Bleach Review: My Last Words

"Now I'm finally going to have the spotlight"

Uryu's true intentions are revealed as he confronts Haschwalth meanwhile Ichigo and the rest try to make it to Yhwach while he is in his weakened state.

With Arrow, Flash and Supergirl not returning to the UK for a while I thought why not review Bleach for a while again and see where it goes. I have still been keeping up to date with Bleach lately and this chapter was just another setup chapter that we have been reading for a while; Askin vs. Yoruichi, Gerard vs. the Soul Reapers and now Uryu vs. Haschwalth, we haven't had any proper fights and the plot hasn't moved forward that much either. We get a few new revelations like Haschwalth destroying the Sun Gate connected to the world of the living because he saw Uryu's betrayal but also the reveal that his seeing powers isn't so perfect after all. Is this because the Almighty ability is not as good when it transfers to Haschwalth? Now as for Uryu's betrayal everyone saw that he was still a good guy for months and months now and Kubo hasn't done anything with this subplot. I mean Uryu hasn't fought or been featured that much throughout this whole arc and his whole plan doesn't sound as elaborate as he thinks because I seriously think there was no need to keep Ichigo and the others in the dark about it. It's a shame this subplot didn't go anywhere because we never even got to see a good fight between Uryu and Ichigo which I think a lot of fans (myself included) was hoping for. However I am looking forward to seeing Uryu vs. Haschwalth and it is helped with some awesome artwork of the two of them facing off against one another.

As for everything else Chad actually got a chance to shine by staying behind to deal with the statues that have come to life which I admit I didn't see coming. And while I like his dialogue and willingness to fight I don't think we'll see much of him now since he is just fighting cannon fodder. That has been the major problem with this arc is that there have been too many characters that have been wasted and have barely done anything. Like the Vizards, Shinji in particular who hasn't fought for long, won a fight and just seems to be defeated by one move all the time now, I don't know what the hell Ginjo and the other Fullbringers are doing and where is Uryu's father been in an arc that has been about Quinces? I think the major problem with this arc is that there have been too many good guys and Kubo has been too afraid to kill them off. For example I really admired Kubo when I thought he killed off a popular character like Toshiro but no he brought him back and he is taking over the Gerard fight when it could have been the Vizards time to shine. If you want to go back even further why couldn't Kubo let BG9 win against Soi Fon? He could have fought another day then against another Soul Reaper, Vizard or even a Fullbringer but no he was killed off along with Cang Du when the two could have done way more. Finally many Sternritter where defeated off screen by Byakuya and then killed by the Auswahlen; these included NaNaNa, Robert, Candice and Meninas, four Sternritter who haven't had a proper fight this whole arc and never will now. Sorry for the rant but it is just something that has really been annoying me throughout this whole arc.

Those statues do have an interesting design

Overall not much happened because it is mainly setup for fights and what is happening next but I am also interested in seeing if Ichigo will make it to Yhwach before he wakes up.       

SCORE: 5/10

Highlights: Great shots of Haschwalth and Uryu
                   Chad getting some of the spotlight

Let - Downs: Uryu's infiltration of the Sternritter wasn't all it could be
                      Doubt Chad will play a large role in the arc now along with many other characters
                      Don't really care about Ganju now at this point

Bleach Review: All is lost

The King is dead

The chapter begins with Yuzu and Karin feeling earthquakes in the world of the living which is caused by the death of the Soul King. Yhwach explains his powers let him see the future and that his Reiatsu allowed him to control Ichigo. Ichigo and Yoruichi attack Yhwach while Orihime attempts to heal the Soul King but they fail meanwhile Urahara is shocked that the Soul King is dead but Ukitake has a strange look on his face.

Still wish these chapters where better but this one was more entertaining than the last few and that is because Kubo did do a good job of showing us that "all is lost": the worlds crumbling, the Soul King is dead and Urahara has completely lost his cool. First off while it is good to see Yuzu and Karin again bur I do wish they did something more interesting and that they where more relevant to the plot than just a quick cameo. Karin was teased with having such a big role, especially in the Fullbringer Arc, but it seems that Kubo forgot about her and the best he can come up with is her playing video games during a quake.

"Your anger makes you stronger Ichigo!"

I do really like that Yhwach has literally won over all of the heroes (when Aizen failed) and it looks like there isn't much they can do however I want to know more about his plans. I doubt he wants to be destroyed along with the worlds but maybe he wants to revert it to how it was before the Soul King. We also got some much needed background on the Soul King and that he was created by the Soul Society to control the flow of souls. This does explain why he seems more like an object than a person but I just hope we get even more in info on exactly who or what he is. I liked the short conflict between Ichigo and Yhwach however why did Yoruichi have to use wire? Does she really think that will hold him? Finally it looks like Ukitake's Kamikake is finally going to be put into effect with his expression at the end of the chapter and I think this technique might allow him to take the place of the Soul King or share his body with him for a while. The latter might explain why the Soul King is losing more and more limbs every chapter because it could already active; notice the Soul King has no ears when I'm sure he had some earlier.

"Wires! My one weakness!"

Overall a decent chapter but I hope there is more action and fights in the next one.

SCORE: 6/10

Highlights: Earthquakes destroying all the worlds
                   More information on the Soul King
                   Urahara losing his cool and Ukitake's plan maybe revealed next chapter?

Let - Downs: Yuzu and Karin just wasted pages
                       Still doesn't feel like the story isn't moving forward