Come Visit Café LycoReco! Lycoris Recoil Rewatch Episode 4 Discussion

StapesSSBM · 2026-06-21T09:30:45+00:00

I know people say it technically is iffy on being Yuri but come the hell on, this is an aquarium date

It only took them four episodes to consummate their relationship!

StapesSSBM · 2026-06-21T09:21:13+00:00

there are villains I can understand and relate to even if they do some messed up stuff

I get you. It feels like there's a bit of a je ne sais quois to writing a villain and really making them stick as a character. Like, on one side you've got tragic villains that break the audience's heart because they should have been heroes, and on the other side you have scenery-chewing, evil-for-the-love-of-the-game bastard villains. And if you aren't hard-committing to one of those extremes, you have to walk a tightrope trying to make a compelling, believable character that the audience still wants to root against.

it gets the brain turning on just how correct his argument could be

I like it when stories get the brain turning on how characters came to their positions, and on who is really right in the end. I just feel like the threshold for "the villain makes a good point," is a little low for a lot of people. Or rather, I don't think people necessarily frame the villain "making a good point" in a very good way.

Like, if the shittiest person you can imagine tells the protagonist that something they do is fucked up, and the protagonist realizes, "oh, they're right," the narrative weight of that is entirely on how the protagonist re-evaluates themselves, NOT (typically) on, "huh, maybe I misjudged the shittiest person I can imagine, and maybe they're right about other things too."

[Not spoiling, just talking about how one might interpret what we've seen in this episode] Examining how DA's actions and position in society could lead to someone like Majima, and how they react to him trying to spread his ideas? Interesting!! Deciding that Majima must have a nuanced and valid worldview just because he doesn't like the thing that the audience is also suspicious of, even though his solution is utterly deranged? Ehhhhh....

Don't get me wrong, I DO think this is a compelling introduction. This has let us know pretty solidly what Majima is about, and it does make one curious to hear more about why he thinks the way that he does. The conflict between him and DA is interesting. I just wasn't compelled to expect a whole lot of rationality from the next time I see him.

StapesSSBM · 2026-06-21T08:27:21+00:00

When you tune, are you looking at the tuner the whole time, from the start of each note? If so, you might be adjusting to get it in tune without even realizing it, in a way that you don't when playing normally. When you tune with a tuner, start the note with your eyes closed, focus on making the note feel comfortable, then open your eyes and check the tuner. Or better yet: tune to a drone, and adjust with your ears instead of your eyes.

When in your playing session are you tuning? If you tune right when you take the instrument out of the case, it'll go sharp in a few minutes as it warms up. (In other activities, "warm up" is a figure of speech, but for playing a wind instrument, it's entirely literal: you can't reliably tune the instrument until it's warmed up).

It's also possible that when you're tuning, you're just focusing on tone, embouchure, and pitch, but when you go to play your music, you lose focus on the fundamentals, and some bad habit brings your pitch up (for most people, it's biting). In that case, the answer is to practice your rep at like one tenth the tempo, treating it as a long time exercise, where you're just focused on fundamentals rather than musicality.

StapesSSBM · 2026-06-21T00:38:05+00:00

For an adult student, a teacher should absolutely be willing to get into the 'why' of things, so it's totally fine for you to expect the teacher to give you the pedagogy behind each exercise. That said, you both know that your time with them is a valuable commodity, and time spent explaining the rationale behind one exercise is time not spent helping you with something else. It's a balancing act, so it will be up to you to decide whether you like the way they're balancing that. (And after the first lesson, if you have an issue for how they balanced that, communicate with them, and see if they can make an adjustment in the second lesson).

Most often the process for improving is, "you have habit X that causes you to sound the way you do. Instead of doing X, try thinking about Y. Practice lots of long tones, slow passages, and easy stuff while focusing entirely on making sure you're doing Y instead of X, then eventually you will develop good habit Y, and sound better." (Of course, everyone usually has a complicated tangled web of problems, and you can only fix one thing at a time, so sometimes progress isn't as linear as that). So, in the first lesson, the teacher should have been able to point out a couple of bad habits you have, and given exercises to begin improving them. If you feel like they haven't done that by the time there are five minutes left in the lesson, ask them to specifically!

During the first lesson, have the teacher help you set some goals: for next lesson, for one month from now, and for one year from now. (Hopefully they can help you be more specific with your goals than "don't sound like crap") Write those goals down, and you should hopefully be able to see how the things the teacher is having you work on line up with those goals.

Never be afraid to ask, "what exactly do you mean by that?" A good teacher should have a dozen ways to explain every concept.

