Double-Shot Anime Review: Bleach 114 &115

Ep. 114 - "Reunion, Ichigo and Rukia and Shinigamis"

Review
Continuing were the last episode of Bleach left of we get another very good episode of this show that it was seriously lacking in the previous arc. Again the only thing I find off about this episode is that it isn't one of the characters, like Ichigo's or Rukia's, voice actor's that does the recap for previous episodes. But that is just a minor complaint

One of the things that I dig about this new arc is the Spanish terms used by the new threat since it gives these villains a Hispanic feel to them. Like the name of the new threat, The Arrancars, translates to "tear off" in English and the words Yammy uses "Es fuerte" just means "He's strong." As a Hispanic this is nice little addition that gives this new arc something different from most animes. Also I like the use of the Spanish and Latin music during the fight scene that was similar to Bleach: Memories of the Nobody movie.

The Arrancar's that appeared in this episode, Yammy and Ulquiorra, were a nice example of the big threat that is ahead for Ichigo and company. While the fight with Yammy was short the appearance of Ichigo's inner hollow and getting to see Yoruichi fight again made the short fight very entertaining. With how injured Ichigo, Orihime, and Chad were it is going to be interesting to see if due to these injuries that how much more time Ichigo will take to accept Shinji's offer from previous episode to help control his inner Hollow.

The one thing that I did find odd is that Yoruichi got injured during the fight with Yammy as she was never touched during the fight. Also I found it a waste of time seeing Yoruichi eat for as long as she did on screen as it felt like the creators just wasting time in the episode.

And now with addition of Rukia, Renji, Toshiro, Ranjiku, Ikkaku, and Yumichika, who appeared at the end of this episode, the war with Aizen and the Arrancar should only get bigger and better the next time the Arrancars appear in the real world.

Episode Rating - 8.1/10

Ep. 115 - "Mission! The Soul Reapers Have Come"

Review
After what happened in the last episode with the fight with Arrancars and Rukia and other Shinigami appearing at the end of the episode I will say that this episode lack the dramatic punch from the previous episodes, other than the ending of the episode. Again more or less this episode was about 55% comedy which wasn't bad but kind of more than there needed to be.

While I liked the whole Rukia playing inspirational coach to Ichigo with her little speech but for some reason her and Ichigo talking about getting stronger just felt lame and repetitive since it has been said in other episodes many times before. Though I am glad to see Rukia back as I like the bickering brother/sister dynamic Ichigo and Rukia share makes this a much more fun show to watch. Though I wonder how much Rukia actually knows about the problem Ichigo is actually having with controlling his inner hollow as she seemed to be a little clueless about how series it is and how it is interfering with Ichigo's control over his Shinigami powers.

Also while it was nice to get more information about who the Arrancars are it didn't make for exciting thing to watch on TV. Also I got to share Ichigo's sentiment with Rukia's drawings only making the explanation of the new threat more tough to follow. And I wonder if the Soul Society actually knows how strong the Arrancars are as they only sent one captain, two lieutenants, and a few seated officers to deal with the threat. Though the choices should make the fights fun to watch as they are some of the more interesting Shinigami other than Ichigo and it will be good to see them in actual fights that aren't with someone at their own or higher strength.

The one thing I am most looking forward to in the next episode is the meeting between Aizen and his Vasto Lordes. Just from the short preview we got of the silhouette of the other Vasto Lordes I can't wait to see how the animators caught the different designs of these characters.

Episode Rating - 7.7/10