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.