While Yhwach and Ishida watch from the throne room, the Stern Ritters return to Soul Society to carry out his majesty’s simple directive: eliminate the enemy instantly. Of course, this is a shounen anime, so nothing ever happens “instantly”.
Assuming the Ritters are ranked from A to Z, Haschwalth is up there at rank “B”, so he pays a visit to Squad 1’s Kyouraku and Ise. Rank “D” Askin Nakk Le Vaar infiltrates R&D, Rank “H” Bazz-B takes on Hitsugaya and Matsumoto, and Rank “K” BG9 goes after Omaeda. That’s right; it’s four battles for the price of one.
Squad 10 vs. Bazz-B is fun because it’s an ice-vs.-fire battle. The difference between Hitsugaya’s bankai and shikai is the smallest of all the captains, but with help from Matsumoto (who is elated to be finally able to support her tiny captain) they’re able to encase him in a wall of ice and ash.
Squad 1’s battle is one of words against the top Stern Ritter. Kyouraku is his usual laconic self, while Ise Nanao uses a new anti-Quincy kido she’s developed. The catch is that it’s only a “temporary” barrier. When it drops—and I’m sure it will—they’ll have to face Haschwalth head-on.
When cutting up Lt. Omaeda doesn’t get him to reveal Soi Fon’s location, BG9 turns his blades onto Omaeda’s adorable little sister Mareyo. He shields her with his body, and BG9 whips out a damn minigun. But he doesn’t get to fire it long, as Soi Fon arrives in all her stealthy assassin glory.
While Hitsugaya may be the ice boy, the fact of the matter is Soi Fon is, in my opinion, the coolest captain. Her sleek outfit, imperious smirk, husky voice, and newly improved wind shunko are all points in her favor. Not to mention she’s not so cold-hearted she’d let lil’ Mareyo come to harm.
Finally, there’s Askin, who is laid back like Kyouraku. Kurotsuchi Mayoi and Nemu arrive from seemingly another plane of reality, having adopted and modifed the same technique the Quincy used to infiltrate Soul Society. This also gives them trippy disco outfits. When trying to provoke him doesn’t work, Askin simply gives up trying to fight him and walks away.
The song of ice and fire turns one-sided when Bazz-B takes his game up a notch and uses a single finger to fire a beam of flame that pierces Hitsugaya’s tightly-woved ice wall and goes into his midsection.
Like Bazz-B, BG9 doesn’t stay down long, and like Hitsugaya and Matsumoto, Soi Fon celebrated too quickly. BG9 reveals he’s not alive, but some kind of robot armed to the teeth. He launches an itano circus of missiles, and while Soi Fon evades them all, BG9 still gets a blade in her wrist. BG9’s second volley doesn’t miss.
Kyouraku and Ise watch helplessly as their captains fall one after the other, while Hachwalth says maybe it would have been a better idea to make sure all the captains had this anti-Quincy barrier. Kurotsuchi also feels Soi Fon and Kyouraku’s spiritual pressures disappear, but I won’t believe they’re dead like Yamamoto quite yet.
The Stern Ritter claw and tear away at the soul reapers’ remaining hope this week. But as Urahara reports to Kurotsuchi that he’s found a way to get the bankai back, it’s clear that hope is far from dead. The Vizard have yet to take the stage, while Ichigo is still gearing up for his big return…but first he’ll have to pass his latest test, involving something called irazusando.
P.S. Bleach has had a lot of OPs throughout its run, but I’d definitely rank this one in the Top 5. Like the very first one, it puts our heroes in stylish clothes and has them just hanging out, but also gives us wonderful little scenes like two Quincies fighting over karaoke and Rukia shooting a fire extinguisher at another.
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