#BleachTYBW episodes 12 and 13 review: Zangetsu and Ichigo’s past finally revealed! END OF COURSE 1

Bleach: Thousand-year Blood WAR (TYBW) episodes 12 and 13 aired on Monday, December 27, 2022 in Japan on TV Tokyo. Harleking offers us his review! This is the last review of the first core of the anime Bleach Sennen Kessen hen which will return in July 2023 for the sequel.

ON THE SAME SUBJECT >>> Bleach Thousand-Year Blood War Episode 12 VOSTFR – Everything But The Rain June Truth

ANIMATION AND WRITING

“EVERYTHING BUT THE RAIN “June Truth”” & “THE BLADE IS ME” title of episode 12 and 13 of this week.

The episode adapts 10 chapters, that of volume 60 and 61, episode 12 begins in the middle of chapter 533 and episode 13 ends on chapter 542, without the last 2 pages which are not adapted during this episode. The conclusion of this course 1 is beautiful. The season was almost flawless, I really appreciate the work on the new DA, the color palettes are very varied and surprising.

The content of the episodes is in the volumes 60 – Everything But The Rain and 61 – The Last 9 Days which you can order here, if you do not have them yet:

It takes reverence for fans who knew the old DA, there is a new color for Ichigo’s Getsuga and so on, on this episode the color of the sky in Ichigo’s soul is the same as that of the opening.

It is this shade of pink color that surely has enormous meaning for the author. “We have discovered the mysteries of this ancient taboo color, its ability to move and frighten us” Of Barbara Nemitz – Painter.

I find this sentence heavy with meaning on the fact of “moving” with respect to the end.

Barabara Nemitz gives a meaning of pink that I find interesting in relation to Ichigo’s character.

“In contemporary Japanese culture, pink is seen as a sad, masculine color that represents young warriors who fall in battle while in full bloom.”

It instantly reminds me of Ichigo, sadness occupies a large part of his life since he put his mother’s death on his shoulders, besides learning the truth about his real fate relieves him of a weight , then he also leads a warrior’s life with many failures.

It is in full bloom, it is only a teenager and later it remains very young.

When this warrior falls, Zangetsu takes him out of perilous situations with these quincy powers as well as his hollow.

Pink represents this in Japan but in the West it also represents caring love, a love that Zangetsu has for Ichigo. The only thing Zangetsu will have lied about is his name, which
which reinforces his words in the past, his vow to protect Ichigo.

Zangetsu says he is her ally without being her, he is not because of his nature, but he is both for his wish to protect and because he loves her. This is an important nuance. Ichigo changed Zangetsu as these fights went on, just as he changed the spirit of Soul Society by striving in every fight even though he fell every time. The author’s AD and deep color choices lend a unique aura to the work and adaptation of this arc.

It’s a great strength of the arc in addition to the animation which is always well balanced over the 13 episodes, the Sakuga “key animation” moments are always very well done, on these episodes we have little action , but for the little we have it is very correct and beautiful.

Isshin’s Getsuga Tensho does not go unnoticed.

We see Masaki for the last time in this flashback and Urahara plays an important role in Ichigo’s destiny, he was his sensei just like the man he allowed him to see the light of day, obviously leaving the choice of life or death in Isshin.

The circle is complete, we finally understand the very close link between Isshin and Urahara, but also between that of Isshin and Ryuken.

Ichigo loses his mother to Juha Bach’s auswählen, just like Uryu’s mother, these two characters are also extremely connected. Regarding Uryu at the end of the episode he will have made the choice to join the Wandenreich alongside Jugram to join their camp.

During episode 13 we see the Gotei 13 shinigami preparing for the next fight against the quincy, some decide to return to their training base, which shows some interesting character development.

The shinigami are no longer limited to bankai, and are developing other combat arts such as Zanjutsu or Kido.

While Kensei bets on the number of Bankai and wishes to teach it to Hisagi to begin with. While Mayuri appears to be planning a counterattack in private, the lore also expands with characters like Sajin returning to his roots with his clan.

The roots, we return to Ichigo, once having learned more about these roots he returns to Division 0, he will have to confront his inner world directly so that his Zanpakuto is
forged, which also heralds the death of Zangetsu as we know him.

Before Zangetsu leaves the two speak with sincerity and his Zanpakuto confesses to recognize his strength although he has protected Ichigo many times, he leaves to become another form, ichigo can finally fight alone with confidence in his abilities.

Regarding Zangetsu being Ichigo’s quincy powers, there were a lot of clues in the work, such as the movement of quincy in the shadows, for example:

The displacement of the shadows of the Quincy Ebern at the beginning of the season is no doubt, it is a nice forshadowing on the part of the author once again.

Or even beyond the resemblance between Zangetsu and Yhwach, the one between Mugetsu and Yhwach. THE BLADE IS MEthis is the episode that I was waiting for the most, for all the excellent background of the frame, the unique aura of its kind further enhanced by the theme of Shiro Sagisu and the animation, it’s really a conclusion of a big act in the life of the main protagonist.

It is a successful act!

ADDED AND DELETED SCENES

Concerning the deleted scenes etc. There are inappropriate scenes like the post credits of the last episode, it arrives earlier in the manga, not at the end of THE BLADE IS ME. There are slight additions, we see more scenes deleted but minor.

The most important for the development of the characters are kept and this is a very good thing, once again the humorous scenes too present go by the wayside, and minor discussion scenes disappear.

Here are samples of the deleted and added scenes to see the extent of things, nothing alarming on this subject concerning the pace of the last two episodes:

The part where Isshin talks about Masaki is not modified, however it is much more illustrated than in the manga.

MUSIC AND POETRY

Regarding the music it’s a big 10/10! In episode 12 I really appreciate the cello during the discussion between Isshin and Ichigo or even the Number One ost when Ichigo takes his Zanpakutos out of the flames, the music is an element very well managed during the arc.

At the end of the episode there is a poem from volume 61: “I believe the world is full of dangers. The reason I wish to protect you from it is that I sense an impulse within me of an equally dangerous nature. >> Zangetsu

CONCLUSION: THE FOLLOW-UP TO BLEACH ON OUR SCREENS?

To conclude, we have the date of court 2 of arc TYBW, the continuation begins in JULY 2023, we had the right to a sumptuous trailer to make us wait and give us an overview of the rest. As a reminder theanime will be 52 episodes divided into 4 courtyards of 13 episodes.

I’ll meet you in July for my next reviews, thank you for your loyalty and thank you to those who give me strength by sharing or commenting.

What did you think of this episode? Let us know in the comments!

Bleach Thousand-Year Blood War episode 13 “The Blade Is Me”:

The latest volumes of novels/mangas and Blu-Ray boxes available:

L’animated adaptation of Bleachhas 366 episodes (Chapter 480 – End of Volume 54) and stopped on March 27, 2012. And the Bleach Thousand-Year Blood War anime adapting theThousand Year Bloody War arc resumed October 10, 2022.

Bleach © Tite Kubo/Shūeisha Inc., Tv Tokyo, dentsu, Studio Pierrot

Sources: Harleking on Twitter, Bleach Animation, Bleach 20th Anniversary Shonenjump Site, Bleach-Mx