Bleach Chapter 464 – Quiet Chamber, Noisy Heart

Read the Chapter

Hey folks, sorry about the lack of a review last week, as I said, I’ve been very busy in the real world lately. I still plan on doing the weekly review regularly, but to avoid an absence like last week from happening again I propose the following: If I have not posted a review by Friday, anyone who wishes to is free to post a review of their own for that week. If anybody needs help with submitting a post, click here, or just go to the “Submitting Blog Posts” tab on the right. If you have any other problems just ask me or Bob, and we’ll see what we can do for you. Now, onto the good stuff:

463 – Extreme Divider:

So Xcution receives some power-ups from Ichigo’s Fullbring. Sure they look cool, but can they back it up?

It also becomes clear that  Shishigawara was a new ally of Tsukishima’s, and Ginjou never had any respect for him. Ginjou actually even fears the potential of his Fullbring to some degree, and tells Tsukishima to kill him when this is all over. I have a feeling that Shishigawara is going to become an ally of Ichigo’s in the future (along with Riruka), once he learns the truth about Ginjou and Tsukishima. He just isn’t as evil as the rest of them.

I understand why Ginjou didn’t give shishigawara any of Ichigo’s powers, but why not Tsukishima? Is he afraid Tsukishima might be more powerful than him afterwards? And why is Tsukishima okay with this? I’m still unsure of their relationship and Tsukishima’s motives.

Ichigo would have dispatched of all of them easily without their recent power-up, but that in combination with the fact that he tries to
go easy on them in his first strike allows for them to dodge his first attack. I still don’t consider them a serious threat.  They’re filler-villains at best.

With Ichigo’s enhancement, Yukio is now able to project his “Invaders Must Die” Fullbring into the real world. According to Yukio, what each of them received from Ichigo’s fullbring is the ability to wear their Fullbring powers as a mantel. For example, Ichigo’s Fullbring enhanced his external powers. So Yukio is now able to project his Fullbrings abilities around him.

Yukio separates everyone into private “chatrooms.” This breaks everything up into one-on-one fights. The match-ups are:

• Tsukishima vs. Byakuya: The stoics. They are similar characters in appearance and demeanor, but have a very key difference. Though Tsukishima is very strong by Fullbring standards, I don’t think he stands a chance against Byakuya. I’ll get back to this when I cover 464.
• Shishigawara vs. Ikkaku: The two hot heads. Shishigawara’s ability is interesting, but again I don’t think Ikkaku should have much of a problem with the novice, and if he does, it is for nothing more than Tite trying desperately to make this arc interesting.
• Yukio vs. Hitsugaya: The young prodigies. Yukio’s new Fullbring is perhaps the most frightening, allowing him to manifest any object of his choosing, and apply video-game-like rules on anything of his choosing. However, Toshiro is a true genius, and after the intense training I’m sure he’s gone through over the past year, I think he may have reached the rank of monster.
• Riruka vs. Rukia: The little loudmouths. I am uninterested in this battle for two reasons: 1.) I’m not very interested in either of their abilities, and 2.) Riruka’s heart is not in this battle. It was obvious earlier that she doesn’t want to be part of what Xcution has become, and I doubt she would kill Rukia if she could. Though I do want to know what her gun does.
• Ginjou vs. Ichigo – Battle of the Substitutes. This is the only battle I expect to be a challenge. If Tite had any concept of power scaling, Ichigo would break Ginjou in a matter of seconds, seeing as how he should be back to the strength he had when he fought Aizen, but I’m sure for some reason or another Ichigo will be thrown a curve ball and have to work for this victory.
• Giriko vs. Kenpachi: The eye-patchers. As expected, this fight is over before it starts. Due to Ichigo’s enhancement, Giriko is now able to take the power of the Time Gods, and project that power unto himself, bulking his body up. Unfortunately for him, Kenpachi is an absolute animal, and slices him in half before he can say the word “power.” Thank you Kenpachi. Thank you.
• And by process of elimination, I assume the last bout is Jackie vs. Renji. Jackie’s powers already enhanced her physical abilities, similar to how Ichigo’s did, so I’m interested to see what her new “Ichigo-enhancement,” will be. Still, I’m sure Renji has gotten even stronger in the past year, and will outclass her no problem.

Well it was supposed to be a one-on-one, but the Quincy seems to have slipped into Ichigo’s battle against Ginjou. I’m not sure how I feel about his, but I expect the only reason Tite put Ishida in there is to have some third-person commentary on the fight, and have someone other than Ginjou witness the dieselness Ichigo is about to illustrate.

Bleach Chapter 462 – Why me sad.

