Bleach 544 Review – “Walking With Watchers”

Bleach 544 Review – “Walking With Watchers”

In which it’s shown that Yhwach just keeps getting smarter.

After his announcement that Uryu is to become his successor, Yhwach has met with Uryu in private. Uryu asks Yhwach why he was chosen as his successor, to which he gets the answer that it’s because, when Yhwach made his ‘Auswahlen’, every mixed-blood Quincy died. Except Uryu. This explains why Yhwach called him ‘the last survivor’, and it turns out that Uryu has something that can surpass even the Emperor’s power. He then orders Uryu to come with him, and Uryu obeys.

Actually, the 'idiots' part might be debatable...

Meanwhile, Bambietta grabs a random Quincy and takes him to her room. The next we see of him, he’s been sliced in half. As for Bambietta, she’s sitting on a table buttoning up her blouse. Four female Quincies enter her room and berate her for making a mess, to which she responds that they always make a mess as well. They then start to bitch at her (and each other). Thankfully, they’re stopped when Bambietta blasts a hole in the wall next to them. She then reveals that she’s worried for the future of the Vandenreich.

What do you mean, Bleach is for kids?

In another part of the palace, Haschwalth returns to his quarters and is greeted by a creepy-looking subordinate. She tells him to speak to Yhwach about his decision to make Uryu his successor, but Haschwalth brushes her concerns aside. He’s realised that the Emperor knew his choice would spread discontent amongst the Quincies, and this would mean that they would be scrutinising Uryu incredibly carefully. Therefore, even if Uryu was there to kill Yhwach, he’d be watched so closely that he has no choice but to obey the Emperor.

Sex in the City, Tite Kubo style!

In a faraway part of the Hueco Mundo desert, a cloaked figure arrives at some ruins. The figure turns out to be Orihime, who reveals that she and Chad travelled to the ruins in order to train. She’s followed by a floating... thing... that Urahara gave her before she left, so he could keep an eye on them. Chad appears at the top of some stairs and calls out to her, saying that everyone is already there.  As she asks who else is there, we can see the bottom half of someone else standing in a cave behind Chad. Who is this hidden individual? Could it be a new character? Maybe...oh, forget it. I know it’s Grimmjow, you know it’s Grimmjow, everyone knows it’s Grimmjow. Annoyingly, we still don’t get to see him.

Back with Urahara, he pulls out a box, which he begins to speak to. Inside the box is a circular object with five lines running across it in a star-like shape. He then says that this will take some time...

We know it's him, just show us already!

This chapter was a definite step up from last week, as we got to see exactly why Yhwach nominated Uryu as his successor, and it shows us again just how cunning the Emperor actually is. After all, he’s clearly following the ‘keep your friends close, and your enemies closer’ plan.  Quite why we were introduced to Bambietta’s crew, I don’t really know. They appear to be similar to the Sword Five, in that they show up for one chapter and then probably never appear again.

The fact that we still don’t get to see Grimmjow’s face is infuriating, especially because Tite Kubo has no real reason not to show us him (unless you count annoying the fans as a reason). Hopefully next week will focus more on the Hueco Mundo Team, and if we’re really lucky we might actually see him. At first I thought that Urahara’s artifact was the Hōgyoku, but after looking at it again I’m beginning to think that it’s something to do with the Quincies, given that the lines/cracks spread out to form a rough approximation of the Vandenreich’s symbol. It might even end up being the first Quincy symbol, and as such will be directly related to the first Quincy – i.e. Yhwach.

Good Things:              More info on Yhwach's decision.

                                     We get to see more of the Hueco Mundo Team.

                                     Less focus on the Sternritter with Espada personalities.

                                     We get a decent mystery surrounding Uryu's survival.

                                 

Bad Things:                Still. No. Grimmjow!

Manga Rating: 4/5

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. His legend began in the 20th century.