User blog:Lemursrule/BLEACH 324 Review: Double Trouble

Hello again! It's Tuesday, time to review a brand new episode of Bleach. I hope everyone who lives in the US had a wonderful holiday weekend, I did. I am totally nerding out on my new 3 TB external Hard drive and my new 64 GB Ipad 2 I got yesterday. But enough of my personal expenses, on with the review!

Episode 324 was another very informative episode. We learn about how Inaba created the Regai and what exactly the Regai are. It turns out that Regai are created by infusing a sample of the original Soul Reaper's Reishi into a Mod Soul and placing it into a fake body (because apparently a real body is unethical [see season 1] so basically putting artificial souls on steroids in a fake body is ok...this is the Soul Society after all).

There were also a few cool fights in this episode. I am really liking the fight between Yamamoto and Regai Ukitake & Kyōraku so far. All of their moves and abilities are well drawn and animated, and I appreciate that Yamamoto is shown fighting with only one arm (unlike a certain captain who lost her arm last arc). It shows that even with only three limbs, Yamamoto can still kick...char you to the curb anytime, any place. The one I was most excited (and concerned) about was Kenpachi VS Regai Kenpachi. This is a fight we have only fantasied about, and it turned out surprisingly well. My main concern was that the fight would be too much like when Kenpachi fought Nnoitra where it was monologue, monologue, slash, trash talk, power-up, monologue, power-up, you get idea. Sometimes Kenpachi's fights last so long, that I expect series director, Noriyuki Abe to come in, break the fourth wall, and say "you mind speeding this up a bit?" As much as I love Kenpachi's glorified violence, I think if this fight had lasted more than an episode, it would have gotten really stupid, really fast. This is the one Kenpachi filler fight I think Studio Pierrot got right. Every other filler fight Kenpachi basically trash talks and laughs and barely even fights, but this time they basically just pulled the trigger and just let the fight happen instead of dragging it out. I mean when you have a character who is basically the comic book equivalent of Chuck Norris, do you want to see him talk? NO! You want to see him go all "Disneyland's World of Color on someone! I thought both fights were well animated and were paced decently.

We also had yet another plot twist ( I have to start making a tally sheet of the number of Bleach plot twists between Pierrot and Tite Kubo), but this one was really unexpected. I don't think anyone expected that Isane was a Regai. I mean we never saw her go in the Senkaimon and she never gave any indication what so ever that she was a Regai. I mean anyone could be a Regai! The only thing is that Studio Pierrot should be careful not to do it too much, or else the effect is lost and it becomes annoying.

I really liked the music selection in this episode, because it including many fan favorites and some newer tracks from the forth Bleach movie. I also liked the omake quite a bit. No matter if it's the real one or a fake, poor Isane can never catch a break.

My only really complaint about the episode is that the sound mixing of the Kenpachi fight could have been better. I feel that the rain was a little too loud at points, and it made it hard for me to hear the dialogue. The audio level for the music was a little "wanky" and transitioned in volume too quickly.

Overall it was an awesome episode, and I can't wait to tune in next week!

Final Rundown

 * Story 9/10
 * Art/Animation 9/10
 * Sound Effects 10/10
 * Music 10/10
 * Acting 10/10
 * Omake 8/10

I give Bleach episode 324 a 9.3 out of 10. Remember to join me next Tuesday when I review Bleach episode 325, and join me on this weekend when I review Bleach 207 dubbed.

Until Next Time! --Lemursrule (talk) 15:22, May 31, 2011 (UTC)