Continuing to look at the Lost Agent arc of Bleach, I now turn my attention to the fifty-first volume. Ichigo is currently undergoing training, whilst malevolent forces target his friends…
This volume contains nine chapters, starting with chapter four hundred and forty-two, and ending with four hundred and fifty.
Don’t put your finger
In my heart
Knowing Tsukishima is after Ichigo, Ginjo continues the Fullbring training at a secret base. Ichigo is mastering Fullbring at an incredible speed and regaining his lost powers, but is he ready to face Tsukishima just yet…?
Ichigo’s Fullbring training continues in chapter 442, ‘Battlefield Shallows, Otherfield Abyss’, in which we see him confronting Jackie. Jackie reveals the name of her Fullbring is Dirty Boots, but she doesn’t share what its ability is.
Orihime talks to Chad about her encounter with Tsukishima, and how frightening his ability is.
Meanwhile, Tsukishima considers attacking Ichigo directly.
Ichigo continues to fight Jackie in chapter 443, ‘Dirty Boots Danger’. Jackie reveals that she becomes stronger the dirtier her boots are, hence the name of her Fullbring. Ichigo’s previous experience in battle allows him to catch Jackie off guard, and his mastery of Fullbring continues.
Ichigo’s Fullbring seems to go out of control in chapter 444, ‘The Rising’. Jackie tries to bring their training session to an end, but Ichigo remains determined to press on regardless.
Meanwhile, Chad tries to get some answers from Ginjo about Tsukishima’s Fullbring ability. Ginjo has no answers for Chad.
Tsukishima then shows up, cutting that conversation short. He slices through the fish tank that Ichigo and Jackie were sparring in, releasing the two of them.
Chad believes that Ichigo’s true form of Fullbring is a clad type in chapter 445, ‘THE DARK BEAT’, after seeing his appearance. Chad attacks to try and prevent Ichigo from learning Tsukishima attacked Orihime. However, Ichigo hears Chad discussing that with Ginjo.
Naturally, Ichigo goes for Tsukishima after that. Tsukishima tells him his Fullbring is incomplete, and then Ginjo interrupts their battle.
Ginjo fights Tsukishima in chapter 446, ‘THE DARK BEAT 2’. Ichigo pursues them, despite being told not to. He clashes with Tsukishima once more, but this time he is interrupted by Yukio activating his Fullbring, Invaders Must Die.
Yukio takes Ichigo to a different hideout in chapter 447, ‘Load’. There, Ginjo makes him stay to help Ichigo train – the person Ichigo will be fighting next is Ginjo himself.
Orihime visits Uryu in the hospital, where they discuss the changes they’ve been sensing in Ichigo’s spiritual pressure as well as the person who attacked them.
Chad meets with Orihime, and takes her to where Ichigo will be training – he will need her powers.
Ichigo’s fight against Ginjo begins in chapter 448, ‘LOADING TO LIE’. Yukio’s Fullbring, Invaders Must Die, is able to make it more like a game.
When Chad arrives at the hideout with Orihime, Riruka greets them. She doesn’t exactly have kind words to say to Orihime, but Orihime insists she will heal Ichigo no matter how severe his injuries.
The chapter ends with Kisuke and Isshin discussing something, accompanied by a Soul Reaper
Orihime’s power is put to use right away in chapter 449, ‘Not be a Drug’, to heal a severely wounded Ichigo. Meanwhile, Chad decides to train as well – it turns out he had been stabbed by Tsukishima earlier too.
Ginjo gets impatient with Orihime’s healing and tries to attack before she’s finished. Orihime uses Shiten Koshun – a shield that explodes when hit and uses a reactive attack. When Ichigo was powerless, Orihime and Chad had been striving to become stronger.
Ichigo gets straight back into the fight with Ginjo in chapter 450, ‘Blind Solitude’. Whilst that is going on, Riruka drops in and ends up sharing some doughnuts with Orihime. Orihime shares her past with Riruka, who is left wondering how she can talk of such things with a smile on her face. The answer is simple: Ichigo already saved her.
Ginjo slashes Ichigo’s eyes, and prevents Orihime from healing him. By doing that, Ginjo intends to drag Ichigo back onto the battlefield.
Volume 51 ends there. I quite liked seeing the results of Ichigo’s training, and just how fast he progressed. Of course, we’ve seen that Ichigo has great potential, and it seems that’s not just limited to his powers as a Soul Reaper.
We also get to see the abilities of a few more Fullbringers – in this case, Jackie and Yukio. Ichigo didn’t know about clad-type Fullbrings until seeing Jackie’s Dirty Boots, so it might be thanks to her that he was able to manifest his Fullbring in a way that was comfortable to him.
There’s some pretty standard shonen stuff in this volume – training, followed by an encounter with a strong foe, followed by further training. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, and Ichigo’s progression towards becoming a full-fledged Fullbringer is nice to see.
During his training with Ginjo, Ichigo also felt nothing from his opponent’s blade. Perhaps Ginjo isn’t entirely trustworthy…
Rory Muses 