Bleach Volume 7
Japan, 2004
Written by: Tite Kubo (Manga)
Produced by: Noriko Kobayashi, Yutaka Sugiyama, Ken Hagino
Cast: Masakazu Morita, Fumiko Orikasa, Stephanie Sheh,Yuki Matsuoka
Genre: Animation, Action, Fantasy
Rating: T for Teen
Running Time: 100 minutes
DVD Distributor: Viz Media
Website: Buy it here
I’ve never seen an episode of Bleach before. A best-selling Manga both in its native Japan and in the United States, the anime has fans all across the world, but my general reaction to anything that’s massively popular is the immediate assumption that it’s caused by mass hysteria and fluorinated water. Possible also aliens, as I was raised on The X-Files. However, I do have a copy of the new seventh volume of Bleach from VIZ media kicking around my house, begging to be watched in a tiny voice inside my left ear, loud as a clarion despite my tinfoil hat. So, I’ve taken a moment to stop scouring the Proctor & Gamble logo for satanic references and watch episodes 25 to 28, despite having no idea what the show’s about. I’ll share my thoughts with you, dear reader, as I go, like a 2 Girls 1 Cup reaction video without the visible revulsion.
Episode 25
Okay, so it seems that the series is fantasy and action based, with ghosts and ninjas and plenty of kimonos flapping dramatically in the breeze. That’s good. If it were based on one of those Mangas where comic misunderstandings threaten to disrupt magic bakeries, I wouldn’t make it past this episode. It seems that a group of ninjas, led by what appears to be the black cat from Sabrina The Teenage Witch, are going to go rescue another ninja from a fortified compound. The black cat is very stern, the ninjas are sarcastic, and one of them looks and acts like a 12-year-old girl despite having the chest of a Russ Meyer starlet. Most of the episode is spent practicing focusing ‘spirit energy’ into cannonballs. Excellent. I was beginning to think that I was the only person who planned their day using mood crystals and sharpened razors with a pyramid. The animation is standard for an anime series, efficient and effective, but it doesn’t compare to something like Death Note. It also occasionally slides into that weird, childlike hysteria where people turn into Pokemon characters, a recurring visual theme in anime that’s meant to convey particular emotions but just makes me feel like a pre-schooler watching cartoons. The script fills in a few blanks, and keeps things from getting dull between action scenes.
Episode 26
Things are clearer now. The leader of the group, Ichigo Kurosaki, appears to be a high school student who has gained special powers from a ‘soul reaper’ named Rukia. Rukia is now imprisoned by other soul reapers, and Ichigo is hell-bent on rescuing her. That part makes sense. Why he’s being shot through the air in a snow globe with a few other magic ninjas and a talking cat is a less clear, but things are moving at quite a clip now, so I’ll stop asking questions for fear of missing something and getting more confused. There’s more action in this episode, as the group becomes separated within the compound. Ichigo starts fighting another soul reaper who looks like Howie Mandel with eyeliner. During the action scenes, the animation really begins to distinguish itself, strengthening the series' visual component. Sure, there’s the standard anime triple takes and the backgrounds that look like a crayon scribbles by a child with Asperger’s, but some of the shots are inventively presented, and the editing is tight but unpredictable.
Episode 27
A few other members of the group are engaged in battle now. A large ninja named Ganju fights a guy with delicately fey eyebrows vaguely reminiscent of Mothra’s antennas. The pace is lightening quick at this point, and though I’m missing a great deal of back-story, it doesn’t matter, and I don’t seem to care.
Episode 28
Nearly everyone is fighting now, with the big-breasted tween and an archer named Uryu in a white tracksuit battling an Asian Andre the Giant. Ichigo continues his lengthy and well-presented fight with the bald guy. Ganju spars with the eyebrow fellow in a battle of brawn versus finely sculpted facial hair. The cat remains unscathed, though I’m sure he’s worried about Sabrina. I, on the other hand, am left craving more Bleach, as well as a nice cool glass of fluorinated tap water.
VIZ Media’s release of Bleach Volume 7 features the uncut episodes in Japanese with English subtitles, dubbed versions, production art, and stickers.
Rating: 7 on 10
alkratina@comicbookbin.com
