Bleach 536 Review – “June Truth”

Bleach 536 Review – “June Truth”

Written by: ClayDragon

The flashback is over! Except it’s not.

After his sudden appearance in Masaki’s mind/Inner World/wherever, Isshin taunts the Hollow briefly before killing it with one Getsuga Tenshou. Masaki proceeds to scream and (showing no shame whatsoever) glomps Isshin whilst bombarding him with questions, which culminates with him berating her as she asks for his name. Back in the real world, Urahara confirms that he was able to connect their souls, and that Masaki will be fine.

Meh. Ichigo's Inner Hollow is much better.

Relieved, Isshin looks at Masaki, who starts reminiscing about the events in her Inner World. Outside, Ryuuken meets up with Katagiri, who asks him about Masaki. She then disobeys his order to tell his mother what happened, and says that seeing him sad is breaking her heart, and that she has devoted her life to him ever since they were kids (All who believe that she turns out to be Uryu’s mother, raise your hands). Ryuuken then seems to ignore this, and suggests they go home.

"Yeah, I'm awesome. Deal with it."

Isshin then begins to narrate the story, and fills Ichigo in on what happened after Masaki was saved. It transpires that she left the Ishida household (i.e. got kicked out) shortly after finishing high school, and went on to university. It would also seem that Ryuuken influenced the decision to expel Masaki, as he wanted to sever all ties to her. As for Isshin, he opened a small clinic using his knowledge from the Soul Society academy, with help from Urahara.  He received regular visits from Masaki, and they grew closer and closer.

"Still awesome!"

And then Ichigo was born. Isshin stops the narration, saying that the rest is as Ichigo knows it. It turns out that when Ichigo gained his Inner Hollow, the link between Isshin’s body and the Hollow was destroyed, and Isshin regained his Soul Reaper powers.  Finally, Isshin has one last bombshell to drop: the date this conversation takes place is 9 years to the day after Masaki died, and apparently there’s another reason as to why she died.

This chapter saw the end of the main flashback (and the beginning of what can be assumed to be a mini-flashback) and it answered most of the underlying questions about Isshin and Masaki’s relationship.  The fact that it (most likely) confirmed that Katagiri was Uryu’s mother was interesting, although it does raise the question of where she is now. If she’s dead, then that means that Ryuuken must have terrible luck with women.

Domestic abuse at its most horrific.

The fact that Masaki’s death had another reason behind it is quite confusing, as it was already pretty well established that she died trying to protect a young Ichigo from the Grand Fisher; a fact which was confirmed by both Isshin and the Grand Fisher. Until we find out, this one is going to keep me guessing.

This chapter moved the story along at a decent pace and saw the end of the “Boy meets Girl” flashback, whilst hinting at a more sinister reason for Masaki’s death. Not bad for seventeen pages.

Manga Rating: 4/5

ClayDragon:









ClayDragon is currently studying Physics at university, and is constantly bewildered by it. The main method of contacting him is his Gmail account at kyleroulston1993@gmail.com. The alternative is his Skype account at kyleroulston1993. When not playing games or reading, he can be found with his head in his hands whilst trying in vain to understand quantum physics.