Bleach Uncut Season 3 Box Set: The Rescue (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)Now that they've gotten into the Soul Society and the Seireitei, Ichigo and Co. have ANOTHER problem: rescuing Rukia and escaping with their body parts intact.
Unfortunately, it's not going to be that easy. "Bleach: The Rescue" kicks everything about this brilliant anime up a notch -- lots of blood, sword-fights, a fiery climax at the execution grounds, and some amazing character development. But the best part is that the treacherous conspiracy merely hinted at in prior episodes, which sparks a minor civil war within the Seireitei.
Yoruichi starts the badly-wounded Ichigo on a special new training regimen -- to rescue Rukia, he must achieve achieve bankai (the ultimate release of a zanpakuto) in three days. In the meantime, Uryu has encountered the most horrendous of Soul Reapers, who is responsible for the death of a loved one, and Captain Hitsugaya is confronted by an old friend who tries to kill him -- accusing him of murdering Captain Aizen.
But the chaos really starts when Rukia's execution day rolls around: mass murder is revealed, captains turn against one another, and Renji fights a devastating battle against the implacable Byakuya. Ichigo appears on the execution hill with devastating new power -- intent on rescuing Rukia and defeating her brother once and for all. But when he seems to be losing, a horrific new change comes over him.
And in the meantime, the conspiracy that's ripping apart the Soul Reapers is revealed -- the identify of the Big Bad and his sidekicks, the reason he wants Rukia dead, and how many people he'll coldly destroy to get what he wants.
"Bleach: The Rescue" is a turning point for the entire series -- everything before it has built to this point, and everything in the future will spring from it. For an action anime, it is also quite heavy on the plot as it sets up the Big Bad: faked murders, real murders, conspiracies, hypnotic tricks, betrayals, a clever triple-cross perpetrated by Gin Ichimaru, and Urahara's hidden motive in helping Rukia.
There's also lots of brilliantly explosive action using ice dragons, black fire, razor-sharp cherry blossoms, exploding Soul Reapers, a giant bone-snake, and a firebird the size of a submarine. The action only serves to underscore the tension that is building throughout the entire season, until it explodes on Sokyoku Hill. It's also got solid dialogue, some quiet moments for Ichigo's pals (hanging out in prison) and some flashbacks to Renji, Rukia, Kira and Momo's days at the Academy.
Fortunately, all this dark stuff is speckled with funny moments like Ichigo's relaxation in a healing spring ("I AM GOING TO DROWN YOU!"), and an entire episode in which the characters unwind and recover after the events of "the rescue."
Our Hero really shows his stuff in this season -- Ichigo puts his life on the line to reach an incredible level of spiritual power, and rescue Rukia no matter what happens. Too bad he turns out to have a freaky dark side (and Johnny Yong Bosch has a brilliant demon cackle). And Uryu inadvertently gets to the bottom of his grandfather's death, and goes to devastating lengths to get revenge for what happened to him.
But most of the characters get to shine in this, although Chad and Orihime are somewhat neglected: the Yoruichi-obsessed Soi Fon, the kindly Ukitake and his best buddy Kyoraku, the happily hyperaggressive Zaraki, boy-genius Hitsugaya, and the fusty and arrogant Head Captain Yamamoto (among many others). We also learn how far Renji will go for Rukia, as well as the true reason why Byakuya has been so cold and seemingly cruel.
"Bleach: The Rescue" is a brilliant arc of action-packed, tightly-wound anime, with a shocking twist at the core of the story. Definitely a must-see -- especially for everything that comes later.

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The day of Rukia's execution draws ever closer, and to save her, Ichigo and his loyal comrades must navigate the madness of a Soul Society on the brink of collapse. Ichigo and Renji face the most difficult training of their Soul Reaper careers as they struggle to achieve bankai, without which they have no hope against the most powerful captain of the Seireitei--Byakuya Kuchiki. While all the players converge at the site of Rukia's imminent execution, in the background, a group of Soul Reapers slowly uncover an unimaginable betrayal at the hands of one of their own--a betrayal that will shake the Soul Society to its very core.

