Bleach KaraBuri!: Gotei Juusan Yatai Daisakusen!

"Bleach KaraBuri!: Gotei Juusan Yatai Daisakusen!" (also known as Bleach Jump Festa 2008 or Bleach Colorful!), is a short, comedic OVA. Released during the Jump Festa Anime Tour 2008, this 12-minute episode presents a lighthearted take on the Bleach characters, emphasizing humor over serious plot development.

Strengths:
Concept: The OVA's comedic tone is a refreshing break from the usual intense narrative of Bleach. It successfully brings out the characters’ lighter sides, particularly through their interactions in mundane, non-battle settings​.

Characters: Fans get to see well-loved characters in more casual, funny situations, which adds depth to their personalities beyond their usual shinigami roles​.

Execution: The animation quality by Studio Pierrot ... remains solid, capturing the humor with exaggerated expressions and quirky scenarios​.

Weaknesses:
There is very little of importance in this fan service. Boobs. The boobs theme of Rangiku Matsumoto is not explored.


Given the overall tone, this episode is primarily aimed at Bleach fans who are already familiar with the characters and their dynamics. This OVA will serve as a delightful addition for fans of the series, particularly those who wish to enjoy a light and amusing detour from the main storyline. Despite the lack of necessity for understanding the main plot, it serves as a pleasant fan service.

-- Story --
The premise is that the 13 Squads of Soul Society need to make some merchandise to sell at the "real world" Jump Festival. Each squad has a short, ~1 minute segment. There is also a small introduction at the beginning.

Each part is self-contained, containing a gag or joke, and a funny product. The humor is not bad either.

Final Rating: 6

-- Art --
The art is fairly typical of the "old style" of Bleach anime. There isn't a lot of animated scenes, probably because it is a low budget short. However, it is not bad. They don't re-use any old footage that I ... noticed.

Final Rating: 7

-- Sound --
The sound was fairly non-existent, relying more on voices and jokes to carry it along. Some basic sound effects for humorous purposes, it was ok.

Final Rating: 5

-- Character --
The characters acted quite silly and not like their usual selves from the main anime. There is no character development whatsoever. But then, it is a gag short, and is not to be serious. They still have good dynamics with each other.

Final Rating: 6

-- Enjoyment --
Some sections were quite funny, and some were a bit "meh". But the jokes were good and it was enjoyable even for something so short.

Final rating: 6

-- Overall --

Don't worry about watching this if you haven't already watched the first series to the end. The movies are not essential. But if you haven't watched the first series, you won't understand many of the jokes, such as Hinamori's "Glasses Cookies".

Should you watch this?
Well, if you enjoyed the main anime, yes. But it's not essential. You're not really missing anything amazing or special. It's ultimately just a few somewhat cheap jokes and advertising the Jump Festival of 2008.

Final Rating: 7

I wasn't a fan at the tile this was added to MAL, but it sure did crush a lot of fans on the waiting bench for a continuation of the series. Fast forward to 2020, we finally got an official confirmation, so regarding that, see you guys in 2021, on board of the hype train.
With that aside, let's talk about this entry.

Bleach KaraBuri!: Gotei Juusan Yatai Daisakusen! is the 2008 jump fest feature that baits you into the series with the wide selection of characters, each introducing themselves in a humorous way, cracking jokes and breaking the fourth wall. As a chronological order, it's not ... necessarily suitable to put into a chronological place, it's the closest thing you can get to an Ad.
Animation did not age well, the voice acting was... all over the place, a lot of shouting and misplaced dialogue, like walking into a room where every Ad ever is being recorded out loud at the same time.