The truth of the almighty!
Creative Staff:
Story/Art: Tite Kubo
What They Say:
Ichigo Kurosaki never asked for the ability to see ghost – he was born with the gift. When his family is attacked by a Hollow- a malevolent lost soul – Ichigo becomes a Soul Reaper, dedicating his life to protecting the innocent and helping tortured spirits themselves find peace.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Watching as Ichigo steps up and showcases what he can do against Yhwach has definitely been fun since his confidence can be fairly intoxicating. Ichigo’s got experience after doing this as long as he has and has suffered quite a lot along the way, so it’s no surprise that he’s going all in here and actually has a plan as well. Of course, nothing is going to go to plan but at least we get some interesting moments along the way with the growth in his abilities that have now been realized with his new form. I’m still not sold on it visually with the half and half aspect of it, but at least it’s something that feels like forward progress and a change in who Ichigo is as he masters his abilities.
With this chapter, well, it’s a minute and you’re done kind of chapter. Yhwach is only going to let Ichigo play at this for so long, provided there isn’t some weird twist in the wind, as just as Ichigo things he’s got the upperhand in all of this we get Yhwach showing him that it’s anything but. Breaking his blade with ease by snapping it in the future has Yhwach revealing that his power isn’t the ability to see the future but rather to change it, which in turn impacts the present. Suffice to say, Ichigo seems to be taken by surprise and that lets Yhwach get all explanation oriented all while ignoring Orihime in a big way, further making her seem like just another prop in this part of the arc. Kubo’s style is one that likes to pull the rug out from under the readers so I fully expect things to go through the usual cycle again, but it just feels too predictable.
In Summary:
While there are plenty of fast-read books out there, Bleach has always been one of the worst in this regard. This chapter is one that certainly goes by fast with lots of spreads here and a lot of black and white space without a lot of detail. There are definitely stylish areas to be had in certain areas, but it’s still somewhat typical Kubo material and that lack of detail and grounding keeps it from really connecting in a stronger way, which has long been a problem with this series.
Grade: C
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Viz Media via Weekly Shonen Jump’s ComiXology Release
Release Date: June 20th, 2016
MSRP: $0.99
