A Sign of Affection – 07 – Her Sky Keeps Expanding

Itsuomi is off on his Spring Break excursion to southeast Asia, but while he and Yuki are far apart, the fact of the matter is they are now boyfriend and girlfriend. As Rin tells her, what else could he be? Rin offers her a delicious strawberry of love, and between missing Itsuomi and having absolutely no luck finding a job, Yuki could use the sweetness.

Oushi ends up messaging Yuki with the number he got from her mom, and thankfully it’s not so he can chew her out via sign about messing with weird guys. Instead, his big sis Mio is in town. Mio used to sign with her all the time, but unlike Oushi, she hasn’t kept at it, and admits to forgetting most of it (like any language if not used regularly). Mio can tell Yuki is in love—it’s all over her face—and wishes Oushi luck.

Oushi, meanwhile, prys perhaps a bit further than he should by asking if Yuki is staying over at Itsuomi’s house and stuff. She’s not, and in fact Yuki continues to believe Oushi is simply looking out for her as a childhood friend and not someone harboring unrequited love.

But she doesn’t need to think about that, not when she’s getting regular updates from Itsuomi’s travels, along with texts that he’ll make time for them and she can be clingy if she wants when he returns. I love how poetic she gets in scenes like this, and how big and gorgeous her expanding sky looks.

Just when all the rejections from employers are piling up and Yuki is missing Itsuomi the most, she gets a surprise text from him saying he’s back and wants to meet up for lunch. They meet halfway and are briefly delayed by a passing train, before which he signs “can I hug you?” and she signs “okay”, only she read his sign wrong. He meant kiss, not hug, and when they finally come together, he gives her a big ol’ surprise bazooka of a smooch.

Izumi is at a café by herself when she spots Yuki walking with a tall, hot dude with silver hair. I’d think this sight would be a welcome one for her, if she’s as into Oushi as I think. Earlier there was also a scene of Emma sighing because Itsuomi wasn’t answering her texts about hanging out. Sorry Emma, he’s taken! He and Yuki are a picture of pure bliss as they enjoy soba together and he shows off his new fingerspelling skills.

Yuki notes how crazy it feels that someone who was out there in the wide, wide world is now in this little restaurant with her, and she has him all to herself. But it’s not crazy, it’s reality, and I hope she gets used to it because there’s more where that comes from! Itsuomi wants to introduce her to Shin, one of his best friends.

She’s scared at first because he was such a loud and hyper drunk, but decides to be brave and go for it. She’s rewarded with the discovery that sober Shin is a lot more laid back. Then again, we’ll find out next week the extent of his reaction after Itsuomi’s told him Yuki is his honest-to-God-girlfriend.

Goblin Slayer II – 06 – Where My Heart Is

I won’t mince words—well, I’ll mince them a little—this is Goblin Slayer at its very best: a quintessential tale of adventure and family, both found and in High Elf Archer’s case, blood. Like a movie in miniature, it’s impeccably structured, starting with the harrowing river ambush by goblins.

Having two civilians around—especially these two—only heightens the danger. And yet while Cow and Guild Girl can only hide under burlap, watch, and try not to freak out, Slayer and his companions have Got This Shit On Lock.

When shit gets real, they’re prepared, their coordinated, and they’re calm. This is what they do for a living. In that regard, Cow and Guild aren’t just traveling with friends to a wedding. They’re experiencing first hand what it’s like to be an adventurer. In effect, it’s a ride-along, only no cops.

Well, at least one of these adventurers, as Slayer, Elf, Priestess, Dwarf, and Lizardman are each extraordinary versions of their archetypes. More than that, they see each other and treat each other as family. Dwarf and Elf do their playful verbal sparing mid-battle.

And each member of the party is crucial for the success: Elf snipes goblins (and heeds Slayer’s suggestion to loosen her arrowheads), Slayer throws and launches his spears (the man is prepared), Dwarf summons Undine to speed their raft and try to lift it over a goblin-built dam.

When he can’t quite get it over, Priestess, who has been shielding everyone from thrown projectiles from above, casts a Purify spell to dissolve the dam. Then Lizardman, who had been steering (someone’s gotta steer) lets out a magical shout that disables all remaining goblins.

