Bleach Series 10 Part 2
Released By: Manga Entertainment
Rating: 15
Running Time: 325 Mins
Audio: English & Japanese DD 2.0
Release Date: 11/3/2013

Reviewed By: Sandra Scholes

"You should try to smile. Everyone gets so depressed when the sun doesn't shine."

Ichigo looks on in horror as Captain Kenpachi Zuraki fights Nnoitora Gilga, Espada number 5. It looks like he is about to be defeated, but as we have all come to know, Kenny likes a good hard battle and welcomes all the blood, gore and broken bones associated with it. In this second part of Bleach Series 10, we get a look at Nnoitora's back story. In his early life as a lower ranked Espada under Neliel to Odershvank, he hated his life, but hated her more as he thought she took pity on him. The reality was that she thought he was too weak to be left alone to do his duties for Lord Aizen.

Due to him being so weak in heart, he takes out his anger and frustration on the other Arrancars under him, as he sees them as weak and undeserving of being alive. He also hates the person he has become, and has always wanted to meet someone who could give him a decent fight. And although he hates to admit it, he thinks he has found the Soul Reaper who will do the job. Somehow Ichigo didn't like being made to take a back seat,. He likes to fight so much, and watching Kenny fight Nnoitora makes him want to fight all the more. When it looks like Nnoitora is about to be defeated, Orihime is snatched by Stark, another Espada we don't seem to know about just yet, and that is when Aizen makes his appearance, announcing his evil plans using tentei-kura. Orihime is being kept in the palace at Las Noches, and while he leaves it in the capable hands of Ulquiorra Schiffer, Aizen is accompanied by Gin and Tozen. They all leave for Karakura Town and boasts to all who will listen that he will destroy the town and use it to create the Oken.

While all this is going on, Orihime is left in the awkward position of not being able to do anything to save her friends from harm, or even get herself free of her bonds. Being held prisoner by Aizen prevents her from acting alone, but there is always Ichigo who is trapped along with his friends in Hueco Mundo who can come and save her, but sadly for him he has to go through Ulquiorra first. As Ichigo knows the Espada who is ranked fourth will use his might to kill him if he has to. At the very least he will have to stop him from taking Orihime as he is under strict instructions from Aizen to keep her there for when he comes back from the battle, but maybe he wants Ichigo to fight Ulquiorra to see how powerful he has become.

Normally in the Bleach series there is only one plot to follow, whereas in this two disc set, there are three. The standard Shinigami versus Arrancars, Rurichiyo Kasumiuji one and later the called the Pendulum Arc. The Pendulum Arc being the really humorous one of them all. In this we get to see the what the Soul Reaper captains and Lieutenants looked like fifty years ago, and for Aizen fans like myself, it was just too good to miss seeing the former captain of Squad 5 serving as Lieutentant to Shinji Hirako - yep, he's the same Shinji we know as a Vizard along with his buddies. In the couple of episodes before the Pendulum Arc, Rurichiyo, the troublesome princess of the Kasumiuji clan has come to pay Ichigo a visit to his school, but when he wants to know why her bodyguards Kenryu and Enryu are, she acts pretty evasive and she has to let slip that she left the palace without anyone knowing so she could play Kemari.This is a nice couple of comic episodes that take the mind off the carnage that is about to happen later with the Arrancars versus Soul Reapers part. After the two episode comedic anime with her, the Pendulum Arc starts, and it is time to turn back the clock and see what happened many years ago before we have come to know the members of the seireitei. This is interesting as it shows the main characters from Bleach as much younger and in different ranks. Aizen is a lieutenant under Shinji Hirako, the then captain of Squad 5. His relationship with his captain isn't the best, he sees Shinji as too carefree and easy going with what he says, while Shinji views his lieutenant as being too serious and wishes he would let his hair down once in a while.

It is fun to see what the lieutenants were like then, and also how Aizen acted before his darker side took hold later on when he became captain of the same squad. Viewers will enjoy the story and the extra arcs, as bonus material they might not have already had chance to see.


Bonus Material: Opening and Closing songs.
Verdict: This is one of the best box sets in Bleach history - the Pendulum Arc is the funniest!