Highlights
- Episode 3 of Girlfriend, Girlfriend leans into romance tropes at a fireworks festival, building significant moments for Shino and Milika.
- At the festival, Naoya struggles to create a romantic moment with Saki due to various interruptions, but Saki gains confidence.
- Shino's inner turmoil and growing feelings for Naoya are evident as she navigates her role in the relationship dynamics, while also dealing with her own feelings.
The following contains spoilers for Girlfriend, Girlfriend Season 2, Episode 3, "Pull Yourself Together!", available to stream on Crunchyroll.
The third episode of Girlfriend, Girlfriend leaned hard into some of the staple tropes of the romance genre, with the episode being set at a fireworks festival. Shino orchestrates a plan to get Naoya and Saki sufficient time alone.
With its usual brand of chaos, Girlfriend, Girlfriend continues to subvert some expectations while leaning heavily into classic harem tropes, but the best part is how this episode builds into significant moments for Shino and Milika.
The Mood
Shino shows Saki a flyer for the fireworks festival happening in the evening and believes it'll create the perfect environment for Saki to further her relationship. Shino carries the conversation much like a debrief; however, she is thrown off when she learns that Saki has never even kissed Naoya before. Shino then tries to get Saki to kiss him but she wants to set the mood at the fireworks festival. Shino puts on the pressure as she asks what plan Saki has in place. Naoya's usual ridiculous levels of care for his girlfriend end up having him set a heavily romantic candlelit mood and kabedon, but having an audience makes it difficult for Saki to really get into it. Despite the support from both Shino and Nagisa, and the effort from Naoya, Saki still doesn't feel comfortable about kissing him there, but the situation gives her some much-needed confidence.
Festival Time
In the evening, Saki, Nagisa, Shino and Milika get dressed in yukata and are ready to go. Shino complains a little about having to accompany, but Saki was insistent; while Milika did what she does best – gatecrash. When Naoya saw his girlfriends, he couldn't hold back on his compliments, even for Shino. Hilariously, when Milika tried to show off her outfit, confident that she's the prettiest one there, Naoya rebuffed her completely.
This becomes a major element of the episode's DNA. At the festival, Naoya and his girlfriends spend their money on various snacks that Saki devours in an instant, but when Milika brings a chocolate banana, knowing that Naoya loves bananas, she is again rebuffed – but this doesn't faze her. Realizing she still has a ton of videos to record of the festival, Milika leaves the group alone for a while. Nagisa is more interested in activities, like catching goldfish, which she regards as the only thing she's good at.
Naoya's excitement at Nagisa's skill creates a decent moment between the two of them, but Officer Shino is on patrol and won't let Nagisa progress unimpeded, but as soon as Shino grabs her in an attempt to pull her away from Naoya, she ends up entwined in Girlfriend, Girlfriend's less flattering aspect: its "accidental perv" trope, which has seen Shino get into countless awkward situations for the sake of fan service.
These moments are meant to convey the idea that Shino, while actively trying to get Saki closer to Naoya (and create distance between him and Nagisa) is invariably having the distance between herself and Naoya close through her obsession with the situation. While the use of the trope is unnecessary and the connection between it and Shino's situation is clunky, there are parts of the episode that show Shino's inner turmoil and growing feelings in a much better way.
Tunnel Vision
Saki and Nagisa spend some time together while Naoya and Shino talk. When he asks Shino what she would like to eat, she tells him to stop paying attention to her and focus on ensuring that things go well with Saki. She struggles to understand how Naoya can justify dating another girl and even being kissed by her when Saki has been around for far longer. For Shino, there's no way Saki is really okay with the current dynamic, so Naoya should focus on only her to make up for it. Shino's vested interest in this relationship stems from her own brewing feelings for Naoya, shelved in order to support his love for Saki. Nagisa's presence makes it difficult for Shino to move on because she's in the same boat.
Shino tells Naoya not to look at other girls, but it's clear she also includes herself, as Naoya has historically told her that she's attractive. The strain in her facial expression is the focus of the shot as the lanterns illuminating the festival highlight the glint in her softened eyes. She acts prickly towards everyone, but there are moments in which her affection for Naoya comes through. Just before the fireworks start, Naoya and Shino realize that they've been separated from the others, and they can't reach them via cellphone. To make things worse, Naoya finds a lost girl that he wants to bring to her friends safely, but Shino suffers from a festival staple: the broken geta strap.
Look At Me
Naoya carries them both as he jets across the festival and when Shino tries to get him to drop them and find Saki, he refuses. Naoya's kindness confuses Shino, because he can be thoughtful, but also be unconcerned with consequences. He explains that he'd rather hurt her through honesty than hide the truth about his feelings. After dropping a teary Shino at first aid, Naoya rushes to find his girlfriend, but Milika gets in the way. She's adamant about getting his attention, and she tells him about the videos she's been making about camping, and invites him to go with her and even bring the others. He tells her that he doesn't watch her videos anymore, which saddens her, but when he explains that he can't allow himself to fall in love with her, she celebrates the small win. With the steady build-up around Shino leading upto Milika, episode 3 of Girlfriend, Girlfriend 2 was a great set up for the next episode.