Bleach, Thousand-Year Blood War, Episode 11: Everything But the Rain
The 'Everything But the Rain' arc in the Bleach manga will always hold a bit of a special place in my heart, because this was around the time that I started to seriously read Bleach weekly. And... well, these next couple of episodes are going to be the huge plotline revelations about Kurosaki Ichigo and his admittedly rather confusing and convoluted origin story... which is also something that I'm sure a fair amount of people did have their problems with how it's paced. It is really interesting in the next couple of episodes to see which scenes they decide to remove and keep.
We get a brief check-in with Nimaiya Oetsu talking about how he knows the location of every single Asauchi he has ever forged, since he is the 'god of swords' and all that, and Ichigo has never made a proper bond with his Asauchi. But Ichigo has awakened his Zanpakuto without the aid of an Asauchi, and thus a lot of the regular rules that apply to other Shinigami won't apply to Ichigo.
Which is where Ichigo ends up in the human world, right in front of his house in the Kurosaki clinic. Isshin comes out to greet Ichigo but Ichigo just bolts away running through the rain, going and taking some shelter in the house of his boss Ikumi -- a character honestly only really relevant, vaguely, in the Fullbringer arc and I really must confess I don't remember at all. As a normal person, Ikumi does try to give some 'big sister' advice to Ichigo, not realizing how utterly cosmic and reality-warping the problems that Ichigo is facing. It's a scene that I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they cut entirely out of this more compressed anime adaptation, but I am definitely glad they decided to leave a part of it in, to give Ichigo some moments to freak out and recollect himself after his failure. Isshin shows up in his Shinigami form and Ichigo steels himself to go back and talk with dad about their origin story.
We get a nice little nod to the past about how Isshin and Ichigo had kinda agreed to leave the discussion about their past for later when Isshin is ready... and he just drops the bombshell that Ichigo's mom, Kurosaki Masaki, is a Quincy. We cut back to a time in the past that happens after the 'Turn Back the Pendulum' story, and I really do feel like the Isshin/Masaki stuff is something that really has been built into the idea of what Ichigo's backstory is all about... it's just maybe the Hollow stuff that kinda felt a fair bit convoluted.
Past Isshin is the previous Captain of the Tenth Division, with Matsumoto as his Vice-Captain and Toshiro as his Third Seat. The three's dynamic is actually quite cute, too, with Matsumoto playing cat-herder for the immature Isshin. For a moment it seemed like Toshiro is going to be the one sane person there that's a gigantic buzzkill, but I absolutely adore that moment when he gets pissed off at Isshin for looking for his missing manju in the middle of the meeting before deadpanning that those cakes that he ate were tasty. Nice little acknowledgement about how talented Toshiro is and how he's basically a shoo-in for the Captain position after Isshin, even though Matsumoto is older. Toshiro brings up a strange report about how some Shinigami have been disappearing in Naruki City, leading to Isshin going off to investigate on his own, with Matsumoto and Toshiro basically handwaving it as them being deemed too weak to accompany Isshin.
We also get to see the legendary Bad Eyesight Trio in their secret evil lair -- Sosuke Aizen, Ichimaru Gin and Tosen Kaname! I missed these guys, but particularly Gin and Tosen, who hadn't appeared in the new anime yet thanks to them being, y'konw, dead. They're still hunting down Shinji's group and trying to do some Hollowfication experiments, which leads to, of course, the mysterious Hollow named 'White' that's terrorizing Naruki City. Which is just looming ominously in Naruki City. Speaking of which, we meet two random nameless Shinigami patrolling the city, self-awarely talking about how the rain is a bad omen and bad, dramatic things often happen in the rain. Isshin shows up, tells them to go home and leave the patrol to him, with the ever-flippant excuse of him wanting to pee alone.
