Bleach Thousand Year Blood War episode 20 review

Oh, my, where to start? This has to be one of the greatest Bleach episodes of all time. Kenpachi vs. Gremmy, a Sternritter who can create anything simply by imagining it. So he lets his imagination run wild, and he comes up with every last thing he can think of to beat Kenpachi. And every time, Kenpachi proves to be too strong.

He tries drowning, stabbing, shooting Kenpachi, even creating a giant meteor that would destroy the whole Soul Society. None of it works, because… well, I’d like to say because Kenpachi is Kenpachi, but truth be told, Gremmy is the stronger warrior here. The problem for Gremmy is that he himself imagined Kenpachi to be unbeatable, and his own imagination causes him to lose!

There is a flashback of how Kenpachi met Yachiru, and this is perfect. Why? Because the addition of a sad flashback in this episode makes you think for sure Kenpachi’s going to die. Instead, Kenpachi just keeps beating everything Gremmy throws at him. But Gremmy remains defiant, and absolutely nuts. He’s got to be one of my favorite villains. He’s a guy you love to hate. And you enjoy every last time Kenpachi fights right through his attacks and comes out on top.

In short, this may have been the greatest battle in Bleach history. Kenpachi wins, Gremmy loses, but we all win. What an episode.

Best girl of the episode: Yachiru Kusajishi

Episode rating: 10/10

Bleach Thousand Year Blood War episode 19 review

We get 2 or 3 Big “WHAT”s in this episode, which means Bleach is back! But what’s more important is that we get to see Rukia and her big brother Byakuya fighting against the Sternritter. Rukia uses an attack where she drops her body temperature lower than possible to live, so she claims that she’s “dead,” and she uses that to attack the Sternritter. He in turn uses an attack of his own that looks like it’ll kill Rukia, until suddenly big bro arrives on the scene. But Byakuya doesn’t play the part of knight in shining armor. Sure, he saves Rukia from death, but then he lets Rukia pull out her Bankai and use it to exterminate the Sternritter. All this, and I don’t know his name.

At the end, Isane Kotetsu from Squad 4 and Yachiru Kusajishi of Squad 11 get attacked by a Quincy of some sort. Which one of these beloved characters will be killed off for the sake of killing someone off? We’ll find out. As long as it wasn’t one of the Kuchikis.

Best girl of the episode: Rukia (3)

Episode rating: 8/10

Bleach Thousand Year Blood War episode 18 review

The first half of this episode was an absolute snoozefest. That’s because it was all about the Captains of Squad 3 and Squad 9. Those numbers should ring a bell, as those are two of the three whose Captains betrayed the Soul Society. So, they got replaced – but not by their Lieutenants, which would have been really cool. No, they got replaced by some of the characters that appeared late in the original anime. They’re all men, and they have mostly no personality, with the exception of Squad 3 Captain, who at least shows some sort of difference between himself and Squad 9 Captain.

So, those guys fight and get beaten. But who shows up? RenRuki! That’s right, my third-favorite couple in Bleach (behind IchiHime and YoruHara) are here to join the fray. Rukia, of course, is reduced to simply picking up the two defeated Captains and trying to get them to safety. Renji, on the other hand, is in a battle… and actually wins! He defeats James, the boxing Stern Ritter. (Or is it Sternritter?) In any case, Renji learned the name of his Bankai from the guy who came up with all the names for the Soul Society, and now he’s able to fully use his Bankai. He beats James and beats him good. A lot more satisfying than if Squad 3 or 9 Captains had beaten him. (By the way, if you’re going to kill off Captains, kill off those guys. No one really cares about them anyway.)

Best girl of the episode: Rukia (2)

Episode rating: 7/10

Bleach Thousand Year Blood War episode 17 review

Sajin Komamura proved to be too much like Kaname Tosen, a fellow Captain who had a one-track mind. In Komamura’s mind, all that mattered was revenge, specifically revenge for Old Man Yamamoto. So he uses his powers of his clan to turn into a human, who promptly dies fighting one of the Stern Ritters. Of course, he had to kill off the most interesting of the Stern Ritters, in fact the only one who had any personality up to this point. And now he’s dead, so our furry friend is gone. Pour one out for Sajin Komamura.

But there’s a new Stern Ritter who has some personality! That’s boxing guy. Boxing guy hears the bell, and he awakens. He then wipes out Shuhei Hisagi, Ikkaku, and Yumichika in one fell blow. But not to worry! New Captain of Squad 9 arrives so we can have a one-on-one battle! I was personally hoping that Shuhei would actually do something for the first time in Bleach history, but apparently not even now will he get some much-needed character development. He remains just the guy with the number 69 on his face.

Best girl of the episode: Momo Hinamori (who Sajin protected from getting killed)

Episode rating: 7/10