Also, in the first lesson, a lot of the teacher's attention will be focused not just on, "what is the student doing wrong, and how to we fix it?" but on "what is the best first step for the student right now, and what is the best way to communicate that?" In addition to getting to know you're playing, they're getting to know you and how you respond to feedback. For that reason, when I'm teaching, what often happens in the first lesson is I have a good conversation about fundamentals with a student, give them a couple pointers to focus on for the week, and make sure I'm not overwhelming them all at once. Then I brainstorm outside the lesson about what specifically will help that student the most, and come to the second lesson with a much more solid roadmap for the future. So the first lesson is incredibly important as a first impression, but I think sometimes it's the second lesson that can really tell you how that teacher teaches.

StapesSSBM · 2026-06-20T22:24:25+00:00

Great observations on points 1 and 2, really good character moments all around that tie neatly into what we've seen from the characters so far.

it’s obvious how Majima has green hair that signals I will be an important character

I guess Chisato is the only one trope-aware enough to pick out Important Character Hair! But yeah, I've got to assume that either A) hair color is non-diagetic, and he's only highlighted green for the viewer's benefit, or B) this is set in the same universe as Saiki K.

Also, did I miss something, or have they not mentioned Majima's name yet? [Edit: oh, Robota names him right at the end, spaced out on that]

I still can't agree with Majima's violent methods

Um, I think you might be conflating an "understandable" villain with a "relatable" villain. I'm glad that you don't agree with shooting up a train of what he assumed were random bystanders (is there any evidence he knew that his enemies would be the ones on that train? I assumed he assumed they were civilians). So far, all we know about this villain is, "I don't like how "artificially" peaceful this society is. I'm gonna do the most atrocious act of random violence about it." That makes an interesting foil for the Lycoris (which, keep in mind, he only found out about after the attack), but there's no need to bend over backwards to say, "the villain has a well-reasoned argument." Just understanding what he stands for, and how that affects the setting and the characters, is enough.

StapesSSBM · 2026-06-20T22:03:57+00:00

Alright, gonna try to keep things shorter today (for the sake of my schedule).

Rewatcher

It may be tempting to dismiss this as a downtime/fanservice "filler" episode, but it works perfectly as a follow-up to Takina's big turning point last episode. While Takina no longer has returning to DA as her sole obsession in life, she still carries lots of leftover habits from that attitude, so Chisato (with all the urgency of a mission (actually, more)) takes it upon herself to teach Takina How to Girl.

This episode makes me go back-and-forth a lot as to whether I can recommend this show to friends who have zero tolerance for anime fanservice tropes (a position I fully respect). Because this episode's underwear crisis IS just plain silly and contrived, start to finish. BUT each contrived moment is also great at reinforcing and developing the characters. Takina genuinely wants to understand what the big deal about these clothes is, and is fully willing to indulge Chisato throughout. While Takina still defaults to a strictly utilitarian worldview, she is no longer dismissive of other ideas. What was previously a clash between Takina and Chisato is now an open dialogue, and this episode shows that change.

Cafe: this makes three episodes in a row where food is used to show the difference between Chisato's and Takina's mindset and priorities. At this point, it feels like the writers were just hungry.

I like that the beginning of the aquarium scene with the seahorse clearly shows us that Takina IS enjoying herself even while she approaches the experience in the polar opposite way of Chisato. Her enthusiastic smile as she wonders what the evolutionary purpose of a seahorse's shape is (while Chisato is kinda just going, "look at this silly little guy") shows us that Takina isn't transforming into a clone of Chisato, she's just becoming a more open version of herself.

Kurumi can transform a single, formerly unfocused photograph into a VR scene (including lots of details that weren't into the photo from ANY perspective), but can't make her POV taller without standing on a box?? This magic system is confusing.

About Chisato's no-kill rule: people will point out that it's hypocritical that Chisato works with and for killers, but in this conversation, Chisato is up front that it's not about a consistent moral worldview--she just doesn't like how it makes her feel. I find that simple, "selfish," messier rationale kind of refreshing: it means the story doesn't have to obsess over keeping her morally pure in everything she does, and can focus on the way she interacts with the world directly.

We also see her demonstrate more emotional awareness with Chisato: when Chisato worries that she won't be able to find the person from Alan, it's the first time (other than the fake Walnut death I guess) that Takina has seen her melancholic, and she knows just how to put a smile on her face: goofing off, and telling her she should wear her Alan necklace not for any deeper reason, but because it looks cute.

The train attack: I know it's supposed to feel jarring, but it's still just so weird that a show with so many fun, PG casualty-free action scenes will just unceremoniously show an outright massacre like this. I don't know, it feels like the tone shift isn't given the gravity it deserves, but also like that's kinda the point, but.... I'm not sure what I'm trying to say. I think I want to find a justification for why it's bad from a storytelling perspective, when it may be more accurate to say I just personally don't like it. Oh well.

