Naruto Shippuden Episode 268 - Battleground! - Review / Thoughts

For fans hoping for an awesome episode full of awesome battles, prepare to be disappointed. I can tell you before I go any further that the only good thing in this episode was Darui who you see above.

After last week's episode dragging so horribly, there was at least the promise of something good this week judging from the preview, but sadly it was very misleading.

For the most part this episode dragged just as horribly as the one from last week, and was once again really dull and boring as a result. There were more long tedious explanations, and the only thing in terms of fighting was some incredibly generic stuff with fodder throwing kunai at the Zetsus, and also a bit of incredibly basic Taijutsu that didn't accomplish much if anything.

I did enjoy the meeting between Hizashi and Hiashi though admittedly, and I do wish they had more time. I did find it strange though that Choza was talking with Asuma (and I think) Dan and set it up like they were going to battle, only for Choza to just end up fighting with some Zetsus the next time that area is revisited.

Darui was the best part of the episode though, for someone who doesn't say much and who until now hasn't done much, he sure is impressive and a very cool character. His Black Lightning looks so awesome, and the Anime team did a good job of showing his Black Panther technique here too. Darui really could be the surprise package of this war, and if he keeps up like this then there will always be something to look forward to in the coming episodes.

But as a whole this episode was once again pretty boring and frustrating, and I just wish that more action could be seen and a lot less talking which is slowing things down far too much. I have learned my lesson about trying to predict how good an episode will be just from an episode preview, so I will just say that when we do get to see Kinkaku and Ginkaku fight, as long as the Anime team don't screw up, it shall be a very good episode.

Bleach Chapter 498 - The Black Rescuer - Review / Thoughts

Yes, here's a slightly late review of Bleach chapter 498. Unfortunately I never found time to read or review the chapter yesterday, but thanks to Urahara being awesome, it was definitely worth the wait.

In this chapter it was mainly focused on Ichigo's battle with Kirge, and with Soul Society desperately trying to get in contact with Ichigo.

I was glad to see things move back to that fight to be honest, as while I certainly have enjoyed the Soul Society invasion, Ichigo vs Kirge felt a bit neglected recently. Ichigo went to show what a badass he is, and I love how he is just kicking Kirge's ass. Kirge is an asshole anyway, and his arrogance annoys me to no end, so it's great to see Ichigo doing so well against him.

Ichigo hit the nail on the head when he spoke about the Quincy being afraid once they found an opponent who couldn't have their Bankai stolen, and it does lead me to believe that the Quincy may not be as strong as expected. Don't get me wrong, they are clearly strong opponents, but it does show that they are also relying heavily upon the fact they can prevent the captains from using their Bankai.

Oh, and there was a lot of panel time for Urahara which is always a huge positive in my book. Urahara is my favourite character in Bleach, and I am going to avoid talking about the reasons why as I would end up on some long unrelated to the chapter tangent. But yes, plenty of action for him, and the way he blasted Kirge was badass.

Badass is the most accurate word to describe Urahara, and although it does look like Kirge has been defeated by him, it wouldn't surprise me if there was still a bit more to come from him. As far as my own taste goes, I don't care who or what Urahara is fighting, as a proper Urahara fight is something I have been desperate for for a very long time. This arc is the perfect chance to give him a good long fight, as well as plenty of other characters for that matter.

I loved the Urahara parts of this chapter as you probably gathered, and I also really enjoyed seeing Ichigo fight and Soul Society scrambling to try and find them both. To repeat what Akon himself said, Ichigo is such an unpredictable man, and so it's always going to be interesting seeing just what he does next. This was yet another great chapter to add to what has been a fantastic arc, and I highly recommend you check this chapter out.

Naruto Chapter 591 - Risk - Review / Thoughts

So, Naruto chapter 591 was a mixture of badass and emotional. We see more of Madara and what becomes of him, plus a reunion between Dan and Tsunade for the more emotional aspect, but how was the chapter as a whole?

Let me start by saying that they also resolved the Sasuke and Itachi thing, with a quick shot at the start of the chapter with Itachi disappearing, as well as the other Edo Tensei summons.

More importantly, Dan finally got to be of some use which was good to see. I don't have strong feelings about his character either way, but it was good to see there was an actual reason for him being summoned rather than Kishi doing it for no reason whatsoever. He of course saves Tsunade from Madara, and the reunion was nicely done and was a bit emotional.

The best part of the chapter was for me (you guessed it) Madara Uchiha. I am sooooo glad he is staying around, he has been the most interesting part of Naruto for ages, so I am thankful Kishi has decided to let his reign of terror continue. A lot of fans did speculate that he would find a way of breaking free from Edo Tensei, and I wouldn't be surprised (nor blame anyone) if they got mad over an Uchiha just ignoring the rules / using hax again to get away with something most characters couldn't.

I am of course very happy to see him stick around, and I can't even imagine what it's going to take to defeat someone as ridiculously strong as him, especially now as he has all the benefits of Edo Tensei but with none of the flaws it brings.

Naruto is going to be very interesting from here on out, as now we have a near invincible Madara raising havoc, Tobi is still off dealing with Naruto, and we are still yet to see what Suigetsu's scroll will do or indeed what role Sasuke will play in the war now Itachi is gone.

Overall this was a pretty enjoyable chapter, as it had a good mix of badass (with Madara) and emotion (with Tsunade and Dan).

Naruto Manga Reaching Its' Climax Says Masashi Kishimoto

In a recent article from the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto has said that the Naruto Manga is now reaching its' climax.


Kishimoto added, "How the story will end has already been set in my mind, so the story is just 'racing headlong in that direction.'"


Of course with the type of arc this has been and with all the recent happenings, there was always a good chance this would be the last and that Naruto would be near the end. As for actual times, none have been given, but it does appear as if the end is finally in sight for the series.






*Credit to Anime News Network for the info*

Naruto Shippuden Episode 267 - The Brilliant Military Advisor of the Hidden Leaf - Review / Thoughts

So after taking a break last week, Shippuden is back this week with episode 267, but has it been worth the extra wait?

To be perfectly honest, no it hasn't. This episode was extremely slow paced, and almost the whole thing was spent talking strategy.

Don't get me wrong, it's obvious that strategy is needed in a war, but there was certainly no need to have to show all the viewers this. It's not like anything major or surprising was planned out, all the needless details used would have been far better being off screen, as I doubt too many fans find spending 20 minutes hearing battle strategy all that entertaining.

I guess it was kind of entertaining hearing the conversation between the former Kage who had been revived with Edo Tensei, but aside from that, this episode was so slow and so boring you could be forgiven for mistaking it for filler. Quite honestly, it was like a canon filler episode pretty much.

I know it's setting up for next week, and the next episode does look like it could be pretty awesome, but that doesn't change the fact that getting through this episode is some task. It's not as if this episode is super horrible or terrible, it's just so unnecessarily slow that it drags terribly, leaving the viewer to keep watching in the hopes of just something, anything at all to actually happen, but it never does.

There's no way I could honestly recommend this episode to someone, if you're a diehard Naruto fan who must watch all the episodes then you might be ok with it, but for the most part you wouldn't be missing out in any way if you completely skipped this episode. My advice would be to maybe watch the part with the Edo Kage, and the (roughly) one minute scene with Kabuto right at the start of the episode, and then skip the rest. Hopefully next week shall make up for this rather lacklustre and disappointing episode.

Bleach Chapter 497 - Kill The Shadow 2 - Review / Thoughts

Bleach 497 continues where the last chapter left off, and once again the Captains are in a mess trying to come up with a way of actually fighting the Stern Ritter without Bankai, and once again the chapter is decent but not anything special.

This week (and last week) are more like setup chapters, basically letting everyone know how disadvantaged the Shinigami are currently and how much of a threat the Stern Ritter are. Soul Society is in a mess at the moment, and to be honest without Hitsugaya's quick thinking of getting Matsumoto to send a message to all the other captains, almost certainly a lot more of their Bankai would have been stolen.

Renji was a bit of an idiot for being about to use Bankai even though he was warned not to, so it's just as well Byakuya was there to stop him. I do understand to some extent though because it's clear that panic and frustration are starting to set in, and nobody has any idea what to do.

Ichigo being called back though will most likely change things. We know that for some reason his Bankai can't be stolen, and it wouldn't surprise me if the reason they want him back isn't so that he can necessarily help in the fight (for the moment anyway), but is instead for maybe Mayuri doing some research in to what is preventing his from being stolen so that they might be able to use it for the other captains.

Even Kyoraku seems to be having a tough time against the Stern Ritter, and being slashed like that hardly increases his chances of winning. I can definitely see a fair few casualties during this war, with Kira and Sasakibe being the first couple of what is likely to be many. This again does beg the question of just what Soul Society can do to try and defend themselves, but I guess we will find out in the upcoming chapters.

