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As if it never happened the New Leader arc has gone and we are dumped straight back into Ichigo's battle to rescue Orihime. In fact the entire 9th series has absolutely no bearing on the main Bleach story and is not even referred to in this volume! At the end of series 8 things were looking up. Ichigo
had defeated Grimmjow and apparently rescued Orihime, whilst Uryu and Renji had
forced Szayel
Aporro to retreat. However, the battles are not over, Szayel Aporro was
only regrouping before attacking once more and Ichigo doesn't even get a pause
for breath before another Espada arrives to challenge him. Ichigo is
wounded and completely drained following his fight with 5th ranked Espada
Grimmjow, but even at full strength he would struggle against the fourth
strongest Espada Nnoitora. Unfortunately he's not at full strength, and
things look bleak for Uryu and Renji too. Like Ichigo they've used up much
of the power and worse still, shown all of their trump cards to the cunning
Szayel Aporro, who has still to show his true powers. The Espada are just
toying with our exhausted heroes and it's only a matter of time before they
finish them, but all hope is not lost. Their enemies may be powerful but
support is on its way from an unlikely source... |
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With the last arc diverting attention away from Hueco Mundo for a while it's easy to forget that Ichigo, Renji and Uryu are in the midst of battles to the death, and to be honest the jump back after the last arc is somewhat jarring. Nonetheless this volume goes back to what Bleach does best, pitting characters against each other in supernaturally charged battles. The action comes thick and fast throughout, with Ichigo, Renji and Uryu really getting the crap kicked out of them by their sadistic opponents. Szayel Aporro finally |
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shows off his sword release, and like all of the Espada sword releases his powers are quite interesting. Renji and Uryu are at a severe disadvantage (although they do seem to get caught by his power far too easily), whilst Nnoitora doesn't even have to release his powers against Ichigo. As always the battles are fast paced and, once the inevitable fight back begins, really addictive viewing, but it's not just action this volume has. Probably the best thing about this volume is that we
finally learn about Nel's past, it's already been shown that she's an
Arrancar and has some unexpected powers, but the series hasn't explained
why. Now it does with a series of intriguing flashbacks to her
past, showing a surprising link to Nnoitora which infuses his battle
with Ichigo with more intrigue and urgency. It also finally shows
why Pesche and Dodonchakka are with her and goes someway to explain
their pratfalling and constant comedy routines. However, despite
some much needed character development it's action that's key in this
volume, and when Nnoitora and Szayel Aporro come up against some serious
resistance things really take off. |
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The problems all this action brings is the same that often mars series like Dragon Ball Z - there may seem to be a lot going on, but the story barely moves at all. In the second half of Series 8 Orihime had been freed, Ichigo was in a battle to the death to ensure it stayed that way, and Renji and Uryu were struggling against Szayel Aporro. At the end of the first half of Series 10 we're pretty much in the same place, with battles still raging and Orihime and her would-be rescuers still in Hueco Mundo. There are other issues too, Nel's voice during |
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the flashbacks seems too cutesy in the Japanese dub, and despite being partially legitimised by the flashbacks Pesche and Dodonchakka remain extremely annoying. Their lame comedy routines keep coming, often in the midst of tense stand-offs and battles, completely unbalancing the action and ruining any dramatic tension that had built. What's a shame is that the flashbacks could make them quite noble and sympathetic characters, but their actions make them really unlikeable and annoying. You get from Bleach what you expect. There's plenty of action this time, it's really exciting viewing and it's great to see the Espada on the back foot after they beat the heroes for a while. However, the story goes nowhere and some of the characters are really annoying. Nel's past is the highlight of the volume narrative-wise, bringing a bit more depth to her character and establishing Nnoitora as particularly evil even by Espada standards. However, the point where the tide of battle decisively turns is the volume's best moment from an action point of view, and it ratchets up the excitement level for the next volume. Bleach Series 10 Part 1 is not the best volume of the series there's been, but after the distractions of side stories and flashbacks it's refreshing to get back to the pure and simple action that the franchise handles so well. The battles are frequent and the enemies have some interesting powers, and with Orihime still in danger and Aizen readying his forces the stakes remain high. Yes, it's a shame that the story doesn't really advance, but this is still an entertaining slice of anime action. Extras Just clean opening and ending sequences, and the 'omake' comedy shorts that follow the end of each episode. Ratings Feature:
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