Highlights
- Shino's desire to kill her feelings for Naoya intensifies as she witnesses his closeness with Nagisa, causing her cool exterior to unravel.
- The main focus of the episode revolves around a camping trip, during which Shino's negative qualities and insecurities come to the forefront.
- Milika orchestrates the camping trip to further her own agenda, and it is revealed that she is willing to go to extreme lengths to win over Naoya, regardless of the consequences.
The following contains spoilers for Girlfriend, Girlfriend Season 2, Episode 4, "Getting Ready with the Girlfriends", available to stream on Crunchyroll
In the fifth episode of season 2 of Girlfriend, Girlfriend, Milika gets the spotlight after she hatches a plan to be alone with Naoya, and the episode drops a huge bomb that could completely change the status quo, and Shino in the process.
With some questionable decisions made in direction and the inherent heinousness of Milika's endgame, the fifth episode of Girlfriend, Girlfriend has some substance but undermines some of the better parts of the experience, with a dramatic but questionable ending.
Unravel
The day after the fireworks festival, Shino broods over the fact that Saki wasted her opportunity to finally get her first kiss. The fact that Nagisa and Naoya seem to be closer after the time they had also makes the situation worse, since the whole reason why she brought up the festival in the first place was for Saki to use it as an opportunity to gain the edge over Nagisa. Shino's passion about Saki's relationship is related to her desire to kill her feelings for Naoya, but the more he gets involved with Nagisa, the more difficult it is for her to completely give up on him.
The pent-up anguish within Shino causes her to have an emotional outburst at seeing Naoya and Nagisa act all lovey-dovey. She's caught in a pit of self-pity about what she has felt necessary to sacrifice, while Nagisa marches on without the same kind of crippling concern about Saki's feelings. Being this close to the situation all the time is starting to cause Shino's cool exterior to unravel.
Yuru Camp
The main part of the episode follows Saki, Nagisa and Naoya's discovery of a package addressed to Saki regarding a competition she won. While nothing about that is inherently suspicious, Saki has no recollection of entering anything, but because the three of them are rather unintelligent, they don't suspect anything and accept the prize – a campsite coupon and assorted camping goods that they don't know were sent by Milika. Shino attends their camping trip, again as an "observer", but she's in a worse mood than usual and still hung up on Saki's wasted opportunity. Shino's more negative qualities are refreshing to see, especially given that she tries very hard to appear put together all the time, but one habit she can't break is latching on to the perceived faults of others to avoid dealing with her own sense of inadequacy.
Shino tries to separate herself from the others as she continues to mull over Saki's lax approach to her supposedly endangered relationship. The episode spends an uncomfortable amount of time on a gag about Shino's breasts as Saki tries to initiate a conversation about her friend's foul mood. Whatever emotional conversation they attempt is undermined as Shino is once again sexually harassed and used for cheap humor and fan service. Once the fondling stops, Saki and Shino sit down for a bit to talk about things, and she mentions that it doesn't just feel like Shino is mad about something but also shouldering some kind of burden. They're interrupted by Naoya's frantic call about the lack of progress both he and Nagisa are experiencing with the campsite basics like a tent and fire. Milika arrives right on time with her reluctant little sister Risa to save the day.
Milika Grills
Milika sets up the tent, and the fire and cooks up a nice meal with relative ease, showing her overwhelming competence when it comes to camping. Naoya realizes that the encounter is far too serendipitous, and Milika reveals that their outing was all her doing. This is related to the conversation Milika and Naoya had towards the end of last season, when he told her that he'd like to go camping one day, as well as the huge trove of camping content she began making as a result.
With their food a no-go despite their all-star chef Nagisa, the food Milika cooks up looks appetizing despite the suspicion that it might be poisoned, and hunger wins out. Milika also ate the pizza she first prepped, clearing her of suspicion, but this is just a testament to her conniving nature. When Naoya asks why Milika is acting so indifferent after the way he rejected her at the festival, she reveals that he's starting to fall for her based on her "objective assessment", a huge accusation that he cannot deny.
Not An Option
Risa had no idea about the exact situation with Naoya's relationships, and upon finding out what Milika is actually trying to do, Risa is absolutely incensed and reprimands her sister for being "crazy" enough to go this far for a two-timer. However, Milika insists that she's not willing to give up on Naoya. It isn't that she doesn't feel bad for his girlfriends, but she loves him so much she can only think of going on the offensive until she can steal him. Despite her declaration, Naoya tries to reassure his girlfriends that even though he's attracted to her, he'd never do anything to hurt them, but he and the others begin to lose consciousness as Milika reveals that the food had all been drugged except the first pizza.
With Naoya and the others incapacitated, Milika intends to make the most of the opportunity. Throughout the episode, an unsettling number of aerial shots are used to frame the entirety of the various happenings. While not necessarily a bad thing when used a few times, the overwhelming amount of aerial shots especially during the more dramatic moments became distracting, and it felt like it was being used as an awkward crutch. While Milika shined in this episode, her willingness to commit criminal activity for the sake of getting who she wants is always uncomfortable, especially because it's intended as humor. We'll just have to see what comes of Milika's grand plan, but with the way the episode was showing the parallels between Nagisa, Milika and even Shino; the latter might just have an important role in the coming week.