#that stupid filler episode at the end of the bount arc where they sit on the engawa together and reminisce is so precious to me | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

recurring-polynya · 5 years

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It is done.

We did it. We watched the whole Bount Arc. Did it go out as it began, incredibly stupidly? The answer is yes.

So, the whole deal with the Bounts is that they could absorb reishi to heal themselves, so they became basically invincible in Soul Society. This made the last few episodes of the arc really stupid because someone would get in a fight with a Bount, and they would heal themself, and they would get hurt and then heal themself, and then at the end of the episode, they would…forget to heal themself? I guess? And die?

Anyway, all the Bounts get defeated in fights that were so boring I don’t want to talk about them. Something something, Ishida’s artifact? He figured out how to not blow it up? Whoooo caaaaares?

Here’s what I do care about: Rantao pulling out her hair clip and it’s A SHIV and she stabs Kariya with it right in the reishi-regenerator. Then she is spent, and Ishida has to defend her and does such a terrible job that Ichigo shows up to protect the both of them. Ichigo is so supportive of all his friends’ romances, I love the way he always shows up, like “I SHIP THESE GUYS AND I WILL PROTECT THEM WITH MY LIFE.” A true hero.

Let’s skip to the next-to-last episode, which ruled. For starters, it opens with Ichigo slamming face-first into the ground at high speed from altitude. Every episode of Bleach should start this way. He and Kariya are fighting on Soukyoku Hill. Why are there all these stunted Halloween trees on Soukyoku Hill anyway? You know there’s some Soul Society gardener whose job it is to maintain those.

At the end of the previous episode, Rukia, high on cold medicine, stumbles out of bed and cons Renji into taking her up to go bother Ichigo while he’s fighting. He takes her up there, but then he gives her a brief lecture on not interfering in peoples’ fights, so they just stand around, ready to murmur “I...chigo…” or “What is this reiatsu?” at the appropriate moments.

Apparently there are some bombs all over Soul Society that Kariya can just detonate at will? There’s a bomb defusing montage featuring a bunch of people who are utterly unqualified to be defusing anything (the Squad 13 3rd Seats…Hisagi and Kira... Ikkaku…?) Yamamoto yells at Komamura because the bombs aren’t being defused fast enough and also because he is a cranky old man and hasn’t gotten much screen time.

The rest of the Karakura gang show up at Soukyoku Hill, also to bother Ichigo, and Rukia launches into an incredibly long remix of the “don’t bother Ichigo” speech Renji just gave her. God, she just goes on and on. That must have been some good cold medicine.

Then Byakuya and Yoruichi arrive and Byakuya immediately just starts attacking Kariya. I died. Sorry, Rukia: speech wasted. Yoruichi reminds him that they are there to do some kidou seal nonsense if Kariya sets off the bombs and he is not allowed to fight Kariya. He pouts.

Ichigo and Kariya have been fighting this whole time. I think Ichinose shows up at some point? It doesn’t matter. Turns out Kariya didn’t even like the other Bounts and is glad they’re dead. Ouch, sorry other Bounts. He does the whole Bleach villain thing where he logically explains to Ichigo why Soul Society is bad and hypocritical and cannot be forgiven. Like all Bleach villians, he is 100% correct. Obviously, he doesn’t know who he’s dealing with, though, because Ichigo just yells “I am too stupid for logic, I just REALLY LOVE MY PRECIOUS FRIENDS!” like he always does.

Then Yoruichi starts poking Byakuya and is like, “my dude, we have to do the thing now. My dude. My guy.” And Byakuya just stands there. I have long maintained that he can and does sleep with his eyes open during captains’ meetings and you will never convince me that’s not what happens here. Whatever it is he and Yoruichi were supposed to do, they do not.

The Ichigo-Kariya fight ends like every anime fight, where they run past each other and they stand there and you wait for one of them to fall over. And it’s… Ichigo! He lost! Kariya starts to make another speech, gets out, “Ichigo, I--” and decides he does not want to be in this filler arc for another second, turns to dust and blows away.

THIS IS HOW THE BOUNT ARC ENDS.

There is one more episode, and it’s egregious. It starts off with Renji and Ichigo loudly arguing about nothing four feet away from where Rukia is sleeping. Jesus, guys. Byakuya shows up, and in no uncertain terms, tells Ichigo to GTFO.

Ichigo does not, and eventually, Rukia gets up and sits with her boys on the porch for reminiscin’ time. And then! And then! They have moved those awesome, canon “fate is a millstone” flashbacks from the middle of the Advance Team arc where they belong, and crammed them into this shitty interstitial Bount arc epilogue. We find out that Renji got named vice-captain but missed his chance to see Rukia before she leaves for the mission where she will meet Ichigo, interspersed with people remembering Kariya exploding himself and showing that dumb “werewolf Bounts get slaughtered in the Middle Ages” flashback that they have shown at least twice per episode this whole damn time. I AM LIVID.

Finally, I guess Yoruichi rescued the very orange Bount and leaves him with Rantao at her secret Rukongai hobbit hole. He asks Yoruichi why she has helped him, and she basically shrugs and says, “I love crime.”

The episode ends with Kuukaku beating up Ganju.

The end. THE END

#bount arc #bleach #bleach filler #ichigo kurosaki king of the shippers #isn't this how the andromeda strain ended?#crimes

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