Bleach Thousand-Year Blood War E10 Review: Kenpachi Wars

Bleach, Thousand-Year Blood War, Episode 10: The Battle

Again, a little bit of a slower episode though one that immensely improves on its source material. I always 'got' the Kenpachi and Unohana fight and what it was meant to represent. I understood the crux of the story, but... but the voice acting, the mournful-yet-exciting music and the colorued visuals really does bring the Kenpachi battle and elevates it a fair amount from the manga version. It does help that what Minazuki is doing ends up being much more clear now. 

Unohana and Kenpachi keep clashing in the Muken, with Unohana constantly healing Kenpachi every time he comes closer to death, noting that Kenpachi was more powerful than Unohana even when he was a young child rampaging around the slums... but has sealed away much of his actual power because of his fear of never being able to experience the same satisfaction of battle ever again. But every time he suffers defeat (like with Ichigo and Nnoitra) he ends up unlocking more and more of his power. 

We get a flashback to their first meeting, when Kenpachi was the crazy-powerful street urchin in the streets of Rukongai, and Unohana realized then and there that the two of them are so similar -- souls that are just looking for a satisfying enemy that can acutally properly fight them. Unohana beats Kenpachi, barely, but suffers a massive scar on her chest. Since then, however, Kenpachi's subconscious has been sealing up his own power, and Unohana views itself as one of her greatest sin. I guess this was something that ended up feeling emphasized a lot more in the anime version -- that Kid!Kenpachi was much, much stronger than Kenpachi at any point in the story, and that the true raw power of Zaraki Kenpachi is far more valuable of an asset compared to Unohana and Kenpachi-right-now. Again, it's not something that I feel I particularly agree with, but the idea is delivered a lot better here. 

Unohana's monologue about the state of Kenpachi's mind plays in the background as she and Kenpachi clash in the present day. Unohana notes how she's going to kill Kenpachi and revive him over and over until he unlocks his full potential, and when Kenpachi does a massive slash down Unohana, she heals herself with her kaido (healing kido, not the dragon emperor from One Piece) before activating her Bankai... Minazuki. 

And it is much easier to understand what is going on here, whether Minazuki is blood, ink, water, shadow, acid, reishi... it's blood. I mean, that's the most metal thing and Tite Kubo is going to use the most over-the-top thing, but seeing Unohana run her hand down her sword and transform it into a blood-blade that starts gushing down and filling the area around them... very, very cool. A lot of great expressions here -- particularly that of Kenpachi's manic faces. What Unohana can do with the blood-zone (beyond just the healing) is also a bit more clear, as she creates these gigantic blood-blades as she swings around, and at one point swings her sword around herself so fast that she looks like she's being surrounded by a whirling aura of slashes. 

There is a moment that I think that confused people (and is still kinda confusing, though I think intentionally) is actually part of the Bankai fight when Kenpachi starts to actually melt, being reduced into a half-skeleton... though I think it's a bit more implied that this is just Kenpachi 'awakening' to the fact that the two of them are just battle-hungry zombies? There's a very cool shot of Unohana as a skull with her hair rendered as sketch-looking strands. There is a neat sequence that I missed in my initial viewing where Kenpachi is actually learning from the battle, doing the same side-step that Unohana did earlier. Kenpachi starts getting faster and faster, parrying the blade-storm strikes...

And we get Kenpachi's own monologue. He is a simple man. He likes fighting, he likes battle, but this moment right now, extended and stretched out and allowing him to finally go all out without suppressing himself... what they have been doing all the while is just like a dream, and there's a word for what they are doing right now... battle. And then he strikes Unohana with such strength that it breaks through all the blood-blades of her Bankai. 

The two continue fighting and fighting, and we go back to Unohana's monologue. She understands that Kenpachi's subconscious sealing of his powers is similar to how Unohana herself learned healing kido -- both of them ways to enjoy the battle forever. Unohana realizes that she has been honing herself for this moment, to train Zaraki Kenpachi to the fullest. She then muses that there can only be one Kenpachi in any era -- the inevitable fate of the strong, where they will always seek out the strongest one... or, if they are the strongest one, they will be nurturing the next strongest one. 

Again, I ultimately do think that it's slightly-flawed logic. There are certainly ways for Unohana to prevent herself from dying, or for her to participate in the fight against Juhabach. But I think what this episode really highlights is how close she feels to Kenpachi, seeing him as her ultimate successor and even an almost son-like figure of sorts. And that how... Unohana herself isn't actually the most sane person in the Gotei 13, being as obsessed with battle as Kenpachi was -- it's just that as she pointed out, her desires have been warped and focused more towards training Kenpachi and fixing her past 'sin' rather than to seek out the next strongest. 

Unohana gets struck down by Kenpachi, declaring that she has nothing else to teach as her Minazuki disappears (in a nice imagery of all of Unohana's own blood flowing into Minazuki and flying into the direction of Kenpachi)... and Kenpachi finally realizes in shock what he did. I love that even in this moment, what is at the forefront of his mind is less about losing a comrade but more about losing someone that can satisfy him in battle. Kenpachi actually cries, too, something that I'm sure is a combination of losing his fighting partner as much as losing the idea of being ever as satisfied as he was in this fight. Unohana dies, having giving up everything she had to teach Kenpachi, and sees this as her true, ultimate purpose. 

As Kenpachi screams in anguish, suddenly a voice addresses him. Finally, Kenpachi's Zanpakuto spirit has awakened, and the spirit tells Kenpachi her name. 

