I really liked the touch of Akane not being able to talk to her mom about it. It feels very relatable not being able to reach out to people you know about your troubles.

About your distrust of Aqua: being submerged in the dark side of the industry from a young age creates an interesting contradiction where he has a huge disdain of the machinations of the industry, but uses those same tools to manipulate those around him.

I really love how this episode has been so full of foreshadowing. From the very first seconds where Yuki talked about her "fears", then Aqua talking about using lies to protect oneself, Memcho expressing her concern about Akane, then Kana talking about entertainers being the product under surveillance. All that tied into narrative beautifully on top of all the less obvious things that you've pointed out about body language and power dynamics. Amazing work. Also, best girl Akane has entered the chat, now she's gonna terrify you to no end, you'll love it.

I just want to highlight HIDIVE's description for this episode because it really hits at the heart of everything here: "Remember what you said in righteous outrage online? There were consequences. You never saw them, but that didn’t make them any less real, nor hold you any less accountable."

hey 16 year old goof here, just wanted to say that it means a lot atleast to me that you feel open enough with your audience to share your struggles with us, i love watching your analyses and i actually look upto you as an aspiring psychologist, i love the way you can analyze a scene and different characters in a story and predict whats to come( in such an engaging manner), its honestly so impressive and i want to be able to help people like you can when I get older. Dont be discouraged by others, you are in a field where you are literally saving lives, helping people become the best versions of theirselves and i find that extremely admirable. DONT LISTEN TO THOSE HATE COMMENTS MAN, youve got some diehard fans here that would defend you till the end so keep doing your thing, i love your videos to death, as an anime fan, and an analysis enjoyer these videos are like crack to me. when you were talking about being a kid and wishing someone was there to talk to you and hear you out using a new medium like anime. And now you are directly doing exactly that, be PROUD YOU HAVE BECOME EXACTLY WHAT LITTLE ED NEEDED, LIL ED WOULD LOOK UPTO YOU AND THINK OF YOU LIKE A SUPERSTAR. YOUVE COME SO FAR DUDE IASJDHFSDUIHF YOURE AWESOME KEEP IT UP. "The loneliest people are the kindest. The saddest people smile the brightest. The most damaged people are the wisest. All because they do not wish to see anyone else suffer the way they do." your saving thousands of people who were in the exact same position you were when you were little, (saving tons of little eds if you will?)and im gonna root for you till the end man because we need more people like you in this world.

I've been through Akane's situation, and yeah, it's one of the worst feelings in the world. When I saw that scene where they call her selfish, I got so angry I thought I was about to punch my monitor- I've been called that when people thought I wasn't listening, and by people I thought were trustworthy or friends. I'm not fucking selfish just because I can't express my emotions better. Sure I don't show it as well as you do, but I do feel and think about others too. I hate it when bad things happen to my friends. I hate it when I can't do anything other than listening to their problems. Just because I'm not showing it doesn't mean I don't care. I've never considered ending everything, but I've been through some dark times when people close to me did or when I just felt like trash. Great analysis Ed, love watching you and your content 💙

As a psychology student and an anime fan, your content has become one of my favourite stuff on youtube haha. Keep up the good work

first time I saw the Yuki hug moment I literally teared up, in any other anime Akane would probably have ran away to the bathroom and cried there and Yuki would have hated her from then on, but that's why this anime is built different, it deosn't just follow the tropes, it writes real characters and has realistic human interactions. I love it so much

Ed, from a random idiot on the Internet - thank you so much for all your work. I love your personality and your analysis and I really do hope your story and this episode would make at least some people to look in the mirror.

I think what's fascinating with Oshi no Ko is how it doesn't condemn lies as truly bad but also shows that it can have positive effects either to yourself or others. It seems to go for the approach that lies are merely a tool that takes thr shape of the one that uses them. Ai wanted to use lies to create the truth she was seeking. Aqua uses lies to influence and protect his surroundings Ruby rejects lies as a bad thing entirely Kana doesn't necessarily lie but is aware that truth can harm business opportunities etc etc.

