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Bleach Thousand-Year Blood War season 2 episode 21 covers Ichigo and the other Soul Reapers as they struggle to survive an attack from an enemy long-thought defeated. After what felt like a rushed episode 20, episode 21 is brings back Ichigo.
Editor’s Note: There rest of the article contains spoilers for Bleach up through TYBW, Season 2 Episode 21
Ichigo’s back! I’m not going to lie, after episode 19 when it was mentioned how long the road back to Seireitei was, I wasn’t expecting him to make it back for a while, similar to when Goku on Snake Way. But, he’s back and with a new outfit thanks to Squad 0 and the Spirit King.
Image via Bleach Official Twitter
Episode 21 begins with the Bambies, a group of Quincys with powerful abilities, coming to finish Kenpachi off after his fight with Gremmy in episode 20. Despite being hit multiple times by a lightning attack and being exhausted from the fight with Gremmy, Kenpachi is still capable of surprising the Bambies when he attacks them and attempts to defend himself. These efforts are shown to be in vain when he is attacked and begins to lose consciousness. We are shown that Rukia and Byakuya are on their way to help him, but have to pace themselves after Rukia used her new Bankai in episode 19.
Just when it seems like Kenpachi has finally met his match in the Bambies, Ichigo comes crashing through the barrier over Seireitei. He jokes with Kenpachi about how he never expected to be there to help him and then the battle between Ichigo and the Bambies begins.
Return of the Hero
At first Ichigo is fighting Candice Catnipp (T – The Thunderbolt), who uses lightning attacks against him to no effect. Despite being a powerful Quincy, Ichigo is easily able to handle her attacks and defeat her without using any lethal attacks. This was a good introduction to how much Ichigo has improved since visiting the Soul King’s Palace.
After realizing that a one-on-one strategy would never work against Ichigo, the Bambies decide to team up to try and take him down. This too proves to be too easy for Ichigo, as he is never shown exerting himself in this fight. As their trump-card, the Bambies use a transformation (that is oddly reminiscent of Sailor Moon) in order to power themselves up. We see that Ichigo is surprised by their boost in power, but is still able to easily handle them without lethal force. There is one instance where Ichigo uses lethal force and that’s using his bankai to guard against Candice’s most powerful attack. After this attack however, he yells for her to move and she loses an arm which is quickly healed by a fellow member of the Bambies.
As the Bambies prepare to start another attack, they are interrupted by other Quincys who are keen to have the glory of taking down who they view to be the most powerful soul reaper. Just as they are getting ready to all attack him, they are interrupted by Renji and other soul reapers. They tell Ichigo to head towards Yhwach as they will hold off the other Quincys.
Image via Bleach Official Twitter
After noticing a strange light emanating from where Yhwach is, Ichigo heads that direction to confront the leader of the Quincy clan. He is stopped however, when he gets there and realizes Ishida has sided with Yhwach. As this showdown which has been teased in the opening all season starts, Inoue and Sado come out of a portal to defend Ichigo. The episode ends with Yhwach, Ishida, and Jugram heading up to the Soul King’s Palace thanks to Ichigo opening the door with his return, and Ichigo and friends being shocked at Ishida’s betrayal.
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War is streaming on Hulu. The manga was localized by Viz Media.
