An aerial view of some building in the dark of night, and the enthusiastic voice of the commentator welcoming the audience to “Drop-in Holy Ground” open the episode. We soon learn that this is a hospital in Karakura town where it is said you can hear the screams of angry spirits. Orihime and Tatsuki are in the audience, as are Chad, Mizuiro and Keigo, and of course, the Kurosaki family. The male MC welcomes the “Charismatic Spiritual Medium for the new century”, “hell’s messenger”, Mr Don Kanonji. As the awed audience watch, Kanonji jumps out of a helicopter, his cape flying as he shouts to them, “SPIRITS ARE ALWAYS WITH YOU!” and opens a parachute which reads “fancy boy”.
In school, perhaps the day before or earlier, Orihime comes up to Ichigo, and, crossing her arms across her chest, says, “BWAHAHAHA!” Ichigo steps back in surprise and Orihime says that his reaction is rather faint, asking if he knows what she has just done. Ichigo mutters that it is from “Drop-in”, and Orihime says that it’s a fun show, and that he should come with them and do the “Bwahaha”. Orihime raises her hands in the air, ready to cross them over her chest, but is stopped by Tatsuki, who pushes her away and says that she will go with her to “Bwahaha”. Keigo, who is standing behind Ichigo, greets him, and Ichigo turns around to see him, Mizuiro, and, of all people, Chad, doing the Bwahaha. Later, Keigo, upon hearing that Ichigo isn’t going for “Drop-in”, chides him, saying that it is the most popular show and since it’s coming to Karakura to broadcast live, Ichigo might as well be dead if he doesn’t go. Ichigo says that he’s fine being a zombie, and waves Keigo away. Keigo, tears in his eyes says that he even invited Rukia. Rukia, standing a distance away, curtseys and greets Ichigo sweetly. Keigo walks up to her and does the “Bwahaha”, asking her to do the same. Rukia shakes her head, saying that she’s too embarrassed to. Ichigo stares at the pair, a look of utter boredom and what-am-I-doing-here-ness on his face, saying that Rukia’s acting repertoire is gradually expanding.
Ichigo, with the exact same face as earlier, is surrounded by Kanonji’s cheering fans as the man asks them how they are feeling, and stretching out his arms, promises to let his “babies” hear the whisper of spirits. The female MC asks him what he thinks of the location, and Kanonji says that his nose is filled with the smell of horrible spirits, and is no doubt… The crowd finishes his sentence for him, “SMELLS LIKE BAD SPIRITS!”, raising their arms in the air, cheering wildly as he proceeds to do the “Bwahaha”, them doing the same. Smoke fills the stage and someone calls for a commercial. One of the staff directs the people to the exorcism area as Ichigo says that he hates ghost shows. Orihime runs up to him and apologizes for trying to invite him along the other day, as she didn’t know he hated these shows. Ichigo says that he isn’t mad – Keigo and Mizuiro both know he hates ghost shows, but still tried to invite him along. He says that he and Karin only came because his father and Yuzu are big fans of the show, because it’d be sad if only the two of them came alone. Orihime smiles and comments that Ichigo is so nice.
A hand can be seen waving at them above the heads of the crowd as Tatsuki calls to Orihime, saying that she’ll go without her, and Orihime runs to her. Ichigo, at the back of the throng, suddenly hears Rukia’s voice asking him what is wrong. He turns to see her doing the “Bwahaha” very violently, and she asks him what he is scowling, saying that if he doesn’t have fun, he’ll lose out. Rukia says that he must be tired having to juggle school and Shinigami duties, but there will be more difficult fights here on, so take this opportunity to stretch out and relax. She then asks what kind of festival this is, and Ichigo is taken aback that she came along blindly. He then asks her if there would even be any spirits in the hospital, as wouldn’t the Shinigami have dealt with them already? Rukia replies that the kind of ghosts normally found here are earth-bound ghosts, usually absorbed into the ground and therefore are undetectable on Soul Society’s radars. Just as Rukia says that these ghosts would only show themselves when humans enter their territory, a man carrying a speaker steps over an invisible line, sending sparks flying and the roar of the ghost can be heard.
