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

Bleach Thousand Year Blood War episode 16 review

So, how are the Captains going to fight if they have their Bankai stolen and now being used against them, as in Toshiro’s case? Easy! Just have Kisuke give everyone senzu beans/food pills, and their Bankai is automatically restored! This is about as disappointing a way of resolving this issue as I can imagine. Had each one of the Captains had to get stronger and overpower their Bankai in order to steal it back, I would be on the edge of my seat. As it is, I still kind of am on the edge of my seat, but I feel as if this magic pill that gives back Bankai is a contrived plot device because Tite Kubo painted himself into a corner.

But never fear! The Soul Society is already in shambles. Why not have a character who can set off a nuclear explosion at any second? And I’m not talking about Soi Fon, who seemingly defeats her foe by using her newly-regained Bankai with a mushroom cloud. I’m talking about this Stern Ritter, whose name I don’t know yet, who seemingly is beaten by Squad 5 new Captain Shinji, but then lets off an atomic bomb and causes what presumably Yhwach describes as “despair.” Okay, good, let’s have no hope left for the Soul Society and have everything come down to Ichigo. It’ll make for bad television and even worse fandom, but sure, let’s boil this thing down to Ichigo vs. Yhwach/Uryu. Come on.

The trouble with the Stern Ritters is that I have no idea what any of their names are, and barely anything about their personalities. To be a good villain, I’ve got to get to know you. And not only do I not know them, some of them seem dead before I can even remember their names. So, I’m not a big fan of the opposition of this arc of Bleach. Even the Bount arc had better villains than this. Yet, I’m still watching these episodes intently, because this is still the best Bleach since the Soul Society.

Best girl of the episode: Soi Fon (5), for that awesome scene where she uses her Bankai once again

Episode rating: 8/10