Wow, I just watched this episode fully expecting to hate it and fast forward through it, but it was a pretty good ending to an otherwise blah arc. Hitsugaya released Hyourinmaru and kicked some ass, plus the details were present that they usually miss in fillers, like Madarame challenging Hitsugaya to let the 11th squad members go fight while the others are planning, plus the limiter removal. The kid was only mildly annoying, and the animation sucked especially during the fight scenes, but the background music was great and appropriately used. The music during Matsumoto's hollow explanation was beautiful. The part where Matsumoto let's the kid "help kill the pseudo-arrancar" was corny, but not terrible.

Episode rating: B-