Bleach Thousand-Year Blood War E09 Review: Healing Palaces

Bleach, Thousand-Year Blood War, Episode 9: The Drop

I originally reviewed episode 8 and 9 together and... I don't deny that the episodes flow better as two episodes, and it does sound strange since I did bitch about stuff being cut out of 8, but they do kind of blur together thanks to their content, yeah? On the Soul King Palace, Ichigo just goes through the first and second palaces, joined by Renji for the trip. On the Soul Society, we get more setup for what the Gotei 13 are doing. 

Ichigo... well, we start off with the second half of Kirinji's palace, where Ichigo is held down by his two assistants and count to 100, and Ichigo almost manages 100. He's deemed healthy enough since he can tank a punch from Kirinji. Renji also stands up and demands to be let off, and Kirinji punches Renji too. With the two surviving the punch, Kirinji's goons launch the two of them into the next palace. And, of course, Kirinji notes that Ichigo is fast enough to react to his already lightning fast reflexes and break his arm during the split second that he punched him. 

There's a bit of a comedy moment as Ichigo and Renji argue about who has to absorb the impact of their fall, before Musccle!Kon shows up and breaks the fall for them. Kirio Hikifune shows up, and they're there to eat some food. There is, again, a fair bit more comedy this time around to contrast the dourness and solemnity of the post-invasion Soul Society. Renji trying to pretend to be a food critic with a caterpillar-looking dish, muscle Kon, the deadpan reaction of the three guys seeing Kirio Hikufune's hot slimmed-down form... which Ichigo actually takes note of, while Renji replies that they are recovering after a battle, and this is how they get back in shape before the payback against the Wandenreich. Pretty nice moment!

Hikifune also gives a bit of a backstory about how the selection for Squad Zero takes place -- they have to contribute something to the history of Soul Soceity, with hers being the Gikon. Very missed opportunity that they didn't take the chance to sneak in a line between her and Kon! The last we see of Ichigo and Renji in this episode is Hikifune sending the two of them to Nimaiya's palace.

And a good chunk of the focus of the Soul Society segment of this episode is initially Kyoraku, who is promoted into the role of Captain-Commander and the captain of the First Division. Central 46, the governing body of the Seireitei, starts to raise a fuss over... Kyoraku... wanting two vice-captains. Which I felt is particularly stupid because it really doesn't affect the day-to-day operations, but I guess politicians are going to politicize. Far more understandable is them being shocked at Kyoraku's decision to train Kenpachi properly. And... well, Kyoraku basically shuts them down with 'shut up, this is war, can you people even defend yourself?' and frankly I'm surprised with the devastation caused by the Sternritter invasion, the fact that no one in the Central 46 died is impressive. 

Anyway, the final parts of the episode is just focused on the Kenpachi and Unohana confrontation, where we get the revelation that, yes, Unohana is the first Kenpachi. There are a lot of neat moments as the two confront each other in the Muken below the Seireitei. There's a cool line where Kenpachi acknowledges that the two of them are only spared from being branded criminals due to their insane powers. There's the revelation that each other's prominent scars (with Unohana's being under her hair) are given by their one and only fight. And there's a cute scene where both Isane and Yachiru find a little memento from their captains in case they don't make it out. Unohana leaving a letter to Isane is understandable, but Kenpachi leaving behind his eyepatch for Yachiru is unexpectedly sweet. 

They clash, and it's a swift, brutal, and beautifully animated clash between the two. Unohana uses a little trick with a dagger, and Kenpachi gets pissed off for Unohana using cheap tricks. And Unohana reveals that it's not that she wants to use cheap tricks... it's that Kenpachi has grown so weak that he's full of openings for her to exploit now, meaning that he's grown weaker despite time. Kenpachi has a brief monologue of how his only joy in life is the thrill of battle, but actually cries when he realizes that he might very well die without ever getting to defeat Unohana. 

And Unohana kills Kenpachi, stabbing him through his throat... and then Kenpachi wakes up, seemingly fine, and Unohana just charges back in, forcing him to focus on the battle with the intention of making Kenpachi stronger by removing all the mental blocks he has placed upon himself. 

Not super eventful of an episode, but that Unohana/Kenpachi sequence is definitely the highlight! It does lose a bit of its impact on me because it's something that I already know of, and it's so interesting to see something like this animated where most of it is fresh, except for the huge plot twists since I remember them. 

Random Notes:

• Oh yeah, there s a bunch of comedy in the previous and this episode about how the transportation method in the Soul King Palace are these whack-a-mole platforms that launch them from one 'plate' to the next. 
• Leaving out the explanation of Kon's muscle form last episode does make said muscle form a bit of a non-sequitur when he shows up here. 
• Wait, Okikiba survived? I don't really care, but, uh, apparently he survived Juhabach atomizing the Squad One barracks. 
• I guess from Kyoraku's reaction, he didn't really expect Unohana to get killed by Kenpachi, and it's more of a 'let me have two strong warriors' thing going on. 
• It is rather bizarre that Squad Zero chose Renji and Rukia of all people that they take to the Soul King Palace for training. I mean, yes, I get that Renji and Rukia aren't pushovers, but there really is no justification for picking them over someone like, say, Hitsugaya or Shinji or Kensei or Komamura or Kenpachi beyond 'main character syndrome'. It can't be a Bankai thing cause they left the other three captains who had their Bankais stolen behind; and it can't be a 'grievously wounded' thing unless I guess they just didn't give a shit about Kira.