Darknives Anime & Manga Blog

Under The Starry Sky

For those who like to skip the OP, you may not have noticed that this one is slightly different than the last. The beginning is the same but, the parts where there used to be the filler characters has now Hidan, Kakuzo and the shinobi that are going to fight them. The fight scenes and animation are awesome, the best yet in Shippuuden in my opinion. This are the kind of taijutsu fights that I wouldn’t mind seeing as filler in the anime.

There’s some minor filler showing how Naruto, Sakura and Sai have become closer friends. There’s also some scenes of Sakura with Iruka, it was kind of strange. It didn’t make much sense for her character and she changed moods to quickly but, it was a quick scene and didn’t really bother the rest of the episode.

Konoha receives the news about Akatsuki and Chiriku. Platoons have already been forced and Tsunade sends them off after explaining the situation. They are not looking to defend themselves, they are going to attack. The Akatsuki duo is supposed to be captured or killed and everyone seems pumped up to do it.

Naruto finishes another part of the training, boy it’s going fast, I think it’s taking less time than in the manga, which is good.

By the next episode’s preview, I’m not sure if they are going to use that episode to delay things a little.. I hope they meet Akatsuki at least at the end, so that in 2 more episodes awesome fights can happen

For Side Story
Archive

I’m not sure if this will be part of the chronology of the series or just a "one-shot" pilot-like thing to see if a complete series will be made or not so, I’m naming it as episode 0.

Don’t be mislead by the title, Candy Boy has no boys in it. It’s a shoujo-ai about two sisters, Yuki and Kana. They are the most important person to each other. And they seem to like each other more than in a normal sister-relationship. But, their true feelings have never really been reveled so, when a new girl appears to like Yuki, things get complicated.

It’s a really short story, the synopsis practically gives you the whole plot but, it’s not for that that this ONA (released directly onto the Internet) is so good.

The simple scenes and the dialogs are really well done. There’s some really funny situations. While the story-line is kind of lacking, the directing and the way the story is told and progresses is awesome. Never such a simple story made me like it so much.

As for the characters, there’s not much development but, it doesn’t feel like it needed more. Also, this was supposed to be something like a standalone episode. Only more recently had it been decided to continue this story and make a series out of it. I’m not sure if the following episodes are going to have some continuity with this one or if they are just going to tell the story anew as if they were to separate series.

The art style is awesome, I really love it. The animation is very good, with a lot of details, some of the best I’ve seen recently.

There’s not much to say about this ten minutes, only that it was really good and will certainly put a smile on your face. Highly recommended.

Sortie Orders!
Suppress The House Of Kasumiōji

The orders to subdue the Kasumi-Ooji family are given. Komui gives his best Bakkoutou to all of the assassins. It seems this Bakkoutou take over the user’s soul and completely control them, they even stop feeling pain.

It seems Captain-Commander already knew that the Kasumi-Ooji family were doing not so good stuff. But, because of their status, he couldn’t have interfered until solid proof was shown.

Komui has nowhere left to run and uses Lurichiyo as an hostage.

Ichigo and Rukia find him. Komui’s ambitions were just to be the head of all nobility. I don’t know how he pretended to do it just with Bakkoutou, because his assassins are nowhere near the level of most strong shinigami. But, the conspiracy goes deeper than that.

Amagai interrupts and kills Komui to silence him. He then takes Lurichiyo and goes to meet the Captain-Commander.

Well, Amagai could really be a villain. Maybe Lurichiyo holds some kind of power that will allow him to kill Captain-Commander or blackmail him. But, I doubt that’s his ambition. He can’t possibly take all of Soul Society. This is probably some hold plan made by the Captain-Commander, he probably chose Amagai as a new Captain on purpose for this mission. But, it’s hard to really tell why. We just know that there must have been a good reason to make Komui do all that and create the Bakkoutou.

The animation and detail were low in this episode but, it managed to move the plot forward without much delay. I just hope the filler doesn’t prolong for much longer.

There was no preview for the next episode, I hope it’s better than this one.

Akatsuki’s Invasion

What a good surprise this episode was. For now, the manga adaptation is going very well. All of the episode had really above average animation and the overall direction is good.

It’s also good to see that they are not over delaying things. I though Naruto was going to take a while to reach the next stage in his training but, he does so in this episode.

