Grand Blue Dreaming

Episode 3

So far, it seems like Grand Blue Dreaming's jokes land in one of two broad but easily identifiable categories. The first generally revolves around Iori stumbling upon Tokita and Kotobuki engaging in some kind of behavior that's perceived as lewd, perverted, or otherwise sexually threatening, and then freaking out about it. These tend to be the show's weakest bits for me, since I don't find this kind of gay panic or sexual humiliation-based humor to be particularly endearing. For instance, this week's episode opens with Iori dreaming of Tokita and Kotobuki creepily descending upon a helpless female version of himself, which is the exact kind of “crude-but-not-actually-funny” gag that I wish Grand Blue Dreaming didn't have to fall back on so much.

The rest of the opening act sees the club seniors trying to convince Iori and Kohei to enter a male beauty pageant, where Kohei and Iori will dress in boys and girls' high school outfits respectively, in an attempt to earn the club some cash for diving supplies. The scenes tossed out plenty of the series' signature exaggerated facial expressions and overdramatic reactions, but the humor doesn't stick as well when the crux of all the jokes is simply “These college boys think dressing up for a beauty pageant is just too weird!”. Then we get a lengthy and much more straight-laced sequence of Iori learning to use his breathing gear underwater, which culminates in the predictable development of him learning to appreciate diving more. Grand Blue Dreaming's art and animation is too weak to properly sell the beauty and wonder of the moment, and there aren't any jokes to be found here, so the whole scene just feels like a less effective repetition of what Nanaka already taught Iori at the aquarium last week. I'll admit that it was funny when the whole buildup of Iori's lesson was just for the seniors to try and convince him to join the beauty pageant again, but it isn't quite funny enough to justify everything that came before it.

Thankfully, the episode's second half takes a different route and improves considerably. For one thing, Iori and the audience are introduced to the incredibly likable Azusa, a girl with a Cheshire grin and high alcohol tolerance who's much more down with the Diving Club's idiotic antics than chia. Iori meets her when he awakes to find her passed out right next to the naked man pile that the club usually devolves into after a night of drinking, and she nestles right into the cast's dynamic from there, adding a much-needed layer of self-aware smugness to the cast's rapport. She also makes a killer okonomiyaki, which is always worthy of respect.

The second half digs into Grand Blue Dreaming's much more successful category of joke, which tends to involve Iori and Kohei acting like doofuses and embarrassing themselves in front of their seniors, Chisa, and pretty much anyone else with even a modicum of common sense. Tokita and Kotobuki make a deal with the boys that, if they can get Chisa to enter an upcoming girls' beauty pageant, they'll be spared from competing themselves, so the two immediately conspire to get Chisa drunk so she'll be more likely to accept. What makes this kind of humor much funnier than the stale sex panic jokes is that it's all rooted in Iori and Kohei generating conflict through their own stupidity and suffering the comical consequences. Every stealth cocktail that the pair brews for Chisa ends up either getting pounded down by Azusa or forced on themselves, and the ugly faces and loud reactions are much funnier when the boys are contending with their own dumb failures.

The episode ends on a predictable but sweet-enough note when Azusa points out that the boys' desire to get her involved in the pageant is rooted in their confidence in her beauty, which is a flattering enough sentiment to get her to cave and agree to compete, but only under the condition that Kohei and Iori have to enter their own pageant alongside her. Given the show's track record, I'm sure the beauty pageant jokes will be just as hit-or-miss as the rest we've gotten, but the characters' relationships are becoming solid enough to buoy these episodes through the worst of its slumps. Grand Blue Dreaming may not be the season's most consistently funny comedy, but it's keeping its head above water well enough for now.

Rating: B-

Grand Blue Dreaming is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.

James is an English teacher who has loved anime his entire life, and he spends way too much time on Twitter and his blog.