Introduction My main issue with ThousandYear Blood War is the constant and blatant back and forth of onesided fights. When it comes to characters that werent initially part of the main cast it feels as if the first to win is also the first to lose. Aside from that the visuals are spectacular the powers are as interesting as ever the characters are very charming and the music just cant get any better. This is also the season that starts including content from the light novels. Im hoping they follow this trend because the light novels are pretty much a necessity to truly understand Bleachs setup and dilemma. The Squad Zero Segment They genuinely improved the Squad Zero fight so far but it still follows this corny You get a punch in then I get a punch in template which is way less interesting than a fight where a side completely overwhelms the other in a believable way or a fight where opponents are actually fighting for their lives instead of going Actually this wasnt my full power or Actually my king can resurrect me or Actually we sealed our powers or Actually you underestimated me. Currently we left off with Yhwach and the Royal Guards being brutally dunked on by Squad Zero Im on the fence about whether theyll be able to give us a satisfactory outcome but we can only hope. The Vizard Segment It feels bad to bring up one bad thing after another but its time to take a look at the Vizards. Shinji is probably my favourite captain and it just hurt seeing his bankai used on a bunch of fodder just so he could get blown out of the water after explaining his Shikai for five minutes. It gets worse when Komamura comes saves Shinji who was promptly oneshot by Bambi and absolutely fodders the poor Sternritter. A lot of people are upset Shinji didnt use his mask but it honestly wouldnt have mattered because he just didnt even try to actually kill Bambietta. However this still leads us to one of the reoccurring themes for the Visored. Kensei Rose vs. Mask De Masculine left me speechless. Kensei massacres Mask for the first moments of the fight and then gets destroyed by Masks Schrift. And thats... alright its alright its not too bad. Again he doesnt use his mask for some reason but Im assuming he lost too quickly to get an opportunity to use it. The part that really gets me is Rose going on a whole monologue that pretty much explains how to counter his Zanpakuto... and then he gets one shot. And of course Renji Rukia rescue them and the former pretty much oneshots Mask in return. And then they get offscreened by Gremmy. And then they become mindlesslooking zombies thanks to Mayuri. TYBW Vizard 101: 1.Never use all of your powers 2.Explain your Shikai / Bankai allowing your opponent to counter you 3.Lose and get rescued by another Shinigami Improvements From The First Season Something that the second season of ThousandYear Blood War does better than the first is the lack of fights disguised as power showcases. Yes Im talking about Yamamoto vs. Yhwach I didnt like it in the manga and I didnt like it in the anime. I decided to cut them some slack because I wasnt expecting changes to happen right off the bat with S1. As each episode passed I believe weve increasingly been seeing changes made to the original story which is a net positive considering TYBW is probably the arc that had the best setup and most potential out of all the Bleach arcs but unfortunately had some serious issues. About Giselle 220https://brewperham.com/wpcontent/uploads/2019/01/blank.png Positive Notes Conclusion This season features two of my favourite things in Bleach those two being Rukias bankai and Gremmy vs. Zaraki. They absolutely nailed Rukias Hakka no Togame. They could have simply given her white hair and azure eyes but they went above and beyond with her design. The result is stunning and the remix of Never Meant to Belong fits the aesthetic of her bankai perfectly. From the translucent hair to the pattern in her eyes the rigid feeling of her outfit and her cloudy breath every little detail goes a long way towards making this reveal as stunning as possible. The original design in the manga was already my favourite out of all the Bankai but the anime manages to highlight its beauty even further. Rukias fight also manages to do a good job with the back and forth. Her powerup makes sense considering the misunderstanding she had about her Zanpakuto. The way she loses the edge against As Nodt is also fitting and not corny most of this battle was a mental one considering that this may have been a twoversusone with Byakuya setting Rukia straight after As Nodt powers up. This fight and Bankai reveal set Rukia up as a diamond in the rough allowing for possible future developments if we ever get a proper sequel to TYBW. As for Gremmy Im a little saddened they cut out the panels where the Sternritters gave their opinion about him and the reaction to the meteor but there was a major improvement in the form of his death scene. This is also one of the few times we see Zaraki emotionally moved. In my eyes Gremmy was a Kenpachi in the making he inevitably lost due to his lack of experience from being locked up during his time in the Wandenreich. What further makes me believe this is his growth caused by Zarakis comments: had he won he would have come out with a fighting addiction just like Unohana Zaraki. I think a lot of people will disagree with this since Kenpachi is generally considered to just be a brainless I only want to fight type of guy but this season and the first season did a good job at proving otherwise. Overall TYBW is currently at the mercy of S3 not following the mangas mistakes but on its own S2 is a great adaptation. It fixes or mends a lot of the issues I had with the manga making it in my opinion the best way to experience TYBW. Also Liltotto is the best Femritter