This was such a great episode. Sadly it was based on a true story of Hana Kimura, who didn't have Aqua to save her life

About Aqua's core schema, is something that should likely be shown in the second season. Also quite a shock of how many twitch comments were talking about "fixing her" when she clearly needed only help, not fixing... and not really spoilering any events, but if there's something in her to be fixed you won't be able to handle it.

Thank you for sharing some of your personal struggles. I’m very sorry you have had deal with all that. I found your channel a few days ago and have found it both analytically and emotionally wonderful. I think people doing what you are doing is increasingly important with how much time society is spending online. It has been meaningful to me and I’m sure others. Thank you and I wish you the best.

This was such an emotional episode, and your commentary as always elevates it by a lot, making me appreciate the story and characters even more. We as humans are designed for living in small hunter-gathering groups or not much bigger villages, where being hated by more than a few people might mean getting abandoned or exiled. Society moved forward but our brains are not much different, we are not built with expectation of having to endure attacks of hundreds or even thousands of people.

Life can be hard Please don't let it end just look around you will find a friend

I kind of like how the scene goes from this darkly lit crushing depression to when Aqua saves Akane we can see the street lamp in the background. The light completely washes over the scene. It's a callback to the scene when Kana said during Sweet Today "Even so, I believe there is light in the dark."

Literally how could anybody hate this man so much. He’s such a positive and inspirational person. Wtf is wrong with people man. God, some people really need therapy.

I saw Aqua saving Akane as a virtuous thing; but hearing you discuss this you might have a point - what happens when an emotionally muddied individual becomes another’s emotional crutch, in a moment when she believes she has lost everything? This could spell a hopefully beautiful or likelier toxic relationship. Thank you for your discussion, it was very enlightening.

As somebody who "heared the call of the void" in darker times, I appreciate your thorough analysis of Oshi no ko and this show as a whole. Thank you for sharing your vulnerability with us! This shows me even more what an amazing person you are. I love about you how you are this chill dude who can joke around and talk stupid shit while at the same time being a high tier professional who takes us on a deep dive into the world of the human mind on a really deep level. That makes you special, and it makes you awesome. Keep it up! This episode hit hard on so many levels, even after the awesome episodes before. It elevates Oshi no ko beyond any doubt to masterpiece level. And your analysis helps us understanding and appreciating how awesome this anime actually is. Thank you Ed!

Man, you are great. You´ll probably won’t see this since it already a bit late, but I still want to say that what you do here is unique and impressive. I don’t know of another person that does this kind of analysis this deep, and it’s just incredible. Even more, I feel like I learn stuff from what you speak in these videos, information and knowledge that at least for me, is invaluable, especially since in the future I would like to become a writer (soon I will be finishing my first book), and I am getting new angles about how to make relatable characters. All that is thanks to you. And I know for a fact that I am not the only one grateful and entertained by what you do. You have a lot of people that enjoys what you do. So just keep doing it, man. And remember, for every mean and cruel person that spouts nonsense, there are many more that think that you are a wonderful human being. Don’t ever surrender, even when everything may seem dark and you may not know where to look, when you cannot distinct right from left or left from right, just keep going forward, even if it is just one step at a time.

Oh god seeing the vtuber model of Ai unironically made me tear up i have become so emotionally attached to this show

really impressed with his analysis of what Aqua has been doing, I haven’t seen anyone pick up on that

That was a very touching video, I'm really sorry to hear that you were hurt by horrible comments back then, and I really hope that you're feeling better now (and that you're practising that self-care!) I've been watching you since you started your Mushoku Tensei reactions, and you've really helped me. I can't say that I was in a dark place back then, but you certainly helped me to have a better awareness of psychology. It really helped me personally and I think it made me grow as an individual. I really respect what you do and I sincerely hope that you always take good care of yourself.

you're doing great work! I love the in depth analysis, in terms of reactions you add a lot to the content you're reacting too.

