Episode Title:
Egosurfing
Episode Description:
As the season for Love Now continues, Aqua comes to learn that reality show stars are less scripted and more genuine than he had initially thought. Kana teaches Ruby about the importance and dangers of egosurfing, since idols need to carefully manage their appearance and reputation online. Soon, the show begins focusing on a love triangle between Yuki, Nobuyuki, and Kengo, with Aqua deciding to stay out of it to avoid drawing attention to himself. MEM-cho enjoys an increase in her subscriber numbers, but Akane struggles to stand out and gain attention, leaving her with the least screentime. Under pressure from her agency to get results, Akane briefly loses her composure and slaps Yuki on film, accidentally scratching her face. While Yuki forgives Akane and Akane herself posts a formal apology, Akane becomes the target of vicious cyberbullying by Yuki's fans. After being constantly bombarded with negative comments, learning how much her classmates dislike her, and losing what few fans she has, Akane falls into a state of depression and nearly leaps off a pedestrian overpass to commit suicide, only being saved by a last second intervention from Aqua.