Warning: Spoilers for Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3, episode #5
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Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood Warhas been no stranger to making changes from the manga, with many new major fights added as well as other important details that have helped to enrich the story. However, one small change in episode #5 has proven that even the most minor changes can have a big impact.
Episode #5, “Against the Judgement,” was a bit of a break from the action of the last few episodes, as the Soul Reapers took the opportunity to regroup and begin a new plan. WithYhwach in the Soul King’s Palace, an area that’s nearly impossible to access under conventional means, the Soul Reapers had to devise a plan to get there in order to fight him. Kisuke Urahara’s best plan was to use the spiritual pressure of the Soul Reaper captains and lieutenants to open a portal, but they just didn’t seem to be able to generate enough spiritual pressure on their own to succeed. That’s when things diverged from the manga, if only a little.
The Thousand-Year Blood War Should Feel Like a War
Bleach’s Biggest Conflict Should Be as Large-Scale as Possible
In the manga, the team uses a spiritual pressure magnifying device to enhance their power enough to open the portal. However, inThousand-Year Blood War, Captain Kyoraku also puts out a call to every surviving Soul Reaper, asking them to converge on one spot and lend their spiritual pressure to help the captains open their portal. The rank and file Soul Reapers begin to dust themselves off and head towards the location in question, proving the sheer scale of the conflict so far. There are certainly far fewer Soul Reapers than the war began with, but many are still on their feet.
The sequence checked in with many lower-ranked Soul Reaper characters who’ve appeared throughout the series, such as Zennosuke Kurumadani, the afro-sporting Soul Reaper who is typically in charge of protecting Karakura Town. While many of these characters didn’t get much screen time dedicated to their fights, the segment took the time to prove that they had not only fought bravely, but survived to fight another day.They heeded the call of their Head Captainand came to his aid, even when many of them were injured, and their power is essential to opening the portal.
It’s a relatively small change, all told, but it makes so much more sense to incorporate the power of the vast army of Soul Reapers than it does to have a machine that does it for you.It shows that even beaten and injured, the 13 Court Guard Squads are still a force to be reckoned with, and helps to prove that the scale of the war is far bigger than just what fans have seen happening on screen. This conflict really is a war, not just a series of one-on-one fights as it might sometimes appear to be from just casually watching or reading.
Even Thousand-Year Blood War’s Smallest Changes Are Important
While New Fights Are Fun, Even Small Changes Can Have a Big Impact
It’s easy for fans to get excited about entirely new fight scenes, such asUryu’s battle against Senjumaru, which weren’t in the manga. That goes double for fights like Ichigo versus Uryu, where Uryu showed off new powers and abilities that he didn’t get the chance to use in the manga. However, even the smaller changes thatThousand-Year Blood Warhas made, like this one, can have a major impact on the story. The gathering of all the Soul Reapers makes this a monumental group effort, rather than a feat pulled off by only a powerful few, and that gives the moment more significance.
These smaller changes can alter the tone immensely, such as in this case, which transforms the captains' mission to the Soul King’s Palace into the embodiment of the Soul Reapers' resistance to Yhwach. While it was a last hope before, it’s now a mission on which everyone’s hopes and dreams ride, and those going through the portal are well aware of all those counting on them back home.
With a name likeThousand-Year Blood War, the series should emphasize the sheer scale of the conflict, and this change has been one of the most effective at pointing out just how enormous the battle that’s taken place has been.Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood Warhas managed to find a small but powerful way of showing the numbers involved, and that’s gone a long way towards showcasing the true size of this conflict.
Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War
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Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War is a sequel series to the popular anime from creator Tite Kubo. This anime follows Ichigo and his friends as they investigate why people are disappearing while trouble arises in the Soul Society. The first season was released in 2022 and has been critically acclaimed since its beginning.
