Bleach 574 Review – “DEATH IN VISION”

Bleach 574 Review – “DEATH IN VISION”

Written by: ClayDragon

Apologies for the lateness of this one, I was busy on Wednesday and my computer decided to freak the hell out on Thursday, meaning I had to do a complete system reset. Bring back the typewriter, I say!

Down on the ground, a number of Soul Reapers notice the huge rock cube created by Guremi, and wonder what’s going on. One of them realises that he can sense Kenpachi’s reiatsu coming from the cube, and they begin to celebrate, thinking that they can turn the tide of the battle. Meanwhile, Kenpachi is less than impressed with his supporters, and complains that they’re getting loud.

Hello, Unnamed Shinigamis #4 and #5! Guess how important you'll be to the plot?

Guremi, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to care, and says that they’re free to imagine whatever they want. Kenpachi notices that the wound on Guremi’s arm has vanished, and asks if he can heal his own wounds. The reply is that Guremi simply imagined that the wounds he received have already healed, and as such he’s back to full strength.

"But at least I have followers. Do you have followers?"

Whilst this exchange is going on, the Soul Reapers on the ground realise that it’s strange that, whilst they can clearly sense Kenpachi’s reiatsu at the moment, they were unable to sense him until the cube appeared. Back at the battleground, Guremi states that people like Kenpachi are unable to comprehend his power, and so they inevitably lose. He then goes on to say that he won’t even fight him with one finger – rather, he’ll just try to kill Kenpachi with his mind.

You smug little prick.

Suddenly, lava explodes upwards from the ground, and Guremi explains that it came from inside his mind. Kenpachi has already figured this out, and somehow manages to slice right through the lava, blowing it away. He goes on to say that he doesn’t dislike illogical things, and then tells Yachiru (who has apparently been sitting beside him all this time) to run away.

Aww, you took all the fun out of guessing!

Guremi tells him that her bones are now made of cookies, and if she moves they’ll be crushed and she’ll die. Kenpachi then displays his lack of knowledge about culinary delights and asks what a cookie is. After some culture-sensitive context, Kenpachi realises what Guremi means, and leaps at him with his sword drawn.

...Oh, you poor sheltered bastard.

Before he can reach him, he’s suddenly surrounded by water, which forms a cube floating in the air above Guremi’s head. As Kenpachi pauses to understand what happened, a chasm opens up beneath the cube and all the water falls straight in. Guremi then seals the opening up, and says that anyone will die if they can’t breathe, and that Kenpachi will suffocate under the rock whilst surrounded by water.

Says the man using words like 'verbose'.

In an incredibly obvious turn of events, a large section of the cube explodes outwards, and Kenpachi jumps out of the debris, clutching Yachiru under one arm. As he brings his sword down towards Guremi, a large pillar blocks the strike. Kenpachi then notes that if he can carry Yachiru without anything happening, then her bones are back to normal, and asks if Guremi was so focused on fighting him that he forgot about her.

Be honest, who didn't see the next panel coming?

I’m still unsure as to how Guremi’s power actually works. Some of his actions and dialogue suggest that he can conjure up anything he imagines (and the mere existence of Guenael supports this theory). However, some more of his actions and words suggest that his power relies on the imagination of his opponents, like when he turned all of Yachiru’s bones to cookies by making her think about all the bones in her body, as well as how he noted that the water cube in this chapter only began to fall the moment that Kenpachi paused.

...There are so many scientific impossibilities here, I don't even know where to begin.

To be honest, whilst I am enjoying this fight, I am finding myself questioning a few aspects of it. Given Guremi’s power, why doesn’t he just kill Kenpachi outright? He (apparently) managed to kill Kensei and Rose just by imagining them being dead, so why can’t he do the same for his current opponent? And why is he using such elaborate methods? Can’t he just remove the air from Kenpachi’s lungs and make him suffocate? Or turn his blood into lead or something? He can already turn bone into cookie, so why not go the extra mile?

Seriously, what the hell's with the background picture? The top area (green circle) looks like it's his collar, but the shoulders don't appear until the bottom area (red circle). He looks part giraffe. 

Finally, I’ve noticed that Kenpachi’s personality appears to have changed slightly. In previous fights, he was always eager to jump in and battle strong opponents, and had a massive bloodlust when he fought. Now, even after he realises that Guremi is a worthy opponent, he hasn’t displayed any overt joy over being able to fight him. I realise that this is most likely due to Unohana’s death, but hopefully this old aspect of his personality resurfaces soon.

The face of a man who is 1000% done.

Good Things:      Guremi’s powers are getting flashier as the fight goes on.

                             Kenpachi still being awesome.

                             Kenpachi saving himself and Yachiru at the same time.

Bad Things:        Guremi seems to be overly-complicating things.

                            Kenpachi’s rather subdued personality.

                                    

Manga Rating:   3/5

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. Stupid shell extensions and their stupid attitude towards right-clicking.