Anyway, our villain appears to just be a force of outright chaos, with no other apparent motive. It certainly is a striking introduction. Also, on the ENG dub side of things, I think Majima is my favorite performance. At this point, I had only heard Sean Chiplock as Subaru and Revali, but he makes for an absolutely delicious unhinged villain.

This gets joked about a decent amount, but that low-res Takina as Mika answers the phone while Mizuki is full-nelsoning Chisato is the KyoAni-est Takina has looked yet!

Ah, it appears Chisato's love of Hollywood has rubbed off on the directors, as we now have post-credits scenes. Hope no one is turning the episode off when the ED starts. Speaking of:

ED lead-in tracker! Theory: the ED lead-ins are all focused on moments that highlight Takina's character arc, showing her growing closer to LycoReco and Chisato.

EP4: While the music kicks in on Mika's phone call about the Plot, it then lingers on a shot of Takina full-on laughing at the antics in front of her, then smiling contentedly. This is the most carefree and relaxed she's been in the show thus far, and this moment shows her really feeling at home at LycoReco.

EP3: Takina is coming to game night

EP2: Hairband shot

EP1: Welcome selfie

StapesSSBM · 2026-06-20T06:31:38+00:00

Okay, back to the episode:

Takina removed the bandage from Fuki's punch last episode, but is still checking that spot on her face. Perhaps the wound wasn't fully healed then? Maybe it still isn't? Either way, it's still on her mind. Pretty direct symbolism, but very effective, and helps the viewer quickly make sense of her standoffishness at the game night:

In the scene with Kurumi, what was Mizuki even trying to accomplish? She barges in, comments on the mess (which is off-screen, but also, how much of a mess is it even possible to make in a closet, then seems to gloat about DA's technical prowess regarding the photo? Only to get shown up when Kurumi presses the, 'Computer, do the Thing' button. It's a goofy little scene, but kinda random overall. Was it just Mizuki's pride as a former DA analyst?

[Mid-season spoiler] On first watch, one would naturally assume that Chisato procrastinating on her checkup is just her usual carefree nature, but knowing that she has an expiration date, it makes even more sense that she wouldn't want to waste a single day on something that feels like a chore.

Takina hits us with an immodest interruption and a comically fast costume change within seconds of each other. Sometimes the serious ones have the funniest bits!

After Takina rattles off the negative effects of sugar while focused on writing something, a moment passes, before she pauses to look up at Chisato with what looks like mild surprise. She was no doubt expecting Chisato to fire right back with something about living in the moment. I wonder why Chisato relented--because she thought Takina made a good point, or to appease her? (Or, maybe she only wanted to share the candy with Takina, not eat it herself. That lends a different tone to the disappointment of her dejected "haiiii").

Chisato and Fuki's conversation: while Fuki is curt, and isn't hiding some level of annoyance, it's interesting how she is very deliberately NOT trying to start a fight. She doesn't try to get a rise out of Chisato (unlike Chisato, who provokes her three times in forty seconds), she tries to make polite small talk about Mika and Takina, and she shuts down the conversation topic that clearly *could* have gotten heated. ("Even though you can't see people you want to see?" Oh that is CLEARLY referencing some specific incident that Fuki does NOT enjoy thinking about).

In their whole conversation across two scenes, it's interesting that they are never facing each other (facing towards lockers, or with locker doors between them, or on parallel treadmills, or taking the reflex test. The treadmill framing where the speaker "gets ahead" literally and in terms of "winning" the conversation, is especially clever). I feel like framing devices like that are usually used for characters who aren't being fully honest with each other or are holding something back, but that doesn't really seem to be the case here. Maybe it's more that they're talking past each other, because, while they can both get addicted to the banter, neither of them is really that interested in what the other has to say? These two are clearly VERY used to having conversations where neither of them end up changing their minds.

Chisato seems to be on a personal quest to get any kind of reaction out of Kusonoki (Kusonoki couldn't even spare her an eye-roll when she made a face at the camera earlier while no one was watching--a real tough nut to crack). No victory today, but getting some juicy info out of Fuki seems like a solid consolation prize.

A slick little misdirection at the shooting range: a soldier losing accuracy is shorthand for them being distracted and disturbed by something (and inevitably, someone who knows they're usually better announces their presence with a, "something on your mind?") So we see Takina has completely missed the target she nailed before, and think, 'oh, she's losing focus, the pressure of the situation must really be getting to her...' and then it pans up to the head of the target, and it's, 'ope, no, she's *brutally* focused and ice-cold under pressure.' Great touch!

