The Bount Arc is, according to most fans, one of Bleach's worst fillers. Although this arc may not be canon to the main series, it has some good qualities that fans can enjoy. Many fans can agree that the absolute best part of the filler is the same as that of the rest of the seasons: the fighting.
Viewers get to see the main human characters and the Shinigami again right after the Soul Society Arc, but this time they are not on opposing sides. For anyone that is hungry for more Bleach content before the anime is updated, the Bount Arc may be worth watching.
10 Liked: Hollow Ichigo
Zangetsu, formerly known as Hollow Ichigo, makes a brief appearance in the Bount Arc. The first thing he does is block an attack by catching his sword by the blade with his bare hands. Despite being injured, he wields the sword with one hand and lands an impressive blow on Dalk, the doll he was facing.
When asked for his name, Zangetsu refuses to answer. This arc gave no hints of Zangetsu's true identity, but seeing a nerfed Ichigo have a moment of glory through his inner hollow was satisfying.
9 Disliked: Orihime Isn't Suspicious Of Her "Brother"
Following a bittersweet dream of playing in the snow with her deceased brother, Orihime awakens to find someone who looks exactly like him standing right outside of her door. Like any normal person, she automatically assumes that opening the door to let him in is the best course of action. This seems like a very foolish decision on her part, given that the last time she saw him, he was a hollow that was trying to eat her.
As viewers suspected, the man was not her brother. He was just a mod soul who tricked and proceeded to kidnap her. What makes the scene even more infuriating is the fact that she sees what looks like the gates of hell behind him and is still more than happy to take his offered hand.
8 Liked: The Bount Abilities
Many of the Bounts had creative abilities that posed interesting challenges to Bleach's main characters. For example, Sawatari rides a brown whale with tough scales that can grow to protect him.
The whale is able to create another dimension and travel through it, allowing the doll to move through walls. Another Bount has a doll that can create snakes from anything. Powers like these were new and unique to the Bounts, making them opponents that could put up a good fight even against Shinigami Captains.
7 Disliked: The Character Designs
The Bounts do not seem to have a unifying visual theme, making them clash with the visuals that viewers have grown to expect in Bleach. Jin Kariya looks like a traditional vampire that was haphazardly dropped into the series, while a character like Yoshi wears purple clothes that do not match her dark green hair.
If viewers were to look at the character designs, they would be hard-pressed to come to the conclusion that the outfits came from a series that heavily favors black and white attire.
6 Liked: The Humor
One thing that remains consistent from the previous arcs is the humor. There are some legitimately funny moments in the Bount Arc. Part of this is due to the amazing voice acting, as well as the way in which the main characters interact with each other.
From Renji suddenly showing up to Ichigo's school in 60's clothes to Kon slipping a boo-boo cushion on Ichigo's seat, this arc is full of gags. Anyone who watches this arc is guaranteed to laugh a few times.
5 Disliked: Ichigo's Bankai Loss
Although overpowered characters are a frequent problem in anime, the viewers are presented with the opposite problem. Ichigo was nerfed hard, and for no good reason. Urahara gave a poorly detailed explanation for this phenomenon: It's easy to use Bankai in Soul Society but it was just harder in the real world. He also tells Ichigo that he should not be relying on his Bankai.
Ironically, Ichigo uses his Bankai all the time later in the series. This flimsy lesson on how he shouldn't rely on one of his most powerful abilities is completely ignored when Ichigo has to fight powerful enemies like the Arrancar.
4 Liked: Mayuri Kurotsuchi's Fight
Furious about the tampering with his database, Mayuri looks for the person responsible. Instead, he finds Sawatari. It is particularly satisfying to see Mayuri fight someone other than Uryu and Orihime, and every viewer already knew that the Bount would not eagerly take up his supposedly generous offer to become a test subject.
Sawatari's doll is able to disappear into the sky, and its scales are too hard for Mayuri's sword to cut. However, Mayuri is able to defeat the Bount by using his Bankai in a battle that is reminiscent of a Kaiju movie. This fight is definitely worth a watch.
3 Disliked: The Animation
The animation quality of the Bount Arc is not particularly great. Characters often are drawn with lopsided eyes or with poorly drawn faces that make it feel as though the episodes were rushed out.
This major flaw is present in the Bleach movies as well since the animators had no visuals from the manga to refer back to. Sadly, all of Bleach's fillers suffer from this problem. Renji in particular makes faces that are meant to be comical but come off more as creepy.
2 Liked: Shows Non-Shinigami feelings towards the Soul Society
Previously, Bleach's audience got very few glimpses of life outside of the barrier between normal spirits and Shinigami. Renji and Rukia were children who struggled to survive, and they even lost their friends. Since they had the potential to become Shinigami, they were allowed to enroll in a special school and had access to a better life. Gin and Rangiku also seemed to have their own struggles before they became high ranking Shinigami.
Rukia told spirits that Soul Society is just like heaven, which is not really true. The Bount Arc finally shows how angry some spirits are that they do not share the same lifestyle that the Shinigami do.
1 Disliked: Filler length And Placement
The Bounts appear in the anime in seasons 4 and 5. Lasting from episodes 64 to 109, the viewers get over 40 episodes of filler right after the powerhouse Soul Society arc. As it is filler, it feels out of place, unnecessarily extending the amount of time it takes for characters like Uryu and Rukia to get their powers back.
The Bount Arc does not seem to serve a particular purpose or even fuel character motivations later in the anime. The only references the anime makes to it is a shoehorned cameo by Jin Kariya as a hallucination and brief appearances of the mod souls, who are living at Urahara's Shop. All of this makes it abundantly clear that the filler's main purpose was to buy the manga more time to pull ahead of the anime.