Overall this was a decent enough chapter, the past two weeks have certainly done a pretty good job of setting things up, but admittedly I am hoping for something a bit more epic and / or action packed in the next chapter.

Naruto Chapter 590 - I Will Always Love You - Review / Thoughts

"I will always love you".  Oh Itachi, he sures does know how to make his fans happy! So yes, after a week with no new chapter, this week Naruto is back with chapter 590, and it's fantastic.

I have always been a fan of these emotional chapters, and this is no exception. It was really good finally seeing the full picture of what really happened during (and just before) the Uchiha massacre. It once again helped to portray Sarutobi as a good guy and the most reasonable of all the Konoha higher ups, and it also made Danzo once again seem like the villain.

It also showed a bit more of Shisui too which is always a good thing, and to be honest I felt really bad for Itachi while reading the chapter. For the longest time most sympathy has gone towards Sasuke for all the crap he has been through, but this week also showed just how much Itachi had to suffer as well and just how much it hurt and how much he regretted having to do such horrible things.

Kishimoto also gave fans what they wanted, and that is a true message from Itachi to Sasuke about how he will love him no matter what happens. This is the chance for Kishi to change Sasuke if he wants, and I know a lot of people would be happy to see that happen. I personally still hope that he holds a grudge against the two Konoha elders who, along with Danzo, were behind the massacre and who were basically undermining Sarutobi's wishes. They both deserve to die as Danzo did in all honesty, as for them to both continue living seems like a bit of a slap in the face considering the roles they played in things.

But yeah, the chapter was brilliant. It shed some light on how things really went down at the massacre, and the last panel (the pic above) and the one with Itachi crying about having to kill his own parents (who understood why he was doing it, which to be honest I thought was a wonderful thing for Kishi to add) especially were very sad and emotional.

Overall this was a very emotional chapter and a brilliant one at that. If I have one gripe, it's that it does look like Madara will be gone for good now Edo Tensei is over, but other than that, this was a brilliant chapter and one of Kishimotos' best in a while.

Bleach Chapter 496 - Kill The Shadow - Review / Thoughts

Bleach chapter 496 is out nice and early today, and after the recent chapters being so good this is of course good news. However, for one of the only times during this arc, I felt the chapter was somewhat of a letdown.

It just seemed to rush by in no time, no sooner had I started than it came to an end. Of course technically it was the same length as any other week, but I just went through the pages really quick hoping something would happen, but sadly very little did. The recent weeks have all had excellent chapters, but this one was definitely lacking in terms of awesome or shocking moments.

I won't deny that the Bankai of the captains being stolen was pretty cool, but that aside there really isn't anything to talk about either in regards to content or something that I particularly enjoyed. As I said, the Bankai thing was pretty good, and I did enjoy the panel with the pic I used above, but as a whole I just don't think the chapter was anything special, and in fact was pretty average.

With that said though, next week could well be very good as the captains try and figure out what to do without their Bankai. Also, Kubo has been churning out excellent chapter after excellent chapter of late, so I can more than forgive the odd chapter like this, and heck, it's still average even now, certainly not bad.

As a whole then I will wrap this review up by saying it's a pretty average chapter, but one you should still read since it is pretty much setting up for next week which could well be another brilliant chapter for Kubo.

Naruto Shippuden Episode 266 - The First and Last Opponent - Review / Thoughts

After last week's disappointing episode, I wasn't sure what to expect with Shippuden 266. Thankfully this week's episode was a major improvement over the last one, and as such was actually pretty good.

This episode covered 2 whole chapters worth of the Manga for those interested, and there was no kind of filler shown in the episode as far as I remember. We got to see the Seven Swordsmen showing off their skills and their individual blade techniques which was pretty awesome, plus of course Kakashi vs Zabuza and Haku was continued too.

That fight very closely mirrored the original fight between them, and I can see that's definitely going to be a love or hate type situation for a lot of people. I can't remember how I felt at the time of first reading it in the Manga as it's been quite a while, but I thought the idea of it being this way was actually quite a nice touch as it didn't drag things out unnecessarily, and it was also giving somewhat of a nod to the original Naruto series which is good for the long time fans of the show.

The episode itself was a major step up from last week too. The animation and characters actually looked fine throughout, and the music choices were pretty good as well. It was a little disappointing that Kakashi only used Raikiri considering all the techniques he has, but I guess that's to be expected nowadays.

One thing that does disappoint and annoy me though is what looks like a missed opportunity for the next episode. Kakashi got really pissed off at the end of this episode, and for me it was probably the best moment in it, and so of course we expect to see him kick some serious ass soon. Unfortunately judging by the episode preview though, they will be skipping the fight with the Seven Swordsmen once again.

For Anime only viewers, Kakashi and his squad vs the Swordsmen was skipped entirely after what you saw in this episode, and so me (and countless other fans) had assumed and desperately hoped that this would be included in the Anime instead. Naruto is always looking for filler episodes and ways to buy time, so it would only be logical to add a nice filler episode or two showing a pissed off Kakashi taking them on. If they do skip it I will be very unhappy, and unfortunately it does seem to be the case.

But back to this episode, overall while it had nothing special, it was still a pretty enjoyable episode all the same and well worth watching. The upcoming material should be pretty awesome as well depending on how the Anime team handle it, so there will hopefully be some good stuff ahead even if they skip Kakashi's rampage once again.

*Just a quick note: Naruto will not be on next week, as there is a Pokemon special on instead. The next episode of Shippuden will be shown in 2 weeks' time*

Bleach Chapter 495 - Bleeding Guitar Blues - Review / Thoughts

Initially I was unsure of what to think about Bleach chapter 495, but after going back through it, I realised how awesome a lot of it was. The captains mean business and came across great, plus it sets up well for some fantastic battles between Shinigami and Quincy.

It's surprising how quickly my opinion has changed on whether the Shinigami have any hope of beating the Quincy as well. Before now I have commented on how I just can't see them winning, but after reading this chapter, Kubo has honestly made me believe they could actually do it.

It's not that they pulled of something spectacular or showed anything new, but the Shinigami themselves seem to be pretty sure of themselves, and Kubo did a good job of making each and every captain have the aura of a badass. Even aside from the awesome panel with Byakuya telling Renji that he shouldn't hold back, guys like Komamura (and Rose especially), weren't taking any crap from the Stern Ritter.

They just seemed to have somewhat of an air of confidence around them, and from that alone it has completely opened me up to the idea of the Shinigami being far stronger than previously thought, plus having a real chance of winning. Rose was an absolute badass and so awesome in this chapter too. I have never had a strong opinion of him either way, but I won't deny that he had the joint best part of this chapter, heck, maybe the best.

Him and Byakuya both got to be really cool with their little speeches, and I honestly can't wait to see Rose kick some ass, and also hopefully see just how much Renji has improved since the Aizen arc. Actually, truth be told I am extremely excited to see how much stronger a lot of the captains have become, and of course that includes seeing some new Bankais as well!

The sheer awesomeness of Rose and Byakuya alone is enough to make me like this chapter in all honesty, and the fact it has already set up a clash between members of the Gotei 13 and the Stern Ritter leaves me incredibly excited at the mere prospect. Overall this was just slightly worse than the past couple of chapters, but all round still very good and one you should definitely check out.

Naruto Chapter 589 - The Edo Tensei Jutsu, Released - Review / Thoughts

Oh damn, what a chapter this was! After all this waiting, Naruto 589 finally deals with the Edo Tensei, plus Madara once again shows why he is the most badass character in the Manga.

Well, not including Hashirama since we haven't got to see him, but Madara is definitely the most badass atm.

I love these Madara chapters though, they are always fantastic and never disappoint. Perfect Susanoo already has me massively impressed, and he has only made it do one thing so far (albeit slicing a mountain in half, which of course is pretty damn amazing). Perfect Susanoo is the most interesting technique in a long time, and to me certainly seems to be the most powerful as well, so the Kage can thank their lucky stars Itachi was around to save the day by undoing Edo Tensei.

Though that does bring me to a different point, as I felt so bad for Sasuke in this chapter. It's like he finally came to realise that Itachi would never change, and that all he could do was accept what his brother was doing. It was good to see he still hasn't forgiven Konoha to be honest, as otherwise it would have been a pretty lacklustre end to the Manga as far as Sasuke goes.

I personally would now like to see Sasuke arrive at the other battlefield and cause some major damage, and thinking about it, it could be one of the few outcomes that would make the loss of Madara (if he is forced to go, which would be a big shame and I am hoping won't happen) more tolerable. It has been Madara vs the Kage that has kept me interested in the war arc in all honesty, as Tobi's stuff has been long and drawn out, as has Sasuke and Itachi's sections.

What would be pretty awesome would be if /when Madara is taken out of things, Sasuke showed up to fight the Kage himself. Since he has an EMS of his own, there is a chance he could have his own Perfect Susanoo (which would be beyond amazing, plus would be a fair power up to rival Naruto's Kyuubi powers) and start destroying things then.

