Bleach 612 Review – Dirty

Bleach 612 Review – Dirty

Written by: ClayDragon

So of course Bleach would take a month’s break as soon as I start reviewing it again.

At the Soul King’s Palace, we get to see a lovely shot of the corpses that Yhwach has left in his wake. He begins to speak to the Soul King, telling him that there is nowhere left for him to run, and that he is an imperfect God. He then stabs him through the chest as he says goodbye to him, and he addresses the Soul King as his father.

I was going to use a picture from this chapter instead of an earlier one, but then I realised that they're exactly the same, only from different angles.

Down in the Soul Society, Rukia and Renji land in a deserted area full of rubble and meet up with Shinji, who somehow managed to escape his encounter with Bazz-B some 30 chapters. It turns out that Omaeda and his sister are also with Shinji, although Mareyo fell asleep after having her injuries treated. Omaeda begins shouting at Rukia and Renji, telling them to be quiet or they’ll wake up his little sister. Sui-Feng appears behind him and almost knocks him out in an attempt to shut him up, whilst Momo greets Renji and Rukia.

No-one asked you, Omaeda.

Sui-Feng briefly explains what happened to them, and Shinji tells them that all Captains and Lieutenants got a message to assemble immediately. They enter a nearby building which is revealed to be a research centre of some sort. Inside are Urahara, Byakuya, Nanao and Yuushirou, who runs over and greets Sui-Feng. This seems to overwhelm Sui-Feng somewhat, as she immediately starts blushing and notes how much Yuushirou has grown, whilst offering him some money.

Aw, how cute.....Wait, brother? Yuushirou's a guy?!

Shinji goes over to Urahara and asks him why there’s no-one there. Urahara replies that the 7th division will not be joining them due to Komamura’s injuries (i.e. his transformation), and that Byakuya told him that Kensei and Rose will be coming with Kurotsuchi and Nemu (due to their zombification). Furthermore, Kenpachi, Hisagi, Ikkaku and Yumichika are all in the intensive care ward, although only Kenpachi is in a critical condition after his fight with the Femritters.

"We're off to see the wizard...."

Shunsui is apparently still down in Central 46, but there’s been no word from either Hitsugaya or Matsumoto. Shinji asks Urahara if he’s planning on tracking everyone down, to which Urahara replies that he’s planning on breaking into the Soul King’s Palace. Upon Shinji asking if that’s even possible, Urahara answers that, due to some ‘heavenly armour’ that Yuushirou obtained, then it could be done as long as they have the spiritual power of all the Captains and Lieutenants.

"Here's the plan: We go in, steal everything that isn't nailed down, and then get out as fast as possible."

Back up in Squad Zero Land, Ichibei begins to speak to himself. He apologises to Ichigo and his group, saying that there’s nothing that they can do, and that they cannot win against Yhwach. So he pretty much knowingly sent them to their deaths. Dick move, dude.

Hey, just because you got your ass handed to you doesn't mean that they're going to lose too.

The first few pages of this chapter just felt unnecessary, as all they did was show Yhwach stab the Soul King again. I know it was almost a month since the last chapter, but I don’t think that Bleach fans have such crappy memories that they need a recap that lasts four pages. I mean, how long does it take to stab a guy?

Really? Because I seem to remember her being kind of a bitch.

Shinji and Omaeda’s unexplained recovery was a bit annoying, considering that the last time we saw them, they were being covered with lava from one of Bazz-B’s attacks. Even when Bazz-B showed up again to fight Ichigo (and later, Rukia and Renji), we still got no explanation as to where Shinji and Omaeda had gone. It’s good that they survived, but I would like to know exactly how. On a side note, this means that the number of Soul Reapers that Bazz-B has attacked is now at (a quite possible record-breaking) nine.

Heeheeheeheehee...

The missing Soul Reapers also raises a number of questions. For starters, where are Komamura and Iba going? You’d think that they’d want to meet up with the others, but for some reason they’re not. Could they be going back to see the Leader of Komamura’s clan? Also, what happened to Hitsugaya and Matsumoto? The last time we saw them, Hitsugaya was being experimented on by Kurotsuchi and Matsumoto was fighting Luppi. Given that Kurotsuchi later showed up with Zombie Kensei and Zombie Rose, I have to wonder why he didn’t mention what happened to Hitsugaya and Matsumoto.

Would it kill him to pick up the phone for once?

Also, Urahara never mentioned Squad 13 at all. The last time we saw Ukitake, he was talking about something called ‘Kamikake’. I guess he could still be doing something related to that at the moment, but it seems strange that Urahara never called attention to it. Another question is – what will happen to the rest of the Quincies if all the Soul Reapers go to the Soul King’s Palace? At least two Sternritter are still alive (Liltotto and Giselle) with some more being unconfirmed. Are they going to team up with the Soul Reapers?

Okay, but did Byakuya mention what state Kensei and Rose were in?

Finally, Ichibei’s apology to Ichigo’s group came out of nowhere, especially seeing as he was the one to send them off to fight Yhwach in the first place. You have to wonder why Ichigo and his group went back up to the Soul King’s Palace if Ichibei knew that they might not stand a chance of defeated Yhwach. In fact, given that he told Ichigo that he didn’t even have to kill Yhwach, this implies that despite all of his training, Ichigo still isn’t capable of even holding Yhwach back.

Well, this looks like the best party ever.

Chapter 612 Review – Dirty:

Good Things:      Updates on the position of most Captains.

                             Urahara has a plan.

                             Sui-Feng actually blushing.

Bad Things:        Four-page recap.

                             How exactly did Shinji and Omaeda survive?

                                    

Manga Rating:   3/5

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, Nanoscience!