I loved the animation, and Chitanda's lines (spoken and visual
) were as great as ever, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to take the extreme minority position and say no, I didn't care for this episode... What can I say? As I get older, I'm less and less tolerant of male lead roles in most anime.
In years past I never picked up on it, nor did it bother me, but these days I'm highly annoyed by internal dialog for things best spoken, indecisiveness that causes pain for others, or conflict avoidance when it's best to stand your ground regardless of your opponent's title/status. Yes, yes, I know much of it is probably cultural, but that doesn't stop me from yelling at my TV like a moron. Beta male leads that display all the testicular fortitude of a wet sandwich make my spine twist in knots.
There are refreshing exceptions to the rule though... For example, Otonashi from Angel Beats was a man's man. He really pulled out the big guns at the end, and I admire that.