Bleach’s fourth and fifth seasons known as, “The Bount Arc” officially aired in 2008-2009 on Adult Swim. Unlike its previous storyline Soul Society Arc, this one isn’t well received by fans. Bandi Namco is working on a video game based on the series under “Bleach: Rebirth of Souls.” No release date has been confirmed. Before it comes out, I wanna share my thoughts on this two-part filler arc if it’s worth your spare time.
This review contains some SPOILERS.
Strong & Weak Qualities
Strong: Voice Actors reprise their roles and they all did an excellent job for their respective voiceover performances.
Troy Baker did a good job voicing Jin Kariya.
Action Sequences were pretty good.
Animation brings many things to life including character models, lighting, fluid movement and environmental locations.
Kon has a bigger role assisting our heroes. He provides comic relief.
Bount Arc features opening and ending theme songs listed.
- 3rd Opening: Ichirin no Hana – episodes 64-74
- 4th Opening: Tonight, Tonight, Tonight – episodes 75-97
- 5th Opening: Rolling Star – episodes 98-109
- 6th Ending: My Pace – episodes 64-74 (my personal favorite)
- 7th Ending: Hanabi -episodes 75-86
- 8th Ending: Movin’ – episodes 87-97
- 9th Ending: Baby It’s You – episodes 98-109
Every episode features a post-credit scene with a small clip of the Soul Society’s shenanigans.
Weak: Why didn’t Uryu tell his friends he can’t use his powers since they rescued Rukia? Ichigo & Renji were forced to put their weapons in display cases to solve a game, but why didn’t they notice Uryu not putting his bow in a display case from the get-go? In the words of Deadpool. “Well, that’s just lazy writing.”
One character’s named, Ho. Not kidding. I couldn’t take his name seriously. Whenever I hear that word, it gave flashbacks to Mike Myers’ god-awful “The Cat in the Hat.” “Dirty hoe!”
The Bount Arc spans a grand total of 46 episodes split into parts. Unfortunately, it has zero connection to Aizen. Just an uninteresting filler arc or in this case, an overly long side mission. It was boring as heck. Make matters worse, vampires in Bleach are dull. At first, I was interested in Ichigo and his allies fighting vampires. I don’t give a crud about them. They’re not on the same level of a legit villain like Aizen. Ugh! I’d rather rewatch Dakota Fanning in “The Secret Life of Bees.” I’ll take a feel-good chick flick over lame vampires!
The three mod soul characters Noba, Kurodo & Lirin are also forgettable. They serve no purpose whatsoever.
Orihime didn’t fact check her late brother’s dead. Ignores the fact a mod soul with the power to shapeshift, impersonates her dead brother. Feels outta character for Orihime.
Besides Orihime, Rukia’s done dirty. All she does his fire spells. I know Rukia’s reason she can’t use her powers is because she’s recovering since her rescue from Soul Society.
Remember Ichigo’s Bankai? A powerful boost to his Zanpakuto. It only works in the Soul Society, but not in the real world. Lazy writing reduced his power level. Could’ve easily worked reducing several episodes. Even Renji’s Bankai didn’t work. He later uses it near the end of Season 4. The lore’s so confusing.
The Final Verdict: D-
Bleach’s filler arc is a mind numbingly, dull, uninteresting and miserable. Skip pile of dog poop. It’s definitely not worth your spare time. Watch the six-part story arc “The Arrancar.”
Nickthemoviecritic.com 