Aside from whether he gets to kill anyone or not, that would also set up nicely for Naruto to arrive to save the day. It would also be almost like Madara vs Hashirama in the sense that it would be two eternal rivals fighting it out, both of them with insane powers and going all out, and I could even see maybe a new VotE style path of destruction from the two colliding, thus setting a new legend for the future.

Of course Tobi still has his role to play though, and the above was just a possible scenario somewhere down the road. But back to the present chapter, all I can really say is that once again the chapter was fantastic, I honestly can't wait for the next one, and lastly that I am really hoping Madara finds a way of staying for a while longer to conclude his battle.

Bleach Chapter 489 – March of The Starcross – Review / Thoughts

This week I have to say that without a doubt, Bleach 489 was the standout chapter between this and Naruto. Whereas Naruto was firmly rooted in past events, Bleach was very much in the present, as well as setting up something brilliant for the future chapters.
 
Last week we got to see what looked like the beginning of Ichigo vs Kirge, but Ichigo instead starts off against a few other Quincy instead as you can see in the picture above. It doesn’t take long for Ichigo to realise that the people who before were only known to him as the Vandenreich were in fact Quincy. Kirge even comments on the fact that he invaded without even being 100% sure of who they were, not that it makes a difference to Ichigo as we all know by now.

Rather than Ichigo fighting, this chapter was more focused on the strange events that have been taking place in Soul Society, and who’s to blame for it. To begin with we just see Rukia pacing the floor in Soul Society where she is waiting for the captain’s meeting, with Renji telling her to calm down and take it easy, only for Kira to appear and interrupt. He tells them that something is bothering him, and explains how he used to think all the Vandenreich / Quincy stuff was connected with the disappearances from Rukongai, but now he realises that’s not the case.

Kira begins to explain his thoughts on the matters, and asks a question as well. When Yachiru answers, it confirms things for him, and he asks Nemu what Mayuri is hiding (having concluded that there was something odd about the way things had been done and investigated by his group). Nemu says Mayuri never told her anything about the disappearances, with Kira saying he will just have to report it to Yamamoto himself. Later in the chapter, we see Yamamoto confront Mayuri about it and asks him what’s going on. Mayuri tells him that it’s true he was behind the disappearances, as he had some Shinigami go in to Rukongai and kill the people to keep the balance between spirits and people even. Yamamoto asks why he didn’t ask for permission, saying that under the current circumstances it would have been approved anyway.

Mayuri says that if things had got worse, his unit would have been held responsible for it, hence why he went ahead and did it anyway. Yamamoto responds by saying that if they had reported things sooner, then maybe things wouldn’t have become so serious in the first place. Without hesitation, Mayuri tells Yamamoto he is wrong. He then says how right back when Ishida first invaded Soul Society along with Ichigo etc he warned him of what could one day happen, but that Yamamoto claimed his fears were baseless and denied it.

Mayuri then says Yamamoto is the one to blame because he didn’t lill “that man“  1000 years ago. Meanwhile, with Ichigo distracted by his battle with Kirge and the other Quincy, the king declares that now is the perfect chance to invade Soul Society, and so they head off to do just that.

But yes, that was the main content of the chapter. As you can tell, things are getting very serious with potential consequences being unthinkable. The dischord in Soul Society just reminded me of something Kubo said in the interview he did shortly before the arc came out, that being that Soul Society would be devastated like never before (or something along those lines).

I mean, while I know the Quincy invasion is going to have a huge impact on everything, maybe a part of what will make things so devastating and like nothing they have ever seen before will be that Soul Society will become full of rifts between the Gotei 13. With this chapter we can already see that Mayuri is unhappy with Yamamoto, and Yamamoto doesn’t seem too happy with Mayuri either. Of course we have no idea who “That man” is / was, but he could even come back to play some huge role, whether that be what happened in the past or even if he is still alive and active somehow today.

I was expecting this to be an action and battle filled chapter, but instead we were given something that is playing far more with the distrust and psychological aspect of things, and as a fan of that sort of thing then I enjoyed it a lot. Kubo really has done a spectacular job with this arc, and I can’t commend him enough for it. Kubo gets a lot of stick from people for all his trolling and “asspulls” that seemed to be brought up for every arc, but this time I can’t imagine there are too many fans who would criticise what he has done in this war arc.

This was a pretty awesome chapter, despite not being what I (and I suspect many others were expecting), and I really can see next week being fantastic, especially if the Quincy do indeed reach Soul Society by then.

Bleach Chapter 488 – Bond Behind Blast – Review / Thoughts

I have to say this was a pretty good chapter. This week I definitely have to say that Bleach was better than Naruto, so needless to say I was pretty happy with chapter 488.
 
There was a fight with the three Fraccion loyal to Harribel – Sun-Sun, Mila Rose and Appaci in this chapter, and Nel was doing her best to hype them up to Ichigo. Speaking of Nel, she was pretty funny in this chapter as she was riding on Ichigo’s back and doing stuff like covering Ichigo’s eyes so he can’t see where he’s going etc. But there was also some serious stuff in the form of the battle I mentioned above, and also with Soul Society preparing for war with the Vandereich.

This chapter confirmed what everyone knew already, that being that the Vandenreich are in fact Quincy. Mayuri confirms it during a meeting between the Gotei 13 and Yamamoto where they are relaying all the info they have on the Vandenreich and preparing to go to war with them. Yamamoto asks if they have found where the Vandenreich (who from this point on I shall refer to as Quincy since it’s been confirmed now) are located, but he is told that they still don’t know yet. Yamamoto tells them to start preparations for war immediately since they were given the 5 day deadline, with Yamamoto saying that they can’t trust people as despicable as the Quincy to even live up to their word, and that they could strike at any time.

Elsewhere, the trio (who Nel referred to as Tres Bestia) finally stop arguing amongst themselves, and instead start fighting and defeating some of the Quincy soldiers. Nel tells Ichigo that they are really powerful and scary, and tells him that he doesn’t even need to do anything as Tres Bestia will probably wipe out the entire army themselves in no time. Of course Ichigo still continues on anyway, while one of the Quincy runs up to the captain and says they are really strong and that they should retreat for now. The Quincy who said it is then just mercilessly killed, and the Quincy captain tells the Fraccion that he has a proposal for them.
He says that they are strong and that it’s wonderful, as they would be perfect pawns for “his majesty”.

He says it’s why he doesn’t want to kill them, and suggests that they surrender instead and become pawns, where at least they would be reunited with Harribel. He then says that there could be no greater joy for them than what he just said, but the Fraccion refuse to listen, telling him not to underestimate them, with them then trying to attack the captain. The Quincy captain says it’s a shame they don’t want to negotiate with him.

Ichigo meanwhile hears a loud explosion, and Nel says it’s probably from the 3 devils and that she won’t make fun of Ichigo if he decides to go back. Just after she finishes saying it however, we get to see the Quincy captain standing on top of a rock or a hill (or something like that anyway) with the three bloody (and presumably) dead bodies of Sun-Sun, Mila Rose and Appaci at his feet. He then notices Ichigo, and comments that now with a Shinigami having arrived that it has been a really busy day for guests.

So yes, that was pretty much the content in the chapter, and it all tied together pretty well. We had the classic mix of seriousness and light hearted scenes / panels which has always been one of my favourite things about Bleach as a whole, and of course it was nice getting 100% proof and confirmation that the Vandenreich are members of the Quincy afterall.

No doubt fans of Sun-Sun, Mila Rose and Appaci will be pissed off that they were wiped out so quickly and effortlessly, but I guess Kubo is doing it just to build up some hype and add some feats to the Quincy before they go up against the Gotei 13 and Soul Society.

Speaking of which, of course it was very interesting to see Ichigo being noticed by the Quincy captain, as it means there could very well be a fight between the two of them in the next chapter. Obviously it’s no guarantee as the captain could have other plans, but if it does go ahead it should be awesome, especially if / when Urahara eventually catches up to Ichigo as well. There is still a lot to come and a lot to expect from this arc and the upcoming chapters, and admittedly this chapter didn’t advance things too much, but overall it was still an enjoyable chapter and one that I really liked reading.

Bleach Chapter 487 – Breathe But Blind – Review / Thoughts

Just as promised in the previous chapter, this week with Bleach 487 we got to see both Ichigo and Urahara, and even some colour panels like the one above! But aside from the awesome colour pictures of Urahara, how was the chapter itself?
 
My first impression of it wasn’t that great to be honest, compared to previous weeks it just didn’t seem as good. Upon reading through it again though my opinion of it is a bit more favourable. I loved the colour panels with Urahara and Ichigo as you probably guessed, and was more than happy with them. Urahara was his usual silly self at times which always makes me laugh, and in what was a mostly serious chapter this kind of humour is a welcome distraction.

