Bleach 659: There Will be Frost

Zach Goodier

http://www.mangapanda.com/bleach/659

Hitsuguya steps forward to challenge Gerard, while the others try to regroup. Hitsuguya uses his bankai, and manages to freeze Gerard in place, but the battle is likely only just beginning. Meanwhile, Uryuu remembers the past, and his father's operating on his mother's body. Uryuu remembers this as the moment he realized he didn't want to follow in his father's footsteps. In the present, Uryuu is confronted by Hashwalth, who has switched powers with Juha Bach, meaning he is able to see into the future. Uryuu asks if he saw betrayal, to which Hashwalth asks why he would think such a thing. Hashwalth looks to "confirm his suspicions," and moves to attack. As he does, an explosion erupts, and in it stands Ichigo. Is Ichigo really there, or is this a trick by Hashwalth to test Uryuu's allegiances?

Bleach 644: Baby, Hold Your Hand 7

Zach Goodier

http://www.mangapanda.com/bleach/644/?ref=email

Looks like Kurotsuchi's battle with Pernida is finally over, and while Kurotsuchi, Kenpachi, and what's left of Nemu are placed in recovery chambers, the de-zombified Hitsuguya and Matsumoto emerge from the chambers to take their place on the battlefield. Meanwhile, Kyoraku's group has finally located the deadly sniper: Lille Borro. With a surprise attack, Kyoraku cuts the barrel off Lille's rifle. Does this mean the deadly sniper is out of weapons? Not likely, but we'll have to wait until next week to find out what other tricks he has.

Bleach 593: March Out the Zombies 4

Zach Goodier

http://readms.com/r/bleach/593/2500/1?t=2&f=0&e=0

The zombiefied Hitsuguya attacks Kurotsuchi... and after a short skirmish, Toshiro deals a fatal strike on Kurotsuchi... yet, somehow, he blinks and he finds himself facing Kurotsuchi, hearing the same words he heard before they started fighting.  After experiencing this several times, Toshiro finally stops to wonder what is going on.  Kurotsuchi's sinister smile says everything he needs to know.  Kurotsuchi's new drug allows Toshiro to be programmed to "reset" after a specific event, in this case, killing Kurotsuchi.  He allows himself to be "killed" in order to test the drug, which somehow causes time to go back a few minutes, starting the fight all over.  Trapped in this "Groundhog Day" inspired hell, how can Toshiro even win, if winning simply restarts the fight.

Bleach 592: Marching out the ZOMBIES 3

Zach Goodier

http://readms.com/r/bleach/592/2488/1?t=2&f=0&e=0

Toshiro stand before Kurotsuchi, not as a friend, but as an enemy.  Toshiro attacks Ikkaku and deals him a heavy blow (whether he died or not is still conveniently up the air).  Giselle reveals that by turning the living with blood, they become able to retain the skills they possessed before turning, and require less conscious effort to manipulate.  As a side note, if you haven't noticed, I've been trying to avoid the use of pronouns when it comes to Giselle, since that whole "he/she" thing has rather made me want to avoid pronouns entirely.  Back to the point, the revived arrancar attack, but quickly realize they aren't up to the task of taking on an enemy as strong as Toshiro.  Kurotsuchi decides to step up personally, but can he handle it, and can he somehow manage to save Toshiro from his twisted fate?  

Truth is, this chapter was a lot of downtime.  Other than the arrancar getting tossed aside and the partial explanation of Giselle's power, nothing really happened of note.  One thing that bugged me was that "Zombieguya's" attacks look and apparently are more powerful than they ever were now that he's a zombie.  Toshiro was struggling before just to be able to manage an ice wall to stop Bazz-B's attacks, but now just a flick of his wrist and seemingly half the city is covered in ice.  This type of inconsistency, just to make the situation seem more helpless, can be a pet-peeve of mine.  However, that doesn't make the action itself bad, and it does set up for an epic battle between "Zombieguya" and Kurotsuchi, and it's very possible that through this fight, Kurotsuchi will gather more data on Giselle's power, giving him a bigger edge later on.

Bleach 591: Marching out the Zombies 2

Zach Goodier

http://readms.com/r/bleach/591/2477/1

Giselle's zombie army clashes with Kurotsuchi's arrancar zombie squad, but even as the battle begins in earnest, Giselle still has his/her zombified Bambietta to support her already massive number of zombies.  However, Kurotsuchi's arrancar are fully aware, and capable of quickly dispatching the zombie horde.  Just as it seems that victory might be easily attained (if you actually thought that, thought, you must be new here), Giselle unveils her secret weapon.... Captain Hitsuguya!?!?!?

I'm pretty certain the effects of Giselle's zombification must be reversible, or else this is a very bold move on Kubo's part.  Toshiro is a fan-favorite, and killing him off, especially without some final swan song, just doesn't make any sense unless this is somehow reversible.  Considering Captain Kurotsuchi is on the scene, I have almost no doubt that he will be able to devise some method of reversing or blocking Giselle's power, at least to save Hitsuguya.  But even then, we've seen that Giselle is dangerous, not because of any mass of power, but the fact that even fatal wounds are ineffective, and only serve to spread blood to new potential zombies.  How will Kurotsuchi and his arrancar minions be able to put an end to this conflict? ...Well, you know the drill by now, come back next week and we'll hopefully find out.

