Rory's impassioned speech redeemed her a bit, but I'll be honest in saying that my favorite part of the episode was finding out that Itami has an ex-wife who is either an otaku, doujin artist, or starving mangaka.

It's not that she's an otaku. It's that she's his ex-wife. We're so used to virgin protagonists that the target readers/viewers can relate to, but Itami is somehow an amazing soldier that purposefully stays as a "bad example" to motivate others, and has had a previous relationship to the point that he even married and divorced her, but still supports her.

He's a dynamic and nuanced character the likes we have rarely ever seen. He's not Satoshi EveryOtaku, he has a past, and has actually lived a honest to god life in his 33 years.


Also, nowadays-rare Yukana casting as the uppity Diet member, and the Kuribayashi Losing Her Shit at Itami's Competence gag continues to be amusing.

...and Business Suit Elf, a sorely underserved fanart fetish niche.