That was a definite step in the right direction for me. And that’s saying something, since this was one of the most cosplay minutiae-heavy episodes yet. Generally speaking the more time Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru spends on Marin-Gojou interaction the more charm it seems to have, even if the teasing gag is already pretty tiresome. Even if the cosplay itself doesn’t interest me so much, watching the two of them go on about it is usually pretty entertaining.
Also a plus – this is the first time the series has openly acknowledged how ridiculous it is that Gojou is mostly working for free. It was Sajuna who gave voice to this, and as the oldest and most experienced of the mains she’s the logical one to point it out. Gojou isn’t just some kid making bad outfits in his bedroom – he’s an artist. This is what he’s chosen to do with his life. It’s one thing for him to work for cost for Marin, given their close relationship – that’s a complicated question but at least a case can be made. For anyone else, it should be a non-starter and Sajuna was right to point it out.
As for Sajuna seemingly falling for Gojou – she thinks he’s “wonderful” at the very least – that’s a twist I hope doesn’t become a big part of the narrative. All the hot girls falling for the self-insert lead is pretty cliche to say the least, and I think Bisque Doll could do without that sort of drama anyway. Marin being jealous of Gojou spending alone time with Shinjuu on the other hand fits perfectly. As head over heels as she is at her age, I would fully expect Marin to have a hair-trigger on this front.
Then we have the new cosplay, Veronica-tya. She seems to be a sort of fighting game character but what may get some folks talking is that skin tone. I had seen mention of a controversial cosplay coming up and I can sort of get why people would feel that way, but honestly as far as the whole gyaru look goes I’ve seen far, far worse. Basically Veronica – and Marin – look like Japanese girls with overcooked booth tans (or a lot of makeup). If this is the controversy we were warned of, it’s kind of a nothingburger for me.
Gojou certainly isn’t concerned about that. His mind (among other things) is elsewhere. Veronica is the skimpiest outfit yet, by a good margin. It’s cheap and easy to make, but it doesn’t hide a whole lot (and certainly not underboob). In fact Gojou will eventually beg off touring with Marin in this outfit for the simple reason that it’s too much for him (Marin in his gym clothes is bad enough). Marin is thrilled to hear this, for obvious reasons – it’s clear that she’s making a strong impact on the guy she loves.
Lastly, we have the Shibuya shopping trip, which was a very fun scene. In truth Marin’s instinct is correct – Gojou is kind of selling himself short restricting himself to Japanese loungewear like an ojii-san. That said she’s the worst possible judge of clothes for him (as witness most of her choices) because he looks hot in everything to her infatuated eyes. Instead of straight to Shibuya boutiques a trip to the nearest Uniqlo or H&M for some simple and conservative upgrades (in this vein) would have been a sensible baby step to take. Nevertheless I’m glad to see at least lip service given to the idea that Gojou should express himself as an individual, because Sono Bisque Doll needs as much of that happening as possible.
Leily
March 13, 2022 at 5:01 pmI was told the manga went a step further at the juncture and explicitly said that Marin too, paid Wakana for more than just the raw materials. She paid the full fee. (Shouldn’t be a spoiler because this episode covers the chapter in which this was said). Though given all their youth- I don’t think Wakana’s well-versed in the “business” part of “family business”- I wonder how he works the numbers out.
It’s pity they cut it out.
I like how easily Marin took in stride that the Veronica cosplay was too much. I saw some comparisons to blackface being made, but I think such comparisons are inexact, to put it mildly.
Guardian Enzo
March 13, 2022 at 6:04 pmI would have to think most people making that comment are unfamiliar with the whole gyaru subculture, because stuff on this level is pretty pedestrian by those standards. Some ganguro stuff is legitimately offensive for me, but this is not anything like the same thing.
