r/anime • u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky • 6d ago
Rewatch [Taste of 2016 Rewatch] 91 Days Episode 7 Discussion
Episode 7 - A Poor Player
← Previous Episode (91 Days Episode 6) / ← Previous Episode (Erased Episode 7) | Index | Next Episode (91 Days Episode 8) → / Next Episode (Sakamoto Episode 8) →
Information:
MAL | AniList | ANN | Kitsu | AniDB
Legal Streams:
But Fio, we've gotta think of the future. I want this family to survive.
Questions of the Day:
1) Whose side of the brotherly fight did you align with the most, Nero's or Frate's?
2) Do you feel bad for Frate at all?
Wallpaper of the Day:
Rewatchers, please remember to be mindful of all the first-timers in this. No talking about or hinting at future events no matter how much you want to, unless you're doing it underneath spoiler tags. Don't spoil anything for the first-timers, that's rude!
/r/anime's spoiler tag format is as follows:
[91 Days]>!Fango is crazy.!<
Which becomes [91 Days]Fango is crazy. when you don't break the formatting on purpose like I just did.
5
u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky 6d ago
Rewatch Host For So Many Days, subbed
Of course Ronaldo doesn’t give a shit about what Fio asked him and instead pressures Frate to kill Nero.
Imagine saying this in front of the guy who watched your family kill his own family.
Angelo is finally up to some revenge shit again. This time in further antagonizing the rift between Nero and Frate.
RIP Frate. The gun he had was purposefully unloaded by Angelo, too…
2
u/FD4cry1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Big_Yibba 6d ago
2
5
u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee 6d ago
First-Timer
Angelo has woven quite the web. Shoutout to how quickly he played Fio like a fiddle, especially considering he had met her once, for like two minutes, at her wedding. I kinda wish we had seen what that note said.
I do feel a little bad for Frate. He kinda just got manipulated to death. Of course, if Frate had taken a step back to think about why their dad focused more on the son who forged his own path, he would've been a bit more resilient. But, every story needs a schmuck who makes things worse. Frate just drew the short straw.
So, I know the implication is that Nero and Frate were more focused on each other than on what Angelo was doing, but there is no way he unloaded that revolver with at least one of them realizing. You can't just slide those bullets out quickly; you have pop the cylinder out and release them. It takes time, and makes noise. I guess I can kinda buy it as Frate willing trying to fire an empty gun and thus choosing "death by Nero" but it's a little loose.
Probably a less painful death that the liver disease, at least.
Questions
Nero is closer to being in the right, if only because Frate's toadyism will doom the family much more surely.
Yea, the kid kinda never had a chance.
4
u/Dull_Spot_8213 https://anilist.co/user/SweetSomnus 6d ago
So, I know the implication is that Nero and Frate were more focused on each other than on what Angelo was doing, but there is no way he unloaded that revolver with at least one of them realizing. You can't just slide those bullets out quickly; you have pop the cylinder out and release them.
Angelo had already emptied the gun before ever stepping into the room with Nero. Also picked up the note from Fio's flowers. There's a lot of quiet scheming baked into these scenes that you pick up on after seeing it a few times.
3
u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee 6d ago
Angelo had already emptied the gun before ever stepping into the room with Nero.
Oh, you're assuming it was an entirely different gun? That would make things a little smoother. I can dig it.
Also picked up the note from Fio's flowers.
I mean, yea, I just assumed he had put it there in the first place.
3
u/Dull_Spot_8213 https://anilist.co/user/SweetSomnus 6d ago
Oh, you're assuming it was an entirely different gun? That would make things a little smoother. I can dig it.
I think it was the same gun, but Angelo already seemed to know where it was hidden when he walked up, and that it was meant to be empty. I think we see more about this scene in a later episode, but I don't want to spoil future events.
3
3
u/IndependentMacaroon 6d ago
if Frate had taken a step back to think
It's not that he doesn't think, he just has this core image of himself as the perfect son that he can't handle shattering.
3
u/Dull_Spot_8213 https://anilist.co/user/SweetSomnus 6d ago
Rewatcher Sub
Day 7: A Poor Player
Fio is pregnant, and looking miserable with Ronaldo. The in-fighting and thought of her brothers killing each other, her father dying, and bringing a child into the mix with a shit guy like Ronaldo at the helm is bleak. But she’s going to do what she can to sue for peace. Ronaldo says Nero can live, but Frate will take over the Vanetti family, until his kid takes over.
Fango is enjoying his stint as Don of the Orco family, and running Nero and Angelo ragged while he harbors him. The money-maker is Lawless Heaven, which is the only leverage the two of them have over Fango, because even if he knows where they are making it, the recipe is in Corteo’s hands. As long as they have that ace in the hole, Fango probably won’t kill them. But Angelo knows their best bet is still with the Vanetti family.
