TBH I'm loving the pacing. Hit the beats, don't let anything drag. I would've maybe had a full extra chapter worth of pages in the last 4-5, maybe? But I'm pretty happy with it overall.
Speaking generally, I think buildup is kind of overrated. If a moment sells itself, it sells itself. No need to drag it out. More complex stories can require more groundwork being laid, but this is... not super complex, lol. It's the Maki Revenge Hour. I'm expecting the Culling Game to be more complex, given how much time got spent on rules and prep for it, but this arc is more of a "sit back and enjoy the ride" thing.
Yeah, but Special Grade is a broad, broad category, and Toji fucked up everybody less powerful than Full Power Gojo. We don't know if Maki is all the way there, but she's undeniably going to be moving towards the very high end of that range, and all due respect to Naoya... which is not much... I don't think he has what it takes to hang out up there.