A shame we never saw more of that long-haired swordsman. He got such a detailed drawing in the manga but then I forgot about him until he was here.
This is my favorite chapter of the arc prior to the wedding, and this episode adapted it pretty well. Yeah, sometimes the animation looked wonky but after the visual marvels of the past three episodes I can't say I'm surprised. In spite of that this episode did a great job of building atmosphere, continuing to greatly outshine the manga in this respect. It might have been a bit slow but it was a good kind of slow, a buildup to a breaking point.
But probably the best scene in the episode was the banquet musical! I pretty much skipped over it in the manga, but it was just so wacky and vibrant here that you couldn't help but chuckle. And the Vinsmokes' reaction to it made it absolutely hilarious. It's like Be Our Guest but with Gaston at the table…