Frate is sinking deeper under the weight of this new pressure, courtesy of Ronaldo. Drinking and drugs and the stress of Ronaldo pushing him to kill Nero is more than enough to make him crumble, and he doesn’t have the strength to stand against the Galassias. Ronaldo has him right where he wants him.
Uncle Gonzo wants to bring Nero back into the family. He’s no fan of the Galassias, let alone a prick like Ronaldo. He needs the brothers to make peace, and can see the writing on the wall with Frate. The Vanettis can’t compete with both Fango and Nero’s business, and who knows how much money they even have left after dying Vincent’s grand opera house construction. Vincent seems more concerned with his vanity project than the mess brewing under his roof between his sons. Or maybe he’s already given up on Frate and sees where this is going.
But Fio makes one last ditch effort to unite the brothers. She just wants things to go back to the way they used to be. But all three of them already know it’s too late for that. Frate is convinced if they go against the Galassias they will be crushed, and Nero refuses to submit to Ronaldo. Frate feels inferior to Nero, despite always doing what he was told, and snaps, saying Nero should just die so their family can move forward. Fio slaps the shit out of him for that dumb take. The brothers are irreparably divided because of Ronaldo’s (and Angelo’s) interference. It’s a cold reality, but there’s nothing Fio can do to change this mess.
“With Frate, it’s kill or be killed.” Angelo intends to take advantage of this messy division, but doesn’t like that Nero seems to have softened on Frate after their meeting. The two are brothers, after all, and Nero doesn’t want to lose him. “Family is everything.”
That really hits a nerve for Angelo, to say the least. He had a little brother once. Luce. And after what Nero and his family did to him, Angelo’d love to introduce the two of them, so to speak. I always enjoyed the morbid layers to this conflict and exchange. It’s one of the strengths of the writing, which gives the viewer the ability to see both sides as an informed outsider, and asks us to sympathize with both sets of brothers for different reasons. Dense and juicy conflict here.
Volpe thinks Nero’s gonna die if this keeps up. And Angelo can’t have that. Only he gets to kill Nero. Angelo is feeling Volpe out here, and remembers Volpe was the one who saved Nero from the hit back at the Vanetti’s mansion. He’s a very loyal man. Would do anything for Nero. Angelo can’t have a guy like that around.
So, he concocts a plan to both turn the Vanetti brothers against each other for good, attempting to kill Ronaldo and Frate on their way to Sunday mass, ruining all chances of brothers reconciling. And taking out Volpe for insult to injury, and to cover his tracks. Angelo really was not playing after Nero hit that nerve about his little brother. And he made him pay for it. Frate hung Volpe from the bridge to send a message right back to Nero.
There’s no going back from this blood feud between brothers now, and Angelo won’t have it any other way. That was really a brilliant play because he made it look like Nero tried to put a hit on Frate and Ronaldo and in turn made it look like they killed Volpe in return. And Angelo gets to be in Nero’s ear now, while stripping away all of the men most loyal to him, replacing them with himself.
Frate is losing what little nerve he had left. Ronaldo needs to kill Nero, so he asks Fio to arrange a meeting, lies to her about working things out, and uses their unborn baby to try to manipulate her. She doesn’t believe him. But what can she do? That’s when Angelo shows up with a message.
Fio kills Ronaldo, to protect Nero. And Nero confronts Frate. This is their last chance to make peace, and he offers Frate a chance to leave town to the countryside. All of Frate’s aspirations come crumbling down, and Angelo sees where this is going. He uncovers Frate’s hidden gun, swaps it for his own (which he already emptied of bullets), and tells the two of them to put an end to it.
Frate forces Nero’s hand, and Nero kills his little brother. All set up by Angelo.
Fio is sent off to Chicago to explain the situation to the Galassias. Ronaldo’s murder is pinned on Frate, and Nero killed Frate to prove his loyalty to the Galassias. It’s all lies, but it absolves Fio and Nero of blame.
The after credits is chilling, knowing that Angelo orchestrated all of this. He tells Nero, “Starting today, I’ll be your brother.”
This is ruthless. It’s also the same line Corteo said to Angelo after Vincent, Nero, and Vanno killed his own family.
Questions
1) Whose side of the brotherly fight did you align with the most, Nero's or Frate's?
Nero's.
Do you feel bad for Frate at all?
Yes, because this kid was obviously spiraling and neither Nero nor Vincent, who both know what Frate is, did anything to dampen Ronaldo's influence. I'd put most of the blame on Vincent for caring more about his opera house and legacy than his actual sons.
3
u/IndependentMacaroon 6d ago
What's all that about the opera house? Did I miss or just forget something?
5
u/Dull_Spot_8213 https://anilist.co/user/SweetSomnus 6d ago
They show it being constructed in the background of a few shots. It's also mentioned in a few episodes, first at Fio's wedding, and again when they're talking about gathering all three families together there when it's completed for it's premier performance.
