I think people like to get caught up in the ride. As the show is airing there's a buzz around what's going to happen, and it's easy to put criticism on hold while you're in the thick of it.

I definitely think the weekly episode threads were more about the hype and having fun, and negativity wasn't appreciated there, and that's fine. /r/trueanime was a lot more balanced in its criticism of the show from the beginning , and /r/re_zero had some good discussion as well. When people needed to voice doubt about the show, those places were okay for it. A few reviewers I like on Youtube reacted similarly, basically noting the hype around it and saying it's been a ride, but holding off on declaring it a masterpiece.

All in all, I enjoyed the ups and downs of it and gave it a solid 8. That's nothing to sneeze at, as MAL lists an 8 rating as "very good." People are always tempted to throw around 10's, but to me it's not a masterpiece and not quite a "great" anime, but it was a lot of fun and I sure hope it gets greenlit for another season and beyond so that we can see Tappei's crazy fantasy keep playing out on screen.