Score: A-

Now this is really feeling like a war. Yhwach can talk tough, but it’s clear that things are a great deal more interesting now than they were before. The Quincy are still powerful and activating their Quincy: Vollständig will obviously help them in these fights. But the Soul Reapers have finally found their footing and are clearly starting to get reinforcements into this fight. It’s not nearly the kind of slaughter it was looking to be a few episodes ago. The only things I’m curious about is how many people will show up to help and if Ichigo will get to participate in all this?

Getting weird vibes here!

I’m honestly glad that things are looking better than I expected. The idea of things just instantly turning after Hitsugaya and Soi Fon got their hits in felt wrong. So, I’m relieved to see that their opponents were suffering from the damage they took. Now it’s a bit too bad that the two Captains couldn’t kill their opponents, but they at least made it an even trade. I don’t see either Hitsugaya or Soi Fon participating any further in this fight, but they at least did enough. Right now, Ishida is avoiding conflict by basically being the Quincy rescue service. Too bad for Bambi he didn’t find time to get to her though…

Honestly, I’m not sure what is going to happen to that girl. She sure didn’t seem happy to see her “friends” though. Though I suppose after they ran off only to show up after she was defeated…it wouldn’t exactly be a touching reunion anyways. But I honestly don’t know what they are going to do to her. Maybe I’ve seen too many shows but…they aren’t going to eat her right? Not sure why I feel the need to ask if the Quincy are cannibals, but that was as creepy a rescue as I’ve seen in a while.

Being a hot head cost her!

Speaking of what happened to Bambi though, we got quite the fight from Komamura. The dude gave absolutely everything to avenging Yamamoto. It’s quite sad though that all his sacrifice didn’t get him a fight against the person he was seeking out. It was a good fight he put on and taking down Bambi will make things safer for others. No question he did a great job and made the most of the condition he’d put himself in. If he was basically a zombie then there was no need to play defensively. He could just tank every big hit that Bambi threw out until he finally swatted her like a pesky fly. The horrified expression on Bambi’s face when realizing there wasn’t a thing she could do to defeat Komamura was intense. This girl lives with her expressions directly reflecting how she’s feeling. She picked the wrong fight!

One could say of course that Komamura also picked the wrong fight. He was a walking contradiction. He sacrificed everything to gain more power to get revenge on Yhwach. But he also stopped to rescue Shinji and eventually Hinamori (glad to see she hasn’t gotten herself killed yet). If he hadn’t stopped to fight Bambi he probably could have made his way to Yhwach and fought him with basically an immortal body. But instead he was good person and protected his friends and comrades. And he paid a high price for that.

He gave everything for this

That Elder is a total scumbag. He absolutely played Komamura. Of course, trusting a guy like that was Komamura’s own fault. It was clear that Elder didn’t care about anything or anyone but himself. If he was willing to teach Komamura something it had to have a high price to it. In the end Komamura fell to a need for revenge the same way Tosen did. But that didn’t make those that took advantage of them blameless in all this. That scummy beast took advantage of Komamura’s need and continued to fuel his existence off it.

Sadly, there’s no time to go after that guy and no way to communicate what happened. The only saving grace is that Komamura’s Vice-Captain arrived on the scene to carry him out of there. But it’s not like they have any known way to change him back from that beast form. This can be called another loss for the Soul Reapers even if technically Komamura is still alive.

Toppled by wrestling

There’s a price to pay for hesitation. We already know that Ikaku can use Bankai, but he’s been stubborn about letting anyone know it. I do understand his love for being in Squad 11 and following Kenpachi. But this is a situation where they might have all died because he held back. He may honestly be fine with dying as a member of Squad 11 instead of living and getting promoted to another Squad if not to become a Captain. But it does mean trouble for everyone else.

This guy wasn’t even using his Quincy: Vollständig. He’s just stubborn and hard to put down. They had a great chance earlier, but they couldn’t win the fight. One could say that a trio of guys at or below Vice Captain rank holding this guy up was an impressive feat. But we can’t really say that since Ikaku using his Bankai and Yumichika using his real shikai could have done more. Who knows if they could win, but they never even forced their opponent to give everything he had.

Stern but kind

Thank goodness for some very kind Captains. Backup has arrived and just in time. And while Shinji may have forgotten about his Vizard powers, maybe Kensei and Rojuro will remember! At the very least they seem ready to put up a good fight. Hopefully they can handle the goofy and yet physically powerful foe they have been set up against. On the positive side they can freely use their Bankai and that should give them a legitimate shot at winning here. Though I could see the Mask man being the kind of idiot that surprisingly overpowers even good tactics.

Speaking of Shinji…man they really took him out of things in a hurry. Though him being too cocky isn’t entirely shocking. He should have finished his fight when he had the chance. But regardless he really should have busted out the mask when things were looking questionable. A good cero to the face might have gotten him an edge in that fight.

It’s almost Ichigo time!

So that was another good episode. There’s not much to say about the standoff between Haschwalth and Shunsui. They just had a chat for a while and he eventually went back. Probably to stay beside Yhwach while Ishida was moving about for his rescue mission. Ichigo’s situation finally moved forward a bit! The poor guy got through that passage, but he probably must deal with at least one more challenge before he can go and help his friends! I’m getting a creepy feeling that they are trying to turn Ichigo into a new Soul King or something for him to possess. But regardless, he’s got to keep going.

I’m willing to bet the lights arriving on the battlefield were Renji and Rukia. We didn’t see any more of their training, but it would make some sense. Rukia was shown in the OP and that gives the impression that she’ll be in this fight. Plus, they were technically above Soul Society so they could be dropped down into the fight like this. I don’t think it will be Byakuya since he seemed more ready to start trying to surpass himself, not rush onto the battlefield. But regardless, we’ll find out what is up soon! This fight isn’t going to wrap up in an episode or two.