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Warning: Contains spoilers for Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War.One of the biggest reasonsBleach: Thousand-Year Blood Warhas received such wide praise from fans and critics is undoubtedly the bevy of original content. Almost every episode has expanded on character motivations and worldbuilding to flesh out the originally sparse content of the manga, and it’s done a lot to bringBleachback into the forefront of the anime community.
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood Warhas also greatly expanded on the manga through its fight scenes. The anime has both expanded on some of the shorter fights of the manga and created entirely new ones to make up for missed opportunities in the manga, and for the latter,Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War’s latest original fight has delivered on a rematch 20 years in the making. As with previous fights, this one did a great job of fleshing out the story and cast, and it continues to show why the anime has been such a great addition to theBleachfranchise.
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Finally Gives Fans A Renji Vs. Uryu Rematch
When Renji and Byakuya first appeared inBleachto take Rukia back to Soul Society at the end of the Substitute Soul Reaper arc, Uryu attempted to fight them off, only for Renji to defeat Uryu in a single attack without even having to use his Shikai. Renji and Uryu never interacted again until after Renji officially became an ally and main character, and they barely interacted in the final arc of the manga, but in a surprise turn,Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood Warpart 3, episode #7had Renji and Uryu fight for the first time in 20 years.
Bleach’s Anime Gives Renji The Respect The Manga Never Did
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Makes Renji One Of Its Most Powerful Fighters
Bleachgiving Renji a new fight with Uryu was great to see thanks in large part to how great it made Renji look. For starters, while the manga didn’t do a lot to show off the abilities of Renji’s new Bankai,Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood Warpart 3, episode #7 perfectly showed off the power and versatility of Renji’s Bankai, with him exhibiting abilities like manifesting skeletal hands and even more dynamic fire-based powers. It all added far more variety to Renji’s skillset, and it was great to see after the manga did so little with his new Bankai.
Further selling things was how powerful the anime made Renji. Not only did Renji force Uryu to use his Vollsterndich, but even with that, Renji held his own against Uryu for most of the fight, and just like inIchigo’s anime-original fight with Uryu,Renji was strong enough to defeat Uryu and only held back because he was hesitant to kill someone who was supposed to be his friend. Renji has an infamously poor track record for fights, and while this was another loss, it’s great that it happened because he let it happen, not because he wasn’t capable.
Everything great about Renji’s performance against Uryu, of course, was perfectly complemented by the standout quality of the episode. If the purpose of the fight was to give Renji a well-deserved show of power, then it needed to look as good as possible, and sure enough,Renji and Uryu’s fight inBleach: Thousand-Year Blood Warwas filled with incredible animation and amazing direction that excellently emphasized how powerful Renji was supposed to be. It all came together for one of the best fights in the anime to date, and it coming from Renji, of all people, made that even better.
Renji & Uryu’s Big Fight Continues One Of Bleach’s Biggest Themes
Something that also made Renju and Uryu’s fight stand out was how well it played into the larger themes ofBleach’s story. As previously stated, Renji could have defeated Uryu if he hadn’t held back against him, just like how Ichigo couldn’t bring himself to kill Uryu in their fight. Both instances directly contrast Uryu abandoning his friends to join leagues with Yhwach, so with that in mind,Renji losing to Uryu inBleach: Thousand-Year Bloodpart 3, episode #7 because he couldn’t bring himself to kill him emphasizes how important the power of friendship is toBleach’s story.
Bleach’s themes of friendship, of course, played a large part in the final confrontations of the manga. Not only was Yhwach defeated thanks to Ichigo working with others, but when Uryu decided to put his trust in his friends again, his decision is directly contrasted with Haschwalth’s depression over killing Bazz-B for Yhwach’s cause.Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War’s most recent fights build up how heavily friendship will play into the final act, and if there are more fights like Renji and Uryu’s that play into that, thenBleach: Thousand-Year Blood Warwill be all the better for it.
Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War
Cast
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.
