Bleach TYBW E20 Review: The Strongest

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, Episode 20: I AM THE EDGE

Ooooh this is the Kenpachi episode. I don't think I've made it a secret that Zaraki Kenpachi is unquestionably one of my two favourite Bleach characters of all time, and I was a gigantic Kenpachi fanboy back in the day. And while the Gremmy fight isn't my favourite one, I am looking forward to this just to see Kenpachi do Kenpachi stuff!

Yeah, arranged in the anime format, it really is clear that the structure of the second invasion of the Vandenreich basically ended up being the 'Komamura episode', the 'Renji episode', the 'Rukia episode' and now, the 'Kenpachi episode'. I think Kenpachi fighting against Gremmy is one of the biggest and longest fights of this segment of the story before all the chaos with the zombies and Ichigo's arrival throws things into chaos with no one clear matchup, and... it's also memorably one of the most divisive. 

It was around this time that I began reading Bleach, Naruto and One Piece weekly back in the day. I think I started off at around the time of the Soul Palace training arc, and the subsequent fights were the first ones that I experienced Bleach's pretty expanded pacing week-to-week. To put things in perspective, between the Gwenael and Gremmy fights, this chapter adapts almost nine chapters! That's more than two months of serialization, and that's why I remembered that there was a lot of complaints with Gremmy and his frankly rather bullshit powers. This, coming off the similarly controversial 'overpowered' Mask De Masculine, turned off a lot of people back in the day. 

And... a lot of the problems with this fight still exists. Gremmy himself doesn't exactly 'come out of nowhere' since he shows up in the Sternritter meeting with the additional anime scenes, but that's not really much. His status as a brain isn't properly explained either, but the fight zipping through in 15 minutes does make it a fair bit reasonable that Gremmy's imagination just... can't keep up. That his thoughts are just overwhelmed with the arrival of Kenpachi and how strong he is. But I do still think Gremmy is definitely one of the least-interestingly written characters in the Vandenreich.

Anyway, the whole episode is mostly just... fight scenes. We do breeze through Gwenael (the anime namecard spells his name like that instead of 'Guenael') and his fight with Yachiru. Gwenael basically has a brief monologue of the three phases of his power. Even after the As Nodt creepiness last episode, I do appreciate that the showcase of Gwenael reforming after his 'Vanishing Point' nonsense is depicted in full horror-movie vibes with tendrils and a nightmare face and everything. 

This sequence is severely trimmed down to basically its bare bones, though for good reason -- Gwenael isn't the most interesting character. I am honestly surprised that they even kept in his monologue about the three phases of his power instead of relegating it to the eyecatchers, since the post-credits scene of last episode was shown through Yachiru and Isane's POV without any of Gwenael's monologue. Anyway, Yachiru's bloodlust and battle instincts allow her to predict and attack Gwenael even after he activates his Vanishing Point powers, and I absolutely adore the scene when she unsheathes her sword and talks about how 'Ken-chan can't complain' this time around. 

Yachiru activates Sanpo Kenju, and does a happy dance with the two beasts that pop out of her (alleged) Zanpakuto, and beats the shit out of Gwenael. The majority of the explanations of how the two summoned beasts fight with Yachiru is truncated to Yachiru's very childish explanation, and a lot of the banter between Gwenael and Isane/Yachiru is also cut, which... again, since the whole Gwenael fight is just kind of a decoy Sternritter, I don't mind it.  

Again, looking at this through the lens of someone who's read all of the post-series explanations, I do appreciate them keeping Isane's monologue about how strange Sanpo Kenju is. They could've very easily cut this line out alongside with the rest of the Sanpo Kenju explanation, but Isane very pointedly notes that Sanpo Kenju doesn't correspond to the 'form changes' of Shikai and the 'materialization' of Bankai, really highlighting the weirdness of Yachiru. It's basically a hint of the revelation that it's not a real Shikai (something that's not explained in the manga proper). Of course, I really am wondering if they'll address the nature of Kushajishi Yachiru at all in this anime adaptation. That really is very high up in low-effort things that they could do. 

And then Gremmy Thoumeaux shows up, revealing himself as the true Sternritter "V", the Visionary. And his power is the power of imagination. Or, as I called it back in the day, 'as much imagination as the writer wants him to have to make him be a credible threat'. 

Because let's be honest (and I'm going to go on a lot of tangents here; most of the episode is the Kenpachi/Gremmy fight anyway and that's mostly spectacle) anyone with the power of real reality-warping imagination could just 'imagine' themselves winning and that's it. If Gremmy really did have the power to imagine anything that comes to his mind, he could imagine every single Shinigami dropping dead and Juhabach ascending to the Soul King's palace and that's it. There actually is a point to this character and why he isn't actually that overpowered, and every trace of it is from the source material in the manga, but it's just that it's way easier to swallow to see all of the foreshadowing of the true nature of Gremmy Thoumeaux over the course of a 15-minute, fast-paced episode as opposed to slogging through two months of manga. And no, I don't mean the brain thing. And it's not a good revelation, but it's a revelation that makes the character feel a bit less... well, bullshit, basically. 

