Looks like they couldn't finish Episode 1 on time, after all.
What They Say:
No one wants to get stuck in a boring profession, so when college student Chitose Karasuma storms into a voice acting training facility, she thinks that her future is poised for awesomeness. However, this bad-mannered beauty is in for more than she bargained for as she gets accepted into the talent agency “Number One Produce.” Together with her coworkers, including a girl with a Kansai accent and a cunning airhead, Chitose charges into the competitive world of professional voice acting.
The Review:
Content: (Please note that the content portion of this review may contain spoilers)
The time has come for our beloved heroines to finally perform the opening song of Kusure. Slated to begin after a screening of the pilot episode, several of the girls (Basically just Koto and Yae) start feeling the pre-show jitters. Unfortunately for them, these jitters only get worse when they discover that they will be performing the full song instead of just the TV-Size version. Now, why are they performing the full version, you may ask? Well, apparently, the production crew for the series was incapable of finishing the episode on time. So instead of premiering the pilot at the promo event, they add a clip or two to the PV and just toss it up on screen. Needless to say, the fans weren't exactly ecstatic about that. But thanks to Chitose and Momoka, the crowd was brought back to high spirits once again as the two announced that they would be singing for everyone. Nice recovery, girls.
Despite Koto and Yae not being prepared to sing the full version of the theme song, the performance actually goes really well. The lame part of this is that we barely get to see any of it. In fact, the startup performance in episode 1 of Girlish Number was even cooler than this was. But I guess the importance of episode 4's performance was showing that Chitose is pretty adept when it comes to being put on-the-spot. After the girls finish up and head backstage, Chitose and the other novice seiyuu make plans to watch the series premiere at Koto's house. In addition to just watching, however, they decide to live-tweet the event. And even though they hype up the series pretty well, it winds up falling flat due to mediocre animation and production quality. Even with that, though, Chitose's popularity begins to climb. She's lucky that she's cute.
I think the main idea behind this episode was essentially just showing everyone how much Chitose has been growing as an actress. Right off the bat, our impression of her changes once again as she reveals she was up all night practicing the opening song. Even Kazuha is starting the get impressed by the boisterously cocky newbie. Interactions between the characters remain the same way they've been in the past several episodes and don't have any major developments in that department. However, Koto definitely gained a few bonus points when her manga and DVD collection (And underwear drawer) was revealed. Once again, the hardest part of grading this series is determining which girl I like the most.
As the episode winds down, we're brought back to the bar with Kuzu-P and Shachou Namba where it is revealed that apart from the girls' getting a CD debut, there will be a large-scale audition for more characters in the series. Dun dun dun.
In Summary:
We get more of what we're used to in the fourth installment of Girlish Number. Apart from not seeing the full opening performance from the cast, there isn't much to be disappointed with in this episode's quality. It's already evident that Chitose is growing as a protagonist and, backed by her always-adorable co-seiyuu, she's constantly entertaining whether you like her or not. Girlish Number is definitely a highlight of the Fall season, but not only due to its lovable characters. The comedy hits harder than possibly any series this season and Diomedea's animation [for this particular show] is pretty darn impressive, especially in terms of character design. All in all, episode four is a solid addition to the Girlish Number lineup.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
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