Bleach Recaps: Ep. 176, Mystery! The Sword-Consuming Assassin

So finally I'm happy to say that we have a "Bleach" episode that didn't totally suck.  This week we have nothing but three battles happening simultaneously and they aren't bad fights.  So unlike last week's episode, this one is total action and not just two characters sitting on a roof shooting the breeze.  Instead we have everybody but Ichigo fighting one on one battles with the NINJARS*.  And the ninjas don't do too badly.  So the whole episode is just three decent fights packed into twenty-two minutes, which is exactly what "Bleach" does best.  It isn't a perfect episode, but "Bleach" isn't a perfect show.  I do want to enjoy this Amagai arc, and so when there's passable action, I'm going to the first one to say "this is awesome".

The episode begins by replaying the last two minutes of Ep. 175, which were the only bit of that episode which I felt was worth watching.  This makes Ep. 175 even more pointless than it already was.  During the recap at the start of Ep. 176, the Narrator decides to tell us that Bakkotos, the weird swords that the ninjas have been using so far, give you immense power, something which nobody has bothered to say yet.  Last week I was openly asking "who cares about Bakkotos?"  This week's episode seems to be determined to answer that question, finally.  I would have preferred it happen earlier, but better late than never I suppose.  The main thing these fights have to prove tonight is that these ninjas are formidable opponents.  And I'm happy to say, they have.  Each one of those guys gives all of Ichigo's buddies a run for their money.  I still don't think they'll still be alive by two weeks from now, but the fights have enough tension to keep me wondering.  And they're pretty awesome.

Let the recapping begin!  For tonight's show we have Rukia vs. Short Laughing Guy, Uryu vs. Tall Guy With Goofy Hair, and Chad vs. Big Guy Wearing a Burka (no, I still won't learn these guys' names).  The Ichigo vs. Purple-Haired Ninja fight won't happen until next week, I'm sorry to report.

Rukia vs. Short Laughing Guy

When I call him the "Laughing Guy", I mean that this guy laughs constantly.  He's kinda like the Crypt Keeper actually... And he doesn't look all that different.  The voice actor seems to be doing a Crypt Keeper impression as well - but not a good one.  Anyway, this is all evidence enough that I should change the fight name:

Rukia vs. the Crypt Keeper

The fight starts with Rukia using her one of her One-Hit-Kill techniques, making me groan immediately.  Rukia has a severely over-powered Shikai because her attacks can down even an Espada.  This is why she doesn't need to learn Bankai, because her Shikai is actually better than most Bankais I've seen.  Probably only somebody as preposterously strong as Aizen himself could survive this move.  Anyway, Rukia doesn't actually use it in full force, instead using it only to freeze the Crypt Keeper in place for questioning later.  Why?  We all know that the ninjas are working for Kumoi, just wipe them out and take out the Evil Old Guy.  But this failure of logic works out for me at least, because it means this fight will actually last longer than thirty seconds.  (But on the other hand Rukia's coldblooded One-Hit-Kills are always badass and awesome, so maybe its more of a win-win).

The Crypt Keeper escapes naturally and now the fight is really on.  He now decides to use his Bankkoto's special ability.  Trust me, you're going to love this:

HE NOMS HIS SWORD!!  AWESOME!

Wow.  He takes a big huge bite out of it (giving me the best laugh this series has provided in what is honestly years) and then swallows it all down.  No wonder he doesn't have many teeth.  After this the Crypt Keeper grows swords out of his back, which he then throws.  Rukia's reaction to this is great too, its this perfect "What in the... shit????" moment.  His attack actually seems to knock Rukia out, making me wonder if I should learn this NINJAR's real name.  That means that the only thing protecting the Princess now is her two idiot bodyguards.  Kenryu, the one that can talk, using his terrible flower Shikai to buy time.  Of course, Kenryu's Shikai is without a doubt the most pathetic attack in the entire series by far, and naturally does not work in the slightest.  But then Rukia is back.  They continue to fight, but with no clear conclusion.

Sorry, none of these fights actually are going to be finished tonight. Wait for next week.  We now cut to Fight #2.

Uryu vs. Tall Guy with Goofy Hair

Trust me, this ninja's hair is amazing. It must take fifteen pounds of gel to get it to stick out all three feet that it does. And I thought Captain Kenny's hair was weird.

