Did anyone else find the animation in this episode a little off?
And by off I mean people looked/moved strange.

Kobayashi's distinctive timing and slight change to the character designs meant many people could feel something was "off" - most people attributed that to a drop in "budget" as they felt what they were seeing was a drop in quality. When infact the characters just looked like Kobayashi's particular character style (in some scenes you notice Simon looks a bit like the main character from Beck, a show directed by Kobayashi).

So yeah, there was a lot of fan outcry and backlash against this episode on 2ch and other places. Akai knowing the artistic merit of Kobayashi and knowing it was not Gainax having a "low budget" episode said some harsh things about the people criticising it. Which of course got them even more riled up and he ended up having to resign.

You can watch something like Kobayashi's Ani*Kuri15 segment or the recent Lupin eyecatchers that's more indicative of his animating style. Alot of swaying characters and parts moving independently.