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Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

Bleach

  
  

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Triplets
00:22 / 21.09.07
Did anyone else notice, at this point, the shot in the intro of Inoue disappearing into the sands of ***** *****? Fucking chilling imagery. And that's just the intro.

This episode of Bleach really got to me. Inoue's aborted stolen kiss with Ichigo was heartbreaking. She realises that, even when she might not get the chance ever again, she would be crossing a line or, at least, it wouldn't be true.

In terms of the bigger Bleach arc; what choice do Our Heroes have other than invading the underworld? They've stormed heaven once, after all.
 
 
Triplets
00:26 / 21.09.07
I had been trying to write a bigger answer to Seth's rebuttal of my looking at the sexism in Bleach. However, between work and real life I've not had the time.

I will say that I agree with almost all the points Seth makes regarding the women in this series. I would also say, though, that just because this is a boy's fighting anime does not make it any more exempt than anything else.

But, yes, I was very much too quick to lump all of the women in Bleach into one misrepresented category, which is almost as bad as sexism itself. I was being a shining knight feminist as it were, which is just as problematic.
 
 
Shiny: Well Over Thirty
06:52 / 21.09.07
One thing I'm noticing and approving of with Bleach is how often and how well it puts it's characters through the wringer with giving them one thing they really painfully want, almost to the exclusion of all else, and then making them unable to have that thing. Chad wants to protect Ichigo and fight by his side but he can't, Orihime wants to kiss Ichigo but she can't. Byakuya wants to keep his word but he can't. Hitsugaya want's to protect and to love (in some form or another) Hinamori, but he can't. Poor Hinamori herself wants to protect and serve the illusory Aizen she believes in, but since he doesn't even exist she can't. Ichigo himself just wants to be strong enough that he can protect everyone around him, and while he usually succeeds in the end, he goes through long, painful periods of not being strong enough. It's a remarkably common theme in Bleach, and it's one that has for my money it's one that has a huge amount of emotional punch.
 
 
madfigs #32, now with wasabi
08:01 / 21.09.07
The animation quality of this episode was fantastic, some of my favorite out of the whole series so far. I also though the flashback montage was really effective, a perfect summary of what has shaped Orihime's feelings toward Ichigo.

It seems like we're only a few episodes away from a new intro, and I wonder what kind of hints about the future this one is going to provide. I always find the Bleach openings and closings interesting, because they manage to include pivotal images that aren't very noticeable until after the fact. For example:




I think this opening has always made it pretty clear that Orihime was going to end up in Hueco Mundo, but these images become much more powerful now that we have the proper context for them.

It's getting harder and harder to resist the manga, but since this is the only TV show I'm up to date on I enjoy being surprised every week.
 
 
Mysterious Transfer Student
12:01 / 21.09.07
It seems like we're only a few episodes away from a new intro

New open *and* close with #143, according to ANN. Rock!

Madfigs is quite right: the OP and ED sequences, more and more of late, give a hell of a lot of info about the story that doesn't become obvious until later; that and they're often superbly arranged. OP #6 (the current) is particularly well choreographed - is it my imagination or does the lightning-fast zoom backward from Seireitei succeed in matching the appearances of the Shinigami on screen to the drum beats in the music, only to repeat the same trick moments later with Aizen and the Arrancar? A terrific touch.
 
 
Razor Wind
22:28 / 22.09.07
I feel really,really moronic right now,because I've seen that notebook a thousand times in the OP and never made the connection,even after I saw it in the manga >_<.
 
 
Razor Wind
23:45 / 22.09.07
Coming from the same user who did the translations of the zanpakuto and other names,we have translations of the poems that were included in the Japanese volumes - BLEACH volume poems. Cover for v.28 is a minor spoiler,so don't scroll down that far ;-) (we're up to v.27,BTW).
For dessert,a summary of the drama CD.
 
 
Seth
23:44 / 27.09.07
"Don't get involved with me any more."

Red rag to a bull.

Yamamoto-Genryūsai gets called an asshole... Tatsuki gets lied to horribly... and two old friends turn up again after a long time absent. Well, two lots of two old friends, but the two who attend Karakura High have a lot more explaining to do than Kenpachi and Byakuya.

Funny how we only get to hear the daft explanation. I'm guessing we'll have to wait a while for the others.

I'm twenty four hours late, friends. You guys forget how to post?
 
 
Razor Wind
23:44 / 27.09.07
Attention,142 is out. Go. Now.
 