Chad hears it, and asks Keigo and Mizuiro if they can hear it too, but they cannot, and tell him not to freak them out. Chad hence passes it off as merely his imagination. Karin too, has heard it and says that she shouldn’t have come after all. Orihime and Tatsuki look at each other, biting their lips. Rukia explains that that was the scream of an earth-bound ghost, not a Hollow. There are a few patterns to Hollow’s vocalizations, one being made by earth-bound ghosts with strong attachments to the world as they are neglected and degrade to Hollows, like the one that has just appeared in front of the hospital. Basically, a plus on its way to becoming a Hollow, the difference between it and a Hollow lying in the fact that the chest hole isn’t fully open and there is no white mask – a demi-Hollow. Rukia elucidates that the chest hole signifies that the Hollow has lost its heart and become an embodiment of instinct, and the mask is a barrier to protect the exposed instinct from the physical world – neither of which are necessary when one has a heart. An earth-bound ghost has regrets in this world and is hence chained down by the object of those regrets, in this case, the hospital.
The demi-Hollow declares that the hospital is his and he will never let anyone have it, telling them to keep out so that he can become a millionaire here and drive a pink Cadillac and drink pink Dom Perignon. The show starts again and Kanonji once more says that spirits are with you and does the “Bwahaha”, as does the crowd, including Rukia. Ichigo, annoyed, asks her if she cares, and she replies that it usually takes months and months to become a Hollow, and they cannot let it go wild in front of all the people. The soul burial can wait till later. The MC says that it is time to perform the exorcism, asking Kanonji what he thinks. Rukia adds that just before becoming Hollows, they will let out frightful screams and writhe in pain.
Kanonji says that he smells bad spirits, and as he looks at the demi-Hollow face to face, the latter asks him what he is trying to do, and to take off the weird hat.
Rukia adds that so long as there is no stimulus to the hole, it won’t turn into a Hollow for a while. Kanonji says that he must use his Super Spirit Stick and end it in an instant, and starts probing the hole with it. The crowd cheers and the MC goes wild seeing Kanonji use his stick so soon, but Rukia and Ichigo know better – Kanonji is only speeding up the process to becoming a Hollow. The demi-Hollow screams in pain as Kanonji says some weird spell-like gibberish. Suddenly, Ichigo jumps over the barriers and runs at Kanonji, yelling at him to stop. The security guards tackle and immobilize him, and as Rukia pulls on her glove and asks him to come over so she can change him to a Shinigami, she too gets squished by the security guards. The demi-Hollow lets out a frightful scream, causing all who can hear it to wince.
A cane appears out of nowhere and pokes out Ichigo’s soul, and the Shinigami goes rolling away, later seeing that it was Urahara who pushed him out. Rukia asks Urahara what he is doing here, just as Tessai picks up the unconscious Ichigo. Ichigo jumps in between the demi-Hollow and Kanonji, and the TV shows Kanonji being pushed back by an invisible force. He curses Ichigo, who is surprised he can see him, and adds that Ichigo must be a fan that died, staying a fan. The demi-Hollow screams before exploding and disappearing. Kanonji yells “MISSION COMPLETE!”, but Rukia knows that it is not, flipping open her phone and scanning for Hollows. After dispersal, the Hollow will be reconstructed elsewhere, but if its heart is tied to this place, then…
A ball of light descends from the sky and Rukia shouts to Ichigo, telling him to look up to the roof, where a Hollow is being reconstructed. Ichigo tries to tell Kanonji that it is a Hollow, but Kanonji ignores him, putting his hands by his ears and saying that he smells the scent of a super dangerous spirit, probably the revengeful boss of the earlier spirit. Ichigo gets ready to fight the Hollow, but is pushed away by Kanonji, who tells him to run away, spinning his spirit stick in the air and challenging the Hollow, who answers by running down the face of the hospital. Ichigo draws his Zanpakutou and blocks the Hollow, pushing it back. Kanonji asks Ichigo why he doesn’t run, and Ichigo asks him to run away instead. The Hollow stands and Ichigo fights it, Urahara standing by and complimenting him, yet asking him what he will do under the very bad circumstances. The Hollow launches himself at Kanonji, but misses thanks to Ichigo’s fast movements, smashing into the wall. Ichigo drags Kanonji through the entrance and into the hospital. Urahara comments that Ichigo has decided to have that kind of fight after all, and stops Rukia who tries to go forward to help Ichigo, saying that such a weak Hollow will be easy for Ichigo. Furthermore, Kanonji seems to have a bit of power himself.
