Bleach 589 Review – “The Old and New Trust”

Bleach 589 Review – “The Old and New Trust”

Written by: ClayDragon

About time!

Whilst sitting inside a giant cannon in the basement of the 12^th Division Institute, Ichigo asks Urahara when he built it. Urahara replies that it was almost finished when he joined the project, as when Squad Zero came down to the Soul Society Kurotsuchi decided to make a cannon himself. He then goes on to say that since he didn’t have Kukaku’s input, the cannon isn’t perfect, and that it will break after one use.

Oh Urahara, is there no end to your modesty?

As he points out that they don’t have the energy to fire the cannon, he’s interrupted by Akon, who tells him that his guest has arrived after finishing their job. Inside the cannon, Chad decides that now is the right time to ask Ichigo for his opinion on Orihime’s new outfit. Completely blindsided by the question, Ichigo is unable to come up with an answer, making Orihime blush and ask Chad to stop. When Ichigo manages to stutter out that he thinks it’s a bit revealing, Orihime goes into full-blown panic, thinking that Ichigo sees her as a pervert.

Choose your next words carefully, Ichigo...

On the verge of tears, she explains that she’s only wearing the outfit because she was told by Urahara that Ichigo would like it. At this point, Urahara decides to step in, saying that if Orihime tries to cover herself up she might make things worse. Before all of Orihime’s blood drains to her face, she’s interrupted by a hand emerging from her cleavage. And who does the hand belong to, you may ask?

Where the hell have you been?

Yes, after disappearing for 183 chapters, Yoruichi has finally returned. And the first thing she does is slap Ichigo in the face. Before he can react, Yoruichi moves to within an inch of Ichigo’s nose and starts yelling at him for saying that Orihime is revealing too much (this coming from the woman who spent a large amount of time wandering around naked in the Soul Society arc). She goes on to berate him for not noticing that Orihime was manipulated into wearing her outfit, and yells at him for not flirting with her.

You chose...poorly.

Of course, Urahara is watching this confrontation with a huge grin on his face as he says that what just happened had exceeded his expectations. He then asks Yoruichi about the goods, to which she responds by showing him a large number of bottles strapped to the inside of her cloak. It turns out that Yoruichi joined up with Hiyori’s team in order to seal the gaps between the Soul Society and the World of the Living, and collected the energy leaking out of the gaps. As luck would have it, the energy collected will be enough to send the team to the Spirit King’s Palace.

I'm pretty damn sure you can't just collect energy in ordinary bottles, you know.

Meanwhile on the battlefield, Ikkaku and Yumichika are dodging the attacks of the zombified Bambietta. Whilst Ikkaku still doesn’t understand what’s going on, Yumichika is perceptive enough to realise that her bullets aren’t explosive – rather, everything the bullets touch become an explosive. Still not fully understanding, Ikkaku realises that he’ll just have to get close to Bambietta and attack her the old-fashioned way.

That looks painful. Also, hands up if you think that blood splash on Ikkaku's cheek will become important later.

Yumichika agrees and uses a Hadō to boost Ikkaku up into the air towards Bambietta. Dodging her attacks, he manages to get close enough to stab her in the head, but it has no effect due to her already being dead. She grabs Ikkaku’s head and is just about to blow him up when Yumichika steps in and cuts her arm clean off. Picking up the severed arm, Giselle tells them that it’s useless to attack Bambietta as she cannot be killed. Bambietta then creates an explosion right in front of herself, causing Ikkaku and Yumichika to fall to the ground.

Insert your own 'disarmed' pun here.

Giselle steps forward and tells them that it was really hard to turn Bambietta into a zombie, as Quincies have to already be dead in order for her powers to work on them, meaning that she had to kill Bambietta herself. She then admits to being very turned on when she killed Bambietta, and Yumichika asks her if she had an erection. It would seem that Giselle does not take kindly to being called a man, as she points out that she doesn’t need to kill Soul Reapers in order for them to become her zombies. As she prepares to drip some blood on the Ikkaku and Yumichika, they’re saved by the arrival of Kurotsuchi, who appears in a flash of light.

Lady, you are creeping me right the hell out, you know that?

So Yoruichi has finally returned. It’s good to see her come back, as she was nowhere to be seen since she was defeated offscreen by Aizen in the Deicide arc. I’m a little disappointed that Urahara’s assistant wasn’t revealed to be Grimmjow, but it’s good to see Yoruichi again. Hopefully we’ll end up seeing her Shikai when they reach the Spirit King’s Palace, as we’ve never actually seen Yoruichi with her Zanpakuto. Either that, or we’ll finally find out how she manages to turn into a cat.

How can you act so protective and caring when you once headbutted her in the eye?

The reveal that Hiyori’s squad has finished their task was a pleasant one, as it means that they’re now free to come to the Soul Society and help out. It would be nice to see all the Visoreds together again (including Kensei and Rose, if they’re both alive), especially as only one of them was actually useful in the last fight he was in – Hachigen was the only Visored to win his fight in the Fake Karakura Town arc.

The vacation of a lifetime? Will there be a pool?

Another little thing I noticed in this chapter was that, during her fight with Ikkaku and Yumichika, Bambietta’s expression changed once or twice. Normally, this wouldn’t be a big deal, but since Giselle is the one controlling her movements, you wouldn’t think she’d bother using the energy to change Bambietta’s expression. My only guess is that there’s still some part of Bambietta’s personality left, and that’s what’s causing her to change expression. Or I’m just looking too much into it.

Oh, you magnificent, lying, bastard.

Kurotsuchi’s appearance was a welcome one, especially as he’s dressed in his fabulous new outfit. I’ve seen a few theories that his new costume is related to the spoils of war that he retrieved from Hueco Mundo, and I think that his suit might be incorporated with some Hollow aspects. After all, his room was the only place in the Soul Society that the Quincy’s shadows didn’t reach. In addition, it would mean that his fight with Giselle would be a bit more interesting, as her blood powers probably don’t work on Hollows, meaning that she wouldn’t be able to affect Kurotsuchi in his new suit – if this theory is true.

Look out, everyone! It's the second coming of Jesus!

Finally, when I was doing some research for my Symbolism and Mythology in Bleach article, I came across a very interesting interview with Tite Kubo from the 2009 Jump Festa. There was a lot of superfluous information, but the most interesting aspect was this: at the time, at least, Tite Kubo did not confirm that Ulquiorra was dead. Now, Ulquiorra ‘died’ in July 2009 (almost five years today, in fact), and the interview took place in December 2009. I’m aware that Ulquiorra’s last moments did have a sort of finality to them, and it would be hard to come back from being turned to dust, but Kurotsuchi did take a lot of stuff from Hueco Mundo back to the Soul Society, so who knows? Also, keep in mind that this interview took place five years ago, so Kubo may have confirmed Ulquiorra’s death between then and now. If anyone knows more about this then please let me know, as I’d be very interested to know.

 

If this turns out to be true, I'm going to be so happy that I may even do a twirl.

Good Things:     Funniest chapter I’ve seen in a long time.

                           More Ichigo/Orihime teasing.

   Yoruichi’s back!

    The possibility of Hiyori’s group appearing.

    Kurotsuchi’s appearance.

Bad Things:        Still no proper confirmation of Giselle’s gender.

                                  

Manga Rating:   4.5/5

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, but he doesn’t use it that much. When not playing games or reading, he can be found with his head in his hands whilst trying in vain to understand quantum physics. Seriously, what was Yoruichi doing when Ichigo was busy fighting the Fullbringers?