Score: A

We’re really settling into the current fights which aren’t necessarily going great for the protagonists. But you can see how the battles are developing. The only battle that didn’t really change all that much was Ishida’s fight. Ishida and Haschwalth are mostly just talking at each other. They are still fighting, but it’s only a bit of progress here and there. In a sense they are handling talking about the stakes while Ichigo is more about the fighting. So that works out.

Ichigo is just going for it

I do like the battle we’re seeing with Ichigo and Inoue vs Yhwach. The fight is just ramping up, but it’s one that is delivering quite a bit of damage. Ichigo is able to keep going because he’s regularly getting patched up by Inoue. But she’s taking quite a few hits too. The one thing it does show is their respective trust and willingness to stand for each other. It’s a great battle for a shounen main couple. Not often do you get your main ship actually working together like this. It’s a bit scary and thankfully Yhwach’s attacks aren’t like throwing swords around (he’s definitely pulling his punches). But none of that takes away from how good it is to see these two cooperating.

This is going to be cool!

The great thing is that it’s all building up to something. Part of me definitely had a moment of going “Ichigo…it’s been a long time since you gained these new swords…where’s the Bankai!?” And part of me still feels that way. But I also get it. Yhwach somewhat covers it. There’s a worry about what Yhwach might do or how he might take advantage of Ichigo going all out. So he presumes Ichigo is just trying to win by holding back. But we see it’s a bit more complicated. He’s clearly got a play in mind. Trying to…wake up White during the battle. This is a new status quo for Ichigo and technically only the Old Man Zangetsu actively disappeared when he got his new sword.

There’s so much to read into that last scene for Ichigo. Presumably he’s awakened White which is bringing him halfway to that Vasto Lorde mode he unleashed against Ulquiorra. In a sense…that’s brilliant. Hollow powers do seem to have an advantage/effectiveness against Quincy powers. Plus that power was so insane that Ichigo absolutely stomped Ulquiorra! If he can tap into even some of that power on top of how much stronger he is right now…that could turn the tides of this fight a bit. Plus I think it’s just cool to see the sword turning white.

Best Inoue fight by far!

Major props still for Inoue in this episode. She really took some hits and kept on fighting. Again, they weren’t hugely lethal hits, but she still had to really fight. Yhwach always has something snarky to say. Like Ichigo’s powers are partly Quincy so she’s not completely able to reject his attacks. Which I mean…would imply she can’t completely reject any attacks since Ichigo is a mixture of basically every power in that universe! It was just nice seeing her really dig deep to try and heal and protect. Still too bad we don’t hear from her little faeries, but that’s fine. The action itself was good and Inoue really proved that she’s able to stand in this fight alongside Ichigo.

Good to have him back

The other major fight is against one of the last of the major enemies. Gerard is a real pain in the rear. I know that miracles and all that can be troublesome for villains to deal with. But this guy is just absurd. And he’s talking about miracles so much I half expected Carol to cross over from the Symphogear universe to annihilate this jerk! You do damage and he regenerates and gets bigger. You damage his freaking sword and it does massive damage to the person that did it. Yeah, just avoid the sword, but it’s colossal! This guy is managing to hold up and avoid the issue that some villains have had. When you get a few Captains in the same fight, they start bickering, and just unleashing hell on the poor villain that just wants to fight them. Gerard’s powers are so insane you can’t ignore him.

But it does make for a crazy team-up. You have Hitsugaya, Byakuya, and Kenpachi! There’s been many a bickering battle with Kenpachi and Byakuya considering how different they are. But kind of funny to throw Hitsugaya into the mix. The guy’s complex over his height making things a bit hilarious. But it’s clear that Byakuya is trying to hold back any rude comments. He just can’t avoid looking like he’s thinking them! It’ll be interesting to see how this goes. Byakuya got stronger when he was saved. Kenpachi has his shikai (RIP the universe if he gets Bankai), and Hitsugaya has been restored, but he’s running out of time on his bankai.

I want to see them obliterate this guy!

This was just another epic episode for Bleach. The final battles are likely to stretch out until the very end. The major ones that will change the status quo are with Ichigo and with Ishida. If one of them wins any number of crazy consequences could emerge. The episode focused on those consequences with the Yhwach fight. How Ichibe likely is intending for Ichigo to replace the Soul King. It is something to worry about since that kind of sacrifice would be near eternal. But at the same time…Ichigo is right. If he can’t defeat Yhwach he can’t protect anything that’s important to him. Beating this psycho is the first priority. Figuring out the aftermath can be done…once there’s room to breathe.