So Episode 4.
Favorite musical moment: When Saeki accepts Kasuga's proposal for a date, out of the after-school din emerges the sound of a trumpet player practicing scales, ascending higher and higher, mirroring the joy awakening within Kasuga's heart. Nice use of diegetic music.
Favorite visual moment: At the end, while Saeki and Kasuga are walking off to go on their date, the ED song kicks in and Nakamura's black shadow slowly enters the frame, blotting out Saeki's white figure, looming over Kasuga.
It's this kind of inventive framing, conveying something meaningful about the character relations, that shows the mind of a skilled, thoughtful director at work. In general I was impressed at the way Nakamura was shot in this episode; she's given such an imposing presence that her shocking actions are made believable.
Favorite background art: The town at night. Studio Pablo is doing a great job pulling out its dilapidation with its copious rust.
The more I look at this, the more it looks like a strong breeze is all it'd take to make the buildings collapse in on the street.
Favorite character moment: When Kasuga asks if Nakamura is jealous of Saeki, and she laughs in his face and basically says "This isn't that kind of story."
This is a moment that puts the lie to M_Night's
School Days comparison. This isn't a story where the guy bones all the girls and they go axe-crazy from jealousy. Nakamura is a much more interesting character than that. She has a fundamental belief in the depravity of humanity and her overriding motive is to tease out that depravity from Kasuga and see it in action.
