Bleach TYBW E50 Review: bleAch

Bleach, Thousand-Year Blood War, Episode 50: Death and Strawberry

And so, Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War ends 10 years after its manga publication's final chapters. And episode 50 of the TYBW anime ends with basically a one-to-one adaptation of the final two chapters of Bleach. 

Back in 2016, a lot of these scenes filled me with frustration because of how horribly truncated the original manga's final chapters were. And I still do have some reservations despite the massive extra screentime we got for the TYBW anime. I genuinely did expect that this episode would have maybe 5-10 minutes of content after Juhabach's defeat last episode, because there are a couple of things that I felt the anime builds up to and doesn't actually resolve, most importantly the buildup with Ichibei wanting to use Ichigo as the new Soul King (and the author/expanded universe/novel explanation that Juhabach's body is used as the new Soul King); as well as an actual explanation for Adnyeus the Soul King's flashback -- both of which I thought was a shoo-in with how they have been foreshadowed in various chapters. 

I would've also liked Isshin and Ryuuken to have something to them; as well as a quick acknowledgement of how Uryu survived the Auswahlen as a child, but those were not forthcoming. These two... I can forgive them a bit more. Or rather, I just gave up on Isshin and Ryuuken mattering. 

But other than that? This episode adapts the final two chapters, warts and all. And I do mean warts -- there are some aspects of the final chapter that I don't like. But that's also just because I don't like 'kids ever after' finales. And despite everything, the TYBW did solve a lot of my bugbears with the three main characters of the arc. Ichigo, Uryu and Juhabach are all far more better-realized than their manga counterparts in this arc; and the unexpected glow-up and resolution to Orihime, Kyoraku, Ukitake and surprisingly Komamura's arcs are also very much welcome. 

And again, this is ten years after the conclusion of the finale. We start off with Kyoraku drinking near Ukitake's grave and giving us some narration that I won't repeat everything off. Nanao yells at him to that a ceremony is about to begin, and this is just an excuse to check in with all of the squadrons and see who got promoted. 

We get to see Mayuri (who sports a new croissant-head design) who's industrializing the Seireitei and planting bugs. Nemuri Hachigou (Nemu #8) is running around as a mouthier little child, which I thought was a nice cute little resolution to Mayuri's development in the Pernida fight. Kenpachi gets a fun gag where he blames his lack of direction to the now-gone Yachiru, but still gets lost. Ikkaku has been promoted to Vice-Captain, and Yumichika finally gets his long-awaited 3rd-Seat. So that's nice. Shinji and Momo get a bit of a scene where Momo complains that Shinji only pulls rank when it's convenient for him. Iba has graduated into the Captain of the 7th Division, jumping off cliffs and training. Good job, Iba, you totally deserved this captain promotion after holding off Juhabach's power with your unnamed Zanpakuto!

Hitsugaya, Rangiku, Shuhei and Kensei run towards the 1st Division barracks, which is a fun comedic moment straight from the manga where they make fun of Shuhei's lack of a Bankai. Shuhei claims that he has a Bankai, that he totally used it once, and hasn't had the chance to use the Bankai. Rangiku teasing Shuhei is fun, but I love that the more serious Hitsugaya and even Kensei joins in too. 

Of course, Shuhei's Bankai would be explored in the post-manga-serialization Can't Fear Your Own World, which was also where we got Shinji's Bankai that showed up earlier in TYBW. A lot of the information that would later be incorporated into the anime would be revealed in that novel. And while I don't think a one-to-one adaptation would be possible since the TYBW anime contradicts a bunch of stuff there, there's still enough material there that I think a follow-up could work.

(In particular, a lot of the Ichibei/Juhabach/Soul King explanation could dovetail nicely into a CFYOW adaptation). 

