Bleach – Thousand-Year Blood War 1×14 Review: The Last 9 Days

Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War anime is back for its second cour with Episode 14, titled ‘The Last 9 Days’. While this particular episode was quite talk-heavy, the final seconds really amped up the stakes.

The actionless pacing of ‘The Last 9 Days’ allowed the story to spend time with a bunch of characters to explore their thoughts during such tense times. I’m going to talk about the rest of the developments before I get to the Yhwach stuff with Ishida.

Orihime, Chad, and the rest of their crew (including a mysterious character) were able to make their way to the Negal Ruins to continue their training. I really would have liked to see the type of training Orihime did due to the nature of her powers. But I guess even the writers weren’t sure what to showcase.

Instead, we got a scene where Orihime shared her wish about how she wanted everyone to get along so no wars would ever be fought. As humans, Orihime and Chad were currently in Hueco Mundo helping the Arrancar face the incoming Quincy army. Humans and Soul Reapers helping the Arrancar was considered impossible before Ichigo and his friends entered the scene and changed things for the better.

Over in the human world, we got a nice little scene where Shunsui Kyoraku paid Mizuiro Kojima, Keigo Asano, and
Tatsuki Arisawa a visit. Shunsui Kyoraku didn’t have to do it, but it showed how much he considered Ichigo’s feelings when it came to his friends. With Ichigo continuing his journey to unlock a new power, it was possible said power would mess with the world of the living. If that were to happen, Ichigo would be forbidden from entering the human world ever again. Shunsui Kyoraku wanted to give a heads ups to Ichigo’s friends. He even handed them tickets to the Soul Society to meet Ichigo if such a situation arose.

As I said, Shunsui Kyoraku didn’t have to do all of that. But considering everything Ichigo has done- and was still doing- for the Soul Society, it was a nice little gesture. The fact Shunsui Kyoraku went to the human world himself to meet with Ichigo’s human friends showed how different he was going to be as the newly appointed Captain-Commander compared to his predecessor.

For the most part, ‘The Last 9 Days’ was all about getting characters to train. Orihime and Chad were training. Rukia and Renji were training. Byakuya Kuchiki was going to train, too. Our heroes required some major boosts to face Yhwach and his forces, and Ichigo needed the biggest boost of all.

I liked how Ichibe Hyosube flat-out told Ichigo that no matter how much he trained with his newly acquired Zanpakuto, he was still a Soul Reaper. For Ichigo to defeat Yhwach, he needed to unlock something different within him. Ichigo needed to surpass being a mere Soul Reaper.

The biggest development in this particular episode was all Quincy-related. Yhwach took the stage to announce Ishida as his successor. Of course, everyone was surprised. Why the heck would Yhwach name a newcomer as his successor? It made no sense!

I liked how the episode took a moment to showcase the different personalities of some of the Sternritter. Bazz-B seemed to be the most annoyed by the decision and made everyone else aware of it.

Bambietta was also annoyed. However, apparently, she was into killing handsome men as an outlet for her frustration. Uhhh… good for her?

I’m looking forward to seeing the tension continue to rise within Yhwach’s army concerning Ishida. Jugram remained silent even with Bazz-B mocking him (everyone thought Jugram was going to be the successor), but you can tell Jugram will have some choice words to say if left alone with Ishida about Yhwach’s decision.

And I don’t know if I missed it, but I think the episode didn’t really explain why Ishida was chosen. He was unique enough to be the only Quincy to survive Auswählen, but Yhwach didn’t go into detail. What Yhwach did do was offer Ishida some of his blood to help unlock Ishida’s true powers.

Ewww!

While the anime is trying hard to make it look like Ishida has switched sides, I think no viewer is falling for it. We all know that Ishida is still a good guy and is trying to handle Yhwach in his own way.

The title of the episode came from the prophecy being told across the current arc. With Yhwach regaining power, the final part of the prophecy was about how the world would end in just 9 days. So, yeah, our heroes (who are still freaking training!) only have 9 days to get their act together and save everyone!

The animation team did an impressive job of evoking a sense of dread as Yhwach and his army entered the battlefield to put an end to the Soul Reapers.

As someone who has read the manga series, the upcoming fights are going to be epic. I can’t wait!

The second cour of the Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War anime was accompanied by new opening and ending theme songs titled “STARS” by w.o.d and “Endroll” by Yoh Kamiyama, respectively.

I really liked the music video for the opening sequence. The characters were given a more ‘slice-of-life’ vibe while sticking to the war against Yhwach and Ichigo and Ishida finding themselves on opposing sides. If you pause during specific moments you can get an idea of which character is going to face off against whom as the series progresses.

The choice of outfits being worn by certain characters already has the Bleach fandom in a frenzy. I’m looking forward to seeing all of the fanart this particular opening will inspire.

What did you think of ‘The Last 9 Days’?

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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