Hey folks, ssj’s laptop is suffering from technical problems, so I will be doing this short summary to get discussions going. A fitting title for this chapter. Ichigo pulls of one humongous Getsuga Tensho, one that Ginjo has no way of dodging. Man, I just loved Kubo’s art during those 3-4 pages, especially this one:


In the immediate aftermath, Toshiro tells Ichigo that the reiatsu transferred to him from the special sword Urahara gave to Rukia was infused with that of all the Captains of the 13 Divisions, and that the Commander Yamamoto gave the order to go against Shinigami laws this one time for Ichigo. Ichigo must feel pretty awesome right now after having his life being dragged through the mud these last few chapters.

But of course, Ginjo can’t be downed that easily. As the smoke clears, a transformed Ginjo appears with armor similar to that of Ichigo’s when he mastered his fullbring. Ginjo is revealed to be the first substitute shinigami assigned to Earth, but went AWOL sometime before Ichigo received his powers, it’ll be interesting to hear the full story. Undoubtedly, Ginjo is relying on the shinigami powers he claims to have taken from Ichigo, but let’s see if he’s even half the beast Ichigo is right now.

Other things:
- It’s so nice to see the Soul Society shinigamis return. I’ve missed seeing Rukia around, and her new look is very cute.
- It looks like Urahara returned to Soul Society to plead with the Commander to assist Ichigo. Shame on anybody who doubted his motives in the past, this is like the millionth time he’s come through to save Ichigo and his friends. I also hope this is the beginning of a re-newed cooperation between Urahara and Gotei 13.
- What’s Tschishima been doing this whole time, I still see him as a wild card in this fight, he’s still in control of Ichigo’s friends and the other members of Xcution.
- I wonder what would happen to the members of Xcution after all this is over. It seems to me they’ve been misled by Ginjo this whole time, but how will Soul Society judge them especially with their strict sanctions against non-shinigami beings possessing spiritual-esque powers?
-

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?

I’m not sure if I hate what Tite is doing to the readers, or if I subconsciously love it. He has been twisting our perceptions of who is good and who is bad. Normally, like with Aizen, Gin, and Tousen back in the Soul Society Arc, I enjoy these kinds of surprises, but he has taken it too far lately. Last chapter he illustrated a very subtle, yet noticeable hint of treachery from Ginjou and Riruka, but now he has Ginjou take on a harsh, yet secretly caring mentor-like figure. It is starting to piss me off that for the first time I can’t fully understand these characters, but it is also what keeps me coming back for more each week.

Now onto the chapter itself, as we saw last week Ginjou slashed Ichigo’s eyes, essentially making him blind. He tries to tempt Ichigo’s rage by telling him he was fooling him this whole time, and basically calls him out for being a bitch. When he tells Ichigo he is going after Orihime and Chad, that is the last straw, finally igniting Ichigo’s battle sense- reviving his ability to sense reiatsu, and fully evolving his Fullbring.

I must  admit, as harsh as it was, Ginjou is a great trainer. Without a second’s hesitation he blinded Ichigo. He knew that as long as Ichigo relied on his sight, he would never be able to push past his limits and bring his reiatsu sensing ability back. Also, he knew Orihime was readily available to heal Ichigo’s eyes after all is said and done.

Also, apparently when a Fullbring fully evolves, the soul within the tool (his badge) releases itself, and a huge surge of energy. Ginjou needed to make sure he was the one to push Ichigo to that limit so he could contain that bast of energy (risking his own life in the process). Perhaps that is why he was hiding his emotions from Ichigo last chapter.

As for Ichigo’s new Fullbring, I don’t quite know what to make of it yet. His outfit solidifies, as opposed to his former reiatsu composed Shihakusho. White stripes spread from his sword marking his outfit and covering his face. In all likelihood, he probably just got a power boost, but that, coupled with his newly regained ability to sense reiatsu will make him much closer to his former glory.

So I’m not sure how gaining these fullbring powers is supposed to help him gain his shinigami powers back, but then again I’m not sure of a lot of things lately. So sit tight kiddos, we’re going for a bumpy ride.

I’m not going to lie, I was not very impressed with Bleach this week. Nor was I entertained by any of the big Shonen manga this week for that matter. Not much happened, so I’m going to keep the review this week brief, and hope Tite steps it up next week.

The spar between Ichigo and Ginjou continues. Just as expected, Ichigo is progressing prodigiously. Ginjou demonstrates the versatility of his sword, as he uses the grip in the blade to combat opponents in close quarters. But still, aside from its versatility and the Getsuga Tensho-like projectile, we haven’t seen much from Ginjou. I think there is more to his fullbring abilities than what we have seen.

The conversation between Orihime and Riruka was cute and all, but I really don’t care to get into it. The only important thing I pulled from that scene was the very end of it. On page 13 where Orihime tells Riruka how nice she is, you can see a look on Riruka’s face as though something is tearing her up inside. Now this could just be her feeling bad for being a bitch. But if you choose to read more into it, it could be her feeling bad on the inside for what they (Xcution) are planning to do.

The caption on the next page forces me to believe the latter scenario. It says “What are the true intentions…,” my thoughts exactly. To follow that up, Ichigo goes on about how he can’t feel a thing from clashing swords with Ginjou, like he’s “put a lid on his soul.”  Why would somebody do that unless they didn’t want you to understand their true feelings? He goes on to explain that while Tsukishima was around, at least he could feel his murderous intent, but my question is, what if Tsukishima’s murderous intent wasn’t actually aimed at Ichigo? Wouldn’t it be a real humdinger if Tsukishima was actually trying to protect Ichigo from Ginjou and them in his own weird way? Or maybe he is working with them?  Or maybe I’m just jumping to conclusions…

Also, Ginjou blinds Ichigo on the last page, so I assume he will be doing some training Kaname Tosen style. That might be interesting.

I don’t know what to believe, but I have decided that Urahara and Isshin are trying to help Ichigo. Therefore, Ichigo should be weary of Ginjou and company.