Very interestingly, however, as this is running, original to the anime we get a shot of Rangiku's eyes covered with... falling snow and a dark background? This is completely original to the anime, extremely ominous as it comes right after Hitsugaya's line about there being peace, doesn't seem to have anything to do with the Juhabach-goop return... Can't Fear Your Own World did have a subplot about Rangiku and solving that one weird scene with Rangiku/Aizen/Gin that was never explained in the original run, so maybe this plot point will get addressed in a potential anime follow-up at some point? I would really like that. 

Anyway, we get Soi Fon yelling at Kenpachi for being late, and the two are calmed down by the new 4th Division captain, Kotetsu Isane. And her Vice-Captain, her sister Kotetsu Kiyone (previously one of the two Vice-Captains of the 13th Division). The dynamic that we see here is Kiyone yelling at Isane and telling her that she needs to remember that she's at the level of these other captains. 

A brand-new scene that wasn't in the original manga is a check-in on the 3rd Division. It's as short as the others, with Rose bringing in an electric guitar and speaker and wanting to play it during the ceremony, and Nanao yelling no. In the perfect set of deadpan delivery, Kira comes in wheeling a rainbow stage light based on the 'sunflower armour' Mayuri used, and Nanao just repeats what she said to Rose in the same tone, but while her face is bathed in disco light. 

This is a hilarious gag, and I giggled my ass off when Kira showed up. Bless you Kira. 

Anyway, the ceremony that this is all been building up to is the appointment of the brand-new Captain of the 13th Division... Kuchiki Rukia. Who apparently took 10 years to become ready. Which I suppose is fair enough for these immortal spirits. There's a cute moment with Renji, before she is announced as the new Captain of the 13th Division. 

We then cut to the 12th Division with new Vice-Captain Akon, who realizes that Mayuri's gone to investigate some spiritual energy similar to that of Juhabach's. 

The ad break happens, and we get a nice callback to the first episode where a little ghost girl sits next to a street, before Ichigo's child Kazui shows up and gives her some flowers. That's nice. I don't think it's properly explained, but Kazui also shows up at the Visored's warehouse and gets chased off by Hiyori? I don't know what that second part is all about?

We then cut back to the Soul Society, where Byakuya and Soi Fon arrive onn the district that Mayuri is investigating. I do like the little bit of character development from Byakuya where he's being a cool big bro, not wanting to get in the way of Rukia's big day and not recalling her from the human world. They witness a giant donut created of Juhabach's eyeball reiatsu. 

But the rest of the episode mostly focuses in the human world. Renji and Rukia arrive at the Kurosaki clinic. Isshin is as absent as he is for the rest of the arc, but an older Ichigo answers the door. Turns out that the friend group is there. Tatsuki, Mizuiro and Keigo are there, here to watch the world heavyweight championship between Chad and brand-new character Konstantyn Novych. It's a nice scene where all the friends come to watch this together. Oh, Karin and Yuzu also show up, a lot taller and more grown up. Orihime also shows up a bit later, and the dialogue confirms that they're married and Kazui is their kid. 

We also check in with Uryu, who I don't think has this scene in the manga? He can't come in person because he has to run a whole hospital, but he's watching it on his phone on the rooftop of the hospital, and we get a cute call between him with Ichigo, Tatsuki and Keigo. This scene flows a lot nicer because Uryu had a proper arc in this TYBW arc, and that cute smile as he sees the antics at the other side of the phone is a nice one. 

There's a perfect comedic scene as Ichigo asks Renji and Rukia about their kid, Rukia does a pose to get Ichika to come in... and we smash-cut to the two parent looking out of the door, and the most glorious kooky-Rukia panel. Rukia gets sidelined a lot in the manga after the initial arcs, but man, I sometimes forget how utterly perfect Rukia's wacky weirdness is. 

There's a nice moment as Ichigo and Rukia walk out and have a conversation. They take a look at the empty parking lot outside the clinic, and we get a brand-new animated version of Rukia stabbing Ichigo in the first chapter/episode of Bleach, and Ichigo's first transformation and battle with a Hollow, and then a montage of all of Ichigo's major moments in the old anime. As Number One plays, of course. It's nice and sweet, and does go on for a bit... part of me is a bit angry that this could be used to fill in some of the questions, but no doubt this is a really good scene and a good callback and I really can't bring myself to be angry at this. It's nice. 

