Bleach Chapter 573 – Kenpachi VS Gremmy

Is there anything Gremmy can imagine to counter Zaraki?

I finally figured out what was going on in the previous chapter…I was under the impression that Guenael was a separate Sternritter from Gremmy but after rereading chapter 572 it was so obvious that he was a product of Gremmy’s imagination…ah, how exactly did I miss out on picking that up =/. Well, Gremmy is the “V” Sternritter, the “Visionary” Gremmy. It also seems that Gremmy doesn’t need to construct a separate dimension to allow his imagination ability to come into play, he has the freedom to manifest anything he imagines right into reality. But well, Zaraki Kenpachi is here, and it seems even imagination trembles in the presence of him.

Bleach Chapter 572 – “Fantasy” Boy

Who is this boy? A Sternritter?

Just when I was thinking how lame it was that we would have another battle being dragged on by parties revealing the secrets to their abilities, we get a shocker of a development in the form of a mysterious boy who ends up effortlessly dispatching Guenael and handling Yachiru like a packet of cookies =/. I honestly have no idea what actually happened, is that boy a Sternritter? If so, then why did he dispose of Guenael, was it because Guenael wasn’t strong enough to defeat his opponents? Well whatever actually happened, with Zaraki on the scene, things are about to be rocked hard!

Bleach Chapter 571 – Yachiru’s Zanpakutou

Yachiru unsheathes her zanpakutou

Finally we are getting to see Yachiru in a fight and she does resemble Zaraki in quite a lot of ways. Her instinctual personality driving her actions and reactions has amusingly ended up being a blind-spot in Sternritter “V”‘s (Gwenael Lee) vanishing point ability and after seeing him attempt to give Yachiru a finishing blow, each time he failed, Yachiru has gotten noticeable faster at reacting and countering Gwenael. Once Yachiru pulled out her zanpakutou, Sanpo Kenjuu, it looked pretty bleak for Gwenael, and after seeing Yachiru pull out her shikai and utilise its ‘copycat’ ability, Gwenael may very well need to power-up if he hopes to stand a chance against this mini-Zaraki. Gwenael probably has some more tricks up his sleeve, but Yachiru will reign supreme in the end, especially if she does have her bankai form achieved – she already knows her zanpakutou’s name, so she may have achieved the bankai form.

Bleach Chapter 570 – Rukia’s Bankai (Part 2)

Quite the dangerous Bankai Rukia has – colour by DEOHVI

The intro to the chapter completely shifted the feel I had with the last chapter in making the fight extend longer then I initially wanted and having Byakuya save Rukia before leaving Äs Nödt to her. I was of the opinion that the way Äs Nödt was seemingly defeated at the end of chapter 568 should have been left as that, but with some back story of Äs Nödt’s being covered this chapter, I totally love how his character was able to get some fleshing out thanks to the previous chapter and the way in which Rukia defeated Äs Nödt. The irony in having a fearful man wield fear. But in another way it makes complete sense for a person so associated with fear to be the one handling it as a “tool”. With the end of one Sternritter and the appearance of another one, who seems to also have a tricky and dangerous ability, the chapter managed to portray itself as a solid and successful one.