Thursday, January 23, 2014

Bleach 565 Review – “God Like You”

Bleach 565 Review – “God Like You”
Written by: ClayDragon


Time for a good old-fashioned villain backstory! Sort of.

At some point in the past there was a baby who couldn’t see, hear, speak or move. Somehow, this baby knew that he could still survive despite this (which raises the question of where his parents were at this point). The people surrounding him realised that coming into contact with the baby would heal their injuries and solve all of their problems. This was because the baby had the power to distribute parts of his soul to others.

Seriously, where were his parents?

When anyone who had a part of the baby’s soul died, all of their knowledge, skills and experience would be transferred back to the baby, along with the section of his soul. Every time the baby got a bit of his soul back, his body would heal a little more, until he could finally see and hear. He realised that the people called him after a god, and decided to take that name for himself. As you’ve probably guessed by now, the baby grew up to become Yhwach.

Not bad, but he looks better with his facial hair.

In the Vandenreich base, Yhwach notes that James died, and reabsorbs his power. Strangely, he specifically says James’ name and not Masks, which might mean that James was the true power as opposed to Mask. Meanwhile, Uryu approaches Yhwach’s chambers, but is interrupted by Haschwalth asking him what he’s doing. He then says that no-one is allowed to interrupt Yhwach’s sleep (despite him not actually being asleep), and asks Uryu again why he’s here.

"He gets very cranky if he's woken up before 9am."

Uryu’s response is to essentially tell Haschwalth that it’s none of his business, and notes that he seems different now. Haschwalth then states that he and Yhwach are on two sides of the scales, and that the Emperor is connected to all Quincies. When he was young, Yhwach realised that he could distribute pieces of his soul to people around him, and in time he discovered a more powerful way of doing it. By carving an initial into a person’s soul, he could give that person a larger part of his soul, and so gain even more power when that part returned to him.

"Not that I'm jealous or anything. Prick."

Haschwalth then tells Uryu that Yhwach did it to him too, when he drank the blood of Yhwach when he was first announced as his successor. Noticing Uryu’s reaction, Haschwalth deduces that Uryu regrets the decision, and only joined the Vandenreich as a means to get revenge for the death of his mother. When someone who received a piece of Yhwach’s soul dies, their power gets transferred back to him, and this extends to the Soul Reapers who fought the Sternritter, meaning that every Soul Reaper who was part of the battle will now transfer their powers to Yhwach in the event of their death.

As a result, regardless of who dies in battle, Yhwach will continue to gain power. If he doesn’t continue to absorb souls, eventually he’ll go back to being trapped in his body again. Because of this, he’ll never stop killing, and there’s no way to escape from him. As the implications of this hit Uryu, the sun rises and Yhwach thanks everyone who died for allowing him to still see.

"......................I drank what?!"

There’s quite a bit to talk about with this chapter, so firstly I thought I’d address Yhwach’s name. The name that the people called him when he was a baby is derived from the Tetragrammaton, which is the Hebrew name for the God of Israel in the Hebrew Bible. The name is commonly translated into the letters YHWH, although there all alternatives such as YHVH, JHVH, and JHWH. As you can see, they roughly correspond to the different translations of Yhwach’s name.  

I’ve also noticed that, despite having a number of similarities with Yamamoto, Yhwach now seems to serve as an evil counterpart to Jesus himself. Both were babies born under strange circumstances, both had the ability to perform miracles, both healed people with diseases and wounds, and both were revered as God. The comparisons even extend to the Vandenreich – two of their main motifs are crosses and light, both of which are associated with Jesus. That’s where the similarities end though – Jesus preached peace and understanding, and Yhwach is a sadistic, mass-murdering sociopath.

Wait, if you had a piece of his soul and were killed by a Quincy, would the soul piece be destroyed, or would Yhwach still get it back?

