Bleach ep.7

November 17, 2004 | 6 Comments

I'm too tired and lazy to think up and write non-spoilery comment. So I'll just say Kon is King! Long live Kon!! Also, please be aware that the following paragraphs are very spoilery for someone who has not read the manga.

Continuing from the previous episode, this one begins with Urahara assuring Ururu that he's not angry at her for giving Rukia a defective merchandise. Never the less, they now must go and reclaim the defective item. So Urahara and his three assistants leave the shop to look for Kon. Meanwhile, Kon and Ichigo battle one another, however, after a short fight, Kon decides to flee. Ichigo wants to chase him but can't do so because Rukia suddenly receives a call informing her that there is a Hollow somewhere. Unknown to them, the Hollow is actually lurking in the area where the three school children play together. However, before it manages to feast on their souls, Kon appears to save the kids and engages in a battle with the Hollow on top of a highrise. The Hollow, however, seems to have an upper hand in the fight until Ichigo appears to save Kon, or rather his own body.

The two eventually defeat the Hollow but just as the Hollow is about to fall into the Grand, Kon runs over to it and kicks it upwards into the sky. However, if Ichigo wasn't there, Kon would have surely plummetted into the Grand. Later on, Ichigo realises that Kon kicked the Hollow upwards to prevent it from falling on top of a bunch of ants. Despite his previous violent behaviour, it seems Kon doesn't have any desire to kill anything. His experience as a mod-soul that was about to be destroyed made him believe that no one should have the right to kill any creature. Unfortunately for him, just when he finished his sentence, Urahara appears and uses his cane to knock Kon out of Ichigo's body, turning him back into a green ball. Ichigo is shocked when he finds out that Urahara intends to destroy Kon and even more so when he realises that Urahara can see him.

However, before Urahara can leave, Rukia manages to grab the green ball containing Kon's soul and tells him that unless Urahara can compensate her, he's not going to take the item back. Urahara eventually agrees to let Rukia and Ichigo to keep Kon but he's going to play blind if trouble comes. Ichigo then thanks Rukia for saving Kon and the two head home. On their way, however, Ichigo wonders what they should do about Kon and Rukia comes up with the idea of finding dead bodies but since that's the hard way, they decide to put Kon into a discarded stuffed animal. Kon is not happy with his new body but has no choice but to sulk. The next day, Ichigo explains why he decides to give the stuffed doll the name 'Kon'. It's originated from 'Kaizou Konpaku' (Mod-soul). Upon hearing this, Kon wonders why Ichigo doesn't just call him 'Kai'. So Ichigo tells him it's because 'Kai' sounds too cool for Kon, so he prefers to call him 'Kon'.

Ichigo's mood, however, turns from grumpy to melancholic when he sees the date on his watch. Rukia is confused with the sudden change but decides to not question him. At the school, however, Orihime can detect that something is wrong with Ichigo because he is unusually happy. Upon realising this, Tatsuki asks one of their classmates, Michiru, about today's date and upon finding out that it's June the 16th, Tatsuki tells Orihime that Ichigo won't come to school tomorrow. That night, Ichigo tells Rukia that he wishes to take a day off from his Shinigami duty. Rukia at first disagree until she finds out that tomorrow is the day when Ichigo's mother died. When Ichigo tries to sleep, however, he can't see anything but a nightmare where he sees his mother died in front of him. The episode ends in a surprising note by showing Soul Society realm. Here, a guy in a mask tells someone about the 'problems' that Rukia has created in the human world.

Impression:

Well, I'm a bit disappointed that Kubo Tite doesn't voice Kon after all. Having said that, I'm quite pleased that Madono Mitsuaki has done such an awesome job as Kon. Anyway, the writers sure cram so many stories into one episode. But I think they're doing a good job of it. Although I hope they'll redo the scene where Ichigo's mother ends up dead properly next week. That scene is supposed to have a harrowing narration from Ichigo and it feels a bit weak seeing it without the narration. I have to admit, however, that I'm surprised with the appearance of Soul Society realm in this episode. I know the anime is already giving hints of that upcoming major arc with the ED theme and some tidbits of informations. But I never expected the anime to introduce that arc starting from now. I'm actually quite excited about this series now mostly because some of my favourite arcs are about to start.

© memento 2003