Bleach Volume 2.
April 17th 2008 23:35
Category: Graphic Novels/Comics
People have hope because they cannot see Death standing behind them.
Bleach Vol 2 pg 3.
Publisher: 2001 Shueisha Inc/2007 VIZ Media.
Written & Illustrated by: Tite Kubo.
English Adaptation by: Lance Caselman.
Translation: Joe Yamazaki.
Touch up art & lettering: Andy Ristaino.
Cover/Graphics/Design: Sean Lee.
Rukia Kuchiki, veteran soul reaper and sometime cutesy artist, has lost her powers as a soul reaper having passed them onto the unusual high school student Ichigo Kurosaki after an encounter with a particularly strong hollow in the confines of the Kurosaki clinic. Rukia was unable to detect the hollow because of the vast amount of spiritual energy emanating from Ichigo himself, he was clouding her abilities, so strong was the spiritual force within him. In fact previously Rukia had sensed a strong spirit energy source somewhere in the confines of Karakura Town, Ichigo’s home town, at that particular point in time early on a Friday morning she had no real idea what it all meant and precisely what it would lead to.
So after being drained of her dark force Rukia was forced to inhabit a gigai, a temporary body that disempowered soul reapers inhabit whilst they regain their powers. Naturally this means that Ichigo has to take over Rukia’s role as a soul reaper, defending spirits and humans against any rampaging hollows. Rather reluctant about the whole gig Ichigo isn’t exactly the most exuberant recruit to the Soul Reaper fraternity still he knows deep down that he owes Rukia big time and thus out of a sense of needing to repay back this debt he accepts the mantle of substitute soul reaper that has come about due to an unusual chain of circumstances.
In the first volume things ended with one of Ichigo’s friends; Chad, getting hold a pink parakeet, then upon gaining the parakeet Chad was immediately involved in some kind of incident that caused him to be severely wounded. Due to his amazing stamina he makes it to the Kurosaki clinic for help, still carrying the parakeet with him. That’s when both Rukia and Ichigo realise there is more to Chad’s feathered friend than meets the eye. Apparently there is a human soul lodged inside the body of the parakeet though for what reason neither of them can fathom. Next morning Ichigo awakes to find that Chad is missing, somehow he just checked out of the clinic with his trusty feathered sidekick and seemingly vanished into the hurly burly that is Karakura Town.
As you’ve no doubt guessed there is a lot more going on with this situation than is immediately apparent and we not only get to see more of just how powerful Ichigo is as a soul reaper but also that some of his school mates; in particular Chad, are not exactly your ordinary run of the mill Japanese high school students. For starters Chad is a veritable giant in comparison to his school mates, he has an incredible stamina (he can take one heck of a lot of damage), amazing strength and is seemingly possessed of an indomitable will; he just doesn’t give up no matter what. Naturally this puts the crimp in the plans of the person who dumped the soul into the parakeet, a real big crimp.
Hollows, the evil spirits of the Bleach world, are driven by their hunger for souls of both spirits and humans though this doesn’t mean that they’re not capable of malicious and intelligent action. It seems that one hollow in particular has chosen to put the soul of a young boy into this parakeet as all part of some sick demented game. The fact that the Hollow in question was once a serial killer in mortal life makes the whole affair only worse. This hollow has also eaten two soul reapers previously and has several evil tricks up his sleeve which makes him a truly dangerous opponent for a seeming novice Ichigo, what this guy hadn’t reckoned on was…Chad.
Chad being a relatively ‘ordinary’ (and I use the term loosely) guy can’t see the dead like Rukia or Ichigo and technically he shouldn’t be able to hit them. Initially this is the premise that the hollow who has arranged this macabre drama is working on, until he comps a fistful of fives from the big fella, the he begins to wonder just what the heck is going on. An attempt to go airborne momentarily puts him out of harms reach…momentarily; Chad just rips out a telephone pole and smashes him with it after getting directions from Rukia. Still this hollow still thinks he can prevent his demise, after all his opponents are a weakened soul reaper and a guy who can’t see him and he has a few more cards to play. Unfortunately he’s taken too much time playing around and acting tough that Ichigo arrives on the scene and once deployed into bad ass soul reaper mode puts this guy into a world of hurt big time.
In the end, when the dust finally settles what occurs is that this particular hollow because it is not only tainted by its sins as a hollow but also by its sins as a mortal does not pass onto the serenity of the Soul Society but is instead grabbed by the agents of the Infernal realm, Ichigo’s defeat of him sees the very gates of hell open forth to drag in this entity for an eternity of torment. Not exactly the most pleasant of fates you’d expect to endure, still it seems that this is the fate of those whose life was stained with crimes and atrocities before they died. Like any good series Bleach Volume 2 not only serves as a continuation of a story began in the first volume but expands upon the collective universe in which its drama unfolds.
We learn that the Soul Society is not the only place where souls are fated to go in the afterlife, then there is a little bit more explained about the various gadgets and items employed by the Soul Reapers. Rukia goes to visit Urahara Shoten, a shop run by the affable Kisuke Urahara and that sells merchandise from the other side so to speak, in particular Ginkongan, substitute soul pills, that are used by soul reapers to enable their bodies to move with a temporary soul thus taking them out of harms way whilst their busy fighting hollows. We also hear about Mod Konpaku, or mod souls, the result of a project started by the Soul Society to create warriors from dead bodies in order to fight against Hollows. This project called Spearhead was eventually discontinued and the Mod souls were condemned and destroyed, one such soul managed to avoid destruction purely through chance and the vagaries of Soul Society bureaucracy. Apparently red tape carries over into the afterlife.
