Bleach 552 Review – “The Fundamental Virulence”

Bleach 552 Review – “The Fundamental Virulence”

Hooray for science!

Still with Hitsugaya, Bazz-B is slightly annoyed that Cang Du has arrived to kill his opponent, to which Cang Du reveals that Yhwach ordered the Quincies to kill those whose Bankais they stole. Reaching under his coat, Cang Du pulls out Matsumoto and throws her on the ground. He then extends his iron claws and states that Hitsugaya should die next to Matsumoto, claiming that it’s his ‘style’ to kill those who lived together. At this point, he unleashes Hitsugaya’s Bankai and compliments it, saying that letting it live on after Hitsugaya’s death makes him sorry.

Back in the Squad 12 headquarters, Kurotsuchi is continuing to talk to Urahara, asking him about how he found out about recovering the stolen Bankais. However, Kurotsuchi isn’t interested in Urahara’s methods, and is quite frankly annoyed at him for installing a communicator in his clothes without permission. As such, he hangs up.

Wait, how did he fit her under his coat?

At which point Urahara appears behind him and gives everyone in the room a heart attack. He explains that he was calling from the space between Hueco Mundo and the Soul Society, and that he would like to cooperate with Kurotsuchi in order to repel the Quincies. With this motivational boost, the members of Squad 12 attempt to contact the Captains and remodel the technology in the Quincy base so it can be used for their own purposes.

Meanwhile, Urahara brings out a handful of small black pills, and explains that he found out how to stop Bankais being stolen whilst he was in Hueco Mundo. He noted that an Arrancar’s Resurreccion operated on roughly the same principles as a Bankai, and that if the Quincies could steal Bankais, then they should also be able to steal Resurreccions. However, not one Resurreccion was stolen, and Urahara figured out that there are two reasons for this.

"Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit's Kisuke!"

Not to be outdone, Kurotsuchi figures out that the reasons are either that the Resurreccion could not be stolen, or it would be a hindrance to a Quincy. As a result, he realises that Resurreccions are a demerit to Quincies, and Urahara agrees with him. Contacting the Captains and Lieutenants, he explains that he has teleported a pill to each of the fighters, and that it will only work on those who have obtained Bankai. Whilst Hitsugaya absorbs a pill, Kurotsuchi has realised that the reason that Quincies hate Hollows so much is due to the fact that they harbour a subconscious fear of them, and see them as threats to their existence.

Urahara agrees, saying that Quincies have no ‘antibodies’ to protect them from Hollows, and as a result Quincies cannot remain near Hollows, or even Hollowfy like Soul Reapers. In fact, he managed to use this against them, by using the pills to partially Hollowfy a Soul Reaper’s Bankai. As such, the stolen Bankai will become like poison to the Quincy using it, and cause them harm as a result. Whilst he’s saying this, Cang Du’s wings shatter and blood begins to spray from his back.

I wonder if they have caller ID?

Whilst I understand the reason behind the pills and how they work, there are one or two things I’m not quite sure on. Firstly, if Hollows are so poisonous to Quincies, then shouldn’t the effect be the same for Arrancars? After all, they’re still technically Hollows, they’ve just been upgraded, for lack of a better word. Also, does absorbing the pill mean that the Bankai is automatically returned to the Soul Reaper, or does it just mean that the Quincy has to stop using it? If it’s the latter option, then the situation hasn’t improved much, since the Soul Reapers were getting slaughtered before any Quincies activated Bankai.

Whilst this does seem like the point at which the Soul Reapers will begin fighting back and win the battle, the fact still remains that we’ve got an awful lot of fights left to see. We’ve yet to see Rose, Shinji, Komamura, Shunsui, Kensei, Hisagi, Kenpachi and Ukitake engage the enemy in combat, as well as the rest of the Visoreds, not to mention the rest of the Hueco Mundo team. Plus, there’s still the fact that none of the Quincies have activated their Vollständig forms, so the fight could still go on for a while yet.

"Ow, it's burning my fingers!"

After seeing how the fights are going, I think I’m getting a vague idea of who every member of the Hueco Mundo team will end up fighting. Grimmjow will probably end up fighting Bazz-B and Cang Du, due to the fact that his personality is extremely like Bazz-B’s, and Cang Du’s claws resemble those of Grimmjow’s Resurreccion. Apacci, Sung-Sun and Mila Rose will end up storming the main Vandenreich base to rescue Harribel, with maybe Orihime and Nel for backup, whilst Yoruichi will appear out of nowhere to save Sui-Féng (either that, or Marechiyo will obtain Bankai and use the pill on himself). Chad may end up helping Shunsui to fight Haschwalth, and Urahara will probably confront Yhwach at some point along the line.

Good Things:         Urahara’s entry.

                                The plot is advancing at a faster rate.

                                We finally have a way to steal back Bankai.

Bad Things:           Cang Du may have been taken down too quickly.

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. He is unhealthily hyped for Pokémon X and Y.