With the river cruise returning to its placid state, the party reaches the edge of the forest and make camp for the night. This gives the “lasses”, as Dwarf calls them, the chance to don the swimsuits they bought in the capital and play in the water and fish. Elf, Cow, Guild, and Priestess all get complimented on how lovely they look, and you can almost see Slayer blush through his face guard.

Fanservice quota aside, this is another quintessential adventurer experience: the downtime. While the ladies swim and chat, Dwarf and Lizardman ask Slayer if he’s okay with them being so carefree. Slayer wants Elf to be able to relax as she nears her home. His buds recognize Slayer for who he is: someone a lot kinder and cuddlier than his scary armor suggests.

Even Slayer can cut back a little because they’re now in the land of the elves. That night, the group sits around a fire and tuck into the fish the ladies (mostly Elf and Priestess) caught. Elf opens up about elf courtship, her big sister, her soon-to-be brother-in-law. She regales them with how he was singing about his heroic exploits she stopped and corrected him.

Hearing about Elf’s home warms Slayer’s heart. Even if you can’t see his expression, the heat of the fire in front of him mixed with the lingering warmth of the sunset behind him tell the tale of his feelings. He says her homeland sounds nice, and Elf says “Well, yeah. That’s where my heart is.” Such a simple statement, but delivered with such vulnerable grace by Touyama Nao it actually brought a tear to my eye.

When dawn arrives, Slayer is the first one awake … assuming he even went to sleep, which is doubtful. Such is his status as an incurable worrywart. But he’s not nearly quick enough to notice when an elven warrior suddenly confronts him at swordpoint. Of course, this is Elf’s brother-to-be.

When he learns she’s traveling with these adventurers, he hastens to her tent to confirm she’s there, and gets rightfully screamed at by all four girls in their nighties. I loved that little delay between them all waking up and realizing a guy was in there. Also, now we know Elf is the (or a) Daughter of Starwind.

We learn Slayer was vigilant because he sensed goblins. But unlike him, the elves aren’t too bothered by them. As Guild Girl explains, elves are old enough to remember the battle of the gods, which involved evil spirits, dragons, dark gods, demon lords, and most upsetting of all … polka enthusiasts.

When they arrive at High Elf Archer’s hometown, composer Suehiro Kenichiro adds the appropriate atmosphere and gravitas with an elvish theme dense with flutes and winds, soft drums, and ethereal chimes. The massive treehouses and sprawling network of bridges remind me of those cool fantasy binders from school … and van murals.

But even more splendid than the strange yet welcoming new environs is Elf’s pent-up excitement finally bursting. She’s just so damn happy to show everyone her home. It’s clear she’s proud of it, and cares about everyone enough to want them to enjoy it as well.

She’s in such a playful mood, in fact, that while she’s unpacking, she leaves a bra out so she can mess around with the stone bolos Slayer is working on (yes even here where no goblin could ever be, he prepares). Suddenly, her sister pops in, asking what the bra’s about.

Slayer’s reputation precedes him in song, but he simply tells Elf’s sister that “Songs are songs, I’m just me,” which may be my new favorite Slayerism. Their introduction is interrupted by the appearance of a girl, but not just any girl: the girl they rescued from the ogre.

While Slayer is clueless about a great many things, and that’s often the source of comedy, when it comes to sensing when people have suffered as he suffered and knowing how best to comfort them, there are few more shrewd . Case in point: he knows immediately who the girl is and why she’s there, and knows exactly what to say: That they’re all dead; he killed them all. She can rest easy now. She’s going to be okay.

Elf explains this to her sister, and says their entire party aided in her rescue. Adventuring is Elf’s way of proving what she can do once in a while, but her sister asks if it may not be time for Kuchukahatari, which I assume to mean hanging up her bow and returning home to start a family, as her sister is doing.

Elf’s sister also demonstrates their people’s distrust of other races, especially dwarves, but for all of their bickering, Elf and Dwarf are the best of friends, bucking the trend of their races. Her sister can also tell a big part of why her sister still adventures is to be near him.

When asked what her deal is, Elf says she doesn’t really know, but she can’t really leave him alone and he never bores her. That should be enough for now. It’s such a lovely, subtle way of saying she loves the guy without saying it. And when her sister reminds her that she’ll eventually outlive him, Elf says “we all just have one life,” which is to say, it’s best spent with someone you love.