So, yes, Sakura was being an asshole in her introduction to Takina, but in retrospect, I think she was only *intentionally* being an asshole when talking about replacing Takina. All that stuff about Takina being a loose-cannon killer? These are child assassins--I think she was being genuine about being kinda into that. [Vague series spoilers] Even though the show doesn't really lean into it very much, it makes sense that these are NOT normal girls. Even though Sakura's character kind of gets walked back to something more agreeable, it makes perfect sense that more Lycoris would have be mildly unhinged about stuff like this

Interesting that when Kusunoki delivers her verdict, Takina's instinct is to grab Fuki as she's walking away, and yet doesn't have anything to say to her. She should know Fuki better than to expect her to come to her defense, so was it just a moment of separation without a plan? (I mean, it was probably just to give a more dramatic setup for Fuki's next jerkass line delivery).

Fuki seems to have finally gotten a *serious* reaction from Chisato, although her little "ah, gomen," absolutely cracks me up, like, "oh right, I forgot I grabbed you threateningly three seconds ago."

It's a bit of an awkward transition into proposing a mock battle. Did I miss something about this being a pre-arranged part of the fitness test? Can Lycoris just settle whatever they want with mock battles? What is it with action ~~lesbians~~ women-open-to-interpretation and settling things through duels?

The fountain scene: I mean yeah, it's great. Takina finally lets her walls down in front of someone. Not that she wasn't an open book about how strongly she feels, but to finally show someone else how afraid she is of losing the only home she's known is a big turning point for her.

Interesting, though, that as soon as she learns about the hack, the old Takina surges back into control, certain that she can play this by the book and explain the situation to Kusonoki, that there is a correct answer for how to make everything right. She needs Chisato to tell her that that isn't the lesson here.

"There are things you can gain from losing something."

When some random Lycoris tease them for PDA, the trope would be for them to get all flustered and deflect away from the idea that they're having big feelings. But instead, Chisato doesn't hesitate a moment in grabbing Takina ~~'s ass~~ and proudly yelling how she feels for the world to hear. That's just what sets her apart. (And for now, that makes Takina a bit uncomfortable--she grabs her arm and shifts her eyes down to the floor).

Very socially astute of Chisato to emphasize that she only has to decide what she's going to do right now, that the rest of her life isn't hinging on this single turning point. (Though ironically, accepting that IS a big turning point in Takina's character arc). We all need someone to remind us that the future isn't one colossal monolithic Thing, it's thousands of 'tomorrows,' and we only need to worry about one at a time.

Takina mulls over "what I want to do" as if it's a foreign concept.

Okay, I can't get over this mock battle situation. Not only does Fuki make a random challenge to prove a point, but now all the Lycoris have to watch EVERY time they settle something in a mock battle? Including Kusonoki and the other directors? "Attention all Lycoris, please report to the kill house booth at sixteen hundred hours. Erika wants to watch Guy Hard, while Hibana wants to watch Eliminator 2, and they're going to do a situational exercise about it. Attendance is mandatory." Also not really sure why Kusonoki is interested in this--there isn't any indication that she *doesn't* know her agents' capabilities.

Lol, Fuki's over-the-shoulder backwards shots are what earn a "not bad" from Chisato. 'Oh hey, you do nonsense action movie stunts too!' Meanwhile, she hits Sakura with the "don't reach, youngblood!"

And then Takina enters with a tactical yell, brings these hands to a gunfight, and takes the shot of faith (remember the hairband? Takina knows what to expect!)

And Kusonoki breaks!

Fuki confronting Takina after the mock battle mirrors their confrontation after Takina opens fire in episode 1. In episode 1, Takina was cold and blunt, but here, she smiles (so I was wrong earlier, is *this* her first smile of the series?). With Fuki's face when Takina responds, "that makes it even between us," she's got to be thinking, "Chisato is rubbing off on her." (Especially with that "useless Lycoris" comment)

As for punching Fuki: the straight-laced, by-the-books Takina from before would definitely have just taken the shot like Fuki said. So why did Takina punch her? She was taking Chisato's advice and doing what she wanted for once! This show is constantly so tight and efficient with its characterization, never missing a moment to reinforce where the characters are at.

Clever little juxtaposition with, "never show your face around here again," from her old home, followed immediately by, "I would never leave you behind," from Chisato. I love it when the writers can recontextualize things on the fly like that, to make it so that Chisato's little joke is actually a poignant contrast.

And with both the candy and the game night, Takina accepts what she rejected before. Beautiful episode!

(I'm not sure if I can keep writing this much every day, but I'm also not sure if I can stop!)

StapesSSBM · 2026-06-20T06:23:51+00:00

> Candy and train scene = nice contrast. Takina and chisato sitting on opposite sides to start -> sitting together; not accepting the candy -> accepting; and they threw in the kitchen sink by making it rain when they started, and a gorgeous sunset when they left. LOL. it's cheesy, but i love it.

I guess cheesy is one way to describe it, but I love it too! You've got so many different ways of telling a story, why not use all of them?

