Episode 291: Tōsen does not seem to fight as well in his new form now that he can see, but he still easily defeats Komamura with a cero. As he charges another cero to finish Komamura, who has given up, Hisagi stabs Tōsen, then claims that if he did not have sight, he could have easily dodged his attack. Hisagi releases his zanpakutō and slices Tōsen through the neck, dispelling his hollowfied form. Meanwhile, Hirako releases his shikai, having the ability to create great visual illusions, which he calls the inverted world. Hirako seems to have the upper hand and hits Aizen several times. However, Aizen, having messed with Hirako's senses earlier, slices Hirako's back, claiming that his zanpakutō is more superior. The defeated Tōsen comes to his senses and requests to see Hisagi's face clearly once more, but he dies when an internal impact destroys his body. Hisagi is devastated while Komamura rages at Aizen, who purposely killed Tōsen. At this point, Ichigo appears behind Aizen preparing to attack him.
Episode 292: Ichigo, failing to wound Aizen, is easily overwhelmed yet remains alive. As Aizen starts questioning Ichigo's purpose for fighting him, Komamura calms him and tells him to not fall for his ruse. All of the Soul Reapers and Vizards then join in to protect Ichigo from witnessing Aizen's shikai, to enable him to finish Aizen off. However, after Hitsugaya charges in, Aizen provokes him to attack with all his hatred. Aizen mentions Momo Hinamori and if the hatred had disappeared because of her, and Hitsugaya furiously attacks him. Hitsugaya releases his bankai as the other Soul Reapers join him.
Episode 293: Komamura, Love, Rose and Lisa join Hitsugaya in fighting Aizen, but all four are easily defeated. Suì-Fēng, Kyōraku and Hirako manage to confuse Aizen, allowing Hitsugaya to deal the final blow on him. As the Soul Reapers cheer on Aizen's defeat, a shocked Ichigo yells at them, asking them what they are doing. It is revealed that everybody except for Ichigo was under Aizen's shikai illusion and Hitsugaya had mistakenly stabbed Momo, while Aizen reveals himself to be acting as Momo. Enraged, Hitsugaya charges at Aizen but is cut down, his left limbs cut off. Suì-Fēng, Kyōraku and Hirako attempt to attack Aizen, but all are cut down as well.
Episode 294: After defeating his oncoming opponents, Aizen stabs Yamamoto who then creates pillars of flames to trap him, which will kill not only Aizen, but everyone else in the process. However, Wonderweiss appears and extinguishes Yamamoto's flames, revealing himself to have the ability to nullify Ryūjin Jakka. Yamamoto and Wonderweiss engage in unarmed combat, in which the former shatters the latter's body to pieces using hand-to-hand techniques. As Yamamoto stands before Aizen again, Wonderweiss unleashes the flames sealed in his body as he dies. Yamamoto uses his body to minimize the damage the explosion causes. Aizen approaches the immobile Yamamoto and prepares to finish him off, but Yamamoto uses his body as a catalyst for his Ittō Kasō, the forbidden kidō spell of sacrifice, and catches Aizen in the ensuing explosion. As Aizen manages to get away relatively unscathed, Ichigo attacks him.
Episode 295: Ichigo, with his donned hollow mask, uses Getsuga Tenshō to attack Aizen, wounding him in the process. However, it is revealed that Aizen has fused with the Hōgyoku, which heals his wounded chest. It is revealed that all of the battles Ichigo has fought thus far were part of Aizen's plan, as such these battles are recapped. His first encounter with Rukia against a hollow, his first time fighting with Uryū against several hollows, his first fight with Renji and interference from Byakuya, his first training session with Urahara, his successful rematch with Renji, his first intense match with Kenpachi and his fierce confrontation with Byakuya and use of his hollow powers are all shown.
