This episode had a lot of heavy lifting to do. It had to introduce the story of the play they are adapting, a whole lot of new characters, and fill us in on the motivations behind the characters that we already know. Overall, I think it handled all that quite well, though there were times where just too much was happening on screen at any given time with subtitles over subtitles, I had to rewatch certain portions to pick it up. We also didn't get much Ruby and no Memcho this episode, but I am sure they will be coming soon.

My favorite sequence through all of this episode is how they depicted Kana's acting limiter being removed. Her and Himekawa had such a fantastic sequence together in rehearsal. @rikka@ani.social

Some unsorted thoughts I had watching the first episode:

• I don't remember Aqua being so edge-lord-y. At least I wasn't annoyed by him in the first season but here I (slightly) am.
• How old is this Himekawa character? With the stubble, he looks like 30-somethings are often depicted in anime, and I'm uncomfortable with him trying to get close to Kana.
• I liked how they conveyed the impact the "good acting" had on others during the rehearsal. I thought that was a visually stunning and elegant way to bring that plot point across. Too bad that they had to go and have the characters talk about it extensively as well. It's show and tell. But I can excuse it somewhat as it is at least relevant to their motivations, but eh.. I just wish they would not spell everything out and trust in the viewer's emotional intelligence to pick up on it anyway.
• Not a fan of OP and ED songs. Both were absolute bangers in season 1, so I was hoping season 2 would deliver as well.

The last bit perfect lmao

I forgot this came out. I need to watch it