The results are in for Splatoon 2’s most recent North American Splatfest. As you may recall, the most recent fight pitted forks against spoons. Pearl believed forks were best, while Marina supported the spoon. While spoons won the popular vote with a 53.20% lead, forks took the lead in both Solo (51.62%) and Team (50.31%) performances. This means forks, and by extension Pearl, won the Splatfest.
However, the following dialogue got interesting this time. After every Splatoon 2 Splatfest, there is some banter between Pearl and Marina after the winner is declared. If Pearl wins, she puts together a brief rap going over why her side was the best. This time, as she was getting into it, Marina actually told Pearl to shut up. This outburst stunned both characters into silence. Marina then explained she was frustrated after three losses in a row, as Pulp beat no Pulp in the June 2018 Orange Juice Splatfest and Squid beat Octopus in the First Anniversary Splatfest. (Though, in Japan, Marina’s side did win when My Melody beat Hello Kitty in the final Sanrio Splatfest.) Pearl’s response? Basically, it was, “Stop losing.”
This is interesting, as Marina’s attitude toward Pearl tends to be deferential during the Splatoon 2 announcements. She also often expresses her fondness for her partner, fangirling over her. In fact, there is actually a line of dialogue that has become a meme, where Marina will sometimes say during ranked matches that she would suggest using a Brella during certain stages for “Protecting my precious Pearlie at all costs!”
As a reminder, wins in Splatfests have shaped Splatoon plots before. the final Splatfest in Splatoon had an impact on Splatoon 2’s storyline, as Marie’s victory in that event led to a short story bridging the gap between games and impacted the sequel’s campaign.
Splatoon 2 is available for the Nintendo Switch.
