Bleach episode 23 review
All Ichigo wants to do is fight Ganju, his new rival. At one point, Uryu has to try to drag him out instead of waiting for Ganju to come back. Yoruichi then makes it sharply clear (by claws) that there is no time to waste, because Rukia will be executed sooner rather than later.
So Ichigo & pals go to Kukaku Shiba, only to be shocked when it turns out that not only is she a woman, but she’s sister to Ganju! And that leads to a huge battle between Ichigo and Ganju, where the two beat each other up for 10 minutes, destroying Kukaku’s house in the process.
But the subtler moments of this episode were the best ones. First, there’s Renji leading Rukia to the repentance cell, telling her that intruders have entered the Soul Society. Rukia reacts strongly to this, while not saying a word. This is a big hint that Renji has already turned to be on her side, or even more accurately, that he never was against her from the beginning. I’m telling you, RenRuki was canon since Season 1.
The other subtle moment is when Renji runs into Squad 5 Captain Sosuke Aizen. Glasses Aizen asks Renji if he thinks it’s fair all the bad stuff that’s happening to Rukia. He then says something about one person being behind all of this. You miss it the first time it happens, but watching it now, you’re like “oh, that’s so obvious that he’s the villain!” Kind of like a Survivor player flat-out telling you that they’re going to win the season.
Lots of good stuff going on here. Orihime thinking a dalmatian is a cat, Yoruichi still pretending to be a cat, and all kinds of funny stuff between Ichigo, Uryu, Ganju, and Kukaku. Just a fun episode, but with those subtle moments making you realize that there’s something bigger going on here.
Best girl of the episode: Kukaku Shiba
Episode rating: 8/10
Tommy A. Phillips 