Chitose falls into darkness.
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)
Having lost her brother as her manager to a younger, more determined seiyuu, Chitose's outlook on the industry begins to slope downward (As if it wasn't already tilted enough). When she meets her new manager, however, things get even worse. Instead of being the laid-back, cynical type, this new guy is forcing Chitose to actually...work hard? Oh no, this can't possibly end well.
As Chitose struggles to fight away the gloom overtaking her career, all of the other actresses seem to be doing pretty well. Yae and Koto have both landed more lead roles for other projects, Momoka and Kazuha (Who are completely absent from this episode) are steadily moving ahead, and even Nanami is beginning to take off. That being said, when Chitose is designated this new manager, she essentially loses all motivation and has to be forced just to do her job. Incapable of dealing with her problems, she begins moping harder than ever before. Surprisingly, her brother isn't much different.
Even though Nanami is clearly a better candidate for him to manage, Gojo can't help be brought down by the fact that his sister might soon fail. After a revelatory discussion at the bar with Namba, Gojo understands that Chitose's time is running out. Everyone knows by now that she isn't exactly a model-actress, but if she doesn't figure something out soon, she will be dropped entirely. One can take a few guesses on how Gojo sees this situation, but nothing is made apparent through any of his actions. More than anything, he just seems pissed off. Hell, he spends 90% of the episode just standing there with his hair in his eyes. Much of this might be due to the fact that Chitose totally insulted him in the last episode, but hey, who knows with these two?
The surprising part of this episode lies in the fact that, even though this is a celebratory episode in multiple ways, the entire twenty minutes of it seems nothing short of bleak and melancholic. With half the cast celebrating and the other half falling into a pit of despair, we're not really sure what to think anymore. Part of you wants to root for Chitose and hope that she makes it out alive, and the other part is probably saying, "Well...You did this to yourself". But regardless of how we're feeling right now, the importance and weight of this episode is really going to be determined by whatever happens next week. Chitose and Gojo are both dispensable, and they both seem to finally realize this.
In Summary:
Girlish Number has somehow managed to navigate itself back to the somber feeling the pilot instilled. Both Chitose and Gojo are having a hard time dealing with their issues and are doing the one thing a professional is never supposed to do -- let that carry over into their work. Anime waits for no one, and if Girlish Number is going to end on a good note, these two need to get back into shape fast. But in order to do that, they're going to have to confront each other instead of hiding behind their sorrows.
Grade: A-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
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