Episode 296: The recap ends after Ichigo's invitation by Hirako to join the Vizards, his first battle with Yammy witnessed by Ulquiorra in the world of the living and interruption by Urahara and Yoruichi Shihōin, his training with the Vizards to improve his hollow powers, his first fight with Ulquiorra using his hollow powers, his final match with Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez and his triumph over Ulquiorra in his altered hollowfied form are shown. Aizen had been recording all of his battles and had set up the events that occurred up to this point as well. Aizen then reveals that he knew about him since his birth, trying to tell Ichigo he is part human, but his speech is interrupted by Ichigo's father, Isshin Kurosaki, in Soul Reaper form. After putting some distance along with Ichigo from Aizen, Isshin tries to tell his son that he will reveal the truth about his actions later, but Ichigo tells him that there is no need for that as he realizes he is indeed half Soul Reaper. Isshin then attacks Aizen, while Ichigo confronts Gin.
Episode 297: While fighting Ichigo, Gin activates his bankai, which allows him to extend his blade to great lengths, stating that he will not hold back unlike the last time they fought each other. Although Ichigo blocks his first attack, Gin charges at Ichigo with rapid attacks. Ichigo figures out that Gin's contraction speed is his weakness, but his extension speed is quite the opposite. Elsewhere, as the battle between Aizen and Isshin still rages on, the former reveals that he has reached the limit of his Soul Reaper self. Subsequently, the Hōgyoku begins to reconstruct his soul. In shock, Isshin discovers through Aizen's statements the true power of the Hōgyoku, which is to "manifest" the desires of all the people within its vicinity. As Aizen's transformation intensifies, Urahara arrives to participate in the battle.
Episode 298: This is a special episode to promote the fourth movie, Bleach: Hell Verse. In the Soul Society, all Soul Reapers of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads have formed teams in order to make a successful movie. Ichigo, Orihime, Uryū, Chad, Rukia, Renji, Byakuya and Rangiku Matsumoto team up to make a movie named "Intergalactic Maid Cop versus the Space Invaders of Doom from Another Planet Part I". Renji, as the director of this improvised film, assigns Uryū as the costume designer and cameraman and Byakuya as the visual effects supervisor, and distributes roles to the rest of the crew. Ichigo, as a high school Soul Reaper, must save Rukia, the intergalactic maid cop, being held hostage by Rangiku, the evil criminal alien mastermind, who has Orihime and Chad under her mind control. After a skirmish with the guardians of Sōkyoku Hill, the movie then ends.
Episode 299: This is a short prologue from the fourth movie, Bleach: Hell Verse. After returning merchandise to the Urahara Shop, Rukia finds Zennosuke Kurumadani, the Soul Reaper guardian of Karakura Town, who is attacked by a strange monster revealed to be Shrieker, the frog-like hollow that Ichigo defeated and banished to Hell. Now a Sinner, that being a unforgivable denizen of Hell and forever bound by chains, Shrieker reveals that he can exit Hell at will. Renji arrives to assist Rukia in defeating Shrieker and sending him back to Hell. After learning of the incident, Yamamoto calls for an emergency meeting and decides to send Renji and Rukia to investigate, but he warns them not to involve Ichigo. In Hell, Szayelaporro Grantz and Aaroniero Arruruerie, dead after their battles with the Soul Reapers, encounter Shuren, Taikon, Gunjo and Garogai, all of whom are Sinners. Szayelaporro and Aaroniero attack Shuren, but are easily defeated. Disappointed, Shuren turns his attention to Ichigo's hollowfied form as a means of escaping the depths of Hell.
Episode 300: Urahara arrives to stop Aizen. Urahara has prepared a few tricks up his sleeve for the fight, including some special armor for Yoruichi when she later arrives as well. Urahara, Yoruichi and Isshin all engage Aizen, but with every passing second, he becomes stronger and changes his appearance due to being infused with the Hōgyoku. Meanwhile the battle between Ichigo and Gin continues. The episode ends with Rangiku running towards Gin.