I love your videos hearing you talk about people who threw hate at you made me tear up. You are a brilliant kind man and your videos have helped me see that I’m not alone. I can see you put in so much effort and attention into your streams and analysis, more than anyone I’ve probably ever seen. Thank you for everything and all the work you’ve done ❤❤❤

Watching this helped me reach through something I had been working on and kinda spiraling down, but now I feel a lot more whole and better, thank you. You are an amazing person 💗

People have already mentioned Hana and the absolute absurdity and horror of her story, but I feel like I need to point something else out. Some of the tweets Akane gets are pretty much copy pasted from the tweets Hana got. The last tweet she ever liked on twitter was along the lines of "Everyone would be happier if you left, just disappear already." We miss you, Hana.

This episode is What actually happened on a Japanese romance reality show. Akane has a model. That malicious message that appeared in the anime was It was a message sent to a girl who was in reality. She didn't have aqua. The online world is cruel. Your reactions and thoughts on this episode were wonderful.

Ed, you do a fantastic job. I deeply appreciate your insight and analysis. Episode 6 was a hard, hard watch and I wept for Akane. I weep for people who feel trapped in this hellish spiral. Akakasa-sensei’s rage about bullying is on full display here, and it’s cold. Brutal. And so, sadly, true. Oshi No Ko is a masterpiece in deep character dives. From an in-universe view, Akane absolutely needs new management on top of some really good therapy. I really hope she has an escape clause and Mommy Miyako will become her agent. I get the feeling Miyako would protect Akane and put her in positions to thrive.

Powerful words Ed. Thank you for sharing your story. Do know that I appreciate you and everything you do, keep up the good work! ❤❤❤❤

I really appreciate content like this for both its merit as media criticism and a psychological tool. I just caught myself in a cognitive distortion thanks to the tools you have shown, and I think it will help me get to a better mental state

This was amazing to see live. Got to see how awesome and warm you and the community is! Thank you for doing these deep dives!

Thanks for the analyses you bring to these episodes! Not only has it allowed me to appreciate the story more, but it helps me wind down from a long day of work.

I just want to say that I feel you Ed... Three years ago I lost my best friend and it still hurts like hell whenever I think about him. I joined your channel recently and have been a fan of the wizard skits, but if that annoys you I'll be sure to stop using that meme. Much love and support Ed!!! ❤

i love that evil is like: im not a wizard, then goes ahead and predicts the whole story💀

There can be people who are not ready for whatever you have to say. These are delicate topics, and if their preconceived ideas don't alignt with your explanations, it's not hard to imagine why that would elicit a strong reaction. And that's still just one aspect of the situation. Some people are outright repulsed by this level of energy put into something they aren't enthusiastic about. In that sense, the type of content you do can really open you up to attacks. But whenever that makes you feel down remember that you are watching some of the finest pieces of works, and people still think that whatever content you provide is a worthwhile addition to them.

I rarely comment, but every time I watch ED do some analysis and when I add what ED said with some of my study in college about human psychology and sociology everything just match up to the point that ED is just become my second college lecturer. I appreciate it ED! thanks for everything and thanks for the enlightenment or the wisdom that you share!

Thank you Ed for making me feel included, I just recently broke up with my friends and have been feeling alone and lonely recently. Can't believe I cried just watching you say things like "you're not alone" "There's some people out there who doesn't qualify anime as a medium" etc. This episode not only got what I want which is a live analysis but also what I need which is an understanding of myself. Once again, thank you.

Hi Ed, i just want to thank you. As an inspiring comic artist you showed me on new way to see and analyze story telling. It was really interesting and fun to see someone can explain what character and story will and gonna go not just from writing perspective. Your explanation are truly insightful and something that i would keep in mind when i write my own story.

I never thought Ed would be what made me cry on an ONK reaction instead of the show itself. We love you Ed. Never forget that!❤❤❤

First comment here for me, just want to say thank you - you make me enjoy the anime all over again after watching it for myself with your great insights.

