EPISODE CONTEXT

After Episode 1 established Saku as the charismatic center of his social circle, this second episode immediately complicates that image by introducing his personal mission with Kenta Yamazaki — shifting the series from pure character introduction into its first meaningful emotional arc. Kenta's reintegration storyline becomes a throughline for the early stretch of the season, and this episode lays the essential groundwork for that dynamic. It sets up the pattern the show will follow: Saku using his social intelligence not just for himself, but to pull others forward.