Bleach episode 29 review

My sister and I nicknamed Squad 12 Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi “Mamba Wamba” because of his resemblance of the Scooby-Doo villain (look it up!). In this episode, he treats Nemu like trash, tortures Ikkaku, and gets into it with Zaraki. In other words, he’s a real jerk. Why Kubo let him stay alive through the massive list of deaths in the first two seasons of TYBW is beyond me. I want to see this guy die, and painfully.

Also, Uryu defeats that one Soul Reaper who was intent on killing Orihime, and it looked for a second like we might get a very unfortunate UryuHime moment. Fortunately, Orihime killed the romantic buzz with her Sailor Moon-esque craziness.

Oh, and Ichigo and Ganju take Hanataro hostage. I had totally forgotten about this guy until I picked up Bleach: Shattered Blade a few months back. He’s basically Shinji Ikari as a Soul Reaper (yes, that’s the same voice actor). But he’s got more humor to him than Shinji, and now he can help Ichigo and Ganju find Rukia. Is Hanataro the first Soul Reaper who turns on his fellow Soul Reapers? Or is that technically Mayuri, for treating Ikkaku so badly? In any case, the Soul Reapers are going to start turning on each other, because that’s what they do. Not very smart, of course, but hey, if you’re under a spell…

Best girl of the episode: Yachiru (3)

Episode rating: 8/10

Bleach episode 28 review

The Pac-Man chase for Ichigo is on, with hundreds of grunts chasing him down the same way you end up facing 10 Geodudes trying to go through a cave. Ichigo could just take them all at once, but where’s the humor in that? So, gotta keep running.

Meanwhile (as Al Michaels would say), a Soul Reaper attacks Orihime, and Uryu SAVES her. Then the Soul Reaper decides to count to ten, for the one and only reason of giving Orihime time to give play-by-play on how Uryu just SAVED her. Ganju also fights Yumichika and lights off some fireworks, presumably to let Ichigo know where he is.

At the end of the episode, we’re no closer to anything happening than we were when we started it. I’m glad we’re establishing how big the Soul Society is (although if it was so big, how did the Quincies destroy it in like nine minutes?), but I feel like we’re padding out this part of the story. And padding is for One Piece! Give us the good stuff already, Bleach.

Best girl of the episode: Orihime (10) (moving her into first place)

Episode rating: 7/10

Bleach episode 27 review

So! (As Pat Sajak would always say) The Ryoka are all split up now, and each one is having their own battle. Ichigo’s battling with Ikkaku, Ganju’s battling with Yumichika, Uryu and Orihime are running like crazy, and… yeah, come to think of it, what really happened this episode aside from Ichigo beating Ikkaku? I feel like I’ve been lied to that this was an actual episode. Ichigo beats Ikkaku with no real strategy involved, just continuing to fight until he won. Oh, and Ganju and Yumichika fell into the garbage pit.

I guess there’s only one way to describe this episode…

Not. Much. Happened.

Best girl of the episode: Yachiru (2), for her lack of direction, which is something I share

Episode rating: 6/10

Bleach episode 26 review

So, everyone gets split up. Uryu ends up with Orihime (but not like that!). Chad ends up all by his lonesome, which is so on-brand for him. Cat-form Yoruichi lands somewhere else, and then there’s Ichigo and Ganju, hugging it out till the very end, when they arrive where Ikkaku Madarame and Yumichika I-Can’t-Spell-His-Last-Name show up. Yumichika takes on Ganju, while Ichigo goes at it with Ikkaku.

The battle between Ichigo and Ikkaku is actually the less fun one of the two. Watching Ganju use his special powers and seeing Yumichika’s great expressions in reaction are some of the best parts of this episode. The only bad thing? We don’t really get much of a Best Girl here. Orihime wins by default for helping SAVE the Quincy Uryu with her Rejection power.

Best Girl of the episode: Orihime (9, which ties her with Rukia)

Episode rating: 8/10