Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War – Part 3 Episode 8 Review

Another week, another episode of Bleach, and this week, we were treated to what I believe is the season’s first true misfire. So far, despite my issues with a lingering reliance on callbacks, this season of Bleach has been consistently good, as has every part of the Thousand-Year Blood War thus far. I truly don’t think I can say that I’ve less than enjoyed an episode of Bleach since its 2022 return – until this week.

The Bleach experience can be a bizarre one, particularly when compared with its shonen counterparts. However, this week’s episode took one step too far in the direction of weirdness, and bordered on laughingly bizarre in one of the least spectacular fights we’ve ever seen from the show. But enough of that for now – there’s plenty to talk about so let’s get right into the review! Spoilers ahead!

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The Review

Image by Pierrot

For anyone wondering why this episode of Bleach was pulled in such a peculiar direction, just remember that this is a Mayuri-centred episode. To be fair, this character is far from boring, and as much as he makes my skin crawl, I do always enjoy seeing him hit the screen. His creepiness has always benefitted him in how it’s made him memorable, especially amongst such a large cast of Soul Reapers. As a personification of the ‘mad scientist’ stereotype, you never know what Mayuri is going to do next – and how it will impact his already shaky footing on the world’s moral compass.

His pairing with Kenpachi this week is also interesting for this very reason. Kenpachi, as we know, as an unrelentingly violent man, and of all the Soul Reapers, it feels like he may be the only one who gives Mayuri a run for his money when it comes to technical protagonists that could easily make incredible antagonists at the drop of a hat. I spoke last week on how their bickering was somewhat frustrating, but it’s honestly unsurprising. These two make the most dysfunctional team I’ve ever seen, but that doesn’t make them any less powerful.

On the topic of Mayuri, am I the only one who feels like he may have claim to the title as one of the strongest Soul Reapers in the series? Maybe this is just down to Kubo’s writing, and the fights that Mayuri has found himself in throughout Bleach, but it feels like we’ve never actually seen him on the back foot in a battle. I don’t always agree with his methods, nor do I think he’s necessarily trustworthy enough to maintain a rank amongst the Soul Reapers, but you can’t deny that the guy is effective. We see that once again this episode, when he very quickly unveils the secret behind Pernida Parnkgjas’s power, which seemed to put even the insanely strong Kenpachi at a disadvantage.

Image by Pierrot

Mayuri held a long conversation with Pernida in this episode, despite the fact that for a bulk of it, the latter couldn’t even speak. So really, Mayuri talked to us for a while, and we listened to his ramblings. In the grand scheme of things, this was a very dialogue-heavy episode of Bleach, and unfortunately, it wasn’t a good thing here. Dialogue-driven episodes are absolutely fine when we care about the topic at hand. However, Pernida left little impact on me aside from being notably more bizarre than Yhwach’s other allies.

Pernida then undergoes its transformation, and alas, it transforms into a giant hand, one which is animated with remarkably choppy CGI. I thought Pernida’s true form looked a little strange at first, but I’ve come to expect CGI in anime these days, and I know it always looks a little rough at first. However, in getting a better look at it, it was even worse than I had imagined. This CGI told me one thing about this week’s episode, and that’s that it was low-priority for the team at Pierrot. Look, it happens. Some episodes just don’t need to get the attention that others do. However, to say it didn’t affect my investment in this week’s action would be a lie.

We then get a little bit of fun action as Mayuri does his best Spider-Man impression, swinging around the ruinous environment of Yhwach’s revamped Royal Palace, as Pernida plays the Sandman role, trying to swat the mad scientist out of the air. Bleach is known for intense clashes between swordfighters, so in the absence of a sword for Pernida to swing around, I knew this wasn’t going to be a conventional fight for the series. However, it was quite funny watching Mayuri swing around like that, and the only issue I have is that I don’t think it was meant to be.

Image by Pierrot

Then Mayuri reveals his new bankai, and honestly, I wish he’d kept this one to himself. Talk about the most unequivocally disturbing bankai we’ve ever seen. For those of you who haven’t seen the episode (and I’m sure you won’t want to after this), Mayuri calls on a giant demon baby which gives birth to another demon baby, the latter of which has nerves all over the exterior of its body, allowing it to repel Pernida’s ability, but also causing it unbearable pain for the entirety of its existence. Kubo’s creativity knows no bounds, I guess.

The baby then eats Pernida, and it seems like the battle is over. If it is, that will probably go down as one of my least favourite fights in the series. Then, I realised that this episode’s title, ‘Baby, Hold Your Hand’, is a play on Mayuri’s baby demon eating Pernida, a giant hand, and I felt even more distressed. I walked away from this episode feeling deeply unsettled, having been torn out of my boredom with the somewhat drab dialogue featured this week by an incredibly perturbing climax to the battle. Mayuri certainly lived up to his reputation this week, but aside from his character getting some new, startling scenes, there was very little to remember about this episode going forward – that is, unless this fight goes somewhere in the future. Pernida does seem a little too significant to be gone already, but only time will tell.

Well this was certainly an unpredictable episode of Bleach. What did you think of this week’s episode? Do you think it was one of the series’ weaker entries, or did you love watching Mayuri’s madness unfold? Be sure to let us know in the comments!

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Where to Watch Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War?

Image by Pierrot

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War airs weekly on Disney Plus, every Saturday. You can also catch all previous episodes of the Thousand-Year Blood War on the platform, as well as the original run of Bleach from 2004. Happy watching!

See also: Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War – Part 3 Episode 7 Review

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