Bleach episode 60 review

Oh yes, we’ve reached the point, the high point, the climax, the top of the mountain for Bleach. It doesn’t get any better than this. Momo follows Toshiro and Rangiku into Central 46, where the former two have just found everyone dead. Izuru Kira draws their attention and gets them out of there, while Momo goes in alone. That’s when Aizen appears, and Momo is beyond overjoyed. She puts all her trust in Aizen, and then…

BOOM!

That’s right, Aizen stabs her. It is the pinnacle of this series. When I saw this for the first time, I was blown away. What an awesome heel turn moment. Everything from the entire arc suddenly gets put into a new perspective when this happens. And before you can catch your breath, Toshiro finds out. He goes and attacks Aizen, and Aizen easily defeats him. Then Unohana and Isane show up.

Unohana seems to be the smartest person in the room, yet even she is deceived by Aizen’s illusions. One man isn’t – that’s Kaname Tosen. For reasons not yet divulged, he is on Aizen’s side as well, as he stops Renji and Rukia from getting away. Aizen disappears and leaves, then reappears on Sokyoku Hill, where he plans on doing something dastardly. Poor Unohana… the most screen time she’ll ever get will be when she decides to sacrifice herself for Kenpachi Zaraki’s benefit.

This was an amazing episode, and no one can tell me otherwise.

Best girl of the episode: Unohana

Episode rating: 10/10

Bleach episode 59 review

It’s the finale of Ichigo vs. Byakuya II! And this time, Ichigo’s going Hollow on Byakuya. This is going to become problematic for him later, but for now, he’s able to fight off his Hollow self and go at Byakuya. Then, the two of them use one final thrust at each other. Ichigo is injured, but Byakuya goes down! Ichigo wins!

Byakuya now tells Ichigo that the reason he wanted Rukia dead was because she broke the law, and all he ever cared about was the law. But while Byakuya agrees that he’s not going to go after Rukia anymore, for him to admit he’s wrong… that’s for another day.

Orihime and pals (including Yachiru) meet up with Ichigo, and we get a nice, warm IchiHime moment. Seriously, this moment right here should have sealed IchiHime in everybody’s minds. No idea how people were in denial of the OTP after this.

And Rangiku and Toshiro are charging head-on into Central 46. This could be a problem. Yeah, I have the feeling something really bad is about to happen…

Best girl of the episode: Orihime (12)

Episode rating: 10/10

Bleach episode 58 review

So, Ichigo forces Byakuya to go Bankai on him, and it looks like Byakuya’s landed a big blow on him. Not so! Ichigo is just fine, and now he’s going to return with his own Bankai! But the problem is, this takes way too long and isn’t all that entertaining to watch. The reason for that is simple: Byakuya doesn’t talk enough to make things interesting. Now, this battle does get better, but too much time of this episode was spent on it.

There was some comic relief involving Orihime, who has turned into “I’m just here to sound stupid and make people laugh.” The most interesting and important thing was Toshiro and Rangiku searching for the truth. I forgot that Rangiku actually did do something aside from sitting on her couch, although to be honest, all she’s really doing is following Toshiro around.

Maybe a lull in the action, but still not bad.

Best girl of the episode: Rangiku (3)

Episode rating: 7/10

Bleach episode 57 review

Yoruichi and Soi Fon’s fight is interrupted by a flashback… but a good one, where we learn their backstory and what this is all about. I’m not a flashback guy, but sometimes there are really good ones like this. Unfortunately, we won’t get to see this relationship fleshed out all that much more because of the fact that we have 200 characters in this series. But it was a good battle, a good flashback, and a good episode.

We also got Ichigo vs. Byakuya II, which is going to be really fun to watch. Byakuya, use your Bankai already!

Best girl of the episode: Soi Fon (3)

Episode rating: 9/10