Just want to point out that tsumeato (translated to ‘leaving one’s mark’ here) means leaving a scar with fingernail. Great wordplay by akasaka.

It was a pleasure being there live with you all, time to watch it a second time

I may not have time to join your streams or watch your videos in a timely manner, but I sincerely love your content and your breakdown of every ep of Oshi no ko so far! Thank you for continuing and I look forward to seeing more~

I’m so happy to see your reaction of this episode!

You are a great sage Ed! And a good person to share your knowledge with us!

This might not mean much from a random person online but much love to you Ed, it was tough to hear about the hate you've gotten for your public work. I'm sure many public facing figures receive similar things, especially if they're marginalised by either race, sexuality, or their body, and it just devastating to hear. This episode really hits on that and for anyone who needs to hear it, you're loved and there's help you can seek out if it becomes too much.

I think I have to disagree about the "thinking of quitting the show" scene. As Yuki says, even if she was sincere in really wanting to she couldn't - her contract prohibits that. And given everyone else probably signed similar contracts Akane's the odd one out for actually taking her seriously. The rest understand that when the cameras are on the name of the game is play up the melodrama and Make Content. "Nah my man, I think you're wrong about Akane. I think they just haven't given her the opportunity." She's probably had as much opportunity as anyone here. There's no script, the camera's just focus on whoever seems to be doing something interesting. I feel like Akane's problem is that while she knows how to play a character that she's given, she doesn't know how to just be an exaggerated version of herself or take a pitch someone else has thrown and find a way to insert herself into it. She doesn't do improv and that's really the skill she needs here.

Your comment on her finding a role and gaining confidence is... disturbingly on point...

00:00 Intro 14:00 Op Analysis 22:08 Episode Analysis

To steal a phrase from another individual in this space, "Being is good." Thank you for being, Ed.

You are absolutely amazing too,I love you man, you're an inspiration for me and I'd love to catch your stream one day

Hola amigo, let me say this first, i been watching your vids for some time now, but your videos have show me the passion for teaching, for helping you have, some of the words you said touch me man, i found my self craying and i dont know why, keep the good work Ed. gracias por estos videos amigo

If you ever want to expand to the manga world Ed, read Oyasumi Punpun by Inio Asano. It's basically a Slice of Life that slices back. It made me think about my life, and how different can it be with just different choices. It's best to go in blind. After Oshi no Ko this could fill it's spot :D, Hope this reaches you cheers!

Thank you for doing these Ed! I have been enjoying these so much and I always look forward to another episode analysis. I actually feel like I am learning something new about characters I thought I knew so well already.

Let's go!!! I've been waiting for this.

Dude I'm sorry for all shit been through. I'm sorry 🥺🥺

For whatever reason, this episode didn't affect me emotionally quite as much as it did in the manga. I think that's because you had time to read each and every hate comment targeted to Akane, and it built up over days. It all took place over a lot of weeks, and Akane was deteriorating further each time. It seemed to go slower. So her breaking point seemed more poignant. One thing I do dislike of this series is plot conveniences, though. And Aqua appearing out of nowhere to save Akane is one of those instances. There's many happenstances where characters are magically at the right place in the right time despite there being no logical reason for them being there. It really grinds my gears, but it's a minor criticism of mine in all honesty. This was very obviously based on the case of Hana Kimura, which was heavily reported on by the media. Sadly, Hana wasn't found until after she had passed. The kind of harrassment she went through was terrifyingly brutal. Another case that reminded me of this was the case of Sulli from F(x). A korean idol that had suffered from this kind of harrassment virtually her entire career, and she eventually did off herself as well, soon after another onslaught of harrassment over a trivial matter. Of course, the bullying wasn't the only thing that drove her to it; there were several factors in her life that lay the foundation for it. I think that's very much the case in a lot of cases like this. If a person has underlying trauma or mental illness or instability of any kind it will lead to a fast deteriorating of the psyche. Our brains aren't built to sustain such an amount of peer rejection.

