Customer Reviews:
Bountless
According to Merriam-Webster, filler is “a substance added to a product (as to increase bulk, weight, viscosity, opacity, or strength).”
Well, it’s not a precise description, but it does explain the function of anime filler: episodes not based on the manga it springs from. And “Bleach Uncut Box Set: Season 4, Part 1 – The Bount” anime begins an entire arc not based on Tite Kubo’s manga, although it still manages to be pretty suspenseful, funny and action-packed.
The day after the gang’s return to the living world, Orihime is suddenly sucked into a vast replica of the Hell Gate, by a doppelganger of her brother. Her kidnappers are the mysterious Ririn, Kuroudo and Noba — and they quickly lure Ichigo, Uryu, Chad and Renji on a series of bizarre games. First it’s a chase around town, then a surreal maze in the local museum. Finally, they’re brought back to school, where they must uncover who the imposter among them is… or everyone will vanish.
It turns out that these three weirdos are all working for an old friend, to prepare Ichigo and Co. (plus Rukia and Renji) for a massive fight against the immortal soul-sucking Bounts. The Bounts have recently started consuming living human souls, and for some reason they are also allied with a rogue Soul Reaper named Maki Ichinose. What’s more, their cruel leader Jin Kariya wants to get his hands on Uryu, for a secret plan to do… something.
Filler episodes in anime are usually pretty bad — at the very least, they bend the characters into doing and saying odd things. For the most part, “Bleach Season 4 Part 1″ avoids that tendency — there’s still plenty of weird individual powers, sword fights and bloody action, as well as duels between floating fire creatures, snakes, living waterspouts, metal spiders and little flying eyeballs with teeth. The Bounts, they have some mean powers.
But the story is hampered by an over-reliance on flashbacks (is this “Bleach” or “Lost”?), and the story sometimes slows to a crawl. The dialogue is still plenty of fun (”You guys are checking each other out!”) and there’s plenty of comic relief (Ichigo trying to find a toy that satisfies Ririn). And the writers spin up some intriguing backstory for the treacherous Maki Ichinose and the Bounts — they’re not very scary or imposing compared to Hollows or Aizen, but they’ll do for a filler arc.
Ichigo and his amazing abs (you could grate cheese on them!) make a good return in this arc, but he seems to have lost some key brain cells — he’s a smart guy, yet he doesn’t know that blowing up a fire extinguisher and leaping down an elevator shaft might not be a good idea? Still, our orange-haired hero remains a likable protagonist who emanates hardcore determination to protect his buddies.
Uryu is explored in detail, struggling with his recent loss of powers, and the knowledge that he is now a burden and a danger to his superpowered friends. And the writers do a good job with the supporting characters — Chad, feisty Renji, strong-willed Rukia and quirky Orihime (”I remember there was tea!”). The Bounts aren’t really explored much yet, but the three mod-souls are fun characters: Ririn is a rather shrill little bird-girl, Kuroudo a flamboyant bunny purse (yes, Rukia DOES love him), and Noba is a little ninja turtle who is almost as quiet as Chad.
“Bleach Uncut Box Set: Season 4, Part 1″ provides a pretty solid introduction to “Bleach’s” first filler arc, and despite some flaws, it’s still pretty fun to watch. Just be prepared to fast-forward sometimes.
Solid Bleach Offering
Bleach Uncut Box Set: Season 4, Part 1-The Bount features episodes starting from the end of the Season 3 of Bleach (The Rescue) which does not continue with the plotline set up at the end of that set. That is too say that people who have followed the manga, have actually passed over these made for tv episodes, and already start off with the plotline of Aizen and such events. Needless to say, depending on how you feel about Bleach and the plot, then this boxset could be a make or break deal. If you have been following the sets then you are probably committed to getting them all over the course of the next few years (episode 79, the final episode on disc, is nearly 150+ episodes behind where the series is at now in Japan). But basically if you like the anime then you probably may want to get this set as it is more episodes to the show. If you like the manga then you will probably only watch this once to see what happens, but in the back of your head crave to see the events with Aizen (which unfortunately wont happen until they finally reach Bleach Season 5 on the DVD, in the Spring).
For the DVD offering it features, the usual that the discs include in terms of extras. English and Japanese Audio, English subtitles, Production Art, Shonen Jump manga preview, sneak peek (updated now to include preview of VIZ Media’s release of Naruto Shippuden, Bleach Movie 1 trailer, and Bleach Dark Souls trailer)), Clean Ending (no credits on the screen), and Behind the Scenes featuring more minor characters (well major characters in this season of Bleach, and we get to see the director again (Wendee!) We should commend them on their great job of this behind the scenes feature).
In terms of the music, this set features two openings. “Ichirin no Hana” by High and Mighty Color which continues off from the episodes of Bleach Season 3, and “Tonight, Tonight, Tonight” by Beat Crusaders”, both of which sound awesome. For the ending it uses, “My Pace” by SunSet Swish and “Hanabi” by Ikimonogakari. I feel that the series has excellent openings but the endings are always hit or miss.
