BLEACH – THE RESCUE VOLUME 13
May 31st 2009 22:37
Category: Videos, Television
Based on the original Bleach manga by: Tite Kubo
Director: Noriyuki Abe
Screenplay by: Masahi Sogo et al
Producers: Noriko Kobayashi (TV Tokyo), Yutaka Sugiyama & Ken Hagino
Starring: Johnny Yong Bosch (Ichigo Kurosaki), Michelle Ruff (Rukia Kuchiki), Wally Wingert (Renji Abarai), Karen Strassman (Momo Hinamori), Kyle Herbert (Ganju Shiba), Doug Erholz (Gin Ichimaru), Megan Hollingshead (Rangiku Matsumoto), Michael Lindsay (Urahara), Michael Sorich (Tessai) Liam O’Brien (Captain Ukitake), Dan Woren (Byakuya Kuchiki), Stephanie Sheh (Orihime Inoue), Derek Stephen Price (Uryu Ishida), Kate Higgins (Nanao Ise), Jamieson Price (Chad), David Lodge (Kenpachi Zaraki), Steve Kramer (Captain Kyoraku), Steve Staley (Toshiro Hitsugaya) Richard Epcar (Zangetsu), Spike Spencer (Hanataro), Terrence Stone (Yoruichi cat form) & Wendee Lee (Yoruichi human form)
Produced by: TV Tokyo, dentsu & studio Pierrot
English version produced by: VIZ Media LLC
Released by: Madman Entertainment
Running Time: 100 minutes Rating: M
It interesting how I’ve been able to keep up with this particular series every so often, it seems that the local outlet of a major franchise store seems to order in various volumes now and then to fill out its small anime section and they usually find themselves in the hands of the Green Lantern. Coincidence? Pure blind luck or just one of those things that seem to happen now and then? As anyone who is wise in the ways of both the force and the energies of the cosmos can tell you there is no such thing as luck or coincidence, it is simply a sign of the ebb and flow of life. Or to put another way it’s a moment of good opportunity waiting to be taken up. Pontificating aside though I picked up this volume on my way to my local watering hole just before engaging in the usual routine of furniture moving, set up and raffle ticket selling that is my lot on a Tuesday night. It’s a hard life but someone has to do it…
Now for those of you who are not familiar with the Bleach series here’s a run down. Essentially when a person dies their spirit falls into either one of two types, wholes or hollows. Hollows are malevolent entities that have either become that way through the agency of another hollow or negative feelings on behalf of the original spirit, causing it to become transformed and twisted. Hollows often prey upon their relatives, any wholes roaming around and anything they can pretty much catch and eat. Enter Soul Reapers, these are a spirit police whose duties consist of assisting wholes into the Soul Society or afterlife and reaping hollows, a process which usually cleanses the hollow of any negativity unless it was a horrendous criminal in its previous life in which case that’s when the gates of Hell are literally cast open and something takes a hold of the unrepentant sinner and drags them into the depths of the infernal realms. Definitely not a pleasant experience, probably akin to being locked into a studio that is on fire and being forced to watch endless reruns of Big Brother whilst you are being gradually fricasseed.
Into this calling has been dropped Ichigo, our orange haired protagonist who has reluctantly taken up the mantle of soul reaper due to the actions of Rukia Kuchiki, a soul reaper of the 13 Court Squads. Ichigo despite being something of a loner feels obligated to Rukia, so much so that when see is taken back to the Soul Society for various crimes he decides that he will attempt to save her no matter what. In this rather somewhat foolhardy enterprise he is aided by his friends Chad, Uryu and Orihime as well as receiving help from Yoruichi, a talking black cat. This team of would be rescuers pick up help in the form of Ganju Shiba and Hanataro, a healer and member of Squad 4. It is interesting to note though that this volume doesn’t open on the drama occurring in the Soul Society and the Seireitei, the quarter where the Soul Reapers dwell in particular. Instead it opens with a one shot tale back in the real world, in Ichigo’s home Karakura town.
