Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru Season 2 Episode 23: “I thought nothing good would happen in my life” – A Deep Dive into Akira Ogata’s Past and Sajuna Inui’s Emotional Journey
Summer anime Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru Season 2 broadcast its 23rd episode, titled “Jibun no Jinsei ni wa Ii Koto nante Okoranai to Omotteta” (I thought nothing good would happen in my life), starting September 13th at 24:00 JST. Fans online were brimming with anticipation, with comments like “It’s going to reach the scene I particularly wanted to see in the anime!” and “Next Kisekoi is definitely going to be divine???”.
*Please be advised: The following text contains spoilers for those who have not watched the series, due to the nature of the topic. Proceed with caution.*
The Horrifying “Hitsugi” Game and Akira’s Heartbreaking Past
First off, in the previous episode, the quality of the in-anime game Hitsugi (Coffin) became a hot topic, and now its official website has been updated!
The introduction to Hitsugi states, “※This game is not suitable for those sensitive to intense content,” and perhaps even this update isn’t for the faint of heart. S-S-Scrolling down reveals…
Even Narume, the pixel art designer for Hitsugi, was surprised!
Episode 23 opens with Ogata Akira-san crying, her sailor uniform-clad figure standing before an empty bookshelf. “How disgraceful. You’re a middle schooler now, aren’t you?” her mother had said, throwing away Akira’s cherished manga.
“I started crying right at the beginning with Akira-san’s painful past…”, “I also had my manga thrown away many times when I was in elementary school,” and “It’s absolutely unforgivable to forcefully throw away someone’s beloved things by exploiting parental authority.” Online, viewers expressed sympathy and anger, perhaps seeing their own pasts reflected in the scene.
Years passed, and Akira became a high school student. When her mother asked, “You haven’t bought any more manga, have you?”, she calmly replied, “No.” Anime also became a thing of the past for Akira.
Art director Nemoto Hiroyuki posted a background illustration of Akira’s childhood home (and what appears to be a local garbage collection point) after the broadcast. The bright blue sky from her childhood had turned into a gloomy, snow-laden one, seemingly mirroring the changes in Akira’s heart…
A Surprise Cosplay Plan for Juju-sama
Meanwhile, this week, Kitagawa Marin-san went shopping with Inui Shinju-chan for a surprise plan.
A few days prior, they had hatched a scheme to surprise Shinju’s older sister, Inui Sajuna, who is also known as the popular cosplayer “Juju-sama,” by getting her to cosplay. Kitagawa-san’s friends, Itou Suzuka and Honda Miyako, were particularly enthusiastic about the idea.
Sajuna-chan actually wanted to cosplay Black Lobelia from the anime Flower Princess Retsu!!, but Shinju revealed that she had given up on it, believing her short stature would “ruin the character’s image.”
Upon hearing this, Miyako declared, “It’s fine, it’s fine! All your worries can be resolved. Let’s get Juju-chan to do Black Lobelia!” Miyako already had a Black Lobelia costume (she bought it online, but it was too small for her to wear herself), so with a studio, the cosplay was entirely possible. And so, the surprise plan was set into motion…
Paper Puppet Theater: A Charming New Animation Style
During the scene where they strategize the surprise plan, a charming new animation style was unveiled in Kisekoi: a pehpuusaato (paper puppet theater)!
“Suddenly a paper puppet show lololol” and “The paper puppets are cute” were some of the surprised reactions online, and it seems a pehpuusaato club was even formed within the production staff. This season of Kisekoi is full of delightful surprise presentations!
After the broadcast, many staff members involved shared their contributions. It appears a large number of people participated, with 12 names listed in the end credits just for the “puppeteers.”
Even freelance animators got involved in the paper puppet show!
According to a series of posts by Someya Shou from CloverWorks, “Members from across sections gathered to film it” and “This is the first live-action paper puppet show directed by Yamamoto Yuusuke-san since Bocchi the Rock! episode 3.”
Indeed, a paper puppet show was also featured in Bocchi the Rock!, also produced by CloverWorks.
By the way, the official website for Flower Princess Retsu!!, which features Black Lobelia, has also been updated. What? A Premium Blu-ray BOX is confirmed for release? What news is this?!
Interestingly, Yamamoto Yuusuke-san is also the character designer and animation director for Flower Princess Retsu!!.
Sajuna’s Journey to Embracing Her Cosplay Passion
The surprise plan, however, failed spectacularly, with Sajuna-chan quietly enraged: “I wasn’t told about this. And please don’t assume everyone will be happy with a surprise.”
Miyako and Suzuka apologized profusely. But when Miyako asked, “You told Shinju-chan your reason for not cosplaying was your height, but isn’t it also your chest and youthful face?”, and Suzuka further encouraged her, “If you really want to do it, you should do it now before you regret not having done it,” Sajuna-chan’s heart began to change…
Meanwhile, Gojou-kun invited Ogata Akira-san to his home to create props for her next cosplay. A question about “How long have you been making props, Akira-san?” sparked a flashback to how she became friends with Suzuka and Miyako.
