Why Ichigo vs Uryu is the best fight of part 3 so far

Key things

• The Ichigo vs Uryu battle stands out as the best fight in Part 3 due to its emotional depth and stunning animation.
• The visual symbolism in combat reflects themes of structural change and embodies the complex Quincy tradition.
• Uryu's reveal of Quincy: Vollständig shows his determination, adds emotional depth, and heightens the meaning of the fight.

The fourth episode BLEACH: The Thousand Year War of Blood, Part 3 featured various tweaks to events adapted from Tite Kubo's manga, but the inclusion of a beautiful, emotional battle between Ichigo and Uryū as Yhwach absorbs the Soul King is definitely the best fight of Volume 3 so far, and one of the best in the entire world. historic return of the series.

Animated by PIERROT FILMS, directed by Tomohisa Taguchi and overseen by the author himself, culminating in what will become one of the series' greatest comebacks in anime history, this Ichigo vs Uryū fight adds to the series' recognition. . Here's a breakdown of the epic battle between enemies-turned-friends-in-enemies and why it deserves to be considered one of the most iconic battles of the series.

The most obvious positive

Ichigo vs Uryu was a triumph in animation

One aspect The Thousand Year Blood War the adaptation that praises the most is the high quality of the visuals. While BLEACH has always been considered one of the better-looking anime series of its time, much of this had to do with the inherent beauty of series creator Tite Kubo's art style and the adaptation of the aforementioned for animation by veteran animator and character designer Masashi Kudō, who directed Terminator Zero anime that dropped in August.

The difference is Kubo's involvement in the production and an infinitely more cinematic, dynamic and cinematic approach to the direction, which overall adds depth to the obvious visual upgrade. In every course BLEACH: The Thousand Year Blood Warthere were several episodes that tried to open up the audience's expectations, with a few high-end episodes resulting from the enhanced visual fidelity that synergizes with the revamped soundtrack, sound direction, photography, and even the use of CGI, along with the thematic and narrative context in which they are used.

This final arc is edited in a way that specifically reflects BLEACH as a series and relies more on the creativity of Tite Kubo to create a unique BLEACH experience. Such a scene was already shown in the first episode The Thousand Year Blood War Part 3 during the conclusion of Ichibē Hyōsube's fight against Yhwach, but the fight between Ichigo and Uryu overshadowed this battle because the way it contrasts the emotional, insecure Ichigo with Uryu's cold resolve in the face of destroying the universe as they know it, and how it reaches a shocking, never a previously unseen climax as Ichigo falls to the ground with a bad wound ripped from his torso. The battle was a high-speed, high-octane flurry of reishi arrows whizzing across the battlefield with beautifully fluid animation as Ichigo dodged the attacks.

The two moved beautifully throughout the match, but one of the cooler moments was when they collided shoulders, bringing them face to face and giving us a taste of melee combat as well. It was a combination of ranged and melee combat; comparison of bow and sword, and therefore Quincy and Shinigami. Part of it took place on the surface of the Soul King Palace, and thus in light and part in darkness, but at no point did the immense visual quality of the fight diminish.

Thematic treasury

Bow and sword, light and dark

Both sides were quite shocked to see the growth of their counterpart, with Ichigo learning very early on that Uryū was still a badass fighter at close range, using very graceful moves to avoid Ichigo's attacks, which also contrasted with his large, sweeping movements. and strong impact. is moving Throughout the fight, flashes of four-pointed stars enclosed in circles can be seen as part of the dazzling effects associated with Uryū's reishi arrows and Ichigo's Sweeping Sweeps with True Zangetsu, visually depicting the underlying theme of the structural change Yhwach wishes to enact. the universe as a whole.

Throughout its history, the Quincie has been represented by three-point, four-point, and now five-point shapes, with a new shoulder added for each new generation. A six-pointed star resembling an asterisk appears on the hooded cloaks worn by the Schutzstaffel, continuing in this sense for the other arms on the Quincy crest as a sign of advancement. This symbol is known as the IX monogram, formed by overlapping the Greek letters Iota and Chi (I and X).

Interestingly, Uryu Ishida has none of these, but his arrows do before he uses his Quincy: Vollständig. The Quincie carry a lot of Christian-Abrahamic symbolism, and the invocation of Christ at this stage is related to the irresistible way the King of Souls in his final moments carries a similar role of scapegoat to Jesus in the Christian myth, but Yhwach in this case is technically the “son of god” and is that God because his name is based on the Tetragrammaton. The clash of the four-pointed “star” and the five-pointed star directly correlates to Ichigo's attempt to protect the King of Souls (represented by the four) from the Wandenreich.

Uryu's new power revealed

We finally get to Uryu's Quincy: Vollständig

Perhaps the biggest reason why Ichigo vs Uryū is the best match of the third course BLEACH: The Thousand Year Blood War is the revelation of Uryū Ishida's version of the ultimate Quincy ability, Vollständig. During the Soul Society arc, Uryū compromised his Quincy powers with the obsolete Quincy: Letzt Stil and went through many things to regain those powers. Despite his importance in the final arc BLEACHunfortunately, we don't get to see the full range of his abilities in the manga. BLEACH: The Thousand Year War of Blood, Part 3episode 4 gives us our first ever look at Uryū's Quincy: Vollständig, and it's an incredible moment that shows just how far he's willing to go to protect Yhwach, and how unreachable he is to his friends.

In an emotional battle between former comrades, Uryū's use of his Vollständig shows his determination and recalls the way he defeated Unit 12 Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi all the way back in episode 43 of the original series. With brilliant, dynamic animation, insane fight choreography, immense plot importance, and a never-before-seen character transformation that's been there since the beginning, the Ichigo vs Uryū fight is definitely another triumph of the series.

BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3 is available on Hulu and Disney+.