The fourth episode of Bleach's first arc, The Agent of the Shinigami, adapts Chapters 7 through 9 of the manga. Although "The Cursed Parakeet" shifts gears and takes a light-hearted approach to the overall story, Bleach doesn't lose its haunting tone. With Ichigo now embodying his role a little less reluctantly and the possibility of a big bad coming after Ichigo's soul, the path ahead needs the heroes to be ready for whatever is coming their way.
Episode 4 aired in Japanese on October 26, 2004 and then on September 30, 2006 in English. "The Cursed Parakeet" sets the stage for the main storyline to begin now that the first three episodes concluded the opening act. Bleach Episode 4 leans into the franchise's more light-hearted tone and focuses on Ichigo's school life and friendships. The audience also gets a peak into the protagonist's past. By taking its foot off of the suspenseful pedal, Bleach's fourth episode is almost like a new chapter.
Bleach Leans Into Friendships & Light-Hearted Vibes
Bleach Balances Its Haunting Tone With a Lighter One
While the first three episodes of Studio Pierrot's adaptation of Bleach were dynamically paced and kept viewers on the edge of their seats, Episode 4 takes a beat and slows down a bit. This makes sense, given how the preceding episodes exhibited a climactic battle and an emotionally weighted self-sacrifice. While hanging out at what seems like an abandoned construction site, a group of friends sit around a bird cage with a mysterious talking parakeet. This parakeet is said to bring with it bad luck, and the friends experience this firsthand when an iron beam falls over them.
Luckily, one of them is muscular enough to protect the other. This muscular enigma is newly introduced Yasutora Sado, who longtime fans know as Chad. Viewers later find out that Sado and Ichigo are linked, as he once saved Ichigo from being attacked by a group of thugs. For someone so freakishly strong, Sado has a kind heart and connects with the parakeet in the cage, who reveals that he's the soul of a young boy named Yuichi and that he's trapped in the parakeet's body. Almost effortlessly, Bleach delivers more lore about what souls can do and how they could behave if they don't move on.
The great thing about the first half of episode 4 is that the audience really gets to see more of Ichigo and Rukia outside of the Soul Reaper element. Ichigo's friends all have fun characteristics, which adds to the light-heartedness of the episode. Yet there is a dark cloud hovering over the fun, as this is Bleach after all. It doesn't take long before the darkness arrives and the mystery behind the cursed parakeet begins to unravel, along with the mysterious figure targeting Ichigo, setting his menacing plans in motion.
Yuichi & The Grand Fisher's Plan
Ichigo Upgrades His Spiritual Connection
One of the standout elements in episode 4 is the deeper exploration into the being in the shadows of Huenco Mundo, sending a menacing Hollow that targets Ichigo. Sado's connection with Yuichi grows to the point where he shows up at Ichigo's family clinic wounded from protecting the parakeet. This prompts Ichigo and Rukia to be extremely suspicious about the events occurring around the young bird.
Sado's not the only one affected by these strange happenings. Ichigo's sister Karin falls terribly ill, which only raises Ichigo's suspicions that something is off even higher. He rushes back to Rukia and when he shares this with her; she tells him that she hasn't heard anything from Soul Society, either. Rukia then explains that finding this Hollow was going to be difficult because Hollows generally travel within the world between worlds, a space between the land of the living and that of the dead.
Frustrated by this, and learning that Sado and the parakeet are missing, Ichigo decides to focus his spiritual perception in order to find them. This surprises Rukia as, yet again, Ichigo is upgrading his abilities. It is rather stereotypical of shonen anime protagonists to somehow be inherently good with their abilities, and while this would have been an acceptable trop when Bleach was airing, this is esier to criticize nowadays. Without any training, Ichigo seems to be so proficient at being a Soul Reaper, something that he was so hesitant to be at the start of the series.
Bleach Begins to Take Proper Shape & Embody Its Full Potential
Bleach is a Hybrid Between Serialized & Monster of the Week
"The Cursed Parakeet" is clearly a transitional episode – a coming down from the intensity of the first three episodes, and a link to what is to come. While the episode contained a great fight sequence between Rukia and the Hollow named Shrieker, it didn't focus too much on the battle. Unfortunately for Rukia, this is another instance where although she fights with all her heart, she still faces limitations against Shrieker. Her abilities are still weak and fight as she does, she loses in spite of being a pro Soul Reaper.
All Ichigo has to do, on the other hand, is close his eyes and focus on his spiritual connection. The imbalance between Ichigo and his mentor is unfortunately unfair. Overall, it doesn't totally hinder the episode too much, and the story and characters are intriguing enough to keep fans watching. It does still feel like the anime is trying to find its footing, and the narrative hasn't fully solidified. While the characters are all getting their dues in terms of screen time, the pace and story have yet to take hold.
Bleach slowly begins to embody what it is, though: a hybrid of a monster, or in this case Hollow, of the week and a serialized narrative. This is further proven given the way in which this episode ends in the middle of the faceoff between Rukia and Shriek, and with Ichigo carrying his extremely ill sister. The fourth episode of Bleach does suffer from minor pacing issues, but this is understandable given that it is a transitional episode and the beginning of a new chapter within the franchise's first arc.
