Dear Pearl

"The Squid Research Lab has secretly acquired a manga written in Inkling language!"

- Note before the first page

Dear Pearl is a short manga written and drawn by Marina that bears many similarities to shōjo manga. It was first announced on CoroCoro's website before being released in full as a bonus feature in Splatoon, Vol. 10.

Plot
The manga starts with Marina reminiscing about how she imagined the world on the surface, before she defected from Octarian society; she thought it to be filled with song. It then cuts to the construction of MC.Princess Diaries, showing a digger piloted by Marina that throws the three steel beams carried in its claw at the NILS Statue, knocking it over. Marina gets frustrated by this and tries to pull herself together, yet fails again on her second attempt. Pearl, drawn like a bishōjo, appears with a can of Tentacola and praises Marina, scaring her. Pearl chuckles in response and, now wearing her clothes from Chaos vs. Order, reminds Marina that the final Splatfest is drawing near. She then starts elegantly jumping from side to side after declaring that they should "go off with a bang", causing Marina to be awestruck by her coolness. The last page shows an apparently large Pearl using the Princess Cannon, with Marina watching admiringly. The manga ends with Marina wishing she could "shout out a Killer Wail too", over a panel showing a love letter to Pearl and an envelope sealed with a stamp showing the Splatfest symbol.

Localization
In the Japanese version, rather than by Pearl's coolness, Marina is instead awestruck by her stylishness. In the panel where Pearl is using the Princess Canon, Marina says in her inner monologue that Pearl has a huge presence despite her small stature, rather than that "[she is] so small...but [she is] so big." In the panels showing the letter that Marina is writing, she muses about wanting to shout out "these feelings [for Pearl]" through a megaphone similar to Pearl's use of her modified Killer Wail, rather than simply wanting to use a Killer Wail in general. The stamp on the envelope was also changed to the Splatfest symbol in the English localization, as it was originally an octopus symbol that bears a similarity to the octopus portion of the Splatfest symbol.

Quotes
"Today, Shogakukan Inc. has released the 10th volume of the Splatoon manga. The "X-Blood Arc" to determine the Ranked Battle champion is at its peak! As a bonus, this issue includes a Japanese translation of Marina Ida's 6-page manga, "Dear Pearl", which was acquired in absolute secrecy."

- The Squid Research Lab

Trivia

 * Unlike other bonus content from the manga, Dear Pearl is not listed in the volume's table of contents.
 * The manga's Japanese name is the same as the Shifty Station MC.Princess Diaries, Dear Senpai. Interestingly, all Shifty Stations are in Japanese named after a real-life shōjo manga with the exception of MC.Princess Diaries.

Etymology
The word "Dear" followed by the intended reader's name is one of the most common salutations in epistolary writing (letter sending). At the end of the manga, it's revealed that Marina is writing a confession letter to Pearl, which likely contains the title in its greeting. Alternatively, the manga as a whole may be intended as a love letter to Pearl.