Bleach 545 Review – “Blue Stripes”

Bleach 545 Review – “Blue Stripes”

And now for something completely different.

At the Kurosaki family household, Yuzu is busy making lunch for Karin, Isshin and herself as she wonders where Ichigo is. The rest of her family don’t seem too concerned, as Karin is playing videogames and Isshin is treating a patient.

"Just...one...more...level..."

Meanwhile, Rukia and Renji are apparently training, even though they’re just standing staring at each other. It turns out that the location they are at is so saturated with Reishi that they’re finding it difficult to even move. Rukia is then contacted by Tenjirou, who lets her know that Byakuya has fully recovered.  Renji realises that this means that Byakuya will have to visit Senshumaru’s place, as he and Rukia did. It seems that the memories of that place are less than pleasant, to say the least.

It turns out that Senshumaru measured Rukia and Renji for new clothes, and ordered them to strip naked. When Renji refused, she changed his mind with a pretty effective threat. Thankfully, Renji’s flashback ends there, and the two are confronted by Ichibei, the apparent leader of Squad Zero. He then asks the two if they’re ready to train with him in the inner room.

Run, Renji. Run far and run fast.

Back in the Soul Society, Shinji is having a shouting match with Hiyori, while the rest of the Visoreds look on. Shinji wants Hiyori to do something that she’s not too keen about, but her arguments are stopped when Hachigen hands her a package that was sent by Shinji and Mayuri.  It appears that Shinji wants her and the rest of the Visoreds to fix the distortion between the world of the living and the Soul Society...by using what looks suspiciously like a roller and some wallpaper.

In the world of the living, Keigo, Mizuiro and Tatsuki are walking home from school when they’re stopped by none other than Shunsui, who tells them that he has some important news for them regarding their parting with Ichigo.

"Hello, I'm totally not conspicuous or anything."

Whilst it was annoying that we didn’t get to see more of the Hueco Mundo Team, it was good to see Rukia and Renji back in action, as well as seeing Byakuya recover. Perhaps even more satisfying was seeing the Visoreds return, as they hadn’t been seen for 64 chapters.

As for the reasons behind the distortion, my guess would be that because the Quincies killed off so many Hollows, the balance between the worlds began to shift, and so a rupture opened between the Soul Society and the world of the living.

Who you gonna call?

Regarding Shunsui’s news for Ichigo’s friends, I imagine that he’ll end up telling them that Ichigo will most likely die in the fight against the Vandenreich (but of course that won’t actually happen). Either that, or something like he’ll end up losing his Soul Reaper powers again.

Other than that, there’s not a lot to say about this chapter. Seeing the Visoreds again was good, but sadly the first half felt a lot like filler.

Good Things:              Return of the Visoreds.

                                     Byakuya is back in action.

Bad Things:                First half felt like filler.

                                    Focus has shifted away from the Hueco Mundo Team yet again.

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. His power level is above average.