Bleach 584 Review – “The Headless Star 3”

Bleach 584 Review – “The Headless Star 3”

Written by: ClayDragon

*Except Askin. The lazy sod.

Finally, we’re getting somewhere.

As Ichigo’s Getsuga Juujishou flies towards Candice, she proclaims that she’s not going to take it, and gets ready to fire another attack at it. Realising how powerful his attack is, Ichigo yells at her to dodge it, but he ends up being too late. Meanwhile, on top of the Vandenreich’s palace, Yhwach asks Haschwalth for a key. Haschwalth pulls out his sword and points it to the sky, creating a five-pointed star of light centred on the tip of his blade. Yhwach then decides to thank the one who led them to the light.

"I immediately regret this course of action."

Back at the action, it turns out that the Getsuga Juujishou managed to destroy Candice’s left arm. She calls Giselle over and orders her to heal it, without using blood. Giselle then floats down to the bodies of the Soul Reapers and pulls them apart, noting that she can’t turn Quincies into zombies if they’re still alive. The body parts then attach themselves to Candice’s shoulders, giving her a new working arm.

Aww, look how happy she is!

Despite Liltotto warning her not to get too worked up, Candice rushes towards Ichigo again…only to get shot through the stomach by an unidentified attacker. Before the other Femritters can react, each of them get shot as well, at which point it’s revealed that it was Bazz-B who shot them whilst in his Vollständig form. However, instead of doing it for altruistic reasons, he just wanted them out of the way so he could attack Ichigo.

Only Natsu is allowed to use that phrase!

However, it seems he wasn’t the only one with this idea, as three other Sternritters appear behind him – namely Pepe, NaNaNa and the still-unnamed Quincy With Glasses (who shall henceforth be referred to as Commissioner Quincy, due to his resemblance to a certain Commissioner Gordon). One of them suggests that the four of them split Ichigo equally between them, but then Liltotto and the rest of the Femritters get back up and point out that there are eight of them.

'For a while'? And here I was thinking death was permanent.

It would seem that either Bazz-B underestimated them, or he wasn’t really trying, as none of the four girls seem any worse for the wear. In fact, Liltotto even points out that Ichigo is only one person, so the concept of ‘equal splitting’ wouldn’t really apply in this situation. She then declares that the one who kills Ichigo gets all the credit – almost certainly plunging the ensuing fight into a massive free-for-all.

"...I need an adult."

Before the fight can begin, a huge column of light appears behind Ichigo, causing him to turn to investigate it. As he asks what’s going on, we see Yhwach, Haschwalth and Uryu standing at what appears to be the base of the pillar of light. Yhwach then calls his two subordinates his sons, and then asks for everyone to be with him.

"Shut up, you're not my real dad!"

I’m much happier with how this chapter turned out, not least because of how the plot is actually progressing. I have a few speculations and worries though, which I’ll get to in a minute. On the positive side, Yhwach is actually doing something big, and isn’t just sitting around waiting for Ichigo to come to him.

My reaction to this chapter. Minus the icky arm made from the flesh of the dead.

The main worry I have now is that, now that every single surviving Sternritter that we know of (except for Askin) is gathered in one place, and how Yhwach asked for everyone to ‘be with him’, it looks as though he might just kill them all at once in order to gain more power. And I’ll be severely annoyed if that happens before we even learn Commissioner Quincy’s real name. On the other hand, the current setup also means that we can have a ‘big damn heroes’ moment, with some other characters appearing to help Ichigo out (and by other characters, I mean Grimmjow).

"...Fine, but I get the torso."

Bazz-B’s appearance means that he almost certainly defeated Shinji, Momo and Marechiyo, or that he left before actually killing them. Even so, I’m almost certain that Shinji at least will survive, given that we haven’t seen his Bankai yet. A funny side note is that Bazz-B attempted to steal the Femritter’s kill – which was exactly what he told off Cang Du for trying to do when he attempted to kill Hitsugaya. The hypocrite.

Wait, then what did she do with Bambietta?

Yhwach’s declaration of ‘thanking the one who led them to the light’ was interesting, as it implies that someone else is helping them. Although the artwork implies that this person is Uryu (as we see Yhwach looking behind him, and then we get a close-up of Uryu’s face), this might not necessarily be the case. To be honest, I would love it if that ‘one’ turned out to be Aizen.

Why didn't Giselle heal them? If she can heal a destroyed arm, why not a simple stomach wound?

Speaking of Aizen, there’s something that occurred to me a few days ago. Aizen was sealed away in the lowest level of the Soul Society’s prison, and bound to a chair for good measure. However, ever since the Vandenreich started their second invasion, the entire Soul Society was replaced with their base – including, presumably, the prison. This means that Aizen is now pretty much free to do whatever he wants. Presuming, of course, that he can get out of his chair.

"...I'm so lonely..."

Good Things:     Plot progression!

   The possibility of a huge free-for-all between the Sternritters and Ichigo.

   More Giselle-related hilarity.

   Yhwach is beginning to make a move.

Bad Things:       Still no mention of Bambietta and Yachiru. Seriously, where are they?

                                    

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. "Wow. I can't believe every single one of them kicked you in the dick."