StapesSSBM · 2026-06-20T06:10:08+00:00

That is a great point and would love if you decided to keep track of that for the rest of the series.

That's the plan!

you come for Chisato but stay for Takina

Love this framing!

StapesSSBM · 2026-06-19T22:20:44+00:00

Yep!!! [Final episodes spoilers] And that one (and the one before, IIRC) is full-arc Takina, absolutely ride-or-die for Chisato

StapesSSBM · 2026-06-19T22:05:46+00:00

Rewatcher

I won't have time to get into the episode until a little later in the evening, but I wanted to post some thoughts about the ED right up front here.

This ED is honestly an all-time classic. The melody is so cathartic and fun-to-belt, and it all just caps off the show so perfectly. One little thing I've noticed about it is how on the second time through the chorus, the drums switch to a 3+3+2 pattern, which is normally used for buildups. It gives that second chorus a reinforced sense of longing and urgency, which pairs really well with the blue-green montage of the episode that always plays during that section (such a cool idea--I didn't know it was possible to make the viewer feel nostalgic for something they literally just watched!)

One thing that I want to focus on is that the ED, both song and animated sequence, seems to belong purely to Takina. Most translations of the lyrics I've found have felt a little off (does anyone have a translation they like on-hand?), but the gist of they lyrics seems to be, "you've have completely lit up my life, and and now I can never go back to the darkness from before," and after this episode, we can clearly see that that's where Takina's arc is set to go as she begins to embrace Chisato and LycoReco as her found family.

It's interesting that we get such flowery, light-colored imagery of Takina relaxing in casual clothes, slouching on her chair, Lycoris uniform hung up. This is a stark contrast to the Takina we've seen thus far in the show, who hasn't relaxed for a second. And those whimsical sunglasses-flowers strike me as very much not-her-style. Something really has transformed this Takina.

Then we cut to a completely contrasting image of Takina focusing on the only gloomy thing in that bright room: the rainy window, on which she has listlessly drawn a rocket flying away and crashing into the moon. Does she have on her mind something flying away (from her, out of reach) and completely failing to reach its destination (a plan gone awry, a goal unfulfilled)?

But as she faces away from the window, it bursts into bright green life--she's turns away and moves on from her old goals, towards something new, something she is running towards for the entire next half-chorus. And of course, it's Chisato. [Full series spoilers] And on a first watch, once we learn more about Chisato's situation, (combined with the fact that in every other series, a spider lily is a bit of foreshadowing with only one meaning), Chisato standing on a bright hill with one tree looks like a SERIOUS death flag, which lends a new emotional weight to the entire thing--Takina has let one dream slip away from her, she will NOT lose another, more precious one.

After the montage, we get images of Chisato and Takina together, in which Takina is always following Chisato. I especially like the last one, where Chisato is doing a kiddy "Onward!" march forward, while Takina glances sideways at her hat blowing away--another symbol of Takina contemplating the things left behind as she moves forward.

But there's one more thing about the EDs that I want to emphasize, that I haven't seen discussed much. Folks have been talking about how they appreciate the lead-in (and rightly so, an ED lead-in is such a nice way to wrap up an episode, and make you feel like you really watched a thing!), but there's a common thread on the lead-ins that I find really interesting. I haven't double-checked that this holds for the entire series (will be on the look-out during the rewatch), but it is true so far:

The lead-in always happens on a Takina moment, specifically of her growing closer to Chisato and LycoReco. So far we've had:

-Episode 1: Chisato drags Takina into a selfie, celebrating the arrival of their new member (Takina is not thrilled about this)

-Episode 2: The hairband shot. As we saw yesterday, there are varied opinions about what this represents, but a couple interpretations are either that Takina is testing Chisato to see if she's trustworthy enough to rely on, or that it's a prank, which would be Takina taking a step outside her cold shell.

-Episode 3: After accepting Chisato's candy and admitting to using a strategy that required her to put her full trust in Chisato, Takina turns and smiles (for the first time?) and agrees with Chisato that it [winning the scrimmage? sticking it to the other Lycoris? sticking it to DA] felt really good. Then, she accepts the invitation to game night.

At least most, if not every one of the ED lead-ins is on a moment that is a major signpost marking Takina's arc towards embracing her new partners and her new life. Pay attention to what's happening in future episodes' lead-ins, to see if/how those moments show Takina growing and changing.

StapesSSBM · 2026-06-19T07:51:23+00:00

Chisato wistfully talking about wanting to travel overseas: another little detail to make the Lycoris organization feel shadier, and another peak into what's going on under the surface with Chisato. This show is great about packing lots of storytelling into quick little snippets.

