Girlfriend, Girlfriend‘s third episode is now airing! The tensions continue to rise between Naoya, Nagisa, and Saki. Saki is forced to question her contribution to the relationship, asking herself what makes a good girlfriend. Naoya is then forced into having to quell Saki’s relationship insecurities. It’s all fun stuff, and is worth looking into in a spoiler-filled discussion!
The episode picks up immediately where the show left off. Our favorite throuple look for a place to eat in order to keep Nagisa company. Nagisa’s first thoughts immediately take her to various toilet-themed locations. She recounts that she’s found a lot of privacy eating inside or by bathrooms. This, of course, tugs on Naoya and Saki’s heartstrings. However, the bathroom will not suffice as a decent eating spot.
The three then find solace in a nearby warehouse. They manage to get in through a window, and can finally enjoy their food. Of course, Nagisa’s cooking is immaculate. The dining experience is much to everyone’s liking, with great food and great company.
Saki then confronts herself with the fact that she contributes nothing to the relationship. Nagisa cooks and has certain “features” that make her attractive. Naoya, especially as of late, has been putting in incredible amounts of effort to satisfy his two girlfriends. Out of fear that Naoya will realize her uselessness and leave her for Nagisa, she runs out of the warehouse in a fit. She declares that she will not “lose to Nagisa”, resolving to make herself more useful.
So how does Saki go about doing this? She thinks to herself what makes a good girlfriend. However, her easily distracted nature gets the better of her many times. Naoya ends up buying her cake when she asks him what he wants her to do for him. She ends up buying gummies when she was out shopping for ingredients. And when she tries her hand at cooking, she gets distracted by a gacha streams and ends up ruining her meal.
As a last resort, she takes to more risqué methods to please Naoya. In her undergarments, she visits Naoya’s room at dead of night, asking him to “do it”. He respectfully declines, saying that it would be betraying Nagisa if they did anything. This is to Saki’s dismay. It’s the straw that breaks the camel’s back, as Saki leaves Naoya’s house for her parents’ place next door, sobbing all the way.
Naoya then tries to win Saki back. The man is valiant in his attempts. He writes her a multi-chaptered letter for her. He spends a hundred-thousand yen on her favorite gacha game, promising to give her the account if she returns. Sadly, he does fail to get a five star in his attempts, but it’s the thought that counts.
He buys cakes to try and tempt her into returning. He runs around the neighborhood to capture videos of cute cats and dogs for her. The man even goes as far as to show her his female body preferences to quell her insecurities.
After all that effort, the man is on the brink of falling apart. Nagisa thinks to herself about how nice things would be if she had Naoya all to herself. However, it is here that we get a glimpse at why Nagisa is head over heels for Naoya. It is but a mere glimpse, of a time long ago. But it hints at a far deeper reason for Nagisa’s infatuation with him.
Nagisa decides to help Naoya speak with Saki. Against his will, Nagisa pulls Naoya’s hand onto her chest. The sight of this sends Saki into a fit of rage, giving her the power to hop straight to Naoya’s balcony from her’s.
Naoya’s work is done; Naoya and Saki can speak face-to-face. Nagisa wishes him luck as he begins his attempts to persuade Saki.
Girlfriend, Girlfriend continues with its lighthearted, banter-y vibe in this episode. While it is sort of more of the same when compared to previous episodes, the story is developing in a way that does keep things fresh.
This episode was a little less relatable than the other two episodes though. It looks to be exploring something interesting at first when they delve into Saki wanting to contribute more to the relationship. However, it suddenly panders to Saki toward the end. It feels really strange that the result of Saki realizing that she contributes nothing to the relationship is that she throws a fit. And then suddenly Naoya’s desperately fawning over her, trying to win her over. It just seems so odd, and a bit frustrating, seeing Saki not develop from this.
It was nice to see more of Naoya’s good side in this episode though! A big criticism of Girlfriend, Girlfriend’s early episodes were that it didn’t appear that Naoya could bring anything to the table as a boyfriend. I feel that this episode addresses that, and shows that he’s more than capable of being a great boyfriend. It just makes him more likable as a character!
All in all, Girlfriend, Girlfriend’s still a pretty fun ride! It will be interesting to see how Naoya’s persuasion goes in the next episode!
Girlfriend, Girlfriend‘s fourth episode will air on July 24, 2021!
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