(L) Bleach - Thousand-Year Blood War Arc - anime episode discussion

[sayde]

Originally Posted by Kanon

The reason she couldn't heal Ichigo back then is that Ulquiorra's massive reiatsu left inside his wound counteracted her power.

I don't ever remember Ulquiorra or Orihime giving us much of a detailed explanation like that though. IIRC, all we're told by Ulquiorra (in chapter 349) is that she wasn't powerful enough. So while reiatsu could be the logical factor he was referring to, I don't think that specific reason was ever confirmed anywhere. I also feel like reiatsu being the reason could just lead to more contradictions. For instance, shouldn't there have been reiatsu left behind by Grimmjow in the lower half of Menoly's body that would have prevented Orihime from overturning her death?And shouldn't that also mean her powers of rejection wouldn't be able to be used on anyone with superior reiatsu to herself (ie; Grimmjow, Soifon, etc.) In either case, it's not something I think's worth debating at length over. So feel free to have the final world on the matter.

Main point is, I agree. They probably could have Orihime just fix the zanpakuto's if they wanted to. And I'm sure going to her in HM or having her travel to SS would be a lot faster and easier to do in comparison to what Ichigo's about to do now. But then where would be the fun in that?

[Endscape]

When you think on it, it's funny that half of the current captains have some kind of criminal past. It must give those old men conniptions.

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

Ukitake isn't bad in terms of personality, but his health is too unreliable for a job like that. Shunsui is just the right call.

The fact that Shunsui is from a very highly ranked noble family while Ukitake's family is lower ranked also probably played a role in Central 46's decision.

Originally Posted by Kanon

I think she definitely ranks first, even before Matsumoto and Nelliel who are heavyweights.

It's canon that Neliel ranks first amongst all female characters Kubo has drawn to date.

Originally Posted by sayde

Main point is, I agree. They probably could have Orihime just fix the zanpakuto's if they wanted to. And I'm sure going to her in HM or having her travel to SS would be a lot faster and easier to do in comparison to what Ichigo's about to do now. But then where would be the fun in that?

Also relevant that there's not really much point in restoring a bankai that lost so soundly.

[Frontier]

Characters who have made it to the domain of the Soul King before Sosuke Aizen:

- Ichigo

- Renji

- Rukia

- Byakuya

- Kon

Originally Posted by Kanon

Yup, she sure came back with two massive desserts. Somehow overusing her reiatsu burns up most of her fat but the boobs are so powerful they are unaffected. I think she definitely ranks first, even before Matsumoto and Nelliel who are heavyweights. "Everyone is on a royal scale", indeed.

Throw in Orihime and we probably have a top 4 .

Originally Posted by Endscape

When you think on it, it's funny that half of the current captains have some kind of criminal past. It must give those old men conniptions.

the OG!Gotei 13 were apparently just a bunch of killers and murderers, so I guess that tracks .

[sayde]

Originally Posted by Endscape

The fact that Shunsui is from a very highly ranked noble family.

That's a really good point.

[GDB]

Originally Posted by MAX_COLA_POWER!

I'm surprised many animé-only fans didn't manage to put 2 and 2 together with Yachiru OG being part of the original Gotei 13 when Kubo released the artwork of all of them together, along with their names in the latest jump.

If they're anime-only, they probably aren't looking for artwork in the manga.

[MAX_COLA_POWER!]

Originally Posted by GDB

If they're anime-only, they probably aren't looking for artwork in the manga.

True, although even their showcases in the animé itself didn't seem to ring any bells either.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by sayde

I don't ever remember Ulquiorra or Orihime giving us much of a detailed explanation like that though. IIRC, all we're told by Ulquiorra (in chapter 349) is that she wasn't powerful enough. So while reiatsu could be the logical factor he was referring to, I don't think that specific reason was ever confirmed anywhere. I also feel like reiatsu being the reason could just lead to more contradictions. For instance, shouldn't there have been reiatsu left behind by Grimmjow in the lower half of Menoly's body that would have prevented Orihime from overturning her death?And shouldn't that also mean her powers of rejection wouldn't be able to be used on anyone with superior reiatsu to herself (ie; Grimmjow, Soifon, etc.) In either case, it's not something I think's worth debating at length over. So feel free to have the final world on the matter.

Main point is, I agree. They probably could have Orihime just fix the zanpakuto's if they wanted to. And I'm sure going to her in HM or having her travel to SS would be a lot faster and easier to do in comparison to what Ichigo's about to do now. But then where would be the fun in that?