Episode 301: Ichigo hollowfies and attacks Gin, but Gin slices off Ichigo's hollow mask. While Urahara, Yoruichi and Isshin continue to fight Aizen, Rangiku is seen by Izuru Kira running towards Gin. Uninterested in Ichigo anymore, Gin tells Ichigo to get lost. Just when Gin is about to kill Ichigo, Aizen appears behind Ichigo, revealing to have defeated Urahara, Yoruichi and Isshin. Aizen and Gin leave to go to the real Karakura Town. In the Dangai, they encounter the Kōtotsu. Gin tries to tell Aizen it would be impossible to destroy it, and yet Aizen succeeds with a single blow. Ichigo and Isshin go into the Dangai after them. After realizing Aizen must have destroyed the Kōtotsu, Isshin tells Ichigo he will teach him the Final Getsuga Tenshō.
Episode 302: The Dangai reduces time to the point that if one were to stay in that world for 2,000 hours, which is more or less three months, only one hour will have passed in the outside world, making it ideal for training purposes now that the Kōtotsu has been destroyed. Isshin devises a method for Ichigo to learn the Final Getsuga Tenshō in 2,000 hours in that world. To do that, Ichigo must directly contact his zanpakutō. Once entering his inner world, he meets the spirit of his bankai, Tensa Zangetsu, who refuses to cooperate with him and pulls out the "source of his despair", which turns out to be Ichigo's inner hollow. Meanwhile, in the real Karakura Town, Keigo Asano and Tatsuki Arisawa both wake up and wander through the town, pondering what has happened to them. Aizen finds and confronts Arisawa, paralyzing her with his spiritual pressure, while Gin lets Keigo run away.
Episode 303: The female Soul Reapers of the Soul Society celebrate New Year's Day by sending out cards to the other divisions. However, some of the male Soul Reapers voice their complaints about the card designs. To settle the matter, the cards are used in a game of karuta. The game goes out of control when the players start attacking each other for the right card in each round. Meanwhile, in the world of the living, the story lies on Orihime thinking about everyone being with their family. Orihime comes across Rukia and Renji, who were on their way to the local shrine festival. The three stop by at the Urahara Shop to visit Urahara and Yoruichi for the afternoon, but Renji is not enjoying his stay there. Rukia takes Orihime to the local shrine in the evening, and even though the place is empty, Orihime shockingly sees Ichigo, Uryū, Chad and Renji there as well. She prays that they all can share another wonderful year together.
Episode 304: In this dreamlike scenario, Ichigo and his friends appear as various monsters, him being in the form of Frankenstein's monster. He is summoned to a meeting with them in a castle about protecting the Snow Crystal from the monster hunters, Isshin and Ryūken Ishida. When the two monster hunters arrive, the monsters do everything they can to stop their opponents. However, Ichigo just wants the Snow Crystal for himself so he can turn human and wake up from the dream. When the Snow Crystal is found missing, Isshin and Ryūken abruptly leave after Ichigo and Uryū, in form of a vampire, prepare to attack. After it is revealed that Rukia, in the form of a succubus, is the Snow Crystal, Ichigo transforms into a wolf. It is shown that the whole ordeal was dreamed up by Komamura in the Soul Society.
Episode 305: As Hisagi and Kira finish some paperwork and go to a restaurant to have some drinks, they briefly run into some of the female Soul Reapers, who thank Hisagi for making lunch for their girls night out. Later, Hitsugaya has Hisagi, Rangiku and Isane investigate some mysterious murders in the Rukongai. Hisagi and Rangiku go on ahead through a field when it begins to rain. After waiting a while till the rain lets up, a hot springs inn manager invites the two inside her inn to have them rest and relax. Rangiku has her suspicions with the inn manager, but Hisagi is ever so struggling with his feelings for Rangiku. It becomes even more difficult when Rangiku goes to take a hot bath, which gives Hisagi the urge to take a peek past the door. When Hisagi finally musters up the courage to open the door, Rangiku, who is still in her uniform, attacks past Hisagi and hits the inn manager, who is revealed to be a hollow. After the two defeat the hollow, Rangiku explains that she used Hisagi as bait to lure out the hollow in the first place.
