|
R2 DVD Reviews
|
|
Written by maehara
|
|
Monday, 14 July 2008 16:00 |
|
Page 1 of 4  The rescue of Rukia gets underway as Ichigo and his friends head to take on the Soul Society. Just don't be expecting the rescue to happen any time soon, as three discs and 12 episodes later there's the distinct feeling that this battle is only getting started...
This set marks a bit of a turn-around for Bleach, at least to me. The first two sets impressed me we got the good aspects of fighting shows without the tedium that often goes along with season-spanning missions. I'd even gone so far as to call it my favourite fighting show. This release brought me back down to earth with a bump, though, with the first episode marking the beginning of the gang's mission to rescue Rukia, 12 episodes later we're still miles away from seeing that happen and with Ichigo having so far defeated just one of the Soul Society's top fighters, there's the distinct feeling that this may take some time. One episode is kind enough to point out that he'll have to defeat the lieutenants and captains of all 13 of the Society's divisions before reaching her side that's 26 fighters, fact fans, and already I'm hoping the dandelion-headed one can find a way to avoid fighting them all.
Not that I should really expect anything else from a Shonen Jump show long, drawn-out fight scenes are what they do, and complaining about them being there is a bit like complaining about seawater being salty. It's just the way things are. In truth, Bleach is still easier to sit through than most similar shows I've seen lately there's a lot less of the running commentary and angst that Naruto seems to indulge in, for example and with Bleach sporting decent production values, the battle scenes look the part. Add in that they're that little bit more gory than most, and there are enough redeeming features to make it surprisingly enjoyable, even to someone like me who usually doesn't do the fighting thing.
The show's other good points aren't forgotten about under all the swordplay, either. There are some good pieces of character development, dealt with by way of flashback scenes, while the interaction between Ichigo and new "rival" Ganju provides plenty of laughs.
The only real downside is that so many new characters are introduced over the set, some of them only getting two or three scenes space many episodes apart, that it quickly becomes difficult to keep track of who's who. It doesn't help that a lot of the Soul Society characters looking pretty much the same as each other only the squad captains are really distinctive. Some of the other "core" characters, like Orihime and Ishida, also get a little short-changed a few scenes to remind you that they're still about, but that's all.
The increased emphasis on fighting that comes with the gang being on a mission does spoil Bleach's appeal a little for me, but the aspects of the series that made the first two sets decently enjoyable are still there, so it's not a total loss. While there is a lot of fighting here, there's also enough going on elsewhere to keep the set from becoming a chore to watch. Now if they could just hurry up and rescue Rukia, so we can get back to normal service. For full episode summaries and screenshots, check pages 2-4 of the review.
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 Next > End >>
|