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Bleach Uncut Box Set: Season 4, Part 1 - The Bount (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)According to Merriam-Webster, filler is "a substance added to a product (as to increase bulk, weight, viscosity, opacity, or strength)."
Well, it's not a precise description, but it does explain the function of anime filler: episodes not based on the manga it springs from. And "Bleach Uncut Box Set: Season 4, Part 1 - The Bount" anime begins an entire arc not based on Tite Kubo's manga, although it still manages to be pretty suspenseful, funny and action-packed.
The day after the gang's return to the living world, Orihime is suddenly sucked into a vast replica of the Hell Gate, by a doppelganger of her brother. Her kidnappers are the mysterious Ririn, Kuroudo and Noba -- and they quickly lure Ichigo, Uryu, Chad and Renji on a series of bizarre games. First it's a chase around town, then a surreal maze in the local museum. Finally, they're brought back to school, where they must uncover who the imposter among them is... or everyone will vanish.
It turns out that these three weirdos are all working for an old friend, to prepare Ichigo and Co. (plus Rukia and Renji) for a massive fight against the immortal soul-sucking Bounts. The Bounts have recently started consuming living human souls, and for some reason they are also allied with a rogue Soul Reaper named Maki Ichinose. What's more, their cruel leader Jin Kariya wants to get his hands on Uryu, for a secret plan to do... something.
Filler episodes in anime are usually pretty bad -- at the very least, they bend the characters into doing and saying odd things. For the most part, "Bleach Season 4 Part 1" avoids that tendency -- there's still plenty of weird individual powers, sword fights and bloody action, as well as duels between floating fire creatures, snakes, living waterspouts, metal spiders and little flying eyeballs with teeth. The Bounts, they have some mean powers.
But the story is hampered by an over-reliance on flashbacks (is this "Bleach" or "Lost"?), and the story sometimes slows to a crawl. The dialogue is still plenty of fun ("You guys are checking each other out!") and there's plenty of comic relief (Ichigo trying to find a toy that satisfies Ririn). And the writers spin up some intriguing backstory for the treacherous Maki Ichinose and the Bounts -- they're not very scary or imposing compared to Hollows or Aizen, but they'll do for a filler arc.
Ichigo and his amazing abs (you could grate cheese on them!) make a good return in this arc, but he seems to have lost some key brain cells -- he's a smart guy, yet he doesn't know that blowing up a fire extinguisher and leaping down an elevator shaft might not be a good idea? Still, our orange-haired hero remains a likable protagonist who emanates hardcore determination to protect his buddies.
Uryu is explored in detail, struggling with his recent loss of powers, and the knowledge that he is now a burden and a danger to his superpowered friends. And the writers do a good job with the supporting characters -- Chad, feisty Renji, strong-willed Rukia and quirky Orihime ("I remember there was tea!"). The Bounts aren't really explored much yet, but the three mod-souls are fun characters: Ririn is a rather shrill little bird-girl, Kuroudo a flamboyant bunny purse (yes, Rukia DOES love him), and Noba is a little ninja turtle who is almost as quiet as Chad.
"Bleach Uncut Box Set: Season 4, Part 1" provides a pretty solid introduction to "Bleach's" first filler arc, and despite some flaws, it's still pretty fun to watch. Just be prepared to fast-forward sometimes.

