Bleach – Thousand-Year Blood War 1×02 Review: “Foundation Stones”

Bleach: The Thousand-Year Blood War anime episode 2, titled ‘Foundation Stones’, laid the groundwork for an exciting battle as the Soul Society switched to high alert.

‘Foundation Stones’ opened with a scene showcasing the ruthlessness of the main villain. The mysterious leader of the Wandenreich, referred to as Your Majesty, had no qualms about killing people because as far as he was concerned, every death served as a foundation stone for his grand plan.

He killed Ludaas because he didn’t like how Ludaas talked about events that might occur in the future. Ludaas wasn’t a prophet and I guess Your Majesty wanted to humble him. Other than that, even Ebern was killed because he had served his purpose of stalling Ichigo for a bit.

I mentioned in my review of the premiere episode that I appreciated how the writers didn’t make Your Majesty evil for the sake of being evil. As far as Your Majesty was concerned, he was doing everything to change the world for the better. And if that involved killing basically every Arrancar in the process, then so be it.

According to the information provided in the episode, everything that’s happened until now was linked to the Wandenreich being Quincies. I liked how the writers didn’t drag the reveal. The current arc was setting up a Shinigami vs Quincy war. And due to how the Quincies operated, their purpose was to completely destroy Hollows, thus being polar opposites of the Shinigami. This was also a reason behind Your Majesty, the leader of the villainous Quincy group, being so casual about killing non-human beings and wanting to mold reality how he saw fit.

Due to the Shinigami going up against the Quincies, ‘Foundation Stones’ had a moment of tension between Ishida and Ichigo. With Ichigo and his crew getting ready to head to Hueco Mundo to help the Arrancar being decimated by the Wandenreich, Ishida had to stay back due to being a Quincy. The friendship between Ishida and Ichigo had come a long way over the course of the Bleach series. Even Orihime commented on it in the current episode. Seeing them begin to drift apart, even if just for a while, is going to be tough to watch due to the upcoming war.

‘Foundation Stones’ was mostly about showcasing the brutality the residents of Hueco Mundo were experiencing. It made sense for Nel to find her way to the human world to seek help from Ichigo. And of course, Ichigo was going to agree even if he had fought the Arrancar as enemies not too long ago. That’s just who Ichigo happens to be as a character.

With Ichigo, Sado, Orihime, and Kisuke Urahara making their way to Hueco Mundo along with Nel and Pesche, I am ready to enjoy an impressive battle sequence between Ichigo and an actually lettered member of the Wandenreich, Quilge Opie (given the letter ‘J’). As someone who has read the manga, let me just tell you that the upcoming fight won’t be easy for Ichigo. The anime made Quilge’s strength clear by having him easily defeat Loly Aivirrne, Menoly Mallia, Emilou Apacci, Franceska Mila Rose, and Cyan Sung-Sun.

Along with an awesome fight (yes, to the animation quality remaining intact after the debut episode!), we should also be getting some more information about the powers being used by the Wandenreich.

Some other thoughts:

• The writers were able to portray Lieutenant Sasakibe’s funeral quite emotionally. The residents of Soul Society want revenge, and I’m here for it.
• The shot of Your Majesty, in mid-air with glowing hands, making his way toward an injured Halibel was cool.
• Ichigo inviting Ishida to the group meeting even though he expected Ishida to refuse to help the Arrancar was a nice touch. Ichigo knew Ishida would sulk if he wasn’t invited and he didn’t want to hurt Ishida’s feelings. Again, seeing their friendship get rocky down the line is going to be sad.
• The fact that Ebern used a Medallion against Ichigo and yet it didn’t do anything to our lead hero is definitely going to come up again.
• Yes, to Orihime using her powers to soften the group’s landing and also for scouting the nearby area in Hueco Mundo.

What did you think of ‘Foundation Stones’? Are you excited about what’s to come?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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