Episode 223 is a real drag. I don't care about Soi Fon and Omaeda enough to be excited about their battles. Surprisingly, I find Omaeda less irritating in this episode. Though he's ugly, boastful and noisy, he's brave enough to protect his Tai Chou. On the contrary, I find Soi Fon too arrogant. What's with the 'I want to see the Resurreccion of an Arrancar to prepare for the Espada fight' attitude? That's a big insult to her opponent. She should just use her full powers from the start and save her energy for Espada Barragan. Anyway, the battle between Soi Fon and Barragan finally just ended in the manga. I'm not very happy with the outcome. All I can say is, TK sensei is too soft-hearted to kill any 'good' guys.
Episode 224 is much more entertaining. The animation quality is better, it's funnier, and it has better action. The highlight of the episode is most certainly Hinamori's appearance. Though it's obvious to everyone that she has not yet gotten over her Aizen Tai Chou and perhaps her only motivation to fight is to see Aizen again, it's impressive that she manages to pull herself together to put up a decent fight. I'm also impressed with her Kidou knowledge.
What's Hot?Omaeda arrived just in time to shield Soi Fon from Ggio’s attack. Ggio responded by charging up a cero at Omaeda, but before he could, he got kicked by Soifon. - Omaeda is not as cowardly as I thought.
Soifon defeated Ggio by hitting him with Suzumebachi. Omaeda thought that she didn’t hit the same spot twice, but Soifon revealed that she did indeed hit the same spot because she pierced Ggio’s lung from both the front and back. - It's a decent fight but I can't believe this fight actually lasted for two and the half episodes! What a drag!
Matsumoto was struggling with her three opponents, and unexpectedly, she’s saved by Hinamori. Both Aizen and Hitsugaya sensed Hinamori’s arrival. Aizen felt that it's inconsequential, whereas Hitsugaya was so bothered about it that he could not fully concentrate on his fight with Halibel. - I love Aizen's reaction! He's as calm and evil as ever.
Hinamori used Kidou to conceal her presence to make a 'Kidou net'. After which, she integrated 'Red Fire' and 'Concealing Fire' and made them invisible by using 'Way of Binding No. 26: Bending Light'. She then spread it out over the net she made. With that, she managed to engulf Halibel's three Fraccion in an explosion when she applied Tobiume to the net. - Hinamori may not be physically strong but she's an intelligent fighter.
Lilynette got annoyed with how Ukitake was treating her like a child and tried to fight him. - Ukitake is so funny!! For the same reason, I bet he will never fight against Hitsugaya.
Apache, Mila Rose, and Sun Sun each took off their left arms and combined them to form a huge chimera-like creature. - Its reiatsu is freaking powerful!
What's Not?Soifon was not grateful for Omaeda’s help. She explained that she wanted to see the power of an Arrancar Resurreccion to prepare for future battles. - Seriously, without Omaeda's interference, I doubt she can survive.
