Bleach 28
October 23, 2009
Tite Kubo – Viz – 2009 – 41+ volumes
It’s been awhile, Bleach. I’m not the biggest fan of Bleach, but I must say, I think I am enjoying the current storyline much more than the previous. This volume in particular was great, because it was full of the same sort of eccentric humor that made me fall in love with the beginning of the series.
The stars of this volume are a group of three arrancars and their sandworm that Ichigo and company find in the desert. There’s a little Yachiru-looking girl that leads them named Nell (ugh, just got a massive spoiler looking up her name to verify on wikipedia), and she’s accompanied by two “brothers” and a gigantic worm. I laughed really hard when Ichigo jumped in to save her while she was being chased, then she and her brothers begging them to stop beating them up for playing tag in the desert, claiming that she was a masochist, so she liked it when they chased her until she cried. She follows Ichigo around from then on, mostly against his will, but she’s so cute and hilarious that I forgive the series the addition to the main party even though piling on the characters is something Bleach is horrible at.
The fighting is light in this volume, which is for the best. We get the tail end of the fights that Ishida and Chad were starting last volume, and then the beginning of a fight at the very end, but most everything else is exposition. It seemed really strange for Bleach to take such a big break from fighting, but I really like what’s going on in the story, and I wish more such breaks came because the exposition is livened up with the humor I like so much.
Unfortunately, Ichigo’s party is further enhanced by two soul reapers that step back into the story. I was very disappointed, and even more disappointed when the group split up, since that means, literally, those two were only introduced in order to have their own series of fights. They don’t even get to interact with the other characters. Bogus.
I’ve already got the next volume of this to read, so let’s see if the good vibes last a little longer.
October 23, 2009 at 8:59 am
[...] Shop (Kuriousity) Lorena Nava Ruggero on vol. 2 of Apothecarius Argentum (i heart manga) Connie on vol. 28 of Bleach (Slightly Biased Manga) Erica Friedman on vol. 4 of Hayate x Blade (Okazu) Danielle Leigh on vol. 2 [...]
October 24, 2009 at 11:39 pm
- There’s a little Yachiru-looking girl that leads them named Nell (ugh, just got a massive spoiler looking up her name to verify on wikipedia),-
It’d be pretty hard not to get spoiled on Nell nowadays.
- It seemed really strange for Bleach to take such a big break from fighting, but I really like what’s going on in the story, and I wish more such breaks came because the exposition is livened up with the humor I like so much.-
I feel the same way, Bleach is at it’s best when it’s not fighting or even doing small fights, yet it keeps going back to the big battles.