Kamisama Hajimemashita Ep 8: TO THE BEACH!

To help get over her heartbreak, Nanami is invited to the beach with Ami and her friend. Tomoe is completely against it as he claims he can’t go into the sea.

Impression:
8D THAT WAS THE PERFECT PLACE TO END THE EPISODE!
So yay, we are finally experiencing a two-episode arc rather than one alone! Tomoe had his reasons for not going into the sea, but he still followed Nanami’s request to save Ami. Even when I read the manga, in the back of my head I thought to myself, “I am pretty sure Mizuki would have been more than happy to oblige helping out in Tomoe’s stead” but then again, Tomoe’s pride probably wouldn’t have allowed it anyways.
Like I pointed out last week, Tomoe is someone who follows his word. As promised, he has been successfully avoiding all physical contact up to this point. You can tell he is getting real jealous of Mizuki being able to touch her when he can’t. Ohohohoho!
I found that they did a spectacular job with conveying Tomoe’s grim mood about the sea. He knew why he couldn’t and, heck he’s infamous enough for Mizuki to have known as well (AND THIS GUY WAS COMPLETELY SHELTERED FROM THE OUTSIDE WORLD!!!!). You will find out why Tomoe went to obtain the Dragon King’s eye next week, but there’s one great mystery that even for the ones who are up to date with the manga like myself: Why does Nanami have the Dragon King’s Eye inside of her?
Most theories go with Reincarnation, others elaborate on Nanami’s family history (which I don’t believe we’ll ever get to see animated unless we have a second season) and… hm, I think I’ll keep this one to myself so that you don’t get spoiled too much. Those who are up to date with the latest chapters probably know what I am referring to.
Mizuki’s Time Incense is used once more, only this time Nanami’s physical body is going back into the past and is being guided by Mizuki. So here’s the fun stuff, Nanami gets to see more of Tomoe’s darker side. Slaying the fishies…things erm, I mean guards… Okay so that isn’t actually seeing Tomoe’s darker side, it is more like having another glimpse of his violent actions in contrast to his present ‘merciful’ side (yet then again turning Kurama into an ostrich wasn’t exactly kind of him since he intended to cook him for dinner… but I suppose it is better than being slayed right there on the spot…).
Nanami will now start taking actions on her own without Tomoe’s support (since he isn’t around and Mizuki is not her Shinshi…yet… she ought be grateful for him once he is). She doesn’t do anything spectacular within this arc, but her actions and determination to follow things through will give her a lot of credit since she makes decisions for things that are not easy to make.
The Dragon King, well you won’t see too much of him. As awesome as he is, err, well actually it’s his wife that is badass ohohohohohoho.
Overall it was great to see the first half of the Dragon King’s Eye Arc well adapted. I was pleased to see the animation once more improved and stayed strong consistently rather than taking a dip. I am hoping that next week’s episode will continue maintain that quality!
One last thing (I HAVE TO GET IT OFF MY CHEST): While it made sense why they spent 1:19 on Mikage and Otohiko to fill in the left over time gap (and lets face it, that was probably the best resolution), it was still no excuse for them to make Otohiko responsible for making Ami getting pulled under. There’s nothing more I hate than throwing in characters that aren’t to make an appearance during the arc and doing something that they are not responsible for. It was fine to leave them at the beach doing their own thing, but seriously COME ON. JUST LET THE ORIGINAL MATERIAL DO THE STUFF IT WAS SUPPOSED TO DO! (IN THIS CASE I AM COMPLAINING ABOUT NOT HAVING A WAVE what a joke) 
Am I the only one who gets seriously annoyed with these things? If so, then it must be a pet peeve of mine.
PS: WTF IS WITH MIKAGE WEARING A SPEEDO?!