I've just finished watching episode 334 of BLEACH and I have to say I'm a little upset. I know that the arc is nearly over (each filler arc generally usually has one opening sequence and two ending sequences) and only now am I finally getting in to it. Despite that though, the episode itself was rather good if not predictable in places.
SPOILERS AHEAD
You have been warned that the rest of this will contain spoilers!
So the episode was rather good. First port of call is the artwork in the opening five minutes or so. Basically the section where Nozomi tries to defend Yamamoto from Kageroza's attack. Absolutely amazing! The quality of artwork has definitely got better throughout the series and whilst the changes in this arc have irked me at times this section as just amazing.
Now the story: predictable in places - Ichigo fails to kill Kageroza and Nozomi gets taken away...Kon gets trampled on by everyone etc etc. Basically, things you come to expect from a BLEACH arc. The two great surprises in this episode were that Kageroza himself is a mod soul (wasn't expecting that I can tell you and it's rare they get stuff past me) and can combine with Nozomi as they were made from the same shinigami's reishi.
Now this one suddenly now made a little more sense. Remember the guy in the dungeon? I'm hoping that I'm not the only one who assumed that he was the other mod soul that was originally made along with Nozomi. Well after episode 334 naturally the new conclusion is that said "dungeon dude" is in fact the creator of mod souls. Le gasp! Shocking I now but it actually makes more sense. Think about? Would Central 46 really let the mod soul creator still be a seated officer in charge of important research? Methinks not. Twas a great twist though.
The second twisty thing that they did in this episode was the final pan shot. Ichigo, lying in the mud face down after getting slashed by Kageroza's zanpakutou, Raiku, wearing a pure white shihakushou (shinigami uniform). Now clearly they're trying to show that Ichigo has lost his reiatsu but it kinda irks me how they did this. He isn't wearing a plain white robe as Rukia did when she had no reiatsu, instead he is still wearing his shihakushou. Are they then going to work some crazy hollow stuff in to this? I'm interested to see where they're going to go (if anywhere) with this; especially as Kubo himself has yet to give further details on the final loss process of Ichigo's reiatsu (I'm saying reiatsu rather than shinigami powers because if he still had reiatsu then he could see hollows etc which he can't in the new manga arc) But the inconsistency does slightly irk me :p
For the rest of the story: Flasbacking....again....getting a bit tired of it but it was done rather well this time. Also the Kon and Nozomi sweet moments are my favourite. It was so sad when she used kido to keep him away from her to protect him. Mod soul love forever! ;)
Now I personally love the music the Shiro Sagisu has composed for the series and I'm sincerely hoping that he has some more to show us in the next arc where we hopefully rejoin the manga. I say hopefully because it won't take them long to catch up to it at the moment. Now don't get me wrong I love the music in BLEACH but the constant use of pieces like "Senna" in every episode are making the music at those times lose it's effect.......Oh Senna is playing, that means it's a bad ass fight scene then. Normally the music really adds to the episodes but not in this case. I'm looking forward to some new material!
Oh and Nozomi is one hot kido master. Not a single incantation for her hakudo and bakudo that she used. She could probably give Byakuya and Unohana a run for their money in the kido department. I was a little surprised to be honest.
Final notes aka the omake: Looks like everyone is going to be depressed, especially now powerless? Ichigo. Kon doing the voice-over for that was perfect. I was so glad that it was a subdued Kon and not the usual crazy Kon that let's be honest get's on everyone's nerves after a while. The omake cracked me up just a little with Urahara and Tessai having a great comedic double act as usual. I liked the hinting of symmetry at the end too. I'm pretty sure this isn't the first time I've seen Ichigo lying face down in the rain with no powers only for Urahara Kisuke to appear...hmm....
Overall it was a much better episode than I have come to expect from this regai arc though not as good as some of the earlier Arrancar/Soul Society arcs. Overall: 7/10
