Girlfriend, Girlfriend (2023)

[カノジョも彼女]

Volume 15

Author/Artist: Hiroyuki
Publisher: Kodansha Comics Magazine

Synopsis:
Saki agrees to speak with Naoya, Nagisa and Shino to resolve the issues of their relationship.

Story/Characters:
We open with Naoya having called in Nagisa and Shino to hear what Saki has to say on the current situation. Saki starts by apologizing to the other girls. Part of her thought the whole two-timing situation would just naturally fizzle out. She wasn't expecting Naoya to go to the lengths he did to make it work. As hard as it's been on her, she can't bear the thought of Nagisa and Shino going through something similar. Naoya apologizes as well, acknowledging that there's nothing but demerits for the girls in the current situation and that there's no way for them not to get hurt but still vowing to not give up. Saki decks him for this, but he goes on to explain that he won't give up as long as there's some chance of them finding happiness and all he has to do is make sure the good outweighs the bad. Saki decries his unfounded idealism and insists that surely Nagisa and Shino would be happier if they had Naoya to themselves. However, Nagisa speaks up and says that between the choice of having a one-on-one relationship with Naoya or their current two-on-one setup, she prefers the three of them together. Saki doesn't believe her, but Nagisa insists that it's more important for her that Saki's happy too because Nagisa also loves her (platonically, that is, likely to Saki's disappointment). Saki continues to argue with her and Nagisa tells her that while it is hard for her to see Naoya pay attention to anyone else, she can bear it if that person is Saki, that Saki being happy makes her happy and therefore the two-timing arrangement is the happier choice for her. She then offers a proposal. If continuing like this is too hard on Saki, both Nagisa and Shino will bow out. Naoya is prepared to honor their wishes in spite of how much he cares for them (or, alternatively, because he cares so much for them as ignoring their wishes would only hurt them). With Nagisa and Shino being so composed about setting aside their own desires for her sake, Saki breaks down and admits that she loves them, too, that they're important to her and that she doesn't want to find happiness that doesn't include them.

Once Saki settles down, she decides to once again greenlight the two-timing and seems more upset that she changed her mind after all her theatrics than the decision itself. Naoya is concerned that she gave in too easily and that he didn't really have to do anything to resolve the situation. Saki tells him that the only reason they've gotten this far is because of his efforts. Naoya apologizes for not being able to give them ordinary happiness but pledges to give his all so that they have their own kind of happiness. Things seem to be settled and when they go back into the house, Naoya remembers what he wanted to tell Saki. He tells her that if she would happen to find another guy, he would be okay with her two-timing with him. Saki punches him for it and then tells him that one boyfriend is all the trouble she can stand (and not because her tenuous heterosexuality hinges on Naoya and Naoya alone). Then Nagisa asks about Shino. Shino herself tries to deflect, not wanting to add to the pile at present, but Saki goes ahead and asks Naoya how he feels about her. He admits that he loves her and Saki decides that if she's already accepted two-timing, she's not losing much by going up to three-timing. At first, Shino can hardly believe that she's been given the okay, but the moment Naoya asks her if she'll be his girlfriend, she swoops in for a passionate kiss... that just keeps on going and going until Saki finally has enough and seizes her by the head to pull her off. Shino is then made to apologize for getting carried away, slipping in some tongue... Nagisa says she can understand how Shino feels, so Saki then challenges them all to watch as they take turns kissing him, ostensibly to test if they're really capable of sharing Naoya. Saki ends up getting embarrassed and only manages the briefest peck on the lips, getting congratulated by Nagisa and Shino like parents praising their kid's scribbling. Nagisa pulls off more of a proper kiss, shyly blushing afterward and turning on Saki a bit. Then Shino goes... and goes and goes... Saki tells Nagisa to get in there and steal Naoya away, but even if she can't get the lips, Shino sticks around to kiss on Naoya while he's liplocked with Nagisa. Seeing all this, Saki concludes that she wants to date Nagisa and Shino and have her own bishoujo harem. Naoya endorses her efforts, much to Nagisa and Shino's surprise and confusion. And so the Harem King is born.

The next day, Saki is back at school and has told her one friend about the current situation. Shino tells Naoya that he's going to have to tell Milika. Milika, who has spent this whole time trying to figure out how to win over Naoya after telling him off so harshly, decides to deploy her ever-reliable artillery. The second Naoya shows up, she gives him some of the ol' Marshmallow Heaven until he manages to get away and tell her about the current situation. She asks him if this is his way of telling her to give up. He says he won't do that, but that she won't be able to change things. She insists that there's always a possibility, but he in turn tells her that even though he's fallen for her, he can't trade the three other girls he loves for her. To that end, even if it hurts Milika, he's going to do everything he can to cut off her feelings for him.

Shino, who was eavesdropping on this conversation, is left torn between some sense of obligation to Milika and the fact that the new status quo has given her pretty much everything she could ask for on a silver platter. We then find that Milika has decided to do a face reveal to kick off a new stage of her MeTuber career. Shino calls her up and apologizes for things having taken such a turn where she's given up on Naoya to focus on her vids, but Milika says she hasn't given up at all. She's going to become an even bigger star and win Naoya over. She knows the odds aren't in her favor and refuses Shino's suggestion to cut a deal with Saki. She's going to be Number 1 or nothing at all. She then proceeds to do increasingly crazy stunts for views, ultimately putting herself on a desert island with nothing but a bikini (and her recording equipment) until she breaks one million subs. She actually succeeds and Naoya acknowledges how amazing her achievement is, but he refuses to budge on his vow to stick with the three he has. When Milika gets back to school, she asks Naoya to give him her last shot on New Year's Eve.

Art:
There are some nice panels of the big emotions of the relationship debate and then there's Shino's serious makeout action. And though Milika still hasn't won me over, I like the full-page panel with her vowing to fight on.

Other:
We have an afterword comic with Hiroyuki thanking the readers for sticking with him all this time, getting hype for the finale next volume and the coming release of the second season of the anime. I haven't talked about the end-chapter panels much in my reviews of this series thus far, but I feel it's worth mentioning that it was funny seeing Milika's efforts to lure in Naoya with snapshots of her cleavage amid everyone else having their serious discussion about their relationship and Naoya ignoring her.

Conclusion:
We have three of the four girls essentially getting their ending here and it's nice to see them hash things out. If you're invested in Milika's story, then you'll appreciate her continuing to fight without compromise. My bias is showing, but Shino getting her win probably pushes me over the edge to bump up the rating for the first time since her last big win in Volume 10. Sure, why not? That kiss (and Saki's reaction) is worth it.

Rating:
Own It