Episode 96 – “Ichigo・Byakuya・Kariya, The Battle of the Three Extremes!”
Review
This episode continues were the last episode left off and we see the end of the Ichigo and Byakuya vs Kariya match. While Kariya showed that he could keep up with Ichigo and Byakuya he could do it for and both broke through his defenses. If it weren’t for a timely save from death by Koga and the mysterious Rantoa. Unless Kariya gets some amazing power up, which he probably will get, he does not stand a chance against Ichigo and all the Soul Reapers. And since Ichigo and Byakuya has shown he can break through Kariya’s defenses I don’t see all the other Bounts fairing any better against all the other Soul Reapers since Kariya is suppose to be the strongest of the Bounts. So the fights between the Bounts and Soul Reapers isn’t something that I look forward to now since they don’t stand a chance.
I did find the whole Rantoa thing to be interesting since she looks exactly like Yoshino. I was a bit disappointed that she didn’t have the same voice actress as Yoshino since that would have added to the emotional toll it has on both Uryu and Kariya. Still it will be interesting to find out more about the Bounts and what that machine Rantoa was talking about is.
Overall this episode was an okay episode though I would have been nice to get some more information from Rantoa instead of having it drag on. So as of this episode I am hoping that this filler arc ends quickly and we can finally get back on track with the manga since this filler arc looks to end in an anti-climatic manner.
Episode Rating – 6.9/10