Bleach 594: Rub-Dolls

Zach Goodier

http://www.mangapanda.com/bleach/594

While Kurotsuchi begins an experiment on the now-paralyzed Hitsuguya, Giselle brings 3 more zombified Soul Reapers to the fight: Rangiku, Rose, and Kensei.  However, Kurotsuchi isn't about to let anything stand in the way of his experiment, and quickly sends the arrancar to keep them occupied while he conducts his mysterious experiment.  Meanwhile, Byakuya has already dispatched several of the Quincy, and soon is reunited with Shuhei Hisagi, but what does this mean for the ongoing battle?

I'm not sure what to think of Giselle having seemingly zombified half the Seretei when nobody was watching, it just makes all these twists feel much more random.  Bambietta made plenty of sense, but how she got around to taking control of 3 captains and a vice-captain, all without anyone noticing, is a little too convenient for my taste.  Plus, Byakuya taking out 3 enemies off-panel brings some mixed reactions from me, as well.  I'm all for moving things along, so not delving into every detail of every fight is a good thing, but it's also somewhat unwelcome to take active characters like Candice and seemingly dispatch them off-panel.  Of course, they might not be dead, and could get up for future fights, but the Quincy have been sure to dispatch anyone who returned to them in defeat, so it seems that their fates are sealed no matter what.

Bleach 585: The Headless Star 4

Zach Goodier

http://readms.com/r/bleach/585/2413/1

This week, Ichigo hears the voice of Juha Bach, who tells him that because of his arrival, in particular arriving from the Soul Palace with clothes made of the hair and bone of Squad 0, the defenses keeping intruders out of the Soul Palace will be down for 6000 seconds.  This means that Juha Bach means to invade the Soul Palace while those defenses are down, upping the pressure on Ichigo to hurry and face him.  However, Ichigo has 8 Quincy surrounding him, and they have no intention of letting him go.  Still, after a series of attacks, Ichigo is unhurt.  However, will he be able to break away to face Juha Bach, or will he be too late to stop him from invading the Palace of the King of Souls?

I'm hoping this bout between Ichigo and the other Quincy is finally over.  I wasn't minding it, but now that the pace is picking up, I'm hoping it means he'll be able to move on up, if not facing Juha Bach himself, than Hashwald or Uryuu.  Renji and the others arriving to hold off the Quincy was helpful, and it kept this fight from dragging out any longer than necessary, plus it does give us the chance to let the rest of that fight unravel mostly out of sight of the reader, since we've seen most of the abilities each character has.  I'm still waiting for the rest of Ichigo's new "allies" to arrive, like the Fullbring and the mysterious partner of Urahara's, but it is still unclear when or if we'll get a peek at them during this round of fighting.  Until next week, we'll just have to keep grasping at straws, hoping we get there soon.

Bleach 584: The Headless Star 3

Zach Goodier

Link: http://readms.com/r/bleach/584/2408/1

Ichigo still holds the upper hand against Candice and the other ladies; however, Ichigo clearly isn't looking to shed any unnecessary blood if he can avoid it.  His enemies won't be so forgiving, however, as his fight begins to draw the attention of the other Quincy, who are all eager to eliminate Ichigo and take the glory of killing him for themselves.  Ichigo is strong, but as his enemies circle around him, we can only wonder if he is truly ready for the fight ahead, as it seems nobody else is capable of resisting.  And even as we worry about the sharks circling Ichigo, Juha Bach is setting another plan into motion, and we can only wonder (and dread) what that plan is.

It was nice to see Ichigo easily handling these opponents, and now that more are showing up, he might really start to turn it up.  However, we're still missing some key supporting players, so it might be possible that they'll show up to take some of the pressure off of Ichigo, or maybe Urahara is holding them in reserve in case of some other eventuality.  In either case, we still have to worry about Juha Bach, and what his "key" is going to do, and how this is going to put even more pressure on Ichigo.  Clearly, Juha Bach was waiting for Ichigo to arrive to set this plan in motion, but it is still unclear what exactly his plan is.  As usual, we need to hold off until next for the possibility of any answers.

Bleach 583: The Headless Star 2

Zach Goodier

Link: http://readms.com/r/bleach/583/2401/1?t=2&f=0&e=0

Well, unsurprisingly, Ichigo is more than a match for the 4 vixens, easily stopping their attacks and instantly counterattacking.  Candice, in particular, gets worked up by the frustration of facing such a powerful opponent, especially since he clearly isn't fighting seriously.  She goes all out to try to crush Ichigo, using her full power in an effort to take Ichigo down and redeem herself for her earlier failure to strike Ichigo down.  She clearly has high hopes for this engagement, but does the overcharged bombshell have what it takes?  Check out this week's chapter and find out.

Candice has taken Bambietta's place as the "leader" of the female pack, apparently.  The role suits her, but her tendency to fly off the handle so quickly is clearly a weakness compared to the others, who are generally more reserved, or at least less likely to let their tempers overcome them.  That being said, it isn't that Candice is weak, she's obviously more than just eye-candy, with some devastating attacks in her arsenal.  Her only problem is that she's facing Ichigo, who is still fresh and clearly unfazed by her attacks.  This is an exciting fight, even if it is one-sided, because we're finally seeing more of what these ladies can do.  While Candice is probably the most assertive of the women, her abilities are very well suited to her mindset.  I'm hoping to see more of what the others can do, since they are obviously less direct, and have already demonstrated some interesting abilities in the previous fights.