Karen's Anime Blog

We return to the Halloween Karaoke party. Gojo has just spit out his drink after Nowa asks if he and Marin are dating, and unlike most instances of this trope, he actually did get soda all over himself. Gojo loudly denies that he and Marin are dating, and Marin pulls him out over to the bathroom. While Gojo thinks about how it would be “presumptuous” for him to claim to be dating Marin as he cleans up, Marin is outside the bathroom feeling depressed that Gojo denied it so vehemently.

This is really interesting to me, because this is miscommunication that comes from their vastly different social experiences. Gojo thinks of himself as one of the lower-class, at least as far as social capital comes, so the idea of him dating someone pretty and popular like Marin seems like dreaming of something far beyond his station. For Marin, who is a popular model, she’s never had to even think about the idea of any kind of social caste system, and would probably think the whole idea of one is stupid. From her perspective, it seems like Gojo just repulsed at the idea of going out with her, which we know isn’t true. As well as they get along normally, this is one area where they really can’t understand each other.

The next part is insane. Gojo gets out of the bathroom and sees two guys talking to Marin. He assumes they’re hitting on her and runs over to stop them, but instead of just stopping them, he offers himself in her place. Does he really think two dudes who were hitting on a super hot girl in a revealing bunny suit are really going to be satisfied with a guy as a substitute? I’m going to chalk this up to Gojo being so crazy with worry for Marin that he’s not thinking straight. Lucky for him, it turns out to be a false alarm.

“Um, can I interest you fine gentlemen in my manly self? I have a craftsman’s hands.”

Marin is touched that he was trying to protect her and gives him a little peck on the cheek. However, Gojo is in his bunny suit when she does it, so he couldn’t see or feel what she did. He just hears a “tch” sound and assumes she clicked her tongue and must be mad at him, and she’s too shy to own up to actually kissing him. Oh, these two crazy cosplay dorks. It just goes to show how much Marin’s feelings have grown that she kissed him like that, even if she’s embarrassed about it.

Find a Bunny Girl who looks at you like this.

Opening Credits: I desperately want to wipe that grease off of Marin’s face at the end when she eats the burger. I know I’m not alone here.

Back in school. Marin is absent because she was running around on Halloween in stockings and in anime, being underdressed in the cold for more than one minute means you come down with a monster cold. Naturally Gojo is worried and when she doesn’t answer his text, he ditches school so he can come take care of her. I would say that’s overkill, except it turns out that Marin is really quite sick and can’t take care of herself, so his actions were actually justified. Marin is so relieved that he’s come to take care of her that she cries, and I just want to give them both a big hug. There’s a cute joke where Gojo is looking for something clean for Marin to wear and finds this:

Only the finest Slippery Girls merch for Marin.

All is going well until Marin’s friends show up with some ice cream and drinks for her, and Gojo knows that if they see him there, they’ll assume Gojo and Marin are dating again. He can’t have that, so he goes and hides on the balcony until her friends go home. Marin is of course frustrated that Gojo won’t just chill out about it. At some point, the two of them are going to have a rather uncomfortable conversation about social class, and I don’t know if this show is really going to show it the way I’m imagining it.

Next, the pair are showing off Marin’s Slippery Girls cosplay at an aquarium. That’s so cool! I actually love aquariums. I spent my honeymoon “aquarium-hopping” with my husband; we only got to two aquariums, but dammit, I think that counts as aquarium-hopping. Marin runs off to see the penguins and the otters, displaying her A-tier taste in marine life. Soon, Marin runs into someone dressed as one of her favorite characters from the idol game Space Idols Cosmic Lovers. The cosplayer, Amane, reveals that they lost a hook from their skirt, so Marin and Gojo help them find it. Gojo offers to repair the skirt, but points out that he can’t go into the woman’s changing room. Amane helpfully offers that he’s a guy, so they can both go into the men’s changing room together. Gojo and Marin are both shocked, since Amane is so convincing as a girl.

While Gojo fixes Amane’s costume, Marin runs into a photographer friend of hers. The photographer confesses that she’s played Slippery Girls based on Marin’s recommendation, and I’m wondering if we’re ever going to get a de-fictionalized Slippery Girls visual novel; I’d play it. Meanwhile, Gojo is just dying of curiosity why Amane is carrying liquid glue in his makeup bag, so Amane confesses that he uses it to stick chunks of his wig to his face to hide the more masculine contours of his face. The way he’s drawn doesn’t look masculine at all to me, but I guess that would be hard to portray in the animation without ruining the illusion of him being extremely feminine. I really like the fact that they introduced a cross-player– it just goes to show how big and inclusive the world of cosplay is.

Subaruuuuuuuun~~~~

Gojo and Marin look through Amane’s cosplay photos, and they’re all crossplay. In one photo he even has huge breasts, which leads Gojo to ask if the photo was retouched. I’m actually surprised Gojo was able to ask that question without dissolving into a puddle of embarrassment, but he manages somehow. Amane tells them that boobs can be equipped and asks the pair if they would “like to see some boobs.” Gojo’s brain is bluescreening, while Marin is all over that like white on rice. Marin really is the perfect otaku girlfriend.

And that’s all! Come back next week when we learn about artificial boobs, it might be the highlight of the season.