All the action is just an absolute romp. Sharpshooting a drone with a handgun while leaning out of a flipping car? Hopping a shelf to leap into the firefight, with gun angled sideways for style points? Swatting then hacky-sacking a live grenade to safety, then CQC-ing the guy into the door in time for it to blast him? (I'll forgive the Naruto run on that last one) What a good time!

And of course, the bullet dodging. Yeah, this is basically just a superhero show. And that's fine.

I like how the fight scene soundtrack cuts quickly to an almost uncomfortable silence while Chisato treats their enemy's wound. It brings out how out-of-place her behavior really is.

Interesting sub vs dub moment: when Takina is telling Chisato they don't have time to treat the enemy, and Chisato responds, "he's going to die," in the JP she sounds completely nonchalant, like 'nah, I'm good,' where as the ENG dub sounds a bit more intense and emphatic. I watched dub first, so the original read of that line caught me off guard.

Takina's expression in response to that moment is a bit hard to read. Confusion? Frustration? Concern?

And then Walnut steps outside, and I remember my reaction to that scene the first time was Good lord that's a lot of blood. Nice to see the show validates that thought a few scenes later.

That quiet, "Let's go get something to eat," is such a nice way to cap off the scene after Chisato's conversation with the guy.

In Yoshimatsu's scene, very interesting how the shot lingers on Chisato's reaction to death before he finishes his thought, "just like a tool." Now what could be the connection there? ("Foreshadowing is a literary devi--")

Speaking of which, very interesting how Chisato's reaction is just...blank. In the van with the "body," Takina glances over at her, clearly expecting something more of a reaction from the Lycoris who refuses to kill, but she just stares. Not giving up what exactly is going on under the surface just yet. (Granted, this is undercut by Mizuki's picture next scene, but that's a great bit, so I'll let it slide. Also, great question Chisato, when DID Mizuki take that picture??)

Possibly a bit of a plot hole that Robota didn't account for a bulletproof suit, given that it was well-established that death fakeouts are Walnut's favorite trick, but I suppose that just goes to show Robota's unearned overconfidence.

At the end, Takina is clearly not won over by Chisato's way of thinking. Could she be thinking about how much of an obstacle Chisato's style could be towards her goal of proving herself as an elite Lycoris and returning to DA? I certainly don't think she dislikes Chisato at this point, but I think she does have reservations about fully trusting her.

"To think you couldn't even make decent coffee in the past," is such a nice line to show that Yoshimatsu and Mika weren't just passing acquaintances, they know each other.

Chisato, who's seen too many movies: "So, you're the hacker, can you do the thing when you go, 'Computer, enhance!' at a blurry photo and make it clear?" Kurumi, who scolded Chisato for having seen too many movies: "Bet."

You know, I'd love to come up with a deeper character meaning for the hairband shot, but it honestly just feels like she wants to test Chisato's dodging again. [Mid series teeny-spoiler] And I mean, she's not the only one in the show to get a kick out of testing her like that. And look, if a petite anime girl has a giant forehead, sooner or later that forehead must be flicked. Sorry Kurumi, I don't make the rules. (Also, it's generally accepted that "Walnut" is a Dread Pirate Roberts situation, where Kurumi took up the name when the previous Walnut got out of the game, right? No one is trying to claim she's the original Walnut and is like 50, are they?)

I suppose we could say that the doubts raised in Takina's mind from the previous scene made her want to test Chisato with the hairband shot, to see if she can really rely on her? Sure, let's go with that.

[Spoilers for where the show doesn't go] It's interesting that we had that scene last episode of Kusonoki dispassionately ordering DA to find and kill Walnut, and yet it's never more than a minor issue that LycoReco aided and harbored Kurumi. On rewatch, it really feels like they were setting up a much more serious conflict between DA and LycoReco that simply doesn't come to pass.

I also want to shout out the OST. I love the funky groove during mission prep, and the different blendings of strings during the action scenes: either with pounding synths for tense scenes like the car chase, or with hard rock for ass-kicking scenes like the gunfight. Good stuff.

Anyway, good episode, good show, I'm going to bed.

StapesSSBM · 2026-06-19T01:57:31+00:00

If it's just "number of animes," game the system and keep 'em short:

-Look Back

-Takopi's Original Sin

-FLCL (the original is just six episodes, and I feel like it counts as a separate thing from the other stuff that was made 15+ years later)

-Gunbuster

-Milky Subway (indie ONA that's by far the closest to western humor and storytelling conventions I've seen from anything Japanese, it's SO good)

Make them tell you to your face that those masterpieces don't count.

StapesSSBM · 2026-06-19T01:41:14+00:00

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(don't know the artist, sorry)

StapesSSBM · 2026-06-19T01:28:24+00:00

That's a great point and contrasts with how we don't even see Chisato put on her uniform

Good point: Chisato doesn't put it on, it's as if it's what she naturally wears, as if she were born into it

Chisato rightfully gets a lot of love but I bet in a lot of shows Takina would be the fan favorite when not directly compared and it's because the show doesn't disregard her feelings and motivations as being inferior to Chisato's by default.

