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.

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…

“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.

]]> http://www.bleachedichigo.com/2011/08/17/bleach-chapter-460-deathberry-returns-2/feed/ 35 http://www.bleachedichigo.com/2011/07/27/bleach-chapter-458-end-of-all-bonds/ http://www.bleachedichigo.com/2011/07/27/bleach-chapter-458-end-of-all-bonds/#comments Thu, 28 Jul 2011 04:20:37 +0000 ssj http://www.bleachedichigo.com/?p=6352 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…

This week the lackluster battle continues in “End of Bond 3.” I’m curious, who’s bond is ending? Ichigo’s with all of his friends, Ichigo’s with Ginjou (because of, well, what happens in this chapter), or is it the end of another bond altogether? I will say that the end of this chapter made me a little sad, so props to Tite for achieving this, but we’ll get to that later.

Ginjou desperately seeks to help Ichigo against Tsukishima, but is bombarded with all the experienced combatants of Xcution at once, as well as Tsukishima’s little lackie, Moe. It was interesting to see how each of them uses their powers in battle, as I originally thought that none of them aside from Ginjou and Jackie really had combat-based fullbrings. Jackie obviously attacks him with the enhanced physical abilities of “Dirty Boots.” Riruka is converting her “Dollhouse” ability through the gun originally designed by Tsukishima. My assumption is that it allows her to forcefully emit her “pass” to her dollhouse at her enemies, and then freely place them in her little world. Giriko was attempting to set some sort of timer on Ginjou-probably one with a restrictive rule set upon it, by shooting little numbers(times) at him.

Moe’s ability is a little more abstract than the others. My best understanding of his fullbring is as follows. He punches people with his “Jackpot Knuckles.” These knuckles act like a slot machine (usually falling in Moe’s favor), and if what he punches hits a “jackpot,” then something will happen to that object in Moe’s favor. For example, the chandelier from the last chapter detached itself from the ceiling and fell because Moe wanted it to hit Ginjou. Ginjou’s sword broke, but probably because it’s also a fullbring, containing tremendous power, only a small piece of the guard came off.

Ichigo’s battle with Tsukishima is progressing slowly. It appears that Ichigo is actually Tsukishima’s superior when it comes to strength, speed, and raw power, but is so overwhelmed with rage that his mind is clouded, and his veteran battle tactics are nowhere to be seen. I must say, I was pretty surprised to see Ichigo fire off a Getsuga Tenshou at Tsukishima. According to Tsukishima, Ichigo has succeeded in melding his shinigami and fullbring powers. But if that were actually true, I feel like Ichigo would be even stronger than he is now. I mean he is strong now, but he isn’t what he was when he fought Aizen. He is still missing something, and I think Tsukishima would shiver in despair if he saw how strong Ichigo once was.

As soon as Tsukishima has confirmed to himself that Ichigo has reached the pinnacle of his power, he decides to “finish it up.” I assume this is where he planned on working his magic on Ichigo, to make it easier for him to do whatever he wants to do next. Unfortunately for him, Ginjou is a badass and took the hypnotic blade himself. This speaks volumes for Ginjou, and eliminates almost any doubt in my mind as to his allegiance to Ichigo. But it also means he’ll now be under Tsukishima’s spell too, eliminating Ichigo’s only present ally.

The last panel of the chapter shows Ishida, on his way to somewhere in a hurry. Two questions:

1. Is he coming to this battle?
2. Is he free from Tsukishima’s bullshit?

I’m making this review between classes right now, so it will be brief, and in bullet point format:

• Well, I guess Tsukishima really is just a straight forward bad guy. He basically admits it this chapter… How boring, and very un-Tite-like. I was really hoping for some kind of big twist. Hopefully there is more to this arc than just this. Hopefully.

• It appears Tsukishima’s ability is just as speculated a couple chapters ago; where he is able to insert himself however he wishes into the past of his targets. What bothers me is, since he declares this out loud to Ichigo, can nobody else hear him? Clearly if they were listening that would be a confession by Tsukishima that he was fucking with them.

• I understand why Orhime is protecting Tsukishima. To her, Tsukishima is as close and familiar as Ichigo himself. But Chad is being a jackass. He is outright attacking Ichigo without even asking him anything, or looking for an explanation.

• Why was Ichigo easily able to appear behind Tsukishima and slice his arm off last chapter, but now it seems as though Tsukishima has the upper hand. Was he holding back before, or is the presence of Chad and Orihime really affecting Ichigo’s strength/determination.

• I must say, Tsukishima is doing a great job at raping Ichigo’s psyche. He initially acquired this power after Tsukishima attacked Ishida, to be able to protect his friends. But now, his friends are fighting against that very same power, to protect the person Ichigo was trying to protect them from – Tsukishima.

• Moe Shishigawara makes his appearance, preventing Ginjou from entering Ichigo’s fight. Maybe he has more potential than we initially thought. Since he made the screws come out of the chandelier, I’m assuming his Fullbring ability allows him to disassemble things, or something like that.