In the real world this story’s focus are on the efforts of Don Kanonji, the world’s premier spiritualist, attempting to do something about the flagging ratings of his show. Looking like a reject from Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club band the Don immediately lets himself be ‘guided’ into a course that will see his popularity soar higher than global oil prices, all of it caught on wonderful technicolour and then shown live as a special report on his TV show, the one with the flagging ratings. Its an amusing little story that provides a few chuckles although one it was over I did find myself thinking how nice it would be to get back to the main story, which occurred with the next episode, of course on a four episode volume this meant that the were now only three episodes to focus on the primary story. It could be seen as a bit of a wrought or possibly an interesting marketing ploy as the suspense really builds with those three episodes leaving the audience craving more. Still there has to be a breaking point somewhere, you can only keep building suspense for so long until it all begins to come apart at the seems. Lets hope this is not the case with Bleach, as its show such high production values so far, I’d hate to see things falter now at a crucial point.
The amazing thing with anime is that when it comes down to fighting this is no wimpy little flexing of muscles and posing, definitely not. This is full on unsheathed sarcasm, scathing commentary and landscape altering carnage; I kid you not when soul reapers really cut loose either on each other or hollows the landscape can end up getting some serious alteration. Buildings are destroyed, who sections of township laid waste and this before anyone has actually drawn a blade and started doing the old cut, thrust, parry and riposte. Of course when Squad 11 Captain Kenpachi Zaraki is involved then the damage is going to be truly catastrophic. It makes me wonder whether after the dust settles if there is the soul reaper equivalent of a major works group whose task is to clean up and repair all the damage inflicted in fights and duels between captains as well as ryoka invasions etc.
And even if you what something more than just fighting then there is the ongoing mystery behind what motives are involved in seeing Rukia Kuchiki being executed, and not just in any old manner but with the sokyouko, a method of punishment usually reserved for those of lieutenant rank or higher. Not a lowly subordinate like Rukia. One person has already died trying to investigate this particular mystery, Captain Aizen, and he has seemingly implicated another captain, Toshiro Hitsugaya, in an insidious plot. And then there is the ongoing machinations of Gin Ichimaru, the sinister smiling captain of Squad 3 who seems to be behind some nefarious plan. Is there no end to the intrigue and mystery? No doubt there will be.
Of course the drama and atmosphere of the various fights are helped considerably by the backing music which fits the whole vibe perfectly, you want good backing music, something that meshes nicely with the visuals not overpowering them and Bleach reaches this nice middle ground with effortless ease. Some of the theme songs are quite catchy as well, I am no big fan of J Pop or J Rock or various other Japanese contemporary music genres but I find myself getting into some of the opening and closing themes, especially the opening to episodes 52 & 53, very nice and edgy. So if you want my advice if I were you, I’d try and track down this volume for your viewing pleasure, it’s definitely worth the effort.
Director: Noriyuki Abe
Screenplay by: Masahi Sogo et al
Producers: Noriko Kobayashi (TV Tokyo), Yutaka Sugiyama & Ken Hagino
Starring: Johnny Yong Bosch (Ichigo Kurosaki), Michelle Ruff (Rukia Kuchiki), Wally Wingert (Renji Abarai), Karen Strassman (Momo Hinamori), Kyle Herbert (Ganju Shiba), Doug Erholz (Gin Ichimaru), Megan Hollingshead (Rangiku Matsumoto), Michael Lindsay (Urahara), Michael Sorich (Tessai) Liam O’Brien (Captain Ukitake), Dan Woren (Byakuya Kuchiki), Stephanie Sheh (Orihime Inoue), Derek Stephen Price (Uryu Ishida), Kate Higgins (Nanao Ise), Jamieson Price (Chad), David Lodge (Kenpachi Zaraki), Steve Kramer (Captain Kyoraku), Steve Staley (Toshiro Hitsugaya) Richard Epcar (Zangetsu), Spike Spencer (Hanataro), Terrence Stone (Yoruichi cat form) & Wendee Lee (Yoruichi human form)
English version produced by: VIZ Media LLC
Released by: Madman Entertainment
Running Time: 100 minutes Rating: M
It interesting how I’ve been able to keep up with this particular series every so often, it seems that the local outlet of a major franchise store seems to order in various volumes now and then to fill out its small anime section and they usually find themselves in the hands of the Green Lantern. Coincidence? Pure blind luck or just one of those things that seem to happen now and then? As anyone who is wise in the ways of both the force and the energies of the cosmos can tell you there is no such thing as luck or coincidence, it is simply a sign of the ebb and flow of life. Or to put another way it’s a moment of good opportunity waiting to be taken up. Pontificating aside though I picked up this volume on my way to my local watering hole just before engaging in the usual routine of furniture moving, set up and raffle ticket selling that is my lot on a Tuesday night. It’s a hard life but someone has to do it…
