BLEACH: END OF HYPNOSIS (VOLUME 20)
June 25th 2011 23:07
Category: Manga
Publisher: VIZ Media LLC
Story & Art by: Tite Kubo
English Adaptation: Lance Caselman
Translation: Joe Yamazaki
Touch up Art & Lettering: Mark McMurray
Design: Sean Lee
Cost: AU$12.95/US$7.95
“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark” Marcellus remarked to Horatio in the Bard’s play Hamlet, and it is a line that could quite easily be descriptive of Bleach, there is something rotten in the state of the Seireitei, home of the Soul Reapers…but just what is this rottenness and where precisely does it lie? Already as events have been moving towards there logical conclusion there are hints and speculations that all is not quite what it seems with the Seireitei and the Soul Reapers in general. Something is definitely wrong in this realm of the spirit but the exact parameters of what truly is wrong seem to have eluded those truly seeking to discover just what the hell is going on…
So is the villain in this potential tragedy Byakuya Kuchiki, captain of Sixth Company and adopted brother of the condemned? Certainly he has been most focused on making sure that his adopted younger sister is going to face her fate on Sokyoku Hill, a real piece of work for a brother. But then look at it from his point of view, he sees Ichigo as an invader into the Seireitei and as far as all the evidence has been shown Rukia is a criminal, if as a captain and aristocrat he doesn’t uphold the law of the Soul Society then how can he be trusted within the ranks of the Gotei 13. He isn’t motivated in the course he is following due to personal reasons but from a sense of obligation and duty that he feels he has to follow. So in essence he isn’t the villain of the peace, although he is definitely antagonistic to the cause of Ichigo and friends.
With an analysis like this you’d be forgiven for thinking that this whole saga is some kind of post modernist piece where in essence it is the ideals and societal paradigm that is the villain/enemy of the piece…fortunately it isn’t like that. Instead what we are given is good story telling, the true villain of the piece is only revealed after the fact that there have been clues to the existence of such but no one in the Soul Society or even amongst Ichigo and crew have been able to put all of the pieces together. In fact the identity of who or what is behind the whole affair actually reads a little like a detective story – with hints and clues littered here and there but the interested parties looking into the matter having only a piece of the puzzle and not realising that there are others who have other pieces that they need to make up a complete picture.
As Renji carries Rukia away from Sokyoku Hill towards salvation there are only two people in the entire Seireitei who have decided to actually, for various reasons, go to the heart of the matter. Toshiro Hitsugaya, captain of Tenth Company along with his assistant captain Rangiku Matsumoto, has discovered that the Council of 46, the premiere judicial body within the Soul Society have been slaughtered in their chambers and that whoever perpetrated the act did so quite some time ago. The blood is dry when he and his offsider arrive in the chamber implying that the judges and sages have been dead for a good deal of time. Thus this discovery causes him to realise that the orders issued by the council are likely to have been questionable from the get go…so who has been manipulating events, issuing orders in the council’s name?
Meanwhile someone else for a completely different reason has sought to go to the heart of the matter, the Seijoto Kyorin, the place where the members of the council reside whenever they’re not in session. Captain Retsu Unohana has been looking into the demise of Sosuke Aizen, captain of Fifth Company whose body was found hanging from the East Holy Wall early on in the ryoka invasion that had taken place. Even though many were saddened by the demise of Captain Aizen, his subordinate Momo Hinamori especially so, Captain Unohana has had her doubts about the affair. She sensed that something was amiss but couldn’t quite put her finger on it…thus she decided to go to the Seijoto Kyorin, the only place in the Seireitei where someone who wished to hide could easily do so without any problems.
At last we see where the rottenness lies within the Seireitei, but even thought the villain’s identity is revealed fairly early on in the piece his actual motivation remains something of a mystery, something that remains still to be revealed as events progress. When the dust settles it seems that the enemy has in actual fact managed to inflict a considerable defeat upon all and sundry although in Ichigo’s eyes his objective of rescuing Rukia Kuchiki from death has been achieved, so in his mind it’s not entirely a loss. This volume marks the end of one major story arc in the ongoing saga that is Bleach and the transition to the next arc…much like how Naruto transformed into Naruto Shippuden…what follows though is bound to be as chock full of action and drama as previous volumes. Bleach is an engaging manga series that makes you wanting more…my advice, do yourself a favour and get your hands on this volume you won’t regret it.
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