Girlish Number finally turned back to Chitose this week, centering an episode on both her and Kuzu-P’s understandable anxieties. While I obviously don’t “like” these characters as much as I like the more emotionally generous side characters, I thought this episode did a fine job of bringing their anxieties home. Just because they’re assholes doesn’t mean they don’t have problems too!

You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below.

Chitose once again making her presence felt this week. But she seems to be gaining some awareness that her career might be slipping away

It’d be easy to center an episode post on that phenomenon – feeling your momentum has stalled, you’re on the downward slope, and others are rising past you

Towada has just given up on Kuzu entirely at this point

Chitose’s songs are so great

I actually did miss her, it turns out

Kazuha’s friends with everyone now! And taking her dad’s advice, she’s actually asking about the source material, and investing herself in this job

And Kuzu misses their recording altogether

Teaching the newbie

Oh god, she was inspired by Chitose. Chitose’s gonna be insufferable now

Kazuha urges Chitose to actually consider what being a professional means. This is Kazuha’s way of showing concern and getting closer to them – before, she’d have just scoffed and kept these thoughts in her head

The overall group dynamic is much warmer now

Kuzu’s with his favorite hostess, Mai Mai-chan

This girl genuinely loves Kusure, their crappy anime

And she actually inspires the cast and crew to work harder. It’s important to see what your work actually means to some people, when you’ve personally lost all hope in it

They’re adjusting the radio broadcast schedule. Chitose seems less than impressed

Kuzu’s depressed. He hasn’t had success recently, and he’s not at all professional, so he’s not motivated

The direction of this sequence is great. The heavier linework for this Manly Showdown

And they got the perfect voice actor for his rival

Nanami Sakuragaoka, the new girl, is getting an audition chance over Chitose

They want Chitose doing narration and foreign dubs

And they’re moving Gojo to manage Nanami, and giving Chitose a new manager

Chitose thinks she can guilt Gojo into somehow changing how their agency works. She’s always felt she had a safety net, and Gojo is a huge part of that

And then she strikes where it hurts – “I may quit after one lead role, just like you”

This episode was kinda about humanizing both jerks at their lowest point