In this chapter we do get to see Ichigo, Urahara and Nel etc go to Hueco Mundo like they had planned in the last one. When they get there, the first thing they notice is that they are surrounded by the dead bodies of Arrancar who had been killed during the Vandenreich’s invasion.  The group soon notices that there are a group of Vandenreich gathering yet more Arrancar just as the king had previously requested. The Arrancar are seen being dragged away, and when Ichigo asks what will happen to them, Pesche answers that they will be taken to a camp and be divided in to two groups – one that will end up becoming abducted and held prisoner, and another where they will all be killed immediately.

Without hesitation, Ichigo stands up and says he is going off to save them too, despite Pesche telling him to wait and saying Dodonchakka wasn’t amongst the ones captured. Ichigo replies by saying that it doesn’t matter, and that he will still save Dodonchakka but that in the meantime he might as well save these captured Arrancar as well.  Urahara jokingly comments about how he wonders if Ichigo realises that not too long ago these people were his enemies, but Chad comments on the fact that they all know it doesn’t make a difference, as with the type of person Ichigo is he always wants to save people. Everyone else then begins to follow after Ichigo who had rushed ahead while they were talking.

We then see the supervisor/captain of the Vandenreich’s hunting team – Kirge Opie – who is watching as all the captured Arrancar are made to line up in front of him. A couple of the hooded Arrancar debate amongst themselves whether to go through with their plan or not, with it pretty much being agreed they would soon after. The person in charge then tells all the Arrancar that, starting from the right hand side, he was going to stab them all to death. He then asks if they absolutely wish to live, and to become their comrade, and that if they did, then they are to bow down in front of him and lick his boots.

One of the Arrancar asks that if he agrees to it right away, will they spare his life. He is then stabbed right through the chest, with the captain saying that anyone who fails to understand what he just said will end up the same, and that there is an admission test they all must pass. It’s so illogical even a couple of the other Vandenreich nearby are commenting on whether the captain had any real intentions of taking any of the Arrancar alive in the first place. Just as the captain is about to stab another Arrancar, his attack is knocked back by a sword, which is then pointed in his face.

The captain doesn’t even flinch, and comments that it’s weird they have their swords, as they were supposedly all removed from them.  Then the cloaks are flung off by the Arrancar, who proudly proclaim themselves as aides of Aizen-sama, with them turning out to be Loly and Menoly. Despite their claims that they were superior, both Menoly and Loly are slashed and taken down in almost an instant by the captain. The other Vandenreich nearby asks if they should kill them both, but are told to instead keep them alive, but just give them a severe beating. He then comments to himself about Aizen, thinking that he must not have been worth much if he had such lowly people working for him, though at the same time remembering that even the much stronger Harribel was still no match for the Vandenreich king.

With his back turned, something is suddenly thrown at him, though he catches it without taking any damage all the same. As he turns around, he asks his attackers what they are. They reply by saying that despite badmouthing Harribel-sama, he doesn’t know who they are and refer to him as a useless underling. The people who attacked him turn out to be Apacci, Sun-Sun and Mila Rose.

So yes, that was the content of the chapter, and overall it was a pretty dark one. The Vandenreich of course are extremely oppressive and treating the Arrancar like crap. Anyone who is put in front of them is either cut down on the spot or else taken prisoner, so Kubo is actually doing a great job of making them come across as true villains and complete assholes.

Despite the claim at the end of the last chapter, there was no kind of fighting with either Ichigo or Urahara, so we will unfortunately have to wait a bit longer for that. This chapter did also show the return of more than a few familiar faces, though I personally am not particularly fond of any of the returning characters. But that said, with all the Arrancar members making returns recently, it does mean there is a pretty damn good chance that before long we will end up seeing Grimmjow return as well, and I know myself and plenty of other people will be genuinely delighted with that.

One thing that did piss me off (though in a good way if you get my point) was the way the captain of the hunting team badmouthed Aizen. Now I know Aizen acted like a jerk and trolled countless people, and for that some people dislike him, but I always liked him because he made for a great villain. He was someone who you could love to hate basically. The way he was basically being called weak or inferior by that piece of trash Vandenreich captain really annoyed me though, and made me wish so much that Aizen were free so he could go there, kick his ass, and have him begging for mercy.

Don’t get me wrong here, I am not angry with or criticising Kubo, in a way this is actually praising him. With Aizen he had almost that cool guy feel to him despite being a villain, someone who was just so powerful and hax that you could almost like him for it, but with the Vandenreich they are just being portrayed as purely loathsome and hateful pieces of trash. I have no problem with this, and being a villain is all about getting people to hate you, so in actual fact by getting me to hate them and get so angry with them is actually Kubo doing exactly what he set out to do, and I commend him for his writing.

But yes, it was an enjoyable enough chapter. It wasn’t the best in the world and far from my favourite, but with the colour panels, the few comedy moments, and the possibility of seeing more Arrancar return in the future, it certainly had its’ good points too.

Bleach Chapter 486 – The Crimson Cremation - Review / Thoughts

With chapter 486 I feel Kubo did a great job of placing emotion in to Sasakibe’s funeral, while also possibly hinting at some big stuff happening down the line.
 
As you probably guessed, this chapter has the funeral of Sasakibe in it. I want to praise Tite Kubo though, because considering what an incredibly minor role the character played in the series, it still felt emotional because of the way Kubo wrote it. Byakuya is with Renji and gives a little speech about the kind of man Sasakibe was, and basically it went a long way to showing how loyal and dedicated he was to working with Yamamoto. Yamamoto himself, in a rare turn, is shown to be upset over it too. When he has his back turned to everyone else, it’s clear Sasakibe’s death has made an impact on him, with even Byakuya commenting on how he doesn’t know how Yamamoto must be feeling at the moment.

Moving on, we also found out a little more about what has been happening with Hueco Mundo. As well as Nel’s return, in this chapter we also see that her friend Pesche has come to the human world as well. It’s explained that after the deaths of Starrk and Baraggan, Harribel became the new leader. However, Hueco Mundo was invaded during this time and she was dragged away, while Dondochakka was also kidnapped. Elsewhere, we get to see a bit more from the Vandenreich king, who is seen talking with one of his men. The white haired guy is looking at Ivan’s medallion and comments on how it seems like Ivan couldn’t capture Ichigo’s Bankai. The king then says that it seems like they will need to use a special way to get him, and then orders that the hunting unit of Hueco Mundo is sent out to bring him a few more “idiots” to use.

Back in the human world, everything has clearly been explained to Ishida, Chad and Orihime. Chad immediately knows that this means Ichigo will want to go to Hueco Mundo to rescue the prisoners and says as much, but then Ishida tells them that this time he won’t be joining them. He doesn’t give any reason, but Ichigo doesn’t make a big deal out of it and seems happy enough, saying that he won’t need Ishida’s help anyway. Then, Urahara appears at the window and asks if he should arrange the trip to Hueco Mundo. The chapter ends with a guy in Hueco Mundo ordering some unseen people to keep moving and not to stop. Though with that said, the writing underneath flat out says that next time Urahara and Ichigo will be attacking the enemy army.

This was a really good chapter, and Kubo has delivered once again. The Sasakibe part was awesome as I said, and I loved the Ishida / Ichigo part too. This is a great way of hinting at a possible turn from Ishida, or at the very least having thoughts or doubts about certain things. Since Ishida has helped and backed Ichigo in practically every situation he has ever been in, it does raise questions as to why he is opting out this time. Of course we can guess because he is a Quincy he will play a big role somewhere down the line, and as an Ishida fan I welcome this possibility. I have been wanting more panel time and more of a main role for him for ages, and if he does end up siding with the Quincy it will be very interesting indeed.

I am also extremely excited to hear that Urahara and Ichigo will be fighting in the next chapter. Considering how rare it is for Urahara to physically get involved, this should be a real treat and a real epic moment. It also goes to show how serious things must be if Urahara is willing to get involved again, only previously doing so during the Aizen arc.

I am very excited by a lot of possibilities with this arc in all honesty, Kubo has done a brilliant job thus far and I can forsee that will continue since it is to be the last Bleach arc. A lot of major events are going to happen over the coming chapters, and I can’t wait to see them unfold. With this arc so far, Tite Kubo is showing Kishimoto just how a war should be written.

Bleach Chapter 485 – Foundation Stones - Review / Thoughts

Let’s see, what can you expect from Bleach chapter 485?  A character’s death? Check. Two characters returning to the story? Check. More info on the Vandenreich? Check.  Kubo has really outdone himself this week, and between this and Naruto the Shonen Jump Manga is doing one hell of a great job to make up for the sadness of the Anime coming to an end.
 
The chapter actually starts out pretty grim in tone, we find out that Sasakibe really has died from the wound inflicted upon him by the Vandenreich, and Yuki is informed that he is to go back to Soul Society immediately to attend the funeral. Ishida speculates that the reason Soul Society called to inform someone as low down the ranks as Yuki about what has been happening recently is because they know Ichigo is with him, and that it’s a good indirect way of keeping him informed too. Ichigo is clearly upset and can’t rest properly, so he decides to go out and patrol Karakura just to try and clear his mind. Then from out of nowhere, Nel comes falling from the sky and crashes straight in to Ichigo.

