Search - Bleach, Vol. 25 on DVD

Bleached out

E. A Solinas | MD USA | 01/27/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

""Bleach Volume 25" is clearly wrapping up the so-so Bount Arcs, but somehow the buildup to the climax is falling way short. These four episodes are thoroughly solid on the surprises and discoveries, but most of the fights are pretty much what we've seen before as far as Bount powers are concerned -- and there are some plot holes you could shove Ashisogi Jiz through.

The Bount are causing mass mayhem in the Seireitei -- the bloodthirsty Yoshi duels with Uryu as he tries to master his Quincy artifact; a poisoned Soi Fon fights against the deranged Mabashi, and all the Soul Reapers his doll has possessed; Mayuri fights against Sawatari after offering him a position as his new guinea pig; and Koga is pitted against Hitsugaya's ice dragon.

And when Ichigo and Chad follow Jin Kariya into the Department of Research and Development, they learn of a secret power hidden in its depths -- which Kariya gains control of, and threatens to use against the Seireitei. And as their numbers diminish, the remaining Bounts begin to splinter over Kariya's insane plans for revenge against the Soul Reapers.

"Bleach Volume 25" is kind of divided between good solid stuff and rather boring fights -- the fights aren't bad, but we've seen the Bounts' dolls and superpowers before, and these battles don't really add anything new. The exception is Mayuri's fight with Baura and Sawatari, pitting a hyperanalytical mad scientist against an arrogant old coot -- it's fun to see the loathsome Mayuri putting his brains to work, even as he keeps asking the old dude to be his guinea pig.

The juicy part is when Ichigo and Chad confront Kariya, setting up a suitably tense, apocalyptic struggle for control of the Soul Society -- and it gets especially good when Koga starts rebelling against Kariya, but with little chance of stopping him. But it's sandwiched between all these fights that are really not much different from the two or three battles the Bounts have had before.

There are also some big fat plot holes -- Soi Fon conveniently forgets her zanpakuto's relevant ability until she's almost dead, Uryu has a vision of Soken (despite already... being in the afterlife), and the two strongest battle captains are sent to flip through library books during a crisis. Wha?

Since Uryu's been neglected for most of this filler arc, he gets some attention here -- the poor guy has a Quincy artifact that can barely hit anything, and an opponent that can deflect whatever DOES hit. So in a sense, he has to relearn his old skills. And Koga gets fleshed out a bit, as he finds that Kariya's plans are far more terrible than anything he can allow.

"Bleach Volume 25" has long patches of rather monotonous fighting and some plot holes, but redeems itself somewhat by adding in the paving stones for a really nasty conflict with Kariya."