Can you really tell that Marin has gained weight? Apparently yes; multiple people point it out in this week’s episode. In fact, Nowa supposedly noticed it when Marin was cosplaying as Rei-sama during the cultural festival. Well, you coulda fooled me. But it’s anime, so it’s hard to tell unless they oversell it. Anime can show me two different characters, tell me that person A is way hotter than person B, and I’ll just be like “Hweh?” But I digress. Marin’s girlies actually speculate that the special undies required to give a person a masculine body shape probably hid the weight gain. But if that’s true, then how did Nowa notice anything? At the end of the day, ball don’t lie, and the “ball” in this case is Gojo’s bespoke costumes. They were specifically tailored to a snapshot of Marin’s body, and if they don’t fit, then they don’t fit. Can’t be in denial about that.
It’s also interesting to see people casually bring up the weight gain. I live in a culture that is (perhaps too) sensitive about this sort of thing; it’s a bit of a faux pas. Meanwhile, I had a friend from Korea, and according to her, people will just straight up call you fat in public. But to be fair to those in Marin’s modeling life, professionals in a field that’s all about selling one’s image kinda have to be weight conscious… I think? Let’s be real: is a model is actually less attractive just because they’ve gained some weight? And does said weight gain actually translate to less magazines sold? Do we really need to lie to ourselves and pretend that a person’s body weight never fluctuates? Look at Gojo! He’s under no illusion that Marin’s body would always stay the same. Nevertheless, the conversation gets even trickier from there. Is it really worth sending the message that you need to be skinnier in order to make more money? But if they don’t make money — or constantly make more money year over year — people could lose their jobs. But why are we in such a precarious position where a lack of growth due to a model’s weight gain might potentially lead to joblessness and thus homelessness? Ahhhhh, all this just because a girl helped herself to extra servings of her crush’s home-cooking. At the end of the day, let’s just blame everything on capitalism.
As I alluded to above, Marin eventually comes to the realization that Gojo has been spoiling her with food (not that she blames him), but even then, that’s not really true. The true culprit is actually her impulse control or lack thereof. Marin’s metabolism hasn’t suddenly crashed or anything, so the laws of thermodynamics must be obeyed, i.e. calories in, calories out. She only has herself to blame, because she can’t help herself from snacking on his leftovers even when she’s just had a big dinner. Her lack of impulse control isn’t limited to food either. Towards the end of the episode, Marin tells Gojo how she bought a certain camera model on a whim simply because it has the letter “M” in the name — “M” for Marin. That’s right, she bought a random DLSR camera that probably costs over a grand due to a letter.
I know nothing about cameras, so I have no clue if Marin lucked out and still managed to buy a good model. But this whole ordeal does reveal something sweet about her relationship with Gojo. As cute as Marin is — and her impromptu photo session with Gojo is very adorable — I don’t think I could ever date a Marin. Her constant whims would drive me batty eventually. Gojo is a very patient dude; he has to be a very patient dude. And when they say that opposite attracts, this is the platonic ideal of that trope. So often, people look at two bickering fictional characters and instantly jump to the conclusion that those two must be perfect for one another. But it’s more than that: opposites should complement and lift each other up. Sure, some friction is unavoidable, but not to the extent you see sometimes. Marin drags Gojo out of his all-too-comfortable and complacent safe zone, and on the flip side, he reins her wild tendencies in from time to time. And guess what? No bickering required.
Stray observations:
• Ah great, it’s time to goon it up again. And we’re using weight gain to facilitate it too. Tch.
• Do they really need three people to work their magic on Marin’s hair? Simultaneously, too. But what do I know? Maybe it’s true. I’ve only ever gotten the cheapest, basic bitch haircut in the neighborhood.
• I like how Marin points Gojo out by calling him the the hottest guy in the picture. Who knows if it’s actually true, because it’s true enough for her.
• Damn, she’s bragging about last week’s plushie to everyone she meets. Girl, just ask him out. Marin is so bold and forward everywhere else in her life, so it’s a bit odd that she won’t take matters into her own hands and confess to Gojo.
• I have no opinion on loose socks other than that they seem like they would feel annoying on my legs after a while.
• Oh man, it’s that other social media site. I can’t remember the last time I visited it.
• This is the third post of the day, so it might seem like I’m suddenly posting a lot relative to how… empty this blog has been in the past few years, but there’s almost nothing to watch from Sunday to Tuesday so those days will be my break from anime. Also, it’s a Saturday and I’ve got nothing better to do.
