Gray Shadow, the Secret of the Dolls

Grey Shadow, the Secret of the Dolls is the eighty-third episode of the Bleach anime.

Statistics

 * Original Airdate: June 6, 2006
 * English Airdate: October 11, 2008
 * Opening Song: Tonight, Tonight, Tonight
 * Ending Song: Hanabi
 * Manga Chapters: None
 * Kanji: 灰色の影、ドールの秘密
 * Romaji: "Haiiro no kage, dōru no himitsu"
 * Arc: The Bount arc

Summary
Rukia tries to use more of her spells against Yoshi, but to no avail. In order for Rukia to get enough time to cast her spells, Kurōdo transforms into Renji and keeps Yoshi busy in close combat. The plan succeeds in that Rukia is able to blast Yoshi, but it fails because it doesn’t do any damage because she’s able to protect herself with her doll. Yoshi then stabs Kurōdo, which transforms him back to himself. Back at the construction site, Koga says that he is destined to witness the dying moments of young men. Ichigo reminds him of a boy from his past who had the same expression on his face.

Going back in time many years, Jin brought Koga a young Bount to train. At first, Koga had refused, but Jin managed to convince him. The boy’s name was Cain, and Jin wished for him to be trained slowly. Jin also gave Koga a Doll Summoning book, which he wrote himself for his doll-less brothers. After Jin left, Kane had prepared to leave too, but Koga threw him around to show him how weak he is. He then put Cain to work in the fields doing manual labor. Time went by and they eventually brought a harvest of potatoes into town. With the money from them, Koga bought Kane a coat because it was going to get cold soon. On the way back home, Cain even thanked Koga for buying him the coat. However, they were soon followed by some thugs from town. The thugs could not hurt Koga with their attacks, and so Koga and Cain ignored them and moved on. Further down the road, the thugs showed up again, this time with friends and weapons, including a gun. With no choice, Koga called on Dalk, and she scared the townspeople off. Seeing how impressed Cain was, Koga told him that his time will come and called him a chosen person - a Bount.

Koga started Cain on more combat oriented training. After a while of seeing how hard Kane was working, Koga asked him why he wanted to be strong. Cain admitted that he wanted to catch up with Koga and, if possible, continue living with him. Koga decided it was about time for Cain to get his doll, so he handed over the book that Jin gave him. However, Koga wanted to direct the summoning procedure. In retrospect, Koga feels that he ultimately killed Cain. As it turns out, one night while Koga was sleeping, Cain tried to do the summoning by himself. This ritual succeeded, and Koga entered the scene right as Cain brought out his new doll. The problem was, Kane was not strong enough for his doll and got consumed in a bright light. Koga watched as Cain’s life drained away and he turned into dust. Sometime later, Jin returned and mourned the loss of his friend. With Koga blaming himself, Jin had suggested that they live together because the sadness was too painful to bear alone.

Koga tells Ichigo that Jin wants to create a new world that the Bount will command. Ichigo gets back up, but Koga tells him that it’s futile. Then, right as he’s about to send Dalk to finish off Ichigo, Koga senses someone behind him. A familiar figure confirms that Koga is a Bount and jumps down to introduce himself. It’s the 3rd Division’s Vice-Captain: Izuru Kira.

Characters in order of appearance

 * 1) Ichigo Kurosaki
 * 2) Gō Koga
 * 3) Keigo Asano
 * 4) Izuru Kira
 * 5) Tessai Tsukabishi
 * 6) Hanatarō Yamada
 * 7) Renji Abarai
 * 8) Kisuke Urahara
 * 9) Kurōdo
 * 10) Yoshi
 * 11) Rukia Kuchiki
 * 12) Orihime Inoue
 * 13) Mabashi
 * 14) Ririn
 * 15) Cain (flashback)
 * 16) Kon