That beginning meeting among Sternritters gave me major flashbacks of Aizen and his meeting with his Espada. Was that intentional? More than likely yes, because of nostalgia reasons and for us to see nothing has really changed; "villains" still making plans how to defeat "heroes". Though, there was one tiny difference and that was the lack of tea. Oh yeah. Something about villains sipping tea when having their villain meeting gives such a sophisticated feeling, (even if they all wouldn't be that sophisticated) yet now...it's all business. After all, the Quincies are here to bring "peace"! I really liked how they made the camera angle move when they showed the meeting among all Sternritters and the top of the table surface was this episode's name. It felt very smooth and seriously gave that villainous meeting vibe.
This episode made me think something, and I'm not sure if it was really ever addressed in the manga, but how long does Quincies live? I know Yhwach is like a special case, but the way Askin talked and all the other implications before that...make it sound like Quincies too can live 100-plus years and still remain in their youthful appearances. Does this mean if they live in the World of the Living, only then they'll age normally like humans do? But as long as they're at Soul Society where is Reishi, it's a different story? Because if we think about the last cour, at least to me it seemed like Ryuuken aged normally. So did Masaki and because they were considered 'elite' Quincies, we can assume they weren't run-out-of-mill ones...so, does the location matter when comes to aging? Or, the fact if Quincies are Sternritters or not? Because we've only seen so far mostly Sternritters' POV of things, it could be they're a special case, but even so...I couldn't help but think that especially when they talked about Quincy King's rising and the time it would take.
And sunflower Mayuri makes an appearance! He really looked ridiculous, but still very loyal to his style: ridiculous but in such a way it was also a smart move. I'm not sure what kind of texture or animation technique the staff used, but the fact Mayuri's (and Nemu's) outfit seemed to be 'alive' was a very neat trick. They could have just gone with yellow and white colors that glow a little bit, but nope! They went over that little extra mile to give Mayuri's and Nemu's outfits that specialty that one would expect and wait for from Mayuri.
But man...working in a place like his lab at the moment, would be one form of torture as it seemed just so...bright. Must be nice, when one doesn't have migraine issues, eh?
Heh, Askin being all '-ck this sh*t, I'm out' toward Mayuri, when he at first measured how much effort it would take to take down Mayuri. xD And then Mayuri slaying back. Talk about two smart people going all 'too much effort' versus 'needs more time to craft such a plan I can crush you fully'. Though, that last look Mayuri gave to Askin...oh boy. He seriously wanted to crush Askin, like the lil' bug he was in his eyes.
Never understood why Toshiro had that cloth wrapped around his head, because earlier he didn't have. It just...ditto. Made me think of Rambo or some sort of other action movie where the "hero" has a bandana around their head...but Toshiro is supposed to be that cool guy, so heat shouldn't be a problem with him, so why? Though considering his opponent is Bazz-B, heat will be soon a problem for him...and yes, I can see the irony, that was before the heat problem, lol.
I must say, I really liked how Rangiku and Toshiro worked together against Bazz-B! I had missed such synergy, and especially Rangiku teasing Toshiro! Rangiku's explanation was a bit over the top, but it was still super cute! Especially when Toshiro clearly resisted his urge to roll his eyes while Bazz-B was just staring in there, probably thinking 'lots of words, I don't get anything!' Lol. But yeah. That was a super cute moment between Toshiro and Rangiku and reminded just how good a captain and lieutenant combo they make~. Unfortunately...it just wasn't enough this time around, despite their brave attempt to go against Bazz-B.
As a side note, I must admit I still find it pretty ridiculous how people explain in the battle against their opponent the 'trick' they're using...that's just begging trouble against them.
That moment with Omaeda and his sister was very touching. Despite the fact, Omaeda has been...well, not my favorite character (and probably either not many other people's), that moment was still touching. A bit of cliché hero talk, but at times those are needed, eh? Especially if a little girl is scared and crying.
Luckily Soi Fon came to the rescue, because while Omaeda's attempt was...well, okay, it wasn't enough. Not to mention, I just loved how Soi Fon acted all badass when she showcased her shunko! And yes, while that wasn't (at least yet) enough, I still liked how Soi Fon ride on her thrill over the fact she had managed to master her own shunko.
What caught my attention was how Soi Fon called BG9 in the subtitles 'freak', while in actuality she called him 'bakemono'. It was a small thing, but because of that, the meaning got a bit changed. While "freak" would have suited BG9, because of what he did earlier to Soi Fon in cour 1, I think 'bakemono' was a bit more suited as it can be translated as a monster, and in a sense, BG9 is exactly that. (Because he is basically a walking weapon, a robot, an entity that shinigami probably hasn't seen ever before.) Even so, despite the light tone difference, both are okay when thinking about the context. But even so...with my limited Japanese knowledge, it just caught my attention. ^^'
And once again, Urahara to rescue! Good thing Mayuri didn't cut him off right away when he heard his voice, since Gotei 13 is in a dire situation and will need all the help they can get.
Hmm, that ending with Ichigo walking toward the torii gate was interesting. I had to google a bit to find out what "irazusando" at the end meant, but I wasn't disappointed when I did!
I found a person on Reddit explaining it like this:
"It means "no entry Sandō".
A Sandō is a path/road leading to the entrance of a Shinto shrine, with a torii (the wooden gate Ichigo is walking towards) marking the origin of the path."
Very interesting. I can't wait to see how Ichigo will make his way to the torii or if will he meet more struggles when going toward it, as why else he would have that wooden sword with him? (I'm just waiting for a jumpscare in here...) |