 
Seth
00:09 / 28.09.07
Jinx!
 
 
Seth
00:22 / 28.09.07
What just happened?
 
 
Razor Wind
01:13 / 28.09.07
The two of us posted at exactly the same time about roughly the same subject.
 
 
Razor Wind
01:29 / 28.09.07
Liked this one. Showing Tatsuki's frantic search was another Good Thing,and the sending of Byakuya and Kenpachi to make sure they follow the orders was really cool. I half-felt that they'd take them on anyway;Ichigo definitely.

...though the Shinigami Cup bit at the end sent me to a bad,bad place that's populated by yaoi fangirls o_0.
 
 
Shiny: Well Over Thirty
06:00 / 28.09.07
I think my favourite part of this one had to be the scene with Tatsuki and Ichigo - I mean it was horrible, but also fantastic. While I totally understand that Ichigo quite reasonably feels he can't get the almost powerless Tatsuki involved in the battle, and that he knows there is no way on earth Tatsuki wouldn't be helping if he told her the truth I still kinda hated him for a few seconds there. I mean Tatsuki is the same kind of person as him in a lot of ways I think and not being able to help and not even knowing precisely what's wrong will be killing her every bit as much as it would be killing him. I almost immediately forgave him of course, because really what else could he have done, but still I was right there with Tatsuki in wanting to beat it out of him at the time.

I was also majorly surprised to see Urahara apparently willing to send the gang off to Hueco Mundi quite so willingly - given how Ichigo can't beat even a half maimed mid level Arrancar yet sending the team off to the lair of at least ten far more powerful Espada seems completely batshit insane right now - regardless if it's the right thing to do. Still I suppose it only seems slightly more insane than sending them to the sould society way back when, and that worked out alright.

Interested to see Ishida back, without and explanation so far of whether he's breaking his work to his father, and how he came to do so if he is. One supposes he might have some wiggle room in his oath, given Ichigo is technically a Vaizard, not a pure Shinigami, and the mission involves going directly against soul society orders. Still I think I like it better with Ishida reappearing mysteriously, with the explanation no doubt to be played out over flashbacks than I would if we'd been following him all this time.
 
 
Mysterious Transfer Student
08:52 / 28.09.07
I'm twenty four hours late, friends. You guys forget how to post?

I got held up, dude. (waves fan evasively)

Bleach sure is having more than its share of Emmy-nominable moments lately, eh? Orihime last week, and everything with Tatsuki this week - the emotion displayed by her confronting Ichigo was so powerful I was actually shocked. Being honest, I love Tatsuki, delight in her paladin-like relationship with Orihime and always disliked the fact that she wasn't properly included in the Karakura home team. Now we're seeing what's been too long deferred, her stepping forward and demanded to be counted, forcing Ichigo to recognize that just like him, she can't not protect her friends. And I'm very happy to see, courtesy of the returning preview slot, that this story is not going to be let drop - and that Keigo and Mizuiro, whose ignorance has been played largely for laughs up 'til now, will be joining in.

Yama-jii's kind of a dick, no? While the decision to disbar Ichigo from rescuing Orihime might seem justifiable, in my dreams it's going to be addressed at some point that his leadership of the Court Guardian Divisions is pretty flawed. After all, someone as old and powerful as he should have been able to notice and prevent Aizen's decades-long plotting - not to mention 12th Division's myriad crank science projects and attendant screw-ups - yet all he seems to do is hang about like a steroidal Gandalf. More than that, will Bleach last long enough for the corrupt and sickeningly unequal regime of Soul Society to be addressed, opposed and transformed, or is that just a pipe dream? I suspect the latter, since questioning authority - as opposed to blunt rebelliousness - doesn't seem to be a real element in the show.

I think there's more to say here, about how we've accepted Kubo's vision of 'heaven' as a mystically martial fantasy of pre-Meiji Japan, and whether he intends on subverting that at any stage. Or is the subversion present in Ichigo himself, as someone who breaks all of Soul Society's boundaries and traditions with his very presence, something that was openly expressed in his duel with Byakuya? This is something I've been ruminating on for a little while now, so I'd welcome some dialogue here if anyone's interested.
 
 
Seth
21:46 / 28.09.07
After all, someone as old and powerful as he should have been able to notice and prevent Aizen's decades-long plotting - not to mention 12th Division's myriad crank science projects and attendant screw-ups - yet all he seems to do is hang about like a steroidal Gandalf.

Yamamoto = Yoda circa Phantom Menace through Revenge of the Sith and I claim my five pounds.

