Girlfriend, Girlfriend

Episode 9

Did I seriously get emotionally flustered and blown away by an episode of Girlfriend, Girlfriend? Yeah I think I did and I'm sorry if I'm jumping the gun a bit, but this is probably hands-down my favorite episode of the series thus far. It had the perfect balance of everything: genuinely heartfelt moments, believably relatable character beats, well-placed jokes, and an actual solid understanding about polyamorous relationship progression. I have personally been a little annoyed with the pacing of the past two episodes, as it felt like they dragged their feet just to get to the Rika confession. But honestly, the payoffs and set ups present in this episode genuinely made everything worth it.

The first half of this episode primarily focused on Rika, and I'll go so far as to say that this is probably the best she's been in the series since her introduction. We get a lot of that stubborn pridefulness that we've come to expect from her character, but here it's actually kind of put to good use both in terms of comedic effect and for the sake of progressing her own place in the story. Naoya was also probably the funniest he's ever been, with a surprisingly believable balance of insightful observation and dimwitted straightforwardness. Despite being the main character, I feel like the show doesn't focus on his personal feelings to everything enough and mostly uses his reactions for the sake of creating funny character moments with the other girls. But here? Not only is he not a complete lost cause, he also steps up to the plate and puts his girlfriends first despite us getting the implication that he didn't really trust himself. I'm not sure if the previous introspection was just him not giving himself enough credit, or if he came to all these conclusions in the moment, but this is a welcomed addition that I want to see more of.

The second half of the episode definitely deals with a lot of the fallout around Rika's confession/kiss in a surprisingly low-energy way. It's been a while since I felt this nice blend of genuinely feeling bad for a character while also laughing at the way that they are internalizing a situation. The dead, vacant stares that Saki and Nagisa were giving the horizon as Nayoa just sat there being crushed under the weight of the awkward situation nearly had me fall out of my seat. I almost would've been fine with the episode ending there, but I like the conclusion that Naoya came to regarding how he's going to do his best for both of his girlfriends while also ensuring that the relationship dynamic is built on a stronger foundation. This felt like a genuinely believable conversation between a newly inaugurated poly couple. Obviously they don't have everything figured out and mistakes are going to be made as you explore new territory, but as long as you keep communication open and make sure that everybody finds a happy place amongst the dynamic, then the sky can be the limit. Based on the episode preview, I really can't wait to see how they follow up with such strong declarations. Despite any implications from my previous reviews, I like this couple a little bit more with each episode and this was kind of the first time that I really thought to myself, “I really hope y'all succeed”.

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Girlfriend, Girlfriend is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.