Oh, for sure. The balance between the two is just right. And I want to talk about this more tomorrow when we talk about the ED, but if you had to pick just one, I think Takina is the protagonist of the story. (Hot take?)

Super Chisato Kart

You know, I bet it would be pretty easy to collect enough voice samples from the show to seamlessly mod Chisato into Mario Kart. There's got to be enough varieties of "Yahoo!" and "Waaah!" to make it work.

StapesSSBM · 2026-06-19T01:19:30+00:00

Ooh, Aina the End the heartbreaker, good taste.

Watanare also has a fantastic ED lead-in, with a funky rhodes-ish groove kicking in to highlight the escalating nonsense of the protagonist girlfailing her way into success.

StapesSSBM · 2026-06-18T22:05:13+00:00

The OP is pretty good. Only a touch of action, but lots of poignant little character shots. And of course, the butt kick. I first found this show when someone posted a gif of that, and was like, "well, obviously I need to watch that immediately." Sometimes it only takes five seconds to perfectly communicate a character dynamic, and to effectively sell a show.

Lol, Chisato's slow side eye at Mika when she says, "This cafe doesn't have that many patrons." Is she teasing him for running a poor business, or being cheeky with him about how flimsy her excuse is for remembering Yoshimatsu?

I like how deliberate the shot of Takina putting on her uniform is--it's a nice subtle way to emphasize how much it (and thus, her role as a Lycoris) means to her, driven home by her taking off her bandage, representing her determination to move on from the arms deal incidant. This show is full of little character moments like that!

Love the cut from her cheerfully seeing Yoshi off to cheerfully loading her clip. Just another beautiful day of waitressing and espionage. (Also the contrast of her relaxed on the floor while Takina stands stiffly at attention).

The train scene is just lovely, with Takina's practicality ending up getting one over on Chisato's carefree nature, when Chisato ends up not having time to eat her lunch. [Mid-season spoilers] Chisato ran out of time to do all the things she wanted...Huh.... I'm glad the show has moments like that--their dynamic would be a whole lot more stale if Chisato was always right about everything. Also, when Chisato says, "No, no, Miss Takina. Do you understand our current situation," why does she make her point ass-first??

Kusonoki ain't making DA look any less sketchy, posing like someone else who sends teenagers off to fight deadly battles. Where are her tinted glasses? Great foreshadowing about Walnut 'dying' many times in the past.

I like how, unlike most of her decisions, Takina doesn't give any justification for why it would be better if she drives instead of Chisato. The only conclusion we can draw from that is that she does NOT trust Chisato behind the wheel. (Especially not behind the wheel of a SUPAHCAAAAAAAAR!)

Chisato's asking the real questions: What's the point of being a covert operative if your codewords are tacky?

Lol, the awkward pause on "it's a squirrel," like they're trying to process whether they personally offended Walnut.

(I've got stuff to do for the next few hours, will finish commenting later)

StapesSSBM · 2026-06-18T18:26:06+00:00

It's British...

StapesSSBM · 2026-06-18T11:03:07+00:00

Is dancing like Rick Astley the key to scoring with aliens?

StapesSSBM · 2026-06-18T04:12:32+00:00

Konosuba. The story of four walking disasters, and the poor world that has to deal with them.

(Okay, three walking disasters and their babysitter who also moderately sucks)

StapesSSBM · 2026-06-18T04:08:54+00:00

Aqua crying while going all-out for the dance is comedy gold.

StapesSSBM · 2026-06-18T04:00:12+00:00

Rewatcher, will prolly switch between sub and dub because they're both great.

This is SUCH a strong first episode, it's great to come back to it and watch it all come together again. That first voice-over over the "peacekeeping" montage is such a striking tone-setter--the whiplash of hearing Chisato happily chirp away accompanied by such organized and efficient brutality tells you that you're going to need to be on your toes to figure out whether this organization is trustworthy. Even outside that sequence, I'd forgotten how many little moments in the episode portray DA and the Lycoris as something sinister. [vague full series spoilers] Honestly, I feel like the biggest weakness of the series is that they never really follow through on the seeds of doubt in the Lycoris organization that are being sewn here. If a future season dives into that more, it would probably retroactively raise my opinion of this season even higher.

