Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War - The Calamity ‒ Episode 8
Yhwach's power is, essentially, the ultimate manifestation of “Everything is going according to plan,” Light Yagami found in shambles. Especially given how powerful he's managed to become even imprisoned, it obviously feels thematically correct that Yhwach should have to face off against Aizen: Not only the OG Bleach villain, but also, a master manipulator, and one of anime/manga's quintessential most “According to plan” type-characters. He's an apex puppet master who takes nothing out of consideration, so the idea of him going toe to toe with someone who can see every version of every future? In theory it feels very “unstoppable force meets unmovable object.”
In practice, meanwhile—there were cool parts. I'm not going to sit here and pretend I didn't squee my weeby little heart out when Aizen came on screen, as though to say: “You weaklings can't handle this guy? Pathetic. Let a real villain take over from here.” And of course, I let out a hearty, “HELL YEAH!!!” when the chair got destroyed and the cuffs fell off him. Like Rock Lee taking off the weights, he proceeded to deliver a pretty strong curbstomping to Yhwach… at least for a moment, before getting absorbed into the seemingly immortal black ooze Yhwach had become.
This is all to say, yes, there was fun to be had, but a part of me couldn't help but feel like especially relative to the fights we had earlier in the series, this felt incredibly rushed. This is—to emphasize—Aizen versus Yhwach. Aizen, who has loomed over the vast entirety of this long running series like a dark, precisely calculated, and incredibly intimidating fog. Aizen, who is more powerful even when sealed and confined in a prison, than most of the characters in this show even when they can move around freely. Aizen, the master manipulator who's always been one step ahead. And half an episode is really the best Thousand-Year Blood War can give us? After going through all the trouble of bringing Aizen back, this is all we got?
This reminds me of last week, with the unceremonious way Gerard Valkyrie just kind of died, in spite of the fact that the stage was set for another one of the series' trademark incredible battles—one that was being set to involve multiple beloved characters, no less. I've been nothing if not vocal in my love for the fights in Thousand-Year Blood War, many of which are among the best battle shonen anime as a whole has to offer in general, let alone just Bleach. So cool as the few minutes of this fight were, I can't help but feel underwhelmed that it ended just as quick as it started—even if, I want to highlight, Aizen got his really cool “haha, I tricked you,” moment against Yhwach, and we were also treated to the prospect of him teaming up with Ichigo.
Still, however quickly, the battle between Aizen and Yhwach started and is over, and now without seemingly anyone left to stop him, Yhwach's destruction of the three worlds seems imminent. We have to wait until October to see the last two episodes, which makes me all the more excited for how excellent the visuals are bound to look. This has, admittedly, been a far more rushed season of Thousand-Year Blood War than previous ones, and that mismatched pacing can't help but make this season feel perhaps weaker than the others right now. Still, I'll wait until the finale before I say that with any confidence. Nonetheless, this has still been a great watch overall all the same. Not perfect, but this has still been the show I find myself looking the most forward to week after week this season. And I'm already counting down the days until we can see the long-awaited conclusion.
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Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War - The Calamity is currently streaming on Hulu and Disney+.
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