Pages 1-3 are so friggin beautiful, always really happy to see the author pulling out the acrylic, so signature to this manga's style.
What I find really funny is that I was fully prepared not to get pulled into the 'will he won't he' as I was opening the chapter. Firmly ready to not care about the outcome at all and just see where the author goes. But then he hits me with page 7 and the judge's "He's a beginner!" line and suddenly I got completely pulled in. Now I started to really believe for a moment "actually ye, it makes so much sense for them to consider him for the scholarship on the merit that he is an unbelievable learner - precisely the sort of sponge that you want in a great school to shape into a diamond". It's an angle I didn't consider at all last week. So I was really starting to stress out for Junpei a little there and it made the winner reveals quite exciting haha.
I guess with every key character moving abroad for a bit, will be an interesting down period of just Junpei solo in Japan. Maybe the author will time-skip it entirely hmmm.