Rukia defeats the enemy with a brand new ability: the Bankai, Hakka no Togame. What is the significance of her victory?
Highlights
- Rukia achieves her Bankai, a major milestone for a Shinigami, in a grand and impactful episode of BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War.
- The encounter with the terrifying enemy, Äs Nödt, showcases Rukia’s growth and her ability to strategically use her Zanpakutō to defeat him.
- Byakuya, Rukia’s brother, shows immense growth and support for her during her battle, symbolizing the development of their relationship throughout the series.
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The following contains spoilers for BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2, Episode 6, “The White Haze” available for streaming on Hulu and Disney+.
The sixth episode of BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2 – The Separation, titled, “The White Haze” is one of the series’ hardest-hitting episodes, with Rukia Kuchiki finally achieving the final milestone in the journey of a Shinigami – the Bankai. A major requirement in the promotion of seated officers of the Gotei 13 to the position of Captain, the Bankai is one of the BLEACH series’ most iconic aspects, and Rukia’s achievement of this ability was given the kind of grand stage it deserved.
Having seen her from the beginning of the series until now, Rukia’s display of her Bankai in the 19th overall episode of the Thousand-Year Blood War adaptation closed a chapter in her life and showed immense growth not only for Rukia, but her brother as well.
Overwhelming Enemy
As Nodt’s Fear Takes Effect – BLEACH Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2 Episode 6
Much like most of the Shinigami in Soul Society at the time, Rukia was badly injured during the previous invasion of the Seireitei. Her training was largely off-screen, but she was seen together with Renji during BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War episode 13, “The Blade is Me”, and received news of Byakuya’s recovery from the grave injuries he sustained in his encounter with Sternritter F – The Fear, Äs Nödt. This time, she arrived at the battlefield together with Renji but got separated from him after he engaged Mask De Masculine, and she carried two injured Captains to the 4th Squad barracks. Alone, she was approached by the nightmare-inducing Äs Nödt, whose engagement with Rukia stands as one of the scariest sequences in the entire series.
Feeling like he has unfinished business with Byakuya, Äs Nödt figures killing Rukia would probably draw out his true target. In the previous cours, Äs Nödt’s ability to induce fear through the power of his thorns completely overwhelmed Byakuya, who was resisting its effects somewhat through sheer force of will. Despite his best efforts, Byakuya’s Senbonzakura Kageyoshi was plundered, and he was savaged to the brink of death. In his return during Rukia’s encounter with the Quincy, Byakuya is asked a chilling question “Have you lost weight from the time I disemboweled you?” Clearly, the enemy was one capable of decimating one of the Gotei 13’s most competent with relative ease, which put Rukia in an all too familiar situation of being pit against an enemy far stronger than she, at least on paper.
The Blade Is Me
Rukia Freezes As Nodt – BLEACH Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2 Episode 6
During the encounter against Äs Nödt, Rukia challenges his notion that his Fear is capable of affecting every single living thing by explaining the truth about her Zanpakutō, Sode no Shirayuki (“Sleeves of White Snow”). Initially believed to be an ice-type Zanpakuto that emits a freezing effect from its tip, the Zanpakutō is actually one that decreases the temperature of its wielder and uses the blade as an extension of that freezing body. With this effect, Rukia is capable of literally killing her body through reishi manipulation, decreasing the temperature of her body gradually until Absolute Zero is achieved. She displays the effects of this ability at various temperature points, attacking strategically as Äs Nödt reels from the onslaught.
In this state once thought to be the point at which molecules cease all movement, Rukia is able to gracefully freeze the Quincy more effectively than she would have been able to with Sode no Shirayuki’s “dances”, her signature abilities which were capable of flash-freezing opponents, encasing them in ice, and other effects. Unlike those moves, Rukia’s mastery over Sode no Shirayuki prompts a far more accurate and devastating freezing effect than it ever has before in its Shikai state. Rukia’s initial defeat of Äs Nödt sends him into a spiral, causing him to activate his utterly terrifying Vollständig, Tatar Foras (“The Fear of God”), assuming a ghoulish, madness-inducing form of horrific proportions. His appearance gets decidedly more grotesque as Äs Nödt is driven further into anger by Rukia, and by the appearance of his true target: Byakuya Kuchiki, who then leaves it all up to his little sister, whose strength he wholly acknowledges. Tatar Foras’s extension of the fear-inducing effect of Äs Nödt begins to have an effect on Rukia; however, Byakuya’s last push gives her the motivation she needs to beat him.
Big Bro Approves
Byakuya Urges Rukia to Be Careful – BLEACH Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2 Episode 6
One of the most important moments in this 6th episode of BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2 is Byakuya’s cheering for Rukia and his unyielding faith in her ability. Just like his sister, the 6th Squad Captain has grown and overcome the various shackles that made him cold and rigid towards even Rukia, who is the very likeness of his wife, and the site of a lot of convoluted feelings especially during the Soul Society arc. Now Byakuya shows his concern and doesn’t hold back his compliments as much as he would have – Rukia has earned her brother’s approval through her own effort, and it is partly because Byakuya was so trusting in her ability that she even went a little overboard with her Bankai. Disregarding getting caught up in the freezing effects of Rukia’s Hakka no Togame (“Censure of the White Haze”), Byakuya literally holds the cracking pieces of her hand together as he urges her to be more careful. He calls her Hakka no Togame a wonderful Bankai, but reminds her that no weapon or ability is worth the life of its wielder – the same Byakuya who would have let her get executed in the beginning of the series can barely stand her sustaining flesh wounds in the end of the series.
This open love and respect for Rukia shows immense growth in Byakuya’s character, with the Bankai being the device used to communicate this growth. Overall, Rukia’s achievement of her Bankai means that she now stands shoulder-to-shoulder with some of her strongest allies. Activating her Bankai as the ending theme played, the reveal of Rukia’s Bankai is one of the series’ most satisfying moments, and a major victory for the character whose journey from the very bottom through some terrifying moments is capped off by an unshakable performance against an enemy not even her brother could defeat. The spotlight on her beauty as Hakka no Togame changes her appearance, and the eventual centering of her transformed state; a beacon of righteous beauty overcoming an unbelievable nightmare. Interestingly, Äs Nödt bears a striking resemblance to the malevolent Japanese urban legend of Kuchisake-Onna (“Slit-Mouthed Woman”), while Rukia’s Bankai form reflects the beauty of a Yuki-Onna (“Snow Woman”), a yōkai in Japanese folklore.
Fuente: successacademy.edu.vn
Categorías: Anime