Their superb sisters heart-to-heart, which elevates Elf to Best Girl Status over Cow Girl for at least this week, is suddenly interrupted by an unsettling blast that shakes the entire forest. Elf senses something is wrong, reaches for her bow and quiver, realizes they’re not on her, then hears Slayer coming to toss them to her and catching them with a wry smile. They really do make a good team.

Just as it was in the river, they now have to fight whatever’s coming while protecting a civilian. But while I assumed like Slayer that this was some kind of goblin incursion, it turns out to be some kind of giant gray dinosaur thing.

And as the funny cherry on top of an nearly perfect episode of Goblin Slayer, and an example of perfect comic timing, he incorrectly mistakes the dino for an elephant, and an exasperated Elf turns back and exclaim that no, it’s not an elephant. Whatever it is, it’s not going to ruin Elder Sister’s wedding—not if High Elf Archer and Goblin Slayer have anything to say about it.

Insomniacs After School – 05 – Gray Skies are Going to Clear Up

All Ganta wants to do is meet Isaki on the beach on a starry night, but the first day of the camping trip is cloudy and gray. Ganta goes through a number of trials, most of them involving enduring the presence of the well-meaning but irritating-as-hell loudmouth Haida Rui.

Kudos for presenting the “rowdy school friend” in such a nuanced way that we can see he’s just trying to involve Ganta but fundamentally doesn’t understand Ganta’s deal. All attempts to sleep fail, and the physical and emotional effects of all that lost sleep are cumulative.

The next morning, Hakui-sensei makes everyone run laps on the beach. He considers Ganta’s lack of energy to be self-inflicted and urges him to expend all his energy. When the class activities are called off due to rain, Ganta again spends lights-out utterly exhausted but completely unable to sleep. I’ve been there; I’m sure many of us watching have: every little sound and thought is torture. Then Ganta emerges around 1 AM to find that the rain has stopped and the clouds have vanished.

He quietly dresses, packs his camera, and heads to the beach, where of course Isaki is there waiting for him. After bumping fists, she takes hold of his hand and runs laughing through the water as the dazzling stars twinkle above them.

Rarely have I seen a scene of such innocent, unbridled joy. Every shot and movement of Isaki is infused with so much love. If, like me, you watched Vinland Saga earlier this evening, this provided a much-needed emotional salve.

After having an absolutely terrible time on the camping trip, everything worked out. Ganta sets up the camera to take a 2-hour shot, which means he and Isaki have to figure out what to do for two hours. Isaki says she can tell Ganta hasn’t been sleeping.

She confides in him how anxiety grips her when she tries to sleep in her bed, but how snuggling up to him has given her her best sleep in ages. He tells her it’s the same with him, so they agree to sleep together right there. She listens to his heart, and laughs upon learning it’s beating faster than the other day.

All the same, she goes out like a light shortly after snuggling with him, and he soon follows suit, noting first how “warm and tickly” it is to have someone sleeping right beside you. His alarm wakes him up at 5 AM. The camera shot seems to have worked out, but the two of them need to hurry back before they’re spotted.

Even so, as Isaki walks on the beach ahead of him, Ganta can’t help but ask if he can snap some pictures of her. While she’s a little bashful, she’s totally fine with that, and produces some absolutely adorable poses in front of a truly heavenly sunrise.

I’m not worried about them getting caught or into trouble. I’m not even worried (yet) about the pills the episode really wanted us to see Isaki taking earlier. Taking us from the depths of insomniac despair to the highest summits of bliss, this is why I watch anime. This was one of the most beautiful and poignant portrayals of blooming young love, comfort, and closeness I’ve come upon in a long while. When these two are together, all’s right in the world.

RABUJOI WORLD HERITAGE LIST

Love After World Domination – 05 – Real Steel Feels

That Desumi is the happiest she’s ever been now that she’s dating her sweetheart Fudou probably goes a long way to explaining why she’s obliterating the other princesses in the Gekko rankings. But she’s not content to be happy and successful in love.

