▪	RELEASED BY:		VIZ MEDIA
		▪	ASPECT RATIO:		4:3 FULL SCREEN
		▪	AUDIO:		ENGLISH AND JAPANESE DD 2.0
		▪	RUNNING TIME:		100 MIN
		▪	RATING:		T
		▪	RELEASE DATE:		09/25/2007
		▪	REVIEW DATE:		09//14/2007
		▪	REVIEWED BY:		HOLLY ELLINGWOOD

Desperate to rescue Rukia before her execution, Ichigo and his allies cross over into the Spirit World. There they must first pass the gate to enter into the area where Rukia is being held. The Soul Society is no open book. Its lands are treacherous with traps and guards. Ichigo must face the giant gatekeeper before he can even begin his treacherous trek through the Soul Society. And time is running out for Rukia as the countdown to her execution keeps ticking away.

Only Ichigo has the stamina and plain bullheadedness to not give up and keep at the monstrous man. The duel ends with a surprising respect grudgingly shared, but a new and far more deadly opponent appears and throws the team and the gate keeper out of the gate, shutting them out! Outside the walls, unexpected allies are found and a new plan of attack is made, but will they make it in time to save Rukia?

The suspense, action and off-beat comedy strikes as hot as ever in the latest volume of Bleach. A phenomenal series, this volume diverges from the intensity of the previous episodes to still offer a lot of action, but have it lightened by hooligan comedy provided by Ichigo. He’s not the only ruffian around either. He meets a thug with powerful punches that he just itches to beat down, but he and his friends are about to learn just who  they need to go to for help. And it’s a shocking and explosive strategy.

The show also introduces some more fun characters with the appearance of the rough woman Kukaku and her large younger brother Ganju. They’re both a lot of fun and provide much of the comedy. They play off of Ichigo’s reckless personality well. There are also more insights into the Soul Society and what is happening with Rukia. A meeting of the various captains among the Soul Reapers reveals an unnerving thread of treachery lurking in the shadows. Something is greatly amiss and Rukia is being targeted. The reasons why are still unknown, but Ichigo better hurry up with his plan if he hopes to spare Rukia the executioner’s swing.

EXTRAS:
Bonus feature include a sticker sheet, production art gallery, manga previews, clean ending animation, and trailers of other anime titles from Viz Media’s Shonen Jump video line.

IN SUMMARY:
Exhilarating, side-splitting and suspenseful, Bleach is an anime that gives its all! The latest volume has Ichigo and team racing to save Rukia, but a lot more is going on in the Soul Society than anyone could guess, and it spells bad news for our heroes!