Highlights
- In "BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2, Episode 5", the 3rd and 9th Squad Captains get demolished by Sternritter S, Mask De Masculine, due to their arrogance.
- Renji Abarai and Rukia Kuchiki arrive just in time to save the injured and engage De Masculine, with Renji revealing a brand-new Bankai.
- The episode features consistent visual motifs, such as the 5-pointed star, and the ringing of bells signifies death and is a recurring theme throughout the Quincy war.
The following contains spoilers for BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2, Episode 5, "Rages at Ringside", available for streaming on Hulu and Disney+.The 5th episode of BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2 – The Separation, titled, "Rages at Ringside" is the 18th overall in the Thousand-Year Blood War arc adaptation. An all-out slugfest, this episode featured Sternritter S – The Superstar, Mask De Masculine's complete demolition of 3rd and 9th Squad Captains Rōjūrō "Rose" Ōtoribashi and Kensei Muguruma, whose arrogance got the best of them.
De Masculine's romp was cut short by the arrival of 6th and 13th Squad Lieutenants Renji Abarai and Rukia Kuchiki, the former deciding to engage the threat while Rukia took the injured to safety. Unlike the episodes before it, this episode of the second cours of BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War did not have an Ichigo post-credits scene, opting to reveal something crucial about Yhwach instead.
Demolition Job
The episode begins with a grim report: of the regular Shinigami, only 42% of the forces are still alive, with the active military strength of the Seireitei estimated to be less than 30%. The 12th Squad paints a picture of near-total decimation by the Quincies; however, they note that the Captains of the 3rd and 9th Squads are alive and assessing the situation; a ray of hope in the ever-worsening situation. Using their available resources, Kurotsuchi puts Captain-Commander Kyōraku in contact with the remaining forces, who then updates their maps and orders them to head towards their closest active barracks to regroup. After the opening credits, Rose and Kensei initiate battle with Mask De Masculine after seeing that he defeated the 9th Squad Lieutenant and 11th Squad 3rd and 4th Seats. Kensei attacks the wrestler head-on with his Bankai, Tekken Tachikaze.
Initially, Kensei overwhelms his opponent with the ability of his Bankai, sending him flying through a building. The ease of the battle made Kensei and Rose cocky, as it was technically true that Kensei had the Superstar beat. It was clear that the Quincy had been knocked unconscious by the attack, with his eyes rolled back into his head (like a certain wrestler from the WWE). A semi-conscious Hisagi tries to tell Kensei the nature of the Quincy's ability; however, the Captains are caught by a surprise attack from the fully revived wrestler. With the cheers of his little buddy James ringing in his ears, Mask De Masculine shoots back to consciousness and sits up with his eyes gleaming. Caught by surprise, Kensei and Rose are quickly sent flying and as he tries to return some attacks, Kensei is badly beaten and his arm broken by an emboldened De Masculine. The Captain curls up on his side as he reels from the injury, but De Masculine finishes him off with a flying knee-drop to the side, assumedly shattering several ribs and his pelvis.
(I)BARA
Rose sneaks in an attack of his own, but this time, on James, cutting the cheerleader into two pieces and thus doing away with Mask De Masculine's power source. Noting the sacrifice it took to get this opening, Rose quickly makes use of his Bankai, Kinshara Butōdan ("Golden Shala Dance Troupe"), which enables him to create physical illusions, and the ability to use music to influence his target's heart, making them susceptible to his "deception". The Bankai forms a troupe of golden dancers whose various dances are the conduit of its attacks, with Rose conducting the dancers with his Zanpakutō, Kinshara, which has turned into a conductor's baton. Fans with a keen ear would have heard a much more "theatrical" rendition of "Here to Stay" from the second original soundtrack of the original BLEACH anime, as the golden dancers of death perform.