Akira, then a university student, “just once” spun a capsule toy machine for Flower Princess Retsu!! on a street corner, only to be caught by Suzuka and Miyako, who were in the same seminar. She thought it was over… but instead, they eagerly exclaimed, “Ogata-san, you like Retsu too?!” and “Of course, everyone loves Retsu, right~?”
“I used to think nothing good would happen in my life.”
But after meeting the two, Akira-san reflected, “It was the first time I felt I could be myself, and that I didn’t have to lie anymore.”
The “eyeball and cake” props that Gojou-kun and Akira-san made were actually created by the production staff in real life. From the paper puppet show to the eyeball and cake, you can glimpse the serious dedication of the adults in many aspects.
Relying on the “adult group” of Miyako and Suzuka, Sajuna-chan decided to cosplay Black Lobelia. With Miyako’s refined makeup techniques, she transformed into a magnificent Black Lobelia!
Shinju-chan rejoiced, and Kitagawa-san burst into tears. Mikihab-san, vocalist of Spiraspica, who performs the opening theme “Ao to Kirameki,” also shed tears, saying, “Juju-sama… Shinju-chan… Ahhh I’m crying, I’m crying, I’m crying. Everyone’s smiling. It makes me cry.”
“It was great to cosplay Black Lobelia,” Sajuna-chan told Miyako and Suzuka after the photoshoot. Sajuna-chan had been thinking of quitting cosplay. How long could she continue? She had these feelings, but meeting Miyako made her realize that “it’s okay to continue cosplaying even as an adult.”
To Sajuna-chan’s surprise, Miyako and the others looked puzzled, asking, “What are you talking about? There are plenty of people older than us doing it.” They went on to explain that you don’t have to quit your hobbies, and that as an adult, you can spend more money than when you were a student…
“Through her interactions with the two adult cosplayers, Juju-sama’s preconceptions, formed from doing cosplay alone, crumble, and the ice in her heart melts.”
“Juju-sama is stubborn, isn’t she? But that’s also her youth, and the adult group melts it away and covers for it with itheir experience.”
“The adult group’s persuasive power was eye-opening for Juju-sama, who hadn’t interacted with cosplayers other than Marin-chan until now.”
“I teared up at the scene where Juju-sama listened to the ‘bad adults’ (in a good way) and took a step forward.”
“Miyako-san and Suzuka-san said they were ‘bad adults,’ but they saved both Akira-san and Juju-sama, so they’re truly saviors.”
Miyako and Suzuka’s words to Sajuna-chan resonated with many adults online. No matter how old you get, you still love what you love, don’t you? The “bad adult group’s” reputation seems to have risen!
“The adult group being truly the adult group, in both good and bad ways, was the best.”
“You can do what you love, what you enjoy, no matter your age.”
“I want everyone to cherish their love, joy, and desires and be happy. The ‘bad adult group’ is so cool.”
After the Black Lobelia photoshoot ended and they were having a takoyaki party, Kitagawa-san noticed something. Akira-san hadn’t come that day… (she was making props with Gojou-kun).
“By the way, does Akira-san dislike me? When I came back from the bathroom at karaoke, she didn’t say anything when I was there, but she talked normally otherwise, so I felt like she can’t stand being around me.”
Kitagawa-san thought Akira-san disliked her. Then, a group photo celebrating the successful surprise arrived from Suzuka to Akira-san. Akira-san zoomed in on only Kitagawa-san’s cosplay photo…
“Marin-chan zoomed in… what could be her intention…?” Mikihab-san wondered. Why did Akira-san zoom in?
The Grand Finale Awaits!
After the broadcast, Suguta Hina-san, who plays Kitagawa Marin-san, posted, “As expected, Juju-sama is the best LOVE,” and continued, “It’s already the final episode next week!!!!! It’s the final episode!!! So fast! Too fast!!! It makes me cry!!! Please stay with us until the very end!”
Indeed, the next episode will be the final episode of Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru Season 2.
Kazama Mayuko-san, who plays Miyako from the adult group, also posted, “It’s a waste to stop enjoying things, and it’s never too late to start what you love… The relationship with Suzuka-san and Akira-san is also wonderful…” She continued, “Being an adult is so much fun!”
Miyake Marie-san, who plays Suzuka, also from the adult group, spoke about being an adult. Where was her ad-lib?
“Adults! You can click to buy what you want whenever you like, and your range of activities expands, which is fun! This episode had many lines that resonated with me, as I understand both Juju-chan’s and Akichan’s feelings (´；ω；｀)
Also! I was surprised by the text flowing out during the photoshoot scene. I’m grateful that my ad-lib lines were also picked up~ Kisekoi puts so much effort into every scene that it’s too compelling to watch~ Please watch it many times, thoroughly.”
Ono Atsushi-san, who plays Gojou-kun’s grandfather, Kaoru, also commented on an ad-lib.
“Did you figure out what good thing happened to Grandpa~~ I was so grateful they made a scene especially for me with animation-original direction, yeah.”
There were many posts from the production staff after this broadcast as well! (Partial list)
