@Jabberwok:
Everyone's eyes in this episode were weird and inexpressive. Take a look at Robin at 17:38, for instance. Looks like a crappy fanmade drawing.
Tons and tons of lazy art, animation, and filler. Blech
Each animation director has his own style. Moreover, it's hard to draw characters accurately in a distant view, and so is it in the manga.
In addition, if-there-is-filler-or-not shouldn't be the judgment basis. Anime is not the vassal of manga, after all.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
@Clifford:
What happened in this episode? Running, sliding, and–--staring----the good old Dragon Ball Z kind of staring. The amount of garbage padding is insane. Its bad enough that over 6 minutes of 23 minutes was the opening, but when we finally get to the content of the episode, its almost entirely padding.
I think im going to take a break from the anime weekly for now. Its just too bad...
Today's episode is just so-so, but obviously this episode is not just running. For example, don't forget King Riku, Rebecca, Violet and Tontattas, and they also play an important role in this arc.
Maybe it's a good idea for you to drop the anime. Now that you think last week's episode is "just ass", you'll hardly pleased with the anime, let alone a nothing-special episode like today's #686.