Rose seemed to be getting the upperhand against his opponent until, like Kensei, arrogance got the best of him. As is customary in BLEACH (and shōnen in general), characters break down the nature of their techniques and abilities for the sake of exposition in the most pragmatic of viewpoints; or for the simple fact that they live according to the spirit of the phrase "no one ever witnesses this form and lives", doing their opponent the apparent courtesy of telling them the mechanics behind their demise. Whatever the reason is, Rose telling his opponent that Kinshara Butōdan's conduit is the music leads the Superstar to destroy his own eardrums so that he'd be unable to hear – thus making him immune to the illusions. The moment Rose realized what he had done, the Quincy had already carved-out a star-shaped hole in the Captain's torso with a powerful beam from the star on his forehead.
What Can You See In Their Eyes?
Arriving right on time with Rukia, Renji immediately gets to business, telling Rukia that he'll handle the foe alone. Rukia responds that it shouldn't be a problem for Renji at his current level. Calling out to James for support once more, the bifurcated cheerleader springs back to life, enabling De Masculine to heal from all the damage he suffered against Rose; however, Renji swiftly decapitates James. Rukia takes the injured captains to 4th Squad Lieutenant Isane Kotetsu, who has her hands full giving medical care to the injured. Renji appears relaxed in his battle, but he angers De Masculine after tearing into his mask. The emotional reaction prompts a rapid, and somewhat disgusting multiplication of James's from the corpse of the one, and in response to hearing cheers from rapid supporters, the Superstar's mask and form change dramatically as he gains layers of muscle and assumes a form reminiscent of Zangief from Street Fighter.
While in this form, he activates his Vollständig which manifests a cape of glowing red reiatsu and a star-shaped headpiece. Raring to eliminate "the villain", De Masculine activates his ultimate attack: Star Flash Supernova, causing a massive explosion that even catches the crowd of James cheering him on. He tells them not to fret for as long as he lives, James is sure to revive as well. This sequence is elevated by use of the soundtrack "What Can You See in Their Eyes", better known as the "Vasto Lorde" theme from Ichigo's epic fight against Ulquiorra, which is only revealed to be a riff-heavy remix as Masculine unleashes his explosive ultimate technique. As the smoke clears, a familiar pair of serpentine eyes glows, and De Masculine's defeat is secured as Renji reveals a brand-new Bankai: Sō'ō Zabimaru.
The Bell Tolls
The ringing of bells is a thematic component of this episode as it was in the previous, "Heart of Wolf". A bell "tolls" as a marker of death, and given the central element of death in the BLEACH series, the consistency of the bell theme in recent episodes is fitting for the Quincy war and the specific instances in which the bell has been invoked. Just like episodes before it, the fight against De Masculine featured consistent visual motifs (like the 5-pointed star in this episode, seen on Mask's mask and special abilities; Rose's Bankai, and his injury). For "Rages at Ringside", the bell is clearly humourously intended to be the starting bell heard at the start of a wrestling match, but it links up with the ceremonial bells heard in Komamura's fight with Bambi, as bells are heard throughout the Kinshara Butōdan performance.
The only reason the bell wasn't certain death for both Kensei and Rose is due to the intervention of 6th Squad Lieutenant Renji Abarai.
Ironically, the same hubris that had Kensei and Rose on the brink of death is what led to De Masculine's demise – the Star Flash Supernova annihilated even the sea of James that had been supporting his superpowered battle. Believing he'd won, he didn't think he still needed the power, but Renji was able to capitalize on that to get rid of De Masculine permanently. After he's obliterated by Renji's Zaga Teppō technique, the end credits reveal that Mask De Masculine's powers returned to their source, Yhwach, who reveals a crucial secret about himself to Uryū Ishida: he and Jugram Haschwalth are two sides of the same coin. Upon reabsorbing the powers of a fallen Quincy, Yhwach requires time to rest before being active once more. Something about this particular aspect to Yhwach's constitution being placed in the same slot as what has been glimpses at Ichigo's secret training means it is something that will be of extreme significance later.