Search - Bleach, Volume 7: The Entry (Episodes 25-28) on DVD

Inside the Seireitei

E. A Solinas | MD USA | 01/09/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Most of "Bleach Volume 6" was spent trying to get into the Soul Reaper fortress, the Seireitei.

Well, "Bleach Volume 7" is about what our heroes do when they manage to get inside, and discover that they've got hundreds of Soul Reapers ready to take them out. Obviously there's lots of action and fighting, but plenty of humour in the fights as well.

Once our heroes have finally learned to form "cannonballs" with their spirit energy, Shikaku Kiba uses her massive cannon to fire the group (plus her brother Ganju) into the Seireitei through the air. But things don't go quite as planned -- they all get blasted in different directions, landing in completely different parts of the Seireitei.

Ichigo and Ganju are promptly challenged by a pair of Soul Reapers -- Ichigo fights the bald, dancing swordsman Ikkaku, and Ganju the fey, narcissistic Yumichika. Chad and the cat Yoruichi are apparently in hiding, but Uryu shows off his new powers when another giant threatens Orihime. Oh yes, and the condemned Rukia is sitting in the Repentence Cell, waiting to be executed.

See, this DVD reminds me exactly why I find "Bleach" so entertaining. While the first episode drags somewhat -- come on, GET INSIDE already! -- things pick up wonderfully as soon as Ichigo and Company hit the ground. After that, there's lots of action, comedy, headless-chicken chase scenes, and new Soul Reapers who love fighting and have feathered eyebrows.

The plot in this one is a bit scattered, since the characters are. But there are some nice kinetic action scenes with Ichigo and Ikkaku, where both combatants are slashing each other up, as well as Uryu showing what new Quincy powers he's developed when nobody was looking. Chivalry appears to be his middle name.

But it's not all action -- there's plenty of comedy woven in. Ikkaku and Yumichika provide most of it -- one of them claims he's going to kill Ganju because he's "ugly," and the other does goofy celebration dances on his tiptoes ("Who is lucky? I am lucky! None so lucky but... MEEEEEEEEE!"). He's even funny in defeat ("Agh! You made me laugh so hard I reopened my wounds!").

And this time around, we get some focus on the Soul Reapers rather than Our Heroes. Ikkaku and Yumichika show that the Soul Reapers can actually be quirky, if not outright bizarre. And we see some hints of new dimensions to Renji, the tattooed Soul Reaper who is an old friend of Rukia's -- let's just say that there are hints that Renji is getting rebellious.

The seventh volume of "Bleach" is full of action and comedy, with some important new characters introduced in the Soul Society. And things will only get hotter."