Anyway, Gremmy reveals that he's already forgotten about Gwenael and he's so useless that he's 'vanished' from Gremmy's mind, before blowing Gwenael up. Yachiru moves in to attack, only for Gremmy to turn her bones into cookie and break her arm and cause her to be unable to stand... which is as uncomfortable to see in animated format as it was in the manga. Like, jeez, my own bones are tingling at bit at imagining them turning into soft cookie. 

Also, I would like to point out just how much Gremmy disrespected his own creation that he took the time to imagine Gwenael blowing up, but doesn't actually annihilate Yachiru or Isane. He does take the time to allegedly 'kill' Rose and Kensei, a claim that we never actually get to verify since next time they show up, they're already zombies under the control of Giselle. Just like Yachiru's bones, Gremmy might have lost his focus on keeping that imagination active during the Kenpachi fight?

Speaking of Kenpachi, he arrives by blasting through the ceiling and landing like a goddamn boss, and he gets a bit pissed at seeing Yachiru hurt. There is a nice, short scene between Isane and Kenpachi that really does help to put a small pin into Isane's characterization -- even if that's just as Unohana's vice-captain. And after the whole excellently-adapted Kenpachi/Unohana episode, I really do appreciate the portrayal of Kenpachi in this episode as compared to when he was fighting Ichigo or Nnoitra -- he's not manic at all. He's not screaming his head off like a lunatic and laughing and enjoying the battle. He's still sarcastic and prideful, but he's far more subdued about it, because the title of 'the strongest' and 'Kenpachi' now bears weight on his shoulder. This was something that was lost to me when I read this the first time due to the dual frustration of Gremmy's bullshit powers and the anticipation of Kenpachi's Shikai, but it really was very neat to see that Kenpachi's... basically matured. I really did appreciate his brief exchange with Isane, revealing that Unohana died and basically allows Isane to kill him (not even 'fight and kill' him) later on after the war is over. 

Gremmy raises a giant stone arena for him and Kenpachi to fight on, before announcing himself as the strongest Sternritter. And Gremmy's next act of imagination is to imagine his body being as hard as steel to block Kenpachi's blade strike... which proves to be useless since Kenpachi just quickly slashes down through it. (Man, if Kenpachi met Cang Du during the first invasion, Cang would suffer the same fate as the three letters Kenpachi killed offscreen). Again, as Kenpachi slashes through him, he claims that he can cut through anything because he is the Kenpachi. 

We get a couple of the scenes that took a while in the manga just play out very quickly in this anime. Gremmy imagines himself recovering from the wound, then imagines a mass of lava coming out... and then we get the adorable scene where Kenpachi asks Yachiru why she's not running away and then gets absolutely bamboozled by the concept of a 'cookie'. Gremmy then envelops Kenpachi in a water cube to suffocate him, drops Yachiru into a crevice, and Kenpachi zips in only for the crevice to close. All very neat showcases of the Visionary power. 

Kenpachi bursts out of the ground, of course, and he points out that Yachiru's bones have mostly turned to normal (other than the broken arm), noting that Gremmy's imagination loses their effect if he stops concentrating on them.

We keep the scene with Askin Nakk Le Varr observing the battle while reclining on a pillow from a distance, but it's mostly just his line about imagination -- regrettably, Askin's lines explaining about Gremmy being locked up by the Sternritter themselves before the war, as well as the potential for Gremmy to kill everyone present with his imagination powers, are all cut. Far more interesting, however, is that they cut another character, Pepe, out entirely. I guess the animation staff collectively realize just how unpopular Pepe is, and will just keep him for his fight because he's been consistently left out of all the conversations he's had with other Sternritters. 

Now mobile, Yachiru leaves to get her arm fixed. Gremmy then gives a boast about how he knows Kenpachi is apparently the strongest Shinigami, and Gremmy prides himself as the strongest Sternritter. Kenpachi scoffs, and, again, putting out two aspects of the Kenpachi title -- that he shouldn't be distracted by anything but the opponent in a fight; and that he should want to crush the strongest opponent if this is true. Again, a nice distillation of the lessons that Kenpachi learned about protecting his title as a Kenpachi.

We then get another fast sequence of attacks, with Gremmy summoning rock pillars, then a mass of CGI guns that shoot bullets, and then guided missiles. Gremmy is forced to use his arms to block the explosion from one of his sliced missiles, negating his earlier boast that he's not going to use a single finger at all. Kenpachi calls him out on this, and Gremmy replies with a slightly manic look -- which Kenpachi calls a good expression. The whole sequence comes off a bit as Kenpachi trying to 'teach' Gremmy the joys of battling against a worthy opponent, and to enjoy a proper fight instead of unilaterally one-shotting the enemy. Again, is this the best way to showcase this mindset? Probably not, but it's what the fight was going for and I can respect that. 

We then get a couple more attacks. Gremmy creates a giant rock hand that slams down onto Kenpachi, and Gremmy realizes that his momentary lapses of concentration leaves himself vulnerable to Kenpachi's slashes. This causes Gremmy to panic a bit and envision himself losing to Kenpachi, which Kenpachi calls out. Gremmy then 'wipes all thoughts of death' so he can't die, summons a clone of himself, then summons a meteor.

