Bleach Vol. 17by Sheena McNeilReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Studio
Credits Grade: 5 A new enemy known as Bounts has appeared — they're like soul-sucking vampires. Some investigate and some like Ichigo try to prevent their deadly attacks on humans. Of special interest to them is our powerless Quincy, Uryu. Ichigo, Chad, and Orihime each have a mod-soul disguised as a stuffed animal to help detect these Bounts.I've not been following this series as strongly as I once was, but I was curious as to what was going on. Sadly, I was a bit disappointed on two fronts. First, the animation seems a little more forced. There are some oddly drawn and awkward positions ... and I don't remember the first part of the series being like that. It almost looks like there's a new animation team that can't quite capture the characters as perfectly as before. Second, the story is running itself into the ground. When something as original and creative as Bleach has to turn to something as cliche as vampires to keep itself alive it's just depressing. This series was something new when it first came out, but from what I saw on this disc it really lacks the staying power of good, lengthy anime classics (and it had the potential to be one!). At least they tie these vampiric creatures into the overall plot: sucking the soul of a living person would cause a wormhole between the real world and the world of the Hollows allowing free crossing over and the destruction of man-kind. And on top of that no matter how strong our heroes get there's always new good and bad characters popping up that are stronger. Here it's very forced with lots of anger and frustration and angst on Ichigo's behalf. It would be like having Vegita as the main character of DBZ instead of Goku. And it gets old fast! I'm just so disappointed. Bleach used to be a series I raved about, and told non-anime watchers to watch. But this was just so ordinary I couldn't believe it. And don't even get me started on the grotesqueness of the forced humor of the mod-soul stuffed animals, especially in the end credits. It's enough to make one cry. I just can't dismiss the whole series because of this though. I will have to see if it continues to slide downhill or if the plot regains some originality. Written: December 26, 2009
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