Did someone ask for some slice of life, pseudo-harem antics, and three minutes’ worth of PSO2 “gameplay?”
We begin the episode the best possible way: with Patty and Tia!
It seems in this world, lobby NPCs are a lot more chatty and are actually capable of movement. Gimme gimme gimme.
Itsuki submits another report about his first encounter with these lively NPCs.
We learn that the NPCs now employ top-of-the-line AI… which basically gives the writers an excuse to have them act like real characters instead of prescripted robots. In other words, laziness. But also, Aika foreshadowing. Er, I mean… there’s no possible way this ties in to Aika, no siree…
We get more Aika stalking shenanigans and the rumors about Itsuki and Aika dating or… other stuff. Anyway, yada yada yada, Itsuki and Izumi try to befriend Aika on their way to a sister campus and learn she talks PSO2 very, very, VERY seriously. Also, one of the students there looks suspiciously like Xeno.
“Rina-sempai, you’re a total hypocrite, aren’t you?”
They go to a mall and help a little girl find her mother.
(To explain the joke on that last caption, Photon Drinks restore your SP, but you also gain SP by connecting with regular attacks… so the only reason you would ever use Photon Drinks is if you’re spamming Photon Arts all the time without using regular attacks. Bouncers are one of the more rapid attackers in the game.)
Afterwards, we get a little character background on Rina, as well as a hint that she and Itsuki may have met each other when they were kids. Zero fucks were given.
Later, Itsuki and Rina boot up some PSO2 and Rina reveals her first character: Rina.
They play in the underground desert stage and take part in a Rescue Emergency Code, then bump into Aika.
Apparently, Aika is now a Summoner class, which is news to me. Huh. So they actually decided to advertise a feature for the game for once. Color me impressed. Anyway, Aika chews them out for not taking the game seriously and leaps off like a badass, leaving everyone wondering: Wut?
Okay, so in the end all we really learned was: Aika’s a badass… and something serious is going on… maybe. Will something… I dunno, INTERESTING happen before we hit the halfway point?