Highlights
- Shino's feelings for Naoya become more apparent as she enters the rotation for sleeping in his room, putting her in direct competition with Milika.
- Shino's attempt to seduce Naoya reveals her ulterior motives and makes her realize that she actually has a chance with him.
- Milika tries to downplay her pursuit of Naoya and wears an unflattering outfit, but ultimately gives in to her desire to be desired by him. The episode is filled with comedic moments and ends on a humorous note.
The following contains spoilers for Girlfriend, Girlfriend Season 2, Episode 7, "Nights With the Girlfriends" available for streaming on Crunchyroll.
In the seventh episode of the second season of Girlfriend, Girlfriend, a huge situation brews as Milika's presence in the Mukai household begins to have rippling effects on the status quo that had been developed. More importantly, Saki's best friend, Shino, finds herself in a position where she can no longer hide the various feelings causing a whirlwind in her mind and heart.
Girlfriend, Girlfriend returns to its usual levels of ridiculousness for this episode, but not without first establishing that Shino's almost ready to jump into the fray and claim Naoya for herself.
Milika Moves In
After the drama at the campsite, Milika moves into Naoya's house, and immediately starts marking her territory. Saki can barely contain her anger at how easily Naoya accepts Milika's affections. The next five months of their lives are going to be wackier than anything we have seen in Girlfriend, Girlfriend until now. Since Naoya is okay with anything Milika does, except going for the "home run", the girls are in a bind, and things get more competitive than ever before. Milika suggests that she'll use her new freedom to sleep next to Naoya each night, which brings up the important question: equal distribution of opportunity to sleep in Naoya's room.
They decide that rock, paper, scissors is the best way to reveal their fates; however, Naoya throws a curveball into the equation by asking Shino to put herself into the rotation. The reason for it is rather strange, but basically, Naoya wishes to prove that he isn't just falling for anyone and everyone, and is capable of rising above whatever baser urges may arise from being in an intimate space like a bedroom with someone he could potentially find attractive. Saki thinks that this is a good way to reduce Milika's chances of getting to sleep in Naoya's room, and her ignorance to Shino's feelings continues unabated. Milika's role as a catalyst is important to the rise of Shino as a new contender in the Girlfriend, Girlfriend harem, and through provoking Saki and Nagisa, she has effectively ensured that they discuss a mundane yet significant aspect of their developing relationship.
New Challenger
With it decided that they'll rotate the nights that they get to sleep in Naoya's room, Shino is the first "winner"; however, Milika's influence shows when she wonders if this night with Naoya is her chance to further her own romantic ambitions with Naoya, which is hugely significant since Shino's character. Up until this point, Shino has clung to her ever-deteriorating resolve to never let either Saki or Naoya know that she has feelings for the latter. Her decision to cast aside her own feelings, and her rejection of those developing feelings has thrown Shino into various difficult scenarios, like her current living situation. By being far too close, Shino's own belief that she has no chance falls flat. This is why Milika's presence is a threat to her too, and since Saki's failure at the fireworks festival, and the developments following the camping trip, Shino's rapidly fraying thread of patience and endurance appears to have finally snapped.
On her night sleeping in Naoya's room, Shino arrives in her regular pajamas, but then reveals a white night-dress with the subtext that it is to "test" him. However, Shino clearly has ulterior motives, even if she isn't fully ready to accept that about herself yet. Naoya asks her to be more aggressive in her attempts at seducing him, which of course brings us to what has become a compulsory event in episodes of Girlfriend, Girlfriend; as Shino is used as fan service while she shyly tries to tempt him. Naoya eventually apologizes to her because it was going a bit too far, which Shino initially understands as rejection, but Naoya tells her with his usual point-blank honesty that it was hard not to be swayed by her charms. Essentially, Shino determines something that puts her whole operation at major risk: she now knows for sure that she has a chance.
I'm Not Like That
Milika's night comes after Shino's, and after hearing about how that went, Milika becomes worried that Naoya going to be tempted even further with her than he was with Shino; however, even in the last episode, Milika has been adamant that her unrelenting pursuit of Naoya, and attempts at seduction up until this point don't make her "a pervert", so she arrives at Naoya's bedroom in a onesie in an attempt to be as unflattering as possible. That being said, Milika's desire to be desired by Naoya wins out over her worry that they might break the rules of engagement. After regaining her senses, Milika feels a bout of shame but Naoya wipes that away by telling her if it's between liking and hating her, he definitely likes her.
Rock, Paper, Giggles
Girlfriend, Girlfriend appears to be returning to form, with the wacky hijinks of this episode being particularly humourous. With fewer moving parts, a less complicated plot and the cogs that continue to turn within Shino, episode 7 of Girlfriend, Girlfriend was not as dramatic or emotional as the previous, but filled with much better comedy. For example, the decision-making process is quickly manipulated by Nagisa when she finds out that Naoya is falling slightly ill, and she takes advantage of Saki's trust. Speaking of Saki, she has what is probably one of the funniest sequences in Girlfriend, Girlfriend to date in this episode. With night-time configurations being decided through rock, paper, scissors (and Nagisa cooking the result for night 2), Saki's turn doesn't come until much later, and it turns out she had been spying on the other nights. After Nagisa supposedly gave up her night with Naoya to nurse him back to health (it seemed to be more about deepening their tendency to role-play while alone together), Saki feels like she's falling behind and wants to learn from Nagisa's selflessness.
She spends all day out, and returns barefoot, with her feet cut, dirtied and bruised from her rough day of labouring for Naoya's sake. The labour? Locating adult magazines featuring models of a similar body type to Saki, which she couldn't buy, but found in parks and under bridges – as an expression of her love for him, she wants him to "use" them as an outlet for "pent-up stress" from his resistance to more erotic relationships with Saki and the others. Naoya starts reading, but then wonders if this will have him develop the habit of leering over other women, which isn't ideal when it comes to their desire to thwart whatever develops with Milika. He then asks if he could take photos of Saki, which she finds embarrassing but also a little endearing, but that warm, fuzzy feeling dissipates when Naoya cuts Saki's head out of the printed photos to plaster over the magazine models, proud of his "solution". It's a hilarious scene that is exemplary of the kind of comedy Girlfriend, Girlfriend had in season 1, and a great way to end the episode that wasn't perfect, but enjoyable nonetheless.