English Dub Review: Bleach Episode 354

We finally get to see Yukio’s Fullbring, but I still have no clue what it does. I’m sure that we will get the answers during this week’s Bleach!

Episode 354 is a microcosm of this arc. I think Tite Kubo was just pulling shit out of his ass when he wrote this. Can you picture the conversation?

Kubo: “So, for the next arc, Ichigo has to get his powers back. This is what we’re going to make a team where everyone is deus ex machinas. We can make them have any power we want!”

Rest of Staff: “Sir, this is why we got cancelled. No one knows what’s going on anymore.”

Kubo: “I am the best ever!”

That’s the feeling that I get whenever one of the Xcution members just happens to have the right Fullbring ability, for that just in case moment. Yukio locked away Ichigo, not only to protect him from Tsukishima, but to stop the brawl that is attracting cops, fire, and a legion of spectators. That’s not all. Ichigo needed a place to train? We have someone who can put people inside a box, and the box is so much larger with this ability. Of course we need a ruling body, so we have Ginjo, who governs the rules to Riruka’s games.

And then we get to Tsukishima being confronted by most of the Xcution members. Riruka just happens to have a gun that is extremely powerful, that Tsukishima made, and mysteriously snuck up behind him? Tsukishima was taking on three of the more powerful people in Bleach, I’m sure these support characters would have been no problem. But Tsukishima just blips away using his Fullbring Light.

I think Bleach just suffers from a lot of redundancy. For example, Uryu has the idea of getting Orihime to heal his wounds so he can help Ichigo. Uryu got diced up almost ten episodes ago. Why the hell is he just telling Orihime to heal him now? If this happened back then, maybe he could have been training or some shit to not suck. His reason for getting healed is the most retarded thing I have ever heard as well: “Ichigo started fighting the guy who made me a useless character for the last ten weeks, I have to go fight, even though I’ll just get cut up by this vastly superior foe.” I threw a bit of hyperbole in there for effect, but Uryu is outclassed by everyone with Xcution right now, even Chad.

Speaking of Xcution, finding out that there is a second Xcution hideout is another deus ex machina as well. I guess this is another to add to the list of anime tropes. The injured are being taken care of in the bungalow looking alternate spot, and finally looks like Kugo finally is trying to plan for the end game.

The single thing that made this interesting for me was, Yukio’s Fullbring, Invaders Must Die. Yukio has control over an alternate dimension that he has total control of through his PSP looking handheld system. He has the ability to change the scenery, add life gauges to either real life health or custom parameters, and can add more people when needed. Now, Ichigo has an instant healer in Orihime, and it’s about time she has some actual use.

This last bit is pretty spoiler heavy, so tread lightly.

The last couple of minutes of episode 354 has been something I have been looking for since Uryu got bitched, and when the Hollow appeared. That’s right, Rukia and the Soul Society have finally made their appearance in this arc! I knew there was something fishy about Urahara and Isshin, but I didn’t think it involved the Soul Society. I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am to finally see the base of this of Bleach finally come back! This is going to be a big fight may actually turn my opinion of Bleach. Not much as changed my mind, but the small flares from episodes 353 and 354 make me think that the final battle is going to be pretty heavy.