Bleach ep.8-9

December 7, 2004 | 5 Comments

This turns out to be a rather disappointing arc despite its potential. I think the main problem is the addition of the silly Shinigami character that does not add much to the overall story apart from some unnecessary humour. The problem is, he's not even that funny. In fact, other regular comic characters like Isshin and Kon do much better job in providing comic relief in comparison to this lame Shinigami whose name I can't even bother to remember. The worst thing about his addition, however, is the fact that he ruins the tension as well as the general melancholic mood that these two episodes supposed to have. While watching these episodes, I keep thinking how much tighter and well-paced this arc would have been had this guy does not exist.

Anyway, the eight episode begins with a mysterious man talking to Grand Fisher about the need to deal with Ichigo. The next day, the Kurosaki family are seen on their way to their mother's cemetery. Along the way, however, Rukia suddenly shows up out of nowhere, forcing Ichigo to drag her away to a secluded place. Rukia then explains that she shows up because she wonders if Ichigo's mother died because of a Hollow. Ichigo, however, thinks that the idea is ridiculous and tells Rukia that he's the caused of his mother's death. Meanwhile, back at Tatsuki's house, Orihime gets a brief course on Ichigo's childhood from Tatsuki. It turns out that not only Ichigo used to be a crybaby, he was also a momma's boy. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Anyway, Ichigo always have this stupid grin on his face when he was a kid until his mom was mysteriously killed six years ago.

Meanwhile, Rukia feels as if someone is following her and quickly finds out that the person is none other than a soul society's Shinigami. The guy, however, is a loser who thinks he's funny. As a result, he's more annoying than dangerous. He simply wants to know why Rukia hasn't come back to Soul Society and Rukia can't give him a straight answer. Kon, however, fears for Rukia and decides to call for Ichigo's help. He finds the brooder commiserating about how he took his mother away from the rest of his family. Never the less, Ichigo agrees to come and confront the stupid Shinigami. The two then end up fighting with one another but decide to stop their battle when Rukia alerts Ichigo that his sisters are in danger. True enough, Karin and Yuzu are seen being constrained and suffocated by a brutal and unseen force.

Continuing from the previous episode, episode 9 opens with Ichigo saving Yuzu and facing off with a new Hollow. Ichigo, however, is surprised when he sees the same little boy he saw 6 years ago and immediately realises that this Hollow was the one who caused his mother's death. Rukia then explains that the Hollow is a famous Hollow called Grand Fisher. This Hollow is capable of using a human form as a bait to lure people with high spirit density. Upon hearing Rukia's explanation, Ichigo is consumed with anger and tries to kill Grand Fisher. But it seems he is in no condition to fight Grand Fisher. Thankfully before the Hollow can harm either him or Karin, who is still being held hostage, Rukia and the stupid Shinigami interferes to help Ichigo. Ichigo, however, tells Rukia that he doesn't need any help because this is a personal matter.

Never the less, it quickly becomes apparent that Ichigo is too hotheaded to be able to deal with this Hollow effectively. And to make things worse, Grand Fisher manages to create a replica of Ichigo's mother to confuse Ichigo's feeling. Rukia wants to help Ichigo but she is reminded of an advice given by another Shinigami (who seems to be Ukitake) that sometimes a person is fighting for honour and does not want any help. Somehow, however, the memory of Ichigo's mother materialises itself and tells him to fight on. Ichigo eventually manages to injure Grand Fisher although the Hollow manages to escape. Later on, Ichigo has one on one conversation with his father, Isshin. Isshin kindly tells Ichigo that he should not feel guilty about that fateful day because the reason his mother died was to protect him. Therefore, he tells his son to be happy and live life to the fullest.

Impression:

This could have been an awesome arc, however, the half-hearted execution messed it up. Thankfully, it's not completely ruined because the majority of episode 9 somehow manages to retain the melancholic feeling of the original story. Well, I'm actually not that happy with the deus-ex-machina solution where the memory of Ichigo's mother comes to save the day. And I'm disappointed that the lame Shinigami doesn't end up as a Hollow's food. However, the final scene between Isshin and Ichigo in episode 9 makes the entire thing worth it. It's very rare in this day and age to see a nice father and son interaction in anime or anywhere else. Despite their seemingly insane interactions most of the time, Isshin and Ichigo have one of the most functional parent-child relationships I've ever seen. It's a refreshing change to the usual 'father is bad' theme that anime, films, and reality often offers.

© memento 2003