Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi o Suru - Ch. 106

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I've been ruminating on the last couple of chapters since they came out, and have kinda changed my mind about Marin and Gojou's relationship, especially after reading some of the comments people left. It has become increasingly clear that this honestly isn't healthy. For either of them. They're codependent, with Gojou enabling Marin's lack of responsibility and emotionally selfish nature. There's a lot of wailing about the drama and people wanting a return to wholesomeness but if you take a step back, this doesn't feel wholesome at all. A relationship, especially a romantic one, should be mutually beneficial. Is this that?

Ask yourself; what does Gojou do for Marin? He makes her costumes, forgoing sleep, study, and even his own ambitions to do so. He cooks for her. He acts as a social bond to another cosplayer that can't stand Marin herself. He spends what must at this point be hundreds of hours and tens of thousands of yen to make her as happy as she can possibly be in her hobby.

What does Marin do for Gojou?

...

No, honestly, what does Marin do for Gojou? What interest does she actually show in him, as opposed to what he can do for her? Because as far as I can recall, Chapter 103 - in volume fucking 14 - is the first time the two of them went out and did something purely related to Gojou's interests and desires. Everything else is a result of or preparation for something that Marin or her friends wanted to do. She's "nice" to Gojou in that she doesn't immediately make fun of him for having a slightly weird hobby, but that's not some amazing feat - that's table stakes for being a decent human being. She has about as right to be considered a good partner as those interminable harem protagonists who get the girl because they are the only males in their stories who treat the romantic interests with basic respect.

"Oh, but he's gotten better at making hina dolls since he started helping her." "Oh, he met that other friend as a result of his interest in prop-making." "Oh, the class has a better opinion of him since he helped do her makeup." If that's your response, you completely misread the question. I asked specifically what Marin actively chooses to do to for the purposes of helping Gojou out with his life.

See, a lot of people pointed out to this being a self-insert fic from the author, and I can see it. This story revolves around the interests of the female lead, and everything that the male lead wants or feels is sublimated to that. He wants to be a hina doll artist? Well, helping the female lead with her costumes makes him better at that! He wants to make friends and connect to the people around him? Well, joining the female lead's social group is how he does that! At no point does Marin actively reach out and try to aid him; she's a passive recipient to his efforts and the universe (read; the mangaka) rewards him for sacrificing everything to her.

You know you fucked up your romance when Nagatoro, the girl whose first encounter with her romantic partner ended with him in tears, ends up a healthier, more balanced, and more giving partner than your female lead. At least Nagatoro - who I remind everyone started out as NTR-bait emotional abuse porn on twitter - was aware of and concerned about the inner life of her partner!

You have to feel sorry for Gojou. He's been placed in a universe where he'll never win, will never find true happiness, except in subservience to anothers' whims. The manga even says so - Chapter 94. "Wakana, too... As long as he lives, I don't think he'll find satisfaction. So, Marin-chan, please make sure to praise the things that Wakana makes." Hell, even though during the last cosplaying arc with Haniel Gojou was actually into things for his own reasons, the way it got presented - with Gojou on his knees begging Marin for forgiveness for being "selfish" enough to ask her to cosplay as a character she told him she wanted to cosplay as - positions him as a supplicant to Marin.

And taking that line, that this isn't a romcom centered around an ecchi gyaru with a love of cosplay but instead a dramedy about a toxic relationship with that gyaru, actually puts their earlier interactions in a new light. Marin's strongest character trait, from the very beginning, was that she didn't care what other people felt. She didn't care if they thought she was rude, or if she was weird for openly talking about porn, or anything. Remember all that kinda pervy stuff from those early volumes? How uncomfortable Gojou felt every time she gave him stuff to watch or he had to measure her for costumes? Remember how she never cared at all about trying to make him feel more comfortable (or, hell, maybe compromising in the smallest possible way so that he didn't feel that way)? How she didn't care that exposing his skill as a tailor or makeup artist might scare him or alienate him from the class (you might say "she knew it wouldn't result in anything bad - but we NEVER see her reassure him about that! That seems like a great moment of caring and friendship that this manga just... never bothers with)?

Marin never compromises on what she wants. Compromising your desires is for Gojou.

I mentioned Marin being akin to a Manic Pixie Dream Girl; you know the trope. Super-bubbly extroverted "quirky" girl who meets a shy, introverted, inexpressive loner and slowly breaks down his shell with irrepressible energy. It's a common enough male fantasy in media. Except this is more the flipped version of it, the female fantasy. She's a teenager with basically no self-control (she spent thousands of dollars on a DSLR camera because it's model name started with the same letter as her own!), no ability to manage her life (shown by her eating habits), no thought towards social norms or niceties (framed as her being straightforward, but that's not really consistent with her absolute reticence regarding Gojou. A more consistent explanation is that she just doesn't care about offending or discomforting others), and ends up dumping all of the emotional and physical labor of their relationship onto Gojou.

This is coming off as more mean-spirited than I intend. Sure, she's way too nonchalant about how much she asks or expects from her partner. She's 15, though. And an only child. The only real, deep relationship she would have at this point is that to her parents, where she would be the passive recipient of all of their love and attention. That's how she acts in this relationship too; she's more like Gojou's child than his girlfriend. Of course she doesn't have the emotional maturity to actually give equally to a partner. And no one would expect her to. I'm not making a value judgement of her - just pointing out how unfair this whole situation is to him.

