The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You Season 3 Ep 9 Review
Hey, Bibury Studios. I want to know how you guys decided on what to include in the third season of 100 Girlfriends, because you are skipping out on a lot!
I wasn’t going to say anything about it until after the season ended, but at this point, I have to draw attention to how this season is being structured. They are jumping all over the place with the one-off adventures, and they are either cramming a girlfriend’s introduction into half an episode, or breaking it out over multiple episodes. It’s very inconsistent! They’re just lucky that this episode included one of my favorite one-off adventures and introduced us to one of my favorite girlfriends in the series.
HOT SPRINGS EPISODE!
In the first half of the episode, the Rentaro Family wins a free trip to this new hot spring before it’s opened (they’re wearing swimsuits). That sounds nice and all, except the hot spring is owned by this company called the Hardcore (or Serious) Group (and Iku is distantly related to them for some reason.) They are like the ACME Corporation from the Looney Tunes, making these weird products that are always hardcore, no matter how absurd. And it doesn’t take long for the Rentaro Family to get into trouble when the bath bubbles end up separating them.
The rest of the first half of the episode can, I think, be best described as an exercise in absurd slapstick. Which is good, because I happen to love slapstick comedy. And it just so happens that one of the biggest strengths of the series is its ability to pair each girlfriend off with each other. This allows them to play to their various quirks in fun ways. Like Shizuka and Nano’s close friendship enabling them to escape a waterspout. Or Mimimi and Meme trying to get out from underneath a jet faucet.
But I think my favorite moment was the bit with Hakari and Karane. Hakari finds Karane in a bath that somehow enlarged her chest, and she’s so enamored with it that she refuses to leave. Then we get this speech that is supposed to be emotional and heartfelt, but swings back into comedy when Karane sees what the bath did to Hakari.
Poor Karane! Even in her dreams, she keeps losing to Hakari!
The other great joke was how, when the Family reunites, they soak in the one hot spring that isn’t too crazy. Though it ends up being so good, their souls almost ascend to heaven from happiness. This company might have just invented the most humane form of execution of all time!
KISHIKA IS SOOO COOL!
In the second half of the episode, Rentaro is being accosted by boys who are mad at him for hoarding these rare keychains. And I’m kind of with them on assuming Rentaro was a scalper. Most guys don’t have 16 girlfriends! But then he is saved by what I can only describe as a female knight straight out of a fairy tale. Oh, and they zing!
Meet Girlfriend #17, Kishika Torotoro! She’s 18 years old, a classmate of Kusuri’s, and captain of the female kendo club at school. And she conducts herself with the nobility and steadfastness of one of those noble knights you read about in fiction. Or Erza Scarlet, if you’ve ever read Fairy Tail.
As a matter of fact, the moment I got to her in the manga, I looked at her swordsmanship and reddish hair, and was reminded of Erza’s. She’s just cool like that. But from the get go, there’s something wrong with her. When Rentaro tries to brush some dust off her head, she gets very upset about it. And this isn’t a one-time thing, either. Her own teammates say she gets like that sometimes.
Now, if this were a more serious manga, you would think that this is a sign that she had some sort of traumatic past that has left her averse to touch. But this is 100 Girlfriends, a gag anime. And this was just a way to build up to the joke about her character as we are led to witness…this.
BABOOO
As Kishika herself admits, being born the eldest of six siblings to busy parents meant that she had to take on a lot of responsibility while young. That means she never got to enjoy the stage of her childhood where most parents pamper and coddle their kids, leading her to secretly long for that. And she suppressed this desire for so long that when she lets it out, she mentally regresses to a childish state.
This is…honestly brilliant. In fact, I think that out of the gags for each of the Girlfriends, Kishika’s might be one of the best. The contrast between her normal serious self and when she lets loose makes it funny. And while there are going to be people who will cringe at this, we need to keep an open mind with this series. There are people who incorporate ageplay into their love lives. And since Rentaro is a CHAD, he accepts that Kishika needs the chance to enjoy herself. Plus, it’s funny seeing her act like this!
Just, just don’t let Hahari anywhere near her! Seriously, don’t!
And with that, we’ve got the last girlfriend of the season, and with three episodes to go! So I really hope that the anime is going to go back to some of those one-off misadventures but with the extra Girlfriends. I don’t want to have to go back and talk about every last one they missed!
