Never have a staring contest with Kon.
What They Say:
The Thirteen Court Guard Squads who attacked Ichigo and Rukia in the Soul Society are revealed to be imposters known as Reigai, who have switched places with their originals. Thanks to the work of Mayuri, the real captains and lieutenants are rescued from the Precipice World, and they all regroup in the World of the Living to discuss how to deal with this new crisis. Meanwhile, to help Nozomi feel welcomed, Ichigo and the others decide to host a barbecue party, when Nozomi suddenly runs off.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With the two worlds now sealed off as the Precipice World has been closed, rendering communication between them and the World of the Living impossible, events start to move forward in the Soul Society where the replacement of the remaining captains must begin quickly in order to secure their position more. The Reigai are taking on their new roles pretty well and while they may not be exactly the same, they have been acquiring the mannerisms pretty well. Seeing the fake Byukuya talking about how there’s only room for one head of the clan has him pretty much spot on as he has a good menacing feel from the start and you can imagine the face off that should happen between him and the real version of it him.
Part of the result is amusing in the end as in the World of the Living, you have the majority of the real captains sitting in Ichigo’s bedroom, complete in their usual Soul Society attire, talking about what’s happened and figuring out which approach is best to use. It’s a surreal moment to see some of them there like that, such as Kenpachi lounging on the bed, since it’s a whole lot of calm considering what’s happened. Another part of their seriousness is trying to figure out what Nozomi’s role in all of this is as she’s coming across as a key player in events from what they know so far, but she’s distant and uncertain herself which has them playing it cautious. She could be possibly filling any number of roles in the grand scheme that the Reigai are playing, so a bit of caution on the Soul Reaper’s parts is appreciated.
A lot of the time spent here is dealing with the way they’re almost coddling her by giving her some space, though keeping her close, and throwing a bit of an outdoor party for her to try and lighten her mood a bit. She’s so difficult though for reasons still not yet disclosed that in all the confusion of Kon’s antics, she slips away for awhile. Kon has bonded pretty well with her, so seeing him being the one to go after and find her is only natural, but the show takes a different turn when Rangiku arrives on the scene as well to try and smooth things over. It’s an interesting angle that’s taken here, one that definitely shows how everyone needs to be on guard no matter the time and no matter who they’re with. With the game being played by the Reigai with all the fakes so far, the Soul Reaper’s continue to be far too trusting at this stage when they should certainly know better.
In Summary:
While there isn’t a whole lot of plot progression here, things are starting to firm up a bit more now that the sides are getting more clearly established. The Reigai are revealed to some degree rather than just being known as imposters and the captains who have discovered what’s going on and are stuck in the World of the Living are putting things together with Ichigo to try and figure out what the real goal is before they run off an attack. A lot of the focus is put on Nozomi, but she’s still the quiet cipher, so most of the time is spent with Kon trying to get her to open up. Considering how much I like Kon, it’s not a bad episode in that regard and his charms do start to work on her just a little, which is significant enough considering how she’s been. But in actually getting things rolling, it’s still not there as it’s mostly setup and placement of all the pieces.
Grade: B
Simulcast By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
thanks for the review 🙂