May 21, 2014

Bleach 581 - The Hero 2

New Bleach!  Let's talk!

Spoilers after the cut.




Okay, let's take a deep breath.

Done?  Excellent.

A chapter like this is really annoying.  Really, really annoying.  You see, at the end of chapter 580, there was an explosion and what was presumed to be the appearance of the main character (though I and others obviously had our doubts and expected to be trolled by the Kubo avatar known as Urahara Kisuke).

Chapter 581 weaves its way through 19 or so pages (hard to say without counting them up myself) of nonsense about Kenpachi and showing how a bunch of characters are still alive and well before finally getting to the point.

The point is this: Ichigo is freakin' back.

And as usual, after an upgrade (this time in the Royal Realm, which ought to be the end of upgrades for at least 100 chapters), he does some crazy shit that probably isn't as crazy as it's going to get in a few chapters or so.

After landing and destroying what looks like a clock tower as a result, he immediately uses shunpo to get to Kenpachi's side.  He's dressed rather oddly and proclaims that he is there to save Kenpachi.

Honestly, when the chapter started with Omaeda, I groaned a little.  I figured it was some kind of diversionary tactic to keep Ichigo away that much longer. Of course, I didn't think it would just be a few pages, but a whole chapter or maybe two.

Thankfully, it was just a bit of scene-setting.  But still, chapter 581 is an example of wasted potential.  Instead of starting right where 580 left off and having Ichigo rampage through the four ladies intent on killing Kenpachi, we're given a bunch of talking before Ichigo finally lands in Seireitei in the last couple pages.

Okay, so now that Ichigo's back, here's what I want to happen: since he's just standing next to Kenpachi anyway, he might as well kill off or disable those four ladies.  Then, with any luck, he'll immediately shoot off to fight Haschwald.  And after that, the inevitable battle with Bach/Ishida.

What I expect is a lot different than that.  And given the history (especially recently) of this manga, a lot more annoying.

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