I cry a lot in this episode.. This is one of my reason that akane is best girl lol anyway, glad you enjoyed this and feeling the same for akane.. By the way this arc was inspired by real event in Japan, there'sa woman wrestler get bullied in the Internet until she decided to end it all.. For yall please, word can hurt, even if it just through text or comment online.

this episode hits the hardest for me -- and i can't understand how anyone can hate you or be so cruel to you?? literally you're so positive and your videos are so well made; as someone who is really fixated on psychology & loves character analysis i adore these videos so much. man i wish people would be nicer. this episode also reminds me of my own experiences with hate when i was in high school which was.. certainly a time, especially during 2020! but anyways yeah: your videos are really good; please don't let the hate get to you too much (i hope that's worded well)!

This episode helped me to understand my Grandpas final moments better. He killed his dog then himself. But seeing how its not always premeditated helped me get he was just extra down. I even knew that a character would attempt suicide over trolls and haters but I did not know the who would try. Akane was rough seeing this episode.

Ngl... Im not a content creator & never had this kind of experience myself. The line "The Internet will never let it go" Is still haunting

3:19:43 When you asked this question on the stream, I think I replied something weirdly grounded like "I see pimples" because I want to pop them (not out of self-awareness on my appearance, I know it leaves marks) so I focus on that. Hearing this question again, I asked myself why I had replied that. My first answer was something like "because it's a stupid philosophical question" (I have a bias against philosophy because most of it just plays on poorly defined words). Then I realised this was not a philosophical question but a psychological one. So it made me ask myself why I was dismissive and lumped this questions with pseudo-intellectuals trying to sound deep. I feel like I had just been acting defensive and avoiding to really think about this question, twice (the first time by answering something which was not quite the point). During the stream, I was also aware that my answer still meant I don't look at me very much (which is true) I had an appointment with my therapist today and I brought up the fact that I am never sure of the reasons behind my actions and I wonder if there could be a link. Like, perhaps I am afraid to look inside myself. I don't know why.

While watching the episode it really felt like I was watching myself thought Akane, after a little bit of thought, I figured we have a really similar if not the same personality, it felt uneasy seeing her doing something I would do, except the suicide part, I'll try my best not to. But strangely enough I found myself in the same situation of Akane just last ..week, naturally less exagerared since I'm not famous at all, but I still held responsability with a group of people of ~1k, so one day I wake up seeing stuff about me that were complitely the opposite (not hard-working, selfish, abusive) and the most paintful was seeing people close to me agreeing or looking like to. That sure runined my day.. i decided to went on a walk to sort of calm down, but i do realise how bad of an idea it could have been.. i have no Aqua after all, or to be honest no one.. (luckely I do have a close friend I can talk to, but really far away..) In the end I was able to resolve the thing, I talked with the guy and fixed things, but i can't imagine how it would have been with thousand of such comments. I don't know if anyone will even read this comment, but if so, thank you I know, I should probably talk to a psychologist, but I don't have the money, and for some (i can likely guess) reason I'm scared to

When you started talking about how guys prefer messy and girls prefer clean, and gave the example of a girl swimming far into an ocean to drown... It reminded me of a bad time. When I would come home from work, exhausted and feeling like I had no future (I had dropped out of university months prior and was working to pay off the loans I took). It would be the middle of the night, in the parking lot at the apartment complex. Sometimes it would be cold, but the moon was always beautiful. I would stare out at the forest in the distance silently. I would think about just walking into it, to vanish forever. I wondered if anyone would realize that's where I went. I wondered how long it would take for anyone to notice that I was even gone. But I was always scared. I didn't want to face the pain that would come with that sort of miserable death. That might have been the only thing that stopped me from trying. I'm in a better place now. I've graduated from a culinary school just a few weeks ago, and I'm planning to move abroad to Germany. But just having those thoughts may haunt me for the rest of my days. I can't begin to imagine the trauma of having survived an attempt.

