<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/2011-01-02Bleach 5 pt 1.jpg">
<b>Review of Bleach #10 by Sarah</b>
Season 5 Part 1 Episodes 92-99<br>
And so the Bount Arc continues into Season 5 as the Bounts arrive in the world of the Soul Society hell-bent on revenge. Fast on their heels follow Ichigo and co. complete with all four Mod Souls in easily portable plushie form (yes, even Kon tags along too, not that he’s much use to anyone&hellip
so that they can help track the Bounts. But now the Bounts are able to absorb the plentiful reishi in the Soul Society and this makes them super-powerful! Jin Kariya’s aim is to find the Joukai Crest and the other remaining Bounts (and their Dolls) do their best to distract and destroy anyone who gets in their way.<br>
While the Thirteen Court Guard Squads try to fend off the intruders, help comes to Ichigo and Uryuu from a totally unexpected source in the form of a mysterious woman with a remarkably familiar face. Does she hold the clue to the Bounts’ mysterious past – and the dubious role played by the Soul Society in their creation? <br>
Filler: a necessary evil when animating on on-going manga? It seems to be commonly assumed that filler episodes are unable to add any significant character development that might contradict what’s still to come in the manga and so, ultimately, proves a dismally unfulfilling viewing experience, compounded by low-budget animation.
Yet, as filler arcs go, the Bount Arc is probably one of the more successful (or should that be least irritating?) of the long-running shounen series. It has its infelicitous moments – but it compensates for those with some sizzling fights.<br>
Visually, the quality is still variable; there’s way too much substandard (cheap) footage. Even the characters’ features can vary drastically from episode to episode, depending, I guess, on the differing talents of the animation teams. But at least the fights are worth waiting for: here, the first to watch out for is the gritty confrontation between Jin Kariya and ice-cool, imperturbable Captain Byakuya Kuchiki. Then Maki Ichinose, the onetime Soul Reaper and Kariya’s right-hand man, comes up against Kenpachi Zaraki, his captain back in the day. Ichinose has been nursing a grudge against Kenpachi Zaraki over many years – and the sparks literally fly when these two cross swords.<br>
In fact, if you’re a fan of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads (as I am, I freely admit it!) then you won’t be disappointed, as almost everyone makes a guest appearance (albeit a brief one) and you can have fun spotting your favourite Soul Reapers. Less successful – from my point of view, anyway – are the lesser Bounts’ battles which have a tendency to drag on. And on. Yawn. Although it has to be said that watching the tables being turned on the Seireitei’s unscrupulous mad scientist, Mayuri Kurotsuchi, as he is pitted against the elder Bount Sawatari, is rather satisfying.<br>
The leads in the English voice cast acquit themselves again with panache – and Sam Regal and Troy Baker are particularly good as Ichinose and Kariya respectively. Just a couple of performances grate on the ears: Michael McConnohie as Kurodo and Stephanie Sheh as the Bount female Yoshi – but it could be argued that they sound that way because their characters are meant to be annoying. That kind of scratchy, screechy delivery belongs more to the Cartoon Network style of voice acting and makes it harder to take the characters seriously.<br>
In Summary
Season 5 of Bleach turns out to be surprisingly entertaining and faithful to the spirit of the original. If you’ve come this far, you’ll certainly want to see what becomes of the Bounts in the second part of the season.<br>
<br>
<b>Final score: 7 out of 10</b>
<b>Additional screencaps</b>
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2011-01-02bleach 5 1d.jpg">
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2011-01-02Bleach 5 1 xx.jpg">
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2011-01-02Bleach 5 1 yy.jpg">
<b>Review of Bleach #10 by Sarah</b>
Season 5 Part 1 Episodes 92-99<br>
And so the Bount Arc continues into Season 5 as the Bounts arrive in the world of the Soul Society hell-bent on revenge. Fast on their heels follow Ichigo and co. complete with all four Mod Souls in easily portable plushie form (yes, even Kon tags along too, not that he’s much use to anyone&hellip
so that they can help track the Bounts. But now the Bounts are able to absorb the plentiful reishi in the Soul Society and this makes them super-powerful! Jin Kariya’s aim is to find the Joukai Crest and the other remaining Bounts (and their Dolls) do their best to distract and destroy anyone who gets in their way.<br>While the Thirteen Court Guard Squads try to fend off the intruders, help comes to Ichigo and Uryuu from a totally unexpected source in the form of a mysterious woman with a remarkably familiar face. Does she hold the clue to the Bounts’ mysterious past – and the dubious role played by the Soul Society in their creation? <br>
Filler: a necessary evil when animating on on-going manga? It seems to be commonly assumed that filler episodes are unable to add any significant character development that might contradict what’s still to come in the manga and so, ultimately, proves a dismally unfulfilling viewing experience, compounded by low-budget animation.
Yet, as filler arcs go, the Bount Arc is probably one of the more successful (or should that be least irritating?) of the long-running shounen series. It has its infelicitous moments – but it compensates for those with some sizzling fights.<br>
Visually, the quality is still variable; there’s way too much substandard (cheap) footage. Even the characters’ features can vary drastically from episode to episode, depending, I guess, on the differing talents of the animation teams. But at least the fights are worth waiting for: here, the first to watch out for is the gritty confrontation between Jin Kariya and ice-cool, imperturbable Captain Byakuya Kuchiki. Then Maki Ichinose, the onetime Soul Reaper and Kariya’s right-hand man, comes up against Kenpachi Zaraki, his captain back in the day. Ichinose has been nursing a grudge against Kenpachi Zaraki over many years – and the sparks literally fly when these two cross swords.<br>
In fact, if you’re a fan of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads (as I am, I freely admit it!) then you won’t be disappointed, as almost everyone makes a guest appearance (albeit a brief one) and you can have fun spotting your favourite Soul Reapers. Less successful – from my point of view, anyway – are the lesser Bounts’ battles which have a tendency to drag on. And on. Yawn. Although it has to be said that watching the tables being turned on the Seireitei’s unscrupulous mad scientist, Mayuri Kurotsuchi, as he is pitted against the elder Bount Sawatari, is rather satisfying.<br>
The leads in the English voice cast acquit themselves again with panache – and Sam Regal and Troy Baker are particularly good as Ichinose and Kariya respectively. Just a couple of performances grate on the ears: Michael McConnohie as Kurodo and Stephanie Sheh as the Bount female Yoshi – but it could be argued that they sound that way because their characters are meant to be annoying. That kind of scratchy, screechy delivery belongs more to the Cartoon Network style of voice acting and makes it harder to take the characters seriously.<br>
In Summary
Season 5 of Bleach turns out to be surprisingly entertaining and faithful to the spirit of the original. If you’ve come this far, you’ll certainly want to see what becomes of the Bounts in the second part of the season.<br>
<br>
<b>Final score: 7 out of 10</b>
<b>Additional screencaps</b>
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2011-01-02bleach 5 1d.jpg">
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2011-01-02Bleach 5 1 xx.jpg">
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2011-01-02Bleach 5 1 yy.jpg">