Yeah, this episode was pretty mid.
The storyboard and direction, while not terrible, felt a bit flat. There weren't any really interesting camera choices used in the episode to make the dialogue more engaging, so even though the OST placement for scenes like Kinemon begging Ashura for assistance was appropriate, the actual camera angles used didn't make the scene particularly engaging or emotional. It was using very standard shot compositions.
The last few episodes have made fantastic use of colours, camera angles, imagery and lighting to make dialogue more interesting and atmospheric. I think Kid drowning, or lamenting the fate of his partner while his mocked by the guards of Udon, and Queen's speech to Luffy last episode did a fantastic job of highlighting that. That didn't really happen in this episode, and its makes almost everything feel quite flat.
Heaping a bit of praise on this episode. The art was really on point. I was incredibly impressed with how all the close up looked. The line filter was used very appropriately, and the episode had lots of very nicely done shots. The linework was expertly done. Kenji Yokoyama deserves serious credit as animation director, with his episodes visually becoming more and more my favourites.
There wasn't too much particularly impressive animation wise, but it was competent enough all things considered. The only part that really stood out to me was Big Mum grabbing Queen and slamming him to the ground. Even in saying that though, the final impact left a bit to be desired.
Next episode looks like its going to be considerably better. Kazuya Hisada has been a really fun animation director in Wano. I'm looking forward to him handling the climatic action between Queen and Big Mum. There was also some really nice cuts of Big Mum destroying the arena.