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I'm not sure why people would find this episode "filler-ish".
This is the first episode yet where I've gotten any significant amount of that "Key supernaturalism!" feel.
Before, you could possibly chalk up the guy tying missions to Lennon as just some prankster. Not now. Now whoever that guy is, accurately predicted a pretty unusual event. Like Riki himself points out, it certainly points to something odd and mysterious.
While Key sometimes overdoes its supernatural plot elements, I also think that Key has this neat way of handling them. It has this misty air of magic to it that I find very intriguing, and one of the distinctive elements of Key.
Another thing I liked about this episode is how it balanced out the cast so far. This episode did a good job of making me believe in this motley crew of mixed gender friends. There's a good chemistry within the group as a whole, that goes between just Riki and his bros, or Riki and his hos. You have a few of these little interactions between one of Riki's male friends and one of the heroines that makes it feel more "real"; like a bunch of people that really are friends with everybody else in the group.
I find this refreshing, partly because I really like the male characters in this show, and hope that they won't get lost too much amidst the heavy focus that each of the heroines will obviously receive.
Finally, this was a good episode for Rin in general. And I think she needed it. It was nice to see her really take charge in this episode, and not just ride off of her brother's coattails. I also think this episode had some nice moments between Rin and Riki. Nothing necessarily romantic, but also scenes that indicate how much the two trust each other and rely on each other.
Riki's voice, which I originally found a bit too feminine, is starting to grow on me, too. It helps that Riki himself, though a somewhat reserved guy, does strike me as growing more and more in the mold of the typical Key main protagonist.
All of the above being said, this episode mostly just shows a lot of potential. With this episode, I'm starting to see where all the hype surrounding this franchise might be based on something concrete. That potential remains unrealized, though this episode could represent a big step down the road to realizing it.
8/10 for Episode 9.
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