I did some research, and yeah, there doesn't seem to be a canon explanation. That was just the theory most people came up with because Ulquiorra stated she wasn't strong enough, the others being she was panicking too much to concentrate or that simply not enough time passed between her starting to heal and Ichigo transforming.

Originally Posted by Endscape

It's canon that Neliel ranks first amongst all female characters Kubo has drawn to date.

That's actually debatable. Kirio wasn't among the women mentioned in the guy's question to Kubo, so that might be why he left her out. When you look at the artwork, I think there's little doubt she's first.

Kubo should make one of those boobs charts some anime make

[Galaxian]

Originally Posted by Kanon

Kubo should make one of those boobs charts some anime make

For science!

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Yup, all this corruption surrounding (what's supposed to be) the governing world of the afterlife is what really left me cold when it comes to Bleach's world-building. There are corrupts officials, incompetent/cocky/selfish staffs (even criminal staffs), struggling R&D department, etc. There's even still a gap between nobility and the common people. It's basically just a Japanese-ish corporate/government running the afterlife show with little truly-divine things in it. It's a really discouraging depiction of an afterlife when its government is just as stinky as the human world's.

Heck, the afterlife in Dragon Ball & Yu Yu Hakusho are relatively more just, more orderly and kinder to the departing souls. They put good souls to heaven and bad souls to hell or purgatory while both King Enmas from DB & YYH have real sense of justice and not someone who are guilty of massacre/genocide of a certain group of humans. There are also no major criminals running around as King Enma's permanent agents unless for very special cases.

In a way, the Bleach's afterlife is worse than a complete void of nothingness after death.

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by Obelisk ze Tormentor

Yup, all this corruption surrounding (what's supposed to be) the governing world of the afterlife is what really left me cold when it comes to Bleach's world-building. There are corrupts officials, incompetent/cocky/selfish staffs (even criminal staffs), struggling R&D department, etc. There's even still a gap between nobility and the common people. It's basically just a Japanese-ish corporate/government running the afterlife show with little truly-divine things in it. It's a really discouraging depiction of an afterlife when its government is just as stinky as the human world's.

Heck, the afterlife in Dragon Ball & Yu Yu Hakusho are relatively more just, more orderly and kinder to the departing souls. They put good souls to heaven and bad souls to hell or purgatory while both King Enmas from DB & YYH have real sense of justice and not someone who are guilty of massacre/genocide of a certain group of humans. There are also no major criminals running around as King Enma's permanent agents unless for very special cases.

In a way, the Bleach's afterlife is worse than a complete void of nothingness after death.

Where's my Soul Reaper salarymen ?

[Alchemist007]

I scarely remembered the existence of the zero squad but I knew Grimmjow just from the voice .

Edit: Apparently there was a new Bleach chapter in 2021, jesus. Time to go read that.

[Frontier]

We now return to the vicious and violent confrontation between Kenpachi's! Zaraki and Unohana are going at it like savages and Fumihiko Tachiki and Aya Hisakawa are absolutely killing it vocally as much as the animators are at animating this bout !

With the revelation about Unohana, that she had her old squad round up the gangs around the Soul Society so she could kill them to find a worthy opponent isn't all that surprising...but then you get a surprise pile of bodies and a boy with a sword looking for the same, and Unohana finally finds what she'd been looking for in this boy. Someone who could fight her as an equal and surpass her, even if her own weakness is why he suppressed himself so as to not finish the fight .

So Unohana only mastered healing arts so she could prolong the fight she enjoyed? I guess that checks out. In fact she thinks the only way to bring out Kenpachi's full power from his self-imposed limits is to continually kill him and then heal/revive him, which Kenpachi writes off as blackouts. Can this fight get any more metal ?

Wait, I stand corrected. Unohana's Bankai literally summons up pools of blood and turns her blade into a blood sword that can lash out at opponents and heal her as she slices them up. That...that is probably the perfect Bankai for a Kenpachi that moonlighted as a healer .

But eventually all those deathly experiences re-awakens Kenpachi's true power and he...slays Unohana. Like, yeah, it looks like they actually killed Unohana off to unleash the true Kenpachi. But I guess all she wanted to fight him one last time and to see him take his rightful place as the true ideal of what it means to be a Kenpachi, even if it leaves Kenpachi reeling from the death of someone he respected and idolized so much. Not to mention how Isane will take it. But at least Unohana died happy .

