I'm not even sure if the LN had that last scene in it. The way I see it though, Houki "wins" but she doesn't at the same time. The reason I say that is because the fan base is not amused by this cop out ending. The only complaint with said girl is that the character development has been forced on back to back episodes and it doesn't hook you in like it does with the other girls. I'm a fan of Houki, but I don't feel she didn't do enough to catch the attention of not only the viewers, but Ichika himself. (Unless of course, you simply like her due to her "hilltops" then I won't hate on that.) At least with Charlotte, we had 3-4 episodes of good development that felt natural and made the story a lot more enjoyable. With Char's addition, it gave us a different element to the standard and tired format of tsunderes' galore. She kept the series interesting and made it from mediocre to above average due to her presence alone. If they are gonna continue with a second season, I hope there will be a lot more development with the rest of the girls and having more screen time for Char is never a bad thing. So with that, I wipe my...hands...off this episode and move on to the next installment...