Rukia tries to deflect from the Ichika hunt; and Renji gives even less of a shit. I like Ichigo yelling at Renji to help them look for the missing child and Rukia sneaking in with a smug expression on her face. They realize via Reishi radar that Ichika is back, and the adults go back in to continue watch boxing. 

We finally cut to the young kids. Kazui sees the glob of Juhabach power as it expands in both the human world and the Soul Society. Kazui shoves his hand into the glob and it explodes in both worlds, confusing Mayuri's group.

We then cut away to Aizen in his prison, still wrapped up. At least he's not on Chair-sama, and Kyoraku lets him have his eye and mouth unbound. We get a slightly extended flashback to the end of last chapter, where Juhabach tells Ichigo that the path to a world without fear has been sealed with his death; and that life and death would have became one. Juhabach goes on a bit of a rant that all that are living will always fear death in its shadow forever. Aizen surprisingly deconstructs this, noting that in a world where one does not fear death, people will not reach for hope and the persistence is different. Because persistence while fending off fear is bravery -- and the way this line is delivered does make it like one of the thesis themes of Bleach. 

I've... I've found this to be a bit of a generic answer, maybe because of the way that Aizen says it or because we haven't really spend nearly enough time with TYBW-era Aizen. It is a bit better now -- perhaps with the voice actor's delivery or just having 10 years to not be as annoyed with the ending. But sure. It's neat. 

And finally, we get Abarai Ichika, Renji and Rukia's daughter, showing up and sitting on Kazui's desk. Kazui also transforms into having ghostly Shinigami robes. And smash cut to the title of this episode, and an ending with the classic French flag Bleach logo, art of the first Bleach tankobon, and then credits for the voice actors of every named character in TYBW. 

And that's the end of an era. TYBW is finally 'fixed', or as much as they could in 50 episodes. So much was extended, so much was improved, and there are still things that are left wanting. I do still feel like the 'kids all along' ending is a bit silly, and I would've liked the ending as much or even better with just showing the characters being peaceful and having a good old time. I also really didn't feel like Juhabach's random 10-year-goop-return to be a satisfying coda and raises more questions that it did answers. Again, my irritation with these plot points has lessened somewhat because it's 10 years later. And Kazui, at least, doesn't promise a terrible spin-off where he takes over as a main character, since the Hell Arc chapter does still feature a lot of the original cast. 

But again... seeing where the manga was 10 years ago, and how it ended not with a bang, not with a whimper, but with something even worse than a whimper? How almost all the major complaints about the TYBW arc was addressed, how high-quality the animation and voice acting was, how much hype that Bleach has given to us in these 50 episodes? Bleach's final arc being adopted into an anime was a running gag and a 'kick the dead horse' joke back in the day, even as the TYBW manga was ongoing, and I am so happy that there appears to be more Bleach coming to us after this explosive anime. 

It is the end of an era as the original manga's material has been adapted, but I am hoping for more. A fair amount of stuff seemed to be foreshadowed in the TYBW anime that they surely wouldn't do without a desire to follow up, and whether it's an adaptation/reinvention of Can't Fear Your Own World, a new serialization of the Hell Chapter, or anything else... I'm all up for it. More, please. 

Random Notes:

• I didn't mention it in the main body of the story, but the anime also adapts the random volume omakes of a random rocky field somewhere with 'despair' written on it, and then the post-credits of this chapter is a foot stepping on it and changing the words to 'brave'. It's cute and poignant, I suppose, and meant to tie in with Aizen's speech, but it's a bit apropos of nothing in the middle of this episode. 
  
