For years, Substitute Soul Reaper Ichigo Kurosaki has
faced supernatural world ending threats and triumphed over them all. But now the greatest challenge has come, not
just for him but for the entire Soul Society.
The Quincy Clan, long thought nearly extinct, has returned and vowed
vengeance against the Soul Reapers, and they now possess abilities capable of
negating any of their abilities, even those of their powerful Bankai. Outgunned and outmatched, even Ichigo’s
immense strength might not be enough to halt the twilight of the Soul Society
and the vengeance of the Quincy.
When the original Bleach Anime ended back in 2012, it’s
source Manga was still four long year from completion.
When the Manga did wrap at 74 volumes back in
2016, it was always a question of when that final story arc would be adapted
into Anime form.
Well, that answer has
arrived and in surprisingly spectacular fashion, I might add.
After a decade long absence, Bleach makes its
return and thankfully, it doesn’t look like it’ll be halted by any useless
filler this time around.
This is it, the
Final Arc and as such, it isnt wasting time getting down to business.
Whether this is a good thing or not, one thing
is certain: Bleach is back and the world has been waiting for its return for a
long time.
When I say this sequel series isn’t wasting time getting
down to business, I mean that in more ways than one.
Not only is a new threat presented just as
quickly as we’re reintroduced to our main characters, but there’s no recap, no
introduction to what’s come before.
If
you haven’t seen all 366 episodes of the original series, that’s unfortunately
tough luck for newcomers.
Granted, it’s
been ten years, anyone who is a fan by now is well caught up by now.
Just saying, new fans might be impressed by
the action but you might need to watch some quick recap videos to get up to
speed on characters and events before starting the Thousand Year Blood War Arc.
On the other hand though, you can tell the staff working
on this new Bleach tale has been aching to get this Arc off page and onto the
screen.
It’s like a puppy on a leash, it
wants to run and run it does.
The
reintroduction of Ichigo and his friends is pretty awesome, even including a
new rendition of Ichigo’s hype theme “Number One”, reminding everyone that
while things are about to get very dark and very serious, it’s still Bleach and
it’s going to be fun.
I’ve also gotta
say that the premiere feels less like a TV Series Premiere and more like the intro
to a new Bleach movie.
A dark mystery,
higher stakes, blood being spilt very quickly, the promise of Bankai destroying
weapons and a movie level presentation?
While the planned 52 episode run does match how much ground there’s left
to cover in the Manga, it makes me wonder if this could have been approached as
a trilogy of films.
This is the biggest
Bleach has ever felt and the best it has ever looked.
Personally, I lost interest in Bleach because I felt it
was dragging itself way too long (and 74 volumes doesn’t make me feel worse
about my decision to step away from it).
I wasn’t too keen on regularly watching the Thousand Year Blood War and
more interested in how the general return of Bleach would impact the Anime
community, a classic getting its long awaited curtain call.
But after watching the first episode, my
interest is actually piqued again.
I
might have to take my own advice and check out some recap vids to get properly
caught up though I know the general story beats of everything that’s happened
so far.
I never thought I’d be saying
this but…holy crap Bleach is back and I cannot wait to see how this final arc
proceeds.
It’s gonna be Hell for Ichigo
and the Soul Reapers but it’ll be so much more satisfying to see them overcome
the odds and come out on top.
The Anime
worlds been waiting for this, don’t mess it up Bleach, we’ll all be watching.
And that officially does it for First Impression Friday
for 2022.
FIF will be back in a few
weeks for its 8
th Season that’ll run throughout most of 2023, right
here at the Gundam Anime Corner.
Til
then, see ya.
No comments:
Post a Comment