Hogan Reviews

It’s time to look at what a year or so ago would’ve been the “final episodes of the Bleach anime” but is now the final episodes of the first Bleach series before the currently airing Thousand Year Blood War series. As I mentioned in the first half I do enjoy the sometimes-called Fullbringer arc and honestly the final few episodes really outdo themselves, clearly showing that due to having a finite end they removed all filler and just straight up adapted the manga, and in terms of the final fight, really beautifully (though it pales in comparison to, once again, the currently airing TYBW anime…) So let’s take a look then!

Ignoring Episode 355 entirely (it’s a comedy filler episode, I cut them out of my Arrancar rundown because there were so many of them, here I’ll just mention… well, it’s a comedy filler episode, feel free to skip it) we pick up where we left off and that’s with your classic training arc. Admittedly it only lasts an episode and a bit, with Ginjo acting as a villain (… never mind) in order to draw Ichigo’s anger and desperation, going as far to slash Ichigo’s eyes and then claim to be going after Orihime next, which works! Naturally Ichigo draws out his newfound abilities to protect his friend, that’s how the series started after all. Sadly it looks a bit naff, but hey-ho… Meanwhile Tsukashima is confronted by Orihime and Chad but thanks to his ability allowing him to “insert himself into their past” they soon lose.

Tsukashima as Orihime remembers him from her childhood…

This leads to a rather brilliant and terrifying moment where Ichigo returns home only for his sister to tell him their favourite cousin had arrived, which turns out to be Tsukashima. This means not only must he has stabbed them with his sword at some point (regardless of the fact it doesn’t actually cut skin) but also means when Ichigo punches him his sisters, and friends who have also arrived because they haven’t seen Ichigo’s cousin since they were little, are horrified and confused as to which Ichigo would do such a thing. To them Tsukashima being a beloved family member or friend is as real as anything else. The confused and angry faces looking accusingly at Ichigo causing him to just flee into the streets upset and confused is a properly horrible scene.

Ichigo meets up with Ginjo, who claims the rest of his Xcution group have also been turned by Tsukashima, and the two try to come up with a plan, including Ichigo, our lead protagonist, asking if he “killed Tsukashima, would it bring his family and friends back?” Given Ichigo’s lack of willingness to kill in the past, those words said so plainly and bluntly really hit home. The duo are then invited to a creepy mansion in a forest to have a final showdown…

Without going to heavy with the spoilers it’s safe to say things get worse before they get better with Ichigo and I honestly feel these episodes make me respect him as a character far more than most Shonen series protagonists whose normal fall before a rise comes from being beaten by a more powerful opponent. People dislike this arc for its slower pace but honestly there is a moment in Episode 361 that makes it so, so worth it…

Overall Thoughts:

It’s Ichigo’s Fullbring! …. Ugh, yeah, alright, the black energy outfit was much cooler, I know…

The Lost Agent Arc’s slow emotional build up explodes in a very satisfying manor and the final fight is great fun, and good eye candy. While I’m thrilled the montage at the end of Episode 366 is no longer the actual end of animated Bleach it still makes for a good finale for the original series.

At the previously mentioned mansion we get what you’d assume, Ichigo attacks Tsukashima, Ginjo takes on his old Xcution allies and things are looking pretty standard until Ginjo gets stabbed by Tsukashima and Uryu arrives on the scene. He points a bow at Ichigo, so our lead naturally assumes he’s also been gotten by Tsukashima but instead Uryu shouts that the person who attacked him back at the start of the arc was standing next to him which leads to one of the most over-the-top evil grins in anime history as Ginjo cuts down Ichigo while Uryu is taken out by Tsukashima. Yes Ginjo was the main villain all along, though he himself didn’t know it as he had Tsukashima change his past to believe everything he’d been saying all arc.

One of the most meme-worthy screenshots in all of Bleach…

Ginjo steals Ichigo’s Fullbring powers and gets a big power boost and then begins to walk away, leaving Ichigo to demand he give his powers back and then out-and-out start crying and screaming in despair about how his way to finally help his friends again had been cruelly taken away from him. The pain on Uryu and Orihime’s faces as they see their friend breaking down is nearly as heartbreaking as the actual crying. Then Ichigo is mysteriously stabbed from behind and sees his Dad and Urahara there, so he thinks even they’re against him, only then does Rukia appear before him, the one holding the sword. She says the sword will restore his Shinigami powers for real and sure enough he transforms into a new version of his Shinigami outfit where his Hollow powers are “worn” on him as well (in other words, no more mask!) Rukia then reveals she’s not alone and the sky opens up to reveal Byakuya, Kenpachi, Hitsugaya, Renji and Ikkaku, who are all here as well. Amazing moment. To cap off episode 361 Ichigo slices the entire mansion in half with a single swing in an extremely “bad ass” moment.

After this people split off, Kenpachi one-shots Giriko the barman, Renji one-shots Jackie (and acts like a bit of a knob by saying he doesn’t want to strike a woman, despite it being a fight to the death which I THINK is the one time it’s okay…), Ikkaku defeats Moe, Tsukashima’s underling whose power was luck-based (didn’t really mention him this whole time, he’s good for a laugh) and Hitsugaya easily defeats Yukio’s game-based traps. I mean, it makes sense, the Fullbringers are just humans with a quirky ability, the Captains / Lieutenants of the Gotei 13 are obviously on another level entirely. Rukia struggles a bit with the similarly named Riruka as she shares a similar love of cute things and Byakuya struggles with Tsukashima after he inserts himself into his past and learns all of the potential faults in his Zanpakuto release, but then makes the key mistake of thinking that Byakuya would hesitate cutting down an old friend and mentor if that person was going against the Soul Society, and his new friend in Ichigo. It’s a fun fight, as brief as it is.

Tsukashima and Byakuya prepare to do battle.

The same goes for the big final showdown between a transformed Ginjo and Ichigo’s new Bankai. The former reveals that he was the first Substitute Shinigami and that the badge they both carried around acted both as a tracking device and a limiter on their power, a truth that caused him to lose faith in the Gotei 13 and go on something of a killing spree. Ichigo doesn’t act shocked and instead continues to fight, and soon kill, Ginjo. The other Captains walk away mid fight, revealing that their mission was to kill both Substitute Shinigamis if they showed signs of rebellion but once Ichigo made his choice their mission was done. It’s interesting, and actually revealed later that Ichigo was given the badge in the hope that it would lead to Ginjo revealing his location and then the two could be killed at the same time, it was only Ichigo’s actions during the Arrancar arc in saving them all that they not only changed their minds about killing him but broke a taboo and transferred some of their power into him, the very crime Rukia was arrested for back at the start of the series.

One bonus screenshot because I’ve always LOVED Ginjo’s Bankai design. It’s cheesy as hell with all the bones and red crosses, but damn it if it isn’t still really cool looking…

One last scene then plays of Ichigo going to Soul Society and confronting Yamamoto but instead of anything to do with how he was treated he instead wanted Ginjo’s body so he could give him a proper burial, which the Head Captain agrees once he hears Ichigo plans on continuing to be a Substitute Shinigami. We end with a montage, including some of the Visoreds now being Captains again, and with the status quo restored we fade to black… for ten years, then we opened back up! But that’s for another time. That and all the filler arcs and films I’ve yet to cover, but I have no idea when I’ll get around to those. Overall it’s a much better story arc than it gets credit for, in my opinion.