Bleach 591 Review – “Marching Out the ZOMBIES 2”

Bleach 591 Review – “Marching Out the ZOMBIES 2”

Written by: ClayDragon

Oh my shit.

Upon seeing the resurrected Arrancar, Ikkaku and Yumichika have a somewhat understandable reaction. Ikkaku recalls fighting Luppi in the World of the Living, and Yumichika remembers killing Charlotte. However, when Charlotte sees Yumichika again, he tries to remember his name, before failing and claiming that he can’t remember the names of ugly people. As expected, Yumichika takes this less than well and is ready to attack Charlotte himself before Ikkaku stops him.

"They're so...flamboyant!"

Dordoni then steps in and says that the only reason he showed up was to meet Ichigo again, and Cirucci agrees as she wanted to get revenge on Uryu. Luppi interrupts them, pointing out that they’re revived now and so can think about revenge later. Displaying a good amount of foresight, Dordoni and Cirucci point out that just because Kurotsuchi revived them, it doesn’t mean that he won’t kill them again later. Of course, this is immediately followed by Kurotsuchi setting off a device that electrocutes the three Arrancars.

Oh, you hypocrite.

Cirucci points out that they couldn’t trust Kurotsuchi, whilst Luppi complains about not having said anything wrong. This falls on deaf ears, as Kurotsuchi just turns the power of the electrocution up. Whilst they’re being zapped, he explains that it doesn’t actually affect their physical bodies – rather, it just creates a shock in the area of their brains that registers pain. He notes that they’re more robust than he thought, and decides that it was worth stealing them from Szayelaporro’s lab back in Las Noches.

Have you maybe tried just asking them to be quiet?

Giselle decides to speak up, and points out that even with the revived Arrancars, they’re still heavily outnumbered. The Arrancars take offense at this, and Luppi, Cirucci and Dordoni jump into the fray. Before the fighting properly starts, Yumichika tells Kurotsuchi to wait, as the zombified Soul Reapers are still members of the Gotei 13. Kurotsuchi refuses, saying that the Gotei 13 are supposed to protect the Soul Society, and that anyone who stands against the Soul Society must die. He even goes so far as to cite Yamamoto’s opinion on traitors.

I wonder, does killing off members of your own squad count as going against the Soul Society?

On the battleground, Dordoni manages to knock a Soul Reaper away whilst dodging a spray of blood. Luppi appears alongside him and points out that they don’t really need to avoid the zombie’s blood, as Ikkaku got sprayed with Bambietta’s blood and nothing happened to him. Cirucci agrees, saying that as they’re corpses already, being hit by their blood shouldn’t be a problem for them. Dordoni understands, and realises that this means that he can now fight at full strength. Meanwhile, Giselle brings Bambietta’s arm back to her and reattaches it.

Wait, you lot saw that? Why didn't you intervene beforehand then?

Once she’s finished, she notices a figure standing above her, who turns out to be Charlotte. He says that he’s decided to fight Giselle instead of Kurotsuchi, and claims that Giselle resembles him a lot. This news seems to stun Giselle for a moment, as she asks him in what regard is she similar to him, before sending Bambietta to attack him. Charlotte manages to avoid all of the explosives and grabs Bambietta’s head, then throws her into the nearest building, narrowly missing Kurotsuchi.

I...in what...how do you....what?!

As he stares at the smoke coming from the point of impact, Kurotsuchi asks if Charlotte was aiming at him, to which he gets the reply that it was just a coincidence. Bambietta appears from the wreckage and flies towards Charlotte, who figures out that zombies can only be stopped if they’re turned to dust. With this knowledge, he fires a huge cero from his hands that completely envelopes his opponent. Giselle, seeing that Bambietta didn’t do any damage to Charlotte, decides to bring out another of her zombies – Hitsugaya.

Interestingly - and I did not notice this until now - this was kind of foreshadowed. You can see a shadow approaching him in the bottom panel, but when you look above there's nothing there to cast said shadow. Looks like Giselle popped up in between panels.

As I pointed out last week, the Arrancars have retained their personalities, and this chapter has been made all the better for it. Whilst I’m still not too sure as to why Luppi is there (although so far it seems as though he’s acting as the sane man to Dordoni and Cirucci’s more eccentric personalities), he was entertaining enough, so I’m not complaining. I do hope that Dordoni and Cirucci meet Ichigo and Uryu again, if only for the hilarity that’s bound to ensue.

...Yes, Charlotte. Yes you are.

I can understand why Kurotsuchi would bring back Luppi, Dordoni and Cirucci – after all, he raided Szayelaporro’s lab when he was in Las Noches – but I don’t know why he brought back Charlotte specifically. I mean, he was in Fake Karakura Town at the end of the fight against Aizen, so he obviously got the body there, but there were five other Arrancar corpses there (Abirama, Findorr, Choe, Ggio and Nirgge), so why did he only bring back Charlotte? Unless he did bring the others back as well, and he’s just sent them to assist in different fights…

To be honest, I don't really care if these guys don't appear; I'm just curious. Also, how the hell do you pronounce 'Ggio'?

The highlight of this chapter was definitely the Charlotte vs Giselle fight. At first, I would have liked Charlotte to have more interactions with Yumichika, but seeing how he managed to completely nonplus Giselle within a few seconds of talking to her, I’m interested to see how this will pan out. Of course, if Charlotte and Yumichika team up to fight Giselle, then that would just make this fight even better.

"Oh no get him off get him off! I NEED AN ADULT!"

Finally… Hitsugaya. I have to admit, I did not see that one coming. It came completely out of nowhere, and I’m not sure if I approve. On one hand, it’s a really good twist, and it will certainly make the next few chapters a lot more interesting (and it might make Kurotsuchi rethink his views on killing all the zombified Soul Reapers), but on the other hand it doesn’t appear to hold much weight.

Why the hell is Tetsuzaemon there? He doesn't do anything! He's never done anything!

Hitsugaya is a very popular character, and whilst Kubo has been playing hard and fast with regards to the fact that even good guys can die now, I just don’t see him killing Hitsugaya off like this. Of course, Giselle’s zombification powers don’t need the Soul Reaper to die, so Hitsugaya could still technically be alive, but then again his skin is now the same colour as Bambietta’s, implying that he is actually dead. Given that when we last saw him he had collapsed only a few metres away from an unconscious Matsumoto, it seems quite likely that she’ll be zombified too (and, going by her treatment of Bambietta, God knows how Giselle will treat her).

Wait, do you expect me to believe that they just so happened to have a Vandenreich uniform in Hitsugaya's size?

Good Things:      The Arrancars have their personalities intact.

                             The interactions between the Arrancars (and Yumichika).

     Hitsugaya’s huge twist ending.

     Charlotte. No more needs to be said.

Bad Things:         N/A

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. Screw you, thermodynamics!