Series: Bleach V8 is the story of a fifteen year old high school kid in Japan named Ichigo Kurosaki. He has the ability to see ghosts and they listen to him in return as he tries to assist them in various ways. One day while beating up some bullies that desecrated the grave of a kid that just died a violent death, he is confronted by an evil spirit trying to claim the ghost of the kid (that no one but he can see). As he helps it run away, they come across a gal by the name of Rukia Kuchiki, who ends up being a Soul Reaper; a protector of the dead whose mission is to fight evil spirits and assist lost souls in finding peace by sending them to a place called the Soul Society. The evil spirit is called a Hollow and with Ichigo's help, Rukia manages to dispel the being but at great cost to herself.

She ends up giving her supernatural talents to the already impressive array of skills young Ichigo possesses, making him an almost invincible force as he fights in her place against other hollows. Ichigo follows the tradition of the reluctant anime warrior, preferring to live his own life while Rukia seeks to find a way to recover her abilities while posing as a transfer student at Ichigo's school (upon losing her powers, she became visible to all). Upon a crisis that threatens Ichigo's family and one of his classmates, he decides to embrace his destiny as a soul reaper in hopes of helping others in great peril from the hollows that appear from time to time. The premise explored briefly is that his vast stores of spiritual energy had been unlocked by the initial confrontation and serve to guide hollows to feed upon him and those around him so he figures out the responsibility of protecting them while Rukia thinks of a way to revert to her old form. While not every episode had a unique hollow to fight and the battle scenes seemed better than average to begin with, the appeal of the characters went beyond the usual stereotypes in these early episodes, with the promise of a lot more fun to be had in the future.

One of the most interesting things about the show is that the series has been very popular in Japan, springing forth from the manga by Japanese creator Tite Kubo; the original 24 volumes now supplemented by hundreds of new chapters in the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine as discussed in previous volumes of the Anime Talk column here at DVD Talk. Okay, there were four episodes this time (#17-#20) and the initial focal point was to pick up from where Bleach V4 left off. The battle with Uryu and the ravaging masses of hollows (including the hugely powerful Menos Grande) over, the Soul Society finally gets around to dealing with Rukia. Ichigo, being headstrong and far more powerful than he can imagine, resists the pack trying to reclaim her, surprising even them with his raw talents albeit tempered by his complete lack of discipline and training. In an attack that would have easily killed any lesser being, they leave him for dead as they cart Rukia off to her inevitable execution, setting the stage for the next arc in this wonderfully perverse tale of supernatural struggles.

The episodes last time showed a different dynamic as Ichigo found himself left for dead and seriously needing to recover. The main thrust of them was to show Ichigo slowly recovering from his battle wounds and training at the feet of what had been a secondary (but important) player up until now (the mystical shop keeper Urahara). As Ichigo rails at the thought of Rukia suffering in her new prison in another dimension, he knows that any attempt to save her will fail unless he can regain his now lost powers. To accomplish this in what amounts to record time, Ichigo is given a series of tests that he doesn't understand but will make him a better warrior if they don't kill him first. Seemingly impossible at first, Ichigo's headstrong nature soon proves to display he has what it takes but while he is preparing for the journey, his friends (the gifted ones at least) notice that Rukia is missing but the mundane types have forgotten she ever existed so they train too; in hopes of helping Ichigo save her. What could have become filler episodes in most series becomes crucial to showing his evolution as a character and his team being built to continue the popular series. I enjoyed it a lot and while there were times when I wish a more straightforward approach was taken with some of it, the desperation of Ichigo to overcome was clearly the motivating dynamic as he was shown to have grown quite fond of Rukia and her wellbeing.

In the sixth volume (episodes 21 through 24), we find the group ready to embark on their trip to the dangerous land where Rukia awaits her appointed execution. Having survived the torturous training needed to learn a bit more about his skills, Ichigo and his band of misfits travel to the Soul Society with Yoruichi as the guide. Whatever may be said about the funky feline, his instincts prove true to form and they all end up nearly crushed as their limited pathway starts closing around them before they get to the end. Once reaching their destination, they encounter a deserted village but Ichigo decides to forgo listening (big surprise there) and head straight to the portion of the strange world where his friend is being held. That proves to be a big of a mistake since the gatekeeper has over three hundred years of experience at his job; and he isn't about to let anyone past him as he wields his huge battleaxe. One thing leads to another and Ichigo soon winds up facing an even more powerful opponent, one of the Soul Society captains that has no problem with disposing of the gatekeeper, Ichigo, and anyone else in his way. Thanks to fate, or perhaps as part of a more sinister scheme altogether, they escape to find passage by another means, requiring the band to learn to focus their energies as individuals. This gets Ichigo in trouble as he fights with the brother of the hostess in charge of their method of travel; the woman putting them both on notice about following her rules in her house "or else". The secondary plot points with Rukia and her brother finding out there are strange events taking place to speed up her date with the executioner, another captain of the guard intervening where family pride stops the brother. Expect events to get even more out of hand next time as the immovable object(s) meet the irresistible force as the team assaults the inner reaches of the Soul Society to save their friend.

