Bleach episode 357 review

Chad and Orihime do… pretty much nothing. They get followed around town by Riruka, who now might have a crush on Orihime, too? I don’t know. What I do know, is that Ichigo has to do 100 push-ups for Jinto, but not 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, or a 10-kilometer run. And he’s still trapped in that stupid video game.

Finally, Chad and Orihime find Tsukishima’s hideout, where they confront him. Chad uses his Falcon Punch on Tsukishima, or whatever it’s called, and Tsukishima says that his power “has increased tenfold.” That’s nice, but due to the fact that Chad can’t beat him with it and has never beaten anybody else with it, those words ring hollow – pun not intended. You can’t convince me now that his power is any greater because we have no real proof for it other than some explosions.

At least the showdown at the end made it so this episode wasn’t all about not much happening. So, baby steps toward positivity, I guess.

Best girl of the episode: Orihime (55)

Episode rating: 6/10

Bleach episode 356 review

Jinto turns evil in this episode, with Ichigo and him inside the video game training. He starts slashing Ichigo up like Freddy Krueger. He didn’t take a flamethrower and barbecue Orihime, but he did try to break down her barrier as she tried to heal Ichigo. Then he goes mad and supposedly becomes a villain. In the end, it’s all a ploy. He’s just trying to get Ichigo to awaken his powers, and by turning “evil” he managed to do so.

Meanwhile, Riruka is busy being jealous of Orihime. Not of her second-place status on the “best girl” list, but presumably of her relationship with Ichigo. She creates just enough buzz to save us from the bizarro Jinto who turns evil for a 15-minute time period. Overall, not a great episode, but at least we’re one step closer to Ichigo ending his Ich-emo days.

Best girl of the episode: Orihime (54) (too little, too late)

Episode rating: 5/10

Bleach episode 355 review

It wouldn’t have been fair for Rukia to win best girl simply by running out the clock, would it? After some regularly scheduled tomfoolery with Soul Reapers who go fly a kite (I am not making this up), Rukia steals the show with a segment in which she needs to learn a dance, and she’s having Renji help her learn it. He, meanwhile, acts like his usual self, which causes Rukia lots of problems along the way. Yet it was all of his bizarre actions that were made to help her, and thus she gains the confidence to perform this dance, even after Renji gets ink all over her kimono.

It is finally that time: Rukia has clinched best girl of the year! She wins the title with 11 episodes to go. There’s no arguing it, she gets what she deserves. Now, if we went back and calculate wins per appearance, who knows who wins it, maybe Soi Fon. But what we know is that Rukia is Bleach’s best girl, and no one ever can take that away from her.

Best girl of the episode: Rukia (66)

Rukia’s real magic #: 0!!!

Episode rating: 7/10

Bleach episode 354 review

We seem to just be going through the Fullbringers’ different abilities. Now we’re using this guy’s power which is to suck you into a video game. Ichigo gets inside, as does the Fullbringer boss. The two of them have some jovial times inside, before they get brought to Fullbring HQ II. Essentially, this is a big excuse to say “Not much happened” because there’s no outcome to any of this stuff.

Orihime also shows up, healing Uryu and helping out Chad. She shows up to Fullbring HQ II and immediately gets questioned by Riruka, who of course is jealous because of her tsundere crush on Ichigo. And Orihime showing up has stopped Rukia from clinching best girl of the year! She makes us wait at least one more episode for that to happen.

Best girl of the episode: Orihime (53) (keep this up for 12 more episodes, Orihime!)

Rukia’s real magic #: remains at 1

Episode rating: 6/10