Episode 306: Tensa Zangetsu shows Ichigo his inner hollow, revealing to him it was the form he defeated Ulquiorra in. Zangetsu then joins with the inner hollow, revealing that they were one to begin with, and resumes his battle with Ichigo. Meanwhile, Don Kanonji arrives between Tatsuki and Aizen and becomes determined to fight against him, that is until Rangiku arrives just in time to stop him from getting killed. She instructs Kanonji to take Tatsuki with him, whilst she and Gin go somewhere. As Tatsuki and Kanonji reunite with Keigo, Gin wounds Rangiku and rejoins Aizen in chasing after them.
Episode 307: Some of Ichigo's classmates, Kanonji and even Kurumadani make various attempts to stop Aizen but they all fail. Then, Gin returns and tells Aizen that he eliminated Rangiku, and Aizen claims he will begin creating the Ōken after he kills Ichigo's friends. Gin then pulls a surprising move by grabbing Aizen's zanpakutō and then impaling him through the chest. Gin reveals that the true ability his bankai turns his zanpakutō to dust when it contracts and retracts, capable of leaving a lethal poison in one's body that dissolves it at a cellular rate. Aizen begins to perish as Gin escapes with the Hōgyoku in hand. However, the Hōgyoku, still belonging to Aizen whether or not it is inside him, evolves him to an even greater form as a result. Gin has a momentary flashback of when he first saw Aizen with Rangiku unconscious on the ground, which encouraged him to kill the former. In the present, the newly evolved Aizen teleports to Gin's location and brutally slashes him across the middle.
Episode 308: Gin recalls apologizing to Rangiku after slightly wounding her from before and is satisfied with that. Before Aizen tries to kill Rangiku, Ichigo shows up on the scene with his unconscious father over his shoulder. Gin, seeing the changed look in Ichigo's eyes, rests in peace, content with what he had done. Ichigo wishes to change the location of their fight and jumps at Aizen, grabbing his face and pushing him many miles away from the town. Aizen, still believing that he can easily defeat him, surmises that Ichigo has not lost his spiritual pressure, rather he has "discarded" it in turn for physical strength. Each swing in the clash between the two is powerful enough to annihilate large amounts of terrain. Aizen becomes increasingly arrogant and is shocked once again when Ichigo effortlessly stop his blade with his bare hand. Aizen unleashes a complete incantation of the allegedly unstoppable Kurohitsugi kidō spell upon Ichigo, yet proving to be of no effect.
Episode 309: Ichigo wounds Aizen, forcing the Hōgyoku yet another transformation upon Aizen, who becomes a hollow-like creature. Although Aizen renders Ichigo's left arm useless, Ichigo then unleashes the Final Getsuga Tenshō. Through a flashback, it is revealed that while in his inner world, Ichigo could not defeat Tensa Zangetsu until he allowed to be pierced by Tensa Zangetsu, thereby accepting the blade and the consequences of the technique. Unleashing this attack allows Ichigo to actually become the attack itself, which would strip him of his Soul Reaper powers. He unleashes a torrent of darkness that enshrouds the land and overwhelms Aizen. However, Aizen prepares to finish off a weakened Ichigo thanks to the Hōgyoku, only to be stopped by Urahara, who steps onto the scene. Urahara planted another kidō inside of the kidō he shot just before Aizen transformed the first time as a sealing process. Now that his power has been weakened by Ichigo, the seal has begun to work and the Hōgyoku no longer sees him as its master, resulting in him being sealed.
