Bleach 21
October 17, 2007
Just when I thought I could start finally getting back into this series after the volumes and volumes of Soul Society politics.
While I sort of like the direction it’s taking, since I like Hollows and I like the idea of a half hollow/half man army, it’s getting a bit too technical already. It also goes back a bit to explain Rukia’s background, and I just do not understand if people in Soul Society… are alive… if they’re dead… if they die, then go to Soul Society, then die again later when something bad happens… I probably wasn’t paying attention early on when this was explained. These things are brought out to explain away the evilness of one of the villians of the past dozen or so volumes, which is totally not cool. No takebacks, if you’re evil for that long, that’s just the way you are.
But really, while the above massive takeback in any other situation would have just ruined the volume for me, there was something that happened which made that look like a brilliant, well thought out plot point. One of the biggest, most nonsensical ”fuck you” moments I’ve ever been handed happens with the casual appearance of Isshin in this volume. It was too much. You just can’t DO that. You can’t decide that’s how it’s going to be after so long.
I’m 21 volumes in, so on one hand, I feel like I can’t quit now, but I seriously just threw this volume in the trash for about a day after I got to the Isshin part and didn’t finish it.
December 1, 2007 at 5:25 am
I never felt that that person was actually evil or a villain, just really cold and unfeeling. Neutral when he should’ve been acting.
December 1, 2007 at 6:14 pm
I suppose you’re right about him, and I can’t really think of a better way to handle his situation since there was not much he could do about things. I also didn’t really like the part the actual villain had been playing for so long, and that reveal didn’t make much sense to me, but maybe it’ll be really great later when he comes back.
December 1, 2007 at 6:54 pm
Yeah, the revelation as to why they wanted Rukia dead was pretty anticlimactic. The current plot does seem to be shaping up to address Ichigo’s occasional Hollowness, and I look forward to that.
October 31, 2008 at 8:25 am
Uhhhhh…. this volume was quite a disappointment… maybe it would have been better to end this manga in the Soul society. I mean, c’mon, Ichigo’s father a soul reaper? I’m really not excited about how things will continue and I will not probably buy more volumes soon.
October 31, 2008 at 8:43 pm
The worst part about the Isshin thing is that it’s pretty much been left at that in the past 4-5 volumes or so. The next story arc has been getting good where I’m at in volume 24 or 25, after some fanservice they get back to fighting hybrid hollows, which I kind of like. I’m actually kind of looking forward to the next volume for the first time in a long time.