Girlfriend, Girlfriend (2022)

[カノジョも彼女]

Volume 9

Author/Artist: Hiroyuki
Publisher: Kodansha Comics Magazine

Synopsis:
Naoya and the girls go on a trip to Okinawa.

Story/Characters:
We start with Saki wanting to extend their stay in Okinawa and Shino accommodating the request by making arrangements with her family's summer home there (which is why you have to have at least one rich kid in these stories). It seems like Saki is going to be stepping up a bit, but she's still her, so romance isn't the first thing on her mind. Then comes the plane ride. Naoya starts fretting about the risk of a plane crash, less for his own sake than the fact that he considers himself responsible for the girls. The plane ride itself ends up being pretty funny, especially once they hit some turbulence. It reminds me a little bit of my first plane ride, except I didn't have a cluster of four girls with me at the time. I love how Milika tries to use the suspension bridge effect to her advantage, only for it to backfire on her.

Once they get to Okinawa, they hit the beach and the girls get to show off their swimsuits. We then have Nagisa take Naoya aside and tell him that she wants to support Saki's efforts to get her first kiss on this trip. I know there's an element of self-interest involved, but I do believe she genuinely wants Saki to be happy. Of course the problem is that Milika is hell-bent on preventing this and she's roped poor Shino into helping her. Yes, my least favorite character blackmailing my favorite character into betraying her best friend isn't going to improve my regard for her any. (Hiroyuki is really going to have to put the work in to turn things around if the harem ending is the goal.) Anyway, with Shino's help, Milika gets some alone time with Naoya, but like all of her attempts to seduce him, it backfires spectacularly.

While setting up the next plot, Shino makes a lot of comments where she admits to being somewhat envious of how driven and straightforward Milika is, but words it in such a way that Milika thinks she's trying to pick a fight. I enjoyed that bit. Shino then goes off on her own to brood a bit, but then Naoya shows up to check up on her. He sees that she's holding the ribbon he gave her back in middle school and just when she's about to admit to just how much it matters to her, the wind snatches it out of her hands and she heedlessly dives into the ocean after it despite the seas being dangerously choppy, so Naoya dives right in after to save her and they end up on an island a short ways from the beach but too far for them to safely get back as late as it is, so they've got to spend the night. Shino then gets to work on securing necessities like water, only for things to go awry and her to get frustrated at how her usual competence seems to go out the window whenever she's with Naoya. Then the chill of the night starts to set in and, well, there's only one real answer for keeping warm. So Shino is naked again and this serves as a nice visual representation of her being emotionally stripped as well. She's unable to hold back her feelings any longer, one thing leads to another, and... we'll pick this up next time. I kinda wish I was following this on a weekly basis so I wouldn't have to wait until April for the next volume, but I guess there's also something nice about having something to look forward to.

Art:
As you would imagine for a beach arc, there's a lot of fanservice to be had. There's a nice two-page shot of the quartet to show them off. (According to Naoya, for him to be attracted to the competition swimsuit he chose for Milika would make him a pervert. "Oh, ah, this totally isn't one of her best outfits in the series so far," I muttered to myself as he said that.) We also get a nice half-page shot of Nagisa when she's alone with Naoya. There's plenty of stuff for Shino. Yes, there's comedy and fanservice, but it's the illustration of the big emotional payoffs that are most rewarding. I also thought the visual humor of the plane ride was good and I liked Shino's imagine spot when she thought about how things would turn out with her and Naoya stuck on a desert island. (Here's to Takuya and Naoko becoming reality someday.)

Other:
We get an afterword comic from Hiroyuki with him enjoying the New Year's break. As a side note, according to the inner flap of the dust cover, he didn't actually get to go to Okinawa for research purposes.

Conclusion:
You may recall I was having some concerns that things would go poorly for Shino with Milika's plot, but it would seem like Hiroyuki isn't going to leave her with the short end of the stick. It's pretty funny that the author is so dead-set on subverting Shino's love martyr intentions and now we've crossed the Rubicon and I'm excited to see what comes next. Team Shino is going to be really happy with this one (and from a little review of the buzz, it would seem that even a lot of people on the other teams are tipping their hats here). It's well worth having, so fans should be sure to get it.

Rating:
Own It