I ended up grading the episode an "8"
.... following reasons:
1) the animation was even poor by the average standards of the series (view the market dancers as example).
2) you could really tell they were brushing lightly over stuff that should have been much more in-depth --- the scene focus editing was very abrupt and just kind of random.
3) The fact the episode was setting up a LOT of questions just made it more random feeling.
(whats the shepherd girl's story?)
(is it normal to travel with someone for 2-4 days and never say a word to them? Horo and Nora ... of course we've seen a lot of women in the series silent and behind their man so that may be normal)
(why do the townspeople shun her? Why is the priest grim at her approach?)
(why are all the govt officials acting so odd at Lawrence's answers?)
(why do they act like the armor is cursed?)
(whats going on with the roads?)
This episode is probably the worst so far in terms of over-compaction of the story to fit the inadequate time budget. On the other hand, we did get an armful of the "Horo&Lawrence" comedy act with that flirty edginess. She still hasn't gotten her sweet treats.
They're trying to portray Horo as someone who's simultaneously a six hundred year old goddess, a young woman, and a wolf --- overlapping personality traits. They're doing a pretty fair job, so TinyRedLeaf's description of her is pretty apt. Makes for a very entertaining character. I'm also becoming quite fond of Lawrence -- the two of them complement each other.
Nora's bad ways have caught up with her and the townsfolk aren't buying it.
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