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Under the production of Pierrot Films, Bleach TYBW Part 3 Episode 2 aired on October 12, 2024. The episode, titled Kill the King, showcased the esteemed studio's production prowess, with the anime original battle between Ichigo Kurosaki and Yhwach.
Besides that, the episode featured new lore surrounding the Soul King, which added a further layer of complexity to the well-paced episode. Bleach TYBW Part 3 Episode 2 was an exhibition of Tite Kubo's collaboration with Pierrot Films.
Being directly involved with the adaptation's production, the mangaka has added numerous anime-only scenes. The latest episode reflected what the manga could have been if Kubo had the proper time and space to add them.
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Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers from Bleach TYBW Part 3 Episode 2.
Bleach TYBW Part 3 Episode 2 review: Evaluating the anime-only scenes and Pierrot Films' production
Right off the bat, Bleach TYBW Part 3 Episode 2 introduced an original scene in the form of a flashback, featuring young Yhwach and the Soul King. The former witnessed his father's sacrifice as he separated the primordial world into three realms and became their lynchpin. The scene echoed the horrors of Yhwach, who transformed into a baby, shortly after his father's deed.
Interestingly, Ichigo Kurosaki confronted Yhwach's visions while on his way to the Soul King's palace. The opening scene set the tone for the rest of the Bleach TYBW Part 3 Episode 2's runtime and introduced new lore to the Soul King's backstory.
Prior to the release of the third cour, Tomohisa Taguchi, the former director of the series' Part 2, and the current chief director/general director of Part 3, mentioned that the third and the fourth installments would reveal bits of Soul King's past. Undoubtedly, Bleach TYBW Part 3 Episode 2 did exactly that.
The anime original opening scene offered a nice perspective to Yhwach, allowing the audience to sympathize with the antagonist, who had to witness the horrific deed. The flashback scene also hinted that Ichibe Hyosube perhaps used his Ichimonji on the young Yhwach to deprive him of his original name and powers, reducing him to a baby.
There's no doubt that Tite Kubo, who has been supervising the adaptation's production, originally meant to add these pieces of information to his manga. However, due to time constraints and other factors, the mangaka couldn't do it. Yet, these details were to some extent available on Ryogo Narita's Can't Fear Your Own World novels.
The fact that the Soul King sacrificed himself to act as the lynchpin to the three realms was general knowledge among Bleach fans. However, additional facts, such as Soul King foreseeing the Quincy's tragedy through his Almighty eyes, and Yhwach witnessing the horrific scene involving his father, were not written in the light novels.
Yet, these details were vital to the narrative, as they established not only Soul King's character but also Yhwach's. He's no longer a one-dimensional antagonist, but a complex character with a clear motive. To some extent, the flashback scene has made the Quincy King on par with Aizen, whose backstory is still something we don't know.
Moving on, Bleach TYBW Part 3 Episode 2 showcased a beautiful anime original extended battle sequence between Ichigo Kurosaki and Yhwach. The battle took place throughout the Soul Palace, from Kirinji's Kirinden to Oh-etsu Nimaiya's palace, before eventually returning to the Soul King palace's main entrance.
The battle depicted Ichigo Kurosaki demonstrating his Getsuga Jujisho, which he only did once in the manga. Besides that, the scene showcased the true might of Yhwach, who stalled Ichigo before awakening his Almighty eyes. No sooner had the Quincy King used his eyes on Ichigo than the substitute Soul Reaper's attacks refused to land on Yhwach.
The Ichigo vs. Yhwach battle in Bleach TYBW Part 3 Episode 2 was a nice addition, showcasing the production skills of Pierrot Films. The fight lasted almost eight minutes and exhibited amazing animation quality. While the studio could have come up with some creative fight choreography, from an animation's point of view, the scene was excellent.
The production studio used plenty of CGI and modern animation techniques to highlight the catchy attacks, such as Ichigo's Getsuga Jujisho, Yhwach's Sankt Bogen, Sankt Zwinger, and others. Eventually, the battle ended with Yhwach cornering Ichigo.
From an adaptation perspective, Bleach TYBW Part 3 Episode 2 shuffled some events. The scenes involving the Soul Reaper Captains and the Lieutenants heading to Kisuke and Mayuri's lab are shown later. Besides, the episode added some gag elements from the manga. Overall, the episode covered the manga till Chapter 615.
Bleach TYBW Part 3 Episode 2 review: Pierrot Films handling the Soul King's death
Later, Bleach TYBW Part 3 Episode 2 added one of the most crucial anime original details to fix a major scene from the manga's Thousand-Year Blood War arc. In the manga, Tite Kubo showed how Yhwach used Ichigo Kurosaki's Quincy Blood to have him cut down the Soul King. However, the manga never explained why he needed Ichigo.
However, Bleach TYBW Part 3 Episode 2 revealed that only Ichigo, who fulfilled the criteria of having the powers of five unique races, i.e., the Soul Reapers, Quincies, Hollows, Fullbringers, and Humans, could break the seal on Soul King and kill him. In other words, Yhwach alone couldn't have killed the Soul King; he required Ichigo Kurosaki to do the deed for him.
Besides that, the episode revealed that Yhwach had foreseen the moment to Soul King's death at Ichigo's hand. That's why, he reminded the boy that the existence of his powers was for that exact moment. To some extent, Yhwach brought out the ultimate nightmare of Ichigo.
From a production perspective, Pierrot Films did justice to the Soul King's death. The events felt rushed in the manga and showcased Yhwach as somewhat erratic. However, he was much calmer in the anime, as an antagonist completely aware of his own plans. Likewise, the reactions from Ichigo's friends, such as Orihime, Yoruichi, Kisuke Urahara, and others at the Seireitei, were neatly done.
There wasn't much the production team could have done in terms of animation for the scene. However, the Soul King's death didn't feel jarring in the slightest. Ichigo's blade breaking the crystal and severing the Soul King in half was given full highlight.
Bleach TYBW Part 3 Episode 2 review: Soul King's name
Last but not least, one of the significant talking points of Bleach TYBW Part 3 Episode 2 was the revelation of the Soul King's name. Throughout the manga, Kubo never revealed the revered being's name. However, in the previous installment, when Yhwach chanted the Aushwahlen's poem, many felt felt the "coffin of Adyneus" perhaps referred to the Soul King, thus making Adyneus his name.
The latest episode confirmed the theory. According to Bleach TYBW Part 3 Episode 2, the Soul King's name truly is Adyneus. However, more details regarding his past, such as what sort of a person the Soul King was before becoming the lynchpin, have yet to be revealed.
The only thing fans learned from the latest episode was that the Soul King had the Almighty eyes prior to becoming the world's keystone. Thus, he had foreseen the Quincy's greatest tragedy at the hands of the Soul Reapers and yet chose to abandon them. That's why, Yhwach wants to kill him and restore the world as it were previously.
Conclusion
Bleach TYBW Part 3 Episode 2 was the evidence of Pierrot Films stunning production quality. The episode encapsulated the studio's vision, focusing on sublime, movie-quality animation. At the same time, the anime original scenes in the episode, supervised by Tite Kubo, added depth to Yhwach, Ichigo, and the Soul King's characters.
Tomohisa Taguchi, who storyboarded the episode, has done a phenomenal job in the pacing aspect as well. It remains to be seen how the esteemed studio can keep up the quality in the next episodes.
Also read:
- Bleach: Thousand-year Blood War part 3 complete release schedule
- Bleach TYBW episode 28 full highlights
- Bleach TYBW part 3 episode 1 review
- Dandadan episode 2 review
