YES!!! I DO!! i can't even pretend to be subtle about it

-i really like how they portrayed shimizu. she's shown working side by side with higuruma in the manga as well, but i think the anime added a lot more quiet moments that really show what it's like to work in a small business...like waiting for the bus after a day of investigating. i think higuruma makes so little money he doesn't own a car?? shimizu doesn't seem to own one either...shimizu commiserates with akagi about how it's hard to work for someone who doesn't care about money, but she clearly must be a caring person herself to be working under higuruma and not under a lawyer she could make more money with. (also i'm going to stop myself from rambling because i think shimizu would love yuji so all the extra bits with her made me so happy, she is so cute <3)

-HIGURUMA LOOKS SOOOOO GOOD!!!! HE'S ANIMATED!!! HE HAS A LEGENDARY SEIYUU (TOMOKAZU SUGITA GINTOKI GINTAMA?? FOR REAL???) he looks so good. maybe i'm delusional but i think they put a bit more meat on him? he seems blockier/thicker, he kind of looked a little scrawny when he first appeared in the manga...this is not a complaint btw. also i did go back to look at the manga panels and yeah early on he definitely looks a lot more emaciated so i feel less delusional pointing this out.

-JUDGEMAN APPEARING WAS SO COOL!!! i love that they animated them manifesting like a billow of smoke....their face is so much creepier than i could have dreamed!! it really felt like the weight of higuruma's emotions and mental state billowing into a storm that became his shikigami. even though judgeman as a name is very obvious i hope judgeman has a more feminine/androgynous voice, i think it would just be fitting with how so many symbolisms with justice and the law differ in gender in so many structures.

-HIGURUMA AND YUJI MEETING FOR THE FIRST TIME!! i was trying not to sink my claws into my bf's arm while we watched the ep bc i was so excited LOL. knowing mappa assigned green as higuruma's color there's something so striking about the color tone immediately shifting between green and red, as though higuruma and yuji are fighting each other before they've even said a word...also i have a soft spot for ikebukuro, it's one of my fav places to visit in japan. very funny that such a cute family friendly town is where yuji and higuruma are going to duke it out. they should go to sunshine city and see the flying penguins after all is said and done.

-i didn't expect for higuruma's theme to be heavy metal? i don't dislike it, i was just surprised. it really gets across that he's a mid thirties man having an identity crisis LMAO i'm not a nice lawyer now IM A MEAN LAWYER I BATHE IN MY CLOTHES I LISTEN TO HEAVY METAL I DON'T GIVE YOU MY POINTS!!! it's very funny/charming. though if i may throw in my two cents if he wasn't given metal as a theme i'd picture his theme being orchestral, something very close to sayaka/oktavia von seckendorff's theme in pmmm...who is also a fellow human tortured and disillusioned by the unfairness in the world after trying to fight to protect others so fitting, lol: https://youtu.be/XomuojHdF5I?si=emiTgAgZtqOF4Ehu

-i think the only thing, if i had to nitpick, is that i'm not really a fan of the very obvious rotoscoping in some scenes, but i don't think this episode had this issue anymore prominently than some of the other episodes (like when hakari and yuji are talking.) i think because smiling friends parodied very obvious rotoscoping it's hard for it to not immediately come across as comedic for me lol. rotoscoping can definitely be done in a way where it's not as obvious, but it also makes me wonder if uh, the animators are being overworked and simply have to rotoscope to meet deadlines. it would be ignorant of me to pretend like the animation industry doesn't overwork artists, so my thoughts are "the best scenario would be it's a stylistic choice from the director that doesn't vibe with me, i hope that's what it's the result of and not burnt out artists scrambling to shortcut less important scenes."

-DOMAIN EXPANSION!!!! okay the heavy metal music worked really well with higuruma's domain expansion. insanely cool, higuruma has one of my fav DE's and this did not disappoint.

thank you for indulging me anon!! i'm really excited for the next episode :3