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

Episode 36

Dear lord, where do I even begin with this episode. I guess we'll start with Mayuri. If you've been reading these reviews, you know I'm a known and documented villain appreciator, and that includes Mayuri—who I consider to be one of my favorite characters in all of Bleach. So needless to say, I was thrilled to see that we were finally able to get back to his fight against Pernida. Although it feels like a stretch to call it “his” fight any more. Nemu, of course—long overdue for some time in the spotlight—rescued him, and ultimately sacrificed herself to destroy Pernida in what might arguably be the goriest moment yet in an anime that could already fill every tank in your local aquarium with blood, guts, and detached limbs (even excluding the giant Pernida arms).

This episode made me realize just how little we really know about Nemu. Normally I might follow this up by saying something along the lines of, “It's a shame, now that she's gone, maybe we never will,” but I don't really know if I believe that's the case. I get really frustrated with anime that bring characters back to life superfluously, especially anime that do this multiple times, because all it does is zap away any emotional gravity in a character's death. It plants the idea of “well, they might come back to life,” in your head. It's a huge moment-ruiner, tension-killer, drama-destroyer, and easily one of my biggest pet peeves in fiction, in general. And sure enough, between Mayuri walking away with Nemu's brain and the pods bringing back the previously-dead Hitsugaya and Rangiku, all I could think was, “Oh, well Nemu might come back then, too.” And I hate that I feel that way, because this was an otherwise very sad death! I felt for Nemu, despite how little screen time she's had.

That being said, my favorite moment of the episode was what came afterward: when Szayelaporro Granz—or rather, a Szayelaporro Granz in Mayuri's mind—lectured an obviously upset Mayuri, going on his rant about how, “What ever happened to perfection is bad? Why are you getting so upset, my guy? Really, if anything, you should be ecstatic that Nemu's death means she wasn't perfect. Honestly, when you really think about it, you should be thanking Pernida.” And the whole thing is played out in such a way where it makes it look like Szayelaporro wants to mock Mayuri, but then Mayuri banishes Szayelaporro from his mind while saying, “You're absolutely correct, and I can't believe it took a buffoon like you to remind me of that!”

It was a sweet scene in its own weird way—in a very snarky and condescending Mayuri way. We learned in this very episode, in Nemu's brief flashback, that he has at least a hint of what you can describe as very fatherly feelings toward Nemu, even if it's a bit more complicated than that. Which is to say: he wants her to learn and grow, but a lot of that comes less from a place of genuine affection as much as it does scientific interest. Still, we also learned that there's not zero emotion on Mayuri's part involved in this, so I think this scene demonstrates that he does have some level of affection toward her, even if he himself doesn't necessarily want to admit it, be it to others or himself. So that he's reacting this way to her death feels correct. It's the kind of scene and reaction that definitely wouldn't work for every character, but I think it suits him perfectly.

I know not everyone will agree with me of course, but honestly, I think Hitsugaya and Rangiku being back at the end was a stain on an otherwise 5 star, Mayuri-centric episode. I like both of them as characters and I'm not necessarily surprised that they're back (their deaths felt way too unceremonious, after all). Still, that doesn't necessarily mean I have to like that the series is doing this. I'd rather all the deaths just be perma-deaths; that way the death scenes could feel as serious as they're intended to. Although to be fair, with or without Hitsugaya and Rangiku, I still think there's a solid chance we might see a much younger and smaller Nemu down the road, given that Mayuri is probably champing at the bit to get her brain back in the lab.

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