Bleach - 540

‘Zangetsu officially joins the Dark Side' 

For once, Tite Kubo has managed to pull off a sensational plot twist on par with Aizen’s betrayal, leaving many speculations regarding Ichigo’s nature. Some people made the call a long time ago, but fact remains, the revelations in this chapter completely caught me off guard. Even though the connections were obvious, and always there in hindsight, I was completely mindblown. For starters, the last chapter left me concerned that Ichigo would lose Zangetsu. Seems like I don’t have to worry anymore, considering Zangetsu is the incarnation of Juhabach from 1000 years ago, meaning it won’t be the last we see of him (coincidentally with Yamamoto having defeated him 1000 years ago…).

Why does this remind me of the Karakura Superheroes?

Another thing that caught me off guard was the English romanisation of Juhabach being ‘Yhwach’. This name is absolutely bizarre, leaving me gasping for air, with all the grandiose and imposing atmosphere evaporating with a name that sounds as ridiculous as ‘Whack’. Seriously, the last time I looked up the definition of ‘Whack’, it was a sound effect. Well, this is the guy who whacked Yamamoto to death, and whacked Soul Society out of commission, so he must have quite the powerful whack to be able to do those things. I will stick to Juhabach for the time being, unless the situation requires comic relief.

As they say, evil people have evil mustaches

It’s pretty difficult for me to hate Juhabach despite all the atrocious deeds he committed, such as killing Yamamoto, trashing Soul Society, causing Masaki’s death, and generally making the biggest dick moves so far in the series. This is all down to the fact he’s revealed to secretly be a character whom we’ve grown an emotional attachment to, ‘Old Man Zangetsu’, the guy who’s been Ichigo’s power and part of his soul. Hating Zangetsu is just out of the question.

'That's nice, I have a hole in my chest'

Jokes and sentiment aside, the fact is, Ichigo’s true Zanpakutō powers have come from his hollow, nicknamed ‘White’. It also seems this is the very same hollow Aizen created from the souls of Shinigami, and the one which attacked Ichigo’s parents. The old man might be the representation of Juhabach, but he is still part of who Ichigo is, part of his power, and he clearly expresses a desire to protect Ichigo. As He is the representation of Ichigo’s Quincy Powers, but he is not "evil", per say. However, it's clear he is not the true Zangetsu, and that he may have held ulterior motives while in Ichigo's soul. 

 

Since Humans are the opposites of Hollows, Ichigo's quincy side was exactly what was protecting him from White. This is confirmed by Urahara’s statement that Quincy and Shinigami reiatsu are needed to prevent the inner hollow from destroying a person, with the powers all playing in tandem with each other. But in the end both Juhabach and White were part of Ichigo’s entire powers, so there isn’t much difference to be said. The question is whether the man inside Ichigo really is a fragment of Juhabach from 1000 years ago, or whether Ichigo's latent quincy powers took the form of the Quincy King.

Let's take a step back in time. Wow, Bleach's art has changed...

The way Nimaiya’s “escort service” of five girls came flying out of the sky to help him make the zanpakutou shows how their personalities are just as colorful as his. Their grandiose entrance (except for the quiet, dark-haired one who goes splat on the ground) was almost as overboard as his are. With the forging of Ichigo's new Zanpakutō under way, I look forwards to how it will incorporate his versatile abilities, as well as retain several of the properties the original Zangetsu had. One possibility I’ve always toyed with is that Ichigo could be able to dual wield his zanpakuto(s), and utilize his separate abilties in conjunction. He could very well have his very own Resurrección courtesy of White, perhaps even obtaining second stage like Ulquiorra. Well, the next Bleach is something to look forwards to, being incredibly promising. Until then, thanks for reading the review, and sayonara!

Tensa Zangetsu is such a bishonen