MARRIAGETOXIN

Episode 5

While MARRIAGETOXIN has done a pretty good job of balancing action and romance, this is the first episode that puts most of its emphasis on the action, as Gero faces off against the Sound Master. With how much this show has successfully leaned into spectacle, it goes without saying that it puts a considerable amount of effort into making this battle look as over the top as possible, and even with how ridiculous some of the master assassin abilities we've seen, it manages to find some ways to make them look even crazier. Neat as this all was, though, it wasn't quite sharp enough to hold my attention the whole way through, and while I don't necessarily mind the higher emphasis on action, I did find myself missing some of the show's usual rom-com hijinks.

What few romantic developments we get this week are largely contained to the beginning of the episode when Gero and Shiori go on a test of courage together. While this doesn't lead to any big jumpscares that would get the two of them snuggling up to each other, it does at least provide an opportunity for Gero to show he's capable of being considerate when he tells Shiori that she shouldn't let the danger she's currently in get in the way of trying to live her life to its fullest. Considering that taking the time to enjoy life more is a lesson that Gero is still learning for himself, it's nice to see that he's started valuing it enough to be able to impart that bit of wisdom to someone else. Seeing him continue to be a surprisingly positive influence on Shiori is doing a lot to help sell any budding romance between them. At the same time, I'm also glad the show has managed to avoid the pitfall of having Gero be the primary catalyst for Shiori tackling her self-confidence issues. It is best demonstrated when Naruko lures them into a trap and tries to use his sound hypnosis to dig into all the trauma her lack of social skills has caused her. It would have been easy to resolve this by having Gero swoop in to help her battle her demons, but it also would have undermined Shiori's own efforts to change herself. Having her break the illusion entirely of her own will, with Gero only stepping in to save her from a fall, keeps their relationship feeling balanced.

Beyond that, this episode was otherwise entirely action, and most of it was pretty fun. Since we've seen Naruko's sound powers performing feats like leveling buildings and hypnotizing women into falling for him, tricks like launching blades of soundwaves or filling a forest full of wires that he can vibrate to block Gero's poisons from a far distance, don't feel like too much of a stretch for his skill set which all allows for some good back and forth as Gero attempts to close the distance between them. That said, I have to question the logic of Naruko's sound waves, somehow allowing him to make a giant kaiju to attack Gero with. I certainly won't turn my nose up at any excuse for a kaiju fight, but aside from its body constantly vibrating, nothing about it really seems sound-related, which makes its sudden appearance feel a little random. Although considering that Gero's counter to Naruko's wires is to use some chemicals to make all the trees in the forest grow bigger so the wires get loose, it's safe to say that the only rule that applies to MARRIAGETOXIN's fights is the rule of cool. While part of me can't pretend I wouldn't like the internal logic here to be a bit more consistent, I do tend to prefer my shonen fights to be on the simple side, and as such, I can't argue too much with opting for whatever makes for good entertainment. I've been enjoying this fight more often than not, but I am a little worried about it potentially overstaying its welcome if it goes for much longer. Thankfully, it looks like it'll wrap up by next week, and although I'm expecting it to have a pretty explosive climax, I'm mainly just eager to get back to Gero's dating woes.

Rating:

---

MARRIAGETOXIN is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.