Mayuri vs the Left Arm of the Soul King! Bleach Thousand Year Blood War Episode 34 Review!

Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War Episode 34 is titled, “Baby, Hold Your Hand”.

This episode will adapt the rest of Chapter 635: “Hooded Enigma” up until the start of Chapter 640: “Baby, Hold Your Hand 3 (Mad Lullaby no.7)”, meaning that this week’s episode will adapt over 5 chapters of content unlike the 2-chapter adaptation of last episode.

In the previous episode, we saw Mayuri and Kenpachi diverge from the rest of the Gotei 13, who were gunned down by Lille. Renji flexes his True Bankai even more in the fight against Uryu but falls against him.

Kenpachi Folds, Mayuri Stands Up

The episode works as a 1-1 adaptation, which makes this episode stand out for manga readers as we have spent the first half of the cour gaining new perspective on the Bleach story through new additions and revisions.

We begin with some Kenpachi and Mayuri banter as Kenpachi cannot help himself but try to cut everything.

However, we see a unique case with Pernida as it is impossible to cut him at all and he loses a left arm just for a good shot that does force Pernida to reveal himself.

The whole theme with Kenpachi is that he is the strongest because of his ability to cut through anything and he has proven this twice over in this arc alone by cutting Gremmy’s meteor and even the vacuum of space itself.

But now, Kenpachi faces his first truly unknowable threat, the Left Arm of the Soul King and he proves to be durable enough that the plot, rather Mayuri, has to keep Kenpachi alive through Ashisogi Jizo.

It is interesting that all three of Kenpachi’s opponents in the Thousand Year Blood War are all the Quincy-affiliated organs of the Soul King.

This is where Mayuri takes over the fight.

CGI Left Arm of the Soul King

Some have commented on the CGI quality and there are two ways to reflect on this.

Pernida’s appearance was mostly a let down for me. Let me start off by saying I was in no way disappointed because he was CGI, I love a lot of the CGI usage during the TYBW anime and will talk about that below as well, just that I don’t think Pernida was done well.

(1/7)⬇️ pic.twitter.com/OW6DPGA32f

— CheezuzGaming (@CheezuzGaming) November 24, 2024

First is that the quality might not compare to the likes of MAPPA and Studio Orange, much like Polygon and other studios that specialize in CGI.

CGI has always been a bane to the anime community, with Berserk’s 2016 adaptation coming to mind, but Pierrot, at least the team under Tomohisa Taguchi, has actually delivered good CGI models.

However, this does not diminish the excellent work that Pierrot has done with their 3D backgrounds, as shown in the scenes in the Soul King Palace and Wahrwelt, enabling more freedom for the camera and movement to be displayed.

Even Pernida’s noticeable CGI is skillful work as shown here

Did y’all notice the transition from 2D to CGI when the camera moved away from Pernida?

When he starts running he’s fully drawn in 2D and in that 1 second the camera cuts away from Pernida he becomes CGI. It was so smooth that many did not notice.pic.twitter.com/jnJE4ALCeQ

— SMN🇵🇸 (@smn99221) November 24, 2024

Second, and most likely the intent behind the decision outside production reasons, is that CGI makes Pernida even more otherworldly and weird.

Yes, a moving, talking giant arm with an eye in the middle is weird and not even Pernida himself seems aware of that impression.

Pernida’s sentience took over a thousand years to catch up and it was provoked because of Mayuri’s degrading talk.

Voice-acting

Bin Shimada was the “coincidental” choice for Pernida because he is also the voice of Broly, the Legendary Super Saiyan from a couple of Dragon Ball movies.

In both versions, particularly “Super: Broly”, Broly is an emotionally stunted Saiyan due to being raised for combat and the trauma he experienced.

Pernida was the Left Arm of the Soul King freed after Ichibe used it to seal away the Almighty.

We can make a comparison to Mimihagi as both Pernida and Mimihagi were unable to speak for most of their lives.

Pernida seems to communicate through its two glowing balls hidden in its hood, which turn out to be its one eye with two pupils.

If you notice, Mimihagi only has one pupils while Pernida has two.

Put together and the arms of the Soul King have three pupils like Yhwach but unlike the Soul King, who has four.

Although the two arms barely interact, we have enough memory to juxtapose their characterization.

Mimihagi resonated with the Balancers who wanted to build the Ordinary Peace, which is why Mimihagi gained its own will rather than followed the Soul King’s inner anger towards the Shinigami that sealed him.

