Rewrite the past!
Creative Staff
Art/Story: Tite Kubo
Translation: Joe Yamazaki
What They Say:
Ichigo continues his training to master Fullbring and hopefully regain his lost Soul Reaper powers. But as Ichigo gets closer, Ginjo makes a startling move. Can Ginjo truly be trusted? And what lies ahead for Ichigo when he finally regains his powers…?
Content:
With his eyes completely ruined from the previous attack, Ichigo finds him in quite a pinch as Ginjo turns on him. His body lies in ruin as Ginjo threatens to kill Chad and Orihime, causing Ichigo’s powers to burst forth, giving birth to his completed Fullbring. Ginjo then reveals that he was simply playing the villain in order to bring forth Ichigo’s Fullbring, and the training recommences. Things are finally looking up for our hero, so he decides to head back home and get some rest.
Unfortunately for Ichigo, he returns to a strange and frightening situation; Tsukishima is lounging on his couch, and all of his friends and family treat the villain as part of his family. Ichigo lashes out at Tsukishima, only for his friends and sisters to reprimand him for acting so “strange.” Unable to take what he’s seeing Ichigo flees the scene, only to find that Tsukishima has even gotten to Ikumi. When he finally runs into Ginjo, he finds that at the very least one person in his life hasn’t been affected by the Fullbringer’s power. Ginjo furthermore explains that Tsukishima got the other Fullbringers, and that his powers appear to actually insert him into a person’s past, rather than simply altering their memories. Left with no other choice, the pair decides to kill Tsukishima, hoping that doing so will cancel out his powers and return things to normal.
Yukio soon tracks them down and invites them to an old house, a blatant trap set up by Tsukishima. Upon entering the manor, Ichigo is shocked to find his friends and family lying in wait with a “surprise party.” Unable to handle it, Ichigo flees once more, and ends up in a confrontation with the Fullbringers, as well as Chad and Orihime. Intense fighting commences, but eventually Tsukishima is able to get in a good swing, forcing Ginjo to take the blow for Ichigo. Ichigo is afraid that he has lost his only friend, but strangely enough, Ginjo seems to be unaffected, stating that perhaps it takes a while for Tsukishima’s powers to take effect. When Uryu appears on the scene, Ichigo is left wondering whether he has gained a new friend or foe, only for Uryu to shout out that Ginjo is the one who stabbed him. His ruse revealed, Ginjo lets out an evil laugh and admits that Tsukishima’s slash was actually the second one, simply returning him to normal. Tsukishima and the Fullbringers were always working together, with Ginjo’s past having been altered in order to make the trap more convincing.
As the volume comes to a close, Ginjo steals Ichigo’s Fullbring, and Rukia appears in time to stab Ichigo with a sword, reigniting his Soul Reaper powers.
In Summary:
A good bit happens in this volume, with the arc finally reaching towards some sort of climax. There’s plenty of action to see here, but most of the volume is spent displaying the extent of Tsukishima’s power. It’s actually really interesting seeing Ichigo forced to confront a situation that can’t be solved by force, showing in the process just how powerless he can be. The twist near the end of the volume isn’t too exciting, but it’s not entirely terrible either. Additionally, the pay-off from Ichigo’s training is a little unusual and perhaps even a tad lame, but at least the very end of the book helps to make up for that. Hopefully the arc will be able to come to a solid close, as there’s certainly plenty of interesting and exciting ideas on display here.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: B+
Package Rating: B+
Text/Translation Rating: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released by: Viz Media
Release Date: December 4th, 2012
MSRP: $9.99