Finally for the episodes, the set includes episodes 64 to 79.
One final thing to note about the set is that the manufacturer has chosen to now put each disc of the DVD in its own thinline DVD case and place that into a cardboard case containing all of them. I like the old style better but it is alright since each slim case features a different characters portrait. There were also no bonuses in this one like the others, that is no poster or postcards 
. The discs are blue to match the set.
Heed my warning and save your money.
Lucky for me, I’m not the poor sap wasting my money on this awful monstrosity that somehow managed to take a good anime series and run it into a brick wall at mach speed. I’m really hoping you fine people will take my words into consideration and buy something substantial with your money. Please, skip this set or if you really have the urge to own it, wait until it goes down in price considerably.
As someone said earlier, this series is nothing but filler, plain and simple…and the tragic thing is, it’s not even good or entertaining filler to keep you interested in the arc. You’re introduced against your will to three new mod souls like the obnoxious Kon named Lirin, Kurodo, and Nova at the beginning of the season. They force our carrot topped protagonist and his usual set of friends into an insipid chase through a long series of goofy puzzles. Nova is tolerable, chosing not to remove all doubt by keeping his mouth shut most of the time, while Lirin and Kurodo display their foolish stupidity like a piece of art.
The Bounts are, plainly put, vampires who feast on the souls of humans instead of blood. It might have been something worth watching if the Bounts were even remotely compelling, which they aren’t. The characters themselves are unappealing, their costume designs are simply dreadful and their “special powers” are laughable, at best. Some of the Bounts are formidable opponents, yes, but they engage Ichigo, his crew and the Soul Reapers in dull, drawn-out battles that make you wish you were spending your time doing something more interesting, like watching paint dry.
Then there’s Maki Ichinose, the insufferable ex-Squad Eleven member who had a meltdown because Kenpachi killed the previous captain and he couldn’t deal with it.
His sword makes rainbows. I shouldn’t have to elaborate any further.
Ichigo’s inner hollow only makes one brief appearance (and I mean VERY brief, maybe four minutes TOPS) and though this emergence was very exciting…sadly, it was just too little, too late. As soon as he appears, he disappears and then it’s back to the same old grind that compels you to keep your finger hovering over the fast-forward button.
It’s really a shame I have to give the Bount Arc such a bad review, because if you are a fan of action anime, then Bleach is your shonen cup of tea. The series as a whole does have its moments where corny humor and lethargic storyline development reign supreme, but most of the time, it saves itself from its own destruction at the last minute but throwing something out there that grasps your attention JUST enough to keep yourself watching.
The Bount Arc does not do this.
However, in spite of the fact that I couldn’t careless about Kariya (the boring Bount leader) and his struggles, I will see this arc through until the end, no matter how painful the process may be. I’d suggest skipping the Bount Arc entirely and just going right to the Arrancar/Vizard arc, but unfortunately, that can’t be done without creating some moderate confusion later on if you’re only watching the anime.
Amazon.com
The fourth season of the hit fantasy-adventure Bleach begins the first story arc not based on Tite Kubo’s original manga. After returning home from their battles in the Seireitei, Ichigo and his friends Chad, Orihime, and Ishida find themselves tormented by Lirin, Kurodo, and Nova, three nasty, game-playing spirits. As the plot begins to thicken, Urahara tells Ichigo he must grow stronger to face the challenges that await him. Ichigo and the gang, plus Rukia, Renji, Kon, and the three new spirits (now housed in stuffed animals), face off against the Bounts, deathless vampirelike creatures who feed off human souls. Kyoraku, their staggeringly powerful leader, plans to use Ishida’s Quincy powers to reach the Hueco Mundo, the realm of the Hollows, for some nefarious purpose. Ichigo charges in to aid Ishida, who lost his magical abilities during the conflicts in the Soul Society, and the usual swordplay and slapstick ensue. Ichigo and his friends remain as entertaining as ever and Noriyuki Abe directs with his customary panache, but season 4 of Bleach lacks much of the excitement and humor of the previous adventures. The first story lines pitted an increasingly formidable Ichigo against monstrous Hollows and the flamboyant captains and lieutenants of the Soul Society. The new continuity spends too much time on the less-interesting Ishida, the effortfully comic Kon, and the rather obnoxious new characters. Bleach fans will want to add this set to their collections, but even hard-core otaku will notice the drop in quality. (Rated “Teen,” suitable for ages 13 and older: violence, violence against women, grotesque imagery, alcohol and tobacco use, risqué humor) –Charles Solomon
Bleach Uncut Box Set: Season 4, Part 1 – The Bount Description:
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Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 11/03/2009 Run time: 425 minutes
- Amazon Sales Rank: #4038 in DVD
- Brand: Warner
- Released on: 2009-11-03
- Rating: Unrated
- Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
- Formats: Animated, Box set, Color, Dubbed, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
- Original language: English, Japanese
- Subtitled in: English
- Dubbed in: English
- Number of discs: 4
- Dimensions: .80 pounds
- Running time: 425 minutes
Features
- ISBN13:
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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