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BLEACH BOX SET 4 PT 1 (UNCUT) - DVD Movie

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Bleach Uncut Box Set: Season 5 - The Assault Review

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(More customer reviews)The Bounts have finally invaded the Soul Society, and all hell is about to break loose... very, very slowly.
In fact, it takes quite some time for the final leg of the Bount arc to fully unfold in "Bleach Box Set 5," and it ends up being a pretty uneven and sputtery ending. There are some truly brilliant ideas, epic fights and the reappearance of many favorite Soul Reapers... but there are also a number of plot holes and some fights that are just the same ol' same ol'.
The Bounts invade the Soul Society at last, and quickly begin staging a rebellion in the forests near the Seireitei; meanwhile, Ichigo and his friends alert the Soul Reapers to the approaching danger and prepare for battle. But being in the Soul Society has given the Bounts a new advantage -- Rukia is quickly defeated, and even powerful captains like Byakuya are having a tough time fighting against Kariya and the other Bounts.
But Kariya doesn't just plan to defeat the captains -- he plans to tap into a half-forgotten power sealed within the Seireitei's foundations, and use it to destroy the entire Soul Society. The only person who may be able to help stop him is Ran'Tao, an exiled Soul Reaper scientist who created the Bounts in the first place. But with the clock ticking to doomsday, Ichigo will have to put his life on the line and fight the superpowered Kariya once and for all.
As endings go, "Bleach Box Set 5" is kind of lackluster -- there's a lot of frenetic fighting interspersed with long stretches of infodumping/flashbacks. What's more, a number of basic plot holes crop up, such as Soi Fon forgetting her own zanpakuto's power, or Kyoraku and Ukitake (the most powerful battle captains) being assigned to... flip through library books. And the whole "sealing the Jokai Crests" subplot just sort of fades away.
The writers also fail miserably at creating any kind of dramatic build-up -- you never get the feeling that anyone actually thinks that Kariya WILL destroy the Soul Society. With only a few hours until doomsday, the Soul Reapers... have a potluck dinner and NAP?
Fortunately, the writers did manage to come up with some suitably epic fight scenes, including a bloody desperate fight between a weakened Rukia and a supercharged Yoshino, and creepy mad scientist Mayuri fighting against an arrogant old coot. And there are some funny moments sprinkled through the story ("AAAAAAAAAA... an exploding egg!") to lighten the overall mood, as well as some supercharged Bount powers that make the Soul Reapers' duties a lot harder.
Pretty much everybody gets some attention in these episodes -- Byakuya's affection for Rukia, Ichigo's steadfast determination, and the ever-pragmatic Zaraki gets to wipe the floor (both physically and philosophically) with the whiny, hypocritical Ichinose. And an extra episode at the end of the season provides flashbacks of Rukia's first solo assignment, Renji's promotion, and Ichigo's "ordinary" life prior to becoming a Soul Reaper (including comforting a little girl killed in a car crash).
"Bleach Box Set 5" is a rather uneven and holey ending to the first filler arc of this anime, but there are enough highlights here to make it still worth watching -- mostly the fights, and the final episode.

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Back in the World of the Living, Ichigo Kurosaki has been officially recognized as a Substitute Soul Reaper by the Soul Society. Then trouble comes to Karakura Town in the form of Visoreds, a group of ex-Soul Reapers that have crossed over into the realm of the Hollows. As they try to recruit Ichigo to their side, it is revealed that former Captain Sosuke Aizen is attempting to create an army of Hollows with Soul Reaper powers called Arrancars. It will take Ichigo and friends along with a detachment of Soul Reapers to keep them from destroying the town.

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Bleach Uncut Box Set 6 Review

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(More customer reviews)I love bleach, I love it so incredibly much I have been buying the box sets as they come out even though I can watch them online. However, this is just horrendous. Bleach season 6 has 22 episodes, NOT 12. So what they are going to do yet again (just like they did in season 4) is split the season into 2 parts in order to make more money. Its atrocious and I couldn't be more angry about it. This part of season 6 will only have 12 episodes, the next part will have another 10. Its awful and I can't believe they are doing it yet again. Season 4 of Bleach titled The Bount had 27 episodes and they split those up into 2 sets each which cost [...] bucks at the time. The Bount one, kinda partially made sense but still angered me, but this Season 6 one I simply wont buy. [...] bucks for 12 episodes? I think not.

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TBC

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