The pieces on the board continue to move, but Nozomi’s attempts at getting away don’t get very far in the end.
What They Say:
Chad encounters Renji’s Reigai while searching for Nozomi, and a battle ensues between the two. Meanwhile, Unohana grows suspicious over the events surrounding Kyoraku’s arrest, and begins to conduct her own research. In the process, Unohana learns that Kageroza is the mastermind behind this incident.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Bleach continues to have the various Reigai move about both the Soul Society and the World of the Living as they take down those that need to be eliminated in order to achieve their goals. It’s interesting at the start to see a pair of them going after Yamamoto without really understanding just how powerful he is. The fake versions of Utikate and Kyoraku have a rather laid back feel as they try to mirror the originals in going to talk to him, but they miss the point of things by failing to hide their intent to kill, which is what they most definitely want to do. While Yamamoto has never been a favorite of mine, I do like his stance that he’s in no way ready to be beaten down by a pair of youngsters like that and has a whole lot of fight left in him to deal with this situation. There’s always some good fun when the old seemingly frail guy can still kick some serious ass.
Like previous episodes, a bit more information is coming out and it’s going to different people as you have Unohana getting a bit more understanding of who their main opponent is, especially as Kageroza ends up confronting her in the Soul Society. It’s one of those necessary moments that has to happen in order to get it over with and it lacks any real impact at this point unfortunately. On the flip side, Nozomi is continuing her own strange and somewhat undefined quest after having gotten away from everyone else by going to summon a Senkaimon even as the others, like Chad, fight against the Reigai to protect her. All she has with her is Kon and he’s intent on making sure she stays safe and makes it clear that he’ll go with her on the journey she’s about to take. It’s very much in character for him, even if he’s usually the type that’s just hunting after pretty girls.
A good chunk of the episode is given over to the action, which is good since it’s essentially carrying the series at this point. Chad’s fight at the start is a bit short but has some resonance and things get bigger towards the end when the Reigai catch up to Nozomi only to have Ichigo arrive in the nick of time. There’s some welcome aspects to the action is it allows the writers to set up fights that fans want to see at times, and have seen to different degrees in the past. They’re not earth shattering fights, especially with the reduced power levels that are operating in this particular arc, but it’s the main highlight to the episode overall. When it boils down to the core of what they want to accomplish here in getting Nozomi to finally work with Ichigo, it succeeds there, but it feels amateurish in how it unfolds and almost childish in some was with her reactions.
In Summary:
Bleach is slowly getting to the next phase of the storyline where things start really progressing. At the moment, we’re seeing the Reigai getting out there and causing trouble as they acquire more of the fakes and deal with the originals while also going for the top of the ladder at the start here. While the fights are brief and fun in their own way, the slow part of the show that is dragging things at the moment continues to be that of Nozomi herself. Kon’s involvement keeps it from being an absolute bore, but right now she has the almost self-involved teenager angst thing going on where she’s quiet, brooding and just getting away from anyone who can help her. It’s not exciting storytelling or even interesting storytelling. It’s a device that unfortunately just keeps us waiting and waiting for it to be done and over with so we can get on to the next, better thing.
Grade: C+
Simulcast By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
