deal with the Vanettis anymore. And god damn the entire Vanetti family has been wiped out except for Fio and Nero. Angelo sent everyone and everything to hell just by killing one old geezer. And Strega has Angelo sent to kill Nero and he probably gets caught. I didn't get these events. The very beginning shows Nero barging into Angelo's room and supposedly taking him away. But then Strega tells Angelo to go kill Nero. But if Nero picked up Angelo from that hotel, then why go to the Island when clearly that place is a battlefield? These parts didn't make much sense to me.

Lu-Ru said:
I think they both died. Nero killed Avilio and the guy in the car recognised Nero, followed him and killed him.That's why the footsteps disappear....

TaeRim said:
Can you tell me what the hell was that? I'm so mad I can't even.
Did he killed him? Like for real? I'm so angry I need to calm down. Angelo should just kill all the Vanetti and hasta la vista, baby. I wish I could give this series 8/10 but now it's 7/10 or even 6/10.

Shirasho said:
And everybody dies.

Sadly it was the ending itself that made me not care. That open ended ending really pisses on everything the show has built up to. We are following Avilio and his revenge story up until the very end. We are supposed to be invested in his character and we want to see how things play out for everybody until the very end. We then get this ambiguous middle finger as if to say it is up to us what happens.

As far as I am concerned Avilio gives Nero a second chance. Avilio is shot, dies, and is carried off by the tide (hence the footsteps just stopping, and anime never draws the fine details like blood in the sand after it was washed away by the tide). Nero drives away and is pursued by the guy in the car. His fate is less clear but ultimately gets cornered and is killed as well. That's how Ill interpret it because that is what should have been explicitly shown to us.

geralt said:
It's not just the ending, this whole last episode baffled me quite a bit personally. Even without focusing on how easily Nero managed to get to Angelo or how he was calmly roaming around without getting caught by the Galassias, I was perplexed by his behaviour with Angelo. While it made perfect sense that the latter would be emotionally broken after achieving his revenge, Nero's decision to embark on a road trip akin to the one in episode 4(?) instead of just killing him as soon as was convenient was too weird.

Also, what was the point of last episode's cliffhanger where Angelo was found by Strega when pretty much nothing was done about that other than a useless conversation?

The ambiguity of the ending itself didn't bother me that much, so at least there's that. Still, compared to last episode I feel this one dropped the balls. Overall, though, this has been a really solid revenge story and it showed that anime can deliver stories which are usually not associated with Japan.

7/10 but it's more like a 7 and a half.

Cream_Soda said:
I was on the fence between a 7 and an 8 and the ending solidified it as a 7 for me. I'm within the group of those not a fan of open endings. I can live with it though.

I enjoyed the show, and looked forward to it, each week. It will be missed.

If they add an OVA to expand on the ending a bit more, I'll come back and bump my score back up to an 8.

Memor said:
I really dislike the open ending, but the series was good overall. This episode felt kinda lacklustre compared to the last.

7/10

jaw1811 said:
God, what a shitty ending to a shitty series. The fact that Nero didn't die really bugs me for some reason...oh yeah, it was basically the driving force behind most of the goddamn plot of the series! The reason why I stuck with this series was to see how Avilio killed Nero in the end and they robbed me of that one thing. Fuck you. 2/10

uzee said:
That last scene ruined the good impression from the previous episode. Why would Nero be smiling at the end - he literally has nothing left to be smiling about. Moreover, up until the point where he shot we were left with the impression that it would be "we killed each other's family and friends, and lived happily ever after". Don't get me wrong, seeing the beach scene and Nero driving away immediately gave me the feeling "this ending would be awesome in a novel", which is obvious since it's based on a novel but it totally felt off for an animated work. I mean without the narration of the thought and feelings of the characters that last scene was weird

10kou said:
To be honest, I was expecting a lot from this anime. It was the one that interested me the most this last season.
I'm a person who quickly emphatizes with the characters, so seeing that ending, and seeing so much pain, such feelings, and such an open finale... Thinking that Angelo/Avilio may have died... It hurts me a lot?

I wished that Avilio and Nero could feel sorry for each other, and now that they have nothing to lose, they could maybe stay together.
I dunno, I wish they make an OVA or movie to finish this, because my heart really hurts. I really liked Angelo.
It's a 9/10 for me.

Memor said:
I really dislike the open ending, but the series was good overall. This episode felt kinda lacklustre compared to the last.

7/10

Aahil said:
And so it's up to the viewers to decide on whether which end you want.
1. Angelo was killed
2. Nero again shot a blank
3. Rem is the best girl

elliot-jpg said:
I really can't stop thinking about the scene under the tree where Avilio tells Nero that he should kill him 7 years ago. It shows that alleged act of kindness, letting Avilio live, was the factor that made his life miserable and painful and as a consequence destroyed everything Nero ever dreamed of.

Many people say that Nero spared Avilio's life beacause of this 'you don't need the reason to live' quote, but it keeps me wondering.

If Nero acknowledged that he made a mistake in the first place, that he did not make Avilio a favor, he made him suffer. I quess it would be a reason to kill him. Nero might shot Avilio not beacuse of revenge, but because it was the right thing to do. This time it was a true act of mercy.

