From the back cover:
During a bloody confrontation with a sadistic Soul Reaper, Uryuu chooses a path that will temporarily grant him enormous power, at great personal cost. Meanwhile, Ichigo races to master a powerful technique that will help him fight Byakuya and, hopefully, save Rukia from execution.
Review:
I had tried to take a break from Bleach to read some Hana-Kimi, but I just couldn’t summon any interest in Nakatsu’s embarrassing mother when Uryuu’s battle was still unfinished.
The first few chapters bring resolution to Uryuu’s fight while also giving an explanation for the swanky new glove that he began sporting prior to the start of this arc. The fight with Kurotsuchi was pretty cool, though I particularly liked the end, when a thoroughly battered Uryuu thought he was going to be the one to rescue Rukia, only to run into yet another Soul Reaper captain.
Ichigo’s training segments were not really very interesting, but did lead to a very unexpected revelation—Urahara’s identity! It wasn’t a total surprise, but part of it was, and also made perfect sense. I also appreciated that the reason the now-imprisoned supporting cast had been kept alive also made sense (they’re wanted for questioning regarding Aizen’s death).
I usually like the murder subplot involving just the Soul Reapers, but it was a little slow this volume. The cliffhanger promises more action next time. While I’d like to know who killed Aizen, I’m really more interested in why, since that will provide the reason to actually care about the impact it’ll have on the Soul Society.
[…] Reviews: At MangaCast, Ed podcasts his thoughts on Walkin’ Butterfly and 10, 20, 30. It must be Dan Polley week at Manga Life, because all the new reviews are by him: vol. 1 of Psycho Busters, vol. 5 of Omukae Desu, vol. 6 of Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch, vol. 10 of xxxHoLic, vol. 2 of Trigun, and vol. 11 of Nodame Cantabile. Dave Ferraro is seriously unimpressed by Portus at Comics-and-More. Charles Tan reviews vol. 16 of Eyeshield 21 at Bibliophile Stalker. Tiamat’s Disciple posts an overview of Bride of the Water God and a review of vol. 1 of Fruits Basket. In her Comics Unlimited column, Johanna Draper Carlson reviews a quartet of graphic novels, including the Azumanga Daioh omnibus. At Anime on DVD, Sakura Eries reviews vol. 1 of With the Light. Julie reviews vol. 1 of Venus in Love, vol. 3 of Canon, vol. 27 of Boys Over Flowers, and Pet On Duty at the Manga Maniac Cafe. Noted North American Manga Expert Kethylia reviews vol. 1 of Mugen Spiral and vol. 2 of Le Chevalier d’Eon as well as the novel Chain Mail. At Otaku Champloo, Khursten takes a long look at One Piece. Miranda checks out vol. 1 of Gyo at Prospero’s Manga, and co-blogger Billy (Ferdinand) Aguiar reviews vol. 1 of Street Fighter II at CBGXtra. At About Heroes, EvilOmar celebrates Manga Monday with a flurry of reviews. Connie reviews MW, vols. 5, 6, and 7 of Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch, vol. 2 of Parasyte, vol. 5 of Enchanter, and vol. 8 of Dragon Head at Slightly Biased Manga. At Active Anime, Scott Campbell checks out vol. 3 of My Heavenly Hockey Club, Holly Ellingwood reviews vol. 7 of ES: Eternal Sabbath, vol. 1 of Vanilla, and vol. 1 of Camera Camera Camera, Davey C. Jones critiques vol. 9 of Genshiken, and Rachel Bentham looks at vol. 7 of Sugar Sugar Rune. Katie McNeill reviews vol. 1 of Suppli and vols. 3 and 4 of The Tarot Cafe at Blogcritics. Mary Lee includes Sonia Leong’s manga adaptation of Romeo and Juliet in A Year of Reading. At The Star of Malaysia, Tokiko Oba reviews Tekkonkinkreet and Pauline Wong looks at vol. 1 of Zombie-Loan. Claire Martin of The Denver Post enjoys With the Light, and sees her disorientation when trying to read it as a reflection of the subject matter. At Soliloquy in Blue, Michelle gives her take on vols. 14, 15, 16, and 17 of Bleach. John T reviews Apollo’s Song at Mecha Mecha Media. Jog posts a lengthy essay on Black Jack at The Savage Critics. Hung checks out MW on the BasuGasuBakuhatsu Anime Blog. […]