MARRIAGETOXIN ‒ Episode 13

In good news, it looks like MARRIAGETOXIN has already been confirmed to get another season. It is certainly appreciated, because this episode feels less like the end of a season and more like some post-arc cleanup. That cleanup does at least finally deliver on some of the romantic comedy the last few episodes have been missing, but not quite in the way I was expecting. Rather than just focusing on Gero and Kimie, the episode also dedicates some time to having Gero learn a little more about the romantic woes of others, and doing so by putting our awkward assassin in the role of playing a love counselor. It's definitely a bit of a weird swerve, to say the least, but despite a couple of caveats, it offers just enough laughs to let this season close out on a good note.

The biggest of those caveats is, unfortunately, the lack of a post-battle date between Gero and Kimie. Rather than watching them hang out or go for dinner together, we simply have to settle for the two of them making some small talk on the boat ride home. It's certainly not without its share of comedy, as it's always fun to watch Kinosaki do their best to guide Gero towards some semblance of a natural conversation. I enjoyed the big Sea World show that Kimie puts on with the other Beast masters, but it all goes by just a bit too quickly, and I wish it had gotten the same amount of time as Gero's other attempts at dating. There was at least a good punchline to all of this. You'd think that Gero learning Kimie is already into him would make it easier for the poor guy to get her number, but the realization that a woman is actually into him just causes him to completely short circuit, and it easily takes the cake for the show's funniest moment to date.

As good as that was for a laugh, though, I'm a bit more mixed on how this all pans out romantically. Considering that it's still far too early for Gero's quest for a bride to end, having Kimie admit to liking Gero, but realizing she needs to become more reliable before she could consider herself a good partner for him, is probably the most nuanced outcome we could have gotten here. Not only does it work to keep them apart in a way that doesn't feel cheap, but it also makes her limited screentime in this arc a bit more justified, as it does demonstrate that she hasn't quite shown herself to be on equal footing with Gero in the way his other potential brides have. Still, given that Shiori's arc ended with her taking a similar path towards self-improvement and didn't really stop her from having more romantic interactions with Gero than what Kimie got, it's hard to shake the feeling that our hamster girl got shortchanged compared to Gero's other love interests. Thankfully, this clearly isn't the last we'll see of her, but I hope her next appearance gives her more to do with him.

While I didn't think Gero's attempt at helping to be a love guru was quite as hilarious as his meltdown on the boat, it does come pretty close. Since even the mere subject of romance is still enough to turn Gero into a stumbling mess, it was great watching him literally steam up like a kettle while he's bombarded with more and more love troubles that he can't even begin to wrap his head around, let alone solve. Of course for as fun as it is to see the show's getting few more laughs at Gero's expense, it was nice to see that watching all these people mulling over love helped him to realize he's been taking it seriously in his own way, and that supporting Kimie's desire to better herself rather than trying to push through a relationship anyway shows he's more capable of thinking in the long term. A lot of this love advice segment felt like it could have been saved for the start of the next season rather than the end of this one. Even if it's not a major development, it's still nice to see the season close out on one last bit of internal growth for Gero, so it works well enough to let this season end on a positive note.

I also liked the setup for next season with Kinosaki seemingly being targeted by someone from one of the Gero clan's branch families. While I'm still not quite as into the action side of this show, I am at least a bit curious to see how Gero would deal with facing another poison specialist. Despite some frustrations with this last arc, I still had a pretty good time with MARRIAGETOXIN, and even though it's generally better at being a romantic comedy than it is at being a battle shonen, it's still managed to blend those two sensibilities just well enough to make for a solid spin on them. This show might not have quite been the strongest showing of either of its genres this season, but Gero's quest for a bride offered just enough of a good time that I'm up for seeing more of any new bachelorettes or assassins he'll meet along the way.

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MARRIAGETOXIN is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.