It is a shame they cut out that but about Marin paying Gojou, if in fact they did. No idea why they would.
sonicsenryaku
March 13, 2022 at 6:37 pmI can verify the whole Marin paying Wakana in full bit being cut out. I was glad I predicted that the conversation would probably come up due to narrative context clues, but after reading a comment suggesting there was more to the conversation, I took for the manga and lo and behold; they cut that part of the conversation out. In the manga, Juju sternly lectures Wakana on accepting payment from others (see? She never had any intention of taking advantage of a free ride), then assumes Wakana has been letting Marin go scott-free with paying, to which he confirms she has been paying him for the actual service in addition to obviously paying for the materials. The conversation makes clear the difference between paying for the materials and the actual work. After learning about this, I am absolutely puzzled as to why the hell they cut that out. Guess the anime assumes we as the audience already expect that people with paying jobs are paying Wakana for his work; still it’s odd the anime didn’t address this with what was only a few lines in the manga. Oh well.
Guardian Enzo
March 13, 2022 at 6:56 pmI read it too (just today). To me it seems ever-so-slightly ambiguous – as if Gojou is trying to say the right thing to get Juju off his back. But that’s probably just me projecting, so assuming we take him at face value the question then becomes – why would the anime decide to cut it? It’s obviously not a question of time, so presumably they wanted the matter to remain ambiguous. Which then begs the question, “why?”
sonicsenryaku
March 15, 2022 at 1:19 am“Why?” indeed. Well at the very least we know Juju definitely paid Wakana; she wouldn’t have hassled him like that about payment otherwise so he’s definitely taking the money for his services. I think Wakana is mostly anxious by the idea of demanding high quality materials from his customers due to how specific he gets with his craft. Realistically speaking, his demands for cosplay would make the price for paying for the materials quite exorbitant in addition to the fee to even commission the work. Either way, I think its safe to say Wakana was telling Juju the truth in the manga; from a storytelling perspective, it wouldn’t make sense for Juju to bring up such a crucial detail only for Wakana to deny it and then us as the audience not know whether or not he was telling the truth or not. In that kind of writing scenario, the author would let you in with some kind of direct hint whether or not the character in question is being deceitful; here however, there are no concrete or even vague signs indicating Wakana is lying I figure he’s telling the truth. Reading it in any other way without any evidence would be as you said, projecting, which ya typically want to avoid when analyzing the authenticity of events in story.
Marty
March 14, 2022 at 3:35 amI was always under the impression that the whole Gyaru thing was more to imitate a tab through makeup (or just get a really Dark tan) rather than anything with blackface.
Then again, I’m not too familiar with this Chuck of Japanese pop culture.
Marty
March 14, 2022 at 4:40 amTan* autocorrect betrays me once again.
Guardian Enzo
March 14, 2022 at 7:38 amThere are subsets that are pretty cringey, believe me. This struck me as pretty tame.
Nellie
March 15, 2022 at 12:59 amMy twitter feed exploded with discourse on whether colouring your skin for cosplay purposes was problematic.
I have to say I was hoping that the anime wouldn’t get to the Veronica cosplay precisely so that this could be avoided.
Nellie
March 15, 2022 at 1:01 amCrud- double-posting. Sorry, Enzo.
Guardian Enzo
March 15, 2022 at 6:40 amYou owe me $100. That’s the rule.
wandering-dreamer
March 16, 2022 at 11:57 am“If this is the controversy we were warned of, it’s kind of a nothingburger for me.” Ah, your twitter mentions must’ve been very different from mine this weekend. I was chatting with another cosplayer, who had made a pretty innocuous tweet (“hey guys, don’t do this, colorism is a thing in Japan as well and changing your skintone for cosplay just isn’t something you should do [talking about realistic colors and not like, blue]”) that pissed people off so much that randos then made a fake tweet of her saying the n-word and spread it around on twitter, facebook, and youtube and she’s had to change twitter handle like five times in 3 days.
I was only on the peripherara of the convo but even I had to report 24 tweets and accounts (up to and including straight-up neo-nazis) and block god knows how many people who were either telling me to eat shit, that I didn’t know what I was talking about (guys I’ve been cosplaying for 14 years), or just to pre-emptively try to keep anyone from making those fake tweets about me. I’m about the only person from that convo who’s still unlocked and I’ve STILL got people name-searching the show’s name and commenting on my tweets from mid-January on the topic.
So, I assure you, not a nothingburger everywhere!
Guardian Enzo
March 16, 2022 at 12:02 pmWell, I was using that term is reference to whether it was something worth getting upset about, not about whether it would cause a tempest in a teapot. So for me it still applies, pretty much.