And then we cut away to the Quincies! Specifically, Ryuken (Uryu's dad) and Masaki. This plotline does exist in the manga, but I do feel like the anime does give Ryuken's mother, Izumi (who isn't named in the manga) a bit more focus on how she, as a very traditionalist Quincy, is all about the pure-blood mingling of pure-blood families and to keep the pure-blood genetics of the pure-blood Quincies pure and blood and pure. Which is to say, she is kind of a tit! She's all pissed off that Masaki is trying to kind of be a 'normal girl' and not put her heart and soul into training as a Quincy and maintaining the pure traditions of their people. We get the quick revelation that the Kurosaki clan is kind of decimated, and that she was taken in by the super-rich Ishida clan in order to preserve the Echt Quincy bloodline, in an arranged marriage with Ryuken
And then in comes Ryuken, and... again, the plotline is the same with the manga, but the added focus and pretty good voice acting does really make me feel a lot more for Ryuken. Ryuken is clearly not willing to fight against the tradition of his family, but he draws the line at Izumi mistreating and badmouthing Masaki. I do also really like the teasing bits that Masaki does to Ryuken when Izumi's not around -- it's clear that Masaki and Ryuken don't mind each other and, hell, given different circumstances, might even have organically loved each other. It's just that the hanging specter of family tradition, echt Quicny blood and the pressure of arranged marriage that will always cast a huge shadow over the two's relationship.
We also get a bit of Kanae Katagiri, Ryuken's butler and a gemischt or 'impure' Quincy that is extremely formal, but we'll see does have the hots for Ryuken and would eventually become his wife. Katagiri doesn't really get to shine all that much since the main focus of these stories are Isshin, Masaki and Ryuken, but it's nice that she shows up here. The conversation between her and Ryuken, and how she clearly just wants what's best for Ryuken's happiness is neat, as is the tragic misunderstanding about how she thinks Ryuken's rationalization about the future of the Quincies is Ryuken's true goal. There's also something quite sweet about Katagiri trying to make the best out of the arranged marriage, noting that someone like Ryuken who wants to make Masaki happy is the best Masaki could get out of the terrible situation.
And then we cut back to the horror show! Isshin goes all Super Saiyan aura to draw out the mysterious killer, and the two nameless Shinigami is just watching in awe... when suddenly one of their heads slides apart like a sliced apple from the profile, and the sheer suddenness of the brutality in that scene actually caught me off-guard.
And in comes White, a monstrous humanoid Hollow with features very similar to Ichigo's Inner Hollow, and it's already pretty evidently clear what this is. White's entire body is black, he's got giant blade-arms, and his hollow-hole is filled with a tumorous mass. Isshin clashes with White, and the sheer amount of Reiatsu ends up attracting the attention of the Quincies. Masaki goes off to help out, and Ryuken tries to stop her -- talking about how the Quincies are supposed to head out and let the gemischt Quincies like Katagari handle the situation first, and how the echt cannot shed their blood easily. It's pretty sad stuff with how classist the Quincies are, and it clearly chafes at Masaki and even Ryuken. Masaki gives that Spider-Man speech about great responsibility before running off, and Ryuken doesn't stop her -- instead, he and Katagiri get their own weapons ready to back her up if needed.
Meanwhile, Isshin is getting more and more flustered at the abilities that White is displaying, showing the Cero explosions of a Menos (remember, this is before the Shinigami had regular encounters with Arrancar) and the fighting skills of a Shinigami. Isshin also realizes that a creature as powerful and intelligent like White couldn't have rampaged without Soul Society knowing, and quickly gets into the correct assumption that someone is covering him up. Isshin unleashes Engetsu, and is about to attack... when suddenly he is slashed. For a moment the animation really does make it look like White moved faster than Ishin... but turns out it's Aizen! In his ominous villain cloak!
Now I'm not sure if a single slash is enough to be the great equalizer, and the manga and anime never made it clear if Isshin's unsanctioned mission means that he's wearing one of those power suppressors*, but White definitely isn't letting up and is beating the shit out of Isshin. We get a very cool move from Isshin where he spits out a wad of blood into Engetsu which transforms into a gigantic explosion of flaming explosion very roughly shaped like a bird. HELL YEAH! Yeah, Isshin doesn't really get much to do in the manga other than this flashback, and I do like that they're giving him a bit more than just 'fire sword guy'.
*I do remember the manga did have a line about how Aizen and company note how Isshin's too wounded to use his Bankai... which I think would be a bit distracting since Isshin never uses his Bankai for the rest of the story.
Despite having one arm less, White continues to manage to fight evenly with Isshin, and even nearly gets a point-blank Cero fired at Isshin until Masaki shoots a Heilig Pfeil right onto him. We get an interesting scene where Aizen just wants to observe everything and see what's going to happen, despite Tosen wanting to zip in and end the interference of the Quincy. White ends up charging in and attacking Masaki, leaving the wounded Isshin on top of a building and easily evading the storm of arrows that Masaki fires.