As to your Soul Society speculation... Aizen's plan as revealed so far involves taking on Soul Society's absent King, who would seem to be something of a demiurge figure given the lack of information we've had on him so far. I'm of the opinion that it would be very hard to tell that particular story and not address the decadence of Soul Society, although whether it remains anything more than subtext remains to be seen.

Interesting translators note from the comic: the word that both Tatsuki and Chad use for *friend* in this episode is *nakama* which means a lot more than friend, a word with no direct translation that also has elements of "brother/sister" and "colleague." I'm still not spoiling the anime for myself, just reading the relevant manga chapters for each new episode.
 
 
Seth
23:37 / 28.09.07
Best web page ever.
 
 
Seth
02:04 / 04.10.07
Ah, God bless California. Even though I'm not actually getting the episodes any earlier technically, it still feels like I am. New Bleach at 7pm on a Wednesday evening, old dubbed Bleach at 9.30pm every night (yes, the dubbing really is a travesty), download speeds of 300 KB/s, Bleach action figures and bags in every Borders store. It's a kind of spiritual homecoming.

This truly felt like the episode we've been waiting for since the Arrancar Arc first began. It hit so many marks, tied together so many story elements.

Inoue Orihime's power is now defined much more accurately as a form of reality manipulation, an impingement on the territory of God as Aizen succinctly put it. As one who seeks to impinge on God's territory himself it's clearly something that he'd want. Her demonstration before the amassed Arrancar was a stunning piece of character work for Grimmjow... as soon as he told her that there was one more thing he wanted her to heal I started laughing and clapping at the Macbook screen. Superb stuff.

I loved Ishida's account of himself and why he'd chosen to join the team. His icy cold perfectionism, his spurious self-serving logic, his self-justifications... he was always going to find a way out of honouring the deal he made with his Dad. All delivered in a sequence that restores the old camaraderie/rivalry that these three friends found when they first bonded in their mission to storm Soul Society, with Strawberry being shit at things at which the Quincy excels and getting ribbed mercilessly for it, and with Sado gently observing it almost unnoticed by the others. Ishida, Chad and Ichigo are back fighting side by side, and it restores a great deal of hope in a series that has felt increasingly painful in recent months.

Also loved Urahara's mock-coy sneaking into Ryuken's bloody bizarre hospital. The fan across the mouth never gets old.

And finally Tatsuki, Keigo and Mizuiro get introduced to the biggest trickster/manipulator of them all, the guy who makes even Aizen seem straightforward by comparison. The grit in the oyster that makes the pearl, the meddler, the irritant. The first of my cheers went up in the recap at the start of the episode, in which Tatsuki merited mention for the first time. I loved that these three are actually much closer then they ever appeared before, people who clearly were good friends off camera, or who at least knew each other well enough to really care about each other. Urahara has plans for them, he wants in for them whereas Ichigo wants them out.

And last but by no means least... Isshin and Ryuken. Now that's what I call a scene. Well, two scenes if you include Shinigami Cup Golden. They're so much like their sons.

Best show on telly right now. Full of wikked and kick ass.
 
 
Razor Wind
19:58 / 04.10.07
Extra Added Stuff makes me happy. Tatsuki,Keigo and Mizuiro brought back the memories (heh,wrote that as moemories - subconscious longing for Tatsuki? You be the judge) of the early high school episodes. It brought home how grim and serious it's all become,and how,in the beginning,he was a normal teen with friends that he saw every day. Then that heroic power progression thing kicked in,he and his powered friends blasted off,thrown into one fight after another and,without quite meaning to,left them behind in the process. Yet they're still friends and want to help him.

The thing I'm getting at is that it's rare in shonen to see the 'left behind' a) getting mad about it without it being treated as comic relief and b) treated as if they're part of the main plot. Usually,when they are shunted to the sidelines they stay there,and aren't allowed back out until they can challenge the hero and lose hilariously/inspiringly.

Really want to see how Urahara will 'help' this little trio. Training to bring out their hidden powers? Tell them the whole story,or just about Ichigo? Give them sweets (he would,too)?

Less pleasing was this little comment:
(to Tatsuki)"You're not exactly one to talk about being stupidly obvious,you know"

No. NO WAY IN HELL. We have one definite love,one strongly subtexted and now one implied-but-obvious-in-hindsight. That makes three. THREE!
I'm not against it,I just want to know how the fuck he does it. Probably the anti-hero/messiah combination.

