Are you me? I agree with basically all of this (though I do have some foresight as I am up to date on the manga). Last season, Aqua was edge-lordy for sure, but he was also quite extroverted when it suited him, like when he was on the dating show. The on-camera vs. off-camera personas of Aqua were quite different. In these rehearsals though, we only ever really see the off-camera version of him where he fashions himself as an avenger of sorts.

Himekawa is listed as 19 iirc in his intro text when he shows up at first, so it’s not too bad since I think Kana is 17 or so here. He is simply such a good actor you fell for his 30-something year old character!

Also agreed on the OP and ED. It is just the first episode though. I can’t say I was sold on the ED last season until they started to use it to great effect for dramatic outros. So, time to grow on me yet.