Ok since no one else said it (because obviously this was a very strong episode), but the Ai vtuber was so freaking cool.

I keep forgetting how to read katakana, and 3:25:35 is an idiomatic translation(i.e. not word-to-word). The katakana actually spells out "simple" which IMO is more offensive. Anon basically told her to die and that it is somehow simple. Simple as.

Had to take a pause at the 2 hr mark because it gets so heavy from here on out, but please know I really appreciate what you're doing.

3:27:55 Very good point trying to think deep about Aqua's motivation. After seeing the beginning of the story, my main focus on Oshi no Ko has been wanting to see how psycho Aqua can get (pretty much what you said about how "his reality is shaped by his trauma"), whether he can become a proper tragic protagonist like Hamlet (also I try to perceive Oshi no Ko a lot from the perspective of a drama). As you may have analyzed, there is a struggle between the side of him that's completely consumed by revenge and the other, more "human" sides of him which should have the right to enjoy the 日常 of a normal life and act out of normal human desires, just like everybody else. Without going into spoilers, this theme will come up a lot as the story progresses, especially on the front of Akane and Aqua's interactions. Your intuition/psychological analysis has been spot on as always (which I guess is also a testament to how well and convincingly the author constructed the characters.)

Thanks for these videos they really help me sort out my feelings.

This episode was based on the suicide of a Japanese wrestler by the name of Hana Kimura who ended her own life after cyberbullying that was caused by an argument she had on a reality TV show. People can be so cruel, especially on the internet where one's consequences cannot be seen. We should all strive to be kinder, more empathatic people.

You know there’s so much I would like to say to you.. and I’m not sure if I’ll ever get the chance.. so I’ll say the most important thing. I sincerely thank you.

4 hours long? This will be a good watch later tonight, thanks for always upkeeping these regularly.

Woke up at 4 am for this stream but don't regret anything. Thank you for all your work, you're really amazing

I'm glad I made it for a stream

Having my mother, brother and sister try to commit suicide I put off watching this episode. In my experience people who commit suicide don’t say anything-they just do it and it’s very hard to detect.

Aaaa this popped while i was watching your previous episode reaction while cleaning! So glad, cause I was afraid I wouldn't be able to listen to your analysis all the way through the cleaning. That being said, I wanna point one fun little thing about designs. Aqua's color scheme is blue, Ruby is red. Two primary colors that mixed together make purple - Ai's colors! That's all, have a great day!

2:47:35 man that really made me teared but even tho it's really really hard for me cry from online media...wow...just wow your voice and the emotion in really hits deep.

This is my most anticipated episode of your analysis. That was an emotional journey >.>

Been waiting for your reaction got caught off guard by Ai in the start of the video sat almost through everything. Thought of Aqua as i gigachad etc but i agree he also has a motive behind saving(using) her. Bro i an saying it once again you i can’t keep predicting almost everything in the show. Your thoughts on such a dark topic was great and informative. I once had these kind of thoughts a while ago about ending everything but thankfully idk what stopped me but I’m grateful for that looking back if i ended things there i would’ve missed out soo much in my life.

Love these videos,analysis and your insight , I really learn so many things through your videos, psychology and the human mind is so interesting, definitely looking forward for more! Love you Ed!

I can't really make it to streams because of timezones and don't wanna comment too much about the episodes having read the manga, but I am keeping up to date with the reactions and stuff

thanks for another good analysis! i tried to catch the stream and was with it for some time, but sadly the timezones seem to be incompatible for me😅 man, poor Akane...twitter and chatforums are frickin' trash sometimes... I have to admit cried a bit.... I don't think Aqua saved her with any ulterior motives in mind though, as we can see his star eye was white. Well, at least that's what my gut feeling is telling me.

I've gotta record that flying penguin bit. XD I'll check twitch for the VOD, see if I can't clip it later.

