Bleach 1.20

Gin Ichimaru's Shadow

The episode opens in the Soul Society. Byakuya is once again shown informing Rukia of her fate. He runs into a couple of the other squad captains of the Soul Society after he leaves the jail in which she is kept.

Ichigo continues his final lesson, beneath Urahara's shop. Urahara chases Ichigo and chops to pieces what is left of the blade and handguard of his Zanpakutō. All that he has left is the hilt.

Ichigo stops, in the midst of the chase, when he hears his sword's spirit calling out to him. It tells him to call its name, Zangetsu. He does and its blade is restored. He turns and easily knocks Uraha's hat off his head, thus ending the lesson.

That night there are fireworks in Karakura Town. Everyone is there. Later that night Ichigo receives a summons from Urahara. He makes his way to the magic shop and is reunited with Orihime, Chad, and Uryū. Together they cross through the gate that Urahara opens for them and head to the Soul Society.

Thoughts

There are also some scenes of Chad, Uryū, and Orihime training in this episode but this episode is mostly Ichigo. Rukia shows up in flashback as Ichigo is preparing to waiting for the call from Urahara.

I'm not sure I understand the title of this episode. Gin Ichimaru is in the scene at the beginning. He is one of the other squad captains who talks to Byakuya but he doesn't seem to play a major role in this episode.

This is the final episode of the first season. I will take a break and watch something else before starting the second season, which is about as long as this one. I still have two more seasons, over 40 episodes, to go before I get to episodes that I have not seen before.

I first watched this season of Bleach 17 plus years ago. I know that I finished watching it in August 2008 and that I watched the last 8 episodes (13-20) in 2008 but I'm not sure when exactly I watched the first 12 episodes. It certainly wasn't any earlier than late 2005 to early 2006 but it might have been closer to the end of 2007. Unfortunately I don't have records to help me narrow it down any more than that.

I enjoyed this episode very much. The biggest moment is when Ichigo finally calls Zangetsu's name. I love how they use music in this episode and overall in this show.