When she overhears the Steel Princess dishing with the Beast Princess about someone she loves in the cafeteria (which is not an evil cafeteria…just a cafeteria), Beast wants nothing to do with it, but Desumi is all ears.

Steel’s problem is the same as Desumi’s pre-Fudou: why would anyone love someone like her? She lacks confidence and courage to go after what she wants. Desumi determines that what Steel needs is a strict self-improvement regimen and crash course in femininity.

Beast gets pulled into this scheme with Desumi Steel, but the end result of all the pilates and cooking and makeup sessions is that Steel ends up feeling even more inadequate and worthless than before Desumi tried to help. Beast gives Desumi a distinct told ya so.

During the latest Gelato-Gekko clash, Desumi does what someone does in a stable and healthy relationship: discuss problems she’s having and those of her work associates. The thing is, Fudou doesn’t expect anything of Desumi, just to be by his side.

Desumi’s mistake was making Steel think she had to change and improve in all those areas she never delved into. In reality, if the one she loves is truly right for her, like Fudou is for Desumi, all Steel has to do is be herself.

Desumi and Beast brave Steel’s lair, where she’s erected a tangle of steel spikes to ward off intruders, but Desumi breaks through it and Beast has her back. Beneath her emotionless steel mask, Steel is crying her eyes out, because she hasn’t really given up on love; she’s just not sure how to proceed.

Desumi gives Steel the nudge she needs to cast off her armor—revealing a bust larger than Desumi’s and much larger than Beast’s, inciting the latter’s fury—and confess to the one she loves…who is, of course, Culverin Bear. I thought the joke would be he’d summarily reject her, but they turn out to be a great match in both love and evil.

Fresh off her workplace cupid duties, Desumi decides the time is right for her and Fudou to feed each other the adorable bento she made for the  occassion. The team-up of Steel and Bear proves enough of a problem for the other Gelatos that Blue goes looking for Red, but is stopped in his tracks by Haru, who is determined to protect their secret love.

Desumi is about to place her lovingly made tamago in Fudou’s waiting mouth when he suddenly has a bout of terrible stomach pain. He still tries to assume the position for Desumi to feed him, but she doesn’t want to under such unromantic circumstances, and he soon passes out anyway.

Thanks to Haru being nearby, Fudou gets to the hospital without his and Desumi’s relationship being exposed. Turns out he needed to get his appendix out, and three days later he’s on the mend and ready to be discharged. There’s a very thoughtful bouquet from Gekko’s Supreme Leader Bosslar, wishing him a speedy recovery so they can kill him.

Misaki, Haru, and Big are in his hospital room, but when Misaki tries to feed him an apple he peeled, Fudou clamps up, and Haru snatches the apple instead. After they leave, the apples stay, and after a brief fakeout involving his mom visiting, Desumi arrives to do the feeding.

I like how she goes to the trouble of taking off her shoes and joining him on the bed to feed him properly, and how the usual fake-out of coming within a hair’s breath of touching his lips with the apple is subverted. She’s able to feed him, and the two enjoy another milestone in their romance.

The mood is so nice, in fact, the two are ready to kiss when his mom returns. Rather than freak out at who the beautiful girl is, she takes her by the hand and rushes out, as her volleyball team is missing one. Desumi has no choice but to go with her, and she and Fudou will have to wait for another perfect moment to kiss.

That said, after the credits we see Desumi helping Fudou’s mom crush the competition at volleyball. While walking home at sunset, she also gets a special bonus: seeing a photo of her boyfriend as a not-so-little baby. I love how casually Fudou’s mom embraces Desumi and trusts her to take care of her son.

I’m glad there’s one more person Desumi doesn’t have to keep a secret from. I doubt Fudou’s mom would even care if she knew Desumi was Gekko’s Reaper Princess. If she cares for Fudou and makes him happy, that’s more than enough.

Love After World Domination – 04 – Can’t Take Me Home

This week showed that while many of the characters play rather cartoonish heroes or villains, at the end of the day everyone’s a normal human being. Desumi even attends high school and has normal friends while she’s not “at work”. But while hanging out after school, she spots Fudou with the new Pink Gelato, and her reaction—running away in tears—is as intense as her friends are confused.