I am delighted to see Nel again, and she is back in her child form for those wondering. Ichigo is rightly surprised and asks about why it has taken all this time for her to come and see him, but then we move on to the palace of the Vandenreich where the king is asking for the reports to be given to him.

I am going to cut to the chase here to keep the review brief and fluid. The king of the Vandenreich is a ruthless S.O.B. The guy he was talking to, Luders Friegen, the same person who’s arm was hacked off by him in the last episode, was lying on the floor in agony. He is panting away and trying to get up off the floor, only to be told by the king that he can stay on the floor if he wants. As Friegen is seemingly about to accept, the king says if he won’t be sitting then he doesn’t need his legs anymore and that he will hack those off too. Friegen is obviously terrified and makes some comment about never lying on the floor while talking to the king as it would be so disrespectful. Friegen then gets up and speaks to the king about the plan to take down Soul Society in 5 days, and comments that in the near future Soul Society will lose it’s balance of souls with the human world.

The king then asks him if he is some sort of prophet. Friegen isn’t sure what he means, but the king repeats himself. Friegen hesitates and says he isn’t, only to be asked why he is talking about the future then, and that the king only wants to talk about now. As soon as he finishes saying that, the king slaughters the guy with one fell swoop, and then starts speaking with Ivan. He tells Ivan that he has no reason to praise him, though he has nothing to blame him for either since he at least slowed down Ichigo. Ivan thanks the king, only to be told that his job is now over and that he would serve as a foundation stone to build peace. Again, as soon as he finishes his comment, the king cuts down Ivan without a shred of mercy.

One of the hooded Vandenreich ask if it was really ok to do that, saying that Arrancars are excellent soldiers because they don’t need to be taught how to fight. The king however says he doesn’t care, as he can easily get as many Arrancars as he likes. Then we get to see a full page of just Harribel chained up somewhere (as you can see from the picture at the top of this page), and one of the hooded Vandenreich comment on the fact that they have already taken over Hueco Mundo, while the king says it’s just another foundation stone to invading Soul Society.

Wow, what an incredible chapter this was! So much revealed, plus the return of both Nel and Harribel just like Kubo spoke of in the recent interview! I am delighted to see them both return, though naturally I feel bad for Harribel being held prisoner by the Vandenreich. Speaking of whom, it was nice to see Ivan confirmed as an Arrancar and proving my earlier guess about him right. The way some of the Vandenreich were speaking, it again hints at the fact they are Quincy too. But having taken over Hueco Mundo is an amazing feat, and if they really can create as many Arrancar as they like, I think Soul Society is going to be in an awful lot of trouble very soon. An army of Vandenreich and Arrancar could finally be the thing that takes down Soul Society, and I really can’t wait to see how things turn out during the war!

The king of the Vandenreich really is merciless and I genuinely wouldn’t put anything past him, I can’t wait to find out what’s in store with him either. And of course, for all the people who have made jokes about Kubo never killing off characters, they can now keep quiet for a while at least since Kubo has done just that in getting rid of Sasakibe. Granted he is hardly a big name or an important character, but I get the feeling his death will be the first of many during this arc, and it wouldn’t surprise me if we end up seeing some of the most popular characters losing their lives at some stage.

Anyway, an absolutely fantastic chapter that reintroduced a couple of awesome characters and also answered some of the questions posed in earlier chapters. And of course, as always, feel free to leave a comment below on your thoughts and predictions for this and future chapters!

Bleach Chapter 484 – The Buckbeard - Review / Thoughts

Chapter 484 of Bleach was pretty interesting for a few reasons, and once again leaves some questions to be answered. Oh, and who doesn’t want to live in an ice palace?
 
On a serious note, this chapter was pretty awesome. We get to see the leader of the Vandenreich, someone who is clearly easily annoyed and very ruthless considering the way he just chopped someone’s arm off because the in-fighting was annoying him. Also revealed was the fact the Vandenreich can use a weird teleportation thing that instantly transported them away from Soul Society before Yamamoto even had a chance to react, as well as also saving Ivan from Ichigo.

I don’t know what on earth it is yet, but it’s definitely not a Garganta as Ichigo commented himself. Interestingly Sasakibe also told Yamamoto that the Vandenreich can use Bankai. This was the really shocking and interesting moment for me, as it really does leave me wondering if they can be Quincy after all. Of course Quincy don’t work the same as Shinigami, but to be able to use Bankai suggests these people must at least have some knowledge or be connected in some way to the Shinigami, as no way would a Quincy be able to use it. Then again, they told Yamamoto that it should be easy for him to work out who they are, and that’s a hint that it is Quincy.

After originally assuming they were Quincy I am now left having doubts, and I really wouldn’t like to say who they are. The favourite still has to be the Quincy, but they are probably modified versions at the very least judging by the Bankai thing and also the way they teleport. The ice palace they are staying in looks awesome too, definitely check out a picture of that if you get the chance.
Overall this was a pretty good chapter, and one that posed a lot of questions. Maybe next week it will shed some light on at least some of it, but for now we are left guessing.

*Feel free to leave a comment below with your ideas / theories on who the Vandenreich could be and how / why they have these powers

Bleach Chapter 483 – KriegsErklärung - Review / Thoughts

So, with the oddly named chapter 483 we continue the final Bleach arc. Last time we were promised war by the mysterious group of people who invaded Soul Society, and this week we see they have the deadline set.

This was a pretty good chapter that also threw up a couple of interesting points. Firstly, I will start with Ivan Azgiaro vs Ichigo which took place in this chapter.

We know Ichigo is strong even without using his Bankai, so when Ivan began taunting Ichigo and trying to get him to use it then I am sure many of use were curious as to why he wanted it to happen so badly. When Ichigo finally relents and uses his Bankai, Ivan begans chanting some weird incantation while thinking to himself that this will put an end to Ichigo’s Bankai for good. I don’t know how or what type of attack it was he used or indeed what he is hoping to accomplish by taking Ichigo’s Bankai away from him, but some people have said that it feels like the kind of thing Ginjo already tried in the last arc – ie stealing Ichigo’s power for himself.

Ichigo shocked Ivan though when, despite being hurt by the attack, he still managed to smash through it by unleashing a Getsuga Tensho. I think Ivan must be working alongside the group who are planning on taking down Soul Society, and heck, he probably thinks that if he can take out Ichigo’s strongest power then that will be a massive blow to Soul Society’s chances of putting up any kind of resistance.

Which brings me to the next point, that being not only did we find out the name for this new group of mysterious people – the Vandenreich – but they also set the deadline for when the end of Soul Society would occur. They have already seemingly killed Yamamoto’s assistant Sasakibe, though maybe he will end up surviving a spear/lance through the chest what with this being Bleach, only time will tell.

But I find it interesting that Kubo probably has plans for the next couple of years at least for Bleach, and yet now the people who appear to be the main enemies have declared Soul Society will be destroyed in five days. Now I personally don’t believe that, and I also have a feeling now that the Vandenreich will not turn out to be the main villains or challenge Soul Society will face.

Just for the fact there is still no sign of the Arrancar such as Grimmjow or Nel, as well as the fact Kubo himself has said he hopes to show Aizen in the Manga again at some stage tells me that there is no way he will allow things to be settled so quickly. I know in Manga time 5 days can be stretched out a lot, but to continue for any reasonable period of time then there is really no way 5 days would be enough even in Manga time if Kubo wanted to get more from the story.

I predict a good few twists and turns yet to come that will throw this stuff out the window, and despite the amount of criticism Kubo seems to get and being called a shit writer etc, I have faith that he will come through on this arc and do a great job. There is certainly plenty more to come and to look forward to though regardless of what does or doesn’t happen, so Bleach is definitely a series to keep your eye on now.

Bleach Chapter 482 – Bad Recognition - Review / Thoughts

Bleach Chapter 482 – What a day to be a member of the Quincy eh?  After reportedly being wiped out by Soul Society years ago, they now come back to declare war.  How Ishida and Ryuken will feel is anyone’s guess!

But yes, Shonen Jump was on a role this week as both Naruto and Bleach turned out superb chapters. After wondering who the man was on Ichigo’s bed last week, I fully expected to find out the answer with the new chapter, but instead only ended up with more mysteries instead.

Everyone assumed that since he had the mask fragment, Ivan was sure to be an Arrancar, but of course in this chapter he denied that being the case.  With what Ivan actually did of course he is either a)  Quincy or  b) working for and / or with the Quincy. It looked very much like the Quincy cross he pulled out to show Ichigo and the attack was like that of a Quincy too, so he is clearly involved somehow. Elsewhere of course people are still going missing in Rukongai with no explanation, but I get the feeling that is something that will be saved for the future.

