Bleach Recaps: Ep 181, The 2nd Division Sorties! Ichigo is Surrounded

Sorry about the wait, I usually like to have these recaps up the Sunday after a "Bleach" episode airs, but this time I was a little busy.  First I had work nearly the the entire day, then when I got back to my dorm I spent the night playing researching Slender Man and playing "Persona 3".

So here we go, finally things are moving!  This is the type of episode I'm asking for.  After two episodes of boring nonsense, Bleach 181 opens (after a needlessly extensive recap that goes back so far as to show the Purple-Haired dude) with a truly interesting fight:  Ichigo vs. Soi Fon.  Well, it doesn't quite open with that, first Ichigo makes a heartfelt speech to Princess-Lampshade hat about how he'll support her no matter what she decides - even though he met her like two weeks ago and once this arc concludes the tangent universe will collapse and so he'll never speak of her again.  By the end of the speech everybody has tears in their eyes, even me who was crying BECAUSE I WAS SO DAMN BORED!!  FIGHT ALREADY!!  By the end of the speech, the Princess - who Ichigo did not notice had flat color eyes so must be under mind control or something - says "who the Hell is this guy?  Get his orange-haired ass off my temple-thing!"  Also the whole time the Evil Old Guy just keeps on smiling his freaky ape-smile, which is probably not a good thing for anybody.

Soi Fon had graciously let Ichigo give his silly speech, he probably had been rehearsing that thing for hours and it would have been just cruel to not even let him give it.  But when that fails, she's had enough.  She's a psycho lesbian bitch ninja, and ever since she got dumped 100 years ago, every day is her period.  So now its time for Ichigo and his buddies to either go with her to the station, or they'll all die quite horribly - and she can do it too.

Now that's a fucking set-up for an episode!  Too bad they don't let this fight conclude!

Upon being captured by Soi Fon's incompetent potato chip-eating Lieutenant, Asshole (his real name is Omada or something but I think "Asshole" will suffice), Enryu decides that enough is enough and goes ahead and unleases his Shikai! Well since Kenryu's Shikai was that lovely but very stupid flower trick, I dare not even imagine what Enry-- HOLY FREAKING GOD!!!

"SMASH and BASH like the strongest Superhero in the world, with new HULK SMASH HANDS that make TEN different sounds!"

Enryu's surprisingly awesome HULK SMASH destroys the entire building, thus giving everybody a chance to run off for a moment.  Rukia takes on Soi Fon for a moment while Ichigo goes to check up on the Princess.  Poor Prince Shoe (who I like so much now that I'll drop the nickname) has been really worried this whole time, and when Ichigo approaches he jumps up to protect his bonny lass.  Ichigo says "look kid, she's totally under mind control" and Shoe replies "um... okay."  But then the Princess has something to say about the situation herself:

"Put the pointy end into the squishy things that scream and bleed."

Turns out that the Princess is actually a NINJAR!  Was she a NINJAR from the beginning?  That would be a wild awesome plot twist.  But sadly, I doubt that, this is just the body double that was mentioned last episode, probably.  The real Princess is probably in another Castle, as Princesses are wont to be.  Prince Shoe is really shocked "oh crap, I married a NINJAR!  A dude-NINJAR!"  Is same-sex marriage legal in the Soul Society, by the way?  If not I can just add it to the list of things that make it the biggest crap-hole in the universe.  Anyway, Evil Old Guy pops up and is all cocky .  Ichigo runs at him, but is blocked by Soi Fon, who just finished with Rukia.

Now its Ichigo vs. Soi Fon!  You might think that this fight may be a tad uneven, since Ichigo has both Bankai and Hollowfication, and so has a Power Level many times higher than just a simple Captain.  However, Soi Fon is completely out of her damn mind, and is filled with all kinds of furious bitch rage.  Plus she can kick some ass:  her Shikai is more broken than Rukia's giving an insta-kill with two pokes.  Even if I were Aizen himself I wouldn't mess with Soi Fon personally:  I'd just drop twelve nukes in the area and hope that she's vaporized.  While the fight lasts, its really awesome with Soi using lots of kung-fu kicks along with sword strikes... and then it just ends.  Rukia interrupts by making a giant ice wall, and that's it.

The rest of the episode kinda sucks.  And we're only about half-way through.  Can I make this quick?

Prince Shoe leads Rukia and Ichigo into the palace where they get Trapped in the Closet for a few minutes while debating what to do next.  Outside, Soi Fon's entire Squad is kept out by the Evil Old Guy, who cannot possibly allow them in out of fear of letting them see his Evil Lair.  I wonder what he had cooking down their?  An army of android monkeys?  Just a thought.  Anyway, Ichigo's big plan to escape is to take Shoe as a willing hostage and thus get past the Squad.  And if you thought Soi Fon was angry before, oh boy.  Super Bitch mode is incoming!

 "Make one move and the boy gets it, see?  HAHA!"

Now begins a Captain's meeting.  Everybody is a little unsure as for what they should do.  On the one hand, Ichigo did save all their lives back in the Bount Arc (which may or may not have actually happened), on the other hand, he interrupted a wedding.  Well, is that so bad?  We all know how these interrupting weddings and stealing the bride stories end:  you get on a bus and Simon & Garfunkel plays while you have no idea what the Hell you're going to do next.  Its not the crime of the century.  Anyway, since the New Captain Amagai volunteers his Squad since he hasn't met Ichigo and so has no personal connections of any kind*.  I'm surprised Kenpachi isn't stepping up, doesn't he still jerk-off every night to the idea of fighting Ichigo again?  Remember?

Oh also, Kira talks with Amagai about how Kibune is totally evil.  They let that issue pass for another time**.

Well anyway, that pretty much wraps this episode.  We end with Ichigo, Rukia, and Shoe running through the Soul Society maze.  Once again Ichigo is a fugitive within the Seireitei.  How sad.

Yay!  Piggy-back ride!  Yay!

Ultimately, I have to say, this was a good episode.  The plot is moving:  we now have clearly connected both the Princess storyline and the Amagai story, and have set up the potential for plenty of battles to come.  Meanwhile, the dark conspiracy's plan just keeps moving forward.  Were Ichigo's brazen actions still part of the plan?  Who can say?  The Evil Old Guy just keeps on smiling his monkey smile.  Here's to next week!

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* Actually, Amagai is not the only one.  Ichigo, prior to this episode, has never really met Soi Fon, or Captain Furry for that matter either.  He did have one conversation with Big Captain Yamamoto over the phone in the Arancar Arc, but that's about it.

** This is an odd scene right here.  We're supposed to be thinking that Amagai is the good guy, working to uncover the truth.  Only one problem:  we have no idea what Amagai's history is!  The guy conjured himself out of thin air at the start of the arc, and nobody is sure why he's Captain at all.  How can I possibly trust this person to not be a part of the Evil Old Guy's plan - or even the mastermind!  Well?