And this hasn't just awakened Kenpachi's true power, he can finally hear the voice of his Zanpakuto! And she sounds...surprisingly serene! Although of course they cut it off before we can actually hear her name, although now that Kenpachi knows her name, does that mean he can use Shikai !?

We now return to Ichigo and Renji's training arc (with Kon) and...a Engrish spouting, hammy, and ridiculous dude named Oh-Etsu and the hot babes who populate his area. Kon is in heaven !

Poor Ichigo and Renji are so done with these eccentric people and the stuff they make them do .

All those hot babes were Zanpakuto? Well, I guess the Zanpakuto Rebellion arc prepared me for this. Wait, what about Mera? Is she one too? Is she Oh-Etsu's Zanpakuto ?

So Ichigo and Renji have to challenge a bunch of Asauchi, Zanpakuto that haven't been imbued with enough personal Spiritual Power to take on their personal identities? Piece of cake, I'm sure they'll complete it in no time .

And then...three days later and in a post-credit scene, Renji has passed...but Ichigo has utterly failed. And with that failure he gets called out for not being a Soul Reaper, Zangetsu is still left in pieces, and he gets kicked out back to the world of the living. Pretty dark way to end the episode, but Oh-Etsu's point seems to be Ichigo can't move forward until he truly understands himself and his background after the revelations he received from Yhwach, and he arrives in front of the Kurosaki Clinic just so he can ask the one person who can give him some answers. Isshin has some explaining to do .

Holy crud, Sayaka Ohara reprising Masaki Kurosaki in the next episode preview !

[MAX_COLA_POWER!]

Originally Posted by Frontier

We now return to the vicious and violent confrontation between Kenpachi's! Zaraki and Unohana are going at it like savages and Fumihiko Tachiki and Aya Hisakawa are absolutely killing it vocally as much as the animators are at animating this bout !

With the revelation about Unohana, that she had her old squad round up the gangs around the Soul Society so she could kill them to find a worthy opponent isn't all that surprising...but then you get a surprise pile of bodies and a boy with a sword looking for the same, and Unohana finally finds what she'd been looking for in this boy. Someone who could fight her as an equal and surpass her, even if her own weakness is why he suppressed himself so as to not finish the fight .

So Unohana only mastered healing arts so she could prolong the fight she enjoyed? I guess that checks out. In fact she thinks the only way to bring out Kenpachi's full power from his self-imposed limits is to continually kill him and then heal/revive him, which Kenpachi writes off as blackouts. Can this fight get any more metal ?

Wait, I stand corrected. Unohana's Bankai literally summons up pools of blood and turns her blade into a blood sword that can lash out at opponents and heal her as she slices them up. That...that is probably the perfect Bankai for a Kenpachi that moonlighted as a healer .

But eventually all those deathly experiences re-awakens Kenpachi's true power and he...slays Unohana. Like, yeah, it looks like they actually killed Unohana off to unleash the true Kenpachi. But I guess all she wanted to fight him one last time and to see him take his rightful place as the true ideal of what it means to be a Kenpachi, even if it leaves Kenpachi reeling from the death of someone he respected and idolized so much. Not to mention how Isane will take it. But at least Unohana died happy .

And this hasn't just awakened Kenpachi's true power, he can finally hear the voice of his Zanpakuto! And she sounds...surprisingly serene! Although of course they cut it off before we can actually hear her name, although now that Kenpachi knows her name, does that mean he can use Shikai !?

We now return to Ichigo and Renji's training arc (with Kon) and...a Engrish spouting, hammy, and ridiculous dude named Oh-Etsu and the hot babes who populate his area. Kon is in heaven !

Poor Ichigo and Renji are so done with these eccentric people and the stuff they make them do .

All those hot babes were Zanpakuto? Well, I guess the Zanpakuto Rebellion arc prepared me for this. Wait, what about Mera? Is she one too? Is she Oh-Etsu's Zanpakuto ?

So Ichigo and Renji have to challenge a bunch of Asauchi, Zanpakuto that haven't been imbued with enough personal Spiritual Power to take on their personal identities? Piece of cake, I'm sure they'll complete it in no time .

And then...three days later and in a post-credit scene, Renji has passed...but Ichigo has utterly failed. And with that failure he gets called out for not being a Soul Reaper, Zangetsu is still left in pieces, and he gets kicked out back to the world of the living. Pretty dark way to end the episode, but Oh-Etsu's point seems to be Ichigo can't move forward until he truly understands himself and his background after the revelations he received from Yhwach, and he arrives in front of the Kurosaki Clinic just so he can ask the one person who can give him some answers. Isshin has some explaining to do .

