BLEACH NEWS

Best Anime Series of the Decade? We Got Three of 'Em

About.com just came out with their list of the top anime of the decade from 2000-2009, and three of our series made the list: Naruto, Bleach and Death Note. Fortunately for you, dear viewers, we have all three series here in the Shonen Jump section of this site, so if you haven't had a chance to see the best, now's the time!

A couple of other anime series that made the top 10, Black Lagoon and Fullmetal Alchemist, are also available in their original manga format through the VIZ store, so be sure to check those out too.

Happy Birthday, Yoruichi!

Welcome to the New Year (and a new decade)! We're kicking things off right with a birthday tribute to a certain hero (or should we say heroine?) from Bleach, Yoruichi! She's a fighter, she's a cute cat, she's a font of wisdom, and her birthday is January 1, so give it up for our favorite feline, and send some good wishes her way -- just don't step on her tail!

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Happy Birthday, Yoruichi! And here’s to a Happy New Year!

While the whole world is busy celebrating the start of another year, a very special someone will be marking her own beginning—the one and only Yoruichi Shihoin. The enigma formerly known as Mr. Yoruichi couldn’t blend into a crowd if she tried. Whether she’s prowling around Karakura Town disguised as a black cat or saving the day with her phenomenal fighting skills, Yoruichi is a commanding presence—possibly a result of her days running the Soul Society’s secret assassination squad.

Even in her feline form, Yoruichi can silence anyone with a look. Just try to avoid doing anything stupid, like grabbing her tail. Ichigo may want to forget that awkward moment… (See episode 25.) In less stressful times, Yoruichi has been known to reveal a playful side. No one, least of all Ichigo, will ever forget the experience of seeing Yoruichi’s true form for the first time. Talk about a shocker (episode 41)!

It’s hard to believe, but long before Ichigo and his friends knew her, Yoruichi was a daughter of the nobility! Elegant, dignified and extremely powerful, she fulfilled her duty as the defender of the realm (episode 57). But then one day she disappeared for reasons that remain a mystery, and she went underground, presumably with her childhood friend and former captain Kisuke Urahara. Together, these two appear to share more than a few secrets between them. Wouldn’t you want to be a fly on the wall when these two talk?

This January 1st may mark just another birthday among many for Yoruichi (trust us, she’s a lot older than she looks), but we all know how exceptional she is. Who else would we pick to teach us bankai in just three days?

-- Yuki Takagaki

Now Online: Bleach Episodes 105-9

It's Soul Reaper vs. Bount as Captain Hitsugaya is taking on all comers! The Bount storyline continues in Bleach with the release of episodes 105-9 today. Find the episodes at the Bleach series page, along with all the other episodes from the series!

Episode 105: 
 Captain Hitsugaya has defeated Koga, leaving Jin Kariya as the last surviving Bount.

Episode 106:
During the battle between Jin Kariya and Rantao, Karyia learns the origin of his powers.

Episode 107:
Ichigo arrives just in time, as Uryu and Rantao struggle to fend off Jin Kariya. Captain Hitsugaya and the others try to go after Ichigo, but Rantao stops them.

Episode 108:
Ichigo and Kariya's final clash begins on Sokyoku hill. Ichigo realizes that Kariya's fighting style consists of counterattacks that rely on his incredible ability to recover.

Episode 109:
It has been a few days since Kariya was defeated, and all of the Jokai Crests have been sealed away. Ichigo and his friends rest until the Senkaimon is prepared so that they can return to the World of the Living.

Bleach and Naruto Anime Blowout on PSN!

For one day only, on December 27, PlayStation®Network is having an "End of the Year Anime Blowout," with select Naruto and Bleach movies and TV episodes getting deep discounts. Titles that will receive the discount include:

Bleach Movie 1
Naruto Movie 1: NINJA CLASH IN THE LAND OF SNOW
Naruto Movie 2: LEGEND OF THE STONE OF GELEL
Naruto Movie 3: GUARDIANS OF THE CRESCENT MOON KINGDOM
First and last 10 episodes of both Bleach and Naruto TV series

Head over to the VIZ Media section of PSN to check out the discounts -- but remember, the sale is for one day only, on December 27!

Who You Gonna Call?
Everywhere you have humans, you seem to get stories about ghosts, and most of those stories also include ways to deal with said ghosts. SHONEN JUMP, for example, is full of different ghost strategies. There’s Hikaru no Go, where the main character teams up with a ghost to get game skills. There’s Shaman King, where some of the ghosts are good, some are bad, and all are ready to rumble. Yu Yu Hakusho starts small, but pretty soon shows how to fight tournaments in the nether realms. Even Yu-gi-oh! sort of has advice on how to deal with ghosts, if you stretch the definition to include spirits that possess games.
 
And then there’s Bleach, which is the master guide on how to take on ghosts. Not only do we get to take lessons along with Ichigo, we also get to learn two schools of thought on ghost handling.
 
First we have the Soul Reapers, who live in an alternative spirit dimension called the Seireitei. They patrol Earth (AKA the world of the living) for ghosts (AKA Wholes and Hollows). The Wholes are the good ghosts who can’t seem to get over to the other side without a helping hand. The Hollows are the bad ghosts who don’t want to go over. They want to wreak havoc and eat souls and generally ruin people’s day. Soul Reapers take care of both kinds of ghosts, but it’s the battles against the Hollows that are really exciting. Soul Reapers get horribly injured and even die when they go up against Hollows, so they take the fights seriously. And sometimes it’s easy to forget that during these awesome fights to the death, when a Soul Reaper vanquishes a Hollow, they purify the creature’s spirit and send it back into the cycle of souls. The Hollow probably isn’t too happy about the arrangement, but it seems like a good system to me. Evil is defeated and gets a chance to do better next time. 
 
On the surface, the second way to deal with Hollows doesn’t seem much different. The Quincies, who live on Earth with us humans, fight the Hollows in much the same way the Soul Reapers do. But when a Quincy delivers the coup de grace, they utterly destroy the existence of the Hollow, rather then sending it on. This creates a dangerous imbalance on the scales of the universe. The way we humans understand it, energy can’t be created or destroyed, just changed. But when the Quincies obliterate a Hollow, they break the rules of physics, and this has serious consequences for our world and even the Seireitei. Everything is connected, after all. 
 
As much as I think the Soul Reapers need some social reform, their version of ghost control is the more environmentally conscious. Too bad they couldn't have shown the same far-sighted mercy to the Quincies that they show to the Hollows. 
 
-- Pancha Diaz (Editor, Bleach manga)
 
[For highlights of Soul Reapers doing their work, check out our Bleach collection! ]

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