Into this calling has been dropped Ichigo, our orange haired protagonist who has reluctantly taken up the mantle of soul reaper due to the actions of Rukia Kuchiki, a soul reaper of the 13 Court Squads. Ichigo despite being something of a loner feels obligated to Rukia, so much so that when see is taken back to the Soul Society for various crimes he decides that he will attempt to save her no matter what. In this rather somewhat foolhardy enterprise he is aided by his friends Chad, Uryu and Orihime as well as receiving help from Yoruichi, a talking black cat. This team of would be rescuers pick up help in the form of Ganju Shiba and Hanataro, a healer and member of Squad 4. It is interesting to note though that this volume doesn’t open on the drama occurring in the Soul Society and the Seireitei, the quarter where the Soul Reapers dwell in particular. Instead it opens with a one shot tale back in the real world, in Ichigo’s home Karakura town.
In the real world this story’s focus are on the efforts of Don Kanonji, the world’s premier spiritualist, attempting to do something about the flagging ratings of his show. Looking like a reject from Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club band the Don immediately lets himself be ‘guided’ into a course that will see his popularity soar higher than global oil prices, all of it caught on wonderful technicolour and then shown live as a special report on his TV show, the one with the flagging ratings. Its an amusing little story that provides a few chuckles although one it was over I did find myself thinking how nice it would be to get back to the main story, which occurred with the next episode, of course on a four episode volume this meant that the were now only three episodes to focus on the primary story. It could be seen as a bit of a wrought or possibly an interesting marketing ploy as the suspense really builds with those three episodes leaving the audience craving more. Still there has to be a breaking point somewhere, you can only keep building suspense for so long until it all begins to come apart at the seems. Lets hope this is not the case with Bleach, as its show such high production values so far, I’d hate to see things falter now at a crucial point.
The amazing thing with anime is that when it comes down to fighting this is no wimpy little flexing of muscles and posing, definitely not. This is full on unsheathed sarcasm, scathing commentary and landscape altering carnage; I kid you not when soul reapers really cut loose either on each other or hollows the landscape can end up getting some serious alteration. Buildings are destroyed, who sections of township laid waste and this before anyone has actually drawn a blade and started doing the old cut, thrust, parry and riposte. Of course when Squad 11 Captain Kenpachi Zaraki is involved then the damage is going to be truly catastrophic. It makes me wonder whether after the dust settles if there is the soul reaper equivalent of a major works group whose task is to clean up and repair all the damage inflicted in fights and duels between captains as well as ryoka invasions etc.
And even if you what something more than just fighting then there is the ongoing mystery behind what motives are involved in seeing Rukia Kuchiki being executed, and not just in any old manner but with the sokyouko, a method of punishment usually reserved for those of lieutenant rank or higher. Not a lowly subordinate like Rukia. One person has already died trying to investigate this particular mystery, Captain Aizen, and he has seemingly implicated another captain, Toshiro Hitsugaya, in an insidious plot. And then there is the ongoing machinations of Gin Ichimaru, the sinister smiling captain of Squad 3 who seems to be behind some nefarious plan. Is there no end to the intrigue and mystery? No doubt there will be.
Of course the drama and atmosphere of the various fights are helped considerably by the backing music which fits the whole vibe perfectly, you want good backing music, something that meshes nicely with the visuals not overpowering them and Bleach reaches this nice middle ground with effortless ease. Some of the theme songs are quite catchy as well, I am no big fan of J Pop or J Rock or various other Japanese contemporary music genres but I find myself getting into some of the opening and closing themes, especially the opening to episodes 52 & 53, very nice and edgy. So if you want my advice if I were you, I’d try and track down this volume for your viewing pleasure, it’s definitely worth the effort.
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