Director: Noriyuki Abe
Starring: Yuki Matsuoka, Johnny Yong Bosch, Fumiko Orikasa, Michelle Ruff,
Running Time: 325 minutes
Certificate: 12
Continuing to see the members of the Soul Society take on the last of the Espada (most powerful of the Arrancar), this latest instalment of Bleach will certainly appeal to lovers of the fight sequences. There’s so much battling here that it makes it very easy to lose focus as to what the point behind it all is. Most of the battles continue over from the last collection of episodes, although this time more combatants are thrown into the mix. The powers of the Espada add quite a lot of variety to the fight sequences, with those lending themselves to the visual style coming off best.
It may seem as though these fights have been going on forever, but at least we’re getting something a little new here in the shape of Espada back story. This doesn’t sit perfectly as each flashback sequence seems to take part as the Espada themselves are slain, meaning we get a last glimpse at something powerful and emotional, before forgetting about the character completely. Still, seeing how Aizen manipulates his forces to do his bidding is always worth a watch.
There are also some unique episodes, such as Ichigo becoming hypnotised and ending up in a hallucinatory world based on Aladdin. Although very odd, it adds something very different and provides welcome respite from the constant fighting. Earlier seasons of Bleach seemed intent on adding and developing new characters, but now there are so many it becomes difficult to juggle them all.
The problems with the editing still remain, where certain events are supposed to be happening at the same time, only for the episodes to be focused on a single issue. This causes a lot of jumping around and recap sequences which become irritating when marathoning your way through.
What is welcome is that it appears the show is reaching some form of closure. I’m sure they’ll be throwing twists in to keep it going for years to come, but since Aizen was revealed as a villain so long ago, it’s nice to think that we may see something resembling a worthwhile conclusion shortly, even if it is just for this particular arc.
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BLEACH Season 13 Part 2 is released on DVD on 9th June via Manga Entertainment.
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