And finally...
Two avatars fished from the vibrant,fecund waters of Livejournal as I trawled the 'shipping sites:

Perfect.


Oscillates back and forth between disturbing and amusing. <_<
 
 
Mysterious Transfer Student
21:11 / 04.10.07
The Tatsuki & co. material this week was so wonderful for portraying an authentically characterised triple-act, a friendship with rules and interplay we've never really seen before but which is entirely in keeping with their established characters. Tatsuki's bullish impetuousness and attendant frustration at being unsure how to act was undercut with Asano knowingly using his irritating buffoon persona to spur her on, while Mizuiro's sarcastic politeness proved to be a cover for some very direct and sympathetic counsel. How great these three are; it's a shame it seems as if the focus will be off them for a while now, but the show is probably better served by moving the action wholesale to HM with the odd comedy episode for filler, a la the (first) rescue arc.

Grimmjow's comeback was a real 'fuck yeah!' moment for a character who is still - it's easy to forget - as nasty as hell, and a fine entry point into the machinations of Aizen's court, something we'll surely be seeing plenty of in the months to come. It occurs to me that by treating Grimmjow the way he has - humiliating him and brutally punishing him, promoting a weaker acolyte over his head, then abruptly restoring him to power and status in a spectacularly bloody fashion - Aizen has very effectively guaranteed the loyalty of someone whose rebelliousness could have posed a threat to his throne. We'll see how it unfolds, but GJ is unquestionably the star of the current run and I can't wait to see what he'll do next.

In the meantime, I want to see more of Aizen's incredibly stylish HQ, most notably:



Huge couch is huge!

No show next week, damn it. Does it bite more or less when it's not filler?
 
 
Triplets
11:38 / 05.10.07
One thing that interests me about Bleach is, as someone says above, Ichigo just wants enough FIGHTING SPIRIT that he can protect everyone he loves, and it occurs that he's never had anyone actually die on his watch yet (apart from his mum which is arguably enough, but anyway) and I'm curious to see just what he'll do if or when that happens.
 
 
Seth
14:02 / 05.10.07
Not only that... he hasn't killed anyone yet either (not if you're playing strip out the filler mind games like I am). How will he deal with that?
 
 
Seth
13:45 / 15.10.07
Dattebayo are dropping Bleach.

Due to complexity of the new series and also due to schedule conflict with Bleach, Dattebayo regrettably announces that Genshiken will replace Bleach on our anime lineup.

Has anyone been comparing fansub quality with other groups? This is a sad day.
 
 
Mysterious Transfer Student
18:02 / 15.10.07
Uhh, I'm probably going to keep my powder dry on this for a little while as DB have something of a track record for trolling.

If it comes to it, the only other major group I know are Flomp-Rumbel, who seem to be fairly fast and accurate, though they have a penchant for unnecessary obscenities.
 
 
Triplets
21:40 / 15.10.07
Dattebayo are dropping Bleach.


  
 
Razor Wind
22:42 / 15.10.07
It might not be that bad. We may get a repeat of the Bure-Tsuki/a.f.k. thing whereby they catch up after the series they're concentrating on finishes,and we get to compare their quality with whatever new translations pop up. And they will,I'm sure of it — Bleach is too popular not to have others try to outdo DB.
 
 
Seth
23:05 / 15.10.07
I have no doubt that there will be subs. There will be good guidelines given that the comic was translated ages ago. We'll see come this Thursday innit.
 
 
Seth
22:17 / 17.10.07
Well, we're continuing in the fine tradition of Bleach opening themes being fantastic and Bleach closing themes being bizarre choices. The visuals for the opening are odd, I don't know if it was because it was released ahead of the episode but it feels very different, some great visuals and some that felt out of place or unfinished. The closing visuals are a gut punch, especially the very end. Now I'm just waiting on the episode itself.
 
 
Razor Wind
22:51 / 17.10.07
Before the next episode,a little diversion.

Bleach Characters DVD (couldn't find any other reference)

I've no idea whether this is a whole DVD or just the extras off some Japan-only box set. It's a series of very short showcases/skits of each of the captains and vice-captains of the Gotei 13. They're without dialogue or even sound,just set to the same half-generic anime theme song.
Worth watching,if only to see some otherwise-unused characters again. It's set around the beginning of the Strawberry Gang's first 'visit' to Soul Society,so Aizen is pre-bastard.
 
 
madfigs #32, now with wasabi
06:45 / 18.10.07
As Transfer-san correctly guessed, Dattebayo was trolling us last week. Episode 144 is up right on schedule, and as always my download isn't going fast enough.