• Some words, "And Your Soul" as well as "Bleach: The Stories of Brave" also pop up. So that's where Brave Souls comes from! 
• Both Kyoraku's line about the 'higher-ups' working him to the bone and Shuhei complaining that he had a Bankai that he didn't get the chance to show off to others always felt like Tite Kubo complaining about how the publishers rushed his ending. It's a lot cuter here, though. 
• While Rose and Kira get a new scene, it is very much glossed over still that Yadomaru Lisa of the Visored, ex-Vice-Captain of Kyoraku's old 8th Division, has became the new Captain of the 8th Division. Still wearing a midriff.
• Also quite surprising that we don't get a Doggy!Komamura cameo! Doggymura didn't appear in the 10-year timeskip or the Hell Chapter, so did he survive the battle with Juhabach last episode? 
• Also absent from the finale (and the credits make it a bit more explicit who's not around) are Urahara, Yoruichi and Ichibei. Less egregious are Omaeda, Sentaro, Hanataro, Love, Hachigen and the rest of Urahara's shop in the human world. I'm also surprised we don't get at least a one-liner from Kon. Oh, and Isshing and Ryuuken, of course, which has to be intentional at this point, right? 
• I was half-expecting some of the new Vice-Captains in the Hell Arc chapter to show up as background cameos. But we do get a subtle nod to that, since Rose in particular (who is basically MIA in the original final chapter) is drawn with his Hell Arc design. 
• They also removed Juhabach's line about coming when Ichigo is happiest. I don't really think it's a particularly important line, but considering how faithful this episode has otherwise been to the two chapters that it is adapting. 
• Ryunosuke and Shino get a brief cameo when Kyoraku is reflecting on the rebuilding of Soul Society. Considering the increased prominence they got in the anime, I guess they do serve it. 
• Shinji's new design has a clip-on tie, which suits him quite well. 
• Hiyori is working for Unagiya, the shop owned by Ichigo's boss from the Fullbringer arc. 
• Despite the implications of this arc and the brief argument between Ichigo and Rukia about patients, Isshin is still the doctor that runs the Kurosaki Clinic, since Ichigo would later be revealed to have a career as an English translator. 
• In a nice bit of background detail, Y-HANS, Yukio's company, is the sponsor behind the program that broadcasts Chad's boxing match. 
• There was apparently a bit of trolling by Tite Kubo about a brand-new character that didn't appear in the manga appearing in these final episodes, and it turned out to be Konstantyn Novych, the final opponent for our buddy Chad. 
• Another nice little detail is that Orihime uses her little fairies as a parent monitor. 
• The anime, surprisingly, keeps the weird brother-complex kinda-incest joke that Yuzu gets all flustered about? About how he's okay that he lets Kazui in her room because he's like Ichigo? Whichever interpretation we take out of that joke, it's both uncomfortable. 
• Hueco Mundo, as well as Nel and her two buddies, get a brief cameo when Aizen talks about the worlds surviving. 
• It is, by the way, supremely unfair for any human boxer to be fighting Chad. I know he's not the strongest (hell, far from the strongest) of the Bleach cast. And he sure isn't using his Fullbringer abilities or throwing El Muertes around... but again, it really isn't fair, is it? 
• Can't Fear Your Own World could still be adapted, I think, even with the changes that TYBW would make -- it would allow a lot of discussion about the sealing of Juhabach in the first couple of chapters. You probably would need to change some things, since Harribel is an actual participant in this version of events, so she would probably be a lot less of a damsel in distress in this version. Whether Liltotto and Giselle survived or not would also be a factor of difference, although either way, with Mayuri making zombie Sternritters, it might just not be a problem -- or I could see a potential adaptation just dropping all the zombie 'Ritters in general. And in any case, I must be honest that the main Tokinada plot really doesn't interest me so much and moreso the tie-ins to the TYBW arc and resolutions that were revealed there. While I could see them adapting the initial chapters as a TYBW tie-in, I would see a Shuhei-led (instead of Ichigo or someone more marketable like Hitsugaya or Kenpachi or Byakuya) OVA to be a roadblock to the execs.