Almost 22 years after the anime first premiered, Bleach is finally reaching its proper conclusion with the Thousand-Year Blood War arc that fans had been waiting for. This final season is unlike anything fans had ever seen, as the scale of the series is on an entirely different level and, from the very beginning, has featured twists and revelations that had been kept hidden for years. It began with Head Captain Genryusai revealing his unparalleled Bankai, only for him to die in his battle against Yhwach. While there have been plenty of other revelations since then, the final part of Bleach has been on a streak of unveiling one new surprise after another.
Videos by ComicBook.com
This season began by finally featuring Kisuke Urahara’s Bankai, something Bleach had concealed for the longest time. However, the recent episode continued this momentum by featuring Zaraki Kenpachi unveiling his own Bankai, despite the series establishing from the start that Kenpachi would never have one. While this itself is a major sort of retcon, another long-held belief among fans was related to Toshiro Hitsugaya. Fans believed that Toshiro’s Bankai always had a time limit because it featured 12 ice petals, and once they melted, he would lose his Bankai form. However, the latest episode completely twists this belief, with something jaw-dropping happening when the ice petals actually disappear.
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Gives Fans the Form They Only Ever Imagined
In the latest episode of Bleach, as Hitsugaya, Byakuya, and Kenpachi fight Gerard Valkyrie, their opponent continues to overpower them, with Hitsugaya reaching the apparent limit of his Bankai, as even Byakuya notes. As fans were ready to see the battle intensify with Hitsugaya being taken out of the fight and everything falling onto Kenpachi, Hitsugaya reveals that all the ice petals melting doesn’t mean his Bankai, Daiguren Hyorinmaru, will fade away. Instead, it is the time required for his Bankai to truly mature. As the final ice petal melts, his Bankai matures, and so does Hitsugaya himself, transforming into his adult form.
This is a striking revelation, as everyone believed that Hitsugaya would become useless once this limitation was reached, but in fact, he becomes more powerful than ever. What makes this even more amazing is how the studio went beyond and hired a new voice actor to highlight his adult state. The cherry on top is that the famous voice actor who voiced Eren also voices this adult form, giving it even more coolness. But this form isn’t only about looking cool, as his Bankai is twice as effective in this form.
Hitsugaya states that every element close to him will be frozen, which is also displayed, giving fans a whole new version of the character that they had only dreamed of until now. This perhaps also explains why Hitsugaya never actually aged, as the spirit of his Bankai taking time to mature may have also affected his normal appearance. Or perhaps the author simply wanted to elevate Hitsugaya’s coolness, and this was the easiest way to do it. Either way, this revelation retcons the long-held belief fans had about Hitsugaya’s Bankai, and in doing so, Bleach also presents one of the coolest transformations in the series.
More Anime
-
Image Courtesy of Crunchyroll -
Image Courtesy of Shueisha -
Image Courtesy of Studio KAI -
Image Courtesy of Madhouse / Netflix -
Wit & Production IG
