Rating: 3/10

Impressions:

What a…crap episode. Seriously, the animation quality dropped to something like 10% of what it is usually…not that that’s an accurate estimate, but oh well. Thus, the execution quality dropped severely as well. The animators resorted to the simplest of scene execution, which almost hurt my eyes. Some facial expressions look so ridiculous that it’s hardly even funny. And it’s not looking good in terms of storyline either. Now that Ichigo has become a bodyguard, I can’t see anything else happening aside from dodgy fights and character development between the princess and Ichigo, which I would assume should be comical, but would probably end up as just lame.

Rating: 6/10

Impressions:

I was going to say Bleach was looking somewhat promising…but then I saw this episode… subsequently episode 170…which I shall delve into somewhat later. Quality goes down, storyline becomes dull very suddenly when they screw up the execution of the episode…in my opinion of what. Also, when exactly is this arc set? As clearly…Ichigo and the others are back in the real world. Honestly, I want to see a lot more Gotei 13 involvement right now, and the Soul Society part of this new arc shows a lot more potential than the real world component. Also…new characters! They always increase potential…but it doesn’t mean the show will actually get better though. =/

Rating: 7.5/10

Impressions:

Hmm, this new filler arc may not turn out to be as boring as I thought. For one, it involves Soul Society, which means there won’t be any more retarded monster battles like in the Bounto arc, which is part of why I don’t like it. But then again, there’s also the question of quality and script. If they turn out to be above average, I will be highly pleased. But hmm, it seems like the producers are going to merge these fillers in with the events at Hueco Mundo to lengthen them out…so perhaps we will still follow the manga storyline. But they’ll need to put Ichigo back to the real world soon, since it seems like he has a rather large role in all the new events that are to occur.

The new OP and ED are quite different to previous ones, due to the increased happy-go-lucky feel. Although I prefer the older, more ‘epic’ songs (the first OP is the most spunky…), these two new additions work well with the new fillers. It makes it seem like we’ve gone back to the ‘old’ Bleach, where Ichigo and Rukia are still living together. Of course, I’m also highly interested in all the inter-gotei 13 fighting, and a Renji vs Byakuya catches my eye especially. The toned down level of fighting, and Soul Society setting make the notions of Captains exciting once again, as recently, pitted against the Espada…well let’s just say it hasn’t been so good.

Rating: 6.5/10

Impressions:

Face it, the shipwreck has already happened. This episode is quite mediocre, at least when compared to the previous episode. And now we’re going to be shown fillers for the next 60 or so episodes, seeing as how the anime is on the manga’s door step. Unless, the producers decide to reduce the pace of the anime to 1:1 anime:manga ration, which basically means 1 chapter of manga = 1 episode of anime. This is exactly what they’ve done with Naruto, or was the last time I checked. Hmm. But in any case, the fillers might actually turn out good! As for this episode though, I don’t think so.

Rating: 9/10

Impressions:

Wow. I’m impressed. I knew that, being the major fight of this arc (equivalent to Ichigo vs Byakuya), this battle would be animated at a higher standard, though the animation has impressed me even more so. I do have to complain about how overpowered all the characters are now…seriously. Despite this being a large factor in determining how entertaining the fight is, it’s just become too far fetched. A good thing is that they didn’t screw up the episode by cutting from scene to scene with different characters (namely Ishida and Renji). Inoue’s little spotlight at the end is quite sweet, though highly shounen-ish. Anyway, let’s hope the next episode follows up nicely.

Rating: 8/10

Impressions:

The momentary Grimjaww vs Ulquiorra has been superbly animated. Unfortunately, you can’t say the same for the initiating of Grimjaww vs Ichigo. Regardless, this episode has been largely exciting and suspenseful, and I’d say even for manga readers, as battles usually are. Unfortunately, there is no Bleach for the next two weeks, so the continuation of this fight will have to wait a while. It looks like a large filler arc is coming as well, which makes me wonder how it will be integrated, and what kind of plot it will have. It can’t be that hard to come up with a decent story to suit the flow of the manga, unless the budget is rather low or the scriptwriters are just lazy…

Rating: 7.8/10

Impressions:

I’m surprised that this episode actually covers three chapters of the manga (ch275 to 277), as it seems really slow, with all the explanatory talk and quirky gags. But regardless, it looks like the next few episodes will be solid fighting, and if the anime really does begin a new arc in April, it would have to be after the completion of Ichigo’s fight with Grimmjaw. I have to commend Kubo Tite for making the awesome cliff hanger for this part of the show, and the animators for executing it well (although all they have to do is really just follow the manga). It would be a whole lot more fun if I didn’t know the result of this new encounter, but it will be fun to watch anyway.

Rating: 7.6/10

Impressions:

Ahh, it seems like Bleach has finally started setting out for fillers, as apparently, it won’t be a few months before everyone is back in Soul Society for some anime original stuff. I’d say that this will drag on for as long as the Bounto arc, or even more, if the anime is to give the manga enough time to get a decent lead. I can’t say I will be looking forward to this filler arc, unless they involve some normal Bleach themes, instead of give everyone a few pokemon to fight for them, like with the Bountos. If they really started involving Soul Society a bit more daringly, and execute the story well, it might actually be like the first Soul Society arc.

As for this episode, the quality really jumped around a lot. Half the time, everything looks great, but only to be followed up with a retarded shot of Grimjaww or Inoue etc. The story is still moving forward with a below average pace, but that’s something I doubt we’ll ever see the end of. Ichigo’s fight with Grimjaww is coming up, as shown by the preview, and they better do this right. I wonder how many episodes it will take though—and I hope they don’t cut out Nell. The ‘main’ fight for Ichigo in Soul Society would be Byakuya, and that only took two episodes or something. In the manga though, Grimjaww x Ichigo really does last a long while.

Rating: 8.3/10

Impressions:

Sorry for the lack of posts, I’ve had the ‘can’t be bothered’ mood for a while now. I’ll try and get more posts up tomorrow. Anyway, Bleach 162, an episode that is actually above my expectations. Nice. But then again, my expectations have been rather low for a while now. I’m not saying the last few episodes were bad either, but this is Ichigo we’re talking about, the guy that grabbed me and hooked me into watching the show. It’s so nice watching him fight…but too bad he got owned pretty easily. And regardless of any upcoming events, he seriously should be dead. He was like…stabbed in the heart…

Oh and for the manga readers…Show Spoiler ▼

Rating: 8/10

Impressions:

Ichigo must have quite the confidence if he’s willing to sacrifice some time in fighting Ulquiorra before finding Rukia. Perhaps he thinks that he’ll be able to dispatch the number x espada in a second like he did with that former espada who he fought a while ago. Or maybe he’s just conveniently forgotten about Rukia’s dying reiatsu for the sake of continuing the story and beginning a new battle. The last few scenes of this episode are really well animated in my opinion, and it gets me highly excited for the battle that will come. I just hope the quality keeps up from now.