Pink, AKA Haru, is also confused…by the photo of Fudou with what looks an awful lot like a girlfriend. She and Fudou aren’t on a date; she needs to ask him about the photo. But instead he intuits the reason for their meet-up is that she’s interested in upping her physical training regimen. Haru is helpless to stop him from going off on his favorite topic, and she ends up relieved, as there’s simply no way Fudou would have a girlfriend.

But he does, and she’s pissed. When Fudou and Haru’s coffee is interrupted by a call of duty, Fudou finds and engages with Desumi expecting them to go through their usual dance, only this time Desumi’s dropkick lands. He thinks it’s an accident, or they’re just a little out of sync today, but eventually he realizes Desumi is hitting him on purpose.

The two end up in a secluded warehouse, where Desumi admits that even though her brain didn’t really think Fudou was cheating on her, the sight of him with Haru sent her heart into such turmoil she didn’t know what to do with herself. In fact, she started to think maybe someone “girly” like Haru would be better for him than a jealous, violent, loathsome outcast like her.

Fudou is swift in both his comforting hug and his rebuttal: he will only love her, with everything he’s got, as long as he lives. With her totally undeserved self-loathing out of her system, she and Fudou simply exist together for a bit, hand in hand, planning an afterschool date in their school uniforms…when all of a sudden they notice that Pink Gelato is sitting right next to them.

Fudou and Desumi are certain they’re 100% busted and doomed. But the thing is…they aren’t, at least not for the time being. They both believe Haru is planning something, and simply biding her time before she drops the hammer. But Haru is conspicuous in not only not telling anyone what she saw, but acting like she never saw it; like everything’s normal.

That is, until Fudou and Desumi’s after-school date. After a civet(!)-based false alarm, Desumi realizes Haru is lying in wait, and sends Fudou off on an interminable and ultimately doomed Starbucks run. Haru doesn’t mince words, challenging Desumi to a duel. Despite her transforming into Pink Gelato, Desumi handles her easily even in her school uniform. After all, Pink’s only been at this six months; Desumi’s a veteran enemy commander.

Desumi puts the end to the fight by knocking Haru out, but Haru is shocked to find that when she wakes up, Desumi is still there beside her. She admits that she joined Gelato 5 because she was in love with Fudou. She always suspected someone so amazing would have a girlfriend, but never expected it to be someone else she knew. Turns out Desumi rescued her from some thugs in an alley…and inspired her to become stronger.

Haru heard everything Desumi said to Fudou in the warehouse about how “love was making her weak”, but after fighting her, Haru assures her she’s as strong as ever. As for why she didn’t snitch on them, well…as much as she wanted Fudou to be hers, it just wasn’t in her to steal happiness from Fudou or Desumi. When Haru says this her eyes well up with big soppy tears. Desumi can’t help but hug her, and then she starts crying too.

When a very confused Fudou sees Haru’s head in Desumi’s lap and asks what’s going on, Desumi simply shushes him; let Pink Gelato rest a little more. Once she’s awake and back in her uniform, the three walk a bit together. Having experienced a catharsis, Haru is now rooting for Fudou and Desumi…but playfully won’t rule out stealing Fudou if given the chance.

It’s amazing how quickly this love triangle came together this week, and how affecting it was throughout its progression. From Desumi’s early jealous spiraling and Fudou’s stalwart vow he’ll never leave her side, to Haru’s discovery of their tryst and how she handles it, this was Koiseka at its best and most heartwarming.

Love After World Domination – 03 – Never Want to Touch the Ground

There haven’t been any battles between Gelato 5 and Gecko for two weeks, and both Fudou and Desumi are missing each other something fierce. So when Gelato detects a new weapon at Gecko HQ, Fudou impresses both Misaki and the Professor by valiantly volunteering to undertake a potential suicide mission alone.

Naturally, his comrades are unaware he just needs to see Desumi really bad. Dropping in suddenly makes her happy, but she has to use her lightning speed on more than one occasion to keep him from being spotted by her comrades. This results in her sitting on his face, then getting smushed into her locker with him and her bras.

When Culverin Bear comes in her dressing room, it looks like the discovery of their secret forbidden love is imminent…until Desumi lashes out in embarrassment, sending Fudou flying out of the locker, knocking Bear unconscious and activating his new weapon, which then self-destructs. Fudou gives Desumi his phone number, only for her to learn it’s the land line of his family home.