• There are four people that are going to have a big impact on how the rest of this arc plays out: Urahara, Isshin, the mysterious shinigami with them, and Ishida.

This week in Naruto the main protagonist clears a battlefield and an epic battle of Kages takes off. This week in One Piece three princes battle giant beasts and the villain undergoes a drastic transformation. This week in Bleach Ichigo runs up stairs and chops Tsukishima’s arm off – that’s about it… It is somewhat frustrating reading chapters week to week and experiencing how slow the plot progresses in Bleach in comparison to most other mangas. Tite spends a lot of page space on minor details, sometimes just a simple gesture can take up a page and a half. With these methods it is no wonder we’ve been lacking consistent plot progression, but let me say this: later, come back and read an entire arc of Bleach, perhaps this arc, and you will be grateful for all that attention to detail and time spent making it. With that said, let the review begin:

Like I said, not too much happened this chapter, but what did happen was rather interesting. Tsukishima greets Ichigo and Ginjou at the door, quickly explaining how this is no trap. He seems rather genuine when he says he has no desire to fight them, but I’ve kind of always gotten that indifferent vibe from Tsukishima.

Upstairs is… another God damn party from all of Ichigo’s entranced friends. Whether they believe Tsukishima to be a friend or not, it is pretty unusual for them to throw Ichigo an entire party just because “Shuu-chan says he’s not mad.” And why are they saying welcome home? I wonder, if Ichigo actually decided to throw Tsukishima a curve ball and play along, you know just kick back and party with Tsukishima and everybody, would Tsukishima continue to go along with it? I mean, he obviously plans/expects Ichigo to freak out the way he is. In any case, Ichigo does not play along with it… not at all.

Once HIS friends start telling him to apologize to Tsukishima, Ichigo snaps. He flees for an adjacent room. (Something interesting to note is how readily Ichigo wants to kill Tsukishima. He never wanted to kill anybody before, and definitely wouldn’t just use that word so carelessly. Sure he wanted to stop other villains, and defeat them, but now he truly wants to kill someone, and it doesn’t look like it is bothering him as much as it should be. I wonder if this is a desired effect somebody is trying to instill upon him.)

In this room he is surrounded by Tsukishima and the other members of Xcution. Though he probably thinks they were going to attack him, on page 14, I am sure Tsukishima was about to start talking to him – explaining things to him. It’s just that he probably couldn’t do it in front of all the others.

And just as he is about to talk, Ginjou blasts in, cutting him off, and immediately commands Ichigo to attack. Of course from his position Ichigo isn’t going to ask any questions, and so he activates his Fullbring. Even Tsukishima is caught off guard by Ichigo’s new found speed and power. Before he can even react Ichigo rids him of one of his arms (a recurring theme in Bleach).

But still, Tsukishima isn’t mad, and almost looks proud of Ichigo’s growth. Blind with hatred and vengeance Ichigo prepares to attack once again, but Chad and Inoue come to Tsukishima’s side.

There are a number of reasons why those two showed up. If they are under the same “trick” that Ichigo believes Tsukishima put on all his friends, then they would obviously be there to stop the fight. If Tsukishima manipulated them further, they might even have been tricked into thinking Ichigo was their enemy. Or, they might not be under any foreign influence at all, and are doing what they think is right, what Ichigo can’t see…

Overall I am pleased with this chapter. Maybe next week if Ginjou keeps his mouth shut we’ll hear a little explaining from Tsukishima’s side of things.

Sorry for the late release guys, I’ve had a hectic week to say the least. This review is going to be brief, but that’s okay, most of the chapter was just a lead in for the action to come.

The chapter is apparently called Sheathebreaker, not “Two People Under the Moonlight,” (thanks mangareader >_>).

After reading through the chapter, it appears there may not be an illusion at all. If what Ginjou deduces is true, Tsukishima’s power “Book of the End,” acts as a bookmark on the pages of ones life. Instead of merely convincing people things about him, he has the power to insert himself into the past of anybody he stabs with his Fullbring. This would truly be a titanic power, fore he could make them think anything he wanted of them. Also, he may have the power to influence the events around said person. If this were true, he could stab Ichigo, and stop him from ever getting Shinigami powers in the first place, or ever defeating Aizen… or he could just make a friend of him.

Ginjou tells Ichigo the only way to make things right may be to kill Tsukishima. I don’t know about you guys, but that has fishy written all over it. Things are never that simple, and whether it be Tsukishima, Ginjou, or both, I smell a trap.

One thing really disturbed me about this chapter, and that is on page 15. When Ginjou wonders how Yukio found them, Yukio looks at him like he is retarded. He then retrieves his “tracking beacon” from Ginjou, and genuinely wonders why Ginjou doesn’t remember about it, since “it was always like this,” as in Xcution always does that so they can find each other at all times. If that were true, wouldn’t Ginjou have been the one to give out that order? You would think Ginjou in his right mind would remember something like that if it were “always like this.”

