Bleach ep.10

December 10, 2004 | 2 Comments

Yawn. Apart from the light humor in some of the scenes, this episode is exactly what I need the next time I have insomnia. Personally, I've been quite disappointed with this anime lately. Apart from 2-3 episodes, I haven't been happy with this version of the story. I've said it before but I'll say it again because it can't be emphasised enough: the blurry, over-contrasted scenes of the Hollow world are still horrendous. Thank God for Photoshop or else all of the screencaps would have been hard to see. The worst part of this version, however, is how some characters like Orihime gets the shaft in terms of screen time and appearances. I really abhor this new direction because Orihime is one of my favourite main characters in the manga and to see her being reduced to background characters simply pisses me off.

The episode begins with a 'jumping out of a helicopter' stunt performed by a performer called Don Kanonji. Everyone in the ground seems to love the stunt. Well, everyone except Ichigo who's seen sulking and pouting. Apparently he's been forced by his friends and family to come to Kannonji's televised ghostbusting event at their local abandoned hospital. Ichigo, however, thinks that the man is a fraud so he comes to the event looking as pouty as possible. Plus, he kind of doubt that there is any spirit left in this place especially since Shinigami would probably have 'clean them up', so to speak. Rukia, however, tells him that is not always the case because earth-bound spirits like ghosts are normally not picked off by Shinigami's sensors. True enough, Ichigo and Rukia can hear a non-earthly sound coming out from the area and strangely, while no other people can hear the voice, the following people seem to have picked up on it: Chad, Orihime, Tatsuki, and Karin.

Ichigo and Rukia quickly realises that there's a spirit who's bound to the hospital. The problem is, he's on his way to become a Hollow. Things become dire when Don Kanonji unknowingly poking the chain that protrudes from the Hollow's body and eventually destroying it. When that happens, the spirit turns into a Hollow and runs into the hospital. Ichigo has no choice but to go after the Hollow to ensure that no one else is hurt. The problem is, Kanonji seems to be able to see him and thinks that Ichigo hinders his exorcising job. So the two bicker their way through as they try to exterminate the Hollow. It turns out Kanonji is quite capable of taking care of himself and he seems to take his job of entertaining the children quite seriously. He, however, is ashamed when he finds out that he's the one who caused the spirit to turn into Hollow. Never the less, after Ichigo defeats the Hollow, he lets Kanonji to take the glory so that he can continue to entertain children through his TV show.

Impression:

Well, it looks like the anime decides to skip over the Kon stand alone chapter and go right into this particular story. It's not surprising really because assuming that the anime will only get 26 episodes, then it's possible that the animators will want to get into the 'Soul Society' arc as soon as possible. Having said that, I'm disappointed that the episode also doesn't put enough focus on the revelation that there's something strange going on with Ichigo's friends. I also don't like how the animators make it look as if Orihime and Ichigo are stranger who have just met each other for the first time throughout this episode. In general, I have the feeling that the anime is very keen to get into the 'Soul Society' arc as soon as possible. Unfortunately, in the process of doing so, they have altered the stories in such way to the point that it's not as enjoyable as it could have been.

© memento 2003