Highlights
- The Fall 2023 anime season will feature two romantic comedy series with polyamorous relationship dynamics.
- The second season of Girlfriend, Girlfriend will continue the story of Naoya and his relationships with Saki and Nagisa.
- The second season will have a new staff and studio, but the same cast will be returning, and viewers can expect more drama and insane hijinks.
The Fall 2023 anime season is just around the corner, and interestingly, two romantic comedy series that feature polyamorous relationship dynamics will be running in the same season. While harems are always plentiful in the wake of a new anime season, there are some major differences presented in the kind of dynamic presented in the hilarious Girlfriend, Girlfriend; the second season of which will be airing not long before the debut of the anime adaptation of The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You.
With season two of Girlfriend, Girlfriend coming on October 6, here's what to expect from the upcoming continuation of the anime.
Plot
Girlfriend, Girlfriend follows high school student Naoya Mukai, a boy who has had a huge crush on his childhood friend and next-door neighbor, Saki Saki. After constant rejection, Saki finally accepts Naoya's confession of his feelings, and they become a couple; however, when Naoya is confessed to by Nagisa Minase, he finds himself so charmed that he cannot decline, yet he also can't bring himself to break up with his girlfriend. His solution: bring Nagisa to Saki and explain the situation, as well as express his desire to date them both. While Saki is initially flabbergasted by the proposition, Nagisa's charms end up reaching her too, so in a moment of weakness, Saki accepts Naoya's request to turn their monogamous relationship into a polyamorous one.
Background and Production
The first season ran for 12 episodes from July to September 2021, adapting up to four volumes' worth of events from the original manga by Hiroyuki (The Mangaka and His Assistants). The manga ran for 16 volumes from May 2020 to March 2023. The first season of the anime was produced by Tezuka Productions (Pluto), with the upcoming second season changing studios to SynergySP (Hayate the Combat Butler), an entity that was once associated with Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions.
The change in studios also means a completely different staff working on Girlfriend, Girlfriend season 2, including Takatoshi Suzuki taking over the series direction from Satoshi Kuwabara; with Kazuhiko Inukai replacing Keiichirō Ōchi as scriptwriter, while Kanade Sakuma and Junko Nakajima replace Miki Sakurai, Tatsuhiko Saiki, and Sayaka Aoki in composing the music. While there has been a dramatic shake-up of the staff, the cast from the 1st season will be returning to their roles in the second season.
As before, Naoya Mukai will be played by Junya Enoki (Yūji Itadori, JUJUTSU KAISEN); Saki Saki by Ayane Sakura (Ochaco Uraraka, My Hero Academia); Nagise Minase by Azumi Waki (Hinata Tachibana, Tokyo Revengers); Ayana Taketatsu (Nino Nakano, Quintessential Quintuplets) and Shino Kiryu will be played by Rie Takahashi. A new cast member was revealed in the Girlfriend, Girlfriend preview trailer released on Sunday. Aoi Koga (Kaguya Shinomiya, Kaguya-sama: Love is War!) will play Milika's little sister, Risa Hoshizaki. The opening theme for this season of Girlfriend, Girlfriend will be "Dramatic ni Koi Shitai" (I Want to Fall in Love Dramatically), performed by Hikari Codama.
More Drama and Insane Hijinks
The one thing that carries Girlfriend, Girlfriend is not the kind of scandalous rivalry one would expect in a harem narrative, which tend to focus on a single pairing and present that as the overarching romantic goal of the main character. Girlfriend, Girlfriend protagonist Naoya Mukai is a major vehicle of the wackiness of the series, with his blunt honesty and lack of malicious intent creating various incredibly awkward situations not just between his girlfriends Saki and Nagisa, but also in his interactions with Saki's best friend Shino, and aspiring third girlfriend Rika "Milika" Hoshizaki. There's also the aftermath of the secret relationship being exposed to Shino, who has her own secret: she is also in love with Naoya, and the reason for her immense interest in the relationship dynamics of her best friend goes beyond wanting to protect Saki – Saki's relationship with Naoya was supposed to be a natural dead end for Shino's feelings.
Having resigned to supporting the relationship on the sidelines, the fact that Naoya has taken on a second girlfriend (and garnered interest from a third individual) has rekindled the flames of Shino's affection and shown her evidence that she still has a fighting chance. Having been rebuffed countless times by a Naoya who doesn't want to disrespect his first and second girlfriends by taking on a third; Milika becomes more earnest in her attempts to learn more about him and be more honest about the romantic feelings she has developed for him. Those attempts are always extreme and under duress because both Saki and Nagisa have become aware of Milika's feelings and want to prevent her from having further contact with Naoya, least of all alone. Effectively, with more challengers entering the fray, not to mention Naoya's easily-impressed nature, it's only a matter of time before the three-person relationship gains more nodes.