Episode 310: In the aftermath of the Winter War, all of the Soul Reapers momentarily return to the Soul Society and begin to recuperate. It is shown that Unohara healed all of the Vizards including Hiyori, but ultimately it is up to her own will if she is to survive. Byakuya and Kenpachi have defeated Yammy in Hueco Mundo. Ichigo questions Urahara what Aizen's true motives might have been the whole time. When Ichigo reunites with his friends, he suddenly blacks out. In Central 46, Aizen is sentenced to 20,000 years in the lowest underground level of the prison. Yamamoto, now without a left arm, is maddened that Byakuya, Kenpachi and Kyōraku lost their coats during their battles. Hitsuguaya is seen training with his bankai inside a cave, looking back at the incident when he accidentally stabbed Momo during his battle. Rangiku is thankful that Gin never left a memento when he separated from her during his defection with Aizen. In Rukia's house, Ichigo wakes up after ten days, and it is revealed that his hair length and body height have returned to normal, having gone through the first couple of stages in losing his powers. It is only a matter of an undertermined time before he permanently loses them. However, Ichigo is mainly glad to see all of his friends alive and well.
Episode 311: While Kon tries to rescues a girl from being attacked by a hollow, a mysterious person named Michel intervenes and defeats it instead, much to Kon's dismay. After going back to the Urahara Shop to meet with the other team members, Kon was not aware that Michel just so happens to be a famous spiritualist. The Konso Cop Karakuraizer is assigned to investigate about a female arrancar they previously defeated that has returned to seek vengeance. After they run into Michel in the streets, a hollow appears. Kon tries to attack it, but to no avail, yet Michel easily defeats the hollow in a single blow. Kon is gradually getting suspicious of Michel, who later publicly announces that he is giving the rest of the team members special capes. After the other members pass out, Arisawa, coming to her senses, is blindsided when Michel reveals that he was sent to invade the town and to place everyone under hypnosis, and the capes were designed to drain their spiritual energies. Kon steps in and fights Michel, knocking out his tooth which was the source of his hypnosis. In retaliation, Michel transforms into a hollow. Kon eventually defeats Michel, which dissolves all the capes.
Episode 312: Ōmaeda, realizing he overslept from his nap on his way to a meeting with Suì-Fēng, falls off a cliff and lands on a hollow, who was attacking a boy. When the hollow retreats, Ōmaeda, claiming to be the "captain" of the second division, is invited by the boy named Ryuzaburo back to his village, where the villagers serve Ōmaeda food to express their gratitude for saving Ryuzaburo. The next day, Ōmaeda rushes back to the second division barracks and apologizes to Suì-Fēng, who states that his absence was not missed, but she assigned him to clean up the Seireitei grounds alone as punishment. Meanwhile, Ichigo and Yoruichi allow Ryuzaburo and his two friends into the Seireitei to find the "captain" of the second division. When they arrive at the second division barracks, Ōmaeda begs Ichigo and Yoruichi to go along with the story, to which Yoruichi agrees and Ichigo is rather reluctant. While Ōmaeda and the three boys are walking in the streets, they cross paths with Ikkaku Madarame and Yumichika Ayasegawa, who, through explanation from Ichigo and Yoruichi, play along with the story in order to get some cash from Ōmaeda. Yumichika then tells Rangiku, who brings tea to Ōmaeda to follow as well. In the end, even Suì-Fēng plays along with the story by doing chores for Ōmaeda after being persuaded by Yoruichi. However, at the end of the day, the three boys overhear Ikkaku and Yumichika discussing the fact that Ōmaeda would never become a captain. Ryuzaburo becomes angry at Ōmaeda and runs home, only to be stopped by the hollow from the day before, but Ōmaeda saves him and bids him farewell. The three boys return to their village and Suì-Fēng beats Ōmaeda up for insulting her.
Episode 313: While Ichigo is sparring with Renji, a man from the eleventh division named Seizo Harugasaki serves the two of them some tea, but everyone seems to disrespect him while he does his duties. It is later revealed by Yumichika that Seizo was once a strong warrior. However, while Seizo was paired with Ikkaku to kill a hollow, the latter was captured and about to lose his spiritual energy. Seizo took the attack instead and lost almost all his spiritual energy, and as a result no one respected him after that. Ichigo talks to Seizo, and after regaining his confidence in his skills, he defeats a group of hollows alongside Ikkaku. Seizo leaves the Thirteen Court Guard Squads with all of the eleventh division members including Ikkaku bowing down to him in respect.
