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

Episode 34

Well really, compared to what we've had recently, this wasn't exactly the most exhilarating episode. Still, Mayuri is one of my absolute favorite characters in all of Bleach, and he hasn't had the spotlight in a while—much less the spotlight in a fight. He's so incredibly smug and condescending, and I love that in a character. And what makes this even better: his arrogance is well-earned. In this episode alone we saw him do a quick, one-handed surgery, and show off the modification he made to his bankai that lets it give birth. Speaking of, if you had told me a few months ago that there was going to be an episode of Thousand-Year Blood War that does Uzumaki better than the Uzumaki anime would do Uzumaki, I wouldn't have believed you. And yet, against all odds, here we are.

But getting back on track: what an interesting combination Mayuri and Kenpachi make. They're a classic brains and brawn duo, but there's such an intense clashing of personalities there since they're both pretty singularly focused. Still, the beating that Kenpachi took helps to emphasize just how fearsome this new enemy—the left arm of the Soul King, who by the end of the episode is essentially a hydra of large, sentient arms that Mayuri oh-so-generously allows to be called Pernida (oh my god, he's so full of himself and I love him)—is.

Speaking of Pernida, I wouldn't go so far as to say that the CGI used for them is ugly, per se. In fact, by the standards of CGI in TV anime, Pernida looks mostly great - but I say “mostly” because of the way the blood spurting on their second lost finger looked; it looked like they just erased the finger from the hand and put a transparent gif of a red fountain over where the finger would be. This episode—like so many other episodes—is so gory and otherwise full of blood and guts. Only minutes before this, we saw Kenpachi's arm contorting into a bloodsoaked windmill before he tore it off. This anime can do WAY better than what they did with this injury, c'mon. The scene where a hand is running toward Mayuri, in particular, looked spectacular, and the dramatic angles made it look all the better. But it's still a situation where Pernida is an obviously-3D-object in an obviously-2D-show, and it makes them look jarring in concert with everything else. I have no doubt that Pernida looks as good as possible, but CGI in TV anime still has ways to go before it looks completely seamless.

In any case, you probably picked up on this by now, but this was such a great episode for Mayuri. He's had plenty of cool moments in Thousand-Year Blood War by now, of course—and his shining jacket is nothing if not pure fashion. But this week, we got to see him really flex in a way we don't often get to; we get to see just how terrifying it can be to fight him. After all, he's more than holding his own against an enemy that nearly Uzumaki'd Kenpachi—who this anime has done nothing if not hype up (and deservedly so). All this, and we also got a heaping helping of his wonderfully callous, and unabashedly insufferable personality. He's one of the most outrageously egotistical and patronizing characters I've ever encountered in an anime, and I love him for that.

In any case, I hope not to eat my words, but at this point it feels like Mayuri's got this fight handled. Or—you know what. It's embarrassing that this review hasn't had more hand puns yet, so let's try some rapid fire: Mayuri's been doing a great job throwing hands with Pernida. He definitely has the upper hand at this point—so much so that it really feels like this fight's being handed to him. By giving him an enemy whose abilities can so quickly get out of hand, Thousand-Year Blood War is being really heavy-handed about showing off just how menacing Mayuri can be, but I don't mind that because I think he's hands-down one of the best characters in this show, and it's fun to watch everyone playing right into his hands. Finally, I gotta hand it to Thousand-Year Blood War; an episode that doesn't revolve around Ichigo and co. is refreshing every now and again—after all, they're not the only ones with their hands full. As always, I feel like I'm in good hands with this anime, and I'm looking forward to next week.

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