Review - Bleach Vol. 3 - The Substitute
Reviewed by Mikey Dowling on 10.28.2007.
Score: 9/10
The second volume of Bleach was good, but it was bogged down some with the only moderately interesting mod-soul arc, yet ended strong with a cliffhanger that gave a little more information on the past of main character, Ichigo, and the death of his mother. Well, volume three brings the conclusion of that story (in a very satisfying, heart-warming, and humorous way), while offering up a one-shot episode, and moving right along into a character-changing plot that will (naturally) be continued in the next disc.
The one-shot episode features the modern spiritualist Don Kanonji as he’s trying to “free” a spirit from haunting an old hospital. Kanonji has a great following, and all the main cast members seem to show up to the location (although some come reluctantly). Yet, although he can see spirits, Kanonji doesn’t quite know how to deal with them in the way that Ichigo and Rukia know how, and he ends up turning the droning poltergeist into a Hollow. This means that it is up to Ichigo and Don Kanonji to stop the Hollow together.
The episodes that follow introduce a new character to the show whose name is Uryu Ishida. It turns out that along with being intelligent and an apt practitioner of the needlework arts he is also a Quincy, a race of powerful spiritual humans who are in direct competition with the Soul Reapers. Being that Ishida is the last of the Quincys, he makes it his mission to show that the Soul Reapers aren’t needed and that the Quincys are meant to take care of the Hollow threat.
To prove his point, he challenges Ichigo to a competition to see who can destroy the most Hollows. By breaking what looks to be a simple wafer, a slew of Hollows appears, causing Ichigo to go to action to protect those in his family. Yet, Ishida makes note that his family aren’t the only ones with high spiritual energy. This leads to the disc’s final episode and one that is really, really good. We finally get a glimpse into the past on one of the show’s main characters, while also seeing what the person is capable of. All the while we get a tease at what is to come in the next episode with it being too horrible of a cliffhanger, yet still leaving you wanting to know what happens next.
Bleach volume 3 continues to keep the series animation levels and character designs awesome, while progressing characters who aren’t Ichigo into personalities all their own. The series is ramping up to big things and is getting close to that, “Need the next disc,” sensation that a mega series should have. You really can’t go wrong with owning Bleach, even this close in to the beginning.
Special Features
· Stereo
· Bilingual (Japanese & English)
· English Subtitles
· Clean Ending
· Production Art
· Collector's Art Stickers