Episode 314: Kon yells out the window about his imprisonment in Ichigo's room. Just then, a pretty lady walks by and asks for directions, which Ichigo gives her. After Ichigo is summoned to take down a hollow, Kon spots the lady from before while taking a stroll on a bridge in Ichigo's body. Seeing as she is about to jump off the bridge, he runs to save her, but ends of falling off instead. Later on, the girl, recognized as Haruko, reveals that she can see spirits, which caused her boyfriend Ken to break up with her. Ichigo finds Rukia, who tells him that there has been an unknown hollow that has been sucking out the souls of humans. When Haruko leaves Kon, she is attacked by a tapeworm hollow using a male human as its host, but Kon arrives just in time to save her. Kon departs after Ken arrives and apologizes to Haruko for what he did. However, the tapeworm hollow actually took over his body without Kon's knowing. Kon runs back to find out that Haruko is now possessed by the tapeworm hollow. Kon fights Haruko and manages to get the tapeworm hollow out of her. Kon is shoved against a tree, and his pill pops out of Ichigo's body, no longer in control of it. Before Kon's pill form is eaten, he is saved by Ichigo, who then kills the tapeworm hollow. Haruko mistakes Ichigo for Kon and decides to take Ichigo as her boyfriend and leave Ken, but Rukia arrives and uses her memory erasing spray on Hakuro and Ken. Haruko and Ken hold hands and resume their relationship, knowing nothing of what happened.
Episode 315: Yachiru Kusajishi encounters an old friend named Masayoshi, who saved a girl named Mayu from a hollow. Masayoshi starts to tell the two about how a hollow killed his wife. Mayu, having had her parents killed by that same hollow, starts to feel a bit close to Masayoshi. Yachiru goes back home to Kenpachi, and she remembers that Masayoshi used to be close to her in the past. She goes to see Masayoshi and Mayu again the next day, and Masayoshi kills another hollow that only he could sense. Masayoshi plans to leave the following day, and Mayu asks if she could travel with him. However, Yachiru, before leaving again, privately warns Mayu not to get too close to Masayoshi. The following day, Masayoshi protects Mayu from a group of hollows, asking her to accompany him in his journey. Yachiru jumps between the two and reveals that Kenpachi told her how a hollow possessed Masayoshi, as proven when his love for sweets and the memory of his wife's name were now gone. Yachiru also says that Masayoshi had killed his wife accidentally and mistook himself for some other hollow. Masayoshi at first does not believe it, but Yachiru insists. He begins to transform into the hollow in his panicked state. Just then, a hollow shows up behind Mayu, and Masayoshi jumps in and kills it, fatally wounding himself in the process. Masayoshi dies happily in Mayu's arms after having some konpeitō from Yachiru, remarking how good it is.
Episode 316: Hitsugaya takes leave from the Seireitei to visit Haru, a friend of his in the real world. Haru is a lonely old woman who can see spirits because of which people find her strange and do not go near her. Before seeing her, he gets Karin Kurosaki involved in his visit. They both go to Haru's house and meet the spirit of a shy child named Yosuke. However, Hitsugaya hesitates from sending Yosuke to the Soul Society after hearing that he and his parents died in an accident on the way to a skiing trip, and that he wishes to see snow for the first time before resting in peace. Afterwards, Toshiro stays at Karin's house, where he is mistaken to be her boyfriend by many people. Later, it is revealed that Haru had been controlling Yosuke's transformation into a hollow with her own spiritual energy, and when she weakened, he went out of control. Haru, who is being held in Yosuke's hand, restrains him with her spiritual energy, giving Hitsugaya enough time to give the finishing blow. When the fight ends, it begins to snow in Karakura Town which allows Yosuke to leave happily. Karin says goodbye to Hitsugaya, who decides to visit his real grandmother in the Rukongai later.
Rating up till this point: 5/10
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