Well, it was better than I expected, although I suppose not as good as it could have been, if the points Yuki mentioned had been dealt with appropriately. Still, I did enjoy this episode (but considering I hadn't watched any anime, save Nausicaa on dvd, for a little less than two weeks before seeing this, so my mind wasn't probably as critical as usually).

But I'm looking forward to the next episode as it might have some Ichigo-Rukia interaction. I always liked that, despite the shounen show restrictions.