Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		2.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Bleach: Set 11 Blu-ray Movie Review

The action continues.

Bleach is an entertaining action anime series with plenty to offer fans of fast-paced adventure. The series is from creator Tite Kubo. The animated series comes from production studio Pierrot (Naruto, Mr. Osomatsu). The series was originally broadcast on TV Tokyo in Japan and is distributed in North America from VIZ. Produced by Jun Takibuchi, Ken Hagino, Kyoko Kobayashi, Mai Nagai, Shunji Aoki, Yukio Yoshimura, and Yutaka Sugiyama, Bleach: Set 11 includes episodes 280-308.

Shuhei Hisagi and Sajin Komamura combine forces and face off against Kaname Tosen. The stakes of the game are raised as a new battle wages on. The soul reapers decide to now work with the Visoreds despite the conflict between the two sides. The new team must confront the Espadas Halibel, Barragan, and Stark. Danger looms ahead. Can the villains be defeated before it is too late? Can Ichigo help stop the Soul Reaper?

The action is what makes the series so entertaining. The epic battles and fight scenes are intense and well choreographed. There is a lot to appreciate about the lyrical action battles and the way these sequences unfold. There was a lot of effort invested in to developing the fight scenes. The battles manage to come to life in outstanding ways – bringing viewers closer to the story. There is something epic about the way in which these fights unfold. Fans of epic battles won't be able to resist.

The animation on Bleach is top-notch as well. The series features art direction by Natsuko Suzuki ( Active Raid, Arakawa Under the Bridge) and Sawako Takagi (Hikaru no Go, Silver Spoon). An outstanding effort from the animators involved, the series has a great artistic sensibility that is brimming with creativity. The background artistry is impressive. The fight scenes are well animated and are fluid.

Time to rise.

Another excellent element of the production is found in the first-rate character designs. The character designs by Masahi Kudo ( Sakura Wars the Animation, Survival Game Club!) work wonders and are perfectly well-suited to each central character. The character personalities are well match to the fun designs. A solid effort by Kudo.

The cinematography by Katsufumi Sato (Wolf's Rain, The Big O) and Toshiyuki Fukushima (Yu Yu Hakusho, Wolf's Rain) is an interesting element of the production. Though the animation is not as crisp in comparison to more recent anime offerings, the design element of the cinematography still shines as something impressive. The use of color and lighting is effective.

The music score composed by Shiro Sagisu (Neon Genesis Evangelion, Nadia – The Secret of Blue Water) adds to the charm of the series as well. Sagisu provides a score that helps to highlight the engaging action sequences. The action-packed mayhem is brought to life, in part, through the score. The music helps set the tone for the series and creates balance.

Directed by Noriyuki Abe (Yu Yu Hakusho, Flame of Recca), Bleach is an entertaining series. Fans of Yu Yu Hakusho will find Abe brings more entertaining action to the forefront. The series manages a nice balance of action and adventure. Abe is a gifted director with a knack for creating an animated universe worth engaging. Bleach is all the more fun because of it.

Bleach: Set 11 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from VIZ Media, Bleach is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The presentation looks reasonable if somewhat less-refined than modern high-definition anime series. The colors are decent but never outstanding: there is a sense of the colors being less pronounced because of the way the animation was produced and the time-period the episodes were made in.

The encoding looks decent but still shows some signs of softness – these elements are source-inherent. While it would be nice if the series was every bit as crisp as most modern anime series are, these episodes are not as sleek. Nonetheless, the presentation will suffice and meet the expectations of most fans (as long as expectations are kept in check).

Bleach: Set 11 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a selection of audio options: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (with English subtitles). The lossless audio quality sounds quite good throughout the presentation. The sound is crisp and clear throughout. Though the tracks aren't as engaging as 5.1 surround sound mixes tend to be, the stereo imaging on the audio presentation is effective and worthwhile. The music score is well reproduced and makes a nice impression too.

Bleach: Set 11 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Original Japanese DVD Artwork is a click-through gallery with 9 illustrations.

Clean Opening: chAngE (HD, 1:30)

Clean Endings:

echoes (HD, 1:31)

Last Moment (HD, 1:31)

Song For... (HD, 1:31)

Interview with Kyle Hebert/Sosuke Aizen (HD, 6:06)

More from VIZ (HD, 6:15)

Bleach: Set 11 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Bleach is an entertaining and action-packed anime series with a lot of exciting fun to offer up to anime fans. The animation is intriguing and the series has great character designs as well. The production is certainly worthwhile. The Blu-ray release features a reasonably good video-audio presentation and some supplemental content. Recommended.