The longer this goes on, frankly, the less I want this romance to continue. Gojou gives so much, so readily, desperate for any scrap of acceptance. He's still mentally that orphan, scared of the world and dependent on a calcified shell to protect him from it. Closed, afraid to reach out and ask for help, to let anyone know that it's too much for him. He deserves someone who'll reach over, who'll tell him it's okay to rely on her for a while, that his needs matter too. A person who can say "we" instead of "I".

Because Marin sure as shit won't.

Hell, at this point I think Non would make a better pairing. At least in this chapter she treats Gojou as someone whose feelings matter and that she has to talk to when they have problems, rather than Marin's fundamentally cowardly and self-centered solution of just walking the fuck away whenever the risk of being vulnerable rears up.
Well, as far as I can see it, she did have a crush on Gojou. But yeah now that you mention it. Ig she realized this after felt in love so hard with Gojou.
 
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the story is surely ending soon
random nothing conflict that could easily be solved by talking then previous trauma suddenly tossed out and resolved simply
 
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The writing in this series has gotten so shit and hamfisted lmao
Only reading it for the trainwreck at this point
 
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She probably accepted to become a professional cosplayer as she was probably scouted by some agency and she agreed after thinking she was using him for her own benefit and stopping him accomplishing his dream ( making the best hina doll) of course she would not tell him the real reason and gojo is probably going to just agree about this thinking they never were in the same world and now she doesn’t need him anymore. Probably some drama with gojo becoming even more depressed and not wanting to talk to Marin and probably anybody anymore I hope not but this could lead to so deep dark moments for gojo like trying to oof himself …. Pretty sure the childhood friend will be the one who see that gojo is really not going well ( she would end up learning it was caused by Marin ) with maybe some kind of confrontation between the two girls
 
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Boohoo unnecessary drama I really hope this shit does not become the next rent a girlfriend ffs
I hope not 💀 imagine gojo crying in the pool with a boner while imagining Marin getting railed in a cosplay by some muscular chad model 🤣
 
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This must take the record for worst standalone chapter by far for this series... It fel like the middle third of a regular chapter lmao.
 
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At least, It has been resolved quickly.

But, as predicted, drift apart arc will begin. Marin, since chap 104, feel she's in the way of Gojou goal with doll. And we know there is the cosplay pro agency who scouted her.
I feel she'll be harsh to make it work and "break up" the cosplay thing with Gojou. Because, rn, she feel guilty and they haven't talk at all of comiket (and at this point, even if there is talk it doesn't matter, Marin want to free Gojou from her and the cosplay).
I said this on the previous chapters and got negative reply ^^.
I legit think she is going to break Gojou again by saying something stupid and not talking.

and she will join that pro agency and tbh if that is the case I hope it goes terrible for her. I mean lets be real she sucked at making costumes without Gojou and only got attention because of his outfits he made and the way she was when she wore them.

Because if she does say something harsh I think its probably going to be something that is similar or mirroring what what Non-chansaid. which then I guess Non-chan will have a good old fashioned "talk" with Marin and reveal her regrets as a way to redeem herself and set Marin on track again.

And tbh if she does say something bad to Gojou even if its to break away from him. I will loss a lot of respect for her. since in the first chapters she went mad at that guy who was hitting on her and mocking her key chain. and her classmates. telling them not to bash others hobbies.
 
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amazing. in less than 4 chapters appearance, Non-chan solved her problem with Gojo simply by having a talk. :clap:

now, if next chapter Gojo asks "why?" and Marin just refuses to explain and therefore prolonging this unnecessary drama, i'm dropping this
Well get ready because Im convinced Marin is going to say something totally dumb to Gojou and it will cause them to not talk and probably cause Gojou to get depressed and None-Chan will notice this and confront Marin about it.

Because why else would they bring this drama up with Marin and Gojou at the very same time none-chan shows up. I get Marin will say something "fake" that mirrors what None-Chan said to Gojou years ago. and None-Chan will talk to Marin and tell her she made this same mistake and regretted it ever since.

I mean None-Chan and Gojou legit sorted their issues out within 4 chapters and that seems fast for this manga ^^ unless the author needed them to sort it out quick for a reason.
 
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Jesus... is the author trying to destroy this ? Like you go from an arc that had virtually nothing to do with them as a couple, now this bs?this better not be an entire new arc
 
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Shouldn't this drama started after the 1st costume when gojou was literally sick and tired from making the costume?
I would say no, just because for their first cosplay, they were merely acquaintances. With each cosplay, her feelings grew, and she is now taking is his life ambition into perspective, because she loves him. Seeing that there is no place for her in his life, she's cutting ties. But I think what Gojo-kun is thinking, is that he doesn't actually want to be a Hina doll maker anymore. He found a passion for making coaplays and now he wants to switch. Next chapter is going to be bonkers.
 
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Jesus... is the author trying to destroy this ? Like you go from an arc that had virtually nothing to do with them as a couple, now this bs?this better not be an entire new arc
I don't think so. A part of the whole Haniel arc was to display Gojos skill and natural talent, and most importantly his work ethic and drive. The whole haniel arc was just a setup for the biggest confrontation of the series. The childhood friend coming back home, the conversation with the shop owner. I genuinely think this is the last arc. They're about to fuck for sure this time, I swear.
 
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yall lmk when all the bs drama is done with, its sucha snore fest :bleh:
 

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