Bleach Review: Too Early To Win Too Late To Know

One hell of a chapter this week!

The chapter starts off with Nianzol Weizol falling to the ground, apparently dead and Shutara being sarcastic about it and her abilities almost how Weizol was to her. She then turns to Yhwach and says that with Weizol's ability out of the way her soldiers can now attack him however Yhwach is unnerved by this. Instead he summons several more Soldat to deal with the soldiers and then summons his elite Sternritter guards; Gerard Valkyrie (M 'The Miracle'), Lille Barro (X 'The X -Axis), Pernida Parnkgjas (C 'The Compulsory) and Askin Nakk Le Vaar (D 'The Deathdealing')



They must be badass with such an epic entrance!

While Askin commnets that he is the only Sternritter here from the lower ranks, Gerard says how he better not slow them down and then draws his sword and throws off his cloak. He then goes to attack Shutara who tires to block it with one of her arms and her needle but Gerard cuts through it easily and even injures her.

Right now Shutara is probably thinking; "Oh s**t!"

Shutara then quickly summons a large solider that lands behind her but that is also quickly destroyed by an unknown ability by Pernida. Lille ends things by taking out a massive rifle from underneath his cloak and blowing off a large portion of Shutara's head.

Now that has got to sting a little

Must admit that I really didn't expect this chapter to go down like this, I thought Weizol would still be alive because of his Blut and would continue the fight against Shutara but it would seem that is not the case. I will start off with the only bad thing about this chapter and that is that I am slightly annoyed that Weizol is mostly likely dead now. A letter has been wasted and a character (whose design and personality I really liked) has been killed off so quickly; you got to admit that his ability made Yhwach look like a badass, menacingly advancing his way slowing though the Royal Realm?



"Who wants some!"

However that is completely overshadowed by the arrival of Askin and three badass Sternritter who seem to be on a whole other level than the Sternritters we have seen so far. I can't wait to see the Zero Squad and these new Sternritter pair off and fight each other but after seeing Shutara fall like that I wonder if the Zero Squad can win now.

So who does this remind you of?

As for the designs of the new Sternritter the are all really awesome; Gerard may look like a rip off of Thor but I always thought that Thor looks really cool anyway. He seems like the type who just wants to fight and crush his enemies (kind of like Mask and Driscoll) and I am interest to see what his 'Miracle' power is. Lille I think looks the coolest out of all of them and its great to see more Sternritter using guns as well, he must also be really powerful since only one shot was enough to scalp Shutara like that! I also didn't expect that his letter was going to be X - Axis but it is really creative and probably has something to do with accuracy. Lastly there is Pernida who we don't see much of because she (name sounds more like a girl's) didn't take off her cloak, so we are just going to have to wait for a bit more to gauge her character.

"Damn!"

Finally we also get to see Askin again and I am really looking forward to seeing what he can do. He has been one of the most hyped up Sternritter, even more than Pepe and NaNaNa, and with a power called 'Deathdealing' it must be something sinister. He mentioned about being the only Sternritter here from lower ranks so that either means he was promoted to this guard or that he was brought he because his ability was just as good? Also I hope Shutara isn't really dead because it would be a shame for a Zero Squad member to be out already but I am thinking Yhwach might revive her and control her.

Overall this was a great chapter; the art work was at it's best, especially the two page panel of the new Sternritter arrival, and it was a epic intro for them. Almost a perfect score but I have to mark it down just very slightly because I really expected more from Weizol.

SCORE: 9.5/10       

Top Five Sternritters

I am still working on my list for top ten Male Voice Actors so in the mean time I thought I'd write a top ten for my favourite Sternritter from Bleach and who are the main antagonists of this arc. SPOILERS.


5. BG9



 

Possibly the only robot in the Bleach universe, BG9 is the letter K in the Sternritter and it is still unknown what it stands for (I think it could be for "The Knowledge"). BG9 has an awesome character design and he has a cool long ranged fighting style where he uses tendrils, missiles and even a massive mini gun. He was last seen with Chang Du and seemly executed with him however I am one of the many who believe that they are both still alive and that BG9 could even be upgraded to BG10.

4. As Nodt



 

Sternritter F for "The Fear" and As Nodt definitely deserves that title, he also has the distinction with being one of the few who has defeated Byakuya Kuchiki. You can tell that Kubo spent a long time with the design for As because it is so detailed but I wish his backstory was explored even more. His Vollstandig is also one of the most original in the Sternritters and his it was always cool to see him use his fear powers, whether it was turning himself in to a monster or showing Byakuya a melted Rukia. He recently died in battle against Rukia and it was one of the best in this arc.


3. NaNaNa Najahkoop

 

The first Sternritter to be introduced during the first invasion outside of the column of fire, NaNaNa is the Sternritter U but it is yet to be revealed what it stands for. He has the most unique design out of all of the Sternritters and I really like his personality, however Kubo has really been unfair to this character. We never got to see his fight with Rose, he observed Renji for a whole night and saying that "red monkey" will soon be finished he has yet to fight him. The worst of it was that in the lastest chapter he was seemingly defeated off screen by Byakuya, it just annoys me that Kubo keeps doing this. Still I am looking forward to seeing NaNaNa in a real fight and I hope he does defeat Renji because that is what the hype has been building to.

2. Giselle Gewelle

Probably the most craziest character Kubo has ever created for Bleach; Giselle Gewelle "The Zombie" has the power to turn both Soul Reapers and Quincies into zombies that obey her every command. Giselle was mostly a back ground character when she was first introduced but with the March of the Zombies chapters we get to see just how insane she really is, she doesn't just like battle, she gets off on it. She is not above using her own comrades as zombies and she is also one of the most perverted characters ever, this is really shown in her facial expressions. Unfortunately Kubo has now turned the attention away from the recent awesome March of the Zombies chapters to focuses more on Pepe and I do not like that. I was really enjoying seeing Giselle and her zombies and it doesn't even look like we will even get a proper conclusion to it any time soon.


1. Gremmy Thourmeaux

My most favourite is Sternritter V "The Visionary". I like Gremmy because he is so sadistic and one of the most arrogant characters there is. His power is also one of the coolest in Bleach even though Kubo could have done more with it. He also mercilessly killed two captains while they were injured unlike most villains who like to give the heroes a chance by going in to a big monologue. His fight with Kenpachi is also one of the best during this arc and even though he was defeated (and it was revealed his true body is a brain) I really hope we see more of him in the future.