Bleach Box Set 1

By: Chris Beveridge
Review Date: Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Release Date: Tuesday, October 30, 2007



What They Say
For as long as he can remember, Ichigo Kurosaki has been able to see ghosts. But when he meets Rukia, a Soul Reaper who battles evil spirits known as Hollows, he finds his life is changed forever. Now, with a newfound wealth of spiritual energy, Ichigo discovers his true calling: to protect the living and the dead from evil. And when he vows to defend Rukia from the ruthless justice of the Soul Society, he and his friends must cross over and do battle in the spirit world...

Includes a \"Chain of Fate\" Wallet Chain!

The Review!
The untapped power of Ichigo comes to life when a Soul Reaper gets involved during a battle which opens up a whole new world to him.

Audio:
For our primary viewing session, we listened to this show in its original language of Japanese. The two stereo mixes that are included with this release are pretty good with an encoding of 224 kbps which gives it slightly more depth than the 192 kbps standards we usually hear. With a lot of action to it as well as some exaggerated dialogue sequences, Bleach has a fairly decent stereo mix that has some nice directionality to it but nothing that really sets it out as a truly strong piece. The opening and closing sequences have some solid use but overall the mix is straightforward and competent. In listening to both language tracks, we didn\'t have any problems with dropouts or distortions during regular playback.

Video:
Originally airing in 2004, the transfer for this series is presented in its original full frame aspect ratio. Being a recent show, the transfer for it is in very clean and solid shape and is for the most part generally a good looking release. Colors are solid without any really noticeable bleeding, though some of the red items sometime seem like there\'s a touch of it. Cross coloration is absent and aliasing is very minimal. Probably more out of expectation, the show does seem a bit soft in how it\'s presented. This isn\'t the effects used for the Hollows or their other dimensional moments, but rather just a feeling of how the show looks in general. Part of it comes from the way so many shows are just so clean and vibrant looking, that something of this nature doesn\'t feel quite right – especially for something of this pedigree. Backgrounds do exhibit some noise and there are a few very noticeable areas of mosquito noise as well, but by and large this is a good looking release.

Packaging:
The single volume releases of Bleach were quite appealing as they used the character art against a white background which I felt let it all stand out well. Viz has decided to do the same with the box set while also making sure those who enjoyed the single volume releases will be happy. The thin cardboard box has a good image of Ichigo and Rukia together in street clothes with the standard logos and the series name in gray across part of it. It\'s got a bit of silver foil on it which helps it to shine a bit but overall it\'s somewhat subdued yet appealing with its starkness. The back cover h