It may be just me but, I just don’t find Kakuzo and Hidan’s relation as cool as in the manga. Anyway, they arrive at the Fire Temple. Kakuzo isn’t really searching for Naruto yet. He would go there even if he knew he wasn’t there. He wants Chiriku’s head, he’s worth a lot of money in the bingo book.

There’s a bit of filler fighting. The anime creators invented a technique for Chiriku. It seems kind of strange in Naruto’s world, I mean, there’s no classification for the type of jutsu but, it was well made enough. Still, like the manga, they don’t show the rest of the fight and skip to the end. I think they decided to not do this battles on full mode, because it would spoil their special abilities, unlike Gai’s arc where he fought the clones.

So, they are really strong and keep talking like they are immortal. Konoha is sure to get some trouble. If they keep this quality up and don’t pace it slowly, it’s going to be awesome.

Naruto’s will to surpass Sasuke shows his determination. Kakashi and Yamato allow him to do his training more intensely.

I think the next episode is going to be some sort of filler focusing on Sakura’s emotion while continuing the normal story. The first fight is probably going to happen in the episode after that.

Ice & Flame!
Fierce Fight Of Amagai VS Hitsugaya

Kira fights Kifune. He wins in a rather strange way. He’s supposed to be weaker than Kifune in power but, because of his conviction, he defeats him while he’s using the Bakkoutou.

The fight wasn’t very impressive but, things change. Ichigo and Amagai keep running after Lurichiyo. The fight both assassins easly but, that Lurichiyo was a fake decoy. The animation was better and drawings seem to have a different style than usual but, a cool style.

They return to Kira’s location. He’s taken care of by his companions and Renji finally finds them. After telling them that he’s on their side, Amagai asks him to show the Bakkoutou to Captain-Commander. I think it’s going to turn out to be some kind of secret mission for creating strong weapons, given by Captain-Commander.

Yoruichi also appear, she has some kind of plan. I think a lot more than we know is going on.

They meet Hitsugaya on their way to the Kasumi-Oogi family’s house. Amagai ends up fighting him while Rukia fights Matsumoto. The short fight was cool enough. I like the way Amagai just goes directly into fight.

The Captain-Commander understands the Kasumi-Oogi’s situation after inspecting the Bakkoutou. Orders are given for everyone to break into the Kasumi-Ooji.

This means no more fight between Amagai and Hitsugaya lol I wonder who’s gonna be Ichigo’s opponent now. I mean.. Komui is the main villain but, he’s not one to fight directly, even if wanted, he probably couldn’t use a Bakkoutou because he probably doesn’t have any reiatsu.

In the preview. Gin gives confirmation that the fillers are about to end. I have no idea how they will just get back there and explain how this happened. Maybe someone was dreaming..

Kira & Kibune
Offense & Defense Of 3rd Division

The quality of the direction of this episode can be felt right from the beginning. The drawings are better, the colors and shadows are also more attractive than the previous episodes.

Kira fights Kifune. When it seems like his Wabisuke’s powers have won, Kifune shows his true strength and overpowers Kira. It seems his ambition is to become the strongest shinigami ever. He’s using the Kasumi-Ooji family, because they can give him more power, probably through the Bakkoutou. Still, it’s a pretty cliché and kind of stupid ambition.

Kira is able to almost win by using some strategy but, Kifune resorts to the Bakkoutou to defend. I don’t think Kira has a chance now.

There’s a flashback explaining his past. I now think he’s a really stupid character. He was one of the strongest but, he was not recognized because of his methods. So, in order to be accepted, he doesn’t change his methods and just concentrates on getting stronger. This doesn’t make sense..

He’s now on his way to killing Kira. Either Amagai or someone else will save him in the next episode. Amagai will probably fight him one way or another, because that’s what they show in the OP but, knowing that he was going after Lurichiyo makes me believe that maybe someone else will come to rescue Kira.

There’s a new Bleach movie on it’s way to theaters but, it’s probably still a long time before previews and trailers appear. I hope the second movie gets to dvd quickly.

The Darkness Which Moves!
Kibune’s True Colors

Amagai goes alone with Ichigo and Rukia so that his man won’t be involved. Some one spots them and gives word to the Protection Squads Commander. Now, all of Seireitei is searching for them. Probably, only Renji trying to help them. Some quads start invading other squad’s territories and some fights start.