On a side note, the first two pages of this chapter are of Isshin and Urahara. The only notable thing I could say about it is 1.) they appear to be done with whatever they were working on, and are heading somewhere, and 2.) Isshin seems to be carrying some sort of reiatsu composed sword. Hopefully it is a gift for Ichigo, and maybe, just maybe, it is the dormant Zangetsu…

So for the 30th chapter in a row, I am not too sure where we stand right now. Yukio leads Ichigo and Ginjou into the Lion’s den, and Urahara and Isshin are still dicking around. See you guys next week, where we’ll probably still have the same dilemma.

This chapter is essentially a giant mind f*ck on Tsukishima’s part. He finally puts his real plan into motion. The only question is, how far does this really go?

Picking up where last chapter left off, Ichigo arrives from his training only to find Tusikishima waiting in his living room. To top it all off, Karin and Yuzu act like they have known Tsukishima for years, as one of the family. Ichigo doesn’t know how to react, until his secondary group of friends (Keigo, Tatsuki, and Mizuiro) show up and treat Tsukishima the same way. What really sets Ichigo over the edge is when Tsukishima calls Orihime only to reveal she is under his little spell as well. Livid, Ichigo knocks Tsukishima down, but this is just what Tsukishima wants…

Everybody turns on Ichigo, wondering why he would strike his own family. You can literally see Ichigo slightly losing his sanity from the circles under his eyes. He flees, only to be picked up by his busty boss, Ikumi. I thought this is where she would finally reveal her worth to this arc, instead of being just another throw away character. Unfortunately she is quickly revealed to be under the same impression as everyone else – when Tsukishima comes by to pick Ichigo up she acts like she knows him as a friend.

This shows just how far Tsukishima has gone for this plan. He has extended his “spell” to friends and associates of Ichigo’s that aren’t even involved in his other life. He truly wants to turn everyone Ichigo knows and loves on him. But surely there is a limit to how far this can go, right?

Ichigo flees Ikumi’s place in search of somebody still in their right mind. Since he is still suspicious of Urahara and his father, one would think the only place he’d go is Xcution. However, on the last page Ginjou is seen running for Ichigo only to tell him that all the other members of Xcution have fallen for Tsukishima’s trick… They all think of him as kin.

Several questions are raised after reading this chapter:

• Just how far does this go? How long has Tsukishima been extending his web?
• Was it a little too convenient for Ginjo to show up like that, to be the only one there for Ichigo when all others fell for Tsukishima’s trick?
• Where are Isshin and Urahara during all of this, and who is that God damned shinigami with them?
• What will Ichigo do now?
• Are Chad and Ishida affected too?

I’m not gonna’ lie, I was actually pretty pleased with this chapter. It explained some, and left a good set up for next week. Well then, lets cut the chit chat and get right into it.

Since last chapter, Ichigo and Ginjo have been training for days. Yukio even makes Orihime her own room to accommodate her through the experience. It appears she healed his eyes right after he gained his reiatsu sensing abilities back.

Ichigo has been doing some rigorous training to get his physical body in peak shape.  Ginjo reveals that Fullbrings strain the physical body, and the better shape one is in, the more efficient, and probably stronger their Fullbring is.

Apparently Ichigo was getting reiatsu to power his Fullbring from the badge for a while, but when it fully awakened he ignited the tiny bit left in his body. Now he will start releasing his own reiatsu again. Additionally, Ginjo explains that when all is said and done, Ichigo’s Fullbring powers will fuse with his shinigami powers, giving him a “power transcending shinigami.” I wonder why Aizen never heard of this method, after all, isn’t that what he was seeking?

His new Fullbring outfit is totally different than anything else we have seen so far. It is almost hollow-like, with white pads covering a full black suit. He even has white marks covering part of his face, similar to an Arrancar. His new sword uses his shinigami badge as the base of the hilt. Its shape is similar to the shikai version of Zangetsu, but smaller and more defined.

When they finally leave Yukio’s game it is revealed that they have only been in there for 90 minutes in real time. Just as predicted, his “fast-forward” power acts like a hyperbolic time chamber.

And finally Ichigo returns home to meet an unexpected guest. At first I thought it had to be Rukia, when Yuzu said they had a guest they hadn’t seen in a while. (Remember Rukia stayed at Ichigo’s house for a while at the very beginning of the series.) She says it is a cousin they haven’t seen in a long time. Then Ichigo opens the door to find none other than Tsukishima sitting there. Now he is either messing with Yuzu’s memories with a similar skill to the one he used on Orihime, he is lying, or he is actually related to Ichigo. Whichever one it is, he has one of two goals:

• He either wants to attack Ichigo from within, exploiting his greatest weakness, his family.
• Or more likely, he has come to tell Ichigo his side of the story: the side we have been speculating about all this time.

Oh, and what will Ichigo name his Fullbring?