The anime world is buzzing, and Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War – The Calamity ‒ Episode 7 has become the centre of attention. With fans across the globe debating every detail, this latest update is one that no otaku will want to miss.
The Story So Far
Even so, nothing was as anticlimactic as the sudden end to the fight with Gerard Valkyrie, with him just becoming essentially collateral damage, killed by Yhwach. Which is to say, that shot of him turning into a skeleton and falling—which does, admittedly, look super cool—is on-major screen for maybe all of two seconds, but it still leaves you thinking: “…Damn, that's it?” Not too unlike how I mentioned a few weeks ago, the Hueco Mundo arc felt like one giant way of Kubo saying, “Oops, I accidentally made Orihime too powerful;” this kind of feels like that again.
“Oops, I accidentally made Gerard too powerful, and I have to wrap things up now. Hope you weren't looking forward to that fight, which gathered three of my most powerful and beloved characters.” I don't dare get into powerscaling discourse—I know when I'm out of my depth—but I will say, Gerard going out in this way does make it feel like he, rather than Jugram, is the most powerful (non-Uryu) Sternritter, since he's the only one that couldn't be dealt with by our protagonists, even when they tried to dogpile him.
Is that actually the case? Debatable—and I'm quite sure that by now, many have. Considering how important Jugram was, versus how comparatively unimportant Gerard was, it probably shouldn't feel this way, even if it's only based on fairly arbitrary reasons.
At least the imagery of him turning into a skeleton and crashing down was incredibly cool. If all else fails, you can at least count on Thousand-Year Blood War to bring the visual flair, and this week was no exception. Gerard skeleton-izing, the crumbling environments, Yhwach trying to take his powers back from Ichigo, Uryu's attacks—the frames, as always, are ridonkulous considering this is a TV anime.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: The animation quality, oftentimes, feels downright cinematic. Even with not one, but TWO Science SARU shows this run (The Ghost in the Shell and Jaadugar), both of which look gorgeous, I want to emphasize that I'd still call this the best-looking show of the run. Everything about it is so cinematic: The frames themselves, the animation quality, the direction, the camera angles, the environments, the action—everything looks absolutely fantastic.
Especially brand-fresh off the heels of some of the best episodes of Thousand-Year Blood War yet (and that shares A LOT!), an installment like this one that still feels half-baked is pretty disappointing. All the more so considering how close we are to the end. There are still a few loose concludes to tie up, and time is drawing ever closer with only a few episodes left before this generation-defining shonen crosses its end.
The biggest one is Yhwach, but he's hardly the only one. Even if there are bumps in the road, this anime has brought the heat often enough that I'm still looking forward to these last few episodes. If nothing else, the stage is very much set for the focus to stay entirely on the fight against Yh…
For now, fans have plenty to discuss, and the industry has plenty to analyse. TeraMovies will be tracking every twist in this story as it unfolds, bringing you the full picture from the world of entertainment.
