Girlish Number

Episode 11

This was a slower episode of Girlish Number - as far as pure “narrative events” go, almost nothing happened until the last few minutes. With Chitose having finally realized her true situation last episode, she spent most of this episode sulking and contemplating the possible end of her career. Since Chitose was more or less out of commission, it was up to the rest of the cast to carry through to her critical turning point.

A great deal of this episode was dedicated to Chitose's costars commenting on her situation, which was reasonably funny, but not terribly engaging in a dramatic sense. The episode's early recording sessions clued the other actresses in to what was going on, since as Momoka later mentioned, Chitose is extremely bad at hiding her feelings. Since Chitose's blind enthusiasm was generally what kept these recording sessions positive, her melancholy ended up dragging the whole mood down with her.

Chitose's various costars all had their own distinct reactions to her misfortune, in another demonstration of Girlish Number's generally excellent character work. While it was nice to see both Yae and Koto trying to support her, Nanami was the one who truly lead the supportive charge. Nanami's role in Girlish Number has been excellent - where she would have been more of an overt antagonist in other shows, she's actually inspired by Chitose's acting and wants to do everything she can to help her. Nanami's supportive nature reflects Girlish Number's generally thoughtful approach to characterization, where there are no “villains” except the ones we construct ourselves, and conflict emerges naturally from understandable but incompatible differences in feelings among the core cast. Conflict feels more meaningful when you can't just wave off all the bad things in life as acts of villainy from people out to get you.

That said, this episode's focus on everyone else reacting to Chitose's new mood did make it feel more sluggish and superfluous than prior episodes. I can understand why the show chose to drag this segment out in pacing terms, since Chitose didn't really enter a full depression until last episode's coda, but it still felt pretty repetitive in action. The highlights were in the small details - I particularly liked the offhand reveal that Koto and Gojo started their careers at the same time, which enhanced the sense of cohesion and consequence in this world. Seeing Kuzu-P demonstrate his legitimate strengths (a passion for victory, a willingness to take initiative and exploit emerging talents as soon as possible) also helped pull his character together.

Fortunately, the episode's final scene was exactly the scene I'd hoped for. Chitose's confession to Gojo embodied Girlish Number's poignant and incisive approach to the working life, as she wallowed in very understandable fears about what would happen once her professional novelty wore off. “What happens when I'm not new anymore” is a fear all artists have to grapple with, particularly a woman in an industry as publicly driven as the Japanese voice acting market. At last, pushed forward by the words of Yae and Koto, Gojo finally comforted his depressed sister.

The reconciliation between Chitose and Goto was both sweet and in-character for both of them. Gojo couldn't help but preface his praise with his usual snark, and Chitose couldn't help but demand more specific praise after hearing she was amazing. In retrospect, I don't think Gojo's hands-off approach was particularly justified - if he thought giving her the cold shoulder would help her get over this trial, we should have had some indication of that or better yet tied it into some known element of his own voice acting career. Still, even if the road there was shaky, it was still nice seeing these two prickly siblings come together again. Girlish Number isn't coming to the most graceful conclusion, but it's still an insightful and witty show with a cast that continues to be likable in spite of themselves.

Overall: B-

Girlish Number is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Nick writes about anime, storytelling, and the meaning of life at Wrong Every Time.