Bleach 23 by Tite Kubo: C

From the back cover:
The Arrancars, Hollows that have attained Soul Reaper-like powers, have descended on Karakura Town. Led by Grimmjow Jeagerjaques, they plan to eliminate anyone who poses a threat to them. And their deadly hunt doesn’t stop with Ichigo and the Soul Reapers—the Arrancars are after anyone with even a trace of spiritual powers!

Review:
Pardon me a moment while I indulge in a snicker over the name Grimmjow Jeagerjaques.

Ahem. Okay, moving on. I don’t know whether it’s the wait between volumes or that the story has really gotten majorly worse, but I found this to be thoroughly dull. Some Hollows with stupid names arrived and began fights with various Soul Reapers. Yawn. I don’t even fully understand this Arrancar business to begin with, so it all just seemed utterly pointless.

Still more pointless was some fanboy fodder involving Rangiku and her boobs (again). She just had to take a bath at Orihime’s house and then pounce and straddle the other girl while administering love advice in the nude. It was utterly retarded and served absolutely no narrative purpose whatsoever. I suppose that’s the definition of fanservice, but this is the first time I’ve seen an extended sequence like this in Bleach and I am annoyed by its appearance.

I’m glad I’m just reading this series from the library. I’ll probably give it a couple more volumes to regain my interest, but at the moment I’m not feeling too optimistic about it.