Whereas Pernida might have been traumatized by the reason for its separation from the Soul King the same way Yhwach was and so lost its sentience for a thousand years until provoked.

Modified Bankai: Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō: Matai Fukuin Shōtai

Mayuri first unleashes his plethora of gadgets, with an umbrella device to protect against Pernida’s nerves.

One of the newer scenes involves an extended showcase of Mayuri moving around, Spider-Man style using his hands as a grappler.

Mayuri casually going Spider-Man in Wahrwelt😭🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/7pPRcNvCrn

— Mark (@Mark_Himself_) November 23, 2024

The sound effects even resemble that of Attack on Titan’s ODM gear.

Eventually, Mayuri activates his Bankai, which causes Ikkaku and Yumichika to worry about the poison affecting the area but then it turns out to be a different form, a giant purple baby, Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō: Matai Fukuin Shōtai.

The Thousand Year Blood War has allowed numerous Shinigami to show new forms of Bankai, from the different types of true Bankai of Ichigo and Renji to the Modified Bankai of Sajin Komamura (Dangai Joe) to Mayuri Kurotsuchi.

This feat of Bankai modification should not be downplayed at all, especially after learning that Oetsu Nimaiya has absolute sovereignty as the maker of Zanpakuto.

In Cour 1, Mayuri pointed out “Bankai cannot be repaired” and Mayuri also reveals that he does not actually fix his Zanpakuto but remodel it.

This creates a lot of implications.

Kisuke Urahara managed to earn his Bankai by training only for 3 days and nights by manifesting the Zanpakuto spirit through the Tenshintai dummy.

Meanwhile, it seems Mayuri was able to acquire Bankai through constant modification, which might mean that we have yet to see Mayuri’s true Bankai.

Alternatively, this could be the true nature of Mayuri’s Bankai, in its ability to conform to the modifications of its users without being broken.

The term “remodeling” seems confusing, considering how many times Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō has been destroyed, either by an enemy or by Mayuri himself.

Even Mayuri seems to be downplaying himself as his quest is to surpass Kisuke Urahara and invent life from nothing yet we have not see Urahara be able to modify his own Zanpakuto to any extent Mayuri has shown.

The episode ends with the title card over Mayuri’s delighted face as it seems that his new Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō is chowing down on Pernida.

We have seen this pattern once, with 8th Espada Szayelaporro being consumed by Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō

Episode Poem: Shunsui Kyouraku

This episode’s poem comes courtesy of Head Captain Shunsui Kyouraku:

“Pine needles scatter,

Over a glistening stage,

In bright red.

Shunned from the heavens.

Come now, to the depths of hell.”

A lot to unpack from this.

First, unlike most poems, the figure in the preview is not Kyouraku himself but the shadows of Kyouraku’s Bankai: Katen Kyokotsu Karamatsu Shinju.

These are meant to be the branches of the Japanese black pine tree which was often used in designs of paper doors in old folklore stage plays.

Stage plays are what the Bankai manifests and imposes upon in reality.

This means that we will either see the activation of Kyouraku’s Bankai or even see it in action.

Now to the poem.

These lines sound like something Shunsui would say during the stage play process of Karamatsu Shinju.

However, this could actually be the activation process itself being referenced.

“Pine needles” are the thin sharp leaves of a pine tree and these leaves “scatter over the glistening stage” to match the activation of Acts 1 and 2.

Act 1: Tameraikizu no Wakachiai (“Hesitance and Apportionment of Wounds”) is where the target and Shunsui share injuries, including those inflicted prior to Bankai activation while Act 2: Zanki no Shitone  (“Pillow of Shame”) is where black spots appear on the target’s body, causing them to bleed.

The bright red could be the blood from Act 2 in particular.

“Shunned from the heavens” is a fitting statement for Lille Barro, who arrogantly called himself an “emissary of God” meant to kill “sinners” like the Shinigami but also to Senjumaru’s words to Uryu in Episode 27: “A”, in saying that the Quincy have been “abandoned by the Soul King”.

“Come now, to the depths of hell” would fit Act 3: Dangyo no Fuchi (“The Severing Abyss”), where the target and user drown together until one of them runs out of Reiatsu.

Shunsui is a death god who drags an angel from Heaven, to the pits of a watery hell.

Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War Episode 35 will be titled, “Don’t Chase a Shadow” will be released on November 30, 2024.

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