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Byakuya Takes the Field! Dance of the Wind-Splitting Cherry Blossoms

Impressions:

Okay, that episode was wicked for a that awesome fighting. Everything was fast paced, which is how a real sword fight should be. It’s definitely one of the best in the filler arc and I hope next episode is the same. HOWEVER! Although all that magnificent fighting brings me great entertainment, it also shows me that ICHIGO’S POWER IS COMPLETELY SCREWED UP! First of all, Ichigo was just able to stand up to Kariya in his bankai form. Then, Kariya was merely playing around too and wasn’t using his doll, which is the wind. Now though, Byakuya was able to fight on par with Kariya without even releasing his Zanpakuto, not to mention that Kariya was using basically the full force of his doll as well as in a spirit-particle rich location. Ichigo is almost as strong as Byakuya. This is a FACT. But this fight has shown that Ichigo is in fact much, MUCH weaker than Byakuya. And don’t say “Well maybe Byakuya’s able to exploit one of Kariya’s weaknesses while Ichigo couldn’t.” The reason this cannot be true is because the only thing that mattered in the first half of the match was power and speed. There were no flashy kidou moves or the releasing of Zanpakutos until later. During that time when it was just sword vs hand, Byakuya and Kariya were evenly matched! That’s basically what Ichigo needed to fight evenly with Kariya, but he was so weak he coudn’t even defeat Gowa. This is just all completely messed up.

At the end of this episode, Byakuya released his bankai. I’d say this is more of a threat to Ichigo than to Kariya, as he is practically immune to it anyway with his wind doll. In fact, I don’t think Byakuya’s gotten much stronger with his bankai when facing Kariya. So now, it seems that Ichigo’s efficiency in battle vs Kariya, and Byakuya’s efficiency in battle vs Kariya is about the same (though Byakuya would own Ichigo if they fought). So, I guess now it’s an almost even fight. But Ishida has to interfere sooner or later, and will ruin the fun. I can’t help but think that he’s going to do some damage but then get mortally wounded (well okay, not mortally, just severly). In the end though, I still think Ichigo’s going to pull out his special half-hollow thing to beat the crap out of Kariya. But judging by the episode title of 97, which is “Hitsugaya moves out! Cut down the enemy in the forest”, it seems that Hitsugaya might join in as well, though his fight might be with Gowa or something. Nevertheless, the more captaisn fighting the merrier. I’ll be looking forward to that too. I wonder how Kariya’s wind doll would fair against Hitsugaya’s ice Zanpakuto… So, despite my whinging on how screwed up Ichigo’s level of power is, I think this episode is one of the best and I enjoyed it a lot. It was simply spectacular.

Summary:

This episode: Kariya vs Byakuya. The fight begins with Byakuya using shunpo to get behind Kariya. He swings his sword but Kariya manages to evade, using shunpo as well. He then readies himself for a counterattack. A gust begins to encircle him and he vanishes from sight. Before long, a large ball of swirling wind is launched at Byakuya, though he is able to evade that too. However, Kariya has anticipated his move and winds up above him. He shoots down with amazing speed, but misses Byakuya and ends up creating a large cloud of dust from the explosive impact. Byakuya responds with a few quick slashes, which all miss…again.

When the two are at a stand off, Byakuya enquires Kariya about Dolls and whether the invisible thing from before was his or not. Kariya does not provide a good answer and sort of shrugs it off. The two then begin to fight more offensively than evasively. The strong pulses they make when colliding with each other is strong enough to project light up through the canopy of the forest. When they get to a stand off once again, with not a scratch on either of them (although Kariya did mention he got a small cut from Byakuya’s first attack), Kariya explains how the rumours about Byakuya’s magnificence was all true (in terms of strength). After a bit more talking, Kariya explains that one of his goals is to kill Byakuya to cause unrest in Soul Society. Byakuya passes this as bullshit. The two then resume their fight.

Byakuya releases his Zanpakuto, Senbonzakura. The thousand glistening blades form a torrent and gush towards Kariya. He is surprised at first and uses Shunpo to dodge it. He winds up hovering in the air, but makes no more attempts to escape when the surge of blades soars at him again. The blades mysterious start encircling Kariya but not attacking. It turns out that Kariya was manipulating the wind to fight off Senbonzakura and manages to break the stream of deadly blades. Kariya returns to the ground. He claims that Byakuya’s Senbonzakura has no effect on him and rears up for his own attack. He starts manipulating the winds again and Byakuya finally realises that Kariya’s Doll is the wind. Mini tornadoes form throughout the area, but Byakuya stands his ground, looking ever so slightly angry. Kariya traps Byakuya in one of the tornadoes and sends him flying. As he walking away, thinking that he has won, Byakuya uses his kidou to break the winds, drops back down to the ground, then launches another kidou attack – White Lightning. Kariya dodges and the two engage in another close range clash.

Kariya tells Byakuya that although his Senbonzakura certainly is strong, his wind Doll rivals its power. However, as the wind is unlimited, Kariya will end up winning. Deciding it’s about time to finish things, the two make a head on collision, concentrating only on killing rather than being hit. This results in Kariya and Byakuya locking themselves in a rather threatening position: Kariya has his hand at Byakuya’s throat, while he has his Zanpakuto on Kariya’s neck. Both have managed to inflict wounds to each other, but this fazes neither of them. Now completely serious with only the intent of killing, the two begin attacking wildly, blood spilling fruitlessly. The wind and Senbonzakura are summoned simultaneously when both have the other on the verge of death. This creates a staggering tornado which engulfs the nearby vegetation. With such a giant, glowing mass of pink blades, Ichigo cannot help but notice. With such power, it must be Kariya and Byakuya. He does not hesitate to let off a Getsuga Tenshou, which crashes into the tornado and breaks the vortex. Byakuya and Kariya stop fighting and take a moment to take notice of Ichigo, who seems overly confident.

Elsewhere, Ganju’s group notice Ichigo’s reiatsu. Ishida is quick to go after them, but before the Inoue and Chad can, Ganju tells them that it would be better if they stayed. He then turns to the two passers-by, who were beaten into submission by Ganju’s boar, and interrogates them. They are able to confirm that it was indeed Kariya who went to Kusajishi. Ganju proclaims that they will seek out Bull, who lives in Kusajishi, for more information.

In Kusajishi, Gowa and Ichinose have gathered a large number of people from the town. Gowa explains that he and the other Bounto (namely Kariya) wishes to overturn Soul Society with the people’s help. He tries to convince them by describing the similarities between the Bounto’s miserable lives and the Kusajishi people’s own. This succeeds in convincing most of the people, though Gowa is requested to show how serious he is. He stands up and gets Ichinose to cut his arm. Then, for everyone to see, heals it with the surrounding spirit particles. He claims that with that ability, the Bounto are invincible. With a grand display like that, everyone is persuaded.

Back on the battlefield, Kariya heals himself with spirit particles while Byakuya and Ichigo make enemies of themselves (actually it’s Byakuya who tells Ichigo that if he gets in the way, he will be cut down as well). Ichigo does not find this too threatening and decides to ignore his warnings. He quickly unleashes his Bankai and starts fighting head on with Kariya. Byakuya then releases his own Bankai and throws the full force of it at both Ichigo and Kariya. Although the two are not hurt badly, it does break up their confrontation. Now, with everyone at their full strength, the free-for-all is about to begin… Too bad the episode ends here!

Preview:

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