Score: A

Bleach is so very much back! We are right into it now. The final part of this return to Bleach. Of course the stakes are as high as one would expect. The fate of three dimensions are on the line, the opponent is insanely powerful, and chances to come out on top are slim. The exact kind of circumstances that will make these final episodes all the more intense! There are so many fights still ongoing and set to get started. Part of me worries about 10 episodes (what’s with that this year?) but I’m not that worried. It’s Bleach. If they have 10 episodes to finish the story it’s because they only needed 10 episodes to finish the story.

That’s Soul Society’s ass!

This was such a fun episode to purely watch that I almost got lost on wanted to say! Just a treat getting back to Bleach and seeing it look this good! They are putting it all into this Blood War arc and the final season is getting all that love. Just watching Yoruichi was a treat. And yes for all the reasons you could imagine! At times I feel like they’ve held back a bit with this final arc. But maybe with this being the last one is letting them go all out here. The title card for the episode being right on Yoruichi’s ass was gold. They were just going for it at every opportunity. And when she went into pure feral mode that was dangerous stuff! All the more so when Urahara was able to play with her like she was truly a cat. Love these two.

On the fighting side…wow! I get why she didn’t want to use it. Losing all control and going into a feral state is kind of scary. No telling what might happen while she’s not in control. But the power is undeniable! It wasn’t enough to win, but it was amazing to watch! The visual effects of that mode, the damage she was doing, it was all excellent. Yoruichi was a force of nature. Honestly if they were willing to let the fight end here…I wouldn’t have minded seeing Yoruichi rip this guy apart! Because in that state she was going to do that! Whether it was slicing open his shoulder area or almost clawing his face off! It was a spectacle to behold! Yoruichi didn’t win, but she didn’t really lose. Her body simply couldn’t keep going due to the damage she took before she entered this mode.

Well…you’re up!

This was (for now) the final arc for Bleach. Urahara was of course going to have to take on a guy who’s powers are all about disease and immunity. At least they made sure Yoruichi’s portion of this fight was epic and honestly no shame that she won’t be finishing it. Makes sense that Urahara was one of Yhwach’s top threats. His trickery and intelligence is a scary thing. Throughout the war Urahara has played his part in supporting things and helping his side out. He isn’t a straightforward powerhouse and has been caught by surprise. But if anyone has the tricks to create hell for Askin it’s him. And obviously we haven’t seen Urahara’s bankai yet either. So there’s no way this fight is ending until he busts that thing out.

I swear I didn’t forget about you!

I didn’t want to completely gloss over Ishida’s battle…but I mean the other fight was hard to ignore! We’re just getting started with Ishida vs Haschwalth. No surprise that this guy is going to be a serious threat and hard to deal with. Even if his ability to see the future isn’t completely perfect…that doesn’t mean it isn’t really close to that! Tough to even land a hit on a guy that can tell exactly what’s going to happen. Even with all the power that Ishida has acquired along the way…it’s not enough to make this fight anything close to easy. But in that sense it’s a classic Ishida fight. When on the side of good things are never easy for him! He’ll have to bust out every trick he can think of.

The tactical side of Ishida remains great to see though. He knows his opponent can see the future and in theory can attack from his blind spots. So he’s trying to fight from angles where he can’t be surprised. Not exactly easy to control the flow of the battle when the opponent can dodge everything, but it’s a good idea. But Haschwalth is so comfortable he feels free to monologue like crazy and basically tell Ishida exactly what the plan is for the world.

Absolute psycho

And everything is truly on the line here. If things keep going like this then each world is going to get wiped out and then Yhwach will basically create his evil empire. A singular world ruled by Quincy for Quincy. Well, that’s what he’s saying at least. The guy is both crazy and evil. I don’t think we can necessarily say that he’s told Haschwalth the truth about everything. But he might have since the guy thinks he’s seen the future where that all happens. Either way though, it’s horrifying. Will everyone and everything simply die? Will there be anything in that world besides Quincy? All that death, destruction, and hell so Yhwach can be a god king of a new world.

Let’s go!

This final season is going to be insane and should just keep hitting fast. We’ve got a few more major battles left and then it’s Ichigo vs Yhwach. And I’ve got to say Bleach delivered an excellent combination of OP and ED for this final part of the arc. You could say there’s a lot going on visually, but I liked the music and that frantic energy. It just reflects how much is going on and how everything is truly on the line here. The ED was also full of energy and just looked really nice. Showed off so many of the major players and what they are fighting for.

This was all I needed

There’s no doubt that I’m 100% in with this final season. It was the one show this year that I was almost certain to be covering! Just awesome to see Bleach return and the final arc has been an incredible journey. This arc definitely started strong and I hope it ends strong. We’re going to get to see I hope some of the best fights in the franchise. If they can give as much to the rest of the episodes as we saw here…then we are in excellent shape!