2.5 Dimensional Seduction Episode 5 - From Shame to Spotlight

On Friday, August 2nd, 2.5 Dimensional Seduction episode 5 aired, continuing Ririsa and Masamune’s troubled first cosplay event. The episode picks up right where episode 4 left off – with Ririsa finally in full cosplay, stepping out to the public cosplay floor for the first time. The episode also gives us a look into Ririsa’s childhood and how her mother found her daughter’s love of manga unbecoming. With Ririsa’s first cosplay event over, how will she use what she’s learned to continue her cosplay success?

First Event Is Over!

At the start of 2.5 Dimensional Seduction episode 5, Ririsa walks out in her Liliel cosplay and immediately captures the attention of everyone in the room, including dozens of photographers surrounding her, itching for a photograph. Ririsa has only done photoshoots with Masamune, whom she started to feel comfortable with in cosplay. She’s now been put in a situation with new people – often a huge fear for hardcore otaku.

Despite her overwhelming feelings, Ririsa enjoys her time posing and being photographed. She thinks back to when she was a child and shamed by her mother for reading manga. While the normalization of manga and anime hobbies is rising in Japan, there are still many cases where parents of a sophisticated nature might condemn their children for reading manga.

There is still a negative stigma towards otaku as people deem them unable to find success in dating or their careers. Ririsa can cherish this moment without judgment, but rather with admiration. She doesn’t forget about her senpai, Masamune, and strikes a pose pointing right at him in a way of appreciation for what he has done for her; things her mother didn’t. I hope we get more backstory about the exact reasons why Ririsa’s mother forbade her from the manga as a child.

The event ends, and in the last half of 2.5 Dimensional Seduction episode 5, Ririsa and Masamune have an intimate moment on the train in which Ririsa almost confesses to him, but specifies that she appreciates him as a cosplay partner. The tension between the two has me curious about the manga, which I may pick up and read before the start of episode six. Ririsa met and befriended many new cosplayers in episode 5, yet didn’t exchange contact information, so her only hope is to run into the same cosplayers at future events.

It’s only a matter of time until the story takes us to Japan’s biggest otaku/cosplay event, Summer Comiket! I’m excited to see how Ririsa and Masamune improve in the hobby and how they take on the next huge event.

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© Yu Hashimoto / Shueisha, Lilysa Production Committee