Switched Season 1 Episode 3 Recap – Confession

Ayumi plans to launch herself down a set of stairs, but she changes her mind. She and Kaga try different things to regain her body, but they’re running out of options. So Ayumi tells Kaga about the phone call she received the night before. Ayumi goes to the lab with Kaga. A woman welcomes them and hands them her calling card — Mao Ukon, a red moon researcher. Mao takes the birdcage from Ayumi and thanks her. She adds that the parrot only comes near those who switched bodies. When Kaga asks her if she really knows how to switch bodies, Mao says she does. She says, “After all, I switched with someone, too.”

Mao tells them that she runs a business that provides information about switching. Meanwhile, Umine goes on a date with Koshiro. She tells Koshiro she initially intended to die. That’s why she wanted to be reborn. She holds tight to Koshiro’s hand and says she doesn’t want to let go of him. Mao tells Ayumi and Kaga how to switch. “First, you must commit suicide when there is a Red Moon. Then, you must be seen by the person you wish to be. And you must die,” she says. Ayumi tells Mao she wants to go back to her old self, but Mao laughs at her. She reminds them that she‘ll only teach them how to switch. She shows them a video of a woman jumping off a building, attempting to go back to her old body.

The woman in the video was Mao’s previous body. Just after they changed, the other woman wanted to go back, so she asked Mao to switch again. After the switch failed, the woman inside Mao’s body died. Mao tells them that the other cases of switching back also failed and resulted in deaths. She adds that once a person switches with someone, they can never return to their original body. Ayumi loses hope knowing there‘s no way for her to go back.

She goes back to her house to visit her family. When she looks inside the house through a window, she sees her parents having dinner with Umine. Kaga, who has followed Ayumi, sees her crying. He tells Ayumi that it doesn’t matter what she looks like. “I, alone, will love you in everyone else’s place,” he adds. Just after he confesses his feelings to Ayumi, Koshiro takes Ayumi away. Koshiro asks Ayumi for information about switching. Then he tells Ayumi that she and Kaga look like a better match. Kaga waits for Ayumi and apologizes to her for confessing at the wrong time. Later that night, Koshiro looks up more information about body switching.

Ayumi goes back to Umine’s home. She convinces herself that it’s her life already, and Umine’s mom will be her mom. The next day, Kaga tells Ritsu and Maria he has feelings for Umine. Some of his classmates hear his confession. They announce to the rest of the class what Kaga said. Umine looks horrified that someone would like Ayumi even when she has Umine’s face and body. One student teases Kaga that he’s attracted to ugly girls. Umine waits for Kaga to deny he likes Ayumi, but instead of denying it, Kaga tells the class there’s nothing wrong with it.

Ayumi tells the class she doesn’t understand why everyone hates her. She tells them to try and get to know her more. Then she tells her classmates to touch her cheeks. The students take turns pinching Ayumi’s cheeks and joking around. Umine leaves the room with tears running down her cheeks. Koshiro follows Umine and says he wants to know more about her. Umine tells Koshiro she was always alone. She remembers the students making fun of her and avoiding her. She adds that her father has left her, and her relationship with her mother is not good. She tells Koshiro he has always been nice to her, even before she switched with Ayumi. The day she planned to confess to Koshiro, she heard him say he would confess to Ayumi. Koshiro comforts Umine and tells her he will never leave her side. Ayumi stops him and says he likes him the way he is. Koshiro smiles and says, “I’m not switching with Kaga. He will switch with Ayumi. During the next Red Moon, I will end their lives.”

Our Thoughts

Umine looked lonely growing up. The students were either avoiding her or making fun of her. So when Koshiro showed her a bit of kindness, she fell in love with him. It’s not really the fame and fortune she was after — just Koshiro. To get Koshiro, she had to become Ayumi. No matter how often Koshiro listens to Umine’s story, we doubt he’d really understand her. Their lives were really different. We think Kaga likes Ayumi for who she is, not just for her face. Even when Ayumi is inside another person’s body, he still likes her.

With how Koshiro is acting, how does he plan to face Ayumi if she manages to return to her body? We don’t know what he’s planning. From how he looks at Kaga, it’s obvious that he doesn’t like Kaga getting more attention. He wanted to switch with him. That’s his plan when he first asked Umine how to switch. But now, he wanted Kaga to switch with Ayumi. We doubt it’s because he cared about Umine. Either he’s planning something, or he just really hates his friends. When Mao said that people who tried to switch back died trying, we thought it’s already hopeless. Besides, we don’t think Umine would ever want to return to her old life. She sacrificed her life just to be Ayumi, and there’s no way she’d give it back. At least, that’s what we think. Even if she loses Koshiro to someone else, her new family is good to her. We doubt she’d want to return to a mother who doesn’t like her.