The heat really seems to have turned up in this episode with both Nino and Ichika making big moves and Miku doing a bit as well. I'm surprised we didn't get the bell scene, it sounded like the manga readers were expecting that next. From a story standpoint this might be one of my favorite episodes in the season.

It was a bit odd to see the girls get fawned over in class for the first time? Did their last year class get entirely broken up and nobody else knew of them from the previous year?

I haven't really talked about the animation since episode 1. When this season started out there was some grumbling about the new animation, myself included, but after going back to compare a bit, I think overall I like the animation of this season better. It's more distinct, the vibrant colors are nice, it's cleaner, and I think it tends to be more on model. We do seem to have gotten a less inspired job in lighting and compositing though and that's a bit of a shame. If I hear one more person complain about thighs I'm going to strangle them.

We're starting to near the end of this season so I'm starting to get curious if we'll see a season 3 to wrap this up or continue it. Rare that SOL even gets a season 2 but hopefully things work out.