Bleach Review: Snipe

A bit late reviewing this chapter but better late than never! The name of this chapter is a nod to the original title of Bleach because I think Kubo wanted the series to have more guns in it back then.

How much blood was in her head?

The chapter begins with Shutara dead on the ground with a massive pool of blood where the top part of her head was. Gerard is angry about this because her body and blood is blocking His Majesty's path, Lille then asks Pernida for assistance. Pernida then uses her power to crush Shutara's body in to a ball and then Lille uses his massive rifle to destroy the surrounding Soul Palaces. He bows to Yhwach and says his path is clear but Yhwach only stares on.

Now that is one powerful rifle

Just then the area surrounding the Sternritter is revealed to made up of fabric and the Soul Palaces and Shutara that Lille destroyed where fakes. Shutrara then says that the fakes where prepared for their arrival and that Ichibei Hyōsube is protecting the real Palaces by drawing a forbidden symbol over them. At that moment the Sternritter are also trapped in a cage made up of trees made by Kirio Hikifune who says she can use her powers to create life.

Bet the Sternritter have got a bad feeling about this

Lille tries to snipe his way out of it but his bullets have no effect; Hikifune reveals that the tree have a taste for Reishi and will constantly devour the bullets that are made from them. The chapter ends with the arrival of Ōetsu Nimaiya who removes his Zanpakutō from a box of water, challenges all the Sternritter to a battle and says the real battle begins now.

Have to say that Numaiya looks quite the badass!

The action in the Royal Realm are truly shaping up to be something epic here!

This chapter is a great follow up to the previous one; not letting up on any of the excitement and setting the stage for some awesome battles. Firstly I am glad that Shutara is not really dead because I wouldn't have wanted a Zero Squad member to have been one - shoted already and we get some more insight in to her abilities. It seems that she could weave a separate reality in to her fabrics, one that completely fools anyone who his trapped within them. They managed to fool the Sternritter but I am glad that Shutara is dispelling them now because I would hate for more chapters to have been an illusion.

I wonder if I can get curtains like that

Next we have Hikifune's tree ability and I am kind of disappointed with this because it just seems like a copy of the First Hokage's Wood Style Jutsu from Naruto. It does seem useful but I doubt that it will keep the Sternritter trapped in there for long (will explain why in predictions at the bottom). Lastly we get the arrival of Nimaiya who wants to fight all of the Sternritter and that was the best shot of the chapter; he looked really menacing holding his Zanpakutō with the shadows over his face, really great art for that as well. He also removes his Zanpakutō from a box of water which makes me think that it might be an incredibly powerful fire type for something else is special about it.

"Let's get his party started!"

Overall this chapter was almost as good as the last chapter where it introduced the new Sternritters however it didn't feel like much happened because it is still was a load of set up and no battles yet.

SCORE: 9/10

Highlights: Shutara is still alive
                   The epic arrival of Nimaiya
                   The prospect of a great battle next chapter

Let - Downs: Not that impressed with Hikifune's ability
                      Still no real fight between the Sternritter and Zero Squad

Predictions

As I mentioned above I don't think that the tree cage will hold the Sternitter for long because if they absorb Reishi then I think it is time for the return of Sklaverei. It is a Quincy move which uses their power to steal Reishi to it's highest degree and enslaves it, I think it is the best way for them to break apart and escape from the tree cage. Plus we haven't seen it used by any one else besides Quilge Opie many, many, many chapters ago.

I also hope the Kirinji steps back in to the battle and fights along side Nimaiya now that Weizol is out of the way because I don't know what he is doing now. I don't think Yhwach is going to personally fight just yet because, just like Aizen, he is content to watch his minions fight for him for a while.

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       

Bleach Review: The Shooting Star Project [We Only Have to Beat You Mix]

Lets crack on with another Bleach review.

The chapter begins right where it left off with the countdown with the cannon about to fire Ichigo and his group to the Royal Realm, however they are stopped by Ganju who insists on coming. After a brief argument where Ichigo warns Ganju about how dangerous it is they decide to let him on because he says he is ready and he has a map. After the blast off the group remembers how this is similar to when they rescued Rukia and Orihime sadly comments how Uryu was with them then, Ichigo says he will beat Ywach and bring Uryu back.



"Don't worry Sakura, I'll rescue Sasuke......wrong manga!"

It then changes back to the Royal Realm and Nianzol Weizol explains that is ability is to deflect all attacks and all the swords that are aimed at him will bend. At first Shutara believes that this ability can be counted by attacking Weizol from his blind spot but he quickly disproves this theory by bending the swords of his attackers, saying that if he has already seen the ability it doesn't matter if it is in his blind spot. He then uses his finger to bend one of the guard's sword even more and then slices three in half at the same time.

Bet this is really annoying for those guards

Shutara however says that the guards where not her true attack and that in a blink of an eye she managed to remake his entire trench coat with one of her hands. She then says that if he attempts to take it off he will not survive and sure enough Weizol is then impaled by a dozen spikes from his coat.

Really interesting chapter here; I thought it would go back to the fights back on the ground but we remain with Ichigo and the Zero Squad.

What I really like about this chapter was how the first part with Ichigo was like a nod to the Soul Society Recuse Arc, so it was really nostalgic to read it. It was really funny seeing Ganju and the group argue again even if it did waste quite a few pages when I wanted to see more fighting. It is still good to see Ganju again and he must have gotten way stronger or else he would not be so confident about going to the Royal Realm but where did he leave the Xcution members? It also once again raises the question on whether or not the Shibas have any connection to the Royal Realm because of how you must use the cannon to get up there and how Ganju has a map of the place.

I really don't think this is the end for him

We also got some great action in the Royal Realm; Weizol's ability is really interesting and I curious to who is going to fight him and get round it (I seriously doubt he is dead already). Weizol turned out to be a real sarcastic person when speaking, using his lisp as an excuse for not explain his abilities properly. Shutara also turns out to be a real badass and her stitching based abilities are really cool and it makes me all the more excited to see hers, and all the other Zero Squad members, Shikai and Bankai.

Overall this was a real solid chapter even though it felt kind of short and that is mainly because I felt the reunion between Ganju and the rest dragged out for too long.

OVERALL: 8/10