| | Bleach 106 features a new opening, and . . . a new female lead?! At first glance it looks like Hinamori Momo, but unless her personality and weapon have undergone a drastic makeover, it can't be her.
On the plus side, Rukia's shikai is finally unveiled. There's a neat snippet of her performing the first dance in the opening credits.
The most interesting thing about Bleach is the wildly divergent path the anime takes from the manga after the initial Soul Society arc. In the manga, Rukia's absence is prolonged, making her return an emotionally moving moment. There is none of that in the anime; instead she quickly rejoins the group, then simply ceases to be a major character, being taken out by chronic injury, disability, or circumstance. Her older brother Kuchiki Byakuya has considerably more screen time in the anime, ostensibly to add bishounen flavor to the show. Hitsuguya Toushiro and Kira, fan favorites, also have more prominent roles in the anime whereas Madarame ("Baldy") has more importance in the manga.
All in all, it's not surprising - the Arrancar story arc, which features in the manga, is far more serious and darker. It does not translate well to screen for people with limited patience for henshins, powering up, and surprise moves. Conversely, the Bount story arc, even though it does rearrange several things in the Bleach world in terms of priority, eventually reveals surprising emotional depth. Though the first few episodes of the Bount story arc cannot be accurately characterized as anything other than a letdown, ultimately replacing Arrancar with Bount was a media-savvy move. It allowed Bleach to avoid a degeneration into the rut that DBZ and other fighting anime so often fall into - "Now that I am powered up, I shall destroy the moon!"
In short, Bleach continues to be interesting.
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| | Posted 12/18/2006 3:48 PM - 267 Views - 10 eProps - 6 comments
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