We get, of course, the badass unveiling of Nozarashi. "Drink, Nozarashi!" with a sequence of Kenpachi leaping up towards the meteor to slicing it in half. Gorgeously animated, and while this isn't the first 'big fiery' sequence we've seen (Yamamoto, Bazz-B, Bambietta and Soi Fon's flames and explosions have been animated beautifully) this one does have the spectacle due to being, y'know, a fucking meteor. 

Yachiru watches this and recalls the first meeting with Kenpachi when she's an infant. Again, keeping all of the Yachiru scenes does lead me to being hopeful that we'll get some nice Yachiru content down the line. 

With the meteor cut and Kenpachi's Shikai, Nozarashi, revealed, Gremmy summons even more clones and summons something without form -- the vacuum of space. We get a creepy scene of Kenpachi's eye shriveling... before Kenpachi just slices through space itself or something, cutting one of the Gremmy clones in half along the waist. Kenpachi points out that Gremmy forgot to maintain the hardening on his body. 

Seeing this, all but one of the Gremmys charge in and manifest bombs on their chest, blowing up on Kenpachi. Which Kenpachi of course survives. Ultimately, Gremmy yells that he'll imagine himself as a more powerful monster than Kenpachi, and bulks his body up since he wants to win for the first time in his life. However, his body begins to break apart at this point as he leaps towards Kenpachi. Kenpachi's explanation is succinct and kind of disappointed, but basically Gremmy has built Kenpachi up as this 'unbeatable monster' in his mind... that trying to imagine something stronger than this mental image of an 'unbeatable monster' ends up with Gremmy's body self-destructing, unable to become stronger than what's by definition impossible to overcome. 

After the credits roll, Gremmy lies on the rubble, musing that his imagination was correct in envisioning Kenpachi's power, and drops all excuses before his body disintegrates, revealing his true body -- a brain in a jar. He notes that the child-like body he's been using all along has been an engineered body similar to Gwenael, before reflecting that he kept his word about not using a finger... and then he passes on to a world where he can't imagine anything, leaving only his (presumably dead) brain and Kenpachi looking on. 

And... again, the pacing's a lot better in here, improving what has been in my opinion one of the biggest disappointments from this stretch of the manga. I still wouldn't call it a perfect fight since Gremmy's still... kind of nonsensical, but trimming down the Gwenael fight and a lot of his 'my imagination is supreme' speeches does do a lot to make him more bearable, and making the fight flow and move so hectically is definitely something that improves this sequence a lot. 

Random Notes:

• 
  I am somewhat bothered by Isane's claim that all Shikai must change form. I know that a vast majority of Shikais do, and that it's a hallmark of Bleach to think up of crazy impractical anime weapons with the Shikais, and... I guess one of the few Shikais that don't change the shape of the blade would be Kyoka Suigetsu? Maybe? I guess the shape of the blade changes from a generic katana. Ditto for Sode no Shirayuki, I guess it sprouts that little tassel-thing.
  
• While Gwenael thinking about the three phases of his Vanishing Point abilities are kept, a lot of the explanation about how he can switch from phase 1 to 2 and all that is removed. The actual effects and most of the action scenes are retained, but without dragging on the episode it's a good thing not to keep them around. 
• Tite Kubo would later reveal that Shaz Domino is an earlier 'draft' that Gremmy created as a 'living' being that he created with his Visionary powers. We never get that confirmation here, meaning that once more, people who experience this arc for the first time would be confused once they tallied up the alphabet and realized that there's a letter that didn't correspond to Shaz Domino. 
• It would have been so easy to put Shaz Domino as a brief flash next to Gwenael when Gremmy boasts about being able to 'create life', wouldn't it?
• Alternatively, if that explanation is no longer canon, I assume Shaz is just a Sternritter that got replaced right before the second invasion.
• They cut out Pepe from Askin's scene, which no one is complaining, but what I am peeved about is that they cut out Askin's picnic basket. 
• Most interestingly is that they cut out the explanation that Gremmy has been locked up under the Silbern because his Visionary powers are so powerful. Can't Fear Your Own World would imply that Gremmy is another part of the Soul King similar to Pernida and Gerald, too.
• Also cut out of this episode (alongside many, many Gwenael lines) are shots of other characters like Renji, Bazz-B, Haschwalth and the generic Soldat and Shinigami soldiers reacting to the gigantic meteor's appearance. I remembered a particularly stupid line in the manga version where Haschwalth orders the Soldat to protect Juhabach. As if Juhabach can't deal with the meteor himself, and as if generic Soldat could deal with that meteor and protect Juhabach from it. 
• Honestly, even if Gremmy's imagination is way more limited than what he implies, if Kenpachi cuts through the vacuum of space once, just... vacuum him again! Again and again and again! Or do the bone cookie thing! Again and again and again! That seems to be the only thing that slows Kenpachi down, so do it! But I get that Gremmy's just trying to throw things at the wall and see what works, and I guess it never occurred to him to do the same thing twice. 
  
• So, uh, Juhabach recruited As Nodt from a hospital. Where did he find a fucking disembodied brain?