And as well as the expansion of its setting there is also an expanded cast of characters to further liven things up, Kisuke Urahara, Chad, the kids who work at Urahara Shoten just to name a few. It’s a necessary for a story to add more to the mix so that there is more potential within the overall dynamic, more characters means more story arcs at least when it comes to a good writer/illustrator, still after having read both Bleach Volumes 1 and 2 I have no doubt that Tite Kubo certainly fits the bill of a good writer/illustrator. What’s also good about Bleach is that it isn’t all doom and gloom kind of seriousness, there are moments of humour and slapstick which have been deployed nicely into the story, again demonstrating the talents of Mr Kubo as a writer/illustrator. Bleach Volume 2 is well worth getting a hold of for some entertaining reading pleasure.
Bleach Vol 2 pg 3.
Publisher: 2001 Shueisha Inc/2007 VIZ Media.
Written & Illustrated by: Tite Kubo.
English Adaptation by: Lance Caselman.
Translation: Joe Yamazaki.
Touch up art & lettering: Andy Ristaino.
Cover/Graphics/Design: Sean Lee.
Rukia Kuchiki, veteran soul reaper and sometime cutesy artist, has lost her powers as a soul reaper having passed them onto the unusual high school student Ichigo Kurosaki after an encounter with a particularly strong hollow in the confines of the Kurosaki clinic. Rukia was unable to detect the hollow because of the vast amount of spiritual energy emanating from Ichigo himself, he was clouding her abilities, so strong was the spiritual force within him. In fact previously Rukia had sensed a strong spirit energy source somewhere in the confines of Karakura Town, Ichigo’s home town, at that particular point in time early on a Friday morning she had no real idea what it all meant and precisely what it would lead to.
In the first volume things ended with one of Ichigo’s friends; Chad, getting hold a pink parakeet, then upon gaining the parakeet Chad was immediately involved in some kind of incident that caused him to be severely wounded. Due to his amazing stamina he makes it to the Kurosaki clinic for help, still carrying the parakeet with him. That’s when both Rukia and Ichigo realise there is more to Chad’s feathered friend than meets the eye. Apparently there is a human soul lodged inside the body of the parakeet though for what reason neither of them can fathom. Next morning Ichigo awakes to find that Chad is missing, somehow he just checked out of the clinic with his trusty feathered sidekick and seemingly vanished into the hurly burly that is Karakura Town.
Hollows, the evil spirits of the Bleach world, are driven by their hunger for souls of both spirits and humans though this doesn’t mean that they’re not capable of malicious and intelligent action. It seems that one hollow in particular has chosen to put the soul of a young boy into this parakeet as all part of some sick demented game. The fact that the Hollow in question was once a serial killer in mortal life makes the whole affair only worse. This hollow has also eaten two soul reapers previously and has several evil tricks up his sleeve which makes him a truly dangerous opponent for a seeming novice Ichigo, what this guy hadn’t reckoned on was…Chad.
Chad being a relatively ‘ordinary’ (and I use the term loosely) guy can’t see the dead like Rukia or Ichigo and technically he shouldn’t be able to hit them. Initially this is the premise that the hollow who has arranged this macabre drama is working on, until he comps a fistful of fives from the big fella, the he begins to wonder just what the heck is going on. An attempt to go airborne momentarily puts him out of harms reach…momentarily; Chad just rips out a telephone pole and smashes him with it after getting directions from Rukia. Still this hollow still thinks he can prevent his demise, after all his opponents are a weakened soul reaper and a guy who can’t see him and he has a few more cards to play. Unfortunately he’s taken too much time playing around and acting tough that Ichigo arrives on the scene and once deployed into bad ass soul reaper mode puts this guy into a world of hurt big time.
In the end, when the dust finally settles what occurs is that this particular hollow because it is not only tainted by its sins as a hollow but also by its sins as a mortal does not pass onto the serenity of the Soul Society but is instead grabbed by the agents of the Infernal realm, Ichigo’s defeat of him sees the very gates of hell open forth to drag in this entity for an eternity of torment. Not exactly the most pleasant of fates you’d expect to endure, still it seems that this is the fate of those whose life was stained with crimes and atrocities before they died. Like any good series Bleach Volume 2 not only serves as a continuation of a story began in the first volume but expands upon the collective universe in which its drama unfolds.
We learn that the Soul Society is not the only place where souls are fated to go in the afterlife, then there is a little bit more explained about the various gadgets and items employed by the Soul Reapers. Rukia goes to visit Urahara Shoten, a shop run by the affable Kisuke Urahara and that sells merchandise from the other side so to speak, in particular Ginkongan, substitute soul pills, that are used by soul reapers to enable their bodies to move with a temporary soul thus taking them out of harms way whilst their busy fighting hollows. We also hear about Mod Konpaku, or mod souls, the result of a project started by the Soul Society to create warriors from dead bodies in order to fight against Hollows. This project called Spearhead was eventually discontinued and the Mod souls were condemned and destroyed, one such soul managed to avoid destruction purely through chance and the vagaries of Soul Society bureaucracy. Apparently red tape carries over into the afterlife.
And as well as the expansion of its setting there is also an expanded cast of characters to further liven things up, Kisuke Urahara, Chad, the kids who work at Urahara Shoten just to name a few. It’s a necessary for a story to add more to the mix so that there is more potential within the overall dynamic, more characters means more story arcs at least when it comes to a good writer/illustrator, still after having read both Bleach Volumes 1 and 2 I have no doubt that Tite Kubo certainly fits the bill of a good writer/illustrator. What’s also good about Bleach is that it isn’t all doom and gloom kind of seriousness, there are moments of humour and slapstick which have been deployed nicely into the story, again demonstrating the talents of Mr Kubo as a writer/illustrator. Bleach Volume 2 is well worth getting a hold of for some entertaining reading pleasure.
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