55 - Bleach (Arrancar - Part II) by Tite Kubo

In this second part of the Arrancar arc discussion we get into the Turn Back the Pendulum and Fake Karakura Town sections of the story, filled with: more backstory and more fights than ever before. Find out where this stacks up compared to Soul Society in our estimations. Timecodes: 0:00 Re-introduction - second half of the Arrancar arc 0:32 Turn Back the Pendulum sub-arc - a flashback to break up the action 5:05 Aizen vs Urahara as the central conflict of the Arrancar arc (and the series) 8:02 The morality of Soul Society, The Maggot’s Nest, and Mayuri’s ‘crimes’ 11:83 Death as a core theme of the series and an unforgiving afterlife 13:21 Kubo at his most details with backstories and character connections 16:00 Turn Back the Pendulum ratings 17:24 Fake Karakura Town arc - a Bleach fan’s dream, a Bleach hater’s nightmare 23:03 The fights are conversations 28:40 Standout fights worth shouting out 39:00 Ichigo vs Ulquiorra - comparing Ichigo to Kenshin 42:13 Gin and Rangiku’s history and Gin’s betrayal of Aizen 46:35 Kubo doesn’t seem like a writer who regrets his choices 48:58 Ichigo vs Aizen final fight, Urahara’s involvement, hint of the Soul King 57:31 The resolution of Ichigo losing his powers - could the series have ended here? 1:00:15 Explaining Toshiro Hitsugaya’s massive popularity 1:03:56 Fake Karakura Town ratings 1:05:18 Samu’s recommendation: Rurouni Kenshin (Kyoto arc) byNobuhiro Watsuki 1:06:22 Enzo’s recommendation: Yu Yu Hakusho by Togashi Yoshihiro 1:10:21 Final overview + rating