And in one of the most badass moments ever, Masaki just very calmly disperses her Holy Bow, lets White bite her shoulder... and then with the most cocky smirk, hugs White, puts her hand on White's head shaped like a finger pistol with a tiny handgun-sized Heilig Bogen and fires it dead right in White's head.
I am sorry, but I forgot this moment happened and holy hell that's a badass moment. The resulting explosion that erupted out of White's head is also pretty awesome.
This seems to have killed White, but then the weird hole-tumour mass thing expands, and it's Isshin's turn to save Masaki, zipping in and blocking the self-destruct mechanism and we get a very cool pillar of flame that's cut in half being seen from a distance. White is gone, and a wounded Isshin finally gets to talk to Masaki for the first time, and Masaki realizes that all the Quincy propaganda fed to her is not necessarily accurate, since there are kind Shinigamis like Isshin out there who doesn't go immediately into genocide-mode when the word 'Quincy' is announced. Ryuken and Katagiri, ready to swoop in if needed, ends up leaving when they decide everything is fine.
We get a brief little epilogue with the Aizen Squad in the evil lab, with Tosen being super-angry at White for being a failure and going into a Quincy during the 'metastasize stage', but Aizen then notes what a strange, unexpected and unique thing it is for a Hollow created from a dead Shinigami soul choosing the opposite of itself -- a Quincy -- to parasitize.
And we get one final scene of the present day, continuing the 'Uryu joins the Sternritter' subplot unique to the anime that foreshadows him infiltrating the Sternritter, which I think is done with all the implication that he's learning most if not all of the information that the audience is learning from all these flashbacks about the Quicy extermination and the past between his dad's family. There really isn't any dialogue, but just Uryu all sad and emo in the rain, being approached by Jugram Haschwalth.
Very neat episode, and... I've always liked the Isshin/Masaki scenes in the manga. Again, not so much the explanation of Ichigo's weird soul composition which I hope they handle well in the anime, but this backstory is always pretty nice.
Random Notes:
- Bleach really likes the rain, which is why I remembered the anime forums back in the day made some teasing fun at the title of this arc, 'Everything But the Rain'. But man, the anime did a lot of fancy tricks with the raindrops in this one, particularly when we 'roll back the time' to see the past and the raindrops stop and hover briefly in the air for a bit as the title comes up, before gushing back down.
- There's a brief note of Ryuken and Izumi discussing that Souken is still off training in the Funft-Feld, whatever that is.
- Oh yeah, in case I forgot to mention, Masaki and Ryuken are technically cousins. I don't remember if they're first cousins or what, but they're definitely related, adding yet another layer of ickiness to the whole arranged marriage thing.
- I forgot to mention that one stupid-ass Thirteenth Division Shinigami that meets Isshin as he runs into Karakura Town, and his priority isn't "what the hell, there's a CAPTAIN here!" but no, his priority is "ey yo this is 13th Division territory, the hell are you doin' here?" He, obviously gets a grisly death via Cero for his idiocy.
- Okay, the badassery of the 'let the Hollow bite me to get into my range' scene is really kind of diminished because we know what happened thanks to the bite, but let Masaki have her badass moment in this episode, ok?
- This episode isn't entirely bereft of humour, since Masaki, Isshin, Matsumoto and Ikumi are all pretty fun characters, but we did cut a bunch of the present-day Isshin's antics, and a fair chunk of Ikumi's dialogue (the only ones that are left in are the supportive, heartwarming ones), to make the present-day stuff more serious.
- Another not-as-kosher-nowadays scene with Isshin pointing at Matsumoto's sweaty boobs and basically going 'nice' is also removed, which... yeah, I can see why they did that.
- A much sadder casualty of the trimming is Masaki's snarky-ass line to Ikumi about how 'I learned cabbage and pickles are free in the school cafeteria!' Although knowing Masaki, it might be genuine.
- Also removed is the explanation of the Aizen Squad cloaks, which are Reiatsu-hiding cloaks developed after copying Urahara's designs.
- We also cut a rather interesting character moment for Tosen, where he gets pissed off at Aizen and Gin for not respecting how White is created from a Shinigami's soul, thereby granting him more respect than your average Hollow experiment.
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