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What I liked the most about this episode was just how action-packed, and packed in a more general sense, it was.
It truly did feel like ufotable managed to squeeze every ounce of valuable content that they possibly could out of this episode, as not a minute was wasted or came across as superfluous.
So that I found particularly rewarding.
I also appreciated how this episode did a good job of alternating from one conflict to the second to the third and then back again to the first conflict. Having three good-to-great battles in the broader war going on at the same time, and covering them all well, certainly did contribute to that "packed" feeling that I mentioned before.
The BGM also added a great deal to the overall gripping and tense atmosphere at play here.
However, I'm personally not fond of the fact that no major character (other than an Assassin) has yet to die in this. We have seven Master/Servant pairs in this narrative, as well as various supporters of one or another pair (Irisviel, Maiya, Sola-Ui, etc...). We have 25 episodes to work with in total, and we're now through episode 8, which means we're through roughly a third of the episodes.
Ultimately there is only so much character development time you can devote to each of these pairs and their respective supporters.
I think it's high-time for somebody of importance to actually die in this, and it's starting to feel ever so slightly contrived to me that nobody has. I honestly went into this episode thinking somebody would die (either Kayneth or Caster or both).
Now, at this juncture, this is a very mild criticism, but it is a criticism that will grow for me in future weeks if we don't soon and finally see a Master and/or Servant and/or a supporter get taken down.
But overall, a very enjoyable Episode eight for me. 9/10.
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