My comment on the previous episode asked for deeper characters, and what just so happened to occur in this one? Naoki showed a hint of real personality, that's what. Now let's work on Kotoko… There must be more substance to her than "love-struck airhead". Passing the Bechdel test would require both Kotoko _and_ one of her female classmates (or Noriko, Naoki's mom) to step up to the plate, too, so no slacking off!