Bleach: Fall of the Arrancar

Bleach Season 14 Part 1 Episodes 292-303

“The truth is, Ichigo Kurosaki, all of the battles you’ve fought up till now were simply a part of my plan.” Sousuke Aizen

“I’m not done yet!” Ichigo Kurosaki.

There’s no way this review can avoid spoilers!

The few Soul Reapers still standing join forces with the Visored to confront Sousuke Aizen. And Aizen seems unbeatable, revealing that he’s absorbed the Hougyoku (the magical device created by Kisuke Urahara) into his own body. As even Captain Yamamoto faces defeat, only Ichigo is left to fight for the Soul Society and his friends. But just as things look hopeless, support arrives from a very unexpected source.

It’s been a long, long wait, but here it is at last: the ultimate confrontation between Ichigo and Aizen. And Ichigo is seriously outclassed. Aizen calls all the shots.

Cool and calculating Aizen reveals that everything that has happened up till now has been planned and controlled by him. (Unfortunately that means that the next one and a half episodes are devoted to reminding us about all those battles…) And while Ichigo is still reeling from this revelation, in denial that he has merely been a part of Aizen’s Grand Scheme, Gin (who has been observing) decides to join the fray.

And then we go to filler! Just what you wanted. It turns out that the Soul Society has gone film-making crazy to try to cheer everyone up and raise some much-needed cash to mend all the damage caused by the Soul Reapers’ profligate use of their tremendous powers. Bleach filler can be fun but here it’s just incredibly…annoying.

So it’s back to the main, nail-biting conflict after one episode’s craziness? Hell, no. It’s an episode especially put together to lay the ground for what happens in the fourth Bleach film Hell Verse. (At least on DVD at least you can simply skip these episodes, rather than having to wait another week as viewers were obliged to do when these episodes first aired…)

And then it’s back to the Aizen and Gin versus Ichigo and …ah, now that’d be telling. Suffice it to say that the duel to end all Bleach duels doesn’t end in this box-set. There’s much more to come in Part 2.

Worthy of mention, however, is #303 – another filler episode which comes at a truly frustrating moment, just as the big battle is hotting up at the end of #302, leaving the viewer crying “Why?!” This modest little piece turns out to be oddly touching as it shows the New Year celebrations taking place in the Soul Society (in typically rambunctious fashion) and in the world of the living, where Orihime is doing her best to mark the New Year on her own. I imagine #302 originally aired at New Year in Japan and it’s an interesting reminder that – if you’ve stayed with the series this long – you’ll probably have come to know these characters really well (much as with Goku’s extended family and friends in Dragonball Z) and you’ll warm to this episode in spite of it not advancing the plot one little bit.

The new and striking Opening Theme is “Ranbu no Melody” (“Melody of the Wild Dance”) from SID (best known for the OPs for Black Butler and Magi) which is set against a stylishly washed out montage of the main characters in the series. Also new is the memorable Ending Theme “Last Moment” by SPYAIR (who have given us the OPs for Haikyuu and Samurai Flamenco.) The only extras are the Opening and Ending Themes.

In Summary

What can I say? It’s Bleach. If you love it and its humour, you’ll forgive the filler episodes and enjoy the show as Aizen, arguably the most good-looking psychopathic villain in all shounen anime, puts the final pieces of his plan into action. Bring on Part 2!