The following contains spoilers for “Everything But the Rain, June Truth,” Episode 12 of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War now streaming onHulu&Disney+.The penultimate episode of this particular arc ofBleach: Thousand-Year Blood Warstreamed the day after Christmas in an eagerly awaited double-ep special. This review concerns itself solely with episode 12, Everything But the Rain, June Truth. Episode 12 delves deeper into Ishigo’s origins, how his parents grew closer, and what that means for who he really is, or will become. Once again it features stellar use of rain, impressive visuals (the use of an open sunset sky for a brief battle and discussion is stunning), and drops very satisfying hints and explorations of character backgrounds, leaving the immediate fan reaction as very satisfied.
Episode 12 opens in the Soul Society as Isshin is both reprimanded for his unauthorized venture into the Living World and failure to return with pieces of the bizarre Hollow he encountered there, andcommended for savinglives by its extermination. What they would have said had they known his life was saved by a Quincy, who knows, but he wisely keeps Masaki out of it, even as she, and her courage, remain on his mind. So too does Masaki think about the Soul Reaper she encountered as she goes about her school day…not feeling particularly well and accidentally bumping into Kisuke Urahara in his infamous stripey hat. She almost faints and Urahara sense an alarming wash of darkness in the encounter.
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A Hole In Her Heart
Back at the Ishida residence, Masaki is called to task by a furious Aunt Izumi for helping a Soul Reaper and putting herself in danger while under the aegis of the Ishida clan. Katagiri has ratted the girl out because of her injury and the threatto the Quincy lineand Ryuken is furious.
He tries to take responsibility with his mother but Masaki collapses, revealing an opening Hollow-like gap above her heart. Izumi demands that Ryuken abandon Masaki but he flies off with her to get help, leaving her in the doorway with visible Hollow-wound scars about her ankles, perhaps the reason behind her strict behavior and fears.
Preoccupied by worry for Masaki whose gaping wound pulses on her collapsed frame, Ryuken fails to see the gigantic Hollow about to attack them but is fortuitously saved by Isshin. Isshin is very alarmed by Masaki’s state but before Ryuken can get past recriminations, Urahara appears with a solution.
He brings him back to his storefront and confesses to being an exiled Soul Reaper who has studied this Hollowfication process for a hundred years and has some partial solutions. While he cannot return Masaki to her previous state, he can halt the process that will eventually lead to her soulcombining with the Hollowcompletely and destroying itself. There is, of course, a catch. To save Masaki, he’ll need to make Isshin human and bind his soul to Masaki’s for life.
Healing
Ryuken is devastated and sure that Isshin will refuse, but Isshin immediately agrees. Although it absolutely isn’t what he wants, how could he face his future self if he let the woman who saved his life die? A dreaming Masaki floats towards the maw of a terrifying hollow but is rescued at the last minute by the spirit of Isshin.
The binding was successful and Masaki has been saved, even though she doesn’t even know Isshin’s name. A ruined Ryuken returns home to find Katagiri waiting for him in the pouring rain. In a gorgeous scene ruined only by hints of an implied feudal ownership, Katagiriconfesses her lovefor Ryuken and manages to convince him to return home.
Because Masaki’s blood is tainted by a Hollow’s she leaves the Ishidas and the Quincies behind forever, but maintains a friendship with Isshin that deepens to love. Although he tried to lie to her that he was just exiled for screwing up, he figures she knew the truth.
For Isshin, Masaki was like the sun and he was happy just to be in her orbit. Ishigo was born Quincy, Soul Reaper, Hollow, and human, and each of these parts was awakened at some point during his life. Ishigos contact with his Hollow meant that Isshin’s final connection to it was broken and he was able to regain hisSoul Reaper powers.
Hard Truths of June
In what appears to the pattern for the last episodes in this arc, the really powerful secrets of this episode come after the end credits. Here Isshin reveals to the present day Isshigo what really happened the day his mother died 9 years ago. She shouldn’t have died because even though she had merged with a Hollow, she retained the high-level defensive powers of a noble Quincy.
However, that particular day was “Auswahlen”, a Quncy selection process whereby the awakened leader of the Quincy, Yhwach stole the power of Quincies he deemed “unworthy” or impure to increase his own strength, resulting in the death of Masaki, and of Uryu’s mother, Katagiri at the same moment.Yhwach can do thisbecause he is connected to all the Quincies by blood, including Ishigo. That is why he knew so much about Ishigo and called him his “son born in the dark.”
A present-day Ishigo thanks his father and heads outside to be meet by Unagiya, in whose house he’d sought refuge in episode 11. It seems he left something behind that she’s returning to him. It’s his Soul Reaper badge. Ishigo accepts it, and the responsibility implied, and informs his dad that he’s leaving. The poem at the end? “I believe the world is full of danger. I want to protect you from it. Only because inside me is the same impulse as that danger.”
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