Fudou’s drop-in is followed up by a meeting of colorful, eccentric Gecko baddies, naturally led by a boss named…Bosslar. The various villains try to come up with the manner and location of the next battle against Gelato, and all Desumi comes up with are fun date locations, because she wants to see Fudou again. Bear actually backs her on the suggestion of an amusement park.

Misaki, suspicious of Fudou’s new smartphone, decides to stalk Fudou when he heads to the amusement park, dragging Haru with her. While Misaki clearly has a tendency towards sisterly meddlesomeness, Haru is more trusting of Fudou, and also seems to be hiding a hidden crush on the big lug.

When Fudou and Desumi meet as planned and begin to grapple, they are both surprised by the sudden arrival of Yellow and Pink Gelato. No matter; they speed away to fight a duel as in previous battles, only here they change into street clothes and ride a series of fun amusement park rides. All the while, both Misaki and Haru are convinced that Fudou is just his usual good hero self and nothing is up.

Despite being a superhero, Fudou gets motion sickness form the rides, including the intimate Ferris Wheel. Desumi no doubt finds this cute about him, and is happy to learn something about her sweetheart she didn’t know. But she also uses it as an opportunity to take Fudou’s hand, which causes his sickness to subside, replaced by warm, happy vibes.

Those vibes may not last much longer, however, as Haru has a quick passing glance at photos of people on rides and spots Fudou riding a roller coaster with some woman. If we’re going by anime logic Haru can’t recognize the Reaper Princess unmasked, but the fact Fudou is with a girl at all is a huge shock for Haru, and will likely have far-reaching repercussions. One thing I’m sure of is that the added stakes won’t detract from the snappy comedy or the sweet romance.

Love After World Domination – 02 – We Are Who We Are

After showing us the current state of their relationship in the premiere, Koiseka takes us back six months ago to when Desumi and Fudou first met. Standing atop a building and looking down on him, backlit by a crescent moon, he found himself immediately captivated by her gleaming green eyes shining through her cartoon skull mask.

From there, we’re given more world-building through action as the Gelato 5 battle Gecko while “Hero TV” copters hover and record. Under the pretense of going somewhere to duel where collateral damage would be minimal, Desumi and Fudou are almost caught, but Desumi wisely plays dead as he and his comrade Misaki (Yellow Gelato) are interviewed by a reporter.

When they’re alone again, Desumi is feeling a little lonely since she just saw how popular Fudou is with the ladies. Then he asks how he can make it up to her, and she says she wants to go on an ordinary date. The only problem is, neither of them have ever been on a date, so Fudou relies first on Google and then a drunk Misaki to help him plan one.

The two meet on a lovely day in the park, with Fudou wearing glasses and his hair different as a “disguise”, and he marvels at how resplendent Desumi looks in normal clothes. However, under the assumption that the best date is one where they do something they both enjoy, Fudou has planned a date mostly of weight training and running.

By the time Fudou breaks out a backpack full of sugar-free protein bars, Desumi excuses herself to “go to the bathroom”, and it sure looks like she’s noped out on Fudou’s sorry excuse for a date. A sober Misaki calls him from a hot spring to tell him to ignore all the advice she gave him while drunk, then proceeds to tell him he’d better not do all the things he just did on his date.

Fudou, suddenly an emotional wreck, wanders the park looking in vain for Desumi, whom he’s sure took off because his date plan sucked, and just wishing with all his heart that she’d give him a second chance…and then he feels a cold drink on his temple, and Desumi is there, wondering why he’s acting so strange. When he tells her, she laughs. Of course she’s been having fun on their date, because she’s on a date with her sweetheart!

The two then hold hands and lean in for a kiss, but are rudely interrupted by their respective alarms calling them to duty. In the ensuing battle between Gelato and Gecko, both the Reaper Princess and Red Gelato are understandably out of it, still soaking up the pure bliss of their wonderful date…no doubt the first of many!

