Bleach ep.14

January 12, 2005 | 6 Comments

It's nice to know that this is another good episode. It's mostly action-oriented and yet the writers manage to insert some good character development and history for Ishida Uryuu. There's also a rather disturbing development in regards to Soul Society but then again, this should be expected by now. Before I forget, this series for some reason decide to change the ending theme after only 13 episodes. This is unfortunate in my opinion because Life is Like a Boat is a much much better song to illustrate the upcoming Soul Society arc. The new ending theme, Thank You is not exactly a bad song but it feels misplaced here. When I first heard it and saw Rukia in her white robe, I was expecting her to reggae/boogie her way down to a seaside swimming pool. The tune is so upbeat that it's weird to see some of the characters looking angsty in the ending animation.

Anyway, this episode begins with a bunch of Hollow gathering at a particular spot where a part of the sky is cracked open, revealing the Hollow world. Upon seeing this, Ishida tells Ichigo that he'll deal with the Hollow on his own as the last Quincy. Ichigo is confused about this statement so Rukia gives him the explanation she receives from Urahara. She also informs Ichigo that back then, the Shinigamis destroyed the Quincy for the sake of the world's safety. Apparently because the Quincy were killing Hollow indiscriminately, there is an imbalance of soul that is available in the Soul Society and the human world. Since the soul that is killed by the Quincy can't return to Soul Society, there are more soul that get out into the world than ones that return to Soul Society. If this continues, the world will be in chaos. So an attempt was made by the Shinigami to eliminate the Quincy.

After hearing this, Ichigo rushes quickly to help Ishida fighting the Hollows. Ichigo then tells the angry Quincy that he personally doesn't know which side was correct, the Shinigami or the Quincy, but he doesn't like Ishida's action. In reply, Ishida explains that he actually felt that the Shinigamis were right until his Sensei died trying to fight Hollows after his plea for help is ignored by the Shinigamis. Ishida feels that he must prove the strength of the Quincy to a Shinigami. Ichigo, however, disagrees and tells Ishida that from what he can understand, what Ishida's sensei really want is not to prove the Quincy's power but to work together with Shinigami. So Ichigo asks Ishida to work with him fighting the Hollow for now because he doesn't want more people to become a victim of the Hollows like his family. Despite his initial reluctance, Ishida eventually agrees to team with Ichigo and defeat the Hollows.

Unfortunately for them, a humongous Hollow called Menos Grande suddenly tores open the sky and enters the Earth. Thankfully, Urahara and his workers come to get rid of the small Hollow so Ichigo can concentrate on the big one. Urahara, however, places a binding spell on Rukia so she can't help Ichigo. It seems he wants to see Ichigo's true power. Ichigo eventually manages to defeat Menos Grande due to the unbelievable power that leaks out of his body. However, later on he can't control the power leak and is in danger of destorying his own body. When he realises this, Ishida rushes in and uses his own body to regulate and control Ichigo's power. While doing this, he realises that back then, his sensei didn't actually hate the Shinigamis but instead want to fight alongside them. In the end, Ishida manages to save Ichigo and hopes that this action will make his sensei forgives his misguided action.

Impression:

My first impression of the episode is that Ichigo's imagination reminds me of my kindergarten drawing. Kidding aside, this is a good episode which explains why Ishida loathes Shinigami to begin with. Part of it seems to come from his own personal prejudice towards the Shinigami. As this episode demonstrates, however, there is indeed something to loathe about the Shinigamis. While the reasons behind the Shinigamis' actions sometimes make a lot of sense, the actions that they take are undoubtedly cruel and often caused other parties to suffer. The terror that Kon endured while being a mod-soul and the tragedy that happened to the Quincy are enough evidence of this. Speaking of Shinigamis, I've always wondered what is Urahara's relationship to the Shinigamis. He seems hell bent on testing Ichigo for some reason and looks quite pleased when he sees the result that he anticipated.

© memento 2003