Bleach – Thousand-Year Blood War 1×37 Review: “Shadows Gone”

Bleach Thousand Year Blood War anime episode 37, titled ‘Shadows Gone’, focused on Nanao’s backstory and her relationship with Shunsui. 

The previous episode focused on Mayuri’s relationship with Nemu and how she played a huge role in Mayuri finally managing to defeat Quincy Pernida. The narrative theme of Lieutenants aiding their Captains continued via Shunsui’s ongoing battle with Lille. Even though Shunsui used everything he could against Lille, the creepy-looking Quincy was a bit too strong.

Apparently, Lille was the first Quincy granted powers by Yhwach. Lille was basically the Voice of God and he wasn’t going to be defeated by a single Shinigami. In a way, there was likely no way to kill Lille without having a very specific weapon to accomplish such a feat. And that’s where Nanao came in.

Continuing to showcase her unwavering support for Shunsui in the face of grave danger, we got to learn a lot more about her family’s history and why she was never in possession of her Zanpakuto. It all had to do with the troubled history of the Ise Clan and the decision Nanao’s mother made decades ago.

From what I could understand, the Ise Clan was cursed. Any man the women of the clan married was bound to die. It didn’t matter if said man was brought in from another clan. Shunsui’s older brother married Nanao’s mother. But of course, Shunsui’s brother died and that led to his sister-in-law handing over the clan’s Zanpakuto to Shunsui for safekeeping even if it meant her being executed for “misplacing” such a valuable item. She didn’t want Nanao to ever wield it.

Turns out, Shunsui’s Zanpakuto Ohana birthed a second spirit named Okyo to hide the Ise Clan’s Zanpakuto. Such a concept of spiritual birthing is an interesting one. I’m kind of bummed Bleach hasn’t really expanded on it.

Anyway, I liked the concept of how a single Zanpakuto was handed down between generations in the Ise Clan. Not only that, but the blade itself wasn’t a traditional one. This particular Zanpakuto, called the Shinken Hakkyoken, didn’t have a sharp edge. The Ise Clan was all about performing rituals and such a flat-surfaced weapon was meant to reflect or disperse a God’s power instead of being used to cut and slash at opponents.

So, yeah, you can see where this is going. With Nanao finally given her family Zanpakuto by Shunsui, she used it to reflect Lille’s power back at him as the Quincy’ God-like energy was the only thing that could hurt him. Of course, due to the narrative themes of Bleach, we got to see Shunsui stepping in to offer his support to Nanao to reflect a devastating attack by Lille and cement his demise. But, on the other hand, the surprise introduction of a Zanpakuto that served as the perfect counter to Lille did come across as a bit too convenient.

I remember how this particular moment caused some drama in the Bleach fandom when it first occurred in the manga. I’m all for Nanao reconnecting with her heritage and getting to battle one of the major villains. However, I do feel that the journey needed to be fleshed out a bit more.

There’s a fan theory that the Ise Clan was cursed because they used the Zanpakuto to attack and cut up the Soul King. And with the Bleach TYBW anime adding non-manga story beats to enrich the overall experience of the current arc, I thought we would get more explanation regarding the Ise Clan and their ceremonial blade. But that wasn’t the case and the Zanpakuto’s OP ability just felt like a Deus ex machina. 

Oh well, it is what it is.

Having said that, the Zanpakuto’s ability made me even more excited about an upcoming moment involving Orihime. Due to all of the Quincy given OP abilities by Yhwach, if one could demonstrate a feat against the source then it’s safe to say that the minions don’t stand a chance. With how things are going, that particular moment won’t occur until Bleach TYBW Cour 4, but still, I’m excited to see it get animated.

Coming back to Nanao’s relationship with Shunsui, the latest episode revealed that Shunsui was indeed Nanao’s uncle. It was also one of the reasons she got selected to be part of Squad 8 because Shunsui wanted to keep an eye on her though she didn’t own a blade. A younger Nanao always suspected a particular link between Shunsui and her deceased mother due to Shunsui’s attire, especially the hairpins. But she didn’t get a confirmation about their relationship until now.

I also liked how the episode took a moment to share Nanao’s current mental state after holding a weapon for the first time. She had never experienced being cut by a blade before. Fighting with a weapon was a completely different monster for someone like Nanao who relied heavily on using Kido (energy-based spells). Her fear was palpable. And the fact that her own weapon was capable of hurting the wielder if they weren’t careful added more tension to the confrontation.

The revelation about Shunsui being Nanao’s uncle was a nice one considering the losses both characters have faced over the decades. However, I do remember how it made certain manga readers rethink their “shipping” preferences. And hey, I don’t blame them. I mean, I can’t fault someone for shipping particular characters especially when a long-running story like Bleach took its sweet time revealing their actual relationship.

Some anime-only fans are going through a similar experience after watching the newest episode. So, it will be interesting to see if certain fans will abandon ship or continue sailing because, at the end of the day, we’re dealing with fictional characters. 

The animation really stood out to me in ‘Shadows Gone’. Even though Pernida featured a lot of body horror, the battle with Lille was creepy in its own right. Lille’s final form involving an owl head on a serpentine neck was a very WTF moment for manga readers. And I think the animation team did an awesome job visualizing Lille’s animalistic appearance. The scene where Lille transformed his head into a saucer-like structure to expand his sight and be able to see Shunsui and Nanao hiding in the shadows was done well.

The use of colorful light emanating from the Zanpakuto and Lille’s attempt to eliminate shadows from the battlefield added to the visuals.

An overall strong episode even though the surprise Zanpakuto reveal could have been handled better.

What did you think of Bleach TYBW episode 37 ‘Shadows Gone’?

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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