Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3 - The Conflict

39-40

I think it was the right call making the finale a two-parter like this. While leaving it off after episode 39—which ends with Jugram approaching Uryu about being a traitor—could've been a fine ending note, Yhwach still being alive after an apparently unsuccessful assassination attempt (and certainly that shot of the Royal Palace and the Soul Society), I think, makes for a better one. This is to say nothing of how I'm so glad that they didn't try to smash 39 and 40 together into one rushed episode. So while I didn't care much for the little short at the end of the latter episode, taking that out of the equation, I think episode 40 left us off at a great spot for season four to pick up on.

Speaking of which, it looks like season four will probably pick up more or less directly with—at long last—a Yoruichi fight. Which is great news, if you ask me! Even though they've been present more or less the whole time, she, Orihime, and Chad haven't really had many moments to shine yet in Thousand Year Blood War, so I'm glad to see that her getting some overdue time in the spotlight is imminent. She seems to have an opponent with an interesting ability too, so I'm curious to see how this is going to play out. Of the two fights that still seem to be ongoing—this one, and the one against Gerard Valkyrie—this is definitely the one I feel more interested in, but especially if it really turns out that Gerard truly is the Soul King's heart. Who knows? I might eat my words later. The fight against Pernida, after all, was a series highlight.

But definitely the biggest thing these episodes brought to the table was the true nature of Uryu's betrayal. More specifically, it's not not a betrayal. He's working under Yhwach with the express intent of killing him, but this time for realsies. But at the same time, it's still a betrayal in the sense that he doesn't seem to want Ichigo and the rest of the group to get involved, and he's willing to fight them to drive them off, as he wants to do this alone. In other words: contrary to the expectations other shonen anime betrayals might leave you with, Uryu's desire to kill Yhwach doesn't seem to have anything to do with, say, his friendship with Ichigo, or even a desire to save literally anyone in particular. Rather, it seems to be rooted in a feeling of obligation toward his family, and toward the Quincies as a whole—which, granted, is connected at least partially in a desire to save the world from Yhwach, but still.

This is so much more believable a source of motivation for Uryu than, say, an overwhelming love for his friends. Don't get me wrong—whether he admits it or not, I'm sure that's at least part of it. But it doesn't seem to be the main thing he's attributing his decision to do this toward. Which, in a way, is kind of funny—not just because it subverts expectations, but because it implies that if Ichigo hadn't been dragged into this, then Uryu would still be off doing this while Ichigo is blissfully unaware. It implies that if things had only gone a little bit differently, Uryu could be out fighting an entire war, while Ichigo and co. are still at home eating snacks, talking about their homework that's due tomorrow, wondering if Uryu—who said he was going to use the restroom about an hour ago—is okay.

As far as overall thoughts for Part 3 of Thousand Year Blood War go, this was a really fun season—my favorite yet of the three, and my choice for anime of the season. And that's kind of a plot twist to me, because its second half, especially, amounted to little more than a boss rush, which sounds like it would be pretty boring in most other anime. But the fights in Thousand Year Blood War have been so explosive, over-the-top, and gorgeously animated—and the direction, similarly, so consistently brilliant—that I found myself not only not caring about this, but even enjoying it immensely. I think my favorite one overall was probably Mayuri and Nemu vs Pernida, but an honorable mention to Renji vs Uryu. That being said, I do want to be clear about how Thousand-Year Blood War has some of the all-time best looking fights I've seen in anime, period—let alone just the shonen genre.

But even taking the fights out of the equation, there were plenty of other awesome moments throughout this season. The biggest one, obviously, is the long-awaited return of Sosuke “shonen supervillain supreme” Aizen (related side note: have you all seen the Christmas image posted by Bleach's official social media? If you haven't yet, I implore you to go look at it. It's hilarious), but I can't not also mention some of my other favorites, like the return of Grimmjow in all his skinny-jeans-wearing glory, and the various “deaths” (I don't necessarily think all of them are finalized deaths, but I guess we'll see) we've had this season—Ukitake's probably being the most significant (outside of, you know, the Soul King jolly rancher, whose destruction is at the center of all this), though I think Nemu's is the most memorable.

This is all to say nothing of how consistently brilliant the production-aspects of this anime have been from start to finish: the animation, the visuals, the storyboarding, the direction, the soundtrack, the voice acting—A+, all around. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: this TV anime looked downright cinematic at times. This anime is a technical feat the likes of which we don't get often.

Needless to say, I'm very excited to watch the fourth and final part of Thousand-Year Blood War, whenever it may come out. I'm willing to wait as long as necessary for it, especially if it helps to ensure a worthy finale to this momentous anime. You can rest assured that once it's out, I'll have an entire, uncut loaf of bread in my hands to snack on, ready and eager to watch it.

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Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3 - The Conflict is currently streaming on Hulu and Disney+.