English Dub Review: Bleach Episode 356

Well, after that detour into Bullshitsville, it seems like the writers of Bleach have decided to give the viewers the last chunk of this arc. The end of Bleach officially starts tonight!

Spoilers!

The big elephant in the room is how Kugo got Ichigo to awaken his Fullbring. Kugo was downright brutal to Ichigo. From when Orihime was brought into Yukio’s Fullbring, Kugo was downright cold to both Ichigo and Orihime. Kugo even went to attack Orihime.

Let’s talk about that one for a second. It seems to me that Orihime finally did something while Ichigo was powerless for 17 months. When Kugo went to attack her, Orihime used a new ability called Shiten Koshun. This new ability is a shield that diffuses damage, and reacts with an attack at the exact same moment of the incoming attack. So, I take back calling Orihime completely useless. Well, that’s until Riruka’s doughnuts get involved. Just see how the people in charge of the captions take it:

I think the picture says it all. I couldn’t even make this up. Anyway, back to the story. The interaction between Riruka, Orihime, and Yukio was hilarious. When Riruka went into the game world with her snacks, she demanded chairs and a table from Yukio. When he refused, Orihime asked nicely, and he made some chairs and a table appear. I don’t know why, but all of the anime this week had hilarious moments, and this was Bleach’s. For once, Orihime was used in a way that was entertaining that didn’t involve her Barbie doll tits.

It was after this interaction that Kugo turned the violence up. Ichigo was too distracted according to Kugo. So, he sliced Ichigo’s eyes. Kugo then turns into a real douchebag, making Ichigo think something really bad happened to Orihime. Kugo makes Ichigo think he can keep up, and drives Ichigo to close to death. After taking the sword to his chest, Ichigo finds Kugo by sensing his spiritual pressure, and fully awakens his Fullbring. Kugo takes Ichigo’s attack, head on, pretty much because Kugo needed to. Someone needs to take a risk when a user’s Fullbring awakens, because the violent awakening of a souls causes that big of an explosion. After he awakens his soul, Ichigo is welcomed in as a member of Xcution.

Plotwise, Episode 356 was very light. It focused solely on Ichigo and Kugo, and that’s not terrible. Yeah, there was the slight distraction of Orihime, Riruka and Yukio. But that was the sole comedy relief of the episode. Very often, Bleach gets lost in how serious it takes itself, and the comedy relief is very welcome.

I know I said it before, but Kugo becoming a douchebag was entirely too convenient, almost to the point of being foreshadowing. Mind you, I haven’t even touched the manga, so I can’t be sure. The rest of Xcution seemed indifferent from the get go when it comes to Ichigo. Kugo was a friend to Ichigo, then on a dime, he becomes a prick. Yeah, I get that it was to motivate him, but even then there’s some hesitation, or at least some wavering. This seemed like it was a long time coming.

Episode 356 was a good episode. Kugo’s turn to douchebag was very convenient, but the fight makes up for it, for a change. Episode 358 is saved by that caption of Orihime. That picture is probably going to be my desktop background for a long while.