The following contains spoilers for Episode 4 of Lycoris Recoil, "Nothing seek, nothing find" now streaming on Crunchyroll.
The fourth episode of Lycoris Recoil has just come out, and the original anime from A-1 Pictures has taken a slice-of-life approach with this episode. That doesn't mean there isn't any action, however, and an interesting plot twist is beginning to unfold one-third of the way into the series.
The anime takes place in a world where orphan girls are taught to be Lycorises, a form of violence control. There is political intrigue, crime, and secrets hidden behind the adorable anime girls that star in this series. The series drops little snippets of exposition through news or background conversation, encouraging viewers to put together the puzzle pieces themselves. The audience is introduced to a quirky cast of characters, a mysterious organization, and a quaint coffee shop hiding its real business behind the front end. The anime is flooded with conspiracy, action, and heartwarming moments.
Day-To-Day Life At LycoReco
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The episode opens to Inoue and Chisato at a shooting range, where after a few misses Inoue complains about her insufficient hit rate. The scene then flashes to Kurumi and Mika watching them through a computer screen. It is then revealed that this shooting range is in the basement of the café LycoReco.
After the theme song plays, we are greeted with screaming coming from inside the cafe. Inoue discovers this is Chisato failing at a VR game. Chisato then forces Inoue to play the VR first-person shooter game she was just playing. Inoue wins the level for Chisato. Then the scene flashes to Fuki and Sakura, who are revealed to be the player that Inoue was up against, referencing the events of last episode.
Meanwhile, Chisato asks Kurumi if she's ever seen Inoue's panties, while having a flashback to when she was accidentally flashed while Inoue was playing the VR game. After this she runs to Inoue to double-check under her skirt to make sure her eyes didn't deceive her; Inoue is wearing boxers, not panties. Chisato grills Inoue about wearing men's underwear, but finds out that as Inoue has never been independent before she had no idea what to buy for herself, and asked Mika what his favorites were. Chisato then invites Inoue to go panty shopping the next day, to show her what girls typically wear.
Panty Shopping
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The next day, Chisato is seen standing out by the train station. Inoue shows up in baggy, masculine clothes after once again asking Maki for advice. Chisato empathizes with her and her lack of attraction to fashion as a part of Lycoris training. The scene quickly flashes to Kurumi looking at firearms online. She realizes the market has changed since the deal, therefore the weapons weren't stolen off of the black market like originally hypothesized.
Returning to Chisato and Inoue, they are now shopping for clothes. Chisato drags her into an underwear store, where Inoue is confused about why the aesthetics of underwear should matter in her line of work. After Chisato keeps bugging her to pick out a pair, Inoue drags her into a dressing room and tells her to show off her panties to prove that she values the aesthetics of underwear as much as she is pushing onto Inoue.
After embarrassing herself, Chisato and Inoue purchase the underwear and leave for a midday snack. Once again, Inoue is degrading Chisato's poor choice of foods. After bickering, Chisato notices a couple behind them speaking French, and rushes over to speak to them, apparently fluent. Meanwhile, Inoue sneaks a bite of the food she criticized Chisato for getting.
The Owl Necklace
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Back at LycoReco, Kurumi has rigged the VR headset to let her walk through a virtual version of the weapons deal from the first episode. Kurumi is unable to make out who the main man in charge of the deal is, however. Returning to Inoue and Chisato, the girls have now arrived at an aquarium. Inoue reprimands Chisato for drawing too much attention to herself, before asking her about when she defended the tower.
The conversation turns to Chisato explaining why she doesn't want to kill anyone; she doesn't want to take away their time. Inoue is shocked by this answer, and the girls continue to talk. Chisato briefly mentions that she left the DA because she is looking for someone, before pulling out an owl necklace. As we know by now, owls have been popular symbolism for the Alan Institute. To lighten the mood, Inoue jumps into the middle of the floor and begins the silly antics she reprimanded Chisato for, much to Chisato's delight, who joins in.
The scene then flashes to Mika, who is sitting at a bar surrounded by an aquarium. He is sitting with Shinji Yoshimatsu, the mysterious blonde man from the Alan Institute. Mika asks if he's here for Chisato, however, Yoshimastu quickly says that she doesn't remember him, alluding to Yoshimatsu being the one who gave Chisato the necklace.
This is then confirmed by Mika, who asks him why he won't tell Chisato who he is, reminding Yoshimatsu how long Chisato has been searching for the man who gave her the necklace. Changing the subject, Yoshimatsu asks Mika if he is keeping "The Promise", and Mika confirms that he is without further explanation of what the promise is.
Train Station Shenanigans
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The scene changes to a man with scruffy platinum blonde hair and a long trench coat hobbling through a train station. He is followed by two grunts with black duffel bags. More of these grunts come out of the shadows to meet with the strange man in the abandoned train station. This mysterious man opens one fo the duffel bags and reveals the weapon inside.
While the girl's day out comes into the evening, Chisato and Inoue realize they are surrounded by other Lycorises. There are guards outside the train station, which is where the scruffy blonde man is receiving the weapons in. The scruffy man commands all the grunts to hold up their weapons and fire at the train that is just beginning to pass, bringing it to a halt. The scruffy man is shocked to see the train is empty, when a few Lycorises pop out and begin to fire at the grunts.
Many more Lycorises are revealed to be on the train, and all begin to fire at the grunts and the scruffy leader. The leader tries to run away, then detonates bombs to explode the train station as he gets away. Outside the station, Inoue begins to run towards the explosion just for Chisato to remind her she's in everyday clothes and could be arrested if she pulls out her gun. Inoue reluctantly walks away.
The next day, Chisato is throwing away all of Inoue's man clothes to make room for what they bought the day before. Curious, however, Chisato does slip on Inoue's boxers to see what the hype was about. She immediately realizes why Inoue liked them and begins to move around freely, only to be caught by Mizuki. Mika receives a phone call about weapons just as the episode ends.