Manga Review: Bleach - 498

War in Hueco Mundo, war in Soul Society, can Ichigo stop both wars?
——
While the characters in Soul Society were essentially being defeated left and right by the Sternritter, Ichigo was being quite stunning in his assault against Kirge. This has turned out to be one of the better fights in this arc. Why? Well mainly Kirge had multiple forms; in his initial form, he was easily defeated by his opponents and seemed quite powerful. In his next form, he easily defeated Hallibel’s underlings and Ayon as well. However, this form seemed to actually put up enough of an initial assault against Ichigo, for Ichigo to get quite serious. I enjoyed this, as Ichigo is always impressive to see fighting. Ichigo even utilized his bankai.

This made for a shocking turn of events, as the characters in Soul Society were having their bankai sealed. Ichigo was able to resist it, scaring Kirge. Kirge actually had to think of a strategy but couldn’t come up with one in time. What this enabled was sure to bleach Uruhara fans! Urahara managed to deal the final blow. How was this possible? And how strong is Uruhara if he was able to do that without resorting to using his bankai either?!

Akon alerted Ichigo of the situation in Soul Society. With the situation in Hueco Mundo most likely resolved, which is fortunate for those who somehow grew tired of Hueco Mundo serving as the backdrop for part of this arc, we can only imagine how Ichigo will respond to events in Soul Society. I’m personally looking forward to his possible reunion with Rukia. What has she been up to? And has she received a significant power boost? Perhaps other characters that have yet to fight and make an appearance have, as well? This war is open-ended thus far and has quite a few directions for it to turn, so at this point in time, it is still rather interesting.
GO Rating: 3.5 / 5