Read the Chapter

Okay kiddos, this one is going to be brief since my computer is still on the fritz, and I have minimal time to make this.

The gist of this chapter is that Ichigo learns that Ginjou was the first, and only other substitute shinigami before him. The badge and the rules were all created because of him. It is very likely that Rukia was prosecuted for giving her powers to Ichigo, and in turn creating another possible substitute shinigami, because of what happened with Ginjou. They were afraid of having another threat like him running around.

I’m curious though, if Ginjou was the first substitute shinigami, why is he using Fullbring? When did he learn about Fullbring? Even now, he is just boosting his previous Fullbring with Ichigo’s. I think Ichigo clearly exemplified that Shinigami powers are stronger than Fullbring, seeing as how just the swing of his sword with his Shinigami powers was stronger than a full Getsuga Tenshou blast from his fully evolved Fullbring. So what happened in Ginjou’s past to make him go AWOL on Soul Society, and start using Fullbring instead of his Shinigami powers?

Also, we see Orihime and Chad struggle against Tsukishima’s influence. Their minds are telling them to be loyal to Tsukishima, but their hearts are pointing toward Ichigo. When Tsukishima sees this, he (sadistically) throws them into madness. Luckily, when they lose consciousness, Urahara and Isshin are there to sweep them away.

It turns out that all of Xcution was in on this from the beginning, and they all wanted a piece of Ichigo’s powers… except Riruka. I know from her look here that she knew the plan all along, but it seems she is the only one showing any regret. Her dialogue when Ginjou offers them Ichigo’s powers leads me to believe she is no longer on board for their plans, and will likely turn on Xcution at some point in this battle.

So all of Xcution gets a little boost to their abilities with Ichigo’s powers. But let me ask this: what is so special about Ichigo’s Fullbring, and Ichigo in general, to make him so sought out by them? I can see why they would prey on other Fullbring users to boost their own powers (the bastards), but they started targeting Ichigo for this intricate plan before he even knew what a Fullbring was. They had no clue if he would succeed in achieving Fullbring, they didn’t know what the extent of his Fullbring powers would be, so why put all this time and effort into this? And what kind of enemies do they have that their previous powers wouldn’t have sufficed?

Also, why was Tsukishima the only one not to get any of Ichigo’s powers? I agree with Bob, he is definitely the wild card in this situation, but still, it seems as though Ginjou holds more authority of the two.

So now it is the Ichigo-enhanced Xcution versus Ichigo and his Shinigami brethren. Honestly, I don’t see how Xcution stands a chance in this battle, unless Ichigo takes them all on on his own. But, we will see, Tite always has a way of making it interesting…

Bleach Chapter 460 – Deathberry Returns 2

Read the Chapter

“Death and Strawberry” was the name of the first chapter of Bleach. It was when Ichigo first gained his shinigami powers. Last week’s “Death and Strawberry 2″ was when Ichigo regained those shinigami powers. “Deathberry Returns” was chapter 151, when Ichigo’s determination finally returned after Byakuya beat his ass, and he unleashed hell on Soul Society. In this week’s “Deathberry Returns 2″ Ichigo’s determination finally returns after Tsukishima and Ginjou shattered his psyche, and he’s abou to unleash hell on their ass.

The Death and Strawberry 2:

I missed the review last chapter, so allow me to address some major developments we’ve seen in the last two chapters. The gist of last chapter is this: we confirm that Ginjou has been in cahoots with Tsukishima from the beginning, he just had Tsukishima cut him to gain Ichigo’s trust, Rukia stabs Ichigo with a reiatsu composed blade to return his powers, and the earth trembles before Ichigo’s new shinigami-self.

A couple of other things I’d like to address:

• Where does the rest of Xcution fall in Ginjou and Tsukishima’s whole scheme? Were they also double stabbed? They saw saw Tsukishima as an enemy (or they claimed to) when he first attacked, but have treated him as an ally since then.
• Rukia is now the Lieutenant of Squad 13, presumably under her favorite captain, Ukitake. To me this is the best fit, since a.) they haven’t had a real Lieutenant since Kiba, and b.) her strength was deserving of that position. My only question now is, has she reached bankai?
• Ichigo’s shinigami uniform is different, as is Zangetsu. Obviously this is his shikai form, so my conclusion is this: initially I thought the new look to his shikai was just the result of his training in the Dangai Precipice World before his fight with Aizen (since his bankai’s appearance changed as well, and we never did see his shikai since then). But when I looked at it closer i realized the shape of his sword is a lot like the sword he carried in his fully evolved fullbring. So most likely, the appearance is a mix between the two – very frightening.
• If this is true, this means his bankai will change too!

