A Thousand Years of Blood War — Against the Court

The following contains spoilers for BLEACH: The Millennium War Season 3, Episode 5, “Against Justice,” available on Hulu and Disney+.

Key Takeaways

• Aizen returns with immense power, showing off his power with classic techniques like Kurohitsugi.
• Alliances change as the Quincies unite with the Shinigami against a common enemy.
• Despite the lack of time, the episode sets the stage for the upcoming action with cinematic quality.

The fifth episode of the third series of BLEACH: A Thousand Year Blood War was meant to be a set up for the biggest event of the season, but it also saw cameos from various characters we haven't seen in a while, as well as the first display of Aizen's devastating battle powers. for the first time since he was impressed. battle with Ichigo years ago. Although not as exciting as the previous episodes, episode 5 still brought the series' characteristic cinematic quality, and gave the return of fan-favorite Grimmjow Jaegerjacquez the talent it deserved.

With the situation now at its worst, the Shinigami find themselves having to work together with former officers of the Gotei 13, Hollows and even Quincies to stop a common enemy.

A terrifying flood

Torrents of fearsome monsters ravage the Seireitei

With Yhwach forming the Soul King, his power poured out of the Soul King's Palace from the hole in Shakonmaku. The shadowy, gooey monsters take the form of terrifying monsters that latch onto anything that moves with lamprey-like teeth. We see various Shinigami fighting the creatures as every corner of the Seireitei erupts. Stationed officers such as Ikkaku Madarame and Yumichika Ayasegawa of the 11th Squad, and Lieutenant Skuhei Hisagi of the 9th Squad manage to fight them, but due to the sheer number of monsters -be, it's only a matter of time until they get fed up. Fortunately, the 6th captain Byakuya Kuchiki uses his Senbonzakura to deal with the eye monsters, giving the three a chance to breathe and regroup with him, Rukia, Renji and Soi-Fon. A lot of vague chaos comes flooding in, but a powerful spiritual presence arrives: Sōsuke Aizen, still chained to the chair where he served his 20,000 year sentence in Muken.

I still understand

He might have been stronger in prison

Aizen sneers that creatures like these are not the kind of thing that lift their swords, but that must be crushed by the power of spiritual pressure. Rukia and the others are shocked to see Aizen come out of his prison, and prepare to interact, but Kyōraku is there to explain that he was the one who released him. Of course, there was a lot to be said for being with the person who ruined Soul Society and irrevocably changed the lives of many Shinigami, sadly crossing paths with him, but Kyōraku told them but I don't think it's wrong to fight evil with evil. As more creatures enter the Seireitei, Aizen shoots his favorite Kidō, #90, Kurohitsugi (“Black Coffin”), which had a brilliant update for A thousand year blood war arc.

A purple-black flash of electricity appears, revealing Kyōraku to tell everyone to take cover before a giant black box appears, plugging the hole in the Shakonmaku before releasing the a harsh destructive effect that cleanses the eye area. This moment is driven by the animation effects system, which does a great job of conveying Aizen's unfathomable power despite being imprisoned for two years. Despite displaying formidable power, the restraints used to defeat Aizen are proving to be a hindrance for him, and you see the first real change in his appearance since he first appeared in the A thousand year blood war arc. Kurotsuchi arrives with Nemu and brags about how his creation cannot be broken due to Aizen's power, which clearly bothers the former 5th Squad captain as he offers a challenge. “We will see who will come out on top, your technology or spiritual pressure”.

Frenemies?

The surviving Quincy lend a hand to the Shinigami

Aizen and Kurotsuchi's verbal conversation is interrupted when they are hit by a wave of energy from Sternritter U – The Underbelly, NaNaNa Najahkoop, who believes she has Aizen's spiritual pressure. He sent a death beam that hit Aizen in the head and apparently killed him (everyone knew but Najahkoop). Najahkoop is joined by Bazz-B, G – The Glutton Liltotto Lamperd and Z – The Zombie Giselle Gewelle, who seems to help Najahkoop at first but Bazz-B blasts a hole in his chest. Unlike Najahkoop, who remained loyal to Yhwach even after being abandoned, Bazz-B and the others did not take his discard well and decided to help the Shinigami as they now had a common goal.

With that, Kyoraku sends orders throughout Seireitei for officers who are still able to move to the 12th Squad's base, where their spiritual pressure is needed to strengthen the gate. which will lead directly to the Palace of the Soul King. The preparation of this gate sees the cameo of several characters that we have not seen for a long time, including Visoreds Hiyori Sarugaki, Love Aikawa, Lisa Yadomaru, Hachigen and many others, but there are also a brief glimpse of a silhouette walking towards Garganta – teasing the return of Grimmjow Jaegerjacquez which is the end of the episode.

The missed opportunity

The ending of the last episode made no sense

While there were some good moments here and there, there were also moments that were unexpected BLEACH: A Thousand Year War Episode 3 episode 5, which picks up from the dramatic conclusion of Ichigo's battle with Uryū, an encounter that ends with the former being seriously injured. We don't see it for the whole of the episode until the very end, and after the emotional rollercoaster of the previous episode, it's only a cut of the part that could be for Ichigo again means not looking at the outcome of the battle, but considering the fact that we know how terrible Orihime's power is, it can also be considered pointless to see the sequel if she is rejected by the ability of Orihime denies the consequences of the war. As a bridge to things to come, this episode did what it was supposed to do and continued the momentum of the series even if it wasn't as strong as the previous episodes.

BLEACH: Season 3 is available on Hulu and Disney+.