Hai to Gensou no Grimgar

[KrayZ33]

When did I ever say it's a deal breaker? I even specifically mentioned that it's not a deal breaker.

I used the word dealbreaker not in a sense of you disliking the show because of it, but rather as to why you believe that scene was unnecessary and would've been better if they did it somehow differently.
Like.. you/they actually use this kind of scene in that situation and it's not because it's Grimgar and "slow".

as you said yourself

...but it was a really odd direction choice

It's defacto not an odd choice but very commonly used, which is also why I said "objectively false" earlier. They are used for a reason and they didn't "abuse" it or use it wrongly. Hmpf, how can I say this.. it's like you can show this to a teacher as reference material when you talk about "how is X used in movies to improve "blah blah".." and find textbook examples in these scenes.

As you said

I personally value concise and effective delivery over "artful" renditions

It was actually a common use of art. Very basic too and I like it that there are shows in the Anime genre that can make use of that. I wouldn't call it "ineffective" either because from their perspective, these scenes are most likely cheaper to produce than the same amount of time in animated conversation and interaction for pretty much the same effect. It's a matter of how much you are willing to "dive" into the story/situation though.
These scenes are pretty much a playing field for me, I like to think about what the author/director wanted to do and what I can get out of these scenes, I watch them 2 times too, 1 more time right after the episode ended. The reason why I actually liked these scenes is because the director/author (I don't know who it actually is who decides these things in adaptations) really managed to tell something and use "art".

I'm always like "yaaay, someone who actually put thought into it and wants the viewer to think and focus about what he's seeing, no inner monologue that "spoils" his exact thoughts, imagine them yourself!" (or something like that) whenever I see well done presentations like these.

edit:
It's the same with Manato's appearences as a ghost (as I mentioned earlier already).. the idea itself is very common isn't it? But the conversations.. or what the ghost is doing is always so obvious and cliché (like a glowing hand tries to reach MC to guide the lost lamb to defeat his enemy). Here it was a portrayal of Haru's mind and that alone tells me so much about Haru's current mental state, yet the scene itself never really *states* it that way. I'm so happy, just from talking about it and the way it's shown and written...it's impossible to be a coincidence, yay.