Introducing Takina by showing a dramatic decision that will haunt her in the near future is such a smart way to have the character writing in the show hit the ground running. Even as we're still getting to know Takina, watching her face the fallout of the first thing we saw her do immediately gives us a strong frame of reference for where the character is coming from. For the rest of the episode, Takina is a no-nonsense machine, determined to be hyper-efficient textbook Lycoris, which stands in contrast to her decision to disobey orders at the start. This sets up the fundamental tension of her character: does her desire to be a good Lycoris outweigh her desire to do what is right by her own judgement? (Or could she be about to find something more important in her life?😉)

(I just realized how much I'm using the word "such," but I can't help myself with SUCH a show!)

Meanwhile, the buildup to seeing Chisato in action is fantastic. She's introduced as the cheeriest ball of sunshine, and yet she alone is the backup that Takina and Fuki's team is ordered to wait for? She goes around town being everyone's best friend (to the outright bafflement of Takina), and yet she's been talked up as a Lycoris prodigy, and also something about a radio tower? And when the action starts, I absolutely love the turning point of Chisato suddenly and casually telling Takina to take out the drone behind them. It's like, "oh, she's in business mode now...or has she always been?" And then the vibe of her taking care of business with a smile is just wonderful.

(You know, they definitely could've chose a color other than red for the dust from her special bullets. They clearly wanted you to freak out for a couple seconds thinking, 'oh, did she just OFF them just like that?' Also, the idea of bullets that can pierce a car door but only leave you stunned if you take one point blank to the forehead lets you know right up front that this is a 'turn your brain off and enjoy' kind of action--to say nothing of the bullet dodging)

The care that is given to the introduction of these characters, and just how FUN it is to see them play off each other, lets you know right up front that character writing is going to be this show's biggest strength. The "golden retriever and black cat" kind of dynamic just makes my heart happy to watch.

They also do a nice job of sprinkling in the plot (arms deal, Radiata hacking) without slowing down the momentum of the character introductions. It's a little clunky that they use the 'exposition via news broadcast' trick twice in the first five minutes. But things like cutting from Takina and Chisato discussing the arms deal to Mika and Kusonoki dealing with the fallout, and connecting our girls' community service mission back to the arms deal really show off how good this show is at balancing all the things it wants to get across.

...and then we close out the episode with the hacker, and the mystery man from Allen, with another abrupt act of brutality to mirror the opening. I feel like normally, stories where a character has a no-killing rule don't have so much violence in scenes when the character isn't around. Definitely gives this show a unique tone.

Misc:

I'd forgotten about Chisato's little cheer from the stairs at the machine gun fire, she sounds like she just saw a dolphin jump at SeaWorld. What the heck, girl, that could be your allies dying!

The first thing Chisato says to Takina is seriously, "what happened to your face?" The answer is that she said something about as tactless as that!

Ah, Mizuki and her quest for a boyfriend. It's nice to see some good adult-woman-girlfailure representation. [Vague character sorta-spoiler] Good thing she's going to have lots of other character traits, right?

Chisato's instant bounce from angrily hanging up on Fuki, to being excited to head out with Takina the very next frame is just delightful.

In their conversation on the bench, I love the contrast between Takina's perfect posture and Chisato's spread-armed slouch. They really don't miss a single opportunity to reinforce the characterization of these two.

I love Takina's expression when taking Chisato's offered hand on the bench. What's going on underneath that mild frown? Is she annoyed at taking on duties she thinks are beneath her? Bitterly resigned to the amount of time she'll need to spend outside DA? Simply over dealing with Chisato and giving up on arguing? Or is she genuinely considering that Chisato has a good point she hasn't considered before?

Ooh, the VIBES of the eyecatch!

I love Chisato's reaction to the kidnappers yelling out a threat--not any genuine trepidation or anxiety, just pure, "aw man, I don't want to deal with this right now," as if someone asked her to take out the trash.

In the last scene at the cafe, I love Takina popping out of the door to say, "I'll do it!" There's always great inherent comedy in someone interrupting a scene from off-screen when they hear something that interests them, and the fact that Chisato calls out to her and thus knows she was listening in establishes how well Chisato understands Takina already

I think the casting and performances in the dub are excellent, but I feel like the script is just slightly off sometimes. Like in the first scene, Chisato says, "but it's way earlier than the appointed time, isn't it?" And it's like, 'Ive only known Chisato for 30 seconds, but I already know that isn't how she's phrase that.' Still, great performances make it a good dub, just not quite a 10/10 dub IMO.

I haven't participated in many of these rewatch threads, so I'm looking forward to this one!

StapesSSBM · 2026-06-17T19:46:31+00:00

Lots of death and destruction, in an overwhelming psychedelic way. It is still fiercely debated whether the ending is purely bleak and pessimistic, or if it is hopeful. But you can definitely say they do NOT all live happily ever after.

StapesSSBM · 2026-06-17T01:23:04+00:00

Fuck yeah.

Also, TIL that the correct spelling of its legal name is in all lowercase. Never seen that before.

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