It sounds like that "character DVD" is a collection of the 3rd closing theme, which ran after episodes 26-38. Is this what they're like? I actually really like that song, and it was a good way to help you keep track of all the new characters who were introduced at the same time.
 
 
Seth
10:17 / 18.10.07
Bloody Dattebayo. I can see the funny side though.

Yeah, the Character DVD is a compilation of the third closing theme. They're all pretty cool, especially with all the little cameo spoilers in there if you keep your eyes open (Komamura's eye, Urahara in a Captain's cloak, Yoruichi's Shinigami form). Plus I love the third closing theme, it's one of the best of the bunch.

Once again we have filler integrated into the main arc. Here it's nicely self aware, when Ichigo and Ishida use the term *classic* to describe the booby traps you could easily read *crap* in its place. It's a good platform for the two to bicker, especially considering it allows breathing space the writers to contrast their two very different approaches to infiltrating the enemy, something that couldn't be done in the Soul Society arc after they were separated so soon. Ishida = stealth, run and hide, fight only when you have to. Ichigo = find the nearest guy and beat him to a pulp for information.

And after all this time it's fantastic to see them fight. If you're doing the mental gymnastics that I am to separate filler from canon then this is the first time we've seen Ishida in a proper scrap since Mayuri, and the first time we've seen Chad properly in action since Kyoraku (bar a couple of instances in which they got their asses handed to them at the start of the Arrancar arc, which were over too fast to count). And I'm very thankful that they've turned the tables on Ichigo in doing so, especially in the case of Chad who really needs to teach his friend a lesson.

On the side-by-side manga read level I didn't realise from the anime that Grimmjow actually killed Luppi last episode. I thought it was a possibility, but the framing of the shot after GJ fires his cero blocked what had actually happened. The manga leaves no room for misinterpretation. Grimmjow punches his hand through Luppi's chest and then incinerates him from the waist up, leaving only his legs. I'm not all about wanting to see violence in the cartoon, but if they're going to cut it out then I wish they'd do it in a way that makes it clear.
 
 
madfigs #32, now with wasabi
05:19 / 26.10.07
So, 145 is out and we finally get to see the rest of the Espada. Maybe everyone else had already figured this out, but that scene made me realize their similarity to the Gotei 13. Obviously the ten Arrancar plus Aizen, Gin, and AV club president Tousen make 13, and on a superficial level we know there's one huge guy, one old guy, a weird robot guy... it seems like there may be a lot of parallels between them and the shinigami captains. I don't know if this is just thematic, or if it's something that Aizen is setting up on purpose.

It's interesting that a lot of the prominent shots in the opening sequence this season have been from the first couple episodes, whereas last season a lot of them weren't seen until the very end. I wonder if something surprising is in store they didn't want to give away? The other thing that the titles seem to suggest is that we'll be seeing Renji and Rukia in Hueco Mundo, although I think last season's had a whole bunch of other people there as well.
 
 
Mysterious Transfer Student
11:10 / 26.10.07
'Shall I explain the concept of a mirage to you?'

My man Uryuu Ishida, master of condescension. While not a lot happened in this episode, Seth was right to mention how good the Ichigo/Ishida/Chad interplay feels compared to the fractured atmosphere of the recent run; of course there's a big Orihime-shaped hole in the middle of the bickering, so it can't simply feel like the rescue arc all over again no matter the numerous parallels.

The first full meeting of the Espada and we get to see Kubo's genius for character design back in full effect. Pinky Megane, The Jukebox has Two Voices, Nearly Topless Ganguro and Mr. Dinner Plate for a Head are sufficiently freaky for my tastes, I'm definitely hoping for some generous back story. And Aizen himself really is Anti-Dad, what with his slide projector and telling Grimmjow off for leaving the table early.

Next week: sandworms!
 
 
Seth
16:29 / 29.10.07
I'm really interested to see exactly what these guys are... when I saw the opening credits I initially thought they'd be new filler characters (albeit with much better design), but it turns out I'm totally wrong... they're direct from the comic and it turns out that Hueco Mundo may not be without its madcap comedy elements. Haven't read ahead so I don't know how they'll play out, but they're certainly emphasizing the cuteness at the opening aren't they?
 
 
Seth
05:34 / 01.11.07
Best. Episode. Ever.

I only wish I had more time to write about it before work.

Yay Byakuya!
 
  

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