anime

Bleach 310: That’s… it?

Bleach episode 310 review

I was promised one of the biggest, longest, drawn-out battles in the history of anime. But instead, Aizen fought Ichigo for what, like two episodes? And now he’s defeated? I thought this thing was going to take weeks on end. Instead, it’s over before the Packers even play their next game. And now everything is hunky dory and everyone’s going back home and to their old lives again.

Aizen is sentenced to 18,800 years in the deepest prison of the Soul Society. No word on whether he will be up for parole in about 10 years. At least he won’t be headed to Alcatraz. In any case, Aizen failed, and he failed hard. If this was all by his design, he’s one of the biggest morons of all time.

Finally, we find out that Ichigo’s going to be tormented for a long time as he loses his Soul Reaper powers. This feels like torture for the sake of torture. There’s no rhyme or reason to it, it’s just that Ichigo is going to have sudden fits over the next year or so. The reason for it? Technobabble, of course.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, Unohana heals Hiyori. So, when Hiyori opens her mouth in the Thousand-Year Blood War arc, just remember: it’s Unohana’s fault.

Best girl of the episode: Orihime (46)

Episode rating: 7/10

anime

Bleach 309: The kind of people who get things done

Bleach episode 309 review

Ichigo fights Aizen, with the caveat that, should he use this final attack, he will lose his Soul Reaper powers. That doesn’t sound good. Moreover, Aizen seems to have survived his final attack anyway, so it looks like the coast is clear.

But it isn’t. Kisuke Urahara apparently planted some “kidos” in him (more like bombs) that explode and pretty much kill Aizen… or so we think. It’s quite possible all this is a ruse. I don’t know, I didn’t watch this part the first time around. Thankfully, we saw Rukia near the end of the episode, preventing this one from going to the dreaded “No Contest.”

Best girl of the episode: Rukia (58)

Episode rating: 7/10

anime

Bleach 308: Gin Blossoms

Bleach episode 308 review

We get a sad flashback about Gin, which means only one thing: he’s about to die. We see some of his interactions with both Aizen and Rangiku, which I thought didn’t really add much to the story. Then we get Aizen powering up, although not really screaming his way to it. That’s when Ichigo shows up.

Ichigo names his friends one by one, but he says the one guy’s name too fast, and I didn’t get the license plate number on that truck. Oh, well, he can remain nameless. For now, Ichigo fights Aizen, while Gin is in a bad spot. And that’s where this episode ends.

I wasn’t too keen on this episode, even though it is the start of an epic fight, or at least I think it is. The sad flashback really slowed things down, and I think we’re about to get even more of a slowdown tomorrow.

Best girl of the episode: Rangiku (38)

Episode rating: 6/10

anime

Bleach 307: Aizen’s big WHAT

Bleach episode 307 review

Lots of characters give out big WHATs, but rarely is Aizen one to say it. I think he has once or twice, but they weren’t really big WHATs. This one was a big WHAT. He gets betrayed by Gin, who stabs him, then reveals that he’s placed a part of his sword in Aizen’s heart. Aizen, for some reason, goes off with a WHAT. “WHAAAAAATTTTT?” he says.

Meanwhile, all he did was allow Aizen to transform, because this wasn’t even Aizen’s final form. And now, what do you think’s gonna happen? Is Aizen going to go easy on Gin, like he went easy on Tatsuki, Keigo, Chizuru, Don Kanonji, and the other boy who played the biggest role but I can’t remember his name? What about Rangiku? She didn’t do enough to earn the “best girl” title today. Gin’s gonna die, and it’s probably going to be next episode. (I never saw these episodes, as I had lost access to cable for the weeks these premiered.)

Best girl of the episode: Tatsuki (8) (back in a tie for eighth with Nanao)

Episode rating: 7/10