While a gold-standard series like Kaguya-sama blows Koiseka out of the water in both comedy chops and production values, Koiseka is by no means a slouch in either department. It looks as good as it needs to, and the chemistry and sweetness of its couple is impossible to resist. I also enjoyed the cute little post-credit segment introducing Desumi’s kitty Hellko, who is glad her mistress is smiling and laughing more.

My Dress-Up Darling – 08 – Love at First Fries Thrown at Hawk

Wakana is impressed and Marin is in awe of how talented and mature Sajuna’s little sister Shinju is, and how adept and knowledgeable she is about photography. By the same measure, Shinju really comes out of her shell when bombarded with questions about something she loves to do.

Indeed, Shinju resembles a magical girl with her complex flowing locks when she brightens up about how much she loves her sister and the “Juju-sama” identity she created for her. Despite looking the part, Sajuna ironically has no interest in cosplaying herself at the moment, wanting to focus on taking photos of her sister.

Chatting with Sajuna gives Marin and Wakana a lot to think about going forward with their own cosplay photography venture. Wakana in particular really gets loud when he finds out how expensive cameras that don’t even come with lenses can cost, which in turn causes Marin to burst out laughing, since Wakana is so rarely so loud!

The four really hit it off, to the point Sajuna invites Marin and Wakana to join her and Shinju as they scout an abandoned hospital that resembles the place in the anime where Shion does some soul-searching. Marin and Shinju run ahead and have a lively conversation about lighting, but Wakana stays back as he notices Sajuna doesn’t do very well at all in dark, creepy places.

He offers to scout the place for her, worried she’s pushing too hard, but Sajuna tells him straight up she has to do this. She asks him what his dream is for the future, and Wakana has it locked and loaded: the guy who paints the faces of Hina dolls. Sajuna admits it’s a beautiful dream, then tells him hers: to be a magical girl. As she grew older she learned that magical girls were make-believe, but then one day in middle school she discovered one could cosplay as Shion.

She snatched up the pre-made dress in the store, locked herself in her room, and donned the ill-fitting costume with a sloppy wig and no makeup. As Sajuna recalls, it looked awful, but at the same time, she’d never felt happier. Her dream had come true! Then, much later, after she’d been established as a social media cosplay star (thanks to Shiju), she found those photos of Marin in the Shizuku-tan cosplay Wakana made…and she was jealous.

Sajuna surprised herself with this jealousy, but knew she had to find the person who made Marin’s outfit and have them make one for her. Sajuna struggles with the words to describe how she felt, but settles on “love at first sight,”, which not only resonates with Wakana, but takes him back to that very same pivotal moment when he first laid eyes on his gramps’ dolls.

He knew right then and there he wanted to follow in his footsteps. A weeping Wakana takes Sajuna’s hand to thank her, unaware that since she attends an all-girls school and has never held a boy’s hand! Combined with her lingering fear of the abandoned hospital they’re in, she promptly passes out!

I for one was charmed and moved by Sajuna’s story, and loved how it butted up against Wakana’s since both of them can track their passions back to their exact moment of origin. But as much as I’ve come to love the Inui sisters, I was also miffed by the relative lack of Marin-and-Wakana time. Thankfully, the remaining third of the episode is all them, as they go to the beach after school.

It takes a minute for Wakana to realize there’s no practical purpose for going there, nor any reason related to their cosplay venture. Marin just wanted to go to the beach…specifically with the man she wuvs (not that Wakana is aware of that yet).

The two deal with a hawk stealing Marin’s burger, then they share the second one (which technically counts as indirect kisses). Then Marin ditches her socks and wades in the cool water, and when Wakana joins her she learns he’s never been to the beach.

Wakana is happy he came, which is to say he’s happy Marin brought him, since it fulfills his gramps’ wish that he’d get out in the world and observe more to become a better dollmaker. Tickled pink by Wakana’s sentiments and how she helped him experience something for the first time, Marin blurts out that she wants to invite him everywhere this coming summer…just the two of them.

And while I’m not 100% sure Wakana fully understands that heartily agreeing and stating how happy it makes him essentially means he and Marin are going steady now, I’m sure he’ll find out before long. Even if Marin runs away to hide her red blushing face, shocked, surprised, and delighted that she managed to say what she said. We’ve got ourselves some solid forward momentum!

