On top of being in charge of episode 4, Aoi is now also tasked with episode 9. Despite being a newbie and full of doubt, she manages to complete every task asked of her. However, when Honda asks her to report on her progress, she panics. Even though Yano is able to calm her down a little, Aoi is faced with key frames not being delivered and an animator not finishing his cut in time.

The situation with Endou actually ends up affecting one of the episodes that Aoi is in charge of. Without any other choice, she finally goes to Honda. They try to get the final decision from the director, but he's nowhere to be found in the studio. They can't even get a hold of Endou, so Tarou goes to his house...

Because of Ochiai leaving, Aoi starts to think about her future as well. She goes to Segawa-san's house and asks what she thinks about Ema's drawings now, after the harsh criticism she had prior. Meanwhile, in the studio, Ema was flustered. She can't draw a realistic cat.

With the time limit drawing nearer, Aoi tries to distribute the remaining key frames of the last episode to animators. However, she is having a hard time finding someone to take the more difficult cuts. She then tries to go to other companies to see if they'll take the frames. One of them happens to be a company she interviewed at and didn't get the job.