We knew that the final arc would involve a war, and a group of people (who we can assume to be Quincy members) appeared in front of Yamamoto and flat out declared war there and then. Since they all had their faces obscured and never really said anything else, obviously we can’t know for certain they are Quincy, but for all intents and purposes I think we can safely assume that’s who they are.

That end to the chapter was the best part and pretty awesome, it will definitely be interesting to see Soul Society’s reaction to it and eventually of course both Ishida and his father Ryuken are going to be dragged in to it and forced to pick sides. I think that should this happen Ryuken will side with the Quincy (at least initially) and Ishida will, although not want to help Soul Society, will instead help Ichigo with whatever plan he has, as I can tell already by the type of character Ichigo is that he won’t want either side to fight and he certainly won’t let himself be forced in to choosing sides and going against his beliefs.

A Quincy vs Shinigami war should indeed be interesting and fun to read, and it’s definitely something I have hoped for having wanted Ishida’s rivalry with Ichigo to go further pretty much since the start of the story with his introduction. So with that to look forward to as well as finding out more about Ivan and the disappearances in Rukongai, Bleach still has plenty left to get excited about as the final arc continues.

Bleach Chapter 481 – The Tearing - Review / Thoughts

Now as those of you who read my review of last week’s chapter know, I was disappointed by the slow pace and lack of worthwhile happenings. Initially it looked as though this week would be the same, but then things became interesting at the end.
 
Well usually I go in to descriptions of what happened, but I won’t bother as not an awful lot did take place this week, but I will of course cover the points of interest.

Firstly, it was nice to see some of the Visored again. The opening panel with Hiyori and Lisa was welcome, and they even mentioned other members like Hachi too which is a good sign Kubo hasn’t forgot about them. We also got to see that both Shino and Yuki are ok after the previous hollow attack, because (as you can see from the above picture) they were saved by Ichigo, Chad, Ishida and Orihime. I love the panel showing the four of them standing there facing the hollows, it was one of the highlights of the chapter.

A bit later in the chapter Ikkaku is seen in a rush running somewhere, and when asked confirms he has some news. We don’t find out what that news is in this chapter, but we will know soon enough with any luck. The best and most interesting part of the chapter was right at the end, as Ichigo and friends were sat sorting out the food Orihime had brought over to share, suddenly a man appears on the nearby bed and introduces himself as Ivan Azgiaro. Ichigo turns round and sternly just responds by telling him to get off the bed, and then the chapter ends.

Now of course Azgiaro is a new character, and very much appears to be some kind of Arrancar. Kubo hinted in the recent interview about some members of the Arrancar making a return, and it wouldn’t surprise me if this was his way of reintroducing them. From the impression I got Azgiaro doesn’t seem like an enemy or a threat, and is most likely just some sort of messenger for someone else. With this new character’s sudden appearance and Ikkaku’s unknown news there were certainly a few interesting things thrown up in the latest chapter, and overall it was these two things that stood out and saved what otherwise would have been an extremely plain outing for Bleach.

I am looking forward to seeing what is to come next week, and if you plan on reading the next chapter then reading this one is pretty much essential too.

Bleach Chapter 480 – The Thousand Year Blood War - Review / Thoughts

So with this chapter begins the final arc of Bleach. From the recent interviews a lot of possibilities were opened up for storylines, and it appears the main overall plot will be a war between Soul Society and the Quincy. But getting back to here and now, how did the arc start quality wise with chapter 480?

Well the chapter itself wasn’t that great unfortunately, though this only being the beginning of what will probably be a very long arc, I had pretty much expected as much. It started off very well with some lovely colour pages showing Mayuri and the correction squad in a panic over the amount of Hollows in Karakura town, who were being completely wiped out on a massive scale by something other than Shinigami, who Mayuri only referred to as “Them”. While not 100% confirmed, it’s pretty safe to say that Them is almost certainly the Quincy, though that would be very interesting considering the only two remaining Quincy readers are currently aware of are Ishida and his father Ryuuken.

After we see that in the colour pages is when things take a bit of a downturn, we see a couple of new characters in this chapter who are being sent to Karakura town to help with the control of Hollows, as Soul Society does not want to place too much work on Ichigo, and the other Shinigami who was helping to guard the town had left that position. There are a few funny moments between the two new characters – Yuki and Shino. Later we see Shino and Yuki searching for Hollows in the town, but when Yuki finds one and is hoping for some help from Shino, he finds she has been attacked and defeated already by a Hollow, laid out by a single blow. Yuki panics and wonders if the same fate awaits him, but as the hollow approaches, he is saved by the sudden appearance of Ichigo who cuts down the Hollow with ease.

That was pretty much it for the chapter this week, Mayuri at the start was awesome and Ichigo’s appearance at the end was pretty damn badass and a nice way to end the chapter, but overall it just felt a little flat. No doubt over time things will pick up and we will find out a lot more about everything, so hopefully the pace can still quicken up even if only a little for the upcoming chapters.

Bleach Chapter 479 – Goodbye to Our Xcution - Review / Thoughts

My first Bleach review for this site, since the Fullbring arc is brought to a close with this chapter, I thought this was as good a time as any to start. But anyway, on to the chapter itself.

Well let me start by saying I think the Fullbring arc as a whole has been very good, it’s my favourite since Turn back the Pendulum in fact. While the ending wasn’t the greatest, overall I think it was a great way to start over after the battle with Aizen. But yes, this is the last chapter of the Fullbring arc regardless, with Kubo apparently mentioning a new arc starting immediately.

I want to say I loved the chapter this week, the arc definitely went out on a high note as we see what happens after the conclusion of Ichigo’s battle with Ginjo. Ichigo himself, ever the noble person, goes to Soul Society requesting Ginjo’s body since he wants to bury him in the mortal/human world. Of course it takes the other captains etc by surprise upon hearing his request, but really of course the readers know it’s pretty typical behaviour for Ichigo. A bit later in the chapter we also get to see Riruka’s departure. After sneaking away from Urahara’s store where she was resting, she eventually disappears herself without telling anyone since she knew everybody would remember her anyway, and she silently thanks Ichigo, Orihime, Chad and Ginjo in her thoughts before disappearing.

I don’t want to ruin it for anyone who is yet to read the chapter, but two familiar faces also make an appearance in this chapter and have apparently returned for good, something I quite honestly couldn’t be happier about, especially as one of them is one of my favourite characters.  This chapter did a good job of wrapping up a couple of loose ends and felt like a rather satisfying end to the arc, what kind of impact the returning characters will have remains to be seen, but overall I loved this chapter much like I have the majority of the Fullbring arc.

What does Kubo have in store next? Who knows, but unfortunately Bleach will be going on yet another break, and this time for 3 weeks, so we will sadly have a long wait to find out.

Naruto Chapter 583 – Who is This? – Review / Thoughts

Let me start by saying that Naruto chapter 583 is a full chapter of flashbacks, though thankfully they all contain new material, that being more of Kabuto’s past / backstory.
 
I said last week that I wanted more action, and while that hasn’t changed, on this occasion I am not going to complain about not getting what I was hoping for. In fact, this is kind of what I was also hoping for, that being more info on Kabuto. I complained about the lack of info we got from last week’s chapter considering what should be a long and storied life for Kabuto, so this chapter definitely delivers more on that which is something I am grateful for.

As I said, the whole chapter is flashbacks to Kabuto’s backstory, so if you don’t like this type of chapter or if you don’t like Kabuto, then you are probably going to find this pretty boring admittedly. It was pretty interesting though I have to say, as we got to see both Orochimaru and Danzo in their younger days (and working together), plus we found out how Orochimaru first met Kabuto.

Danzo again showed in this chapter that he was willing to play dirty to get what he wants, with this time him threatening to stop all funding to the orphanage Kabuto was at unless Nonou (Kabuto’s “Mother”) agreed to take part in a very long and risky mission to gather intelligence in the hidden rock village. At first of course Nonou didn’t want to leave the orphanage, and hence why Danzo resorted to the threats. Even after she eventually agreed, Danzo told them that since one of the Root members of his team died in the last mission, he would be taking a child from the orphanage as a replacement. Of course there are objections to that too, but Kabuto is outside and overhears the whole thing, and with Orochimaru’s earlier words about how he would make a good shinobi still clearly resonating inside of him, Kabuto volunteers himself to go so that the orphanage won’t suffer.

It goes to show how much Kabuto valued his adopted family and home, as despite having no interest whatsoever in becoming a ninja, he still gave in and volunteered himself just so that the funding for the orphanage wouldn’t be stopped. Oh, also slightly going back a bit, when one of the other people in charge said that there was no way Danzo could stop their funding because they had an agreement with the Third Hokage himself, one of the hooded guys along with Orochimaru made a thinly veiled threat by saying that it would be very easy for a ninja to sneak in and rob the orphanage considering they couldn’t afford to hire a bodyguard / security. It shows just what Danzo and Root were capable of, and that’s why it’s no real surprise to me that Orochimaru once worked alongside Danzo.

