Bleach - Series 3 Part 1 (eps 42-53) [DVD]

As usual with the first parts you get three discs with 12 episodes, series 3 starts off in a new season called "The Rescue Arc". After Ichigo's failed rescue attempt he is faced with mastering "bankai", while Ichigo does that Ury' faces off against Mayuri Kurotsuchi, an evil scientist who looks like Yoshimitsu from Tekken. After this everyone is captured except Ichigo and members in the Soul Society start to turn each other creating quite a stir. Expect some padding in the storyline to stretch out the story though, well at least they haven't resorted to fan service (Yet).

The Packaging has changed considerably as the episode booklet which also doubles as a poster is gone and Manga have instead printed it on the reverse side of the cover, in the wrong order I might add and the cases are now see through instead of the usual white cases which looked far better. As usual the English dub is great but changes too much compared to the Japanese script but is still enjoyable to watch. Also I don't understand is why you don't get the textless opening, theres no point of having the closing if you don't have the opening to go with it.

Extras:
Production Art
Textless Closing
Trailers (Same old trailers from previous bleach sets)

This is the best part to the story of bleach and kinda gets pulled down a bit by the filler season that is season 4. but ill focus on this for now.

it starts of where the previous season left of with ichigo trying to learn bankai the most powerful technique a soul reaper can achieve using something urahara invented to skip the usual 100 or so years it takes to achieve bankai into a few days using the tenshintai.

Renji joins ichigo in his quest to learn bankai to surpass Byakuya Kuchiki.But he also reveals that the execution has been moved back to the within 29 hours. I dont want to say anymore you'll find out for yourself.

There are lots of different fights in this half of the season hence the title of my review, with uryu, mayori, kenpachi(o he loves it), tosen and so many more. They are all well made my the creator and have downed a bit more on the talkative side to it, which makes me pleased as ther is nothing more anoyying than people with weapons ready to fight and they have a nice conversation. Ive already seen up to episode 170 (yes i watch it in japanese better voice actors). and i'd like to say there are still lots more surprises in th ebag from bleach, although the filler season seem to be lacking real story they are still enjoyable.

this part of the seson sets itself up extremly well for a dramatic finish to one of the best seasons of a series out and making this season an instant classic.

Recovering from his epic battle with the monstrous Kenpachi Zaraki, Ichigo is faced with the prospect that he has to step up his game if he is ever going to rescue Rukia from her prison. To become a soul Reaper captain, Bankai needs to mastered. Bankai is the ability to enhance the power of the soul Reaper's Zanpakto (weapon), making it change form. (An analogy of this could be the transition to super Saiyan in the Dragonball series in which appearance is changed and power is increased). Having only just survived his encounter with Zaraki, Ichigo soon starts his training to unlock the Bankai power in his own Zanpakto.
Meanwhile, there is chaos in the Seretei (soul Reaper HQ) of the Soul Society as the Soul Reaper Captain Aizen has been murdered. Now, not only do the Soul Reaper's have to worry about Ichigo and his gang, but there is also a traitor within the ranks. As trust starts to dwindle, the Soul Reaper's soon begin to turn on eachother in an explosive start to series 3.

Series 3 of Bleach continues the Soul Society story arc and is known as 'the rescue' section of the story. If you have enjoyed the plot and characters so far then you will be happy with this installment as this series carries the style and likeability of the previous two series' over seamlessly. You will get a chance to see some more of the Soul Reapers such as the Menacing squad 12 captain, Mayuri Kurotsuchi who faces up against the quincy, Uryu Ishida in order to capture him and use him as a guinea pig in his despicable experiments. If there is one character up to this point that you will hate, then it is this guy as he is as disgusting and dislikeable as they come. Another new character is the mysterious Kaname Tosen who shows off some cool Zanpakto powers that make it's victims enter a world where their sense of sight and sound are rendered useless.

Once again there is the usual Bleach humour which grounds the series a bit and adds a lighthearted layer to the story and characters. Unlike many other anime, Bleach is often laugh out loud funny with the feline turned sexy female, Yoruichi causing some awkwardness for Ichigo due to the fact that she often forgets to put on clothes after being a cat for so long...A fair amount of blushing and speech loss ensues on Ichigo's part.
The animation continues to be of a high standard, with some nice CGI in the action scenes, coupled with some lovely traditional artwork. The studio who created Bleach is the acclaimed studio Pierrot who created the Naruto and E's Otherwise animes

If you have never seen Bleach, you are missing out one of the most enjoyable and addictive Japanese animes of recent. The style and entertainment value that each episode offers is of such a high quality that it is difficult not to watch several episodes in one go. I got the same feeling as previous releases once series 3 part 1 finished. This feeling was excitement and also disappointment at the realistaion that I have to wait for the next release to continue the rich and entertaining story that is Bleach. This 3 disc set contains a further 12 episodes (42 - 53). The next release will be a 2 disc set and will finish off the soul society arc. After that, there is the movie and the start of series 4 to look forward to. But until then, enjoy series 3 part 1. It's brilliant!