are we actually ever going to move forward in this story? we haven't even gotten past what happened in the first episode yet! this story is so strangely framed. all of the jumps in time, flashbacks in flashbacks, gets really confusing.

uh I had to look at the episode num. again to make sure I hadnt clicked 1? only A FEW things diff. in the beginning...-_-'

First of all, I feel a bit embarrassed at having been sucked into what is essentially a teen melodrama. I roll my eyes at my wife for watching, what's that show? XOXO...Gossip Girl. For some reason, I find this so much more engrossing. The psychology of the characters feels much more genuine.
That said, obviously most of the episode is, as others have commented, rehash. 2 points that are improved by having the back story. 1: When Nana K. (country girl) is telling Nana O. (rocker girl) about moving back to Tokyo to be close to her boyfriend, I read Nano O.'s reaction much differently. Behind her silence, you can read a bit of pain as she's relating the story to her own situation. The first time, I think I read her expression as a vague look of concern for her naive counterpart. 2: You get a better sense as to why Shoji is so upset that Nana was acting like his wife. Knowing whole on-again off-again nature of their relationship sets up all that drama.
I liked what I found that seemed reinvented, but found myself wanting to fast forward though much of it.

Although the majority of the footage is the same as the first episode, there was so much more to this episode. Language, ideas, people, they all mean different things the more you know about them, and they mean more the more you know about their past. I think that seeing the joining together of the two Nana's after we have already seen them come together and their pasts made the coming together mean so much more. ...That last sentance was worded horribly. Point is, I understood what was being said so much more this time.