Bleach episode 191 review

Szayelaporro offers us a little more recrap, going back through his entire battle with Uryu and Renji. So, the first half of the episode is, once again, a recrap. But when it’s finished, Szayelaporro uses his powers to create… doubles of everyone? Yeah, I’m not quite sure how this is going to work. Is this going to be the classic “you wouldn’t kill me cause I’m you” and then they just go and kill them? I don’t know. But it’s clear from this incident that Szayelaporro is not going down for a long time, and probably needs a bigger fish to eat him.

As for Ichigo, he keeps on fighting, only for Nnoitra to reveal that Nel is actually a former Espada. The truth will be completely revealed… next episode.

Best girl of the episode: Orihime (35)

Episode rating: 6/10

Bleach episode 190 review

Also, Renji, the Quincy Uryu, and Nel’s pals run up a staircase, only to find out that they’re still trapped by Szayelaporro. This episode may have started out as a dud, but there’s at least a lot to look forward to in the next episode. Or maybe they’ll spend a whole episode on Ulquiorra or something and I’ll regret ever getting interested in what comes next. In any case, Hueco Mundo is back, and it’s gonna be around a while.

Best girl of the episode: Orihime (34)

Episode rating: 7/10

Bleach episode 189 review

The Amagai/Rurichiyo arc ends here. Basically, Ichigo battles Shusuke and wins, then everyone gathers around to tell Shusuke the truth. When his father was saying something about the Bakkoto, he was actually saying, “Beware of the Bakkoto!” Old Man Yama could have spelled that out very easily, but instead he decided to let Ichigo put on a show first. And thus Shusuke chooses a form of euthanasia over living any longer.

This arc had many flaws. Let’s try to count them all.

1. Rurichiyo’s voice. Absolutely horrible and wooden and unfaithful to the original.
2. Enryu’s voice. Ichigo never even hears it, and the joke ends up falling completely flat.
3. Amagai’s betrayal. It made no sense at all and came with no warning. At least Aizen had the decency to act a little suspicious before his betrayal.
4. Old Man Yama’s silence. Had Yamamoto just come out and said, “hey pal, I didn’t mean to kill your father, I was just trying to let him die in peace, and he said ‘beware of the bakkoto’ not ‘the bakkoto’ so really you’re totally wrong,” well, does any of this happen?
5. The entire arc as a whole. It really felt like a waste of time. The Bount arc was nice for a filler arc because it felt like the characters grew during that arc. This one, hardly any of the main characters got much screen time, and Ichigo didn’t really grow either.
   
   Best girl of the episode: Yoruichi (10) (for her brilliant explanation to Amagai of how he went wrong, and because I simply love Wendee Lee’s voice)
   
   Episode rating: 7/10

Bleach episode 188 review

Captain Amagai is thirsty for revenge, and I wonder if he would have gotten said revenge if he didn’t obsess over Rurichiyo. Ichigo was only in this fight to protect Rurichiyo, not to save Old Man Yama’s life. But Amagai insists that he has to have the princess too, forcing Ichigo to go into all-out mode to save her. Meanwhile, Rukia is reduced to the position of battle commentator.

Rurichiyo continues to talk in utterly wooden speech, which isn’t as much the fault of the voice actress as it is the director, and I’m pretty sure Bleach’s dub budget had been slashed at this point. Thus it really isn’t anyone’s fault, but still, Rurichiyo’s voice sounds so robotic that you’d think it was from a video game.

Anyway, Amagai fights Ichigo and no one wins, so we’re going into overtime next episode. There’s only one episode left, so it is true sudden-death overtime, literally.

Best girl of the episode: Rukia (40)

Episode rating: 6/10