So, I’ve completed my third batch of Bleach episodes (eps 168-265). Whoo boy, this one’s kind of a doozy.
We’ve reached the point where the series transitions from 4:3 Standard Definition to 16:9 HD (unless you’re watching on Hulu; thanks Disney), complete with a slight upgrade to animation quality, and we start this transition off with… a filler arc.
The Shunske Amagai arc was… definitely better (and shorter) than the Bounts, I’ll give you that, but it was still a boring slog to get through.
Thankfully, it wasn’t long before the canon content resumed. The fights with Nnoitra, Szayelaporro, and Aaroniero were enjoyable (even though I wasn’t really liking the latter), but I couldn’t help but feel like the anime was dragging it out a little too long.
Then, we got to take a trip back in time with “The Past” arc (ha ha, music references). It only lasted about 7 episodes, but it was pretty cool to see what a lot of these characters were like in the past, and how they ended up the way they currently are. If I had to complain about one thing, I was kinda let down by the fact that we don’t really get to see the aftermath of Urahara, Yoruichi, and the Visoreds leaving the Soul Society. I was interested in seeing how certain characters would react to this, but it unfortunately just immediately cuts off right after they leave (though the ending shot of the Visoreds leaving for the Winter Battle against Aizen was ABSOLUTELY badass).
Getting back to the present, the early stage of the Fake Karakura Town arc ended up having the same pacing issues as before. I still liked most of what I saw (though I’m mixed on how I feel about Ikkaku getting utterly wrecked, and I sorta checked out whenever the living fat joke was on screen), but it felt pretty dragged out for a decent majority of it. Everything surrounding Ayon, however, was fucking glorious. Seeing the dude just utterly decimate Rangiku and the others (though they did censor Rangiku loosing a chunk of her waist to the bastard), only for Yamamoto to show up and EFFORTLESSLY BISECT HIM was… hype to say the least.
Unfortunately, right as we were FINALLY getting to the full fight against Ulquiorra, I was thrown right back into filler territory, aka the Zanpakuto Alternative Tale. In all honesty though… this might’ve been the best filler arc so far(?). It still pales in comparison to the canon material, but I wasn’t actively getting bored throughout, and I somewhat enjoyed the new characters that were introduced, so that’s something at least.
Overall, this was probably my least favorite batch of episodes so far, but that’s more on the anime side of things as opposed to the actual story that Kubo wrote. As always, I thoroughly enjoyed the canon content, and sorta tuned out with the filler material (aside from the three episodes that came before the Zanpakuto filler, they were actually pretty damn good).
The next batch will be the finale of the series (not counting the new TYBW anime), so I’m pretty excited to see how it turns out, but for now, I think it’s time I get back to the world of quirks and see how it’s doing. I mean, it’s not like the villains are doing anything big right now, right?
…
Right?