Holy crud, Sayaka Ohara reprising Masaki Kurosaki in the next episode preview !

Funny thing, you're probably wondering why Yachiru's Shikai and Bankai have the same name instead of changing to either having an additional title or a completely different name. Both Minazuki names are written differently in both forms, Shikai Minazuki (肉雫唼) meaning Flesh Drops' Gorge, the giant cyclops manta whose stomach acid can heal anyone, and Bankai Minazuki (皆尽) meaning All Things' End, which we saw today. I liked the symbolism of the blood being like actual corrosive acid that looked like it melted both of them literally. Also, I did not expect Kenpachi's Zanpakuto to sound so soothing, I was expecting the voice to sound distorted to be honest. Still good though.

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by MAX_COLA_POWER!

Funny thing, you're probably wondering why Yachiru's Shikai and Bankai have the same name instead of changing to either having an additional title or a completely different name. Both Minazuki names are written differently in both forms, Shikai Minazuki (肉雫唼) meaning Flesh Drops' Gorge, the giant cyclops manta whose stomach acid can heal anyone, and Bankai Minazuki (皆尽) meaning All Things' End, which we saw today. I liked the symbolism of the blood being like actual corrosive acid that looked like it melted both of them literally. Also, I did not expect Kenpachi's Zanpakuto to sound so soothing, I was expecting the voice to sound distorted to be honest. Still good though.

I was thinking to myself "where's my elaborate Japanese Bankai name" ?

[Kanon]

They did justice to this fight, and made Unohana's bankai less confusing. Geez, did nobody ever teach Unohana that when you first use your bankai, you have to do an infodump about its abilities?

Anyway, farewell, captain Mommy. She died happy knowing she corrected her mistake and nurtured the ultimate fighter. Wonder if whoever voice Kenpachi's zanpakuto was credited or not.

Nimaiya's voice doesn't fit him at all IMO. Not what I had in mind. They changed Ichigo's sarcastic joke about the ladies probably being dudes to them being illusions, because I guess that would be too problematic in 2022

Fitting to have Sayaka Ohara voice Masaki but... she actually already voiced her in 2004/2005? That must have been one of her very first MILF roles she is now famous for.

[Gerard07]

Having seen the chapter, Unohana vs. Kenpanchi ended with the victory of the latter (and now he knows the name of his sword), Ichigo and Renji got into a fight to fix their swords and Renji passed, while Ichigo didn't and he's going to have to learn "from their roots", to wait for the next chapter.

[sayde]

Originally Posted by Kanon

They did justice to this fight, and made Unohana's bankai less confusing. Geez, did nobody ever teach Unohana that when you first use your bankai, you have to do an infodump about its abilities?

This.

Honestly, with how much added content we've gotten sprinkled throughout the anime, I was really hoping that would be among one of them. Sure, the animation made things more clear but I'm dumb and like things spelled out for me in black and white terms. Because there were still moments of the fight where I was left trying to distinguish what was an effect of her bankai and what was just visual symbolism.

Top notch animation and choreography though.

[FlareKnight]

I kind of respect that Unohana just let her Bankai speak for itself. Mostly since she knows she isn't surviving this so there's no point explaining it. And it's not like Zaraki cares about the info dump either . It just looks cool. Though I agree seeing it in animation and colour probably does make it less confusing than the manga.

I loved that showdown. Mostly since it was just really fun. Unohana pushing and pushing as far as she could. Taking Zaraki to near death repeatedly before healing him and keeping the fight going. Helping bring him back to what he was and what he can be. And that fits with him effectively showing a childish response of not wanting her to die and losing an opponent like this.

[sayde]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

I kind of respect that Unohana just let her Bankai speak for itself. Mostly since she knows she isn't surviving this so there's no point explaining it. And it's not like Zaraki cares about the info dump either

Not about to disagree with any of that. Just felt like stating that inner thought monologues feel so heavily underutilized when it comes to things like this.

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by sayde

This.

Honestly, with how much added content we've gotten sprinkled throughout the anime, I was really hoping that would be among one of them. Sure, the animation made things more clear but I'm dumb and like things spelled out for me in black and white terms. Because there were still moments of the fight where I was left trying to distinguish what was an effect of her bankai and what was just visual symbolism.

Top notch animation and choreography though.

Considering how involved Kubo is with this adaption and what they're expanding/adding, I'm tempted to think this is probably the closest realization of his vision or what he was drawing at the time.