Bleach 567 Review – “Dance With Snow White”

Bleach 567 Review – “Dance With Snow White”

Written by: ClayDragon

That was quick. Too quick…

Continuing on from where last week left off, As Nodt expresses confusion as to why his fear didn’t affect Rukia. She then tells him to attack her again if he doesn’t believe her, and claims that it’s the power of the real Sode No Shirayuki. As Nodt decides to see if she’s bluffing by firing more needles at her, only for Rukia to freeze them in mid-air.

You're going to hurt your back if you keep leaning like that, you know.

He then taunts her by asking why she dodged them before, to which she replies that whilst she became able to use her Zanpakuto’s true power, her body still hadn’t become accustomed to it at that point. As Nodt reiterates that his fear cannot be stopped by ice, and that if it even touches the skin it will be absorbed. He then goes on to say that everyone has a fear, and that whilst people don’t really know why they feel safe, they instinctively know why they feel fear.

....How are his eyes doing that?

Furthermore, all fear is related to the fear of death, and all living things – even the ones without feelings or sentience – impulsively attempt to avoid death and fear. Everything that a person does, be it getting stronger or growing up, is in an effort to stave off fear. As such, As Nodt reasons that there is no way that fear doesn’t affect someone as long as they’re alive.

OH GOD THE NIGHTMARES ARE BACK.

Rukia agrees with him, and says that she’s currently not alive, which seems to shut As Nodt up for a few seconds. She explains that the real power of Sode No Shirayuki is not to emit frost from the blade, but to actually lower the temperature of its wielder to below zero degrees Celsius. In order to prove this, Rukia drops her ski goggles on the ground and they shatter in half. It transpires that anything touched by the wielder freezes, and the sword is only there to increase the reach of the user.

...Well, you're looking good for it.

As Nodt tells her to stop talking nonsense, as if Rukia’s body were to fall to a temperature lower than zero degrees then parts of her would freeze, and so she’d die. Again, Rukia agrees with him and tells him that she found a way to kill her body by controlling her Reishi. Apparently, every molecule inside her body has stopped, and so the fear from As Nodt’s thorns can’t permeate through the skin. As he says how it isn’t possible, Rukia cuts him with her sword, leaving a gash in his shoulder that instantly freezes over.

Finally! Someone who knows how science works!

Rukia then lists off some handy facts, saying that at -18 degrees her blood freezes and won’t flow out of any wounds. At -50 degrees, the water inside the ground that she stands on freezes and creates an ‘ice-quake’. Finally, she mentions -273.15 degrees (otherwise known as absolute zero), and says that at this temperature she can only move for four seconds. At this point, she flies past As Nodt and freezes him solid, and his final thoughts before being frozen are of whether or not he feels fear.

I'm resisting the urge to make a 'chill out' pun here.

To be honest, I’m very doubtful that this fight is over already. After all, the fight with Mask De Masculine lasted six chapters (although it was spread out over six Soul Reapers). Another reason as to why I believe this fight will continue is that As Nodt still hasn’t activated his Vollständig, which I’m quite curious to see. Also, the last time a Sternritter was frozen solid, he survived with no ill-effects.

Overall, I enjoyed this chapter, although there was one significant aspect which bugged me, and that is Rukia’s Zanpakuto. Prepare yourself:

Firstly, a little bit of background knowledge. The temperature of an object isn’t necessarily a measure of how warm it is; rather, it’s a measure of how much kinetic energy (i.e. movement) the molecules comprising the substance have. As such, the less kinetic energy, the lower the temperature. Absolute zero (-273.15 degrees) is theoretically reached when the molecules have lost every drop of energy – they’re so cold because they simply can’t move. In fact, absolute zero can’t be physically reached, because whatever substance you’re trying to cool can only become as cold as the agent you’re using to cool said substance.

Because of this, when Rukia lowered her body temperature to absolute zero, her body should have fallen apart. The atoms and molecules in her body wouldn’t have had the energy to form bonds and move about, let alone maintain a coherent shape. Even if her body could retain its shape, any movement she makes would raise her temperature, if only by a little. I’m not even going to get into how she managed to kill her body but still control it – I think that’s an issue for biologists.

That's pretty much how I reacted as well.

So in conclusion, Rukia’s Zanpakuto is a physical impossibility – even for the Bleach world.

Good Things:     Rukia’s Zanpakuto’s power is finally explained.

                            As Nodt is still as creepy as ever.

                            So far Rukia’s winning her fight without any assistance.

Bad Things:        As Nodt was defeated (however temporarily) fairly quickly.

                            The incredibly blatant violation of the Laws of Thermodynamics.

Manga Rating:   3/5

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. Yay science!