16 comments

  1. P

    You know, despite her rather glaring misjudgement that a (skimpy) bathing suit was all it was going to take to stop Wakana from getting flustered at the sight of her body, I rather like how genuinely Marin appreciates his talents and contributions- and she makes sure he knows it. Goes a long way in boosting his confidence.

    Also, I had no idea the mangaka was female.

  2. TBH I don’t think that was a misjudgement – I think she knew damn well it would still mess with his head and did it because it made her feel less uncomfortable. I think it was juvenile and self-involved, but I guess I don’t think she’s really mean-spirited. Just, you know, a self-involved juvenile.

    It is nice that she praises him, not that one shouldn’t expect someone in her position to be grateful but I suppose in anime especially not everyone would be.

  3. P

    I’m not entirely convinced she did it specifically to make herself feel less uncomfortable, though I concede to your general point about it being self-involved.

  4. Do you think even Marin would have been comfortable parading around in front of Wakana in a bra and panties? I mean she did flash him at the lingerie shop but that was for a literal flash, not half an hour or more. Plus by then her original stunt had kind of broken the ice.

  5. d

    Not sure if her part time job has has been mentioned/hinted, it might (deleted).

  6. That sounded like a manga spoiler…

  7. S

    This was a good ass write up; your most insightful on the series yet, Enzo. Like you said, there’s a wholesome dynamic growing here and I only imagine it’s going to get more apparent as the eps go by. While the animation wasn’t at its strongest (cloverworks couldn’t keep that effort going for 12 eps straight the way a studio like Kyoani could), this was for my account the strongest episode of the 3 so far.

    This show seems to have a way of portraying the casual nature of a budding, healthy, romantic relationship. This episode was just these two lovebirds getting to know each other better through natural banter and interacting through their opinions of their passions. These aspects are the very things that define a strong, self-actualized relationship, and we as an audience received that through well acted performance by our main Seiyuus and a tightly written script that did not insult its audience. 1. I love how Wakana’s whole flustered dilemma in ep 2 reaches his logical conclusion in that he wakes up with an extreme hard on and runs one out for Marin. Just the idea that the story doesn’t idealize Wakana’s attraction for Marin, but grounds it in the reality of what a 15/16 year old boy coming to terms with his sexual awakening would do, is a great narrative move, especially after all that time spent on the fan service. 2. I love how quickly this story resolved the entire conflict regarding Wakana’s concern for Marin’s social status. Usually that’s a thing in Romance manga/anime that would span a whole ep or be needlessly drawn out. My dress up darling just says no to that shit and says: ” nah, we’ll squash this whole plot point in less than two minutes because we’ve established our characters as being mature and we ain’t about to make them be stupid for the sake of the plot.” Marin just flat out says: “you got a problem, talk to me about it.”

    Yea I agree that Marin can come off as an otaku’s wet dream; however, what softens that rather annoying aspect of waifu commercialism is that at the end of the day, Marin is still effectively portrayed through the writing and dialogue as a genuine, tangible person. She has insecurities but ultimately finds being true to herself to be more important than anything else. It doesn’t matter how hot she is (even though it does matter from an otaku wish fulfillment standpoint), she doesn’t think twice about her standing when it comes to showing respect to the people she values; that’s badass as fuck. It’s official; I think I found my horny, wholesome anime of the season

  8. Being good ass is certainly the goal…

    “Horny, wholesome” can be a powerful combination in anime. I’m not prepared yet to say Bisque Doll’s understanding of organic chemistry is sufficient to pull it off, but I’m hopeful. In a sense I’m put in mind of B Gata H Kei, a series which definitely understood the meaning of the the term but was sadly underappreciated.

  9. s

    B gata H kei was an awesome show and I always wondered why it never got the appreciation I thought it should. Not every day you come across an anime depicting a girl who’s horny for sex without it being her only defining characteristic. Yamada was treated like a character; one with real insecurities who slowly learns to overcome them, which made for a very rewarding watch. And who could ever forget Yamada and her morning check ups? What a hoot, which was the other aspect of the show I appreciated; it was a romcom that was actually funny.

  10. S

    Oh damnit! Yuzuwaya was my paradise. 🙁

  11. Cosplay Heaven?

  12. S

    Haha! No, I’m really into crafts and no place does craft shops better than Japan. Lots of variety. I really miss them. I stayed in Chiba a while back and frequented Yuzuwaya a lot.

  13. L

    I delved into manga a bit and would just say that Gojou’s carrying the series just as much as Marin,often he actually overshadows her in terms of being ultimate waifu/husbando.

  14. Well, that’s good to hear anyway.

  15. M

    Something this series has made me wonder is if the anime industry has found itself in a sort of “No-Man’s Land” when it comes to Rom Coms, or just outright romances. Shows like these and last season’s “My Senpai is Annoying” aren’t painfully bad necesssarily, but they don’t seem to be above-and-beyond great neither.

    Honest question: which was the most recent Rom-Com or just Romance that you could honestly put it amongst the élites of anime history? How far back does one need to go for that?

  16. Tsuki ga Kirei off the top of my head.

Leave a Comment