I really liked this episode (even if poor Ruby and co. are still on the bench). This is a turning point in the relationship between Aqua and Akane. I know many people like to pick teams between Akana and Kana, but I really think they are both great. They each give Aqua something different. In this episode we see Kana unafraid to speak truth to Aqua and call out why he is struggling with his acting. Meanwhile, Akane is there to emotionally support Aqua when he is most vulnerable.

All that said, what got me the most excited this episode is something that is super spoilery for anybody not up to date with the manga. So, I am going to put it all behind a spoiler tag.

Major manga spoilers

It happened super fast, but something jumped out at me with the real brief flash of Gotanda’s computer at the very end of the episode. Here is the single frame for reference: Image Anything jump out at you? It sure did to me. In addition to the aqua and hoshino folders, the one placed right above it is named hikaru. Gotanda figured it out! Or at least has suspicions. I am super curious how Gotanda connected the dots and why he feels he needs to hide it from Aqua. Btw, the final folder in that column, named hajimari, probably refers to one of his movies. The name of the movie that Ai starred in and where Aqua met Kana for the first time was named Sore Ga Hajimari.