This probably the one of the episode that sticks with me The AI model is amazing

I am currently catching up to your various Oshi no Ko episodes analysis. I'm sorry for not watching the whole videos, because I am mostly interested in some of the scenes that happened in the episode and I want to know what an expert thinks of them. "Is there a solution to this problem?", "What is the root of the issue presented here?", and other questions are what storm in my mind in these scenes. This episode in particular hit close to home for various reasons. The bullying, the thought process Akane has, the way she acts, the hints she shows that others notice but don't pry into, because she says "I'm fine", these masks that she puts up all the time throughout this episode. Everything about this episode hits close to home. And so, I wanted to know what you had to say on the matter. Call it "curiosity", call it "a way to see if I'm actually in need of help". Needless to say that, for example, my pyramid of needs is screwed up with "a red flag", in the way you put it. The whole "ages" chart, is screwed up as well after the age of 2. And so on. I already watched your other Oshi no Ko analysis and these charts have already been talked about for other characters, like Ai, however Akane is the character to which I related mostly, so I was curious in seeing her analysis more. Anyways, I will stop writing for now, will try to come back to this later to put more thoughts into. I'm still grateful for what you said about wanting to be a psychologist for those who wanted to feel like they're not alone, when they relate to anime, video games and other media that are considered "childish" by society's standards.

The start gave me goosebumps when I realized what it was

1:56 Ah she's reciting the questions in the opening lol

2ND! edit: i saw that you already hearted this comment before the edit, but if youre reading this, i want you to know that your videos are really helping me. what you do in the world is important. and hearing the stories you shared, i want you to know that youre helping thousands of people. im really proud of you, ed. i know im just a stranger in the internet, but i really appreciate your existence, and im sure plenty of internet strangers also think the same way. thank you for doing what you do🧡 anyway, about the episode.. actually, before the episode. the ai vtuber was certainly a pleasant surprise. anyway, about the episode. when you mentioned stuff about how the hate comments affected you, it really put into perspective how a wave of them would really be devastating. im also happy that you realized that yuki is being genuine when she talked to akane and stuff. also, i think so far, youre the only reactor who realized how aqua saving her can also be a problem. also, its really good how you acknowledged that aqua might be saving her out of genuine kindness, but its still dangerous because he could still manipulate and use her despite that. man, im so happy to be here, your videos are incredible. take care out there🧡

You know, in a lot of ways, Ed, you use your training to go to the Worst Case Thing sometimes, I've observed. And that's not necessarily a bad thing, really, because a lot of people have made jokes about you being a wizard because you can pick up on various psychological details that are rewarded later on due to how this anime is set up. However, sometimes it feels like you lean into that.... *too* much, which leads into you ignoring every other thing which may be occurring on screen. And I feel like that shows up the absolute most whenever Yuki has appeared. Like there's all these talks about masks, and how what she's done is lying, etc etc... But that means you COMPLETELY. IGNORED. when she's honest. And she's honest a lot, as it turns out, but you completely gloss over it multiple times. Even during her very first "true" appearance, she's honest with Aqua *even if she's not ""honest"" towards the camera/vieweres*. She didn't HAVE to tell him that, she could have "profited" off of his genuine reaction to her kiss comment, but she let him know a camera was watching. Likewise, during this episode, she didn't have to talk about that article with the rest of the cast in the way that she did - which was clearly celebrating what she viewed as a "success" for the show and thus themselves. She didn't have to explain her feelings or how she used them in the show right at the beginning. You asked the question "Who are you alone in your room", and I actually think Yuki out of all the characters present is one of those who is most aware of how she is in such a situation, because - and one can argue about the degree or thickness - she seems to have drawn a line between "Yuki On Camera" and "Yuki talking with her costars". But despite these bouts of honesty, when there was that segment about "do you fall in love for real on a show like this", you IMMEDIATELY dismissed Yuki's response.... despite the evidence, going by prior behavior, that she could very well be honest in that answer, especially since it is implied she's giving it off-camera. And even when she DOES do something objectively nice (hugs Akane, calms her down), you give off the impression that it still doesn't matter because the cameras won't have picked it up. Which, yes, IS VERY IMPORTANT to the overall story, but.... idk. To a lesser degree, you also did this during Kana's egosurfing segment when you claimed she was portraying it in a positive light..... when the entire scene starts with her warning Ruby away from giving *negative reviews* because that *could affect her career*. And in the last episode as well, with that cat eyed girl, you Immediately leapt to seeing her as trying to establish dominance, despite a good few people in chat saying they'd do the same because of their autism, or because they thought it'd be better manners, etc. You're generally really astute, so it just feels really jarring when it comes off like you're ignoring something really obvious, or that's one half of a picture. That's just me, of course.