What really stood out to me though was one panel in particular, where even after Kabuto put glasses on his mother (after she repeatedly asked Kabuto who he was years later when Kabuto was there healing her, but of course didn’t have her glasses on) she still didn’t recognise him. The panel was brilliant, because it genuinely showed the moment where it looked like Kabuto just broke inside. I mean, his whole life was a mystery to him apart from his time at the orphanage and the love and bonds he had developed with her, so when the person he cared about most didn’t even recognise his face anymore, it’s no wonder he apparently snapped / became broken like that. Shortly after that, when Kabuto was looking in to a small puddle of water wondering why his own “mother” didn’t even recognise him and what the point of his existance even was anymore, Orochimaru appeared and told him that he remembers who Kabuto is.

Of course I never covered every incident that happened in the chapter, but those were the main focal points in any case. It was really interesting actually having the chance to see Danzo and Orochimaru together like that, as we knew from Tobi’s comments during Sasuke’s fight with Danzo that they had some sort of previous affilliation / relationship. Danzo once again proved that he was willing to do absolutely anything for what he considered to be the greater good, and also how Orochimaru first met Kabuto back when he was a boy, and how years later they met again shortly after the whole incident with Kabuto’s mother.

Since it was clear from the start of the chapter that Orochimaru had a strong interest in Kabuto, some people are already speculating that Orochimaru could well have played a hand in the later events too, saying that he may well have put some kind of spell on Kabuto’s mother so she would forget who he was, or even setting up the events leading to her dying. Although nobody can say for sure, it would come as little surprise if it did turn out to be the case considering how little regard Orochimaru has for others, as well as his constant desire to recruit people he sees potential in.

But yes, although not a fantastic chapter, I still found it quite enjoyable just for getting to see how Orochimaru and Kabuto met, and also seeing Danzo and Orochimaru together. Next week looks like it could well be another flashback chapter too, and although seeing more of Kabuto’s past would by no means be a bad thing, it is getting a bit tiresome with every single chapter now being complete flashbacks. Decent chapter though overall, and hopefully soon we can move back to happenings and battles in the present.

Naruto Chapter 582 – Nothing – Review / Thoughts

I might as well get this out of the way now: For anyone who has been looking forward to this week to see Izanami, you will be disappointed, as it is nowhere to be seen here. Instead we are given a flashback to some of Kabuto’s childhood.
 
So yes, this was another flashback heavy chapter with little actual fighting happening. The past few weeks have been like this now, and to be honest it would be nice to see some proper action again soon. While in recent weeks it has been involving Itachi and Sasuke, this chapter is all about Kabuto.

As you can see from the picture above, he has grown extremely confident and arrogant of late, and he clearly considers himself to be a step above any other shinobi at present. Of course considering he created an army of Edo Tensei, powered up Zetsus and himself has a new form of Sage Mode, he has clearly accomplished a lot since his days as Orochimaru’s henchman, but it still doesn’t sit right for the readers who know that inevitably this is going to be the typical villain’s speech bragging how good they are, only for the next week or two coming and them getting their asses handed to them by whoever they are fighting.

Kabuto did at least damage Itachi in this chapter though. He used a jutsu that allowed him to control inanimate objects, and used the jutsu to make the stalagmites in the cave come down on top of Sasuke and Itachi. Sasuke was protected by Susanoo, but only because Itachi slowed himself down to do it to protect Sasuke, and thus ended up getting himself impaled by them. Of course, being an Edo Tensei means it didn’t really make any difference to Itachi.

Perhaps the best moment of the chapter then followed with Kabuto charging towards Itachi, ready to rewrite the tag in him now that he was incapacitated, only for Sasuke to use Amaterasu to create a barrier of black flames around himself and Itachi so that Kabuto couldn’t get near them, something that even impressed Kabuto as it was using such a powerful destructive attack as a defensive tactic.

But aside from that, it was all pretty much Kabuto backstory. Now I am usually one of the first people to stand up for backstories and I do enjoy them an awful lot most of the time, but I don’t know, despite Kabuto being one of the main villains and having the possibility of a very interesting history considering he was an orphan and a spy, instead it just felt pretty flat. It was still good getting a glimpse of how he was found and what he was like as a child considering that he has been in Naruto for ages and this is the first real look we have had at him, but it just wasn’t that interesting.

The woman who took in Kabuto actually looked quite a lot like an older version of him, so maybe a bit later something will be revealed about that. But anyway, basically the whole flashback was Kabuto explaining how he has never known who he is, he was found with no name and no memories of even his own parents, so he has always been “nothing” and “nobody”. It almost echoes Tobi’s own comments of late, except for the fact Kabuto seems to have some idea of who he is now, and of course it’s clear he has no problems trying to make a name for himself and be a someone. Heck, it seems to me like that’s very much what he has really been wanting from the start, some form of true identity and recognition.

Overall it was a pretty meh chapter, nothing exciting happened and it was very flashback heavy as I said. It was very disappointing not seeing Izanami this week after the last chapter, but to be honest there just wasn’t anything that made this chapter stand out as anything great, but at the same time it wasn’t terrible either. This was basically just an extremely average chapter, and even if you’re a Kabuto fan I can’t see you enjoying this chapter especially. Hopefully next week shall be an improvement.

Naruto Chapter 581 – Everyone’s Leaf – Review / Thoughts

In the past few chapters we have seen a focus solely on Sasuke and Itachi vs Kabuto, and Naruto chapter 581 is no different in that regard.
 
This was a kind of interesting chapter in all honesty, the thought of an actual battle was thrown out the window in favour of more talking.

While this type of chapter isn’t to everyone’s taste, I have always been a fan of them, as they usually end up revealing something big or important. What was interesting about this is the way that Sasuke was acting / reacting to what Kabuto had to say, and it actually revealed more about Sasuke’s nature now than I expected. After the recent chapters, I commented on how Sasuke seemed to be back to his old ways where he wasn’t just full of hatred and wanting to destroy everything in the name of revenge, and admittedly I was thinking that maybe he would stay that way after meeting Itachi, but after this it has raised fresh doubts in my mind.

I thought it was pretty awesome how Kabuto was still trying to talk Sasuke in to siding with him, and basically trying to work on the psyche of Sasuke. Kabuto told Sasuke once again about what a liar Itachi is, but also told him in harsher and more realistic words that the Itachi Sasuke sees in front of him now is nothing more than a dead wooden doll, and that he has no reason to feel guilty if he wants to switch over to Kabuto’s side.

Then came my favourite part of the chapter in the form of a short flashback Sasuke has, that appears to have happened shortly after Itachi’s death. A hooded Sasuke is actually in Konoha at a bar, and listens to a conversation a group of Konoha ninja are having about the news of Itachi’s death. They are all glad Itachi was killed, with one of them saying it was fitting punishment that one of Itachi’s comrades was the one to kill him considering Itachi had massacred his own comrades. Another person then says how he wanted to be the one to kill Itachi, and stabs a picture of him with his kunai. A look of pure hatred comes across Sasuke’s face as he listens a bit more to the group, with one of them saying that the village and the country will probably want to give Sasuke a medal and a good wage for killing an S-Rank criminal like that.

Then, a Kunai quickly appears from under Sasuke’s robe and in to his hand. Just as he is about to turn and confront the men, a hand is placed on his shoulder, and it’s revealed to be Tobi. Tobi tells Sasuke That the people he is angry with don’t know the truth, and that the place was too crowded anyway. Sasuke tells Tobi that he will tell them the truth, but Tobi just tells Sasuke to stop it, saying that they would never believe him anyway, and that even if these villagers asked the higher-ups then they would deny everything. Tobi then tells Sasuke that this is what Itachi wanted, he wanted to be labelled a traitor to the village for the sake of everyone in it.

Back in the present, Sasuke tells Kabuto that he is not like him, and that his reasons for wanting to crush the Leaf Village are his own. Kabuto then goes on to say that he knows why Itachi did what he did, saying he is the same, and explains about his childhood and how ever since he was first adopted by a Konoha ninja, he has been working hard for the village and making sacrifices. But despite doing so, all that ended up happening was he became distrusted just because he wasn’t originally from Konoha, and that both he and Itachi ended up getting nothing but shame and dishonour brought upon them in exchange for all they did for the village. Kabuto asks what has the village ever done for either of them, and tells Sasuke about how he too was molded in to a different person because of the way he was treated, and says that since he can understand Sasuke better than anyone else can, he will become his new older brother and stay at his side if Sasuke will come with him.

Itachi responds by telling Sasuke not to listen to Kabuto, saying that all this means is that Kabuto is a better liar than he is. Itachi then admits that Konoha is flawed and does have a darker side to it, but says that ultimately he is still Itachi Uchiha of the Leaf Village. Itachi goes on to say that he can’t criticise Sasuke for what he has done or how he has turned out, but that there is still one thing he has to say to him, though it will have to wait until after they stop Kabuto.

