Summer! Sea! Swimsuit Festival!!

Season 12, Episode 16, Aired
EDIT

Episode Recap

So this episode starts with the women Soul Reapers trying on bathing suits. Nanao can't decide if a bikini is too revealing, but Rangiku simply states that her boobs arent big enough for it to matter anyway. Next we see Yoruichi looking at an orange bikini, and Soifon is admiring how refined she is. She snaps out of her daydream to look for her own swimsuit, but Yoruichi holds up a very pink suit. Soifon thinks it is too girly and childish, but is afraid to say so. When she finally gets up the nerve to say she likes a different one, Yoruichi is already buying the pink one for her. Isane states jealously that there aren't any cute ones for tall people, when Kiyone holds up a very revealing purple one piece. Isane says she can't wear it, but Captain Unohana says it would perfectly match HER very revealing white one piece. Although Isane doesn't want it, Captain Unohana gets very scary and makes her buy it.
The women are all finally at the beach, trying to explain to Ichigo why they are in the real world. Nanao tells him that they had built a pool for the Shinigami Women's Association to use, but in a flashback we see Byakuya using Senbonzakura to destroy it in a cloud of pink flower petals. The girl's watched in dismay, and Yachiru said he was a meanie. Nanao angrily argues that he only found the pool because they built it in his backyard. Because they couldnt think of anywhere else to build one, Captain Unohana suggests that they visit a beach in the real world.
Ichigo still seems annoyed with their explanation, but Yoruichi tells him to lighten up because he is spending the day at the beach with a bunch of cute girls. He then asks Byakuya why HE came, and Byakuya replies that the girls had to make it up to him for building a pool in his yard. Rukia says that she hopes he enjoys his time at the beach.
Ukitake, Renji, and Ikkaku show up, telling Ichigo to lighten up and have a good time. Ukitake says it feels nice to get out in the sun, just before fainting from the heat. The others are standing around him trying to cool him off, so Ichigo and Renji go to the beach shack to get some ice. They are surprised to find out that Chad, Orihime, and Uryu are all working at the shack by the request of Captain Unohana. When Ichigo asks for some ice, Toushiro shows up and says he hates the heat so he's staying inside. He is in charge of making all the ice for Chad, Orihime, and Uryu. He takes out Hyourimaru and makes a giant ice dragon to give Ichigo some ice. Ichigo wonders if he should use his Zanpaktou like that, but Toushiro tells him to shut up. There is obviously too much ice for Ichigo and Renji to take, so Orihime is excited thinking about all of the frozen foods she can make with it.
Ukitake gathers all of the beach goers and tells them that he wants to have a sand sculpture contest. When no one seems excited to just play in the sand, he offers money to the winners. Everyone quickly gets into groups of two or three and runs off to begin working. Only Rukia and Byakuya don't seem to care about the money reward, and Byakuya says it is simply a chance to show of the Kuchiki artistic talents.
Rangiku, Nanao, and Orihime are all in a group, and Orihime is lokig for a bucket to carry water. Rangiku says they don't need one because she and Orihime can use "boob buckets" by squeezing their breasts together and carrying water in their cleavage. Nanao says that they shouldn't be doing that in broad daylight, and Rangiku replies that she is just jealous because she can't do it.
Ichigo, Ikkaku, and Renji are all building a really nice sand building, but get competitive and say it won't be finished until they see who can tunnel under it the fastest. Ichigo says he is above such childish games, and Ikkaku says he is just chicken. All three immediately dive in, but Yachiru puts a crab on Ikkakus butt. He begins freaking out and his tunnel collapses on him. Ichigo and Renji quickly get up to see whats wrong, and freak out when they see that he's been buried alive.
Rukia glares over at the boys, stating that they are always too noisy. Byakuya tells her not to worry about them, but to focus on her own masterpiece. We see that she has been building a giant bunny like the ones she usually draws, and then we see that Byakuya made some type of cloud person that looks very much like Rukia's artwork. Heis very focused on his "art", and Rukia worries that she is holding him back. Isane looks over at the two and remarks how much alike they are.
Nemu is standing on the rocks by herself looking at the water, when giant tentacles begin shooting up. The camera cuts over to Ukitake, who is beginning to feel tired from the heat. He lays down to rest and Kiyone and Sentaro begin arguing about how to help him. Sentaro builds walls of sand around him to protect him from the wind, so Kiyone fills the box with flower petals to cover Ukitake and protect him from the sun. Unohana, Isane, and Nanao stop over to see what they're doing, and are all confused about what they're looking at. When Chad, Orihime, and Uryu bring over food and lay it near Ukitake, Nanao points out that it looks like a funeral. Captain Unohana says that Ukitake's team is clearly the winner in the sand scultpure contest, even though they weren't actually competing.
As they have their backs to the water, the tentacles come back and pick up Nanao and Isane. A giant monster emerges from the water holding the girls, who complain that it's tentacles are going up their swimsuits. As the others wonder what's going on, Captain Unohana tells them that there had been rumors of a hollow haunting that part of the beach. Ichigo wonders why they chose to vacation there, but Rukia tells him to focus on killing it.
Chad and Uryu try to attack it, but their reitsu based attacks wont work on it. They all realize only physical attacks will kill it. Unfortunatly, most of them didn't bring their Zanpaktou and Ichigo left his Substitute Soul Reapers badge at the beach shack. Renji brough Zabimaru, but before he can use it a tentacle wraps around his leg and throws him into the ocean. Ichigo runs to get Chappy from the Sea Shack, but another tentacled hollow bursts out of the sand and grabs him. Yoruichi comes along and punches straight through one hollow, as Soifon uses her zanpaktou to destroy the other. Yoruichi says that the two were out chasinga shark when Renji fell on top of them, so they went back to the beach to investigate.
Ukitake wakes up from his nap and is excited to see that they've started "whacking the watermelons". Orihime then notices that she is covered in red juice from the "hollow", and it tastes like watermelon. The others are all confused, so he explain that he, Byakuya, Unohana, Yachiru, and Nemu had special watermelons made to attack them to add some excitement. Isane and Nanao both frankly say that they did not enjoy the experience, and Yachiru wants Ichigo to eat some watermelon with her. Nemu reveals that they are edible, and she brought enough for everyone to enjoy. To the delight of Yachiru and annoyance of the others, 15 more "watermelons" appear in the sand.
To end the episode, we go to the Sea Shack where Toushiro is eating ice cream. Rangiku peeks in and tells him he is missing all the fun, but Toushiro reminds her that he hates the heat.