2:59:27 Actually the guy in akanes picture that looks like gorou (aquas previous name) is another character that gets later introduced! But in the second season I think since that arc won't make it in this season

I didn't know people took the "wizard" joke that seriously, I will avoid saying it from now on. Some comments are vile, man. No trigger warning needed for the next episode (but it will terrify you even without any tw-worthy topics)

I was unable to watch the episode by myself. At first I skipped the first scene when Akane was going to interfere with the couple then without realizing I was skipping everything. It when from the anxiety of knowing she was not going to look good to "Oh no she is getting bad comments" to "oh my God she is depress". I was only able to watch the episode thanks to this analysis. However I still couldn't watch Akane hurting Yuki, I only watched the aftermath the hug and apology. I am always scared for our boy and girls, of them getting hurt or following a dark path. Like don't get me wrong, I also want that dad dead or in jail too, but I don't want Aqua to hurt our girls.

Time to watch this episode again and become horribly sad. Spoilers for the episode. The title of ego searching still fits because it’s Akane searching for self esteem and failing miserably combined with the meaning of ego surfing on social media. 20:49. You’re not telling me the OP f*****g foreshadowed this shit all along? 39:34. I don’t think the “real” or the most real one we’ve seen Yuki is bad. Once she realized just how badly Akane was affected by her to the point she was having a panic attack she did step in and tried to calm her down. She has the personality on the show that acts to gain the most attention but what I think is her actual self is mostly nice. Take it with a grain of salt though because I’m not really that good at understanding people so I may be completely wrong. I’ve seen some people discussing Akane being similar to Ai so I’m just putting in my 2 cents in that discussion. I think I remember a shot of her resembling one of Ai in the opening. Anyway, personally, she’s an anti-Ai in a way. There’s the spotlight shot of her in the opening that was discussed in the last episode. The light frame her in the opposite way of Ai. Akane is on the too honest side of the truth-lie spectrum and Ai is too dishonest. Ai is naturally super talented while Akane is not really super talented and instead takes notes and trains to become better. 3:13:04. OH HELL NO!

Lesgo!! Appreciate the breakdown I can tell that alot of it was the breadcrumbs left from the author/ the writing but it just shows that you're great at what you do because there are somethings that I ddint forsee but looking back it does make alot of sense as a manga reader

Colombian here supporting Ed and chat ❤

1:40:50 The problem here is that you have the benefit of audience perspective. You would do this as her manager, cause you got the insight into her mental health by the medium of narrative. The manager has no way of knowing as much as we do. As a specialist of this field you KNOW that to get out of this kind of danger ppl have to reach out for help. Otherwise no one might know before things get grim or just too late

3:28:35 the reason he was there at the right time is proabbly because mentally he's like 40. He's studied biology so he probably knows something about psychology, I bet he knows the results of online bullying. My guess is he saw her message saying she was going out and followed her.

The director set this up with "it's not like we're telling you to do something" excuse, left that on screen, and didn't let the actors make a public statement (what kind of contract is that?). I wonder if it can be charged with anything criminal. Also, what are all the actors doing? Everyone can look up how the situation is, but only Aqua by sheer coincidence (or evil plan?) just happened to be there for her.

Penguino doesn't deserve that trauma.