Bleach 580 Review – “The Light”

Bleach 580 Review – “The Light”

Written by: ClayDragon

Ironically, this chapter ain’t all that light and fluffy.

As lightning crackles across the clouds, the Squad 11 members that were fried collapse to the ground, causing the surviving members to rush to their sides. It’s revealed that Candice Catnipp (weird name) has the epithet of ‘the Thunderbolt’, and was the one to zap Kenpachi’s subordinates. However, this show didn’t impress Giselle too much, who notes that Candice missed some.

Even if you think it's a stingy power, she could still pull off an awesome Thor cosplay.

When she prepares to launch another strike, Kenpachi appears behind her, ready to strike. Just as he attacks, Candice turns into a bolt of lightning and teleports behind him, and uses this moment to hit Kenpachi in the back. As he recoils from the attack, Meninas McAllon (weirder name) punches him in the back, sending him flying into the ground at a great speed.

It's like pinball!

After noticing the smoking crater in the ground that is their Captain, the surviving members of Squad 11 decide to help him out, but are interrupted by Liltotto Lamperd (even weirder name) before they can reach him. As they rush towards her, she tells them that they’re very well aware of Kenpachi’s strength, which is why they’re ganging up on him after he’s already used his power to fight Guremi.

...I'm gonna need therapy after this arc is over.

Then things get…disturbing. The Soul Reapers are instantly bitten in half by something protruding from Liltotto’s mouth, which actually turns out to be her mouth. Yep, apparently her jaw is made of rubber or something, because she can stretch her mouth and teeth in order to eat anything, even if it’s far away. As the Soul Reapers move back in fear, Liltotto decides to use them as a snack, and we find out that her letter –‘G’ – stands for ‘the Glutton’.

Who embodies the name better? You decide!

Back in the crater, Kenpachi is struggling to stand up, and Candice decides to blast him again. Another group of Soul Reapers run over to help him, but they’re stopped by having Meninas throw a building at them. As in, a three-floor building, complete with tower, foundations and bedrock. She then taunts them, saying that Kenpachi is about to die and there’s nothing they can do about it. It transpires that Meninas’ epithet is ‘the Power’.

Aww man, that's going to wreck the resale value.

Meanwhile, Giselle Gewelle (relatively normal name) is surrounded by even more Soul Reapers, and she tells them that they should run towards Kenpachi as opposed to her. Displaying some amount of foresight, the Soul Reapers reply that she’ll just kill them with some sort of weird power when they run towards him, so they’ll try to kill her first.

Ironically, she's probably the only Femritter that couldn't stop them running to Kenpachi.

As Giselle tells them that nothing good will happen if they attack her, one of the Soul Reapers cuts her across the chest, causing her blood to spray everywhere. This doesn’t faze her in the slightest, as she points out that her power causes her to be able to control everyone who comes into contact with her blood, and orders all of the Soul Reapers to commit suicide. As it turns out (and as I rightly predicted), her letter – ‘Z’ – stands for ‘the Zombie’.

Looks like someone had better pick up the phone, because I totally called it!

In the crater, Kenpachi realises that he can’t move, and wonders if this is the end as the four Femritters stand over him. As he watches helplessly, the group discuss who should strike the final blow, with someone suggesting that they play rock-paper-scissors. Before the morbid discussion goes any further, a massive flare appears in the sky behind them, causing them to pause.

Oooohhh, what pretty fireworks.

Overall, this was a much better chapter than the last few. Whilst I did think that Guremi’s power was interesting, I felt that it was a bit underused, almost as if Tite Kubo hadn’t fully realised the ramifications of having a character who can literally bend reality to his whim. On the other hand, the four Femritters all have more normal powers (for a certain definition of ‘normal’, anyway), so I’ll be interested to see how things develop.

Compare and contrast.

Given the rapid influx of powers we’ve seen so far, I’m beginning to wonder where they actually come from. Whilst we’ve been told that Yhwach gave them their powers, I’m not sure if that’s the entire story. For example, how could Yhwach have given BG9 any powers, considering he’s a robot? And how about Loyd Lloyd and Royd Lloyd, whose powers apparently manifested before birth? And even if Yhwach gave everyone their powers, then does that mean that Yhwach originally had all their powers combined? If so, it’s a scary thought.

'And, for extra fun, let's do it through interpretive dance!' 

Finally, I have a decent theory as to what the flare that appeared at the end of the chapter actually is. It’s quite obvious that the shape of the light is very similar to that of the design on Ichigo’s substitute Soul Reaper badge, and it also bears a passing resemblance to the shape of Ichigo’s reiatsu when he first fought Kenpachi. As such, it almost certainly heralds the arrival of Ichigo. This would also be a nice call back to the time when Kenpachi stepped in to save Ichigo from Tesra back in Heuco Mundo.

 

I just noticed her tiny hat! That is a very tiny hat, crazy zombie lady.

Good Things:     The start of a new battle.

    The Femritter’s powers have been revealed.

                            We get to see that Kenpachi isn’t actually unstoppable.

                            The quite high probability of Ichigo returning.

Bad Things:        No news on the status of Yachiru, Isane or Bambietta.

                                    

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. "I know you're worried about who you're going to be, and this is the thing. It's not where you are that defines you - it's who you are, it's the decisions that you make."