BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War double review of ep 12 & 13
It's double review time for the last episodes of Bleach!
Alright, I must admit episode 12's beginning did surprise me. I always thought back to when Isshin was still a captain, Byakuya, Kenpachi, and maybe Mayuri wasn't yet captains? I don't know, because it makes sense as much time has (probably) passed after Turn Back The Pendulum arc's end when Shinji and company got screwed over by Aizen. Even so...it surprised me. Not to mention the fact you're telling me Mayuri kept that same look for at least about 15-plus years as he had that same look at the beginning of Bleach. I can't accept that, even if I can accept everything else... But it explains everybody's reactions toward Ichigo in the Ryoka Invasion arc as most of the captains seemed to connect Ichigo to Isshin because of the obvious Shiba genes. (Kenpachi can be pardoned because while he can be observant, he isn't that observant.)
But because of this...man, now I feel even worse for Ichigo as he did basically grow up in the dark his whole life. That can be explained because Isshin and Masaki probably wanted to protect Ichigo (and his sisters) from such life, but once Ichigo got pulled into the shinigami business? And Isshin still wouldn't tell him? Or at least help him or protect him or anything? Man, my opinion about Isshin will remain as it's even after he told Ichigo the truth in the end and helped him.
Also, I loved the fact Yamamoto smelled Isshin leaving something untold but decided not to press upon the matter.
Gotta love it when things come back to bite someone's butt, in this case, Ryuuken's. After all, he should have talked with Katagiri if he truly wanted to cover up Masaki's little 'adventure'. But...well, since communication isn't a thing, it isn't. In a sense, Katagiri tried to help Masaki, even though she went against her young master's orders while trying to cover up what Ryuuken said. In that sense, Katagiri should have been honest, so maybe Ryuuken would have understood her point...man, so many unsaid things when both of them just wanted to help as they both are very kind. Just...bad when comes to communication. (Though, I assume in the end they talked with each other as they got married, ditto.)
Hmm, I loved how the animators showed Ryuuken's mother had that scar on her ankle. It subtly showed something bad had happened to her in the past, hence explaining a bit her strict behavior toward Ryuuken and Masaki. (Not to mention concern.) Cool way to add depth to a character with such a small detail.
It seems animators are continuing the line of 'let's cut off the ridiculousness of things to a minimum. Same with possible fan services.' After all, in the manga when Isshin went to rescue Masaki, there was that whole 'you're naked!' scene. It felt...super awkward, but this time around it was brushed aside and not made as a big deal as it should have been. Even though the animators did subtly hint with Masaki's goofy expression and her words something like that...but kudos for that to the animators/directors. Subtle hints like that are much better than just slamming things into the viewer's face. Or, at least I think so. (Though, the reason why I can see some of these subtle hints/changes might be because I have read the manga.)
I think that the movie part that they added for an explanation of 'Masaki was like the sun' was a very nice touch. It was very sweet and ended Isshin's story of 'how I met your mother' on a high note.
I must applaud Isshin's voice actor for spelling 'Auswählen' correctly as I imagine spelling the ä-letter even for Asians is hard, but he spelled the word correctly as far as I can tell. (I bet someone from Germany can confirm that better as I believe Aushwählen is Germany. But at least to my ear, he spelled especially that letter correctly.)
Alright, let's move to the last episode.
I've to ask...how Oetsu managed to send one of his bodyguards into the World of the Living? Like, does Zero Squad have their own portable little senkaimons that act like teleports or what? Because if they have such technology...why they haven't bestowed it to Seireitei? Would make moving between places much easier... Or, did Oetsu put on Ichigo marking or sort of that lead his bodyguard to him? (Like Minato Namikaze from Naruto would do when moving quickly between places.)
The whole scene where Ichigo was once again in the Asauchi pit gave me chills. It felt somewhat very...it's hard to put in words, but I could feel this charged-up tension in that scene as the Asauchi bowed down to Ichigo like he was King. Which he was. He was now finally the TRUE King that his inner Hollow had been mockingly using of him. Yet at the same time, Ichigo acknowledged his hollow/blade as the one. After all, the King needs a trusty blade if he will go to slay the enemy king. Man, that scene felt very intense and powerful in its own way. All the struggles Ichigo had faced were finally bearing fruit and Oetsu's proud smile? Yeah, it was worth seeing it. I bet he hadn't ever seen anything like that and probably won't ever again.
The shift to soul reapers and what they were doing while Ichigo was away was nice. Toshiro going back to basics was important in its own way as it showed one shouldn't look back at what they lost but forward and still do their best. While Hisagi was kind of in contrast to that in a way he was still hung up by the past...hence, both Kensei and Mashiro will show him a bit of 'tough love'. Seeing Akon back to his feet was nice and the fact Mayuri was doing something very...questionable was a nice cliffhanger. I'm happy over the fact they showed that little glimpse of Soi Fon training while Omaeda entertained his little sister. It showed the viewer despite the fact Omaeda is portrayed as this super annoying character, he still cares about his captain and is a good big brother.
I'm still questioning if Komamura's clan is a mixture of dogs and wolves...I mean, the Great Elder looked like a giant dog while Sajin looks like a fox. Sorry, I know Sajin is supposed to be a wolf, but his coloring always made me think he was a fox. I know there was the running gag of Sajin being a dog, but even so...*Shrugs.* This part actually made me a bit sad, because as a manga reader I know what will happen to Sajin. The only comforting thing is that Sajin will get to shine. Not to mention the fact we never got to learn more about Sajin's clan. I hope they'll add a little extra about that in the anime when/if it'll, gets continued. His clan, the fact they have to live in shadows...all that made me very curious about the wolf clan.
Alright everybody, don't take notes from Oetsu on how to forge. Seriously, your vision will get worse without proper protective goggles when forging. Even so, the whole scene when his bodyguards made the forge ready for him was very funny and epic. The music really helped to bring the mood up~.
It's interesting how Ichigo's inner world was now pink-white-grey tones themed instead blue white. Though, it was understandable as it was to set the serious mood and I bet the animators wanted to give their own flavor to it all. Not to mention, now the blue was used to symbolize Quincies. I think the fact when that pink faded into those blue tones was a very nice touch and showed Ichigo embracing himself and his all powers fully. (Also, I know it's cliché but I liked when Ichigo came from darkness to the light -from despair to hope.) The fact Number One was playing in the background when this all happened was a very good way to end the show -especially when we saw Ichigo's new twin Zanpakutos! A very harmonious ending for Ichigo.
And yes, Uryuu showing at the very end in front of Yhwach was a nice teaser for what is to come. ;) Can't wait for the next season as this one was totally worth waiting for all those years! So happy Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War arc's first season ended on such a high note and the series itself was extremely good almost the whole time. Made my inner Bleach fan squeal when watching this series.
Also, it was nice to write these silly reviews each week about the new Bleach: Thousand Year-Blood war episodes.
