Miracle! The Mysterious New Hero

Strange sightings plague Karakura Town, and Karin Kurosaki blames the Hollows only she can see. When a cat, Raku, drops from the sky onto Yuzu Kurosaki's face, two Hollows dive at the sisters until Karin drives them off with her soccer ball. Yuzu, charmed by the cat's resemblance to Ichigo, decides to keep him. Outside the Urahara Shop, Jinta Hanakari and Ururu Tsumugiya note that Hollows have multiplied since Ichigo left. Meanwhile, Don Kanonji arrives at the Kurosaki Clinic hoping to visit his self-proclaimed number one pupil, only to be swarmed by the same Hollows.

Jinta rescues Don Kanonji with his Muteki Tekkon, and the entertainer whisks the children off to recruit them. Jinta reveals that Raku's Reiryoku is luring the Hollows and that the cat is already a departed spirit, a truth that makes Yuzu cry. Don Kanonji forms a team he dubs the Karakura Superheroes and dangles the coveted role of Karakura Red, igniting a fierce rivalry between Jinta and Karin. As waves of flying and green Hollows hunt Yuzu, Raku shields her with pulses of pink energy, and the heroes converge to beat back the swarm.

The surviving Hollows fuse into a single massive, eel-bodied Hollow that hurls Yuzu off a rooftop. Raku transforms into a flaming, lion-like guardian, catches her, and hurls himself into the enemy while the team's combined attacks finish it off. Yuzu recalls meeting Raku at a construction site, where the stray followed her into the road and was killed by a car, and realizes he lingered out of gratitude before finally passing on as a ball of light. This anime-original episode is the 33rd of the series, loosely tied to Chapter 88.5, and introduces the giant Hollow Angila.