Not necessarily filler, it's kinda necessary to close out the Beat Riders and their competition which they're all sorta growing out of due to the mass paranoia surrounding them and their Invess competition. I mean, they could've just dropped everything once the plot started to get rolling with Yggdrasil, but I'm glad they closed them out properly. Treating those peripheral characters well etc.
Now they can fully devote their time to Yggdrasil and the truth of the Helheim Forest without having to worry about Mai and whatnot. While I'd rather have kept with the plot intensive episodes of the past few weeks, the show has been kinda destroying these childrens' dreams so it's nice to see them happy once in awhile.
Liking a bit of the social commentary they have with all the internet bashing and the words on screen reflecting what people think of them on social media and whatnot. It's relevant, modern and also a good way of showing how people view the Beat Riders in light of the attacks within Zawame City. Yggdrasil's media control is interesting to watch.
Oren is comedic relief but I also really can't sorta hate what he's doing, he's an adult, a soldier and these children are kinda pests and petulant and don't really know what the real world is like and are just self-absorbed in their dancing and reputation to adults. I feel like this show is open to a lot more interpretations and perspectives depending on how old you are. Albeit done in a comedic, almost Scooby Doo-like manner, it's interesting how you can read into what Urobuchi is trying to say about children and adults.
More Helheim stuff next week, kinda excited.