Bleach Chapter 451 – Welcome to Our Execution 4

Read the Chapter

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.

Bleach Chapter 450 – Blind Solitude

Read the Chapter

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.

Bleach Chapter 449 – Not Be a Drug

Read the Chapter

Chapter 449 – Not Be a Drug; most likely a mistranslation for “Don’t Be a Drug.” Not that that is any clearer. Celebrating the 50th volume of Bleach, Tite treats us to a couple colored pages. But once again, he leaves us with almost no more information about Urahara’s little operation, nor the identity of the secret shinigami he and Isshin are conspiring with.

At first, I thought it was Karin. But the way Isshin is looking at them, the fact that Urahara is the one talking to them, and the tension on page 5, when he says “We’re waiting,” lead me to conclude this is not Karin. On the first page, Urahara tells them to put some of their reiatsu in to complete the process, so maybe it is Rukia. After all, her reiatsu was the key to Ichigo gaining his shinigami powers in the first place… Still, the look on Isshin and Urahara’s face on page 5 makes it seem like it is somebody they are unfriendly with…

When Orihime arrives in Yukio’s game Ichigo is already gushing blood. As of now, between him and Ginjou, Ichigo is outmatched. Hopefully that changes by the end of this training.

A very important discovery made this chapter revolves around Ichigo’s friends. Just as Orihime reveals, they all want to train and get stronger… all for Ichigo’s sake. However, this became apparent to them after Tsukishima “attacked” each of them. After encountering him, Orihime is determined to protect Ichigo, and Chad and Ishida are determined to get stronger to fight for him. Maybe that was Tsukishima’s plan when he “attacked” them all along. Perhaps his scheme requires them to get stronger. Even Ichigo himself is power hungry after encountering Tsukishima. And then Tsukishima will acquire their power for himself, just like he had done to the that other Shinigami those years ago.

Two more things I’d like two add:

• Orihime’s new power is pretty impressive. So long as she has her shield up, any attacked directed at it will be dispersed and returned at the attacker, although I’m sure it has its limits.  Remind you of another person’s ability we have seen recently?
• On the last page, Yukio decides to “fast forward” their training. Hopefully this has a hyperbolic time chamber/dangai precipice world kind of effect where they get way more training in than time passes in the real world.

Bleach Chapter 448 – Loading to Lie

Read the Chapter

Hey there folks, sorry about the lack of review last chapter, but with my lack of time, and the minimal progression in the story, I figured I could do them both this week. Unfortunately, this week was pretty brief too, but that is just how Tite is i guess…

So last week the battle with Tsukishima came to a close. Yukio locked Ichigo up with his Fullbring “Invaders Must Die.” For the first time yet, I saw some hesitation in Tsukishima’s eyes – mad props to Yukio for being able to put a halt to his plans for the time being. This scene with Ishida was rather pointless to the reader, as we already knew that Tsukishima was the person who attacked him, though I’ll admit that there still seems to be some mystery shrouding his powers and identity as a whole. What we did learn from the hospital scene is that Ishida will be returning to the battle. Xcution discovers that Ichigo is Tsukishima’s true objective, and with that in mind, Ginjou initiates Ichigo’s final sparring match, against himself…

This week’s chapter picks up  with Yukio transporting Ichigo and Ginjou into his little video game for their sparring match. His powers seem very similar to Riruka’s in that respect, since they can both transport whomever they wish into their own little “dimension,” which they both have specific powers over. Not very original on Tite’s part if I do say so myself.

The rules for the spar are simple, Yukio grants them six life points a piece. The first one to run out loses (btw, does Ginjou’s sword like longer and slightly different than it did before to anybody else). After a brief encounter with her rival for Ichigo’s love, Orihime arrives on the scene. Yukio transmits her into his game, at which point Ginjou refers to her as the “healing item.”

I’m sure that spar will be interesting, but what I am more worried about is the last couple pages of this chapter. Isshin and Urahara are seen conspiring with each other yet again. Isshin presents Urahara with some sort of barrel, referring to it as the “last one.” When Urahara questions if Isshin is really ready to take Ichigo’s future away from him. Now this might be one of the most ambiguous statements we have heard from him yet. Does this mean that Isshin knows Ichigo is trying to regain his powers, and plans on preventing that, or does it mean he plans on giving Ichigo his powers back, taking away any chance of a normal future.

I am pretty sure it is the latter. Isshin may act like it, but he is no dummy. He knows Ichigo has been depressed since he lost his powers, and can’t help but feel somewhat responsible for why he lost them. If anybody wanted Ichigo to have a normal life, it was Isshin, and that is why he had such a hard time telling Urahara to do it. So if Isshin and Urahara are really trying to help Ichigo, does that give us a reason to be somewhat suspicious of Xcution’s true motives?

I am very tired of not truly know where anybody stands. It has been twenty four chapters that we the readers have been in the dark of the true motives Tsukishima, Xcution, and Urahara/Isshin, and I feel like we are a little due for some real answers. Hopefully the identity of the mysterious shinigami on the final page will provide some of those answers…