Despite explaining one or two things about him, there are still a few questions about Yhwach’s power that are confusing me. Firstly, given that he can transfer his powers to others, does that mean that he innately has the abilities of every Sternritter? Because if he didn’t, then how could they have gained their powers? Secondly, given that he is and was so powerful, why was he out of action for about a thousand years? It doesn’t seem as though he’d do it willingly, so the only explanation I can think of is that he ended up going back to the state he was in as a baby, and then enacted the Auswahlen in order to regain his power.

Finally, given that he gains the power and experience of every Sternritter and Soul Reaper killed in battle, we had better hope that Kenpachi never dies.

The result of Yhwach obtaining Kenpachi's power.


Good Things:     More information about Yhwach.

                            Haschwalth is a lot more perceptive than he appeared.


Bad Things:        There are still many unanswered questions.

                             Nothing much really happened this chapter.

                                    

Manga Rating:   2.5/5


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. BRB, eating cookies.

10 comments:

  1. Ywhach is now Hitler-Jesus? That's a terrifying thought. Whoever birthed this guy must have been someone scary and extremely powerful. Maybe he's secretly Yamamoto's son, which is why Yamamoto let him live so long ago!!!

    As for this war, I'm actually really bored right now. I'm sure in the long run this will be great, but every chapter feels like a tiny step. That's the biggest flaw with shonen manga.

    What major characters have yet to do anything since this invasion began?
    Ukitake
    Kenpachi
    Kurotsuchi
    Team Urahara
    Visored
    Ganju Shiba
    Fullbring
    Hanataro (yes, I honestly believe he is going to contribute to this war)
    Shunsui (except talking to emotionless Haschwalth)}
    Isane Kotetsu
    Yoruichi (seriously, where is she?)
    Rukia
    Byakuya
    Ichigo

    All of these make me think that Don Kanoji is going to somehow appear soon, since Tite Kubo loves to be mean and not give us what we want until we don't want it anymore.

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  2. I think ichigo's mother must have had part of Yhwach's soul which was transfered to ichigo in birth. And zangetsu was trying to prevent ichigo from his true power because his true source of power was comming from Yhwach's soul. Ichigo must have huge portion of Yhwach's soul. Just a hunch

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    1. That would make Ichigo a *inhale breath* Human-Soul Reaper-Fullbring-Hollow-Quincy-Yhwach... That's even scarier. *exhale breath*

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    2. Technically, you could add Vasto Lorde to that list as well, but then you might pass out from lack of oxygen.

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  3. Count how many times "Hitler" does anything but look bored. What happened to Renji? Why are you suddenly turning to Bach?
    Lol at Kubo trying to look deep when he makes Bach a Jesus parallel. For what, exactly? What statement, if any, is Kubo trying to make? That's just being "edgy" for the sake of being so.
    And why does Bach want to destroy Shinigami and mess up the after life? Why are there Quincys who will die in (at most) months when they ally with him? What gives them that loyalty?

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    1. I don't really know why we're finding out about Yhwach right now, but Renji hasn't been forgotten - as the most recent chapter proves.
      I wouldn't have said that Kubo is trying to make a statement exactly, but he's drawn on aspects of religions for his story before, so I think he's just taken a bit of the Christian beliefs (as well as pieces from the Hebrew Bible) and used them as inspiration.
      Yhwach wants to destroy the Shinigami so he can claim their souls for himself and make himself even more powerful. He doesn't give a damn if the afterlife is destroyed, as long as he comes out ok.
      And in response to your question about the other Quincies: why does anyone join the army? Either they believe that he'll make their situation better (i.e. they won't be hunted by Soul Reapers any more), or Yhwach simply rules through fear and threatens to kill them if they don't follow him.

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  4. My hunch can be true. Because Everybody must have known that Yhwach also have interest in Ichigo, specificly his bankai being complete or not. So ichigo must have Yhwach's soul. Let's see what kubo have in mind.

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  5. And I hate the pic I am anonymous and I suck picture appearing in picture.

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  6. Didn't Komamura's gramps do something similar to him, taking his humanity in exchange for great power?

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