Instead of fighting initially, Uryu decides to interview his opponent, asking the exact same questions I've been asking for weeks now.  "What is a Bakkoto?"  "Why is it different from a normal Zanpakuto?"  "Why should I care?"  This is a good moment because it shows that the issues I've brought up are not being lost by the writers of this filler arc.  We now learn that Bakkotos suck energy right out of your soul, giving you immense power but (this is unstated yet, but you know this is coming) will probably kill you after extended use.  Next week I predict two or three ninjas are getting eaten by their swords.  That should be awesome to see.

Then they begin it.  Goofy Hair's Bakkoto power is to create a giant smokescreen.  At first I laughed this off, but it turns out to be really effective.  Because Goofy's strategy is to combine smoke with that anime cliche of creating illusions of yourself and surrounding your opponent.  This is actually a very good strategy, and Uryu has no real counter for it.  Seems he doesn't watch enough anime, because he should know by now the way to counter multiple illusions is concentrate really really hard to get the answer.  He'll figure it out eventually.  The ninja seems content to hide in the smoke and get off small hits guerrilla-style.  Goofy also claims that that Uryu's arrows will no longer work, a dubious claim if I've ever heard one.  We'll see next week, because the fight ends here.

For now I leave you with Uryu looking like he's about to shit himself:

Once again these ninja are surprising me with just how powerful they're turning out to be.  This is another good fight.  Now onto Fight #3:

Chad vs. Big Guy Wearing a Burka

This is easily the best match of the entire episode.  The fight begins with Chad asking the ninja to go home and not fight (a tactic which not surprisingly hasn't been tried yet).  Also not surprisingly, it doesn't work.  So the big ninja takes out his silly Bakkoto whose ability is... making walls - we've seen this one before wielded by some unnamed ninja.  It just fires out flashes of magic and POOF, walls of calcium pop up.  Now I know this Bakkoto must be massively useful for construction projects, it seems like a strange kind of weapon.  I'll admit it works, since getting whacked in the face with a ton of calcium must be painful.

Both fighters seem evenly matched, though I think this is only because Chad isn't using his full power.  In Hueco Mundo he gained some new ability where his left arm turns white (its called Brazo del Diablo or something), giving him enough strength to decimate some Privaron Espada with an awesome afro.  Here Chad is back to using just one magic arm.  Then again, I don't know where this fits in continuity-wise, so maybe Chad didn't get that skill yet.  Honestly I can't think of a single other show in the history of the universe that ever could have these kinds of problems.  Maybe Chad will use it next episode, maybe not.  But either way, they have a good battle exchange blows with neither side having a clear advantage to the end of the episode.

At the end the Big Guy finally reveals his special ability:  he can walk through the walls he creates.  Oddly Chad doesn't see this coming and the Big Guy attacks.  We then see blood splatter and the episode ends on that cliffhanger.  Did Chad get murdered?  No, no way.  But he might have gotten pretty hurt.  Chad usually beats the lower level Mooks, he's tough enough for that.  He just always loses to the bigger Mooks like Captains or full Espada.

Meanwhile at one point during the episode Orihime was running along sensing the fights with her powers.  She didn't get an opponent because frankly, she can't fight.  She hasn't had much to do or say in this arc, which is pretty odd.  I mean, she hasn't said anything wacky at all, which is supposed to her thing - and is one of the few funny recurring gags this series has. She can be almost as funny as NINJARS eating their swords.  I don't know when Orihime got all serious, but it annoys me.

See you next week when presumably the good guys win every fight.  Then we can watch Ichigo beat up Purple-Hair.

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* All this NINJAR business makes me wonder if this whole arc is actually some kind of Take That to "Bleach"'s rival anime "Naruto".  They could have had some kind of wild crossover here with characters from both shows crossing over to fight each other in semi-friendly brawls.  This Amagai Arc already makes no sense in continuity, so "Bleach" has opened the door to have stories about pretty much anything now.  I know that both series suffer from cases of massive filler in their animes, though I think "Bleach" has that disease a lot worse.  Anyway it would have been good fanservice to have the orange-haired heroes of both "Bleach" and "Naruto" fight it out.  Maybe next filler.