My Dress-Up Darling – 07 – Like, the Best Thing Ever

Marin really wants to do a group cosplay with Sajuna, even offering to share the expensive studio fees for the shoot. So does Wakana, for that matter, whom Sajuna learns is responsible for Marin’s cosplay makeup. When Sajuna still looked reluctant, Marin did something I’m very appreciative of: she backed off, telling Sajuna to forget about it.

Marin sensed Sajuna wasnt comfortable, and gave her an out rather than keep the pressure on. But the more Sajuna saves on studio fees, the more she can put into her outfits, so she agrees to collaborate “just this once” (it won’t be just this once).

Its not just saving money thought; Sajuna wants to work with someone as dedicated to their craft and detail-oriented as Wakana, who wants to watch every episode of Blaze!! to get a better handle on Shion and Neon. Marin happens to have all 126 episodes on DVD; Wakana just has to come by her place to collect them.

Back home, Wakana is worried about his Gojou Doll skills suffering, but his gramps assures him he’s improved, and his once-stiff strokes have softened. Clearly happy his grandson has met someone, he tells Wakana that he’ll have to observe more than just dolls so be good at making them.

The next day Wakana arrives so early that Marin’s doorbell essentially wakes her up, and she comes to the door with neither a bra nor her color contacts—which I didn’t even know she wore! Naturally, she’s embarrassed far more by the latter, as she’s already upset Wakana’s seen her without her makeup.

Marin is a teenager and takes great pride in the appearance she crafts for the outside world, but she’ll soon come to realize that neither contacts nor makeup matter to Wakana…and despite her thinking he’d never notice she’s not wearing a bra, well…he does, Marin…he does. At any rate, I love her natural dark brown eyes, and I’m sure Wakana does too!

Wakana is so nervous about being in a girl’s house for the first time he’s on the cusp of hurling in Marin’s genkan, but Marin won’t let him simply collect the DVDs and skedaddle, especially when he came bearing fancy pudding. She invites him to her very loud, anime-and-eroge-dominated bedroom to watch the DVDs together.

What results is some of the sweetest few minutes of pure bliss this side of Takagi-san. Wakana, whom Marin is on record as wuving, is not only sitting beside her and watching the anime but actually getting into it. She’s so happy she doesn’t want the moment to end. It’s so adorable and relatable, since there’s nothing like watching (or doing!) something you love with someone you love.

Marin’s Cloud Status falls from Nine to Zero when her stomach lets out a great groan, but even that is an opportunity to move the home date into the kitchen. Wakana initially says he’ll take care of dinner, as always, but kudos for Marin for pushing back and saying no, you’ve cooked enough for me, it’s my turn to feed you!

And while Marin is definitely not going to win any Shokugans, the show doesn’t mock her lack of professional culinary skills, but simply portrays the process of cooking for someone you love (or in her case, wuv) organically. She’s so nervous when he takes his first bite of “omurice” (which he assumes is just fried rice with some egg). But despite how it looks, it actually tastes great! And she knows Wakana is not one to lie about such things!

After Marin and Wakana laugh and cry through the rest of Blaze!! (or at least a good chunk of the run), we rather abruptly shift back to Wakana’s house as he has a combination voice and video call with Sajuna about her Black Lily cosplay. It’s here we learn that despite their very unfortunate start, these two make a good team.

Sajuna in particular is impressed by Wakana’s detailed schematics of the costume, especially when she learns that Marin’s Shizuku-tan was his very first project. She clearly feels it’s just not fair that he’s this good this soon. But Wakana knows he still has plenty of room for improvement, and also wants to learn more about photographing Marin.

So does Marin, for that matter, and for that Sajuna has them meet her little sister Shinju, who is only smaller in years, since she’s almost 5’11” despite being in middle school (compared to Marin, who is just over 5’4″). Shinju is as shy as she is statuesque, but despite Marin being a little too loud about it, she has nothing to fear from her and Wakana.

They, on the other hand, have everything to learn about cosplay photography, since Shinju is clearly very talented if she’s Juju’s photographer. While I’m hoping Wakana starts to pick up on Marin’s vibes, I’m still looking forward to the non-romantic part of the series that remains, involving getting better at this whole cosplay thing by collaborating with two of the best in the business.