So cute, so predictable.
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):
The final chapter of Bleach has arrived and you can see the invisible hand of Weekly Shonen Jump at work here. Combined with the epilogue that kicked off in the previous issue before the skip week, what we get is a chance at establishing a bit of what can be done in the future and largely trying to put a sense of closure to what the editors likely thought were the core characters that needed that in addition to what Kubo may have wanted to do. The obviousness of the cancellation of the book in this form is almost amusing if not so problematic because so much is left unfinished that you find yourself friends, both at Kubo for his inability to tell the story well and at the editors for not being better at their jobs in getting him to do what was needed.
The general concept in this chapter is that we get to see several folks visiting Ichigo at the hospital he runs as there’s a wrestling match on that they’re excited to see. This brings in Renji and Rukia from the Soul Society and some cute little bits with progeny there. We get to see that Chad is famous with his wrestling ability and Ishida is a solid doctor who can’t get away to be with everyone. Ichigo and Orihime are a thing with offspring and it works surprisingly well for both of them. There are some cute bits about the kids and what they’re capable of and we get a nice nod back to Yhwach and how the final piece of his power has disappeared and all chance of combining the three worlds for a supposedly proper purpose has now come to a close. The conceptual piece we get here with Aizen is certainly interesting and you kind of wish this had been part of the dialogue more as opposed to just lots of fights and forms, but such is how a shounen series rolls.
So, yeah, largely predictable epilogue material that’s decently illustrated.
In Summary:
In the end, so much of this two-part finale of the series is simply unearned because the end arc was cut so abruptly from what it needed to do to give it full resonance and impact. For those that have been invested in the series for a long time there are some cute moments and little bits of closure that you want, that were, frankly, expected on some level after all this time. I like what we get for Ichigo and his life as you want some kind of closure and happiness for him and I like what we got from Rukia the last time around that’s now expanded upon here. And while the obvious setup for any future potential is there with a next generation thing, the simple truth is that this is a pretty hollow ending because so much was left undone and unsaid for so many readers. It’s unfortunate but it’s also a reminder for both readers and creators to have an actual plan and realize you may not have time to finish it.
Grade: C+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Viz Media via Weekly Shonen Jump’s ComiXology Release
Release Date: August 22nd, 2016
MSRP: $0.99
