Thousand-year blood wars – against the judgment

The following contains spoilers for BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3, Episode 5, “Against the Judgment,” available on Hulu and Disney+.

Important takeaways

• Aizen returns with immense power, showcasing his strength with familiar techniques such as Kurohitsugi.
• A shift in alliances as surviving Quincies join forces with Shinigami against a common enemy.
• Despite missed opportunities, the episode sets the stage for upcoming cinematic-quality events.

The fifth episode of the third course of BLEACH: The Millennium Blood War served mostly as a setup for the season's main event, but it saw cameos from various characters we haven't seen in a while, as well as the first display of Aizen's devastating fighting power for the first time since his dramatic fight against Ichigo years ago. While not nearly as exciting as the episodes before it, episode 5 still carried the series' signature cinematic quality and gave the return of fan favorite Grimmjow Jaegerjacquez the style it deserved.

With the worst-case scenario now a reality, the Shinigami must team up with former officers from the Gotei 13, the Hollows, and even the Quincies to put an end to a common enemy.

An eerie flood

Torrents of creepy eyeball monsters ravage Seireitei

Once Yhwach has assimilated the Soul King, streams of his power will rain down from the Soul King's palace through the hole in the Shakonmaku. The shadowy, gooey monstrosities take the form of creepy eyeball monsters that latch onto anything that moves with lamp-eye-like teeth. We see various Shinigami fighting the creatures as they swarm every corner of the Seireitei. Seated officers such as 11th Squad's Ikkaku Madarame and Yumichika Ayasegawa, and 9th Squad Lieutenant Shūhei Hisagi manage to fight them off, but with the sheer number of monsters, it is only a matter of time until they are overwhelmed. Fortunately, 6th Team Captain Byakuya Kuchiki uses his Senbonzakura to deal with hordes of eyeball monsters, giving the three a chance to catch their breath and regroup with himself, Rukia, Renji, and Soi-Fon. More of the shadowy gooey mess will pour in, but a powerful spiritual presence arrives: Sōsuke Aizen, still tied to the chair where he served his 20,000-year sentence in Muken.

Still have it

He may have gotten stronger in prison

Aizen quips that creatures like these are not the kind of thing you raise your sword against, but what must be crushed by the force of one's spiritual pressure. Rukia and the others are shocked to see Aizen out of his prison and prepare to engage, but Kyōraku is there to explain that he was the one who let him out. Of course, they all have a lot to say about having to team up with the individual who has done immense damage to Soul Society and irrevocably changed the lives of many Shinigami unfortunate enough to have crossed paths with him, but Kyōraku tells them that he doesn't I don't think it's wrong to fight evil with evil. As more of the creatures enter the Seireitei, Aizen fires his favorite Kidō, #90, Kurohitsugi (“Black Coffin”), which has received a dazzling makeover for The Millennium Blood War arc.

Arcs of purple-black electricity appear, signaling Kyōraku to tell everyone to take cover before the giant black box appears, patching up the hole in the Shakonmaku before unleashing an evil destructive influence that essentially clears the area of ​​its eyeballs. This moment is carried by the effects frame of the animation, which does a fantastic job of conveying Aizen's unimaginable power despite being imprisoned for the better part of two years. Despite the amazing display of power, the restraints used to subdue Aizen really prove to be a hindrance to him, and you can see the first real change in his facial expression since he started appearing in The Millennium Blood War arc. Kurotsuchi arrives with Nemu, ranting about how something made by him couldn't possibly be broken by Aizen's power, which obviously bothered the former 5th team captain as he offered a challenge. “We'll see which comes out on top, your technique or my spiritual pressure”.

Frenemies?

Surviving Quincies Give Shinigami a hand

Aizen and Kurotsuchi's verbal exchange is interrupted when the former is hit by a wave of energy coming from Sternritter U – The Underbelly, NaNaNa Najahkoop, who believes he has figured out Aizen's spiritual pressure. He fires a death beam that slams into Aizen's head and appears to have killed him (all but Najahkoop were aware that it did not). Najahkoop is joined by Bazz-B, G – The Glutton Liltotto Lamperd and Z – The Zombie Giselle Gewelle, who initially appears to help Najahkoop but Bazz-B blasts a hole in his chest. Unlike Najahkoop, who remained loyal to Yhwach even after being abandoned, Bazz-B and the others did not take kindly to being cast aside and decided to help the Shinigami as they now have a common goal.

With that, Kyoraku sends an order across the Seireitei for any officers still able to move to head to the 12th Squad barracks, where their spirit pressure is needed to help power a gate leading directly to the Soul King's palace. The build-up to this port sees cameos by a number of characters we haven't seen in a while, including Visored's Hiyori Sarugaki, Love Aikawa, Lisa Yadomaru, Hachigen and many others, but there's also a brief glimpse of a silhouette walking up to a Garganta – a tease of Grimmjow Jaegerjacquez's return which is how the episode ends.

The missed opportunity

Last episode's dramatic ending ultimately meant nothing

While there were some epic moments here and there, there was one missed opportunity BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3 episode 5, which picked up after the dramatic conclusion of Ichigo's fight against Uryū, an encounter that ended with the former severely injured. We also don't see for the entire episode until the end, and after the emotional rollercoaster of the previous episode, simply cutting to the part where Ichigo is okay again means foreshadowing the aftermath of the battle, but given the fact that we know how amazing Orihime's powers are, it can also be seen as pointless to see this aftermath if the consequences of the battle itself have been negated by Orihime's ability to repel phenomena. As a bridge to what's to come, this episode did what it needed to do and continues the series' incredible run even if it wasn't quite as intense as previous episodes.

BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3 is available on Hulu and Disney+.