©久保帯人/集英社・テレビ東京・dentsu・ぴえろ
Immediately, let's agree on some issues. First and foremost, reviews of The Bloody Millennium War were previously written by the late Nicholas Dupree. Although I don't know him personally, I have read a lot of his writings and have a lot of respect for him. But at the risk of turning this review into an essay about my complicated feelings about doing this, I'll just say that while I wish Nick still wrote these reviews, I'll do my best .
Second, I know if you're reading this, there's a good chance you've read the Bleach manga before—in fact, by this point, you've most likely finished it entirely. However, I don't. And I did a pretty good job of dodging spoilers! I know the main ships will eventually be canon, and that's it. I am an anime only watcher and I know many others in the comments section will also be anime only watchers. So please consider—no manga spoilers, please and thank you.
So, please note: how are the first two episodes of The Thousand Year Blood War season 3?
A fun new opening (possibly my favorite opening episode of The Thousand Year Blood War to date) and not-so-brief recap afterward, we're right back where we were stopped: Yhwach is still fighting Ichibei and Senjumaru is still fighting Uryu and Jugram. It's interesting that when the war ends, “the nine years Yhwach gathered his power just so happened to end now, how convenient!” it's an anti-climatic reason to keep fighting Yhwach. It feels like a lazy getaway, and I'd be angrier if I couldn't stop thinking about the visual spectacle that is Ichibei's powers—especially his Futen Taisatsu Ryo.
Thousand Year Blood War has been a visual treat so far, and this whole scene really shows that off to the fullest. Honestly, this might be the best-looking segment we've seen to date, or at least the most stylish — which isn't an easy title to win. And this says nothing about the scene that immediately follows. Once Ichibei and Senjumaru are defeated, Yhwach climbs the stairs — one level after another — to reach the Soul King, the camera panning while a dramatic soundtrack plays to show us the ever-shrinking distance. narrow between Yhwach and the Soul King. A+ direction here. Pierrot Films is knocking this one out of the park.
This was a great highlight as the first episode ended. By contrast, the second episode is a relentless onslaught of events that doesn't give the audience a minute to breathe—let alone take a beat to absorb the full gravity of what's going on.
In just one episode—a single episode, about 20 minutes long—Ichigo and co. finally arrived, just in time for Yhwach to reach the Soul King. Ichigo and Yhwach have what some might call a full-fledged fight, but since it doesn't end convincingly, I'd call it more of a brawl—an explosive brawl, but nonetheless also a brawl. We see the various worlds all shaken up and various characters become aware in some form or fashion that something big is happening and they may be under existential threat. And said brawl ends with Ichigo—seemingly unable to resist the hatred of the Soul King in his Quincy bloodline—cutting the Soul King in half. The happily forbidden rancher now completely compromised, Yhwach dominates Ichigo and monologues about how Ichigo's unique existence allows him to do this. Another explosion ensues, and after a few more scenes with people worried that the end might be near, the episode ends.
The breakneck pace of this episode really does the long-awaited fight between Ichigo and Yhwach no favors at all. Like I said before, the audience never really has a moment to absorb what's going on because so much happens so quickly. It's a well-choreographed fight and certainly well-animated. I don't deny that. But for a fight that the entire series has been building up to, it feels like they really let it happen without any fanfare. There is no moment to create tension, no moment for the audience to feel tense. But no different from the previous episode, I can't help but overlook this episode's shortcomings because I'm really curious about what will happen now that the Soul King seems to be out of the picture.
It's all in there. All in all, this seems like a strong start. A lot has happened in not much time. The pacing seems a little too fast for my liking, but based on how the series has gone so far, it makes me think this season is going to be a lot of fun. Anyway, there are a lot of loose story threads hanging around right now and I'm really curious to see where Kubo's wild ride will go next.
Rating:
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3-Conflict is now streaming on Hulu and Disney+.