diff --git a/static/app.js b/static/app.js
index e783f64..d51c96b 100644
--- a/static/app.js
+++ b/static/app.js
@@ -255,8 +255,20 @@ async function showAnime(slug_id, opts = {}) {
   eps.append(el("p", "muted", "loading episodes\u2026"));
   main.append(eps);
 
-  // default: resume last watched ep of this season, else start at ep 1
+  // watched state: dim completed eps, highlight the first unwatched one
+  // (ponytail: "first unwatched in list order" is wrong if you skip around;
+  //  good enough for sequential viewing)
   epsList = await api(`/api/anime/${seasonId}/episodes`);
+  watchDone = new Set();
+  let started = false;
+  try {
+    for (const x of await api("/api/history?all=1")) {
+      if (x.slug_id !== slug_id || x.season_id !== seasonId) continue;
+      started = true;
+      if (x.dur > 0 && x.pos >= x.dur * 0.95) watchDone.add(String(x.ep_id));
+    }
+  } catch {}
+  watchNext = started ? (epsList.find(e => !watchDone.has(String(e.id))) || {}).id : null;
   renderEps();
   const h = history.find(x => x.slug_id === slug_id && x.season_id === seasonId);
   const start = opts.ep || (h ? h.ep_id : null) || epsList[0]?.id;
@@ -315,6 +327,7 @@ function markActive(b) {
 }
 
 let epsList = [], hideFiller = false;
+let watchDone = new Set(), watchNext = null;
 
 function renderEps() {
   const eps = document.getElementById("eps");
@@ -323,7 +336,10 @@ function renderEps() {
   for (const e of epsList) {
     if (hideFiller && e.filler) continue;
     const b = el("button", "ep" + (e.filler ? " filler" : ""));
-    b.textContent = "E" + e.number;
+    const done = watchDone.has(String(e.id));
+    b.textContent = done ? "E" + e.number + " \u2713" : "E" + e.number;
+    if (done) b.classList.add("done");
+    if (watchNext != null && String(watchNext) === String(e.id)) b.classList.add("nextup");
     if (e.filler) b.append(el("span", "badge", " filler"));
     b.dataset.ep = e.id; b.dataset.no = e.number;
     b.onclick = () => { markActive(b); play(e.id, e.number); };
diff --git a/static/index.html b/static/index.html
index 2e332d5..0e26a6d 100644
--- a/static/index.html
+++ b/static/index.html
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@
 <meta charset="utf-8">
 <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
 <title>ani-web</title>
+<link rel="icon" href="data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 64 64'%3E%3Crect width='64' height='64' rx='14' fill='%23f97316'/%3E%3Ctext x='32' y='45' font-family='sans-serif' font-size='42' font-weight='700' text-anchor='middle' fill='%230e0f13'%3Ea%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E">
+
 <link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css">
 </head>
 <body>
diff --git a/static/style.css b/static/style.css
index dfcb2dd..e821e64 100644
--- a/static/style.css
+++ b/static/style.css
@@ -115,5 +115,7 @@ button.tiny.on { border-color: var(--acc); color: var(--acc); }
 .ep { position: relative; font-size: 0.9rem; }
 .ep.active { border-color: var(--acc); color: var(--acc); }
 .ep.filler { opacity: 0.55; }
+.ep.done { opacity: 0.5; }
+.ep.nextup { border-color: #4b5568; background: #1f2130; }
 .badge { font-size: 0.6rem; color: var(--muted); }
 
diff --git a/tests/run.py b/tests/run.py
index c070705..daf38b4 100644
--- a/tests/run.py
+++ b/tests/run.py
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ def main():
             asyncio.run(test_browser.test_stream_failure_retry())
             asyncio.run(test_browser.test_recent_searches())
             asyncio.run(test_browser.test_auto_next_countdown())
+            asyncio.run(test_browser.test_episode_watch_state())
 
         print("ALL TESTS PASSED")
     finally:
diff --git a/tests/test_browser.py b/tests/test_browser.py
index 20aca78..0bfe467 100644
--- a/tests/test_browser.py
+++ b/tests/test_browser.py
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ async def test_login_ui():
         await page.keyboard.press("Enter")
         await _login_settled(page)
         assert await page.inner_text("#me") == "hi, admin"
+        assert await page.query_selector('link[rel="icon"]'), "favicon missing"
         assert "Seed Anime" in await page.inner_text("#main"), "seeded history must show"
         assert not errors, errors
         await browser.close()
@@ -225,6 +226,35 @@ async def test_auto_next_countdown():
     print("ok test_auto_next_countdown")
 
 
+async def test_episode_watch_state():
+    # completed episodes dimmed with a check, first unwatched highlighted.
+    # seed the first rendered ep as finished (id read off the list),
+    # reload, and check the classes.
+    async with async_playwright() as p:
+        browser = await p.chromium.launch(args=LAUNCH_ARGS)
+        page = await (await browser.new_context()).new_page()
+        errors = []
+        page.on("pageerror", lambda e: errors.append(str(e)))
+
+        await _login(page, "admin", "adminpw12345")
+        await page.goto(BASE + "/?anime=chainsaw-man-922")
+        await page.wait_for_selector("#eps .ep", timeout=30000)
+        e1_id = await page.evaluate("document.querySelector('#eps .ep').dataset.ep")
+        await page.evaluate(
+            "(id) => fetch('api/history', {method: 'POST',"
+            " headers: {'Content-Type': 'application/json'},"
+            " body: JSON.stringify({title: 'Chainsaw Man', slug_id: 'chainsaw-man-922',"
+            "  season_id: 922, ep_id: +id, lang: 'eng', ep: 1, pos: 2350, dur: 2400})})",
+            e1_id)
+        await page.reload()
+        await page.wait_for_selector("#eps .ep.done", timeout=30000)
+        assert "\u2713" in await page.inner_text("#eps .ep.done")
+        await page.wait_for_selector("#eps .ep.nextup", timeout=10000)
+        assert not errors, errors
+        await browser.close()
+    print("ok test_episode_watch_state")
+
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     if len(sys.argv) > 1:
         BASE = sys.argv[1]
@@ -234,3 +264,4 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
     asyncio.run(test_stream_failure_retry())
     asyncio.run(test_recent_searches())
     asyncio.run(test_auto_next_countdown())
+    asyncio.run(test_episode_watch_state())