Score: A-

This episode just shows how tough things are going to be. Neither Ichigo or Ishida are in a good place and their chances of winning feels remote at best. This whole arc really has been about Yhwach being this overwhelming force and that’s even truer now. It’s honestly a bit crazy to see this guy getting stronger when he hasn’t really suffered any losses. Yes, he did lose in the distant past and has been tricked here and there. But he was already overwhelmingly powerful and it’s not getting any easier!

Rough time for Ichigo

In some ways I’m really glad they did go this direction with Ichigo’s mother. He never got that win against the Hollow that killed her. Despite how core that loss was to his origins. To change that did require changing the nature of her death, but that was the right call. Now the last enemy of this series (maybe) will be the guy truly responsible for her death. That’s both a good thing for giving Ichigo the chance to avenge her, but it does create a massive weakness. We saw it in the fight all the way back in the early days of the show. When it comes to the death of his mother…Ichigo loses his focus and his cool. Fighting smart and thinking goes out the window and it becomes a battle to make that person pay!

And we could see it near the end of this episode. Ichigo was fighting with his top blown off and even Yhwach was trying to get him to think more clearly! And this guy apparently just wants to kill Ichigo and probably absorb his powers. Because why not get even more powerful? But apparently that won’t be good enough if Ichigo isn’t fighting rationally.

Absolute madman

Yhwach must win the narcissist award! This guy truly thinks everything is about and centered around him. And he thought this kind of thing before he basically took the seat of god! Ichigo is his son. He truly believes that because Ichigo is the son of a Quincy. You are not his father! But in his mind it’s all him. Isshin was just a stand-in parent. Sure he’s actually Ichigo’s dad, but that’s such a minor thing compared to Yhwach! But of course what would drive Ichigo crazy would be him talking about his mother like that! She should be happy to have died for Yhwach’s sake after fulfilling her role of birthing Ichigo? Yeah, no surprise Ichigo lost his cool.

I am very worried

Nothing worries me more than scenes like the start of this episode! Don’t be giving Inoue introspective flashbacks right now! I don’t want her getting killed! Their opponent is dangerous enough that I do need to worry about that. Thankfully Yhwach’s focus is on Ichigo and he doesn’t seem to be targeting Inoue as much. He seems fine with having her there as an extra source of defense for Ichigo in this fight. Probably because it means he won’t win too quickly. Inoue is always such an interesting character since her powers are still very unexplained despite how insanely powerful they are. Her healing alone is on the next level of power. Her defense did a good job in this episode which is impressive. Sadly her one attacking move…will just never be used ever. I also miss them giving her faeries presence. They are now just a silent power.

Didn’t see that coming!

Kind of funny that I talked about all that while there were other fights going on. This was really about Urahara’s fight. He took over at the end of the last episode and Askin didn’t make it easy for him. He basically created a hellish prison and was simply too dangerous an opponent. Every move was an attempt to pin down Urahara and leave him no way out. But that simply wasn’t enough. Not against Urahara. Bankai was ironically not the most important thing here. It was valuable for keeping Urahara in the fight of course. But he didn’t simply win by blasting his opponent with a badass bankai. He used it to set his path to victory and made use of everything he could. And that includes the Arrancar. Grimmjow went out stupidly, but Urahara picked him up and let him have one more chance.

And one chance was all that was needed. Urahara steered the fight along until Grimmjow could rush Askin without any mercy and rip his freaking heart out! Yes, the cost of that hit them later, but it was a fantastically brutal blow. Urahara was even thinking far enough ahead to have Nel on standby to get them out. Clearly it’s going to take a lot out of her to rescue him, Grimmjow, Yoruichi, and her brother. But that will take care of the issue. Truly the scariest thing about Urahara is that he is the type that actually tries to plan for every possible issue. He didn’t know that he’d need those two, but it was possible so he prepared for that.

The fight does look cool

This was another good episode. A lot going on and things aren’t getting easier. There was one more fight to talk about. Ishida’s fight is visually fun, but there’s not much to say there yet. He’s fighting someone that can see the future and that’s difficult! But there’s not much else to say there. I do wish Ishida the best since it’s clearly going to be hard to actually win his particular fight. And these aren’t the only fights going on. The Vizards started to make their move at the end of the last season and I’m sure we’ll get more of them and Hitsugaya. They gave him the preview lines and you know that he’ll be doing something.