Sakurako jealously bothers Iori because Naomi pays more attention to him. But who’s in love with whom?
Episode 9 — “Are You in Love?”
Hmm.
The Japanese language and communication rely so much on context. And anime, especially comedy, takes advantage of the Japanese culture’s politeness rules and homogeneity to make it look like characters read each other’s minds. But what happens if they have a context mismatch? How would that even happen? The fault lies with Japanese syntax and grammar. A sentence frontloads subjects and objects and places verbs, prepositions, and coordinating conjunctions at the end. Listeners won’t know how everything connects if they only hear the beginning or the end of a phrase. This episode of Grand Blue illustrates how misreading minds leads to hilarious, violent, and often hilariously violent circumstances. What tactics set up the chaotic cascade of errors?
The Comedy Speech Stylings of Grand Blue
- Talking to oneself out loud — I hate this lazy anime tool for matching a voice actor’s words to an animator’s mouth flapping. Internal thoughts should be just that: internal. But then Grand Blue would have no chances at causing misunderstandings between Chisa and Iori when she’s reluctant to talk about romantic topics and feelings, even when they don’t belong to her.
- Overhearing the middle of a conversation — The scene where Kouhei confused the family member that Iori and Azusa talked about with Iori’s sister instead of his cousin activated his imouto fixation. Grand Blue does an admirable job of using its characters’ defects and flaws to drop them into a situation and create comedy. Yup, that’s a situational comedy, a sit-com!
- Interrupting a sentence and completing the thought in one’s head — We call that jumping to conclusions, but this is a subset of the mismatching context formula Grand Blue applies to many scenes. Chisa thought Iori was gay because he interrupted her before she finished telling him that Naomi-kun “liked” him. So, Iori never heard her say the high school boy had “feelings” for him, which would have prevented almost all of the comedic misunderstandings we saw later.
These kinds of dialog situations would be dull without Grand Blue’s outrageous cut scenes and visual gags. But that’s how you fill half an hour of comedy where the conversation between two people would resemble awkward silences and incomplete sentences.
Grand Blue Makes Me Go Heh.
This is so vague. Is Naomi in love with Iori, or does he want to follow him around like a puppy? I’m skeptical about romantic feelings. Meanwhile, the crazy drinking party continues after a fun diving trip. Azusa frazzles Iori’s mind with the thought that she could go out with Naomi. Augh! Chisa’s embarrassed, disgusted, and complicated reactions fuel the confusion. Iori has complicated feelings, too. How could Chisa score a relationship before he could?
Also, he feels protective as if someone asked out his little sister. Those magic words aroused Kouhei. Why does he have a metal pipe stuck on his head? We are missing a comedic sequence. Too many layers of confusion! Kouhei worries about Shiori. But Iori thinks he’s talking about Chisa, his cousin, who publicly plays his girlfriend to stop random guys from asking Chisa out. This is one of “those” Grand Blue episodes.
The Merchant Taming of the Grand Blue Errors
Uh oh. Sakurako saw Naomi excitedly talking with Chisa. More misunderstandings. Chisa only wants to talk about diving with Naomi, not Iori. Sakurako still claims she only likes Naomi for his handsomeness. Chisa has no idea why Iori would “intrigue” Naomi. Familiarity breeds contempt, right? Iori’s efforts to distract Naomi from Chisa backfire. Opposites attract, and Iori’s eating, drinking, and loudness draw Naomi’s attention.
Oh, no. Iori’s muttering makes Chisa think he’s gay. But how is that possible when he keeps ogling Azusa and Nanaka’s huge chests in these Grand Blue episodes? And Iori’s imagination also runs wild. Is Chisa about to dump her fake boyfriend? Ahahaha! How could Iori’s question about big boobs possibly relate to anything in his mind? It’s a trap! He gets a slap no matter what he says! Hohoho! What does that even mean that he only likes right breasts? Chisa’s solution? Call Shiori! Ack. Let’s bring all the jokes back together. Kouhei collected his weapons. He must protect Iori’s little sister at all costs!
Much Ado About Grand Blue as a Tsundere Likes It
At least Sakurako understands Naomi’s interest in Iori a little better. His presence allows people to act more like their private selves. Uh oh. Did Sakurako confirm Naomi’s sexual preferences? He called Azusa “pretty” and Chisa “cute,” but blushed when thinking about Iori. How can Sakurako compete with a boy?
And it’s time to take out her pettiness on Iori at work. We saw these same torture tactics in the last Grand Blue episode. Naomi acts like a puppy chasing him around the restaurant. Sakurako should use a different strategy to attract Naomi instead of her sex-pot manipulations. But if the boy is gay, why does Sakurako not give up? Where should she go to hear practical advice? How about Shinji and Ryuujirou? Kouhei doesn’t count, but one is a bartender, and the other has a girlfriend. Sakurako doesn’t trust any of them but would have listened to Azusa. She’s not there because it looks like Aina wants to get serious about Iori.
A Grand Blue Summer Night’s Dream
Yes, Iori is stupid. He believed the guys at the bar literally, instead of figuratively. Sakurako needs to wear a wetsuit, strum a guitar, and drink heavily! Aw. Iori noticed how Sakurako admires Naomi’s competence in the kitchen. It was never about his good looks. Ah, I see. Sakurako keeps up appearances as a man-eater for her friends. Poor girl. Sakurako asked Naomi directly about being his girlfriend. What happens next in Grand Blue? She kept up appearances for her friends. Can Sakurako move on quickly as she usually does with “hot men?”
Now Sakurako sees why Naomi finds Iori “intriguing.” He saw she needed to mourn her lost chance at dating Naomi. Sakurako can’t stop her cruel streak, but she accepts being honest about her disappointed feelings. Wow. She didn’t destroy or throw away Kouhei’s concert ticket and backstage pass! Secret tsundere with an apology note. Watch out, Iori. You might be her next target. Thanks for the complications, because Aina has just asked him out on a date.
Next time, Aina and Iori will go to the movies together. Alone!
Grand Blue Dreaming Season 2 (Grand Blue Season 2) streams on Crunchyroll in Japanese audio with subtitles in multiple languages.
What do you think? Is Naomi gay or merely needs a best friend? Do you have a better opinion about Sakurako after this episode? Should she find better friends? Or has she already found a new set of friends? Let us know if you’re okay with torturous tsunderes in the comments below!
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