So we open up with Kumoi's evil lair, where he and his entire faction are hatching an evil scheme. Purple-haired ninja is given that mirror sword that the first ninja assassin used. At this point we finally get to learn the purple-haired ninja's name - its Hanza. Until he manages to actually beat up a major character, he's going to remain the Purple-Haired Ninja in these recaps. So you better get working, dude if you want me to use your name. Purple-Haired Ninja is finally given the order to go to Earth and kill Princess Lampshade-hat. I don't know why we've been delaying this. Meanwhile, Kumoi has some Evil Old Guy stuff to do right here in the Spirit World.
Its at this point that we cut to the newest character in this arc full of new characters: Prince Shoe or Shu or whatever weird romanticized spelling we're using. We don't yet know who he is, but he seems rather mopey. Plus he reminds me of somebody... god damn me if I know who yet. Well Kumoi summons this kid, so either he's a helpless political puppet or a super powerful badass Soul Reaper who could put Purple-Hair to shame. I know where my money is. Cute little boys are always helpless in anime, I don't quite know why. If they're ugly, they might stand a chance.
We cut to the human world where the Princess is arguing with the sock-puppet characters from the last filler arc and the other comic reliefs. Let's skip that scene - its pointless and isn't funny.
Inside Urahara's shop, Ichigo and the other major characters have a strategy discussion. They decide that the only reason they managed to get back to Earth so easily is because the Evil Old Guy let them leave in order to fulfill his many Evil Old Guy schemes. I'm not quite sure why the Princess needed to go home, or why Ichigo didn't just take care of Kumoi right there and then. The whole point of her going to the Human World was to hide from assassins, and so far that's worked like a charm, right? Nobody knows where she is now, right? Right? I'm pretty sure that Ichigo and Rukia together could take out all of the Evil Old Guy's ninjas
Another thing we learn here is that the Evil Old Guy or somebody equally as evil has cornered the market on Reishi. If you don't know what Reishi is, its basically the stuff that makes everything happen in this show. A more simple explanation would be one word: "magic". This Reishi business is the only possible hint so far that something bigger might be happening than this stupid clan takeover plotline. Speaking of more interesting stuff: Purple-Hair is here with an army of ninjas. His plan is to lure Ichigo straight to him. Naturally the Good Guys oblige by splitting up.
Meanwhile back in the Spirit World, we finally get to learn Kumoi's Evil Old Guy scheme: set up Shoe, who is apparently betrothed to Princess Lampshade-hat, as the the new head of the Kasamujarajarawamba (or whatever its called) Clan. The other people in the room, who I assume are important somehow, object because apparently only a woman can become the Clan Lord. Why? I don't know anything about this clan's history or whatever meaning is assigned by having only female leaders, so why should I care? Since I know I'll never see the Kasastrawberrykiwiblast Clan again after this, I can't say I'm on the edge of my seat thanks to this breach of a tradition I've never heard of before. Evil Old Guy decides to deal with this by simply murdering the objectors later in the episode, and so Prince Shoe is elected.
However, I did discover who Prince Shoe reminds me of!
Do the words "I should have stayed home today!" mean anything to you guys? Yes, he's actually Arnold from "The Magic School Bus", a little Jewish boy who constantly was afraid of the Frizz's wacky school trips to places like Outer Space and to the Center of the Earth. Shoe has a different hair color, no glasses, but otherwise its uncanny I think. Same mopey desperation in his eyes too. From now on his name is "Arnold".
So now we finally get to the action. NINJARS NINJARS EVERYWHERE! Not that is matters, even Orihime can beat the mooks - and that's saying something. Orihime, to my knowledge, has never defeated anyone ever. This might be her first time right here. So the battles that Uryu and Chad and everybody else have are complete anti-climaxes. I know they can't lose, but the show tries to build tension for a second. Maybe the ninjas have a chance. Then literally next scene of this front, all the ninjas are dead. Total filler.
So anyway, Ichigo vs. Purple-Haired Ninja. This is the first real battle Ichigo has had all arc, really. Its not very good, I'm sorry to say. Purple-Haired Ninja and Ichigo never even get much of a chance to clash swords, the whole fight is silly magic tricks and talking. But at least its a fight and not a tea party. There's that. So Purple-Haired Ninja uses that moon-mirror trick the first ninja tried, but by now Ichigo has already figured out how to block it. But then Mr. Ninja uses his real power - he goes Purple Super Saiyan for a second and lets his tentacle-sword eat his arm. Now the moon-mirror trick can trap Ichigo's mind inside a pocket-dimension leaving him helpless in real life. Luckily Ichigo has one last defense: talking. Like all villains in anime, Purple-Haired Ninja can't help but explain how his technique works in excruciating detail. This enough time for Ichigo to unleash his "DRAGONBALL Z" SCREAMING POWER UUUUUPPP!!
Ichigo's black light manages to beat Purple-Hair's purple light and even causes the mirror sword to crack, but it still seems that purple might win until Yoruichi* jumps in to save the day. Purple-Haired Ninja freaks out upon seeing a sexy former Captain in front of him. Unable to take Yoruichi's sexy, Mr. Ninja runs away, his mission a complete and utter failure. I am not surprised.
So if today's episode's point was to make me afraid of the Hanza, it sure as heck didn't succeed. His NINJARS are pathetic, and he only managed to corner Ichigo using a magic trick. I remember a day when "Bleach" set up strong enemies by having them be simply strong. They would walk in and beat up characters you thought were indestructible. Here its just not happening. There's still no credible threat in this arc. Not that it matters, I doubt Purple-Haired Ninja is the true final boss, even if he does have the same voice as Ulquiorra. Kumoi's plans are at least moving forward without the Princess dead. Maybe the Evil Old Guy will surprise us all and turn out to be a real badass.
And no, there was no Captain Amagai in this episode either. The poor guy is practically a background character in his own arc!
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* For some very odd reason in this scene Yoruichi has jet-black hair instead of her normal dark purple. Its a night battle, so maybe the color pallet had to shift, but it doesn't explain why her hair suddenly changed hue. Maybe she couldn't come to Ichigo's aid earlier because she was busy in the bathroom sink dying it.
Orihime did beat a hollow once.
ReplyDelete3rd paragraph. You mispelled "somebody" as "spmebody"
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