These episodes are the last before the first big break in the Arrancar Arc adaptation (not that you’ll notice as we cover the arc on this blog!) and are also the last ones in 4:3 aspect ratio. Thankfully they “go out with a bang” as they adapt the third and final fight between Ichigo and Grimmjow, and adapt it well too! … Unlike a lot of the other stuff, sadly. Let’s take a look!
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Although we have a whole ten episodes here, there isn’t going to be a lot to talk about! These episodes feature our main cast split off and facing down some lesser enemies in order to show off some skill before the bigger battles begin, with the exception of Rukia’s battle anyway, as that actually has significance. It this bad though? Does anyone really watch Bleach for the plot? Let’s find out! (well, let’s find out if I like these ten episodes, not if someone out there watches Bleach for the plot. I … I can’t find that out for you.)
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A smaller chunk of episodes this time, and one that actually has several episodes of filler in it despite my claim to cut all filler out of these reviews, but the filler in here has a special wrinkle in it. You see the filler here was actually in Tite Kubo’s original outline but he cut it due to pacing concerns… and those concerns were absolutely correct for the record, but I still felt like including it in this rundown. So, with all that out of the way, let’s take a look at the first chunk of episodes set in Hueco Mundo… The first of many!
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Feels really weird to put two batches of episodes in the title, but such is the way when you want to specifically cut out filler stories and don’t want to just review five or six episodes at a time… These episodes wrap up the opening salvo of the Arrancar Arc and point us towards our next destination of Hueco Mundo, plus has some rare emotional character development! Let’s take a look…
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It’s time to have a look at the anime version of Bleach’s Arrancar arc, a story arc that took many years to complete in the original manga so ended up shredded into chunks in the anime. This will actually be my first time watching just the Arrancar episodes in a row, intentionally skipping over as many filler episodes and arcs as I can, rather than watching just a chunk here and there like I have in the past. Will it hold up as a long-viewing experience, or is it all just too jumbled to work? Let’s find out! … Over the next couple of months…
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After a poor OVA and a decent OVA we get … a decent film! Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture is actually the third in this series of adaptations, referring back to the two OVAs frequently to make sure you’re aware of this fact. While the budget is much higher and the stakes much bigger (via an entirely original storyline) at the end of the day the film is still no patch on the Street Fighter II Animated Movie, which really is where my fascination with this film came from… Want to know more details, or maybe see more of those sweet-sweet screen-capped-from-Crunchyroll pictures? Read on!
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The second Fatal Fury OVA is a vast improvement over the first, featuring a lot more actual fighting alongside the now-retro visuals and fun soundtrack. It tells a very by-the-numbers hero redemption arc, so don’t go into it expecting some sort of deep and twisty plot, I’ll say that much… and I’ll also say more, if you read on!
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So before I tackle another long series in episode chunks I thought I’d take a look at the trio of two OVAs and a film based on Fatal Fury now they’ve been uploaded to Crunchyroll. I’ve always wanted to watch them but could never find them on physical media, so this was a real pleasant surprise, but was it a pleasant watch though? Does it live up to the lofty heights set by Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie that was actually the first anime I ever watched? Let’s find out!
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Turn-A Gundam has been called many things, from a masterpiece to boring, from “if Studio Ghibli did a Gundam show” to “That show with the moustache Gundam in it”. In my opinion it’s a little bit of all those things (well, it’s entirely the show with the moustache Gundam in it, to be fair) While no masterpiece it is well written and has some great character moments, while not boring it does have some very slow moments. So, let’s take an overall look at the series, and see where in my opinion the show ends up…
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Turn-A Gundam arrives at its busy conclusion, with several background characters coming to the forefront and a new antagonist arriving with his own Turn-X Gundam to counter the Turn-A. Does this more frantic pace lead to a satisfying end? Let’s find out!
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