Bleach – Thousand-Year Blood War 1×33 Review: “Gate of the Sun”

Bleach Thousand Year Blood War anime Part 3 episode 33, titled ‘Gate of the Sun’, had Yhwach send his OP guards to kill the Shinigami before they reached his castle. The latest episode struck the right balance between comedy and action.

Even though the Shinigami finally managed to reach the Soul King Palace in the previous episode, they were clearly at a disadvantage. Yhwach had reconstructed the entire site and now called it Wahrwelt. The Shinigami were in enemy territory, which came with the huge drawback of them being unable to use their Spiritual Pressure to create footholds for fast travel. The new atmosphere, and the injuries they had previously sustained, also seemed to force them to expend more of their stamina while traversing on the ground.

Yhwach sent Ishida, Pernida, Askin, Gerard, and Lille to handle the Shinigami and Ichigo’s crew while Haschwalth stayed behind for some reason. Though Gerard, to his utter disappointment, didn’t manage to encounter any of the Shinigami during ‘Gate of the Sun’, Lille was able to sharp shoot a bunch of them, Askin (to his utter disappointment) ran into none other than Ichigo’s crew and a very persistent Grimmjow, while Ishida battled it out with Renji.

Askin’s interaction with Grimmjow made for a fun chase scene. Askin was so not in the mood to initiate a head-on attack. He was more of a sneak attack type of fighter. So, of course, he was going to try and run away from his opponents and wait to attack from the shadows. Even though it was easy for Grimmjow to catch up to Askin, his ‘attack-first-don’t-ask-questions-ever’ nature made for an opening that Askin managed to exploit during their cat-and-mouse chase. Askin specialized in poison and Grimmjow was careless enough to break Askin’s ball of poison instead of dodging it.

With Ichigo arriving just in time to prevent Askin from killing an immobilized Grimmjow, I’m looking forward to their battle in the next episode. As a manga reader, I know how it’s going to go, but I’m still excited about it because this initial confrontation between Ichigo and Askin is going to lead to an awesome fight between Askin and a certain science-minded genius. 

Speaking of another science-minded genius, more comedy was added via Mayuri and Kenpachi’s arrival in Wahrwelt. It’s revealed that Kenpachi was able to use the second gate Mayuri opened after Kenpachi was separated from the rest of the Shinigami because he stayed behind to use the washroom. Not only was Kenpachi now Mayuri’s companion during their race toward Yhwach’s castle, but Yumichika, Ikkaku, and a very worried Hanataro also accompanied Kenpachi through the gate. Poor Hanataro. I feel for that dude. He’s stuck with two Captains; a sadistic evil genius and an OP brute. Talk about bad luck. 

Due to Askin, Lille, and Ishida having found their opponents, you can tell (it was also shown in the opening theme song) that Mayuri and Kenpachi will encounter Pernida as they come closer to the castle. And that’s another exciting fight!

As for Yhwach’s ex-soldiers, Bazz-B, Liltotto, and Giselle decided to separate from the Shinigami and do their own thing to take down Yhwach. Sigh! I get that they want revenge, but they aren’t being smart about it. Again, talking about the opening theme, Bazz-B is going to attack Haschwalth. He might feel confident because he’s aware of Haschwalth’s power, but that particular Quincy is in a league of his own. You can tell that much just from his character design and demeanor.

Coming to the major battle between Ishida and Renji, ‘Gate of the Sun’ allowed Renji to finally reveal his Bankai’s true form. The fruits of Renji’s grueling training with Squad Zero were on full display during this particular episode. His Bankai, Soo Zabimaru, was capable of powerful attacks as well as impressive defensive capabilities. Renji gave Ishida a tough time as he continued to attack the bespectacled Quincy.

However, it was obvious that Renji wouldn’t be able to defeat Ishia on his own. No, that particular fight was still meant for Ichigo and Ishida due to, you know, narrative reasons. But still, the current episode gave viewers a good look at how much stronger Renji had become. And similar to Rukia (who also trained under Squad Zero), there was still space for improvement.

According to Ishida, while one of the reasons Renji was unable to defeat him was because Renji was unfamiliar with Ishida’s boost in power, the major reason for Renji’s loss was his hesitation. I mean, duh! Ishida and Renji have known each other for years now. And considering Renji wasn’t a bloodthirsty bad guy, of course, he wasn’t going to go for the kill while fighting Ishida. Even though Renji used his most powerful attack, the Zagaizekko, which took him 20 seconds to charge up, he still managed to somehow not kill Ishida when the attack landed.

On the other hand, I think Ishida was also holding back against Renji. He might act indifferent in front of people he knew, but it’s clear as day he wasn’t actually on Yhwach’s side. He didn’t go for a guaranteed fatal attack against Ichigo, and he didn’t one-shot Renji either, even though he could have (from what I could tell).

Having said that, I do think Ishida spoke the truth when he told Renji that the Shinigami wouldn’t be able to stop Yhwach. According to Ishida, he believed the Shinigami had no future. That’s why, I think, Ishida’s able to fight Ichigo and Renji the way he did while trying to come up with a plan to possibly stop Yhwach on his own.

Renji was understandably surprised when he heard Ishida state how Yhwach had managed to absorb the Soul King and gain all of Soul King’s power.

But yeah, kudos to the animation team for choreographing a fun explosive battle sequence between two powerful characters. I can’t wait to see more!

And while the various attacks we have seen are fast as heck and do a lot of damage, especially to the surroundings, they are nothing against Orihime’s ability. As I have been saying in my BTYBW reviews, I can’t wait for that scene to happen!

What did you think of Bleach Thousand Year Blood War episode 33 ‘Gate of the Sun’?

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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