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「しゅきぴとおうちデートやばっ」 (Shi ~yukipitoouchi dēto yaba ~tsu)
“A Home Date with the Guy I Wuv Is the Best”
A funny thing about this anime season – it has a light novel anime that seems much more like a manga adaptation (Sabikui Bisco). And it has a manga anime that plays more like a LN adaptation in Sono Bique Doll wa Koi wo Suru. I’ve been feeling that inkling growing for a while, but I’m quite certain of it now. To be more precise, it reminds me in some ways of Oreimo. Now that’s obviously not a compliment, but before it became clear just how demented that series was, it actually impressed in many ways. And the resemblance for me is not so much in terms of content (thank God) but narrative style. Something about this show just puts me in mind of that one.
Since that’s how I perceive the series, it’s hardly surprising that it often seems to be at war with itself. The disparate sides of Bisque Doll’s personality don’t coexist peacefully – they’re in direct opposition to each other. For me it seems to be a very accomplished example of a sort of show I normally dislike, which explains why it’s proving so difficult for me to get a handle on it. Sometimes you get episodes which lean one way or the other but more common (as with this one) you get the whole package in the same week.
Let me add, I think Marin looks better with her natural eye color. Much. That said, it’s funny that the contacts was the one thing she freaked out about after basically flashing Wakana at her door. I struggle to believe anyone could be as oblivious to the impact their physicality has as Marin seems to be. I remind myself they’re 15, but generally (not always) kids that age are if anything hyper-aware of sexual tension in the air and incredibly self-conscious. Especially considering she’s already decided she’s in love with Gojou-kun (I’d say infatuation is more accurate at this stage but at 15, I don’t think the distinction matters much) I think it’s a stretch that she can be so un-self conscious around him.
The occasion for this visit is for Wakana to pick up the DVDs for “Flower Princess Blaze“, which he wants to watch for reference before he does Marin and Sajuna’s outfits (Marin has bribed her way into a group cosplay by offering to split studio fees). It’s “only 126 episodes” as Marin-chan hilariously notes, and she invites Wakana to stay and watch at her place. He’s incredibly nervous (Gojou is clueless but in different ways than Marin is) but it’s not like he’s going to say no. Still no indication that either Sajuna or Marin are paying him for his labor, incidentally.
As usual, it’s in the more innocent moments where Bisque Doll works the best. “Flower Princess Blaze” continues to be lovingly reproduced, and Marin’s internal monologues about Wakana are consistently amusing. Her cooking experiment is partly disastrous but the series avoids a cliche for once by not having her chahan (which started life as omurice) turn out to be toxic waste. These two have nice on-screen chemistry – I wouldn’t necessarily call it romantic or even sexual, really (he’s still too much a doormat for that to really work) but they click as a comedy team.
I continue to be less taken with the Sajuna stuff, and introducing her younger sister Shinju doesn’t offer much help. The older one is tiny, the younger one is huge – yeah, hilarious. This whole angle is the tropiest part of Sono Bisque Doll so far and since that’s the series’ Achilles heel in my book, too much of it isn’t a good thing. That said it does offer an excuse to get geeky about cosplay, which is undeniably one of the series’ raison d’être. Maybe these two will grow on me, but for now I’d sooner see Bique Doll indulge the better angels of its nature, and that was the middle part of this episode more than either end of it.
Full-length images: 10.
Preview
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And here I thought that her real eye color was the green that we see in the OP.
Watching this episode, I see the similarities with Oreimo.
With Kirino being the hyper otaku, last week’s episode introduced this show’s Kuroneko.
After finishing this episode, I watched a random scene of Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song. I wouldn’t know that it’s the same person voicing both Vivy and Juju.
I like that it looks like you plan to stick with the series although it’s not your kind of show due to the common romcom trope. Good to have different perspectives.
Interesting, I never watched Oreimo so I have a hard time relating to guardian Enzo and you. It was an Anime or Manga was was going to pick up but didn’t.
An Otaku’s different shade of eye color is a goths piercing. Being an Otaku an now being called a weeb, I feel like the different eye color is a way to make us physical unique and likable despite how dumb we are.
It may not be my usual jam, but it’s interesting and well-made if nothing else. The fact that I find it so hard to get a handle on it is one of the reasons why I want to stay with it.
Like:
– The director kept the part where they discussed getting a studio for cosplaying just like the Manga. What I find interesting is how the director chose to focus on the financial side of renting a studio alone. In the Manga this was discussed very briefly between Marin and Juju.
– Gramps recognizing how Gojo’s lines on the doll faces are getting better. It was a very small part in the Manga; in fact Gojo doesn’t get a chance to work on his dolls all that often in the Manga.
– I enjoyed how Gojo and Marin had a preconceived image of Juju’s lil’ sis. I was laughing at this panel in the Manga and chuckled at the scene in the Anime.
Interesting:
– Quite often in the Anime you see what Anime Marin and Gojo are researching with their commentary and all. In the Manga this doesn’t happen often, but it’s a really nice touch.
– Funny how the scene where Marin cooks and makes a terrible looking meal. The food actually looks better in the show than the Manga. It looked terrible.
Maybe it’s because Anime is a motion picture or that I was drinking, but I remember the scene about the costume tape being longer in the Manga than the Anime.
That whole eye tape thing was completely new to me. Had no idea.
oh my god… that room
https://randomc.net/image/Sono%20Bisque%20Doll%20wa%20Koi%20wo%20Suru/Sono%20Bisque%20Doll%20wa%20Koi%20wo%20Suru%20-%2007%20-%20Large%2012.jpg
Hmm… GE, can you elaborate a bit where you feel that the show is “at war with each other”, and why? Because honestly, I don’t feel this to be obvious, if at all. To me, the story works out quite harmoniously, and while I do consider the level of fanservice to be debatable, I don’t see it as counterpoint to the rest of the story.
About Marin’s lack of inhibitions when it comes to flaunting her assets in particular: She’s working as a model (IIRC that wasn’t shown in the anime yet, but briefly mentioned as a sidenote. It was already established in the manga at this point). She is not _entirely_ oblivious to it – consider her teasing of Gojo during the garter belt shopping – but she isn’t attributing that much relevance to it. The thing is that she is feeling _comfortable_ around Gojo, and anyone who is into publically cosplaying as a character of a sex slave eroge needs a high level of “don’t care” to begin with.
The way I see it, Gojo is special to Marin because she feels that she can “be herself” around him when it comes to her cosplaying interests. And Gojo has yet to explain his freak-out scenes to her. Which is more of a convenience tool for the author to keep fanservice and jokes about it going than realism – yes – but not so blatant to harm my enjoyment of the show.
For me it comes down to this. It has a side that’s blatant fanservice (usually artsy, occasionally crass) and pure tropism that puts me in mind of Oremio. It has a side that’s a rather innocent look at teen romance from the POV of two very naive characters. To me these two sides are pretty dissonant most of the time.
Was she really planning to make her confession atop omurice? Perhaps it was for the best that it didn’t turn out as intended!