Bleach episode 1 review

So, it’s the year of Bleach! Welcome in as I attempt to review 366 episodes of Bleach in 366 days. Yes, that includes one day of 2026 (crazy to think about).

Ichigo beats up some punks for trampling on the memory of a recently departed soul. That’s all well and good, until the next day when there’s a big attack, and his sisters get dragged into it. With Karin and Yuzu in danger, Ichigo goes to help, while meeting something called a “Soul Reaper” named “Rukia Kuchiki.” Rukia inadvertently gives him all her powers, and Ichigo goes on to attack the thing called a “Hollow.”

Obviously all this stuff is basic stuff, so I’m not going to dwell too much on the plot. What I will say, though, is that Rukia is such a great character from the very first scene she appears. Sure, she doesn’t deserve Ichigo’s love; only Orihime deserves that. But she’s a fantastic character and she only gets better from here. Kudos to Tite Kubo for giving us a good one.

Best girl of the episode: Rukia Kuchiki

Episode rating: 9/10

Bleach Thousand Year Blood War episode 26 review

So, season 2 is over. Mercifully so. Hopefully we will get back to the characters we care about. Instead, we get all this talk from Squad Zero that they’re “more powerful than all 13 Court Guard Squads combined.” I’ll believe that when I see it, and probably not even then.

The one guy with the giant hand creates a second hand (Crazy Hand) and smashes Yuwabara (Yhwach) like a bug. And this is all just a waste of time. We know Squad Zero’s not going to beat Yhwach, right? But let’s pretend that they did. How lame is it that after nearly 400 of episodes of Bleach, we have this guy getting to deliver the final blow. I don’t even know his name (pun intended).

Best girl of the episode: Senjumaru (I hate giving it to a Squad Zero member, but I had no other choice)

Episode rating: 6/10

Bleach Thousand Year Blood War episode 23 review

So, Toshiro becomes a puppet for the villains, and he attacks Mayuri. Meanwhile, Byakuya and Hisagi go at each other, with more puppetry going on. Finally, Mayuri turns others into his puppets and uses them to beat Giselle. Is this the end for Giselle, or is there more to come?

I wanted to see more of Toshiro fighting Mayuri, but alas, that wasn’t the case. Mayuri also gives a super-long explanation in this episode of how he’s able to reverse the puppetry. So many puppets, you’d think we were on Sesame Street.

Overall, not a bad episode, just not great either.

Best girl of the episode: Giselle (2)

Episode rating: 6/10

Bleach Thousand Year Blood War episode 25 review

Squad Zero continues its battle against the Quincies, and I’m actually cheering for the Quincies here. Why? Because Squad Zero has basically taken the place of Captains I knew and loved, and now are supposed to be the heroes. So, I am actively cheering against Squad Zero. When the zanpakuto creator defeats his enemy, I’m actually disappointed.

Again, none of this would be a problem if we had gotten to know these Squad Zero members, but we didn’t. They just appeared and then took over. It’s akin to Riker and Troi showing up in the last episode of Enterprise and turning it into an episode of The Next Generation. Yeah, yeah, the one guy has a move reminiscent of Master Hand, and the zanpakuto creator guy makes himself bleed to survive. Who cares. Give me characters I know.

Am I peeved? You bet I am. I’m upset that the carriage is turning back into a pumpkin for Bleach. And we’ve still got two seasons to go before we put on that glass slipper.

Best girl of the episode: Hiyori, for that one scene at the beginning where she and her pals talk with Mr. Hat & Clogs.

Episode rating: 5/10