Bleach TYBW E15 Review: Sternritter's Dinner Table

Bleach, Thousand-Year Blood War, Episode 15: Peace From Shadows

A little bit late with this one! I'm trying to catch up with all of the things that are new releases, from Bleach to Secret Invasion to One Piece!

This one is basically the beginning of the second invasion, and we do get a fair amount of rearranged scenes, as usual, including a fun set of new scenes! Again, I personally would've liked all the scenes from the manga to also survive the translation from page to screen, but on the other hand... I can see the argument made for each and every one of these removals. We start off with a brief mini-flashback to Haschwalth briefing all the non-Schutzstaffel Sternritter. I do like the little questioning that Robert and some of the other Sternritters ask -- why bother letting the Bankai-stealing Sternritters fight and defeat the very captains they steal it from? Haschwalth gets a pretty badass pose, talking about how this is a matter of the utter destruction of their pride, to utterly crush any kind of resistance or thought of resisting even though they are now powerless. 

We get some nice nods from these Sternritters' personalities, like Robert being more pragmatic, As Nodt delighting in the sadism and Bambietta not really giving a shit and just wanting to fight. Again, this... doesn't really cover up the gigantic plot hole regarding the Bankai-stealing stuff (which I don't think they are going to change too much) but it sure does explain at least the Sternritters' behaviour. 

Cutting back to the present day, we do get a lot of the scenes from when the Sternritter's shadow realm bleeds over to the Soul Society, including how the 13th Division third-seats repower to Ukitake who's in the mysterious temple meditating. I do hope all the Ukitake/Mimihagi stuff gets expanded upon... and honestly this extends to everything revolving around the Soul King parts in general! 

We also get more monologues from Juhabach as he talks to Uryu, giving an explanation about the Quincies hiding in the shadow-realm and how they had to flee the human world to the Soul Society, forging a hidden city in the shadows of the Seireitei and calling it the Wandenreich. Again, combined with Haschwalth's earlier speech about this being revenge to crush the Shinigami, it does really sell the idea that for the most part, all the Sternritter are galvanized and driven by this desire of an ancient injustice. It gives flatter characters a generic cause beyond 'we follow Juha because he's the Quincy god I guess' and it also helps to align the other characters' motivations to be somewhat more similar to Uryu's newly-given sidequest in the first cour. 

The bulk of the episode deals with a couple of confrontations that happen simultaneously -- the primary action components are obviously Hitsugaya and Matsumoto vs. Bazz-B; as well as Soi Fon and Omaeda vs. BG9. Interspaced between these are Kyoraku and Nanao's face-down against Haschwalth; as well as Askin and Mayuri's... can you even call that a confrontation? It's decently-paced and really does sell the chaos of the Quincy invasion while focusing on a couple of conflicts. All of these are also happening concurrently, though obviously for the purposes of this review I'll focus on each fight at a time. 

The easiest one to talk about is probably Askin's confrontation with the 12th Division, where he gives a short monologue to Hiyosu and the other R&D Shinigami, giving a bit more explanation simultaneously with Juhabach and Haschwalth in other scenes about how they have been hiding in the shadows. I absolutely love that this leads to Kurotsuchi Mayuri walking out in his snazzy golden sunflower outfit, all glim-glam and stuff. And, of course, while this seems to lead up to a fight between the two, Askin does a bit of thinking, realizes Mayuri's a 'weird one' and would take too much effort to fight, and buggers off. I love that there's a brief moment of hesitation as he asks Mayuri if he's not going to hunt him down. 

It's... it's such a refreshing little subversion, and I've always found this scene pretty hilarious. Mayuri himself also shrugs off, saying that he also needs more time to gather data about Askin, and brags about how he's the only captain that can fight without Bankai... right before Urahara calls in with the solution to the Bankai-stealing stuff. 

Shunsui and Nanao confronting Haschwalth is also pretty cool, and the anime giving Haschwalth more prominence in the bonus prologue of this episode does a great job at making this scene feel more weighty than it originally already was. Haschwalth and Kyoraku do a polite back-and-forth in regards to their respective ranks, before Haschwalth gives a speech about how Juhabach loves peace and thus ordered the Sternritter to annihilate the enemy instantly... which I don't think any single Sternritter is in any hurry to do. 