Nonetheless, I hope that's not the truth. There's a reason we don't see Avilio's dead body or blood at the end. Maybe he really 'just lives'.

tkayo101 said:
Guys, I don't even know where to begin expressing my disappointment with the finale.

1) All the build up to the showdown at the Playhouse and we don't even get to see it??? Barbero, Nero's right hand was killed. He had his doubts about Avilio (Angelo) and we don't even get to see his I-told-you-so moment. And Vincent Vanetti, the head honcho himself, we don't get to see how he gets killed either. It's just disappointing. I was looking forward to it.

2) Avilio (Angelo) had come so far, sacrificed so much in enacting his revenge (RIP Corteo #CorteoDeservedBetter). It doesn't make sense why he chickened out of killing Nero. Did he bond with his target a little too much?

3) This doesn't have to do with the finale specifically, but I hate how the writers handled Corteo's character. He was a plot device through and through. Written to push the story forward but in a very contrived way. Obviously without his alcohol Avilio (Angelo) couldn't as easily have gotten into the mafia. But after getting in he completely ignores Corteo. There's very little chemistry between them. Just Avilio bossing him around. Avilio and Nero shared more chemistry imo. Episode 11 was really the only time we saw Avilio stop acting so cold towards Corteo and reminded the audience of their childhood relationship.
I just feel like for the most part Corteo was just there. There was not much else to cling to with his character. He was just tagging along with Avilio because Avilio told him to. Dragged into a life he never wanted a part of. Bossed around and ignored. And then disposed of through a self-sacrifice when his job for the plot was done.

Jonesy974 said:
I quite enjoyed this last episode until the very ending. The episode was very full circle.

The series started off with Avilio running into the darkness with Nero aiming a gun at him, then after the timeskip he's on the run with Nero and they start to bond and do all kinds of stupid little things.

At the end, they're on the run again, but with a sense of nostalgia. They didn't actually do anything fun, but you could almost feel the memories. Rather than laughing, they were finally bringing all of their problems and truths to the surface, coming to the realization that there's no going back. Nero gets pissed and makes Avilio come to the conclusion that everything he did was for nothing. Avilio screamed and broke down and made Nero feel the weight of his family's decision from 7 years ago.

As for the ending? I've seen both arguments and I cant really decide.

On one hand, there are hints that he did shoot Avilio.
- When Nero became Don and they were celebrating with a meal, Avilio leaves the room after asking about the night Nero couldn't shoot and says "well you're capable of pulling the trigger now right?" And Nero didn't deny it.
- Nero seemed more determined when he pulled the trigger this time than when he did 7 years ago
- The ending is kind of full circle, Nero couldn't shoot an innocent kid running into the dark, but he could shoot his friend who betrayed him walking (sort of) towards the light.

As for him not shooting Avilio:
- There was no blood
- There was no body or drag marks and Nero went back to his car immediately
- The footprints magically ended apruptly
- ^ There was no way the ocean could have washed all of it away instantly

As for them both bead dead:
- Could explain the unexplainable foot prints magically disappearing
- Could explain the random can of pineapples in the car
- Could explain the reason for that random guy in the car following them

It was so needlessly open ended that I cant even decide which theory stands the chance of being right.

Now as a whole, I did enjoy the show for it's story and for the way Avilio's revenge plot unfolded.

What I didn't enjoy, and one of the reasons I picked it up in the first place, was the interpretation of the mafia and the prohibition era. Honestly it was pretty inaccurate.

At first I thought they came up with the fictional town Lawless because they didn't want to tread on anything historical facts from Chicago...but then they said the Galassias were from Chicago. So that raised the question, why not just make the entire show take place in Chicago? I say that, because Lawless was a relatively boring fucking place. Chicago was rampant with corruption, crime, and interesting sites, Lawless was relatively pointless. One island where they had some bars, and lots of farm side country.

This brings up the first few inaccuracies. 91 Days relied too heavily on the theme of prohibition and bootleg alcohol. Sounds very mafia-esque at first. But alcohol was just one part of the prohibition era. As much as they relied on booze, the mafia also had lots of big houses and parlors dedicated to gambling and prostitution...which were both absent in this show. Really alcohol wasn't all that interesting. They bought up the foreclosed breweries, paid off local government, and sold it in their bars, and to other bars.

The other thing is that when Avilio and Nero were on the run, they basically stuck to the outskirts of Lawless. That usually never happened. They made some accurate, yet subtle references to it, but Florida was a major getaway for mob bosses who needed to fly under the radar. They would often get as far away as possible and delegate through a subordinate or a hideout.

I felt like the subtle homages to Chicago, Florida, and the PA Railroad were more accurate than the major themes of the show.

The violence was also dramatically overplayed. Sure there were killings and lots of people with tommy guns, but big massacres like that were few and far between because they were so violent, and that level of violence then drew fear from the public, notoriety from the press, and the attention of the government. Small time hits and assassinations were more common, until Capone got pretty drunk with power and attention.

Those were kind of the biggest gripes for me, but fortunately all of those pieces were basically tools that Avilio used in his revenge.

I'd give it a 7/10. Would probably be a point or 2 higher if the ending was open and if they were a little more historically accurate.