Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0782009238393
Format: Animated
Label: VIZ VIDEO
Languages: Array
Manufacturer: VIZ VIDEO
Number Of Items: 5
Publisher: VIZ VIDEO
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2008-08-19
Running Time: 525
Studio: VIZ VIDEO

Ichigo and his friends make the perilous journey to the Soul Society and are promptly set upon by the guardians of the spirit world. As they dodge one foe after another, they gradually draw nearer their goal: to rescue Rukia from the tower cell where she awaits her death sentence. But their presence threatens the very order of the Soul Society itself, and they must face the ultimate opponents--the captains of the guard squads whose Spiritual Pressure is unmatched, even by Ichigo himself!

Special Features Include:
* Bonus Materials: Behind the Scenes of BLEACH
* Bilingual (Japanese & English)
* Contains Episode 21-41 (Original and Uncut)
In the second season of the popular fantasy-adventure Bleach, Ichigo,Chad, Ohime, Ishida, and Master Yoruichi the talking cat pass through the inter-dimensional portal linking Earth to the segregated world of the Soul Society. Lost souls are consigned to the run-down Rukon ("Drifting Spirit Town"), where Yoruichi obtains help from pyrotechnician Kukaku to get into the stronghold the Seireitei. Although the teen-agers have crossed space and time to rescue Rukia, no one knows where she's imprisoned--or where they are--in that city-sized compound. Ichigo and his new ally Ganju seize timid janitor Hanataro: He knows where Rukia is and secret ways to get there. Director Noriyuke Abe skillfully mixes overlapping movements, slow-motion, unusual camera angles, reverse colors, and black-and-white to heighten the drama of the sword fights between Ichigo's team and the bizarre-looking officers of the Soul Society. But the internal conflicts often prove more compelling than the external ones. Viewers learn why Chad never uses his awesome strength in his own interest; Ichigo discovers that he must use his sword as an ally, rather than as a tool. By submitting to Zangetsu, the spirit of the sword, he acquires greater power. But Bleach never stays too serious for too long: Ichigo and Ganju squabble, even in dire straights, and an overhead shot of Ichigo fleeing a squad of Soul Reapers looks like a table-top Pac-Man game.The satisfying balancee of comedy, adventure, and well-choreographed battles has made Bleach a smash hit in Japan and America. (Rated "Teen," suitable for ages 13 and older: violence, grotesque imagery, brief nudity, alcohol use.) --Charles Solomon

Customer Rating:
Summary: all and all, a great value
Comment: after ichigo and co hone their abilities in the world of the living with the help of urahara and yoruichi, they embark on their mission to save rukia before her execution.

in my point of view, the beginning of the second season begins much like the first season. whereas we are already well acquainted with ichigo and his troupe, we are now introduced to allies and enemies in the soul society each with their own interesting pasts. the only down side is that introductions are sometimes so quick that you sometimes can't remember who a character is (especially if you are unaccustomed to hearing japanese names). these introductions really seem to keep the plot line at a stand still for nearly five episodes until the rescue actually begins.

after about the first four or five episodes, however, we are dropped right into the action. ichigo and co are divided while entering the sereitei and are forced the fight for their lives while the members of the thirteen court guard squads attempt to hunt them down.

in contrast to the first season that has a really even pace, the second season accelerates very quickly by dropping us into the action as each of ichigo's troupe is forced to face off against the soul reapers, and later even the captains of the thirteen court guard squads. the only problem i have with this is that much of the action is balanced by unnecessary dialogue. in at least two instances one fight may stretch over two episodes which leaves you feeling if you had gotten your money's worth. action is also interrupted by semi-relevent or irrelevent back story, such as the explanation of chad's loyalty to ichigo and the karakura superheroes respectively.

as for the tone, despite the greater degree of action, the second season is much like the first. we are given our dose of action, humor and even sentimentality over the course of the season creating a very solid anime.

though the second season seems to really take off after the first few episodes, the uneven pacing can become rather annoying as unnecessary dialogue interrupts action. even so, the content and plot make-up for this small downfall.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Enhanced DragonballZ Clone
Comment: The plot is actually decent, when they actually make progress on the polot, that is. Toward the end 50% of any given episode is spent on meaningless repetitive flashbacks, grunts, and repeating the same statements over and over ad infinum. It is getting to the point where a single attack will require an entire episode, and already the writers are too inept to fit a fight in a single episode. I am guessing that in future episodes a single grunt will be all the plot progression you get for your time and money.... oh wait, that's intentional. By taking a single action and dragging it out over several episodes the writers create more DvDs for the rabid fans to purchase. Brilliant.

The way they did this was via grandual degradation of the plotline. In season 1 virtually the entire episode was plot and relevant, with almost no unnecessary overlap. Now they overlap at least 2-3 minutes at every break thereby reducing the amount 'episode' by roughly 5 minutes (20 minute of anime - 5 minute of overlap). To make matters worse, they are now including incessant flashbacks that are nothing but animation you've aleady watched. A minor quantity of flashback properly placed can be a good thing, but over and over showing the same footage is simply insulting, especially when it delays any plot progression and restricts the main plot progression to roughly 5-7 minutes in any given episode.

Still, at the moment it is better than Naruto whose plot progression averages 2 minutes max per episode. But I can see how in the future this will be just another DragonballZ clone. Hopefully they end it before it gets that far.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Gift
Comment: I purchased this as a gift for a teen. She absolutely loved it. It was definitely hard to tear her away from the television.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Anime!!
Comment: This collection has it all! It covers Ichigo and his gang getting into the soul society. It has 3 of the best battles. Ichigo vs ikkaku, ichigo vs rengi, and ichigo vs Kenpachi. this collection contains episodes 21-41, bonus material, behind-the-scenes,artwork,and previews on the first Bleach movie!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Anime, my current favorite! And about the fansubs being better than professionals...
Comment: Bleach is a great show. I love it to pieces. Episodes 21-41 deal with Ichigo, Chad, Uryu and Orihime entering the Soul Society to rescue Rukia Kouchi from execution. All the episodes are well done, the animation is fantastic. I love all the sword fights, it's just entertaining to watch.

As for the Japanese audio and English subs, I have to criticize all the so-called "fans" who just watch fansubs and have no intention of buying this set:

You're not a real fan unless you actually buy something to contribute to the original creator. If someone downloads a fansub and doesn't buy this DVD, they're only hurting the people who make the show. Sure, hate on the dub all you want, but if you like the Japanese language so much go take classes and become fluent so you can watch the DVDs without the subs, and to the reviewer who said that the English subs are similar to the English Dub, I'd say you're wrong, it's a WHOLE lot different than the dub, there's dialogue that wasn't even in the English version on the subs.

Yes, they say "Soul Reapers" instead of "Death Gods", but there is is a lot of dialogue that is not included in the English Dub, but the subs are professional, not those stupid inaccurate, clique-ish fansubs, it's still very good though, if you want to truly support Bleach and keep the DVDs coming, buy the DVD sets, I just did and I love it. But I prefer the dub because I, unlike a lot of these fans, do like shows in English. The average, non-die-hard person just getting into anime is not going to want to watch it in Japanese, they want to watch it in English, so hence, the REASON for English dubbing in the first place.

On another note, Bleach is not for young children, there's profanity, but not any more than a LOST episode. There's lots of blood, people get hurt and die in this show, so this is not meant for anyone under at least 12 or 13. Anyone younger should watch with a parent.

Bleach is awesome, can't wait for the next season.

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