Bleach 570 Review – “Closer, Closer”

Bleach 570 Review – “Closer, Closer”

Written by: ClayDragon

Is Kubo just trying to make every Sternritter creepier than the last?

After being attacked by Rukia’s Bankai, As Nodt goes into flashback mode, where we see him lying on a hospital bed, attached to a ventilator. As he lies there, he complains to himself that living is uncomfortable, and that it hurts him to even breathe. As he contemplates how he’d like to go to heaven and how he’s afraid of going to hell, he notices someone walk into his room.

In hindsight, this is the point where As Nodt should have pressed the 'Call Nurse' button as rapidly as possible.

The visitor – none other than Yhwach – notes that As Nodt is one of the survivors (presumably from the time the Soul Reapers tried to purge the Quincies) and offers to give him power. Back in the present, As Nodt realises that he’s scared – of Yhwach, of pain, and of going to hell. Of course, this realisation comes a little too late, as his body has been completely turned to ice, and he shatters into pieces.

It's very pretty, but she could end up tripping up over the long ribbon.

As a cloud of super-cold air clears, we get to see what Rukia’s new Bankai looks like. The actual sword is pretty much the same, although the blade is now transparent, but the biggest change is Rukia’s appearance. She’s wearing a white dress with lots of ribbons, and her hair has even turned pure white. As she begins to raise her body temperature in order to thaw, her hand begins to crack and break apart. Before any damage can be done, Byakuya holds her hand and reminds her to melt slowly.

Well, that's going to hurt when her heart starts beating again.

He goes on to tell her that she has a splendid Bankai, and that it’s also very dangerous, as the slightest mistake could kill her. After telling her to always be careful whilst using it, he asks Rukia to come with him and to help protect the Soul Society. Realising that her brother now sees her as an equal, Rukia accepts and follows him.

Yeah, because you did such a splendid job of it the first time.

Meanwhile, in a safe house for the Soul Reapers, Isane is busy healing the wounded when she’s interrupted by the appearance of Yachiru, who has stolen some beds from the Quincies. When Isane apologises for asking her to do such a dangerous job, Yachiru states that she doesn’t have anything to do since Kenpachi isn’t coming back. As Isane thinks about how it’s a miracle that they haven’t been found, she hears a voice telling her exactly what she was thinking.

The most adorable ninja-thief ever.

She turns around, but there’s no-one there. As the voice asks where she’s looking, it tells her that it’s here, and a man appears on Isane’s back, clinging to her shoulders. As he begins to tell her that he’s about to disappear again, he’s sucker-punched by Yachiru. However, as soon as her fist makes contact he disappears, and as she wonders where he could have gone after she had hit him, she begins to forget that she’d even attacked him.

It was at this point that Isane regretted not getting a rape whistle.

Unfortunately for her, the moment of hesitation is enough, and she’s punched in the face by an invisible fist. As Isane runs to her side, she hears the Quincy start to speak again, and he reveals that his name is Guanael and his letter is V – for the Vanishing Point. Furthermore, it appears that his ability is that, as soon as he disappears from your line of sight, you forget he existed.

I’m a little disappointed by the fact that we don’t get to see exactly how Rukia’s Bankai works, but at the moment I’m willing to let it slide purely because I don’t believe that’s the last we’ve seen of it. I assume it’s an area-of-effect Bankai, similar to Byakuya’s, as the buildings in the surrounding area had ice covering them as well, implying that Hakka no Togame can’t be precisely aimed at an opponent.

The most adorable ninja-thief-boxer ever.

Yachiru’s assertion that Kenpachi isn’t coming back was a little surprising, as it implies that either she doesn’t know that he defeated Unohana yet, and that she thinks that he’d lose, or that Kenpachi has left Soul Society for whatever reason. Personally, I think that Kenpachi is training with his Zanpakuto at the moment in order to unlock his Bankai. I have a few theories as to what the ability of his Bankai would be, but somehow none of them seem quite right. Hopefully he shows up soon, although I’d be disappointed if the first time we see his Bankai is when he uses it against a random Sternritter.

You can't hurt Yachiru! She's just a child!

Finally, I’d like to talk about Guanael’s ability, which I think is one of the best Quincy abilities I’ve seen so far. It looks like Tite Kubo has been watching Doctor Who lately, as this guy’s powers are identical to those of the Silence, a race of aliens who you forget about as soon as you look away from them. If that’s how his base ability works, I can’t even begin to guess what his Vollständig would be. I mean, how do you improve on an ability that causes people to forget your existence as soon as they look away?

If this guy's Vollstandig involves him getting an enlarged head and a suit, I'd better see a TARDIS in Bleach soon.

Good Things:     Rukia’s Bankai is pretty epic.

                            Quite a sweet moment between Rukia and Byakuya.

                            Yachiru and Isane are getting some proper focus at last.

                            Cool new ability from an interesting new Quincy.

Bad Things:        Nothing this week.

                                    

Manga Rating:   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. You should kill us all on sight.