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The much-anticipated fight between Yamamoto and Yhwach in Bleach TYBW: The Fire has been eagerly anticipated by fans, and it is an understatement to say that the animation team has improved it both visually and story-wise.
The adaptation of the manga has some minor but logical trims, but the addition of extra scenes and dialogues adds weight to it, giving fans a reason to watch the series even if they have read the manga.
Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers from Bleach.
Bleach TYBW: The Fire has new fight sequences, flashbacks, and more original content
Original scenes from Yamamoto versus Ywhach
Bleach TYBW: The Fire adapts chapters 505 through 510, which contain the entirety of Yamamoto and Yhwach's fight.
Yamamoto begins the fight by walking behind Yhwach and then rescuing Kenpachi's body from Yhwach's clutches. This is an entirely new addition. The framing is different in many places from the manga. For example, when Yamamoto unleashes his Bankai, a flashback scene shows him raising his Zanpakuto to the sky, whereas in the manga, he is seen striking something.
In Bleach TYBW: The Fire, when the battle begins properly, fans get to see expanded fight scenes that flesh out the attacks and counterattacks, such as Yhwach shooting roof tiles from a building and Yamamoto sending them back.
The events leading up to Yhwach drawing his sword are also added: Yamamoto is shown to have gone behind Yhwach and is about to strike him, so Yhwach draws his sword and deflects the flames coming his way with a strike.
After Yhwach's sword breaks in Bleach TYBW: The Fire, there is an original scene in which Yamamoto tells the Quincy king that he will force him to remember that the Quincy are nothing more than a horde of corpses waiting to be burned. The back-and-forth switch between the past and present, which occurs several times in the anime, is also absent from the manga.
When Yamamoto unleashes the next stage of his Bankai, Zanka No Tachi West, Zanjitsu Gokui, the animation shows how the ground below his feet melts due to the fifteen million degrees Celsius hot flames.
There are also short scenes from the past that are completely unique to the anime, such as a massive heap of corpses with Yamamoto standing on top of it while Yhwach remains below. The same can be said for the brief montages of Sasakibe, the Sternritter, and Okikiba.
This is a rematch between Yamamoto and Yhwach
In the previous episode, Kenpachi had challenged the Quincy king but had to be saved at the last moment by Yamamoto's intervention. This set the stage for the epic display of Yamamoto's power in his fight against Yhwach.
This fight, however, is a rematch of a fight that occurred over a thousand years ago when the Shinigami fought the Quincy to restore the balance of souls in the world.
Yhwach and his Quincy army were defeated and nearly wiped out by the Shinigami at the time. Yhwach himself was defeated by Yamamoto and lost his powers. Finally, the Quincy King has returned to exact his revenge on the Soul Society, and he is not to be underestimated, as evidenced by Yamamoto's tragic defeat in Bleach TYBW: The Fire.
Final Thoughts
The anime adaptation of the manga, Bleach TYBW: The Fire, has been visually stunning. Rather than relying on offscreen clashes like in the manga, the beautifully crafted fight choreography is on full display.
More importantly, by intertwining the present and the past, the anime was able to raise the stakes for each of the characters, Yamamoto and Yhwach. Some scenes have also been rearranged to keep the pacing consistent, which has worked well.
This has been one of the best episodes so far, and it will be difficult to top, but Bleach TYBW has a great story to tell, and fans will eagerly await each episode.
