Iori and Kouhei go to Aina’s university festival. But her club’s maid café asks them for help.
Episode 5 — “First Time at a Women’s University”
Hmm.
One word bounces around my mind whenever I watch the aggressive comedy gags between Iori, Kouhei, and their other friends in Grand Blue: otoko! The Japanese character for “man” is 男 (ダン, dan, おとこ, otoko), which is the generic one you might see attached to any compound word denoting a male version. But you’ll also see it in other words, meaning tougher, rugged, or steeper, as in 男山 (otokoyama — rugged mountain) or 男坂 (otokozaka — steeper of two hills). Japanese culture deems men to be rougher, gruffer, and more violent. Grand Blue embraces and amplifies that aesthetic, even as an otoko cross-dresses as a maid waitress playing pranks. Otoko!
Grand Blue Makes Me Go Heh.
Iori thinks a website has tips for successfully picking up girls at a women’s university. One suggestion was to choose clothes to help you “blend in,” but not like this! How did he end up wearing a maid waitress uniform? And how did Kouhei join him?
Hahaha! The Cakey Café (kebakko — girl wearing too much makeup, from けばい, kebai)! Aina’s friends caked on makeup like she used to wear in Grand Blue’s first season. Chisa can wear the gaudy makeup, too, which will stop men from hitting on her. It’s life-and-death for Iori. How to convince her? She could recruit new friends at the café to go scuba diving with her! Too easy. Uh oh. Chisa will wait on tables if Iori wears a dress! And Iori forces Kouhei to join him! Aina sweetened the deal by promising Kouhei to jump the line to see the famous voice actress through her friend’s insider connections. Now, we’re caught up.
Grand Blue Serves Cake and Maids
How does Chisa look in pancake makeup? Way to go, Aina. Her friends get a kick out of Iori and Kouhei cross-dressing. Uh oh. They brought up drama from a past episode of Grand Blue. Aina sabotaged a college mixer because she didn’t want any of her friends to date Iori. At least he can enjoy their maid uniform chests. Oh, wait. Why do Iori and Kouhei wear regular makeup instead of the pancake stuff? Ahahaha! So cruel! The girls figured all the sexual harassment would head the boys’ way without the pancake!
Iori would die of embarrassment if someone he knew walked into the Cakey Café and saw him. Oh, hello, Azusa! Instant recognition! Skirt flip! Ayyy! Exactamundo! The localizers were Happy Days fans. Azusa knows all the girls at the café. What? Grand Blue has a plot in this episode? Azusa came looking for Iori to help her with the concert stage. That’s for the voice actress Kouhei loves! Bye, Kouhei. Achieve your dreams! Oh? Does Maya have a crush on Kouhei? He’s a pretty boy except for all the Lala-tan otaku merch he wears.
Otoko Pranking and Perving in Grand Blue
Speaking of pretty boys driving girls away, here come Iori’s classmates! Oho. Iori can mess with these guys because they don’t recognize him. How many digs can Iori make in his politely passive-aggressive voice? I like Grand Blue’s running joke about the one guy never getting an order. Oops. Campus security locked Iori out with the friends he had sabotaged. How can he get back inside to watch the concert? Ahahaha! The Cakey Café wipes the makeup off the maids in the afternoons! The boys were too impatient. Ridiculous shenanigans start now. Okay, okay, okay. MORE ridiculous shenanigans. And their flat-top friend never caught a waitress’s attention!
Grand Blue Plays Rock-Paper-Scissors with Comedic Censorship
Next time, the previews feature way more nudity than usual. And the boys try breaking and entering, while Kouhei becomes a hunky stagehand.
Grand Blue Dreaming Season 2 (Grand Blue Season 2) streams on Crunchyroll in Japanese audio with subtitles in multiple languages.
Man (otoko!), Iori and his friends are dicks to each other! But after all the fighting and insults, they still hang out. Men play rough and have it hard. 男はつらいよ! I like that humor in Grand Blue, but I would have preferred the girls to have more screen time. I suppose we won’t see much fanservice at a women’s university cultural festival unless it involves yuri. What are the odds that a voice actress/pop music idol and her friends will show us some skin in the next episode? Let us know in the comments below!
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