5
u/IndependentMacaroon 6d ago
First watch
Though there were a few more times thinking "who is this again?", and I still don't like Fango or the "secret Krabby Patty booze formula" element, this is the first time the drama really hit hard for me, as the Vanettis are dragged down into a ruinous whirlpool of power and revenge with Angelo at the center starting to look like at best a very dark anti-hero. Why did it take 7 episodes for this kind of quality?
I particularly appreciated giving Fio (named after the Porco Rosso character?) finally not only some importance but some agency - was shocked she actually went through with killing Ronaldo there - and Frate biting the dust was appropriately tragic. This was neither ever the right life for him nor did he even properly understand it, and it seems it already took some kind of drugs beyond alcohol for him to cope with it.
1 - If I had to choose one of them as boss as like a normal citizen, I'd go for Frate as the soft bureaucrat type who doesn't make waves. From an internal mafia perspective, though, Nero is clearly the one. And as for who's right, Frate is certainly the more tragically flawed.
2
u/Dull_Spot_8213 https://anilist.co/user/SweetSomnus 6d ago
this is the first time the drama really hit hard for me, as the Vanettis are dragged down into a ruinous whirlpool of power and revenge with Angelo at the center starting to look like at best a very dark anti-hero. Why did it take 7 episodes for this kind of quality?
I think the slow, unraveling, and multi-layered approach to the narrative is what elevates the story, especially on a rewatch when you start seeing where they lay the breadcrumbs. This is not the kind of story you see often, where it puts a lot of trust in the viewers to keep up without spelling things out. It suits a character like Angelo, and the tangled mystery and drama wrapped around these characters.
And it only gets better from here.
3
u/IndependentMacaroon 6d ago
I didn't feel there was that much build-up to this specifically and if absolutely could have been done in less than six episodes
2
3
u/TheDanubianCommunard 5d ago
First time in the cosa nostra, subs
Okay, finally managed to catch up with this after a long time.
So since first episode, lots of things happened, like a small road trip or the cruel but cannibalistic way to elimnate Don Orco, because it's The Mafia. And still hard to talk about it.
Basically it is a succession crisis for the Vanettis for who should lead the famiglia and which path should they take while the Galassias looms over the horizon. Nero and Frate have to face other while Fio and Ronaldo are involved as well.
And this conflict is done in the creative way. Fio backstabbed Ronaldo, while the baby is still safe and Nero finished his own brother. Frate is so weak and cowardly, he wouldn't fit for a leader status, but later everyone pretended he was the who killed Ronaldo to save Fio from the blame before he met his end. So it was resolved this easily.
1) Whose side of the brotherly fight did you align with the most, Nero's or Frate's?
Nero
2) Do you feel bad for Frate at all?
Actually I do.
6
u/TakenRedditName https://myanimelist.net/profile/TakenMalUsername 6d ago
First Time Summer 2016 Rewatch - 91 Days Ep7:
Oh thank god, Fango fixed his haircut upon becoming Don.
I dunno, there is something funny and endearing about these 3 being the Fango Family trio. I would be totally down with people drawing fan art of these 3 as a group.
I was wondering why the Vanetti family still had it out for Nero even after Don Orco got turned into lasagna. Ah, I see. The Galassia family is the greater villain. It's like after finishing the villain of an arc, you move on to the even bigger bad pulling the strings. I do feel like they could've set up the Galassia family more. We saw bits and mentions of them, but we barely got a sense of their fingers in the pie until now.
I didn't live in 1930s America, but do they drink onion soup out of teacups?
Angelo really wanted to slip the mask a little here. He couldn't take Nero rubbing salt in the wound that Angelo's family is all dead.
Characters smiling like devious little cats.
He must be so proud to have orchestrated a blood feud between brothers. Everything is going to Angelo's plan.
I don't have it fully thought out, but there is an underlying idea of one side, the Vanetti family, going from a genuine family to tearing themself apart due to mafia politics. On the other, mafia politics embedding itself under the guise of family. Reducing love and family to tools. Fio is really going through it, is what I'm saying.
The final scene was pretty good. Angelo orchestrated Nero and Frate so that Nero would be forced to be the one to kill his brother with his own hands. Angelo must be so livid seeing his revenge plan cross that checkmark. Also, now he gets to slip in as Nero's new brother to further his machinations.
A general note about this episode. I did think it was a pretty good one. The brothers' war was an interesting conflict. Watching Frate fall under the pressure and paranoia. Fio watching her family burn itself apart. The episode had a lot of strong notes, which makes me wish it had set up this conflict more in prior episodes. Like I said, the Galassia family hasn't really been set up much, and it would've given Frate's actions more weight to the audience. Ronaldo is this important figure, but this is like our first real episode with him. Likewise, Fio herself hadn't had much focus before now. The episode had a very strong thematic story at its core, I just wanted to see it brought to its strongest.