English Dub Review: Bleach Episode 353

Tsukishima finally makes his move, but he really pissed off Ichigo. Hopefully, Ichigo’s balls finally drop and he does something productive.

If there is one thing Bleach is good for, it’s shoving the last five minutes of the last episode into the first five minutes of the next episode. We remember that Tsukishima cut down the door to Xcution. Honestly, we do. We don’t need to know about it, again.

Spoilers!

Jackie and Ichigo emerge from the fish tank, but Jackie looks half dead. Ichigo, however, comes out looking pristine with something resembling his Soul Reaper robes. It’s actually Ichigo’s Fullbring, which is a clad type. Meaning, his true power is worn.Tsukishima tries to attack, but Ichigo blocks it with ease. Chad realizes that he hadn’t told Ichigo about Tsukishima, yet, and he goes in for an attack. Chad goes out, and Kugo follows, telling Chad that Ichigo has achieved his Fullbring. Chad inadvertently tells Ichigo that Tsukishima was the one who attacked Uryu and Orihime, and that sends Ichigo into a rage when Tsukishima shows up again.

Ichigo is attacking with perfect accuracy, but Tsukishima’s Bringer Light is saving him. Ichigo manages to activate his Bringer Light, and the fight is now truly on. Chad is amazed at how Ichigo was able to achieve such a mastery of Fullbring so quickly. Ichigo keeps going in, but Tsukishima sees the fault in Ichigo’s Fullbring. Ichigo has to concentrate on his right arm, leaving his left vulnerable to attack. Tsukishima deactivates Ichigo’s left arm, leaving Ichigo unable to break his fall. Tsukishima goes in for the killing blow, but Kugo blocks the attack. Kugo thinks that it’s still too early to let Ichigo fight Tsukishima.

Meanwhile, Shishigawara returns to Tsukishima’s house with food, but no one is home. Meanwhile, back at the plot, Ichigo wants Kugo to get out of the way. That just gets Kugo’s elbow to the back of Ichigo’s head. Tsukishima and Kugo finally start to fight, with Chad holding Ichigo back from fighting. Kugo notices that Tsukishima is aiming for vital spots, but there’s no blood lust. Kugo powers up for a powerful attack that seems to hit Tsukishima.

The rest of Xcution is watching on, and they notice a crowd is gathering. Back at the fight, Kugo has to dodge an attack from the smoke and dust cloud by Tsukishima. Ichigo tries to attack Tsukishima again, but Tsukishima is blocking the attacks with ease. Ichigo’s Fullbring is still incomplete, but Ichigo powers up again, finally causing some sort of damage to Tsukishima’s sleeves. Yukio catches Ichigo and Kugo in his Fullbring, “Invaders Must Die,” so Ichigo can fight again when his Fullbring is complete.

Well, shit. Something finally happened in Bleach! There was an actual fight, and it actually meant something! I thought Kugo was supposed to be a bad ass, but nothing he did actually caused damage. Tsukishima is the real deal, I tell you.

Ichigo finally got his Fullbring ability going, but it was still incomplete. But he is learning on the fly, and was even able to learn new abilities on the go, like his Bringer Light, changing his fighting style mid fight, and how to power up his Fullbring to cause damage to Tsukishima. That’s called character development. It only took 11 episodes, or 352 episodes depending on how you look at it.

There is still one thing that bugs me, and it’s the complete lack of the Soul Society. You would think someone would have been here when Uryu got jacked up, or when the Hollow showed up. Or, at the very least, to keep tabs on Ichigo since he sacrificed himself to save the Soul Society. They are a bunch of ungrateful fucks.

This is the first episode of Bleach that is truly worth watching. So, sit down, and watch, because Ichigo, Kugo, and Tsukishima finally take their swords out to fight.