I was a little late watching episode 2, so I apologize for that. Anyway, TOMOKO is one of the cutest shikigami ever and who would have thought she was blonde too. Why did you have to die, TOMOKO?!! Anyway, to get back on track, I really enjoyed this episode and watching the OP with Philosophyz anime ver. was purely fantastic in showing the character interactions so far with everyone. There were some parts I couldn’t help but laugh, such as Kotarou messing around with Akane in wanting to fondle her breasts, or the part where Lucia was eating the spicy parfait which Kotarou was going to give to Yoshino in the first place was absolutely funny. Also, the way Shizuru was sitting in the shade where Kotarou was watching her and enjoying the nice breeze was one of the most treasured parts I loved in the VN and how they adapted that scene. I’m not sure how Kagari was even remotely terrifying though it took away some of the tension that I felt even after the VN, but that’s beside the point.
I have to agree that the pacing of the episode did feel rushed a bit, probably due to time constraints and the frames they needed to have cut. It was almost too early for everyone to gather and join the occult research club at that time but I guess they need to condense some of the time that the common route had and for those getting into the anime for the first time to understand. I have to say I absolutely loved the ED “Sasayaka na Hajimari”, though I never played HF and it was the first time I actually listened to this. I did listened to the original track beforehand and I was amazed just hearing the nice vocals. Overall, this was an enjoyable episode and I look forward to episode 3.