Philosophical fighting!
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Tite Kubo
Translation: Joe Yamazaki
English Adaptation: Lance Caselman
What They Say:
The Soul Reapers must guard the four pillars that are protecting Karakura Town from destruction at the hands of Aizen’s minions. Standing guard are assistant captains Yumichika, Kira, Hisagi and Ikkaku! But when Ikkaku goes down, will Karakura Town fall with him…?
The Review!
Facing down a flying enemy with wings of steel, Kira seems to be in for quite a fight. In order to gain some time, Kira fires off a Kido and escapes into the nearby buildings, only for Abirama to tear apart the structures with his regenerating feathers. Unfortunately for the feathered Fracción, this show of power gives Kira a chance to slash his wings multiple times with his Wabisuke, doubling their weight many times over. With his opponent forced to bow before him, Kira ends the fight, demonstrating just what his sword’s shape is for in the process.
Turning back to Hisagi’s fight, we find Findorr claiming he isn’t fit to be an Assistant Captain. Deciding it’s time to put an end to things, Findorr finally releases his sword, Pinza Aguda. Findorr’s sharp claw and powerful jets of water put Hisagi on edge, till he finally releases his blade, Kazeshini. The unpredictable nature of Hisagi’s weapon puts Findorr on edge, and eventually tears him to shreds after he underestimates his enemy, lacking “fear” of both his power and that of his opponent.
Suddenly, things take a surprising turn of events as Ikkaku is defeated while the other battles were going on. It looks like Ikkaku is about to be killed and, with his tower destroyed, the real town will return. However, Captain Komamura appears just in time, and has Tetsuzaemon use temporary measures to halt the regression. Poww decides not to take any chances and immediately releases his sword, Calderón, becoming a giant in the process. Komamura proves his strength by deflecting his massive opponent’s blow bare-handed, and then using his bankai to crush the whale of a hollow.
The rest of the volume is spent setting up the next few fights. Barragan’s remaining Fracción, Nirgge and GGio, take on Soi Fon and Omaeda, and Halibel’s Fracción take on Matsumoto. The Espada themselves also move into the field of battle, with Halibel fighting Hitsuguya and Stark fighting both Kyouraku and Ukitake.
In Summary:
Once more we have a volume focusing on bit-players, and once more it manages to be interesting enough but still far from exceptional. The Hisagi and Kira fights keep from being a bore by giving them a decent bit of time to discuss their personal philosophies in regards to combat, which lend the proceedings a touch of flavor and lead to at least a few cool moments. Komamura also gets a chance to show off, which is fine but not terribly exciting. And of course, the volume ends by setting up the next few fights. Now that the big players have finally stepped onto the field of combat, hopefully the following volume will manage to kick things back up to something more worthwhile.
Content Grade: B-
Art Grade: B+
Package Rating: B+
Text/Translation Rating: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released by: Viz Media
Release Date: February 7th, 2012
MSRP: $9.99
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