Surprisingly, the improvement occured in an episode that turns upon a heavy retcon in a large degree. Usually such tricks are employed by desperate creators, but it worked here.

Note that Sakabe wears a red necktie, which makes complete sense: in school time she appeared before Azusa and graduated in the same year. I updated the helpful diagram.

The question "What part do you wash first in the bath?" sounded like "お風呂にはいったら、どこから洗いますか" (入る is one of those nasty ~u verbs that end in -ru). I think the joke was even slicker in English. Good job, Chihiro!