Yuuya's not weak, he's just very impressionable. He allowed the soviet team's trashtalking to get to him, when really they were speaking out of sheer envy more than anything. While it is true that melee combat is probably more demanding than basically being a railgun operator, the fact is that Yuuya was
the decisive factor in that last battle, as Yui herself pointed out.
Anyway, I really enjoyed this episode. I like how Yuuya and Yui's relationship has taken a complete 180 from where it was at the beginning. The two now have tremendous professional respect for each other, and I could tell that Yui is terrified of the prospect of losing Yuuya as a casualty of war (which is why she wants to keep him out of melee fighting on the front lines).
Chobi has amazingly grown on me too. It's honestly cute how dere-dere she is for Yuuya now, always picking up for him and showing that she cares for him.
And next episode, more BETA! I've actually come to like most of these protagonists, so I'd honestly like most of them to survive. But to be brutally honest, I think I'd like to see most of that Soviet team become BETA-Brunch.
While I get why they feel the way they do, I also found their trash-talking of Yuuya to be pretty reprehensible. The guy just basically saved their lives, and
this is how they're reacting to him?