Another week, another Bleach chapter. Although this week it's back out on Wednesday. Hmm....
Spoilers after the cut.
Chapter 596 pulls off a neat trick.
Although in my case, it would have been neater had it taken...three or four chapters, and not seven.
But let's keep it positive, shall we? For Giselle was taken out, the two living Captains in the area, Mayuri and Byakuya, are getting along splendidly (haha), and the zombie Captains that Giselle had taken over are now the property of Mayuri.
What could be better? Oh, the zombie Captains taking out Pepe as well!
The zombie Kensei might not have done the above precisely, but then again, Liltotto's waiting to do ...something.
It should be noted that Kensei and Rose were once again cannon fodder, this time to Mayuri's Privaron Espada. I had no idea they were strong enough to take out Captains. And two of them were beaten in Hueco Mundo by Uryuu and Ichigo!
While I'm interested to see what Liltotto does to Pepe (I can't imagine that he'll "taste good" to her), I'm more interested in actually moving on. As mentioned above, it's taken seven chapters to get rid of Giselle. She wasn't the only Stern Ritter to get hers either; as you might recall from a couple weeks ago, Candice, the unnamed Stern Ritter, and NaNaNa were taken out by Byakuya. And then Pepe appeared, taking control of Meninas with his "love". What happened to Meninas afterward is currently unclear, but Liltotto is obviously no worse for wear.
By my count, 16 of the Stern Ritter have been knocked out or killed. The fate of Shaz Domino and Meninas is unclear at this point. Liltotto, Pepe, and Bazz-B are still alive in Seireitei, along with Nakk Le Varr, who isn't fighting. Uryuu and Haschwald are still in Reiokyuu with "His Majesty" (whom I call Bach, Yhwach in the manga). And finally, there are three still to be revealed to complete the alphabet.
I still don't think the manga can be wrapped up by chapter 600, but the Stern Ritter are clearly running out of cannon fodder.