Kabuto begins boasting about how they can’t win and how his Edo Tensei is invincible. Itachi says to Sasuke that while Kabuto is annoying, he does have a point with what he is saying. Itachi then says Kabuto doesn’t know the true strength of the Uchiha, and says that the Uchiha’s eye power can affect a person regardless of their 5 senses, but that in exchange they lose the light from their eyes. Sasuke asks if he means Izanagi which takes Itachi by surprise. Itachi asks Sasuke how he knows about it, and when Sasuke tells him he encountered it during his fight with Danzo, Itachi tells Sasuke that it was impressive that he could survive against it.

Sasuke kind of shrugs off the comment and just asks how to use Izanagi, but Itachi tells him it’s not Izanagi he had in mind, instead it was something else, something that forms a pair with Izanagi. Sasuke replies by saying “Another one?” obviously wondering what it could be, while Itachi explains it’s already been prepared and calls it the ultimate jutsu that shall hold his destiny, with Kabuto now charging straight for them. Itachi blocks Kabuto’s attack with his sword, and reveals the technique is named Izanami. Itachi tells Sasuke that if Izanagi is a jutsu that can change destiny, then Izanami is a technique that can decide it, with the chapter ending as Itachi tells Sasuke to just stay close behind him.

Overall this was a decent enough chapter, though I admit myself I would like to see some more actual fighting in the next chapter. The flashback with Sasuke was awesome and was my favourite part of the chapter as I said earlier, and it was good hearing a bit more about Kabuto as well. The main talking point however is inevitably going to be about the new technique Itachi spoke of, Izanami.

It’s going to be pretty controversial in any case, as the Sharingan and its’ powers get a lot of grief from some fans as it is for the stupid amount of powerups and hax it has, so with yet another new technique I am sure it will make a lot of people unhappy. While I for one am excited and looking forward to seeing just what this technique is and what it does, I will admit that the Sharingan gaining new powers seemingly every time an Uchiha is in trouble is over the top.

Moving away from that briefly, I think this chapter also showed that maybe Sasuke really hasn’t moved on in any way since he first became “crazy”.  The past few weeks it appeared as if there had been a change in him since meeting with Itachi, but it felt like Kabuto did a good job of peeling back this veil and underneath revealing that maybe, just maybe, Sasuke doesn’t trust Itachi that much afterall, and that there is a decent chance that once Itachi is out of the picture once more, Sasuke will go back to his goal of crushing Konoha.
So as I said, I am pretty curious about Izanami, especially after Itachi’s words. If whatever it is takes away a user’s light, it must be something pretty amazing like Izanagi. With Itachi saying that Izanami is a technique that can decide someone’s fate it is of course intentionally vague, but I would like to hear what your thoughts on it are and what it may be, so any ideas or theories just leave in the comments box below!

So overall a pretty good chapter in any case, but yet again one that has left me more anxious to see the follow up rather than loving what is already released.

Naruto Chapter 580 – Brotherly Time - Review / Thoughts

I am going to be honest, the only way to describe Naruto chapter 580 is sweet. Sweet is exactly what it is as we get to see not only Sasuke and Itachi working together, but also glimpses of them doing so in their younger days too.
 
This was yet another awesome chapter, and I think it would be impossible not to love it for anyone who likes the Uchiha bros. I have always liked the relationship between the two of them, and it’s really nice seeing how after all these years and all the crap that’s happened to them, they are still in sync with each other when it comes to thoughts and working together.

We obviously saw them taking on Kabuto last week, and the fight continues in this chapter. Two whole chapters in a row dedicated to the Uchiha vs Kabuto fight pleases me personally, though I am sure there will be some who are annoyed at this. Kabuto continues to impress, he performed one amazing technique which left both Itachi and Sasuke unable to move or see, and even made Sasuke start losing the ability to keep his Susanoo going. It was a blinding flash of light and hypersonic sound that practically rendered everyone but Kabuto blind and paralysed, with Kabuto himself admitting it’s only because of his Sage Mode,  his Snake abilities and the power to liquify his body that he can still do so.

Kabuto initially thinks about taking Itachi first, as then he could rewrite the tag placed inside of him and regain full control, but then decides to go after Sasuke instead. Itachi however blocks Kabuto’s effort to get Sasuke, with him then remembering about how Itachi can probably sense his Chakra. This part was a bit confusing due to translations, where the person doing so bemoaned the difficulty of accurate Japanese translations. So I will leave you to read that yourself, though the part where Kabuto referred to Itachi as a “Liar Ninja” was pretty awesome, with him saying about how he lied his entire life, even dying while still lying to Sasuke, and that he was excellent at doing so.
 
Since the whole chapter was fighting, I will just leave it at saying that the fight was awesome and that you should read it yourself to find out the rest. Nothing major happened yet, as by the end of the chapter things were back to stage 1 in terms of a winner / outcome.

I loved this chapter though, all the flashback parallels were amazing and showed why I like the relationship between Itachi and Sasuke so much. We got to see them in the past hunting a wild boar, with Itachi and Sasuke working together back then. After everything was done, Sasuke apologised to Itachi for not being much use, while Itachi said he still had a lot to learn. Then it moved back to the present, with Itachi smirking and commenting on how these days Sasuke would have no problem doing it.

It was a really nice and touching moment to be honest, after all this time it appears Itachi and Sasuke are somewhat reconciling and Itachi is being quick to praise Sasuke. I also like it because it has changed Sasuke back to the way he was in his younger days before he went crazy, this Sasuke is the best Sasuke, and it’s all down to Itachi that we are getting to see him again after so long. It’s clear that the bond between Itachi and Sasuke is extremely strong and will never be broken, and in the recent chapters it has me convinced at long last that Sasuke can still change his ways and gain what some people would call “redemption”.

Obviously there could be some twists and turns yet to come, but for now that appears to be the way things are headed.

In any case, this was another fantastic chapter with Kishimoto doing himself proud. If you’re an Uchiha fan then this is unmissable, but even if you’re not, the battle between them and Kabuto by itself is definitely good enough to warrant your time and attention anyway.

Naruto Chapter 579 – Brothers, Fight as One! - Review / Thoughts

I honestly don’t even know how I am going to be able to review Naruto chapter 579, I was in such shock and awe the entire time I had a hard job of taking everything in. I wasn’t sure whether to call Kishimoto a troll or a genius, either way, this was one hell of an interesting and exciting chapter.
 
Kabuto impressed the hell out of me in this chapter, I admit that I thought he would get his ass kicked by Itachi and Sasuke, but he has done a good job of proving me wrong. His techniques were amazing, and showing off his knowledge of Sasuke’s former Taka teammates was incredible. I was pretty disappointed when Kabuto confirmed what some fans have been speculating for ages, that being Karin is an Uzumaki. It feels so unnecessary and tacked on, we already had the big reveal ages ago that Nagato was an Uzumaki which I didn’t have a problem with, but as I said, Karin being one serves no real purpose.

Anyway, back to the positives. Both Sasuke and Itachi used their Susanoo against Kabuto and his Snakes, and seeing the two Susanoo together was admittedly one of the things I was most looking forward to in regards to an Uchiha bros teamup. It goes to show the skill and talent Kabuto possesses since he has so far been able to dodge and keep up with two Uchiha clan members in Susanoo mode.

But that said, I want to quickly move on to the main thing here, that being Kabuto’s reveal at the end of the chapter. Kabuto gaining Sage Mode is something nobody probably ever expected, I know I certainly didn’t! Going back to my earlier point, his knowledge of the inner workings of Sasuke’s ex Taka comrades has served him brilliantly. By studying Suigetsu and his clan, Kabuto has been able to liquify his own body to move between places. He also revealed of course that Karin is an Uzumaki, and most importantly, he revealed the nature (pardon the phrase) of Jugo’s ability. I can’t remember exactly how that went because I was so excited throughout I was rushing through the pages, but it was through that Kabuto was able to aquire his Sage Mode.

Kabuto’s Sage Mode was incredibly unexpected, and the way he told Sasuke that he wasn’t a Snake anymore, but instead is a Dragon was such an epic moment. Seriously, Kabuto being a Dragon is a weird but incredible twist, and I honestly can’t wait to see the kind of amazing powers he is sure to have. What I will say is that Sasuke repeatedly being referred to as Dr Snakes was as hilarious as it was bad. I am glad his knowledge of snakes and what they can do was acknowledged, but that name was beyond ridiculous, I am almost hoping it was the translators trolling haha.

But yes, as you may well have gathered, I thought this was an absolutely incredible chapter and one you can’t afford to miss. The Uchiha bros vs Kabuto has taken a very interesting turn to say the least, and I can see myself reading this chapter more than a few times before the next one comes out next week and settles my desire for more Naruto!