English Dub Review: Marriagetoxen “My First”
OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)
Hikaru finishes the fight against the Water Master and rescues Kyoko and the painting, though now he’s gotta secure a date.
OUR TAKE
The first big fight of the season is concluded as Hikaru manages to incapacitate Shizuku Oshi, the Water Master, but decides to do the decent thing and not kill her, even leaving some sort of ointment to help her combat an allergy he deduces she has to oxygen exposure. Considering that she is a relatively attractive woman, at least based on her face which is the only visible body part we have at the moment, I have a feeling she’ll be back at some point. And it’s not JUST because while skimming the Wikipedia article, I glanced and saw that she’s listed under “Prospective Partners”. Will we see her again in this season? That’s hard to say considering we have no idea how many episodes this season will be, but it’s always a possibility. For now, Hikaru, Mei, and Kyoko can rest a bit easy now that the painting is back in its rightful owner’s hands and no one had to die. That’s the Toxin part of the episode out of the way, so now we gotta swing the pendulum back to the Marriage side! And that means getting a date with Kyoko, no matter how weird it might end up being!
Well, it does turn out to be a little bit weird, but not by a lot. And it actually almost doesn’t end up a date, as Mei suggests it as the three of them celebrating together but then strategically backs out so that it’s just Hikaru and Kyoko, while Mei lurks from the shadows to see how his training Hikaru has worked out. While his social naivete does keep him from missing some good signals for conversation threads to pull, the two do manage to hold some solid and personal conversations to get to know each other better, including the fact that Hikaru has a built in phobia of food he didn’t make himself, as being a Poison Master comes with inherent distrust of meals because, well, he could be poisoned. It’s a vulnerable thing to say, especially since it’s kinda weird, but shows that he is trying to open himself up to new experiences, which can be a pretty attractive feature. He ultimately decides to just stay friends with Kyoko for now, much to her kind of disappointment, but it’s clear that’s not the last we’ll be seeing her, considering she’s now in the ED with Mei, who was alone last week. Next time, a new client to rescue and a new Master to fight!
