It is only natural as humans to crave meaningful relationships with one another. However, for as much as we can try to foster worthwhile relationships with everyone, it is inevitable that we realize not all relationships are fortuitous. As we weed through to decide the ones worth keeping, mistakes and misunderstandings are bound to arise. In fact, we’re bound to get burned at some point or another. These mistakes can sometimes do us more harm than good, as the pain of being burned can serve to form mental walls, preventing us from being vulnerable.
While I can commend Girlish Number for attempting to explore these themes of vulnerability and misunderstandings, it often misses the mark entirely. Just when we start to see the potential of introspection or self-awareness in characters necessary to advance the plot, they quickly revert to their old ways. Sure, creating a compelling cast of characters who explore these flaws is not an easy task, but it does not excuse the monotonous nature of the piece as we see these same characters repeat the same mistakes over and over again.
The primary issue with Girlish Number is that it is a character driven piece without any depth of characters. Everyone is so painfully obvious they’re pretending to be happy and that doesn’t change. It’s as if everything about this show adheres to a character’s emotional state too tightly. There’s no sense of growth or transformation. There’s no emotional journey, so-to-speak. Throughout the course of the entire series, characters cling to their facades without showing any form of improvement. They are all the same people they were when they started; emotionally insecure rocks that run away from their problems. And this does not make for a particularly engaging or entertaining story. The characters don’t really learn from their mistakes, even after they’re pointed out to them in the most explicit of terms. They’re not really well developed