In episode 37, we get to explore Chad’s past a bit as he confronts Kyouraku Shunshi, the 8th squad captain. Up till this point, Chad seemed to have his way in terms of battling through all the scrub Death Gods, but facing Kyouraku, Chad realizes that the Captain is at a much higher level than any of the other Death Gods as Chad fails to connect on any of his powerful hits. However, Chad doesn’t let up as declares his allegiance to Ichigo and winds up for another blast from his arm.
As he approaches Kyouraku, Chad thinks back to the allegiance that he made with Ichigo, and viewers get a glimpse of Chad’s past as he learned from Abuelo, his adopting grandfather in Mexico, about not using his powers just to protect himself, but to protect others. And as Chad watched Ichigo protect him from the various goon squads in school, Chad makes a promise to Ichigo that he would also protect him till the end. Back in the present, Chad sends another huge blast towards Kyouraku, which destroys the building in front of him, but Kyouraku manages to dodge it and silently slash Chad’s vital organs.
Meanwhile, Ichigo continues to be shaken by Kenpachi and runs away for most of the episode. However, Ichigo gathers himself and regroups by realizing that he fears Ken’s spirit force, which is what keeps him from cutting Ken. Pumping himself back up, Ichigo faces up with Ken once again and takes a slash….and he cuts him! However, Ichigo’s mental victory is short lived as Ken begins to almost salivate at the challenge Ichigo is presenting. Ichigo lets his guard down a bit after learning that Ken doesn’t call out to his soul slayer to fight, and Ken ends up cutting Ichigo’s soul slayer in half and connects with a fatal blow to Ichigo’s chest. As he struggles on the ground and holds on to life while Ken walks away, Ichigo sees a black figure walk past Ken, and he quickly realizes it’s Zangetsu. Looks like Ichigo might get one more chance after all to redeem himself.
I apologize for the rushed reviews 
Work and moving had sort of put me out of the loop, so I’ll try my best to catch up!
This post was written by...
Kungfucius – who has written 275 posts on Sea Slugs! Anime Blog.
One of the original founders, and a fan of long-running shounen series.
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