The Pendulum arc has finally started, after that few episodes of pointless filler. Depicting the events in Soul Society 100 years ago, it is here that we will come to know of the vizards’ pasts starting with Urahara’s promotion to the captain of the 12th squad on Yoruichi’s recommendation. This occurs at a time that sees some major changes in the captains of the Gotei 13, including a promotion to the Zero Squad, the Royal Guard, which catches young Aizen’s attention.

It seems like Pierrot also stretched the episode by expanding Soifon’s disapproval of Urahara in the manga to the extent of having her follow him around town to take note of his activities, hoping to use it as evidence to convince Yoruichi of his misconduct. The latter, however, wrongly assumes that Soifon has developed a crush on Urahara. While it doesn’t detract from my overall enjoyment of the episode, I didn’t really find it as humorous as intended.

More insight on Nnoitra before his death. Ichigo’s task is seemingly done, Kenpachi tells him to take Inoue back and leave the rest of the battle to the captains. But soon after, Stark arrives to ‘escort’ Inoue to Aizen, who then informs the captains and ryoka in Hueco Mundo of his plan to destroy Karakura Town and make the King’s Key. By capturing Inoue, he has succeeded in luring four captains to Hueco Mundo and sealed them in, thereby halving the combat force of Soul Society. Aizen’s entrance in Karakura is greeted by the remaining captains and vice-captains of Soul Society who have gathered to defeat him. Karakura Town has also been replaced by a replica to avoid heavy damage and casualties when the captains fight. In response, Aizen brings along the top three Espada (Stark, Barragan and Halibel) into the battle, leaving Ulquiorra in charge of Las Noches, looking forward to a rematch with Ichigo.

Some of the faces looked somewhat weird in this episode but no matter. Apparently, a filler segment will be up next and hopefully it won’t last too long. I’m highly anticipating the Pendulum arc.

I’ve been disappointed in the animation standard of Bleach lately, they seem to be relying heavily on still frames instead of fluidly animating the fights. And this episode isn’t any different. The revelation of Kenpachi’s kendo skills didn’t really have any kind of impact, but then again, it was the same in the manga. That said, I really enjoyed the focus on Nnoitra here. Nnoitra’s past with Nel was one of the more interesting albeit tragic among the Espada. The BGM and atmosphere in Nnoitra’s final moments were well-executed.