I like Akane a bit better after this episode. I'd still want Aqua to end up with Arima, naturally, but now I can see that the scenes he spends with Akane aren't necessarily wasted. It's kind of hard to really judge if Aqua truly cares, even though I do seem to recall he might view Arima as something more than just another kid he needs to deal with. In any case, somehow this single episode built Akane's personality more than the whole first season, in my opinion. Maybe I should rewatch the first season, but in my memories Akane was more like a case in it than a character with a solid personality.

It's mysterious Aqua himself can keep up with the others, with his blatant ulterior motives. I'm sure he's rehearsing as much as anyone, but he has got no love for the art. If he had no talent, how would his performance be accepted by the director? It's not like working as a physician in his previous life would have made him a good actor. It only made him able to interact with anyone without teenage embarrassment and hesitation. I wish we actually got more acting scenes from him.

Now that I think of it, Arima was the crying child actor. Aqua was the creepy one, able to act like an adult when looking like a kindergarten kid. Arima since developed a lot, but now Aqua is a high school student able to act like an adult. Not such a big deal.