Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War

Episode 10

We're caught in a bit of a cycle with TYBW. For the third week in a row, we've got an episode split clean down the middle between serious drama and wacky shenanigans. Last week we caught the back end of the cycle, transitioning from some comedic relief to the raging battle between Zaraki and Unohana. This week we end up in a spot similar to episode eight, with said battle concluding before sliding into the third circus tent of God's personal bodyguards, and the results are pretty incongruous.

Not helping is how the Kenpachi fight slows down considerably in the opening minutes here. I thought the conceit of this fight – Unohana killing and resurrecting Zaraki, so he continuously grows through battle – was well implied last week, but the series sees fit to spell it out for us through a lot of flashbacks and narration. Zaraki has been subconsciously holding himself back even more on top of the limiters he knowingly places on himself, unintentionally sandbagging his opponents to make fights more interesting. That fits his character, and Unohana's plan makes sense from there, but so much time is spent explaining it all in ways that distract from the more interesting parts of this whole story.

Thankfully things pick up once Unohana finally releases her Bankai, transforming the already metal-as-hell battle into a blood-soaked nightmare. Just the image of these two fighting, half-coagulated blood splattering the ground with every clash, stripping away everything standing between their blades, communicates more about the characters' relationship than any flashback could. These aren't proud warriors or noble knights – they're battle junkies savoring the finest meal either have tasted in centuries and allowing any illusion of humanity to fade away to keep this moment going. It's great, easily the visual standout of this season so far, and the conclusion ironically makes Zaraki feel more human than he ever has. It's as unorthodox a training arc as you could write, but it fits perfectly for the character and has me genuinely excited to see him evolve from here.

After that, however, we move into easily the most conventional – and frankly tired – section of this season so far.

First, we meet Oh-Etsu, the Zero Squad member who created Zanpakuto. Now, I know what you're all wondering: is this guy also a loud and obnoxious personality secretly hiding some sage wisdom behind all the annoying mugging? You bet! Does that make it any less tiring or irritating when we kill minutes of screen time with him shouting the same punchline? Nope! Does he then throw Ichigo into a simultaneously dirt simple and cryptic training regimen that boils down to fighting something until he gets stronger or dies? Why yes, what tipped you off besides every single other time Ichigo's needed to learn a new power? It's all just so tiring, and it feels like the series is going through the motions. We need Ichigo to get stronger, and every other time he's done that, this is what it's looked like, so I guess we'll replace Urahara or the Vizard with a cocky MC who runs a hostess club in God's backyard.

Admittedly, some exciting details about the nature of Zanpakuto are included here. They start as personality-devoid forms called Asauchi that are eventually molded into distinct beings by bonding with their assigned Soul Reaper. Thus their powers are borne from that forged bond. The partnership dynamic of Zanpakuto has always been one of the more interesting pieces of Bleach's worldbuilding, so getting a better understanding of how they work is nice. Still, it can't save the b-side of this episode from feeling perfunctory. And the story's aware of it because it doesn't even bother to show the training itself, with the post-credits scene immediately skipping to days later and showing that Ichigo has failed before straight up tossing him back to Earth.

That is a far more interesting turn, and Ichigo's unexpected return to his family's home almost makes the lengthy and repetitive setup worth it, if just for the promise of finally getting some answers about his increasingly convoluted origin. We might get some concrete details about Ishin being a Soul Reaper, considering this is the final arc, and those questions have been sitting there for years. We might even learn something about Ichigo's mother outside of how she died! But those are enticing elements for next week, and half this episode being a preamble for its successor does not make the viewing experience any less of a chore.

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Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War is currently streaming on Hulu.