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R2 DVD Reviews
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Written by maehara
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Wednesday, 07 November 2007 17:00 |
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Page 1 of 2  Ichigo Kurosaki wasn’t particularly happy with even the ability to see ghosts – now, thanks to a run-in with a Soul Reaper from the Soul Society, he’s been handed the unenviable job of having to dispatch them to the other side as well. To add to his problems, malevolent souls called Hollows are on the lookout for tasty souls to devour – and it just turns out that Ichigo’s own is top of the delicacy pile...
For episode summaries and screenshots, check page 2 of this review - with 12 episodes in this set, there's a lot to watch.
15-year-old Ichigo Kurosaki has an unusual talent - he's able to see ghosts. Not that that's a good thing - since the local ghosts figured out he could see them, they haven't been able to leave him alone. That’s a minor problem compared to what he saw today, though - a giant demonic creature, and a girl dressed in black: a Soul Reaper, tasked with slaying the demons. The demons (or Hollows, as the Reaper calls them) have a taste for the souls of both living and dead - and it seems that Ichigo's soul is particularly tasty. When a Hollow attacks Ichigo's home, threatening his sisters, the Soul Reaper is badly wounded, so in order to protect his family, Ichigo must take her place and become a Soul Reaper himself.
While he’s just meant to be a “substitute” Soul Reaper, Ichigo actually gets into the role quite quickly, and it soon becomes apparent that he’s got a natural talent for the job – and with Rukia’s recovery taking longer than expected, he becomes the show’s main Hollow-slayer. There are probably no surprises for guessing that he’ll be filling this role for a while – at time of writing, Bleach was up to over 150 episodes in Japan and still going strong. Of course, how many of them will make it to the UK is another thing, with Manga’s recent record of not finishing what they’ve started being a niggling worry at the back of my mind.
While Rukia and Ichigo make a good pairing, there’s also a lot of fun to be had from the supporting cast – Ichigo’s sisters Karin (who shares his ability to see spirits) and Yuzu (who refuses to believe that such things exist); his over-the-top father who’ll never make do with using words when physical ‘abuse’ will do (in the lightest, most comic possible way, of course); potential love-interest Orihime and her friend Tatsuki, who both seem to find themselves in harm’s way a little too often for their health; strong & silent type Chad, who towers above everyone else in the series and who is showing signs by the end of the disc of being someone who has some Soul Reaper-esque qualities of his own; and more besides. They’re all genuinely enjoyable to watch, each with their own little personality quirks that make them endearing or funny, and everyone introduced has their own little part to play in the story.
The only character who could be considered annoying is Ishida, a member of a group that like the Soul Reapers exists to deal with Hollows but that has a very different approach to the problem. He’s also a schoolmate of Ichigo’s, and the pair soon develop an intense dislike for each other. Ishida’s one of those downright nasty characters who you’re positively meant to dislike, and he fills that role well – his desire to one-up Ichigo and Rukia is strong enough to override any desire to play safe, at one point leading to the whole town being in danger. As villains go, he’s up there with the most demented of them.
While there’s a lot of comedy and character work in Bleach, at its heart it’s a shounen action series, so there’s a lot of emphasis on the fighting. I’m not a huge fan of fighting shows, to be honest, but Bleach handles it quite well – while the Hollows aren’t the most visually impressive creatures around and there’s the usual padding out of fights with speeches and whatnot, they don’t go on overly long, and are usually broken up with scenes showing what’s going on elsewhere – meaning you don’t get the chance to get bored with them. After watching fights in other series that go on for 7-8 episodes without a break (Naruto, anyone?), the combat in Bleach was almost a joy, and with at least some combat in every episode, action junkies are well catered for.
Highlight of the set? Episode 10, and the appearance of TV exorcist Don Kan’onji. Bwa-ha-ha-ha! He’s possibly one of the most over-the-top characters I’ve ever seen, and great fun to watch – especially the way he interacts with Ichigo. So far he’s just made the one appearance, but I really hope he gets more screentime later – it would just be too much of a shame to let such a great characters go.
My natural bias against shounen fighting shows meant that I wasn’t expecting too much from Bleach, but I have to admit I’ve been pleasantly surprised – the show has a large fan following, and for once I can see why. There’s a great cast of characters, and each episode is split well enough between character and action scenes that there’s something for almost everyone to enjoy here. Manga have also been quite generous with the episode count for this volume, so you’re getting good value for money as well. Overall, this is one release that’s definitely worth a look.
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