Switched Season 1 Episode 5 Recap – Lies

Ayumi and Umine are waiting for the hospital results. When the door opens, Umine rushes to greet Koshiro. But as soon as he talks, they realize it’s Kaga inside Koshiro’s body. When Umine leaves them, Mao talks to Ayumi and Kaga. She asks Kaga why they switched bodies. Mao adds that the switch wouldn’t have worked if one of them didn’t want to become the other. Ayumi blames herself for what happened to Kaga and Koshiro. The next day, Ayumi hands her homework to Kaga and gives him a cupcake. The students look surprised. Because Ayumi is inside Umine’s body and Kaga is inside Koshiro’s, they think Umine is dating Koshiro. “Umine has gotten cute,” one student says. The other says, “I’ve come to really like Umine.” When Umine hears this, she gets really angry she starts crying.

She receives a message saying Koshiro is finally awake. Koshiro tells her he didn’t want to die, so he instinctively changed with Kaga. He says he’s okay with it since it was his wish before. “Looking different on the outside won’t change what’s inside,” Koshiro says. Umine starts crying, thinking that those words are meant to spite her.

Later that night, Kaga and Koshiro visit Ayumi. Kaga tells Ayumi that Koshiro only stayed with Umine to find a way to bring Ayumi back to normal. Koshiro tells Ayumi there‘s another way to get her body back. “If you can’t switch with the same person twice, then you should just pass through another person,” Koshiro says. He plans to do it when the Red Moon comes. Koshiro will switch with Umine, then Ayumi will switch with Kaga. Then on the next Red Moon, Ayumi will switch with Koshiro, and Umine will switch with Kaga. Even if Ayumi thinks the plan is amazing, Kaga thinks it won’t be easy because Umine won’t accept it without a fight. Koshiro suggests they should just trick Umine into doing it, but Ayumi doesn’t like Umine getting hurt. She suggests they just tell her the plan. Kaga reminds her that one of them could die if Umine refuses to cooperate.

After talking to her friends, Ayumi goes back home. Umine’s mother looks sad that day. “You and I, if we were born slightly more beautiful, maybe life would have been a little better,” she tells Ayumi. On his way home, Koshiro sees Umine waiting for him in the rain. “I will accept you, so please don’t leave me alone,” Umine says. She falls on her knees and begs Koshiro to let her love him. Koshiro calls his friends and tells them he plans on telling Umine their plan. “We can’t make Umine suffer more,” Koshiro says.

The next day at school, Kaga tells Umine what he heard on TV. Mao has a TV interview, and she says that the Red Moon appearing two days and one week later might be the last time the Red Moon will appear. Kaga insists they should just trick Umine, or they can never return if it fails. Koshiro is on the rooftop with Umine. He finally tells her he’s been lying to her. When Kaga and Ayumi get to the rooftop, Umine has already left. They all worry they won’t convince Umine when the Red Moon comes the next day. The teacher enters the room and announces that Ayumi has gone missing since the previous day.

Our Thoughts

So Koshiro planned everything from the beginning. We want to take his side and say it’s a brilliant idea, but we’re not so happy that Umine will get hurt. Umine just wants to be loved. That’s why seeing Ayumi get the love she wants for herself hurt her a lot. Even when she gets the guy she likes, she still cries. If her mother loved her, it would have changed many things. Of course, we don’t want to put all the blame on her mother, but how she treated Umine plays a big part in the kind of person she’ll be. Mao told them that if one of them didn’t want to become the other, the switch wouldn’t work. So we’re wondering if it applies to Ayumi and Umine. When Umine jumped off the building, Ayumi was there looking at her. Did Ayumi want to become Umine at that exact moment? That’s why it worked? Maybe not. We’re not sure.

Umine may have switched with Ayumi, but she only enjoyed it for a couple of days. Because after a few days of Ayumi coming to school as Umine, Kaga quickly discovered the truth. Not long after that, Koshiro also found out the truth about their switch. It’s like the world just lets Umine taste a bit of happiness. It must have been painful for Umine to see Ayumi having fun while people think she’s her. Koshiro was right; the switch won’t change what’s inside. So no matter which body Umine is in, she’ll carry her insecurities.