Nanao manages to trap Haschwalth in a barrier with her kido spell Hakudan Keppeki, and we get a nice little discussion about Nanao's insane ability in Kido and how it probably earned her rank as vice-captain. Nanao boasts about how countermeasures are something that they'll do since the Quincies have played their hand. This is nicely contrasted with Soi Fon revealing her Mukyo Shunko and Mayuri's light suit... and then Haschwalth observes that Nanao should have spent time teaching this to the other members of the Gotei 13 instead of overly-perfecting it... which is very much showcased next to Soi Fon apparently being blown up by BG9's missiles (visible to them) and Bazz-B using Burner Finger 2 to beat Hitsugaya. Pretty simple but very fun little parallelism with other fights going on in the battlefield!

Bazz-B fights against Hitsugaya and Matsumoto, with some really fun animation. It's obviously not quite to the scale of effects that the Yamamoto/Fake Juha fight had, but they did do a good job at showcasing Bazz-B's insane fiery powers. Also, Bazz-B (voiced by Ono Yuuki, otherwise known as the voice of Higashikata Josuke!) is a lark to listen to. What a big braggart, and the way he pronounces 'The Heat' and 'Burning Finger' is absolutely fun to listen to. I've never been really the biggest fan of Hitsugaya, but I do like just how... calm and collected he is in the earlier parts of this fight, talking about how the 'winning side wouldn't beg for mercy' as he and Bazz-B exchange powers. Hitsugaya's seemingly thinner ice ends up being part of the vacuum ice thing, or, as Matsumoto calls it, "Operation Mille-feuille" -- abusing Haineko's ability to instantly turn from dust to sword to create layers of vacuum in-between Hitsugaya's ice. Absolutely love the dynamic between Hitsugaya and Matsumoto, with the cheerier, bubblier Matsumoto being absolutely ecstatic about how she's being actually crucial in Hitsugaya's strategy in this fight. 

Of course, as Askin and Haschwalth both are commentating on the circumstances of the Sternritter still having the upper hand, Bazz-B ends up bragging about how he can beat Hitsugaya with a single finger -- something that ends up being literal as he uses 'Burner Finger One' to blast a hole straight through Hitsugaya. We get a couple more named attacks like ice traps and ice fogs from Hitsugaya, which is all pretty fast-paced and cool, but Bazz-B just burns through everything and eventually uses Burner Finger Two, raking two slashes down Hitsugaya's chest and causing him to collapse to the ground. Right as Bazz-B is about to finish Hitsugaya off, Cang Du shows up to take over the fight thanks to their agreement. 

One of the casualties of the scenes being cut is Marechiyo Omaeda, but I do argue that this is a bit for the better. We cut down a lot of Omaeda's indecisiveness and the torture of his little sister Mareyo, and instead we just get to hear Omaeda telling his little sister that he has to go fight because he's a goddamn lieutenant in the Gotei 13, and later on being defiant in regards to Soi Fon's location even as BG9 impales him with creepy robot spikes. BG9 absolutely bullies Omaeda, stabs him when he takes a blow meant for his sister, and is about to open fire with his fucking gatling gun, when Soi Fon arrives. 

And... hoo boy, what a badass entry that was, just ripping that minigun in half and then dropping the bullets while showing off her speed, before proceeding to blast out the Shunko wind-butterfly-wings behind her. It would also be remiss of me not to mention that they have finally de-censored the Shunko outfits, removing the undershirt that Yoruichi and Soi Fon had in the original manga. Cool!

And I have to confess that I've never actually cared about Shunko in the series. I know it exists, and I guess it's cool to add an extra layer of secret skill or whatever for the assassination force, but I don't think I've actually found it cool until now, when Soi Fon unleashes her gigantic butterfly-shaped set of wind-wings. It's very cool, particularly the pillar-shaped wind shockwaves when Soi Fon starts punching BG9! I don't know, I think it's just the sheer fluidity of the action that really makes the initial activation of Mukyo Shunko feel so much more badass compared to the Histugaya/Bazz-B elemental smackdown. 