Bleach 553: Frozen Cross

Link: http://www.mangapanda.com/bleach/553/?ref=email

Zach Goodier

This week's chapter focuses solely on the counterattack of Soi Fon and Toshiro Hitsuguya against their Vandenreich opponents.  So there really isn't much in terms of story development, the fights are simply moved ahead.  While they seem to have struck decisive blows against their opponents, it is still possible that they aren't quite down for the count yet.  The Quincy still have other means of fighting without a "plundered" bankai, so it's still very possible that they aren't quite out of the running yet.  However, it does appear that at the very least the playing field has finally been leveled so that they Gotei 13 stand a chance of winning this fight since they have all of their power back.  But the larger battle has barely started, so it's still anyone's game.  Tune back in when the next Bleach comes out.

Bleach 551: The Burnt Offerings

Link: http://www.mangapanda.com/bleach/551

Sorry about the late update, I've been behind the 8-ball on papers and homework for the past couple weeks, but I've made some time now to update.  The latest Bleach continues the battle between the Gotei 13 and the Vandenreich.  Last time, Hitsuguya and Soi Fon were dealt devastating blows by BG9 and Bazz-B, but Toshiro isn't down for the count quite yet, he attempts to counterattack but Bazz-B is too powerful.  Haschwald confronts Kyoraku and Nanao, who has developed a kido to temporarily repel Quincy, but since only she knows it, nobody else can use it to stall the Quincy advance.  The big development comes at the end, when Kisuke Urahara gets in touch with Kurotsuchi to inform him that he has discovered how to recover stolen bankai.  But we'll have to wait to find out exactly how the Soul Reapers can finally tip the scales and counterattack with all their power.  Tune in next week, and hopefully I can update you guys on time.

Bleach 548: The Thin Ice

Zach Goodier

http://www.mangapanda.com/bleach/548

Another week, another Bleach, albeit not for that much longer, it seems.  However, in the present we have the battle between captain of squad 10, Toshiro Hitsuguya, fighting Sternritter H "The Heat" Bazz-B.  Hitsuguya has to fight without his bankai, since his was stolen in the previous battle.  However, with some help from Rangiku, it appears that he has at least managed to catch Bazz-B off guard with how effective he can still be as an opponent, noting that his zanpakuto has the least difference between his shikai and bankai powers.  However, the larger battle is still beginning, and it is likely that since the Soul Society is ready this time, they won't be going down so easily.  Now that the Quincy have seemingly tipped their hand, it's all bets off.  However, Ichigo still hasn't arrived yet, and Juha Bach and Uryu are still not participating in the battle.  So, it looks like a few of the key players haven't taken the field as of yet, and we'll just have to wait and see what parts they will play in the coming battle.

Bleach: The Diamond Dust Rebellion

By Zach Goodier

In this feature-length movie, a valuable artifact belonging to the Soul Society's royal family is stolen in transit in the world of the living.  Captain Hitsuguya of squad 10, along with the unit he was leading to oversee transit of the "Royal Jewel," pursues the culprits in an attempt to get it back.  However, he goes off without orders, and he is assumed to have defected to the enemy, especially when it is discovered the one who stole the jewel is someone from Hitsuguya's past.  Ichigo ends up stumbling into the middle, and is forced to decide who to trust, and how to resolve this conflict.

Toshiro is essentially at the center of this movie, so whether or love him or hate him, he's getting the center stage in this one.

The main weakness that many features based off of a long-running series is that they have to create original stories, and that risks deviating from the style that the viewers are used to.  This is certainly a case of some deviation occurring from the standard Bleach formula in some ways, but in others it very much sticks to the style we have grown accustomed to. 

First, we start out simple enough, and of course once the attack occurs and the jewel is stolen we are left wondering about the identity of the culprits, and just what they're after.  Ichigo ends up being dragged into the middle of the fight as he almost always is with the affairs of Soul Reapers.  We build up to the final battle, with bankai and all the fast-paced action we'd expect, then the conflict is resolved.  Simple, right? Well, we rarely watch action shows for the plot, but Bleach has always managed to have a decent plot.  Our villain has a sob story, that does make you feel sorry for him, and it does add some righteousness to his cause.  However, we all know that he has to be stopped, so it does certainly add some depth and complexity to the story, and it does make you feel more invested in the plot. 

Our villain. Obviously working the whole "dark and mysterious" angle.

While the characters are important, they are almost all taken from the series.  The only minions are the female arrancars that more or less just take up space and allow for some extra action.  They don't have a lot going on, but they do make for some decent entertainment.  Our nemesis is much more thought out, however.  His story is rather intriguing, and he ties into the story nicely.  However, he still feels somewhat tossed in, and his while he adds some dimension to the Bleach universe in some interesting ways, he doesn't leave a lasting impression as a character.

Ladies please, I haven't even shown you my good side yet.

Overall, this movie is a decent entry into the Bleach franchise.  It sticks to what Bleach has always done: provide a fast-paced, action movie, that also provides some depth of story and character.  While this may not be the most inspired movie, it certainly sticks to the tried and true formula that Bleach goes for, and it does it well.  If you like the franchise, then this one should be an enjoyable movie for you.  If you don't like the franchise, then you probably won't like this one. 

Good:

-Fast-paced action that you expect from the franchise.

-Some decent story with one solid additional character to the existing lineup.

-Adds some interesting lore to the franchise, even if it doesn't come into play in the main story.

Bad:

-As one generally expects from original animation of an established series, this just feels like a "cut and paste" of what was done in the series.  It sticks to what's worked, but it does keep things from feeling entirely fresh in terms of style.


Scully Rating: 8 out of 10