Prelude to the Apocalypse, The Arrancar's Attack

Prelude to the Apocalypse, The Arrancar's Attack is the one-hundred-thirteenth episode of the Bleach anime.

Statistics

 * Original Airdate: January 31, 2007
 * English Airdate: May 2, 2009
 * Opening Song: Rolling Star
 * Ending Song: Sakura Biyori
 * Manga Chapters: Chapter 190 (from page 7), Chapter 191, Chapter 192.
 * Kanji: 世界崩壊への序曲、アランカル襲来！
 * Romaji: "Sekai hōkai e no jokyoku, arankaru shūrai"
 * Arc: The Arrancar arc

Summary
Isshin Kurosaki welcomes Ichigo Kurosaki home by elbowing him in the face and sending him towards a wall. Isshin is shocked that his attack actually worked and Yuzu Kurosaki goes over to Ichigo to help him. As Isshin wonders what's wrong with Ichigo he speculates that he did bad on his test after break. He then states that grades don't matter and Karin Kurosaki tells Isshin that that isn't something he should be telling his kids. As Isshin states that high school is the time for love Ichigo decides to go up to his room until dinner. Yuzu then tells Isshin that Ichigo is mad because he didn't apologize to him.

As Ichigo enters his room, Kon goes out of the drawer he's in and greets him. However, Ichigo doesn't answer him which angers Kon. He then decides to ask him about Isshin but Ririn goes over and kicks Kon. She reminds him that they were told by Kisuke Urahara not to tell anyone about what they saw and Kon immediately tells Ichigo that his father is so normal it makes him yawn. As Ririn attacks Kon for not being quiet, Ichigo decides to go to bed and tells them to leave. Kon gets mad at Ichigo for being depressed but still decides to leave and he takes Ririn with him for a walk. Ichigo lays in his bed and thinks about his inner Hollow and how it's going to eventually take him over. All of a sudden his inner Hollow begins speaking with him and states that he's going to take him over even faster than ever. After he stops talking Karin enters the room and asks for Ichigo to tell her what's wrong with him. He tells her that nothings wrong but Karin states that she knows he's a Shinigami.

At the Shinigami Research and Development Institute the people working there begin complaining about nothing to do and Hiyosu yells at Rin Tsubokura to make them some tea. However, Rin gets a response of something happening in Karakura Town and Akon enters the room to ask if anythings happening. Hiyosu tells him he has good timing and states that "they've come". In Karakura Town something falls from the sky and crashes into a forest, causing a huge explosion to happen. Some of the residents decide to go over and look at what's happened.

Ichigo asks Karin what she's talking about and she tells him not to fool around. She states that she's been able to see Hollows for a long time and that at first she didn't know what was going on. As she begins to explain that Don Kanonji taught her about Hollows, they feel a tremendous spiritual pressure. Orihime Inoue, Yasutora Sado, Urahara, and Isshin all feel this spiritual pressure as well. Ichigo begins to leave but Karin stops him and asks where he's going. He apologizes to her and leaves in his Shinigami form. As this is all happening an Onmitsukidō member informs Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto that Arrancar have arrived in Karakura Town. The two Arrancar(Ulquiorra Cifer and Yammy Riyalgo) that have entered the Human World arrive out of the explosion. At Karakura High School Tatsuki Arisawa's friends tell her their leaving but Tatsuki decides to continue training. Back at the Kurosaki house Yuzu tells Karin about the explosion but she doesn't say anything. Yuzu asks her what's wrong and Karin pretends that everything is fine. She then tells Yuzu not to enter Ichigo's room until dinner time.

Yammy states that he came to the Human World many times before he became an Arrancar and that it's still as boring as ever. Ulquiorra tells him not to complain, especially since he came here of his own free will. Yammy then leaves the crater that was caused by the explosion and sees a bunch of humans staring at him. He doesn't like this and decides to suck out their spiritual pressure. As Orihime and Sado run to where the Arrancar are they see people collapsing due to the loss of their spiritual pressure. Orihime attempts to help them but Sado tells her that their already dead. Orihime asks if this is the Bounts again and Sado states that it isn't as their already dead and the attack being used is too different from them. They then decide to hurry to the Arrancar's location but Sado tells Orihime not to get involved with fighting them, and to only heal the injured when they get there.

After sucking up all of the Human's spiritual pressure, Yammy states that it tastes bad and Ulquiorra tells him it's only natural since they had such weak spiritual pressure. Yammy then tells him he only did it because they were staring at him but Ulquiorra states that they can't see them and that they were simply staring at the crater. They then notice that one of the Human's(Tatsuki) survived and they go up to her. Yammy asks if she's the one their looking for and Ulquiorra tells her she isn't. He then decides to finish her off by kicking her but Sado arrives and blocks the blow. He notes how much power was behind that kick and then tells Orihime to fall back like they discussed and to heal Tatsuki. Yammy asks Ulquiorra if this is the one and he tells him it isn't. He then easily knocks Sado out with a single blow. Orihime goes over to him and Yammy asks if she's trash as well. Ulquiorra confirms it and Yammy begins to go over to her. Orihime thinks to herself that Sado must have known that they couldn't stand up to an opponent like this and that's why he decided to fight him alone. Yammy then attacks Orihime with one finger but she uses Santen Kesshun to protect herself. As he easily breaks through this move Orihime uses Sōten Kisshun to heal Sado. Ulquiorra sees this and notes that it can't be a healing technique and that she's possibly reversing time. Orihime thinks to herself that she must stall until Ichigo comes, but then regrets that statement as Ichigo shouldn't have to suffer anymore. She then uses Koten Zanshun at Yammy but he easily destroys the attack. Yammy then asks Ulquiorra if they should take her back to Aizen since she has unusual techniques but he tells him to simply kill her. Yammy then punches at Orihime but the blow is stopped by Ichigo.

Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book
At the Sixth Division's Barracks, Renji Abarai apologizes to Byakuya Kuchiki for being late. Renji explains that he wanted to go to the barber shop to get his hair cut, but the line was too long. He then comments on how Byakuya's hair is always perfectly cut and asks if he belongs to "some exclusive place". Byakuya shocks Renji by replying jokingly that he uses Senbonzakura to cut his hair. While Renji is shocked by this statement, he is even more astounded by the fact that Byakuya actually cracked a joke.

Fights
None.

Powers and Techniques used
Techniques used:
 * Santen Kesshun (三天結盾, Three Sacred Links Shield)
 * Sōten Kisshun (双天帰盾, Twin Sacred Return Shield)
 * Koten Zanshun (孤天斬盾, Solitary Sacred Cutting Shield)

Hollow techniques used:

Other powers: