Bleach 530 Review – “Dark of the Moon”

Bleach 530 Review – “Dark of the Moon”

Written by: ClayDragon

So much for getting some answers.

After the fun of last week’s chapter, we now move on to see Isshin arriving in the World of the Living, ready to investigate the disappearances of the Soul Reapers. Firstly, he meets up with two unnamed Soul Reapers who let him know that rainy days are somehow dangerous.  After a short conversation, they split up, with Isshin going alone.

The action then moves to the Ishida household, where we see that Uryu’s grandmother (Ryuuken’s mother) is not the most pleasant of individuals, and that Masaki is pretty much identical (personality-wise, at least) to Orihime.

Of course they're dangerous. You could catch a cold.

It turns out that Masaki was (for all intents and purposes) adopted into the Ishida household in order to protect the Quincy’s bloodline, and that she’s been entered into an arranged marriage with Ryuuken. However, Ryuuken believes that people should marry for love as opposed to convenience – a far cry from the belief that he will express to Uryu that Quincies are worthless due to the fact that there’s no money to be made.

Meanwhile, the two unnamed Soul Reapers have decided to hide out on a rooftop when it starts to rain. Instead of taking off back to the Soul Society, they decide to stick around whilst Isshin tries to attract the threat by releasing his spirit energy. Predictably, the two Soul Reapers get killed (in a rather gruesome manner) by an unknown creature, and the chapter ends with it appearing behind Isshin. Surprisingly, it looks almost exactly like Ichigo’s Vasto Lorde form.

Of course they were going to die. They didn't even have names.

So far, the section at the Ishida household has seemed unnecessary, but I imagine that it will be tied into the plot when Masaki arrives to save Isshin. The ‘Vasto Lorde’ is most likely the first (or one of the first) Arrancars that Aizen created. Sadly, chances are that it will be killed off fairly soon, otherwise it would have been mentioned before now.

The fact that Ryuuken’s views have changed so much in the years between this flashback and the present day suggests that something will happen to him to harden his attitude, but we can only speculate as to what that might be. The fact that Masaki ends up marrying Isshin might have something to do with it, though.

Well, he looks like a pleasant, well-balanced individual.

This week’s chapter was interesting, and although it didn’t answer any significant questions, the battle between Isshin and the Vasto Lorde should be good to see. Sadly, Bleach isn’t out next week, so we’ll have to wait a while longer to see if anything else develops.

Manga Rating: 3.5/5

ClayDragon:









ClayDragon is currently studying Physics at university, and is constantly bewildered by it. The main method of contacting him is his Gmail account at kyleroulston1993@gmail.com. The alternative is his Skype account at kyleroulston1993. When not playing games or reading, he can be found with his head in his hands whilst trying in vain to understand quantum physics.