Bleach Chapter 492 - Balancer's Justice - Review / Thoughts

Bleach has been on really good form throughout this arc, and for the most part chapter 492 continues that. However, it's still not perfect, as unfortunately it also got a little bogged down unnecessarily.

I am of course referring to Shino and Yuki, the two new characters who were introduced in this arc. Aside from being pretty dislikeable in the first place, interjecting them in to what was otherwise a strong chapter is hardly going to win them many fans, especially as the role they played was pointless for anyone who has been reading or watching Bleach all these years.

Ayon was (pardon the phrase) a beast. He just went on a huge fecking rampage and pulverised Kirge in to the ground. Seriously, he just really went to work on him, punching and smashing him literally in to the ground. It was so intense that Orihime was visibly shocked and acted like it was so gruesome she couldn't believe her eyes, and even Chad commented on how what Ayon was doing was just overkill.

What's really impressive is the fact Kirge somehow managed to not only survive the incredible beating he took (heck, Apacci comments on how amazing it is that he even remained in one piece), but also stabbed Appaci right through the chest. He then got up and shrugged it off like it was nothing, and that was as impressive as heck. It was always likely he was going to win that particular battle, but damn, if that kind of beating doesn't stop him, I really don't know what will.

The battle between Kirge and Ayon was brilliant, and if the whole chapter had been that, then I would have been commmenting on how good it was. Unfortnately though, as I said earlier, it was bogged down by the unnecessary appearance of Shino and Yuki, whose only purpose in this chapter was to give us a recap of why the Quincy and Shinigami are constantly fighting each other. We saw all of this years ago back when we were finding out more about Ishida, so to throw this crap in amongst an awesome fight was nothing more than a waste of everyone's time.

Overall I will still say it's a good chapter purely based on the Kirge vs Ayon stuff, but there is no denying that the Shino and Yuki part was pointless and awful. My advice is to skip their parts as it will tell you nothing you didn't already know, and if you focus purely on the fight, this is a brilliant chapter.