So, everyone gets split up. Uryu ends up with Orihime (but not like that!). Chad ends up all by his lonesome, which is so on-brand for him. Cat-form Yoruichi lands somewhere else, and then there’s Ichigo and Ganju, hugging it out till the very end, when they arrive where Ikkaku Madarame and Yumichika I-Can’t-Spell-His-Last-Name show up. Yumichika takes on Ganju, while Ichigo goes at it with Ikkaku.
The battle between Ichigo and Ikkaku is actually the less fun one of the two. Watching Ganju use his special powers and seeing Yumichika’s great expressions in reaction are some of the best parts of this episode. The only bad thing? We don’t really get much of a Best Girl here. Orihime wins by default for helping SAVE the Quincy Uryu with her Rejection power.
Best Girl of the episode: Orihime (9, which ties her with Rukia)
So, it has come to this. Ichigo & pals are being blasted into the Seireitei, while the Captains wrap up their meeting and all get ready for battle. Most of the episode is even more tomfoolery between Ichigo and Ganju, with a little bit of humor from cat-form Yoruichi thrown in. The one scene of note? Screenshotted above. Man, we should’ve seen Aizen as the villain a long time coming.
Yachiru joins Kenpachi, and it’s sad to see her knowing her muscles get turned to cookies by that evil Gremmy. Actually, Yachiru’s fate was still unknown when we left off TYBW, so we’ll wait on that for the moment. For now, it’s Kenpachi at his best – wanting to fight the strongest intruder. Can Yachiru help him find him?
Ichigo and Ganju dominated this episode so much that it’s hard to even pick a Best Girl. But I’m going with the pink-haired one.
We get our first look at the full Gotei 13, or at least 12 of ’em. The Squad 13 Captain is missing, which would lead you to believe that he’s very important (he’s not). The rest of them are mad at Squad 3 Captain Gin Ichimaru for letting Ichigo get away. Before they can finish their meeting, an alarm goes off: the Ryoka are coming in!
Much of this episode centers around more tomfoolery with Kukaku, Ganju, and Ichigo. But Orihime and Ichigo share a brief, poignant moment that further strengthens my case for IchiHime going back all the way to the early episodes. Orihime offers to stay with him as he trains instead of eating, and Ichigo is highly polite in asking Orihime to go and eat while he trains. Normally, Ichigo would tell someone to screw off in that situation. Not here. Another seed has been planted for the enormous tree of IchiHime.
Soi Fon got one line, and I think it was two words long. My favorite Captain may have shown up, but she will not win Best Girl this time.
Best girl of the episode: Kukaku (2) (yes, I thought her tomfoolery with Ichigo and Ganju was rather hilarious)
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.
Tommy A. Phillips 