The seventh volume of the series changes the subheading to The Entry and showed the beginning of the second season of the show. Ichigo, Orihime, Uryu, Chad, and Yoruichi having been repelled by the Soul Society's legion of defenses, try a different approach as they find a new manner to channel their considerable energies into saving Rukia. The plot around her impending doom thickens in the background while the warriors train under the watchful gaze of a powerful whose brother, a man Ichigo despises by the name of Ganju, joins in to help. I found it interesting that Viz Media added the last episode of the first season to the first three episodes of season two but in terms of progressive thought; this made a lot of sense since it allowed for a more consistent continuation of the storyline. That it also kept the series providing a stable four episodes per DVD was a bonus too, lesser companies altering their output of late to include the infamously poor idea of three or fewer episodes to a volume marketing scam that I hate so much.

The episodes here were 25. Penetrate The Centre With An Enormous Bombshell, 26. Formation: The Worst Tag, 27. Release The Death Blow, and 28. Orihime Is Being Targeted. Using their additional training, the strike team becomes a large spiritual cannonball and land in Seireitei; sounding off the alarms and drawing heavy fire. They end up separated and under attack by various factions as each group struggles to beat the odds alone; finding strength in their unique styles of attack. This makes the volume one of the most battle intensive of the entire series, not just Ichigo fighting a hollow but all of the team showing prowess on the attack. Rukia's execution draws ever near too but the hints of improprieties in the upper echelon of the Soul Society make for interesting speculation as there are clearly deeper troubles going on that the saviors know nothing about as they engage in hand to hand combat with numerous underlings.

The eighth volume of the show in hand today, essentially carried on with what went on before; Ichigo and Ganju using their captive to take them to Rukia's prison tower using the vast network of subterranean sewers. The brief recap at the beginning brought things up to speed but the majority of the entire four episodes (29 through 32) dealt with Ichigo confronting the demons of his past in the form of Soul Reaper Lt Renji Abarai, a close friend of Rukia's that blames Ichigo for the predicament she was in. Needless to say, he nearly killed Ichigo in their former round of combat, sparing him only at the bequest of Rukia so the odds of survival this time are even weaker given his home court advantage. Being left for dead in the past served as a powerful motivator, as does the fate of his friend whose life hangs in the balance so Ichigo, bloodied and bruised from all the fights leading up to this point, decides to use a new strategy and employ his brain & training; finding limited results at first but the resolve to carry through in the end.

The strength of the volume also relied on the multiple flashbacks by the two opponents, nearly a whole episode dedicated to Rukia's roots growing up in the slums of Seireitei, always showing a dedication to fighting for the right cause and befriending Renji so long ago. His motivations for fighting Ichigo waning at the same time Ichigo's escalated, the plot continued to thicken with some side matters by others in the Soul Reaper Society steadily moving forward to confront Ichigo's party, fights left for future volumes by the looks of it. If you like fighting anime that is more than just mindless attacks, you might consider this one worthy of being Highly Recommended too; the dynamic shifting as the Soul Reapers start finding themselves questioning why they are fighting the group trying to save one of their most noble members from certain death; the culmination sure to come soon at the rate the series is going.

Picture: Bleach V8 was presented in the original 1.33:1 ratio full frame color as shot by director Noriyuki Abe for domestic distribution by Viz Media. The colors were accurate, it used a lot of shading to layer the look of the characters, and the mixture of static shots to actual motion were nicely balanced to give it a different feel from many other anime releases available these days. The basic characters looked similar to many others (Ichigo looking like one of the leads from the Saiyuki series in fact) and some of the battle sequences took on an almost surreal look at the display was done with some fisheye effects and dreamy haze, but it worked here like never before. I won't say it was the best looking anime release I've watched of late but it was definitely top notch in terms of telling the story with that slight bit of comedy woven in along side the serious aspects of the drama. There were no compression artifacts that I saw and while I would have liked more episodes on the disc, it was a quality title in the visual department.

Sound: The audio was presented with a choice of 2.0 Dolby Digital in either the original Japanese or a newly created English language dub track with optional English language subtitles. While I'm not a subtitle snob or a big fan of dubs (too many of you are devoted to one side or the other), I found both tracks to be enjoyable this time with some slight variations between the dub and the subtitles indicating that they were loosely translated. I can't say how accurate the translation of either of these were but I did like the story and while I thought the vocals sounded more natural in the Japanese track, the dub had a lot going for it too. There was some separation between the tracks but the music was largely the same on both tracks, as well as the special effects. There did seem to be a slightly elevated bass response on the dub but each was equally clear in all other ways for me as I alternated between the tracks for this review.

Extras: The extras here included some trailers, a clean ending, a preview of the manga, and some production art. Inside the DVD case was a paper insert, a set of stickers, and the sum of the extras was a minimal collection (ie: not the best I've seen of late).

Final Thoughts: Bleach V8 continued the adventures of my favorite reluctant teen warrior as he fought against impossible odds to stop harmful spirits from killing those around him. The writing of the story and overall quality of the technical aspects were such that I enjoyed it as a step off the beaten path even if this volume did show a bit more of the usual conventions fans have seen in other shows. It doesn't surprise me that a lot of fans have been really getting into this one for some time now, the well handled version by Viz proving that fans of dubs and subs can find common ground to agree upon as this well made series continues to unfold. It shouldn't be much longer before the betrayer confronts Ichigo and battles him for Rukia's life, the repercussions of the battles already proving to surprise a growing number of the society into questioning if something greater is going on then they realize.

If you enjoy anime, take a look at some of the recommendations by DVD Talk's twisted cast of reviewers in their Best Of Anime 2003, Best Of Anime 2004, Best of Anime 2005, and Best of Anime 2006 articles or their regular column Anime Talk.