’Bleach: TYBW’ episode 29 review: “The Dark Arm” trades pacing for characterization

In Bleach: TYBW episode 29, “The Dark Arm,” the anime continues adding meat to the story’s bones. These adjustments and expansions have helped prevent the narrative from being a slog. This episode goes further by adding significantly more emotion, context, and even action. The injection of creative energy from last week continues to fuel a surprisingly enjoyable cour. 

More brand new content

One thing “The Dark Arm” doesn’t do is move the plot forward much. At first, this might sound bad. After all, one upside to TYBW is that it has drastically improved pacing. However, pacing is not just moving quickly all the time. “The Dark Arm” knows this is a good opportunity to slow things down and spend some time thinking about what’s going on. The new content is blended extremely well into the source material as Ukitake reveals the secret of how he’s survived his illness over the course of the series.

Ukitake is another long running character that’s sat on the back burner only to get a huge reveal during this arc. Like Unohana being the original Kenpachi, revealing that Ukitake has been a host for something and that’s keeping him alive makes plenty of sense. “The Dark Arm” does make the correct choice to linger on Ukitake more than the manga does. Much more time is spent lingering on Ukitake’s past: from his parents begging to an entity that they think can help heal his illness called Mimihagi, to joining the Gotei 13 and discovering the truth of Mimihagi with Kyoraku, to showing what kind of person all this has made him. 

Arms and friends

These extra scenes also continue to expand on the Soul King. Mimihagi is one of the King’s missing limbs, which is known information. What is new is that “The Dark Arm” gives Mimihagi something resembling emotion. When Ukitake tries to comfort his desperate parents, the entity appears to be moved to tears and that is when it takes action to soothe the boy. The arm doesn’t speak or really emote beyond this, but it’s the things like these details that light up speculation that hasn’t been active in ages. It’s genuinely fun as I’m watching to recall old threads and discussions that finally have new directions to go in. Pierrot Films has done such a fantastic job integrating everything that I’m having to go back and re-read the manga just to make sure I’m not mistaking any of it! 

The flashbacks also help tie in the other half of “The Dark Arm” as Kyoraku makes a very dicey proposition. Pairing the two’s drastic actions is good thematic rhyming, as both mention the lesson of there only being “two kinds of battles.” It’s apt for both men, but especially Kyoraku as he partially unlocks Sosuke Aizen, Bleach’s first primary antagonist. Aizen’s a fascinating slimeball, so having him back is a treat. His own goals involved taking down the Soul King, which makes him very compelling to bring back. 

Some structural issues arise

There’s much to praise about “The Dark Arm,” but it’s not as good as last week’s episode. The first moments of the episode start so jarringly I had to pause and roll back to the episode prior just to make sure I hadn’t missed something. Usually not great to lead with. It’s more jarring when the realization dawns that very little has actually changed by the episode’s end — if you’re someone who’s favorite part is how efficient TYBW is, this is going to be annoying. I still think it’s worth the trade off, but that won’t change the reality of things. 

More of an issue is that once again Rukia is on the bench. She’s Ukitake’s lieutenant and viscerally shaken by watching another mentor sacrificing themselves while powerless. It makes sense, but it does get a bit stranger when, as a part of the flashbacks, time is spent on Ukitake’s decision to not fill the lieutenant slot earlier in the series. This scene is meant to reinforce his acceptance of the inevitable. However, why show this in this way when Rukia, the person who eventually does fill the role, is right there? 

If this sequence is being re-written already, why not give Rukia the lines explaining how Ukitake is invoking Mimihagi? That way, the subtle implication of Ukitake’s acceptance remains while also acknowledging his respect for Rukia’s position. It wouldn’t change really much of the narrative — but that’s the real reason this all plays out the way that it does. 

Lots of standing around

While it’d be easy to lay the blame yet again at “shonen writers writing women,” Rukia isn’t the only character sidelined during this part of the arc. By proximity, Renji and Byakuya are also just sort of hanging out in Soul Society for the time being. To a degree, this issue is unavoidable: Kubo is so good at character design that even with killing several, there’s not enough space for everyone to shine. Nonetheless, given these three joined Ichigo in training (and Rukia is literally the series’ inciting character), they stand out. Why is Ginjō helping take on the big bad while they’re just standing around?

“The Dark Arm” is another strong showing from a cour that started with a whimper. As the anime stretches its legs, TYBW gets better. There’s new details to chew on, but they primarily serve to lean into Bleach’s characters. Characterization and design is easily Bleach’s greatest strength. As such, it’s a real treat to see this expanded in the adaptation with such skill. 

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War is available on Hulu. 

---

Featured image ©Tite Kubo/Shueisha, TV TOKYO, dentsu, Pierrot