Deathberry Returns 2:

This chapter was outstanding. It has humor, it has familiar faces, and best of all, it has violence. It was nice to see Rukia whipping Ichigo back into shape like the old times. I feel as though she has been a driving source of reassurance for him, and is just the person he needed to see to whip his psyche back into shape. I also found it interesting that she said Urahara told her of Tsukishima’s ability. Is there anything this guy doesn’t know? Or is there some sort of history between Ginjou/Tsukishima and Urahara/Isshin?

Major points from this chapter:

• Renji looks badass with the tats and the headband – I hope it’s a permanent look.
• Byakuya isn’t wearing the scarf anymore – symbolism that he isn’t as conceited anymore.
• Ikkaku looks more muscular.
• Kenpachi is sporting a new hairdo – bye bye bells.
• Toshiro looks battle-worn – I think it’s safe to say he’s been doing some serious training.

•  All in all I’d say the gang looks pretty good. The only thing I’m a little surprised about is, it seems like neither Renji nor Ikkaku have become captains. They seemed like the best candidates to fill the vacant spots, being that they were the only others capable of bankai, and they had superior battle experience. I’m pretty sure the seats have been filled over the time-skip, the only question now is, by who?
• Since even Byakuya put his reiatsu in for Ichigo, they are doing it legally this time around. Also, they unlocked his shinigami powers, but they didn’t have to sacrifice their own powers in the process (like Rukia had to last time).
• According to Rukia, the power Ginjou robbed Ichigo of was only a tiny fraction of his full power, that had fused with his fullbring. That’s why his fullbring had shinigami-like abilities, like that half assed Getsuga Tenshou he used. His true power is created deep inside him – something that Ginjou could never take.
•  When Rukia gave Ichigo that speech about despair, I just know the only thing going through Ichigo’s mind was Ulquiorra.
• Just the pressure from Ichigo swinging his sword (in shikai) was more powerful than his Getsuga Tenshou when he had a fully evolved fullbring. This is much like how the pressure from his sword swings against Aizen was enough to destroy mountains.
• I don’t know if you guys remember, but ever since Ichigo finished his training in the Dangai Precipice World, we never saw a regular Getsuga Tenshou fired from him as a shinigami. Ginjou better move fast, because there is no way he’ll be able to block this.

Bleach Chapter 458 – End of All Bonds

Read the Chapter

Oh. Dear. God. I knew things couldn’t be so simple, but I didn’t expect it like this…

Thank you Tite, you’ve restored my faith in you. I’m literally teeming with anticipation for next week’s chapter. I suppose having your main character impaled through the chest should be a bad thing, but I couldn’t be happier. We all know things can only get more interesting from here.

So where do I begin with all that happened within fifteen seconds of action? Something I could relate to in this chapter was seeing Ichigo’s frantic stream of thought, trying to figure out who was his ally. Much like we the fans try to calculate every possible scenario before assuming things, Ichigo was extremely reluctant to just assume Ishida was a friend. But it wasn’t Ishida Ichigo should have been worrying about…

After Ginjou’s betrayal, he and and Tsukishima cut Ichigo and Ishida down. I guess being cut by Tsukishima’s ability twice reverses the hypnotic effects. This is the real Kugo Ginjou. Much like after Aizen’s betrayal, Ginjou’s hair and facial expressions slightly change to  make him slightly more sinister looking – a nice touch by Tite.

If you think about it though, “Ginjou” actually was a good guy all this time. He was genuine in wanting to help Ichigo in the same way that Orihime and Chad genuinely want to help Tsukishima right now. But that Ginjou is gone. Before he attacked Ichigo he pulled something out of his pocket – a substitute shinigami badge. What does this have to do with Ginjou’s goals, and what does it have to do with Ichigo?

I’m not going to assume anything, since I’ve just been schooled as to why not to, but here is my theory. Tsukishima was with Xcution until very recently. For some reason, they have their sights set on Ichigo. Tsukishima and Ginjou attacked ishida, and then shortly after that, when Ginjou realized he would have a hard time gaining Ichigo’s trust, he had Tsukishima stab him and the rest of Xcution to see him as an enemy. This gave Ichigo and Ginjou a common “enemy,” and allowed for him to progressed Ichigo’s fullbring like they wanted. Once Tsukishima acknowledged Ichigo’s fullbring as complete, and ready for whatever plan they have, he would bring everyone together, like he has, and turn Ginjou back. Now… the real story begins.

So all of Ichigo’s friends have turned against him, Ishida was just slashed down, and his dear Ginjou just skewered him through the chest. What happens next? Either Isshin and Urahara finally show up, or we release the beast…