The 400th Episode of BLEACH Serves Up One of the Series’ Creepiest Fights Yet

Key Takeaways

• Creepy, unsettling fight showcases Kurotsuchi’s mastery in gruesome body horror.
• CGI used for Pernida’s true form adds hyperrealistic feel, enhancing the eerie factor in an epic battle.
• Mayuri unveils a new, disturbing version of his Bankai, transcending grossness to oddly beautiful.

The following contains spoilers for BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3, Episode 8, “BABY, HOLD YOUR HAND”, available on Hulu and Disney+.

The BLEACH anime reached a milestone with episode 8 of BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3 – The Conflict, as it was the series’ 400th episode overall. It featured the highly anticipated bout between 12th Squad Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Sternritter C – The Compulsory, Pernida Parnkgjas, and it was well animated, as expected, although the CGI may have taken away from its quality in the eyes of some viewers.

There was immense hype over the episode, which was aptly titled “BABY, HOLD YOUR HAND”, after the corresponding chapters in Tite Kubo’s manga, based on the fact that it was a milestone episode, but will it get a thumbs up from fans?

You Gotta Hand It To Them, That Was Creepy

A Delightfully Unsettling Fight

The beginning of the episode briefly reminds us of Uryu’s triumph over Renji, but this time from the perspective of Lille Barro’s watchful eye. There’s a subtle glance at Lille from Uryu that communicates a sense of “Is that good enough for you”, which almost makes it feel like Uryu’s ruthlessness towards Renji was in part because he is still having to prove his loyalty. Meanwhile, Kenpachi, Kurotsuchi, Yumichika, Ikkaku and Nemu run into Pernida Parnkgjas. Kenpachi immediately charges in, swiping at the Quincy’s head, but he doesn’t come out of it unscathed as his arm is viciously broken through unknown means.

The broken arm then twists violently, forcing Kenpachi to rip it off, and once removed, it continues to twist and contort until it is just a puddle of blood. Kenpachi isn’t fazed by the loss and just charges in again, attempting to split Pernida’s skull, but the Quincy now uses his strange technique on the Captain’s whole body, putting Kenpachi in quite a pickle. Kurotsuchi stabs him in the back with his Zanpakutо̄, and activates “Fear Level 4” by jamming his thumb into its eye, causing it to unleash an unholy shriek that immobilizes those who hear it for four seconds. His actions were the administration of an anesthetic which managed to prevent Kenpachi from turning into a puddle of blood like his arm did.

By paying such a heavy price in one of our beloved 13 Court Guard Captains, we have obtained valuable information about your ability. What I’m trying to say is that this touching sacrifice brings tears to my eyes. Noble victories are always achieved through noble sacrifices.

This fight is a Kurotsuchi masterclass and brilliantly unsettling, not in the overt horror-esque fashion of Rukia’s battle against Äs Nödt, but in a manner leaning into the grotesqueries of body horror. The mad scientist’s love of discovery and his immense curiosity were on display as he observes that Pernida’s effect was negated in Kenpachi’s body, enabling him to isolate the site at which Pernida’s ability works: the nerves.

In a similar fashion to the way Yhwach imbued Ichigo with his own Reiatsu in order to manipulate his body into killing the Soul King, Pernida can externalize its nerves, and send them into other objects, whether they are organic or not. It attempts to do this to Kurotsuchi, who gives the raw nerves a splash of acid, causing Pernida to shriek in pain. Another way this episode leans into the body horror element is with Kurotsuchi’s strange gadgets, some of which are alive, others are literal people contorted into harrowing shapes that he fires at the Quincy. These people are conscious, and it is insanely creepy how they wail in agony when Kurotsuchi fires them from a slingshot. It’s clear that Mayuri hasn’t changed since his iconic battle against Uryū in BLEACH episode 43, where he also used his squad members as fodder. The episode is perfectly disgusting and creepy, which really fits both characters, particularly Kurotsuchi’s unending and unyielding body modification.

An Interesting Use of CGI

The Episode Continues the TYBW Arc’s Gorgeous Visuals

While cloaked, the glowing orbs that are Pernida’s eyes constantly move around and rotate in a strange manner, and when angered, the “eyes” jiggle, rotate and spin violently before Pernida reveals its true form: the Left Arm of the Soul King. Since Pernida identifies as a Quincy, and five pillar-like nerves erupted from the surrounding ground to form the shape of the Zeichen, it can be surmised that this is technically Pernida’s Quincy: Vollständig.

At first glance, a viewer might be inclined to think that the use of CGI to animate Pernida’s true form might not have been the best option for this fight, but when you realize that the thought arises because of how unsettling Pernida’s movements are, the decision makes sense. It is gigantic, lumbering, and now speaks in a bellowing voice, initially unable to construct full sentences before developing improved speech and exhibiting a highly derisive attitude. There’s even a point where Pernida runs on its fingers like Thing from the Addams Family, maximizing the creepy factor.

It has a somewhat hyperrealistic feel to its movements, which obviously stand out from those of the other characters, but there’s a beautiful combination of CGI and the regular 2D animation in Pernida’s attacks, which mostly involve it firing nerves from its fingers. It fires its nerves into the ground and into buildings, altering their physical form to make hands which then attack the enemy. The fact that Pernida looks so out of place in this form may be informed by the fact that it is quite literally an otherworldly entity, and it is to maximize a bizarre, eye-poking, hair-raising uncanny valley surreality throughout the fight, especially when you see the nerves travelling across the battlefield. To say this was a great match-up would be an understatement. To escape Pernida’s encroaching nerves and attacks, Kurotsuchi uses his hand as a grappling hook, giving us some of the best animated moments of the episode with epic action reminiscent of a certain web-slinger.

Mayuri Presents a New Bankai

The Baby Actually Holds the Hand

The climax of the episode sees Mayuri revealing a brand-new version of Konjiki Ashisogi Jizо̄, which no longer has that disgusting caterpillar-esque body and now resembles a really fat baby which was fussing before bubbling up into a mass of flesh from which an even fatter baby with a stomach that splits open, divided into two parts by a suture. On one side of the stomach, the kanji for “person” can be seen, while the other has the kanji for “dog”. This is far more unsettling than most of the things Mayuri has shown us over the course of BLEACH, especially because of the weird babies popping out of more weird babies, particularly when the split-stomach baby has a golden baby that more closely resembles the original Konjiki Ashisogi Jizо̄ burst forth from its massive gut.

The best way to describe it would be that it’s quite gross at first, but then the golden version is oddly beautiful. This new Ashisogi Jizо̄ is covered in nerves, a condition that causes it immense pain when it comes into contact with anything, but what’s really cool about it is that its skin is like an onion, with 70 000 layers. Each time Pernida attaches its nerves to new Ashisogi Jizо̄, it only decimates a single layer of this skin which flakes away, and it also adapts to changes in the tides of battle over time. Angered by Pernida’s attack, the baby crawls towards the Quincy and eats the multiple arms that have erupted from the ground, hence “BABY, HOLD YOUR HAND”. This episode was a masterclass and exemplifies the awesomeness of Kurotsuchi’s fights, and the fact that he is one of, if not the most important Captain in the Gotei 13.