We won't learn the name of this spirit until much later, though, and we won't check in with Kenpachi until, well, much later too. Still, I do like that Kenpachi awakening his Zanpakuto ties in well with the episode with Nimaiya Oetsu explaining the Asauchi. 

And... well, Ichigo, Renji and Kon arrive in the Ho'oden, and we continue the zaniness of Squad Zero with Nimaiya O-et-su and his insane energy. As Ichigo notes, he can't 'keep up with this guy's vibe', and he first introduces himself with a cabaret or a casino or something, with lots of sexy women and nightclub lights and a mic and speaking a lot of surprisingly well-pronounced English. "I am number one Zanpakuto Creator!" Nimaiya is the least verbal during Squad Zero's initial introduction, and he goes through the motions of doing weird claps, doing handstands, and basically twisting Renji and Ichigo's arms to get them to do weird-ass handstand poses that he photographs.

Nimaiya then gets kicked and interrupted by Mera, and we finally arrive in the real Ho'oden, a small shack on a cliff. Ichigo and Renji fall into the basement of the Ho'oden, and Nimaiya finally gets a bit more serious, telling them that every single person they met other than Nimaiya himself are not Shinigami, but rather Zanpakuto spirit. Nimaiya then smashes the broken Zabimaru and Zangetsu together, telling them irresponsible keepers of Zanpakuto, noting how 'unloved' they are. Ichigo and Renji then face several strange beings called Asauchi -- beings with mouths for eyes and nothing where their mouths shold be. Nimaiya then goes through a spiel, telling them that as the creator of Zanpakuto, he is the man responsible for the creation of every single Zanpakuto in the Seireitei... and that they are first created in the forms of Asauchi. Nameless Zanpakuto that are issued to members of the Gotei 13, who will awaken them as they grow. Nimaiya explains how every Shinigami imprints the essence of their souls on the Asauchi to create the personalized Zanpakuto, noting that even vagrants like Kenpachi also would imprint on Asauchis. Nimaiya poses the question to them, asking if Shinigami or Asauchi are superior. 

We briefly cut to Kenpachi stabbing Unohana's Minazuki onto the ground next to her body in respect, before the credits roll. Oh, hey, the credits feature all the Zanpakuto! That's thematic! We have a post-credits scene, where we cut to three days later on the Ho'oden... and Renji stands and passed. But Ichigo fails!

Nimaiya tells Ichigo that there isn't a time limit for the training, but there is an emotion limit... and Ichigo was not acknowledged by the Asauchi, something that happened to Renji. But then Nimaiya does note that Renji is a true Shinigami who bonded with his Asauchi before, while Ichigo did not. Nimaiya tells Ichigo that a human without a Zanpakuto has no right to enter Soul Society, and tells him to 'go home' -- a very cute way of Nimaiya actually foreshadowing the next phase of the training, as he does... uh... a kido spell, I guess, that restrains Ichigo and sends him back in the land of the living, right in front of the Kurosaki Clinic. 

Again, this is some neat tough love from Nimaiya, who is actually trying to force Ichigo to face his origins. Nimaiya explains to Renji that Ichigo not being chosen by an Asauchi and somehow fighting so long without one is something extremely significant. 

Overall, it's a pretty neat sequence, and the anime's decision to move the ordering of scenes so that the Ho'oden and the Kenpachi/Unohana scenes play off each other is amazingly thematic and done very well, while also breaking up the honestly rather monotonous Squad Zero castle visits. As I mentioned before, a lot of the ambiguity of the Kenpachi/Unohana moment is gone and the scene as a whole flows a lot better. 

Random Notes:

• During the flashback, Unohana is actually surprised that a pile of bodies the size of a small hill appeared next to her. "Since when has this pile of bodies been here?" I mean, I get that she is a bit distracted, but really? Even if Kenpachi killed everyone there within a couple of seconds, which I buy... it is kinda strange he did it so silently that Unohana is shocked. 
• I am actually rather disappointed that we didn't get the kanji for Minazuki on that black screen when Unohana says her Bankai. Since the Shikai and Bankai are pronounced similarly, I thought that it would be important for the anime to clarify that. 
• The previous Kenpachi before Zaraki, the fat guy from Turn Back the Pendulum, retains his cameo here.
• There's a nice moment where Unohana thinks about how there are strong allies that Kenpachi is surrounded by. Yes, Ichigo and Byakuya, I understand... but Renji? Okay.
• You have no idea how hard it is to resist putting in a sex joke about how Kenpachi and Unohana are the only ones that can satisfy each other and all that...
• There is a bit of a flitering done for Nozarashi's voice, but I assume they got Yachiru's voice actor to do it. I really do hope the Nozarashi/Yachiru situation gets explained a bit better in the anime for sure. 
• The original joke in the manga version is Ichigo telling Renji and Kon that the ladies in the fake cabaret Galaxy Ho'oden might be 'men or something'. It has been changed to the much more tasteful 'they might be illusions or something'. 
• There's also part of Nimaiya's explanation about Zanpakuto being 'friends, comrades, family, pets or lovers' that are removed, probably because of the unfortunaet implications of the 'pets' and 'lovers' thing. Though is it masturbation or incest if someone like Kyoraku screws his Zanpakuto spirits?
• I love the brief moment of Kon and Nimaiya crying and bonding over the desire to hang out in Galaxy Ho'oden with all the sexy women. 
• So did Kaname Tosen imprint on an Asauchi, or did the Zanpakuto spirit of his friend linger after death? Or something?