And the Mukyo Shunko is pretty cool, but just like Bazz-B, turns out that BG9 can withstand this assault. BG9 sheds his cloak to reveal his robotic bodysuit inside, laments that he doesn't even have to use the stolen Bankai and then a bunch of missiles pop up from all over his body, and begins to bombard Soi Fon. Soi Fon seems to burst out of the flames, only for BG9 to stab her and then catch up to her, creating a gigantic explosion. That bombardment scene is another short-but-cool one, and I really do like that it coincides with Haschwalth's speech about how 'the other soldiers might have survived'. 

And we have a short post-credits sequence of Ichigo walking through the mysterious dream-like path as Ichibei recites some ominous poems and mantras. Remember that everything about Ichigo in this cour is basically anime addition... and I really am looking forward to seeing what this will lead. I assume it's going to lead to a lot of Soul King related exposition, but the context of what Ichibei is talking about is probably going to be some huge revelation. Ichibei notably talks a bit about empty vessels, and who those that are trying to walk through it and unable to bear the weight will turn to gravel and dust. I think he's referring to either the process of becoming the Soul King, or one of the Royal Guard? It's a bit more vague than I would've liked. 

Anyway, there's a lot of content here, surprisingly, even though the episode felt like it flew like a breeze! A lot more additional content than I expected, too, and I'm a huge fan at how much the additional scenes like the Sternritter's early meeting or the rearrangement of the scenes and especially Ichigo's sequence does help to pad out how... problematically paced the second half of the Thousand-Year Blood War arc is. Pretty cool!

Random Notes:

• 
  Always loved that Nemu's 'no-shadow' outfit comes with an adorable little top hat. Mayuri's a sadist, but he does know how to accessorize his daughter. 
• Good god Nianzol is just so fucking creepy, just sitting in all these Sternritter scenes with his tongue lolling out, never saying anything. 
• I've always thought that Histugaya's boast about how his 'shikai and bankai has the least difference in power' to be a sly admission that Hitsugaya's Bankai is kind of... not that big of an upgrade?
• A lot of Omaeda's more panicky scenes about Soi Fon not being there has been removed, making Omaeda's professionalism and protectiveness a lot more consistent in these scenes. Likewise, Omaeda's line about how he would've let Soi Fon's location slip even if he had been ordered to keep it a secret was removed, making his defiance a lot more prominent here. (He doesn't actually get to unleash Gegetsuburi in the anime, though.)
• I actually really do like this. Between the Nirgge and Barragan fights, and a bunch of Omaeda's anime-exclusive scenes, I do really like the idea that such a minor slob like Omaeda has eventually gotten a fair bit of character development into someone more serious and professional.
• I absolutely love the line about Soi Fon being incredulous at the gigantic Quincy gatling gun, because "aren't you guys supposed to just use bows and arrows?" 
• Knowing Askin's "Deathdealing" ability from future chapters, it actually is probably going to be a bullshit-gambit-on-top-of-bullshit-gambit if he and Mayuri fought, so he's right on that end!
• A lot of Soi Fon's explanation about her Shunko, and how it's the element of 'wind' and how she's been training to improve it ever since her battle with Yoruichi all the way back in the Soul Society arc has been removed and presumably placed on that post-ad-break screen. 
• Interestingly, Bazz-B's line about how he had been able to offset Yamamoto's flames with his The Heat powers was removed. 
• Another one of my favourite lines from this fight, Bazz-B mocking that Hitsugaya has a lot of named techniques, is also removed. Hitsugaya does have the most uniquely-named attacks in the manga, whereas everyone else tend to just have their own Shikai, Bankai and maybe a handful of others that revolve around their Shikai/Bankai's name. 
• There's a pretty cool line from Askin noting that "hey, everything is still proceeding as his majesty has predicted", which ends up throwing some rain over the fire of Hitsugaya, Matsumoto, Nanao and Soi Fon being seemingly able to hold their own against their respective opponents. It's a pretty cool line. 
• Another change made was who explains the Shinku-Taso-Hyoheki technique to Bazz-B. In the manga, it was Hitsugaya doing a typical 'Bleach character monologuing about their powers' scene. Here, it's Matsumoto explicitly noting how she feels 'generous' and bragging about her captain's technique.
• I'm not sure if Bazz-B had this in the manga, but the little arrows on his gloves' fingertips light up when he uses his Burner Fingers. That's cute. 
• Hopefully we learn what BG9's "K" means! I mean, it 99% means The Knowledge, but still!