User blog:Lemursrule/BLEACH 362 Review: GIRIKO SMASH!!!

Hello Bleach fans, its that time of the week again, time to review new Bleach. This was a phenomenal episode, and I didn't have any major problems with it.

The Girirko transformation was really gross and is one of the most disgusting transformations in a while. Yes, I know Girirko was green and (insert Hulk joke here) and I don't know who decided on the coloring, but it was not what I expected. Was it bad no, just not what I had in mind, however in this case I think it does work in Pierrot's favor. I reminded me a lot of the chimera transformations in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and it was different from past transformations. Even though Giriko does look like the Hulk, I honestly believe that the animators were making an homage more to Piccolo than Hulk, because American comic book characters are not as familiar to people in Japan.

The thing that stood out to me the most though was Ichigo. My god! Ichigo was a complete bad***! We saw a brand new Ichigo, no mercy, just getting the job done. I know he did the same thing in the manga, but in the anime he was so much more ruthless, and Morita was amazing in his portrayal of Ichigo.

At first I was a little skeptical with the breakdown animation of Orihime, but after I saw Chad shaking, I feel that it really worked. Speaking of Orihime the facial animation on her this week was fantastic. Everything down to the tears was animated so beautifully and I really felt her pain. This episode had the best animation of her in this arc, and I think this is some of the best animation of her in the series.

The music selection was great and I was so happy that they used from Memories of Nobody. I do not understand why that track is not used so often, its one of the most beautiful songs in the entire anime series. I am still hoping they use into the fire when Tsukishima dies (and no this is not for shipping reasons) and when Riruka jumps (which after seeing the higher quality Viz scans and translations, I am really convinced she killed herself, but speculation aside). I honestly cannot understand why that track hasn't really been utilized outside of Memories of Nobody.

The omakes...I honestly don't know where Pierrot is going with these, maybe its a cultural gap or something, but I just don't get it.

Overall fantastic episode and I can't wait for next week.

Final Rundown

 * Story 9/10
 * Art/Animation 10/10
 * Sound Effects 10/10
 * Music 10/10
 * Acting 10/10
 * Omake 6/10

I give Bleach 362 a 9.2 out of 10. Join me next week when I review episode 363, and join me Saturday when I review episode 243 dubbed. Also be sure to check Shonen Jump Alpha out, SJA comes out every Monday. The rest of the Kubo interview is posted on my episode 242 dubbed review.

Until Next Time!

-- 17:11, February 28, 2012 (UTC)