Bleach Chapter 486 – The Crimson Cremation Review / Thoughts

With chapter 486 I feel Kubo did a great job of placing emotion in to Sasakibe’s funeral, while also possibly hinting at some big stuff happening down the line.

As you probably guessed, this chapter has the funeral of Sasakibe in it. I want to praise Tite Kubo though, because considering what an incredibly minor role the character played in the series, it still felt emotional because of the way Kubo wrote it. Byakuya is with Renji and gives a little speech about the kind of man Sasakibe was, and basically it went a long way to showing how loyal and dedicated he was to working with Yamamoto. Yamamoto himself, in a rare turn, is shown to be upset over it too. When he has his back turned to everyone else, it’s clear Sasakibe’s death has made an impact on him, with even Byakuya commenting on how he doesn’t know how Yamamoto must be feeling at the moment.

Moving on, we also found out a little more about what has been happening with Hueco Mundo. As well as Nel’s return, in this chapter we also see that her friend Pesche has come to the human world as well. It’s explained that after the deaths of Starrk and Baraggan, Harribel became the new leader. However, Hueco Mundo was invaded during this time and she was dragged away, while Dondochakka was also kidnapped. Elsewhere, we get to see a bit more from the Vandenreich king, who is seen talking with one of his men. The white haired guy is looking at Ivan’s medallion and comments on how it seems like Ivan couldn’t capture Ichigo’s Bankai. The king then says that it seems like they will need to use a special way to get him, and then orders that the hunting unit of Hueco Mundo is sent out to bring him a few more “idiots” to use.

Back in the human world, everything has clearly been explained to Ishida, Chad and Orihime. Chad immediately knows that this means Ichigo will want to go to Hueco Mundo to rescue the prisoners and says as much, but then Ishida tells them that this time he won’t be joining them. He doesn’t give any reason, but Ichigo doesn’t make a big deal out of it and seems happy enough, saying that he won’t need Ishida’s help anyway. Then, Urahara appears at the window and asks if he should arrange the trip to Hueco Mundo. The chapter ends with a guy in Hueco Mundo ordering some unseen people to keep moving and not to stop. Though with that said, the writing underneath flat out says that next time Urahara and Ichigo will be attacking the enemy army.

This was a really good chapter, and Kubo has delivered once again. The Sasakibe part was awesome as I said, and I loved the Ishida / Ichigo part too. This is a great way of hinting at a possible turn from Ishida, or at the very least having thoughts or doubts about certain things. Since Ishida has helped and backed Ichigo in practically every situation he has ever been in, it does raise questions as to why he is opting out this time. Of course we can guess because he is a Quincy he will play a big role somewhere down the line, and as an Ishida fan I welcome this possibility. I have been wanting more panel time and more of a main role for him for ages, and if he does end up siding with the Quincy it will be very interesting indeed.

I am also extremely excited to hear that Urahara and Ichigo will be fighting in the next chapter. Considering how rare it is for Urahara to physically get involved, this should be a real treat and a real epic moment. It also goes to show how serious things must be if Urahara is willing to get involved again, only previously doing so during the Aizen arc.

I am very excited by a lot of possibilities with this arc in all honesty, Kubo has done a brilliant job thus far and I can forsee that will continue since it is to be the last Bleach arc. A lot of major events are going to happen over the coming chapters, and I can’t wait to see them unfold. With this arc so far, Tite Kubo is showing Kishimoto just how a war should be written.

Bleach Chapter 483 – KriegsErklärung Review / Thoughts

So, with the oddly named chapter 483 we continue the final Bleach arc. Last time we were promised war by the mysterious group of people who invaded Soul Society, and this week we see they have the deadline set.

 

This was a pretty good chapter that also threw up a couple of interesting points. Firstly, I will start with Ivan Azgiaro vs Ichigo which took place in this chapter.

We know Ichigo is strong even without using his Bankai, so when Ivan began taunting Ichigo and trying to get him to use it then I am sure many of use were curious as to why he wanted it to happen so badly. When Ichigo finally relents and uses his Bankai, Ivan begans chanting some weird incantation while thinking to himself that this will put an end to Ichigo’s Bankai for good. I don’t know how or what type of attack it was he used or indeed what he is hoping to accomplish by taking Ichigo’s Bankai away from him, but some people have said that it feels like the kind of thing Ginjo already tried in the last arc – ie stealing Ichigo’s power for himself.

Ichigo shocked Ivan though when, despite being hurt by the attack, he still managed to smash through it by unleashing a Getsuga Tensho. I think Ivan must be working alongside the group who are planning on taking down Soul Society, and heck, he probably thinks that if he can take out Ichigo’s strongest power then that will be a massive blow to Soul Society’s chances of putting up any kind of resistance.

Which brings me to the next point, that being not only did we find out the name for this new group of mysterious people – the Vandenreich – but they also set the deadline for when the end of Soul Society would occur. They have already seemingly killed Yamamoto’s assistant Sasakibe, though maybe he will end up surviving a spear/lance through the chest what with this being Bleach, only time will tell.

But I find it interesting that Kubo probably has plans for the next couple of years at least for Bleach, and yet now the people who appear to be the main enemies have declared Soul Society will be destroyed in five days. Now I personally don’t believe that, and I also have a feeling now that the Vandenreich will not turn out to be the main villains or challenge Soul Society will face. Just for the fact there is still no sign of the Arrancar such as Grimmjow or Nel, as well as the fact Kubo himself has said he hopes to show Aizen in the Manga again at some stage tells me that there is no way he will allow things to be settled so quickly. I know in Manga time 5 days can be stretched out a lot, but to continue for any reasonable period of time then there is really no way 5 days would be enough even in Manga time if Kubo wanted to get more from the story.

I predict a good few twists and turns yet to come that will throw this stuff out the window, and despite the amount of criticism Kubo seems to get and being called a shit writer etc, I have faith that he will come through on this arc and do a great job. There is certainly plenty more to come and to look forward to though regardless of what does or doesn’t happen, so Bleach is definitely a series to keep your eye on now.