Another Bleach chapter is out, so let's talk about it.
Spoilers after the cut.
And with chapter 606, another thing I don't understand: introducing a new character so late in the game. Even if the new character is related to one we've seen practically since the manga began.
I'm referring to Shihouin Yuushirou, of course, who appears to be a younger brother of Yoruichi.
For whatever reason, this Shihouin needed to help out the Vizards with whatever they were doing (collecting energy of some sort to do...something).
But really, none of the above has anything to do with the content of chapter 606. It's a (hardly) amusing aside to what is really going on: the continuing battle between Hyousube and Bach.
One interesting nugget of dialogue near the end of the chapter is Hyousube noting that he is the "loathed head of the Shinigami", in opposition to Bach who we all know is the head of the Quincy.
This is one of those things that Kubo just dropped in, probably expecting little to come of it. But it is probably one of the more meaningful pieces of dialogue that we've seen ...well, since last chapter, but I'll wager that none of us who read Bleach on a weekly basis can actually explain what "kamikake" means.
Okay, so what we've got here can basically be read as "Hyousube = final boss". It implies that the Soul King is not an entity that will engage in combat and that Urahara's description of him from ~150 chapters ago was accurate.
Given how infrequent these revelations are into the true nature of the story that Kubo is telling, I'd say this is pretty huge. At the very least, it has the potential of being huge.
I still think Bach will eventually triumph over Hyousube, no matter how bad it looks in the meantime. Hell, at the end of the chapter, Bach is just kind of sitting there laughing. It's obvious that he's got more tricks up his sleeve and that Hyousube is likely unable to defeat him. Then again, when Hyousube's first move didn't kill Bach, I figured that the battle was essentially over, and the ending would not be in Hyousube's favor.
