Bleach episode 294 review

Old Man Yama finally joins the battle! He waited until everyone else was incapacitated, of course. And now he’s going to take on Aizen… but wait a minute, that’s Wanderweiss’s music! Wanderweiss shows up for the sole purpose of taking on Yamamoto. And he succeeds, at least in the sense of beating Yamamoto, but not in the sense of taking out everybody else, like Aizen literally applauds Yamamoto from avoiding. Then Aizen walks over to kill Old Man Yama, but he reaches out and grabs Aizen. His power increases, and then here comes Ichigo to save the day.

Despite what I’ve written here, this was actually a pretty boring episode that I checked out of halfway through. I wanted to see an all-out Aizen vs. Yamamoto battle. That would have been entertaining, but instead we get Wanderweiss showing up for the sole purpose of making sure we don’t get an Aizen vs. Yamamoto battle. And thus it’s Ichigo’s time again to go at Aizen. News flash: it’s going to take a little longer until Ichigo has a legitimate shot.

Best girl of the episode: Soi Fon (30) (not really for much, but she appeared in the recrap of the previous episode, so I had to pick some female)

Episode rating: 6/10

Bleach episode 293 review

I wish I knew what to tell them. Soi Fon goes Shadow Clone Jutsu on Aizen, while Toshiro and Shunsui record direct hits on him. Yet when Aizen reveals the truth, Toshiro actually stabbed Momo instead. So now Toshiro’s furious. Not a good idea to attack Aizen in a moment of rage. Basically, all the Soul Reapers are getting owned by Aizen, and the Visoreds too. Ichigo isn’t allowed to participate as of yet, which is for the plot and for the plot only. And where the hell is Old Man Yama? Surely the strongest (if also the stupidest) Captain could be useful right now. Oh, he’s coming next episode? Okay then.

Watching Aizen own everyone is amusing in some ways, and frustrating in others. We know by now that not a single one of these Soul Reapers or Visoreds stands a remote chance against him. Yet it’s entertaining to watch how Aizen beats every one of them. So, it’s a mixed bag which I’m perfectly happy with.

Best girl of the episode: Soi Fon (29)

Episode rating: 7/10

Bleach episode 292 review

Ichigo faces off against Aizen and predictably gets schooled. Twice during the episode, Ichigo utters a “WHAT” worthy of note. This episode was such a downer compared to the last one. In fact, it was very forgettable. Ichigo kept trying stuff again Aizen and kept getting stopped. Then at the end, all the Soul Reapers line up to fight Aizen, even though they’re still under his spell and nothing they do can help.

And if you wanted Hiyori to die, sorry, she’ll live, because Ichigo brought Retsu Unohana with him. Please, Retsu, do the right thing and let Hiyori die! Or at least heal her but make her lose her voice box. I really don’t want to ever hear her voice again.

Best girl of the episode: Soi Fon (28) (she had a couple of good lines)

Episode rating: 5/10

Bleach episode 291 review

Yikes. I never saw Tosen die the first time around in Bleach, so seeing how it went down was very powerful this time around. Komamura fights him while flashbacks tell the story of their time together. Eventually, Tosen stops Komamura, but 69 guy (as I predicted) steps in to beat Tosen. Tosen’s dead now, right?

Nope. He comes out of his Resurreccion and gets to see Komamura and Shuhei. And he’s about to repent from his ways, when Aizen kills him out of nowhere. Great job by Aizen building up his villain prowess and making sure we hate him. I was actually about to start cheering for Aizen in the battle against Shinji, since I hate Shinji because he likes Hiyori. But now, I’m ready to root against Aizen. Not giving Tosen his moment was an ultimate evil move and he ought to be hated for that. Just after he destroys Shinji, please.

Best girl of the episode: Kakyo (2)

Episode rating: 9/10