Ichigo’s training is now complete, and he’s dressed in layers in order to get through the 72 layers between the Royal Palace and Soul Society. The Squad 0 captains, satisfied with his growth, send him off like parents sending their kid off to his first day of school. Heck, Hikifune Kirio even tosses him some onigiri for lunch!
Once he gets enough Soul Bars, Ichigo uses his Soul Phone to call Urahara, telling him no matter how bad things are going, he’s on his way back, and he promises to take care of business. Like Gandalf the White returning to Middle Earth, he’s poised to complete the turning of the tide that has already begun.
Compare this warm and caring send-off to the far colder treatment Uryuu is receiving at Yhwach’s castle, where Haschwalth exacts swift draconian justice upon Cang Du (“I”) and BG9 (“K”) who failed to execute their targets. Upon death, the power and skills of every Stern Ritter is absorbed by Yhwach.
One wonders how such an entity would ever die, but the fact Yhwach has chosen a successor means that’s a certainty, so Uryuu will be absorbing him in due time. I’d like to think Uryuu momentarily flashes an “I’ve made a huge mistake” face during this scene, but we’ll see if that regret grows or fades in however many of the 9 days remain.
With check-ins on both Ichigo and Uryuu, the remainder of the episode consists of an extremely welcome Rukia battle. She fights Äs Nödt (German for “That’s all”), whose letter “F” stands for Fear. But his Slipknot schtick doesn’t reach Rukia, because fresh from the Palace she’s mastered her gorgeous zanpakuto Sode No Shirayuki.
The sword was never about shooting ice, but lowering temperatures, including her own body temperature to the point where she’s medically dead. Because all fear is rooted in death in one way or another, her already being dead makes her immune to Äs Nödt’s fear inducement, and when her temperature reaches Absolute Zero she turns her foe into an Äs Nödtcicle.
It’s pretty badass, but a cut to Äs Nödt’s miserable past living in agony in a hospital bed all but assures the battle is not over. Yhwach bestowed upon him a terrible power that enabled him to rise from the bed, but in a grotesque, monstrous, undead form.
Äs Nödt shatters Rukia’s ice and creates a Galactic Senate of creepy googly eyes around her. Rather than black slime, the all-consuming fear takes the form of a carpet of flies that cover her body. Once she’s seen this form of his, even the fact her molecular activity has ceased doesn’t matter. Rukia lets out a blood-curdling scream.
Before their battle began, Rukia said killing her “might” bring her brother around. That turns out to be correct, as he slashes through Äs Nödt’s eyes with Senbonzakura. Äs Nödt incorrectly observes that he’s using his Bankai, but he’s not; this is just his Shikai. Like Rukia and Renji, he was able to rediscover the true nature of his zanpakuto in the Palace.
Two of the coolest moments of the series follow (no pun intended). First, Byakuya praises Rukia for having become strong. The words are so simple, but they carry so much weight for Rukia, who was so hurt by his turning his back on her way back when. To have her older brother, who always protected her, finally acknowledge her, is extremely gratifying.
Second: Byakuya doesn’t finish Äs Nödt off, but leaves it to Rukia. He tells her what she’s seeing isn’t her own fear, but her opponent projecting his fear. She has nothing to fear. For the first time, he believes in her and trusts her to get the job done. And boy howdy, does she ever do so.
Rukia utters the word Bankai, and unleashes Hakka no Togame (白霞罸, literally “Censure of the White Haze”), which takes the form of an all-consuming avalanche of ice and snow that freezes and utterly destroys Äs Nödt once and for all. As he crumbles into nothingness, he repeats the mantra “I’m afraid” over and over.
After the big blast, Rukia’s Bankai getup is revealed, and it’s even more beautiful and ethereal than her Shikai was back in the day. She’s the very picture of a perfect ice queen, with a glittering crystal gown of white and soft blue, her eyes sparkling amethysts, and all around her crackling in the pristine coldness.
In a final gesture of brotherly love and care, Byakuya deftly guides Rukia out of her Bankai mode, warning her that while it is powerful, it is also extremely perilous, and will kill her if she doesn’t take great care coming down. Most satisfying of all, there’s no additional rug pull…Rukia started this battle, she finished it, and Äs Nödt isn’t coming back. That’s all.
But just so the Quincy don’t come off as too soft, her victory is followed after the credits with the introduction of the next Stern Ritter, who shows up to torment Isane and tiny 11th Squad Lieutenant Kusajishi Yachiru. Well, I say “show up”, but this Quincy is extremely adept at concealing their presence, to the point Yachiru thinks she’s landed a solid left hook on them, only for her left cheek to take the blow.
If this is the next battle, I hope no one interferes, because I like the idea of the brute force-forward Yachiru facing off against a Quincy whose body isn’t always there, supported by the best medical shinigami left standing in Isane. I can smell another Stern Ritter L.
Until then, I’ll revel in Kuchiki Rukia’s much-needed and appreciated win. She’s always been my favorite female Bleach character since the beginning when she showed Ichigo her awesome drawing skills. She’s gotten a pretty short shrift since that first Soul Society arc, so it was awesome to see her kicking ass and taking names with icy elegance and only a relatively minor assist from her cool big brother.
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