Score: A-

It’s no surprise that the Soul Reapers are having a bad time. While trying to cover for their losses is an honorable idea, it’s just trying to cover for their losses. It’s not like they have any choice of course. They can’t just go to the store and get new Bankais. But this also shows why it didn’t matter that the Quincy revealed that they could steal Bankais at the start. Because by effectively sealing away the ability to use Bankai…they’ve kind of won already. Outside of Kenpachi or Yamamoto (RIP) I’m not sure if there is a Soul Reaper that can beat these guys without using Bankai.

Nothing is phasing him

Hopefully Urahara both has a plan to reclaim the stolen Bankai…and stop them from being repeatedly stolen! Also, I really hope that fix is something that can be instantly implemented since they really don’t have time to play around. Even with their Bankai this isn’t going to be super easy. For better or worse the Quncy have prepared thoroughly for this. They have stacked the deck utterly here. Makes sense in a war to do that, but it’s still a tough thing to watch.

Got to hope that all these events aren’t within expectations. Obviously, some of them were and that’s why Haschwalth is so relaxed. I’d think the Soul Reapers getting their Bankai back and being able to freely use them wouldn’t be expected though. We didn’t see them bring it up at the meeting (although that doesn’t mean they didn’t). If he expects even that then we really are walking into another villain that just knows everything and is never having to adapt to setbacks. It’d be nice to see the Stern Ritter struggle a bit. Right now, everything is pretty darn easy.

She was looking good

I kind of feel bad for Soi Fon. She’s one of the captains that should be struggling the least with not being able to use her Bankai. Her Bankai kind of sucks outside of niche circumstances. If she’s got a lot of support, then firing a bit rocket can be handy. But it’s not for 1v1 battles. So, nothing should be changing here for her. But she’s still getting wrecked which just shows that her base abilities just aren’t where they need to be. The ideal for her is to catch up with Yoruichi. Although we don’t really know how she’d handle all this either since she hasn’t had to fight this arc. But Soi Fon should be just a powerful hand to hand combat force. But she’s just not able to deliver enough damage right now.

This guy is a problem

Things aren’t going particularly well for Hitsugaya either, but I kind of expected that. He’s just one of those characters that the story tends to kick around because it’s impactful seeing a “kid” getting beat up. Most of the time he appears to be struggling against his opponents. It was just even worse in this case since his hands were tied after losing his Bankai. It’s true that the abilities between his Shikai and Bankai are similar but losing that sense of scale is huge. Even if he could go all out he’d probably still have a tough time against this opponent. But without his Bankai it just isn’t even fair.

It’s all the worse against Bazz-B. I’m not sure there’s a worse elemental matchup for Hitsugaya than facing someone using fire. The water matchup in the past was certainly interesting, but you could at least argue that it favoured Hitsugaya in a few ways. But against this guy? The best he can do is try to block extremely strong flames. Obviously, it’s nothing compared to Yamamoto’s heat, but that doesn’t mean he stands a chance here. At least he’s not dead, but he’s going to need that trick to steal back his Bankai since otherwise there’s just nothing to do.

Yeah, I’d run from this

It’s a sad day when the main win the Soul Reapers had was Mayuri forcing the Quincy to back off. I really wonder this guy can predict Mayuri to a level needed to simulate a winning path. That mad scientist is truly insane. How on Earth can this guy simulate anything against someone that basically reworks their entire combat style each time they fight? At most Mayuri messes with his own body and experiments, but those experiments tend to be different each time. Who knows though? The Quincy are on a roll right now. I can’t exactly bet against them when they have been on the attack this entire time. And I suppose one of the last defeats for Mayuri was against Ishida…

Ichigo walking and providing fanservice

They really could use Ichigo right now! Too bad he’s busy…walking. Obviously, he’s being put through some kind of serious trial where the most he can do is keep walking forward. Whatever is happening will probably change him on some fundamental level. He doesn’t appear to be close to finishing though. He probably can’t leave that path until he’s cleared some kind of critical point. The path will just keep extending onwards until he changes in whatever way is required or he proves himself in some way. It kind of sucks since they really don’t have time for this, but such is. I think Ichigo could do plenty if he went back as he is, but I guess he couldn’t get a complete win that way.

The Quincy are winning all the battles presently

This was a solid episode. It continued the trend of further cornering the Soul Reapers. Guess we’ll see if things can turn around a little bit. Because right now it’s just a bad position for them to be in. They can’t really overcome the hurdle that the Stern Ritter present. I guess this episode did handle how we’ll avoid testing Ishida’s loyalty. Just have him be the one to hang out with Yhwach. If he’s just sitting around then Ishida doesn’t have to fight anyone right now. Now it’s not unreasonable currently. Ishida might not have fully gained the power up Yhwach gave him and has no experience fighting with it. So, it makes sense to have him stand around for now. But it just also works if Ishida is planning something. Next week should be interesting though. The status quo might change here.