Ichigo is running while dragging Kanonji through the hall of the hospital, and the latter demands to know why they are running away. Ichigo replies that running away was his (Kanonji’s) idea, but Kanonji argues that he meant only for Ichigo to run. Ichigo stops and flings Kanonji away, asking why he can’t run away, and Kanonji replies that he is a hero whom many children of the 25% of Japanese that watch his show watch and learn about courage from. Therefore, when they are watching, he cannot run away. Now, he wants to go back and fight the Hollow, but Ichigo refuses, saying that the audience will end up caught in the crossfire. Hollows come after humans with high spirit power like them, so it will definitely return here so they can fight without involving the spectators. Kanonji is surprised that he thinks of such things when fighting. The Hollow bursts out of the floor and Ichigo draws his Zanpakutou, unfortunately getting it stuck in the wall in the process. He manages to yank it out, lamenting on the cramped surroundings. The Hollow suddenly spits out some green gooey substances onto his hands so he can’t aim his Zanpakutou properly. He manages to cut the Hollow next to the mask, but the Hollow ends up dragging Ichigo out the building and up to the rooftop. Ichigo rolls away, and manages just in time to dodge the Hollow’s attack.
The roof access door is thrown open by none other than Kanonji, who asks Ichigo if he is alright. The Hollow tries to attack Kanonji, and as Ichigo tries to intercept him, he gets thrown back against the railings. The Hollow spits out more green stuff, plastering Ichigo to the railings. Ichigo’s eyes widen in fear as the Hollow jumps up, mouth open wide. However, when Ichigo opens his eyes, Kanonji is standing before him, using his Super Spirit Stick to wedge open the Hollow’s mouth. Ichigo tells Kanonji to run as he is no match for the Hollow. Kanonji stops him, saying that he too, has some sort of power, even if very little, and he knows the power gap between him and the Hollow. He adds that Ichigo has made a deep impression on him by thinking of others before self. Smiling and turning his head, he asks Ichigo to let him call him a friend, but spelt “c-o-m-r-a-d-e-i-n-a-r-m-s”.
He clenches a fist and focuses energy into it, sending yellow electricity-like sparks flying. “Kanonji-ryuu Final Super Attack! Kan’onball” A blue ball of energy forms in his hand and he fires it at Ichigo. It moves very slowly, in up-and-down movements. As it reaches the green stuff that binds Ichigo, a bright blue light is emitted and the gooey substances disappears just in time for Ichigo to get back in the fight. Kanonji’s spirit stick is broken now, and Kanonji has just been sent flying as he says that he has no regrets. The Hollow jumps at him but Ichigo is faster, throwing the Hollow back and subsequently breaking its mask with a swift slash. Ichigo sheaths his Zanpakutou as Kanonji runs up doing a victory dance. Ichigo tells him not to get all dizzy, and Kanonji doesn’t understand. He stares in utter disbelief as the Hollow dissipates to reveal the ghost he “exorcised” earlier. Ichigo explains that it is a Hollow, an unreasoning monster formed when the chain attached to the ghost’s chest comes off and a hole opens.
Kanonji falls to his knees, asking himself what he has been doing all these years. He is ashamed of himself and begins to cry. Ichigo tells him to stop crying, as everyone is waiting for him. True enough, shouts of “Kanonji!” can be heard from below as he walks to the railings. Ichigo tells him to give them what they want, as that is a Hero’s job after all. The camera zooms in on Kanonji, who shouts “MISSION COMPLETE!” and does the “Bwahaha”. The crowd follows, and Rukia smiles.
Kanonji compliments Ichigo on the good fight, saying that he admires his courage, wit and strength. He would like Ichigo to lend him strength in the future – as his number 1 disciple. Ichigo is pissed that he got demoted.
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