This seems to me like a lame imitation of Soul’s Society arc. I just hope the fights have better animation than this episode.

The Commander continues to forbid the Kasumi-Ooji family from being investigated. Madarame seems to also have noticed that Ichigo is doing this for a good cause. Still, Madarame and Renji are too few allies against all of Soul Society.

Kira finds out where Kifune could be hidding and goes to find Lurichiyo instead. After he defeats the assassins, Kifune appears.

Well, I guess Kifune and Kira are probably going to be at the same level but, Kifune is for now a pretty week villain. If he meets Amagai or Ichigo, he’ll surely be defeated.

More people in Soul Society seem to trust Ichigo but, they got to apprehend him anyway. Let’s see how thing turn out.

Amagai’s True Strength
Zanpakutō Is Released!

Suifon believes that there must be some reason for Ichigo and Rukia’s acts but, for now, she has to capture them. Only after is she going to try to find out what’s happening.

A flashback shows how Komui fooled everyone and secretly put Lurichiyo in a prison. Kifune is the taking care of her. He seems pretty week psychologically, almost breaking down because of Lurichiyo’s tauting.

Kifune kills one of his friends who saw him in a strange place. I think this is really stupid. He only attracts more attention to himself. Any kind of excuse to be there would be better and it didn’t even seem like the guy was going to tell. Also, there was nothing telling us that he was in place close to Kasumi-Ooji family grounds.

Byakugan is also entering the search. He leaves things in the hands of Renji. I think he did this, because he believes Renji will do good and believe Ichigo. It’s good to see that fillers are not turning his past development into something that didn’t happen.

Ichigo ends up being confronted with Amagai. They fight but, Kannogi interrupts, telling him the truth. After hearing it from Kannogi, Amagai decides to listen to their story now.

I didn’t really like Amagai’s shikai. The look isn’t very cool and the only power he showed for now is just a burst of energy, just like Ichigo and Urahara’s, not very original. The art and animation were good. I hope the story improves to some exciting situations.

The Silently Approaching Threat

This is my favorite Akatsuki duo. They are really funny together. I like the way they seem worried about each others actions but, they have absolute confidence they will win.

This episode still had some fillers, most related to the previous arc. Asuma also had some more filler development. It was cool, although I’m not fond of the different fashion styles that the anime creators have been experimenting with Asuma over this fillers.

I don’t like Hidan’s voice for now. I guess I was expecting something different because of reading the manga. The animation also didn’t help, it wasn’t bad but, I think they could have done something better for this return to the original storyline. I’m happy that they didn’t decide to make up the bijuu battle like they did when team guy fought the clones. 

After they finish the Nibi, the Akatsuki duo plan on going to the fire country. Konoha already knows of their movements and are going to take action soon, while Naruto will continue his training.

The next episode’s preview didn’t seem to have very good animation but, the fights looked ok. I hope they don’t screw this one up and make up battle parts, since the manga left it to our imagination and the anime creators don’t seem to be very good with it.

The 2nd Division Sorties!
Ichigo is Surrounded

Ichigo gets in a trap. Suifon and her squad were waiting for them. Lurichiyo acts like she doesn’t know Ichigo and they have to fight and run. Enryuu releases his zanpakutou for the first time.

Ichigo finds that Lurichiyo was a fake assassin. He and Rukia run away with Lurichiyo’s fiance, after Ichigo takes a beating from Suifon. He’s trying to help them, because he also saw that it was a fake and that Komui is up to something. Enryuu and Kenryuu are taken prisoners by the 2nd squad.

Ichigo pretends to have taken Kannogi hostage in order to get out of the manor.

Suifon asks for others squads to help. I though Zaraki was going to offer himself right away, since it would be another chance for him to fight Ichigo. Amagai is the one who accepts it, knowing that it may be hard for the others, because they are Ichigo’s friends.

Kiba, being apprehensive with Kifune’s connection to the Kasumi-Ooji family, tells Amagai what he knows. Amagai can’t believe it but, he trusts Kiba.

So, the searches begin. This episode was not bad but, not very good too. I hope the next episodes are more interesting and exciting.