User blog:CathalOHara/Cathal's Bleach Recap Episode 350 & Chapter 475

Right guys this REALLY is going to be short this time, I've worked all day at my theatre and exhausted. So much so I don't think my mind will be able to process this review properly. But what the hell, I'll do it now!

And just to point out, expect my review late next week (sometime on Sunday) as I've got my show beginning on Saturday... living a busy life as of late! But that won't stop me from placing up my subpar Bleach reviews!

Anime
Episode 350: '''The Man Who Killed A Shinigami Substitute?! Tsukishima Makes His Move'''

A really nice episode this week, primarily for it being the first one where we see the Book of the End in motion. And man, it looks incredible. It's very disturbing how it just stabs Orihime in such a simple like effort. The black and white affect also added to the scene, it made me feel even more scared of Tsukishima's power than I was before.

Kugo's story over the Substitute Shinigami was handled pretty cool... except the fact you could see that Shinigami in his story was him. Reminded me of that time Ganju told Ichigo of a Shinigami that "killed" his older brother, and the anime spoiled us to who it was. Kinda the same thing happens here.

Ikumi's scene with Ichigo was also pretty funny. I find her much more likeable in the anime, something about her in the manga I wasn't too fond of. Same goes for Yukio and Jackie.

So, this was probably the best episode of this arc yet, wasn't fantastic, but was still a joy to watch, and with Ichigo getting his second Fullbring form soon expect higher scores in the near future!

Pros
 * Kugo being partially drunk.
 * Tsukishima's Fullbring is fantastic in motion.
 * Ikumi's door owned Ichigo.

Cons
 * Kinda gave away who the Shinigami is... not that much of a biggy though.

Give it a 9.5. And so much for a short review! This is longer than last week's one! I need to teach myself to stop writing so much...

And I haven't even gotten into the manga yet.

Manga
Chapter 475: Shades of the Bond

Huzzah! I like Ichigo's new Bankai! For the last few weeks I was concerned over how his new appearance would look compared to his old one, and I'm glad I like it. I especially like the new blade. Very slick.

Now, I was glad my assumption on how Ichigo would of thought this out was correct, Ukitake is not a bad person and never will be (I sure hope), and the fact Ichigo was given clues on how he would of found out himself even sums up his point even more. Us, the readers would of been able to figure this out eventually also! Ichigo knew that badge was pointless and knew Ukitake could of outsmarted him if he wanted to, he just didn't. Simple as. While loads of Internet ragers are dissappointed by the whole; "Ukitake not being a villain after all." I am glad he isn't, he has been too established now to become an antagonist. Then again, I'm not Kubo Tite so I can't tell if he'll become one.

Then we have the whole, "WTF KUGO HAS A BANKAI?!?" I'm not sure how to comment on this, because I don't even know what to think over that matter, I guess it could have something to do over that original intention the Tsukishima influenced Kugo had before of transferring Fullbring powers to a former Substitute Shinigami. That, or the fact Hollow Ichigo could of found a way to return himself... inside Kugo. Now before you go on correcting me on this look at it this way, how could Ichigo have had a Fullbring in the first place? I don't ever recall any event where his mother was attacked by a Hollow prior to his birth. (it could of happened, but don't you think someone would of questioned it by now?) Now onto the main point, when Ichigo lost all his powers couldn't it have been possible for Zangetsu and Hollow Ichigo to split up apart again? And what was left of Hollow Ichigo was transferred onto Ichigo when he activated his Fullbring? Zangetsu is fully restored with Ichigo's restored powers, the reasoning of how he changed shape is still beyond me but I'm rather confident Hollow Ichigo is still alive, this time in Kugo. And why didn't Ichigo's reiatsu turn black when he activated his Bankai then? If he still had his Visored powers, I'm sure he'd still attempt to use them.

And no, I'm not some big Hollow Ichigo fan, I'm just pointing out a very plausible possibility.

Pros
 * Ichigo's new Bankai is rather nice looking, digging the new blade.
 * Ukitake being a villain crack theory finally brought to rest!
 * Good to see Rukia is okay again, for now at least.

Cons

Not really any to list out this week, pretty solid chapter.

Give the chapter a 9.4.

And so much for flipping "short" reviews! Let me know what you guys think of my rather predictable theory!

Remember, next week's review will be late!