Bleach: Series 4 Part 2

Introduction

Bleach isn't exactly getting a release of Naruto swiftness from Manga Entertainment, although given the height of my anime review pile, I ought to be thankful for small mercies. But the fact of the matter is that it's been 4 months since the last instalment of Bleach, long enough for me to forget completely what has been going on. It's a good thing I write these reviews, so that I can get caught up without having to watch the whole thing over again. Previously, I was under the impression that the lengthy 4th season would get three releases, and the second release would be the hefty one of 3-discs. That appears to have fallen by the wayside, and this second part of season 4 is two discs like the first. It now seems from the RRP that the final instalment of season 4 will have 3 discs, although it's scheduled for a distant June at this point. To remind you, Season 4 is where filler strikes, and we get the studio created Bount arc, while they wait for the manga creator to come up with more original story.


You'd think that a teenager's life would be complicated enough if he could speak to ghosts. But that was only the beginning for Ichigo Kurasaki. When he literally bumped into a Shinigami named Rukia Kuchiki, he was introduced to a whole new world. The Shinigami's mission is to guide forlorn spirits known as Wholes to the Soul Society, and protect them and the living from Hollows, perverted spirits that have become monsters that prey on other souls, living or dead. They are not supposed to let the living know about this supernatural world, but not only does Ichigo see Rukia, circumstances force her to give him her powers, and train him to be a Shinigami while she regains her strength. Through their adventures, Ichigo learns that his classmates Orihime and Chad are similarly bestowed with spiritual abilities. He also meets Uryu Ishida, the last Quincy, heir to a tribe of spiritual warriors from the human world that once sought out and destroyed Hollows, before the Shinigami in turn eradicated them for disrupting the balance.


Previously, the part time Shinigami, Ichigo Kurasaki and his friends had barely returned from the Soul Society, when they found themselves facing a peculiar menace. Fortunately, or rather unfortunately, it turned out to be intensive training instead, and they found their ranks had been swelled by three more mod-souls, like Kon now inhabiting the bodies of toy dolls. Speaking of dolls, it wasn't long before the real menace arrived, the Bounts. It's a menace so serious that pretty soon a whole lot of Shinigami had left the Soul Society for the real world, including Rukia Kuchiki. The Bounts are a mystical tribe, much like the Quincies. The difference is that Bounts have developed by feeding off the souls of others in their desire to gain immortality and powerful abilities, abilities including the use of alter egos or dolls to do their bidding in battle. Led by Kariya, the Bounts are after Uryu Ishida, hoping to gain the powers of the last Quincy for their own purposes.

The next eight episodes of Season 4, the Bount arc, are presented on two discs courtesy of Manga Entertainment.

Picture

Bleach gets a 4:3 transfer that, other than the usual NTSC-PAL conversion issues, is unproblematic. The image is clear enough, the colours strong and vibrant, and the picture is as sharp as you would expect. It's a fun, colourful animation, heavy on the primary colours, and the character and world designs have universal appeal. Given that it is a long running show, you wouldn't expect a great deal of detail and frippery, but though the animation is simple, it's also very dynamic, especially in the action sequences.

Sound

You get a choice of DD 2.0 English or Japanese with a sole translated subtitle track to accompany them. The dialogue is clear, the show has some nice music, and it is all presented as vibrantly and competently as you would expect from stereo soundtracks. I've also noticed that while there is only the single subtitle track, the on screen text continues to be translated, which is an improvement over the first season.

Extras

Each episode ends in an Illustrated Guide to Soul Reapers Golden comedy sketch.

Disc 1 has a textless closing sequence, along with 14 line-art images in a gallery.

Disc 2 has the closing sequence again, and 19 line-art images in a gallery, as well as trailers for Naruto, the Naruto movie, Bleach, the Death Note live action feature, and the Bleach Video Game.

Conclusion

After the misdirection at the start of the fourth series, with five episodes devoted to a training exercise, you'd think that eight straight episodes centred on the main arc would feel like a godsend. Not exactly though, as while the Bount arc does get into full swing in this two-disc collection, it's not without its flaws. Of course it is filler, which many would consider a flaw in itself, but the Bount arc actually has surprised me so far, as it certainly isn't filler as Naruto has taught me to expect it. Naruto filler has been small stories, completely unrelated to the main storyline, and making little or no use of the universe that has been established for it. The Bount arc of Bleach on the other hand is the complete opposite. It takes what has been introduced so far in the manga storyline, and actually uses it, so we get the characters in the real world, joined by the characters from the Soul Society, the same jargon is used, and most worrying of all, there actually threatens to be character development outside of the manga storyline, at least with Uryu Ishida, whose story in this set of eight episodes develops the character more than the rest of the series has done so far. Whether the character development will stick, or whether there will be a whopping great reset button is yet to be seen.


Problem number one is that the Bounts are as uninteresting a bunch of villains as you could possibly expect. They are a cross between vampires and the immortals from Highlander, and other than Yoshino and to a lesser extent Kariya, they get little or no character nuance. The Bounts are a human tribe that extend their lives by devouring souls (usually after death), but are now breaking their traditions and laws by taking the souls of the living. Yoshino is the Bount that Ichigo first encountered, and as we learn in this instalment, her past is a tragic one, and she's trying to find a positive path for herself, in a life blighted by her nature. Kariya is the leader of the Bounts, and it's his plan that needs Uryu, the last Quincy, hence the Bounts' arrival in the city, and the threat that everyone now faces. He's a ruthless character, but again there is something about him that is masked, his true purpose is yet to be revealed. But every other Bount is a moustache-twirling villain, prone to grand pronouncements and evil laughs. The one redeeming feature is the presence of Maki Ichinose, a Shinigami that has left the Soul Society to seek his own path, after Zaraki Kenpachi killed his Captain and took over his squad. He now serves Kariya and the Bounts, and his presence adds another thorn in Ichigo's side. It also provides an extra reason for the Soul Society to get involved in what's happening, as one of their own is effectively betraying them.


The second problem is that this arc is so slow! It seems to take an age for anything of interest to happen, filler of its own expands it; comedy interludes, flashbacks, and pauses for deep and meaningless conversation. Episode 79 gets at least 7 minutes devoted to breakfast, as the team discuss their next move, and then the focus switches to the mod souls in their toy form, who then proceed to have an observational analysis of the breakfast, noting that such triviality helps to distract one from impending doom, allowing one to recollect one's thoughts and refocus the will. It's a wonder that I wasn't snoring at this point. The Bount storyline could easily have been told in a third of the time, but there are still another three discs to go at this point. Of course brevity isn't the point of filler. You need enough putty to fill the cracks. I suppose stretching out a filler storyline as thinly as it can spread is preferable to actually coming up with more than one story. It just makes it a chore to watch.


It's not bad filler, certainly not as bad as Naruto's has been, but it is slow, and it is dull, with only a few moments of inspiration serving to keep me interested. Where this collection leaves the story, with perhaps the most interesting filler character out of the picture, it doesn't bode well for the final instalment of the arc. It may be a spectacular cliffhanger, and an emotional development in the storyline, but I don't actually see a lot of room for improvement at this point. I hope that the final three discs will prove me wrong, although we have a slightly lengthy wait to find out.