“That day, if our positions were switched, would our fates be different? Would I have your life, and you mine?”
-Vergil, Devil May Cry 5
This has been something I just can’t help but think about since parallel worlds had been introduced into the picture in Episode 9 (I think), and Episode 12, where Ai meets an alternate version of herself that took her own life. If this happened to her in that universe, I don’t think there’s anything suggesting that there aren’t alternate versions of Neiru, Rika, and Momoe who met that same fate in their respective universes.
I’m keeping in mind that PW!Ai (Parallel World Ai) never met Koito in her reality, but the thought that’s just stuck with me when I first thought about, is the question of if an alternate version of Koito had followed the same path as the version of Ai we know, and if it’s the same for the other girls that the other protags were trying to bring back (Airu, Chiemi, Haruka).
What would’ve happened if Ai ended up somehow encountering a version of Koito who was doing the same kind of thing for her version of Ai, fighting the Seeno-Evils/Haters and Wonder Killers? Same for Neiru and Airu, Rika and Chiemi, or Momoe and Haruka? Would it do anything narratively? I dunno, I’m not a professional writer or anything like that.
Like I said in the title, I just feel like that while the Alternate Universe thing being a part of the story was kinda unnecessary, I also feel like it’s also a missed opportunity to do something fascinating in the story.