Manga – The Other White Meat

What happened, you thought I wasn’t coming back? After a particularly rough week with meeting deadlines I’m sure you’ve lost faith in me. As my deadline flew by the only consolation I could think of for you dear reader, is that I get to now post TWO manga columns this week (assuming our esteemed leader chooses to run this and doesn’t throw it back in my face saying, "write a double post and have it in on time dammit!"). That said, there was indeed manga released last week for Bleach and Naruto and I am here to make sure that you don’t miss anything terribly important.

Two weeks ago, if you recall, Naruto was battling the Kyuubi demon sealed with him to gain control of the beast. With that power Naruto will be able to face off against Sasuke in what I’m sure will be the arc ending battle. Why not when it is the battle that essentially ended the last arc as well right? We haven’t seen Sasuke in several chapters now, but I’m sure he is mastering the powers granted to him by implanting his recently deceased brother’s eyes into his own skull.

Yes, manga is great like that, through the implanting of his brother’s eyes into his head Sasuke has gotten MUCH more powerful. In Bleach, not much has happened, the same people are fighting and Aizen seems as unconcerned as ever no matter what attack hits him. Onwards to the weekly review, a review which this week, for one week only, will be bi-weekly!

BLEACH

In Bleach chapter 406 the battle between Aizen and Isshin and Urahara and Yoruichi continues. At the conclusion of the last chapter Isshin had hit Aizen with a massive blast that was the exact same technique his son Ichigo uses with his zanpaktou. Aizen gets hit and his exterior shell that he transformed into after merging with the Hogyoku seems to be cracked. This means nothing and the scene snaps to Ichigo as a massive explosion occurs in that area. The always creepy former captain Ichimaru Gin continues his mental assault on Ichigo and tells him yet again to run away. Gin tells Ichigo that he must be scared because he “understands” Aizen’s power. That is interesting because it is the exact same phrase that Aizen said to Isshin before the explosion that just happened.

Gin seems to be about to finally cut down Ichigo when Aizen appears in a flash behind them. The scene briefly flashes back to the previous battle where Yoruichi, Isshin and Urahara are all down and out. Aizen orders Gin to open a Senkai Gate to get back into soul society where the shinigami have teleported the whole town to. Aizen’s goal is to destroy the town and all the people in it, using their combined spiritual energy to create a key into heaven, allowing him to ascend to the level of God.

As Ichigo moves to stop them, the creepy shell that has been surrounding Aizen all this time finally cracks off, and he emerges looking much the same as before, but now with longer hair. The gate slams shut and Gin and Aizen are gone. Isshin wakes up at that moment and tells Ichigo to open the gate so that they can go after them. There are still some captains and other powerful people that haven’t fought yet so it seems that this arc has a ways to go after all.

NARUTO

Chapter 497 in Naruto continues the fight between the nine-tailed fox and Naruto for ultimate control of his body and soul. The Fox unleashes one of his favorite attacks on Naruto, but it is blocked by Bee who is assisting Naruto in the battle. After the block Bee says that he won’t be able to help anymore, and Naruto decides to go with a massive attack of his own to try to turn the tide of battle in his favor.

He hits with his second attack, the most powerful one he has so far and immediately gains the upper hand pulling out the fox’s chakra. The momentum quickly shifts back to the fox however when the pure hatred of the energy of the fox begins to overwhelm Naruto. His eyes begin to turn dark, much like the “real Naruto” that he defeated at the falls of truth only a few chapters ago. With that the fox begins to win the battle.

Just as it seems all is lost and Bee and Yamato prepare to contain the fox, a figure Naruto has never met before appears before him in his mind. The last time the fox almost overtook him Naruto’s father, the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze, appeared before him to calm him and allowed him to regain control. This time, as it appears the fox is about to seize control again, Kushina Uzumaki, Naruto’s mother appears before him. This was a big surprise to me actually and I can’t wait to hear what she is going to say to bring Naruto back from the brink. He has never met her before and I’m sure this will have major impact on him.

Until next time!

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