| Bleach Season One #2 |
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| Monday, 14 April 2008 | |
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Page 1 of 3  Ishida's attempt to score one over on Ichigo backfires when his lure attracts something far more powerful than expected, while the Soul Society would like to have a word with Rukia about why she's spent so long in the human world...For full episode summaries and screenshots, check pages 2 & 3 of the review. I had Ishida pegged last volume as being set up to be a very interesting series villain, but within the first episode here he's turned around to being one of the good guys – a good guy with a chip on his shoulder, perhaps, but useful nonetheless. I can't say that change has done the character any favours, though – I liked him as an evil so-and-so, and he's just not as much fun on the side of goodness & light. The resolution to the "duel" between Ichigo and Ishida leads to Ishida discovering that he's not as powerful as he thinks he is, and to Ichigo discovering he has more strength than he initially thought. That's a common thread of this release – while Ichigo does meet with the odd setback (such as being killed, although he's not about to let that stop him), as the story goes on he just gets more and more powerful, to the point where he's frankly hugely overpowered. It's all in the name of rescuing the damsel in distress, though. Rukia always knew that she'd have to return home eventually, and that her return would have consequences – but she never expected a death sentence. Her return to the Soul Society introduces a few new characters – her "brother", Byakuya, who seems as though he'd be quite happy to be rid of his sibling (although there are hints that there relationship may not be as simple as brother and sister – we'll see); Byakuya's second-in-command Renji, who's a little more easy-going but still dedicated to following his orders; and silver-haired Ichimaru, who only appears here briefly but who look likely to be a thorn in Byakuya's side. These are the people that Ichigo and his friends are going to have to fight through to save Rukia, and they're not going to be walkovers. Bleach has surprised me so far by being a fighting show that's consistently enjoyable – there are enough comic moments and other scenes away from the fighting thrown into the mix to stop the series becoming just one testosterone-filled scene after another, and I appreciate that mix in styles. I also think the characters are a great bunch, and this release has given some of them a little more development and reasons for joining Ichigo's fight. So far, so good. The only real problem is that so much time is spent preparing Ichigo and the others for their fight against the Soul Society that at times it really does feel that the story has ground to a halt. It's a four-episode arc (the disc ends with the gang ready to leave for the Soul Society) covering several weeks of "real" time, but it feels horribly slow, even though there are some fun moments along the way as Ichigo begins to realise just how powerful he's become, even without Rukia's powers to draw on. But while the pacing is an issue (an one that's hopefully going to be addressed in future volumes), it's not bad enough yet to spoil the enjoyment of the show. Bleach is quickly becoming my favourite fighting show – not much of an accolade, to be fair, but it does have a way of presenting itself and its characters that takes it beyond the tedium that other shows in the genre seem to have. This release is a little slow in places, but not so much so that it becomes a chore to watch. If fighting shows are your kind of thing, you could do far worse than picking this up.  |
