Bleach

Bleach Episode #301

Bleach Episode #301 Anime Review

Bleach
© Crunchyroll

With Aizen reaching new levels, the fight against him becomes even more intense.

What They Say:
Ichigo finds himself cornered against Gin's Bankai. But to Ichigo's surprise, Gin advises him to run from this battle. Meanwhile, Urahara, Yoruichi, and Isshin fight Aizen in a three-on-one battle. But none of their attacks appear to work against Aizen.

The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With the series back on track and dealing with the main storyline again, we saw quite the three hundredth episode previously as it took Aizen and moved him to the next level. While he was already quite powerful, using the Hogyoku has moved him up even further in his transformation. And it's a transformation that at least didn't make him look rather terrible as some others have done. Bleach has narrowed things down at this point overall though, as we're down to just two main battles playing out in a small space, which is what defines this episode.

One thing that had been bothering me with the fight as it stood previously was that for much of it, Ichigo was just standing there watching it, even with Gin pretty much standing right behind him. Gin's role as a trusted man for Aizen has long been interesting to me and I've always thought Gin had a little extra to his personality to make him stand out in a quiet and charming kind of way. With the main battle playing out, he's taking the offensive against Ichigo, pretty much playing with him on some level, which forces Ichigo to allow some of his Hollow side out in order to fight back against him. It's quite a good fight overall, though it's not one that's presented without interruption which does unfortunately slow the intensity of it at times. Gin even manages to get a really nice psychological dig in at him.

A larger portion of the episode focuses on the fight with Aizen himself, which is good, as the trio going against him is definitely interesting to watch since they have a different approach than what we see from Ichigo. Because of age and experience, they're not overconfident but they're not questioning themselves either. They have a variety of paths to try in going after Aizen to see what works and what kind of combination attack they can come up with. While much of Bleach focuses on the 'teenage' heroes who are dealing with their lack of overall experience, when the show shifts to those that are older, it has a very different feeling. It's less emotion based to be sure, but it comes across as far more serious. Not so much that they're doing a job, but they know what needs to be done and just do it. Especially when this is taken in contrast with the way Gin is toying with Ichigo's mind by just talking to him.

In Summary:
While Aizen as a villain falls into a familiar trap pretty much with this episode, both in speaking about things he'd be better off not talking about and not killing everyone just to be done with it, what we get here is the culmination of events that have been going on for essentially the entire series. There's still a long road ahead for it, but watching this while watching the DVD episodes where the Visoreds came into play and Aizen started his plans more openly from Hueco Mundo really helps to cement just how long this has been going on (filler and all!). This episode is good overall, but the frustrating pieces are there, from the bad villain predictable moments to Ichigo being thrown off by Gin's words. Bleach hasn't quite mastered making things truly epic in feeling, but it's getting closer bit by bit.

Bleach Episode #299

Bleach Episode #299 Anime Review

By Chris Beveridge     November 30, 2010
Release Date: November 30, 2010

Bleach
© Crunchyroll

Just days away from the new movie in theaters in Japan, we get an episode the nudges us towards it even more.

What They Say:
While visiting the World of the Living, Rukia comes across Kurumadani, the current Soul Reaper stationed in Karakura Town, being attacked by a mysterious masked man. To her surprise, the masked man reveals himself as Shrieker, the Hollow previously defeated and sent to hell by Rukia and Chad.

The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
As we've seen with other series, such as One Piece, when you can release a new movie based on the franchise that stands alone in its own way, you can tie it to the TV series really well if you do an episode or two in relation to it, giving it the hook to remind viewers to go see it since they tease you well with it. The problem is that you really have to tease well and follow through. One Piece's attempt with Strong World gave us several really bad episodes that I can't say how well they connected with the movie since it hasn't been released over here. So that fell flat for me. And Bleach is likely to fall into the same trap since who knows when it will see the light og day over here.

This episode sets up a fair bit of material that also harkens back to the past as it has Rukia doing a bit of work in the World of the Living as a delivery girl, at least briefly and not exactly consensually. Her time there ends up having her cross with Kurumadami, another Soul Reaper who is located near where Ichigo operates out of. He's kind of an amusing type with the big afro and a lack of overall smarts and skill. He makes up for it with bravery and courage but it's the kind of character that on first blush you know Rukia will be saving more than his being able to help, though he's likely to have more impact later on. Kuru comes across more as something of a slightly goofy unsuccessful yakuza type who does his best but doesn't quite make the grade.

Where the episode digs into the past is in that the pair come across a Hollow who Ichigo had defeated some time ago, though not in any episode I've seen yet on the DVD releases. He's managed to get back to the World of the Living to Rukia's surprise after being cast to hell and he's now quite angry and intense. The difference this time is that Rukia actually has her powers so she can try and tackle him herself. Considering we've not see much of Rukia in the current arc and most of my experiences with her are her non-powered side, it's nice to see her being as involved as she is and still dealing with Kuru.

In Summary:
The first half of the episode is pretty interesting as it deals with this Hollow and the fight against him, but then a good part of the second half goes into the larger picture of setting things up for the movie. Knowing that I have little chance of seeing it anytime soon, it has less impact than a filler episode in its own way. It's the cruel tease to be sure, but it's one that looks fairly interesting because of the setup in the first half. There's some neat creativity in the villains that are being come up with here and the animation and designs for it are well done, though I can't help but feel disconnected from it for the time being because of its nature. While this isn't filler in the traditional sense, it's something just as difficult since it will all be resolved elsewhere, out of sight, out of mind.