Bleach 603 Review – What the Hell

Bleach 603 Review – What the Hell

Written by: ClayDragon

Normal service has been postponed.

Okay, so remember last time when I said that I thought I was on top of things and I shouldn’t be missing any reviews from now on? Well, I was wrong. So very, very wrong. So instead of making what might turn out to be false promises, I’m just going to admit that I don’t know when I’ll next be able to do a review. I could be fine from here on out, or I could be so swamped that I don’t get any reviews done for a month, so I’m just going to have to take this day by day. In terms of this review, I’m only going to be covering today’s chapter, as the events in it have pretty much rendered the last two chapters pointless anyway.

This is what university has done to me.

Quick recap: Every member of Yhwach’s Elite Force is dead, and Ouetsu’s about to attack the Emperor himself. As Ouetsu is mentally planning out his moves, Yhwach releases a huge pulse of light from his hands that shines through the tree prison. Back in the Soul Society, rain is beginning to fall on a trail of blood that leads to a small enclosed area underneath some rubble. From inside the ‘cave’, a lot of moaning can be heard.

If the rubble's a-falling, don't come a-calling.

We then see someone rather seductively licking someone else’s stomach. Of course, it’s Giselle doing the licking, so it then turns into full-on biting (cannibalism, I mean. Get your mind out of the gutter). It would appear that Bambietta survived Charlotte’s attack, as she starts asking Giselle not to take all of her blood, claiming that she doesn’t want to die just yet. Giselle takes this less than well, and starts bashing Bambietta’s head into the ground, screaming about how she’s already dead and demanding that Bambietta gives Giselle’s blood back.

This is one of those points where context is desperately needed.

Giselle stares at Bambietta’s unmoving body for a few seconds, and then hugs it, squealing that Bambietta is so cute, even when she’s dead. Thankfully, this is stopped by the arrival of Liltotto, who notes that Giselle managed to survive being stabbed by Zombie Kensei, apparently by unleashing her Vollständig. Liltotto recounts what happened between her and Pepe, and says that she took Meninas out, but didn’t kill her. As she talks about how the battle is going to progress, a gun is pointed at her head.

"Wait, Candice is defeated? So she's either dead or too weak to fight back?...Woohoo, free zombie!"

She turns around to see Commissioner Quincy standing there, who apparently has a name. He’s the Sternritter N, and called Robert Accutrone, although since that’s a stupid name I’m just going to keep calling him Commissioner Quincy. He informs Liltotto that Yhwach has gone to the Royal Palace, and that they were not chosen to go with him. When Liltotto says that they’ll just keep fighting until Yhwach returns, Commissioner Quincy completely loses his cool.

"The manga's ending soon, how many of us do you think will survive?!"

He begins to scream about how they are finished, as they have been deemed unnecessary for Yhwach’s upcoming battle. If they’re not needed, he reasons that they will be used to power Yhwach up through his use of Auswählen. As if on cue, a beam of light falls from the sky and engulfs Commissioner Quincy, stripping the skin from his bones. Another two beams fall towards Liltotto and Giselle, but Liltotto manages to use her wings at the last second to propel her and Giselle away from the light.

Looks like someone chose the wrong Grail.

However, even without being bathed in the light, Liltotto’s wings still begin to vanish, and she realises that her powers are being taken away regardless. All over the Soul Society, the remaining Quincies are being hit by the beams of light, including Bazz-B and NaNaNa. Seeing this, Liltotto asks what the Sternritter were to Yhwach. Somehow, he can hear this, and answers that they are comrades, and that they should help each other. Using his new power, he manages to revive the four Elite Guards and challenges Squad Zero.

Bazz-B, no! You still need to fight Grimmjow!

So Giselle is back now. I’m happy that she survived Zombie Kensei’s attack, as it would have been a bit of a let-down if she were to die from being stabbed through the heart when she had already shrugged off a broken neck. To be honest, I have no idea how Giselle is actually going to die. The only thing I can think of is that her blood is what makes her immortal, so if she loses all her blood then she can be killed for good. Alternatively, Yhwach’s Auswählen might have made her mortal now. Either way, I’m pleased that she’s still around.

"Oops... I think I broke her..."

We’ve also finally learned what Commissioner Quincy’s name and rank were – right before he was hit by the Auswählen. Despite him looking rather skeletal the last time we see him, I’m not entirely convinced that he’s dead. After all, whilst we know his name and his letter, we don’t actually know what it stands for. Granted, we did see his Vollständig in his fight against Shunsui, but it seems strange that we don’t actually know what his main gimmick is. Did he actually get reduced to a skeleton, or was the image of him withering away just a visual effect? Time will tell.

Don't look sad, Commissioner Quincy. It doesn't seem right.

Speaking of the Auswählen, there are a number of aspects of it that I want to talk about – not surprising, since it’s one of the biggest events in recent chapters. Firstly, assuming that Commissioner Quincy is actually dead, how did it kill him? The other two people who had been hit by the Auswählen before (Masaki and Katagiri) didn’t die on the spot from it – Masaki was killed by Grand Fisher and Katagiri slipped into a coma. And, going by this chapter, Bazz-B and NaNaNa didn’t die outright either, so why was it only limited to Commissioner Quincy?

I have to say, this bit was pretty damn awesome.

Something else that caught my interest was the after-effects of the Auswählen, namely the panel shown below. In it, you can see eight beams of light returning to Yhwach – presumably, one from each Sternritter affected. We know that Commissioner Quincy, Bazz-B and NaNaNa were all affected, so who were the other five? Liltotto and Giselle avoided getting hit, but given that both Candice and Meninas had been defeated, they probably weren’t so lucky. The only two other Quincies that haven’t been shown to die (and aren’t with Yhwach right now) are Cang Du and BG9, so maybe they’re going to pop up later. And even if that's the case, there's still one beam unaccounted for. Is there another Quincy still alive out there?

What Quincy do you think survived the battle? 

Finally, I have to wonder why Yhwach revived his Elite Guard. I mean, look at how easily they were defeated the first time – by one guy, no less. After all, if they’re just going to die again then why would he waste his new power bringing them back? Unless they’re now immortal or have gotten a serious power boost or something, there doesn’t seem to be much of a point to this. At least it means we get to see more Askin and Pernida, although I’m not too thrilled about seeing more of Gerard and Lille.

I have to admit, I did actually feel sorry for Liltotto and Commissioner Quincy in this chapter. I get that they're the enemy, but they seem somewhat more sympathetic than some of the other Sternritter.

Chapter 603 Review – What the Hell:

Good Things:     Giselle is back! And Liltotto too!

                            We finally learn Commissioner Quincy’s name and rank.

                            The Elite Force are getting back up.

                            We see the Auswählen in all its glory.

Bad Things:       Some of the more interesting Quincies have lost their powers – maybe for good.

                                    

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. ZZZZZZZZ.