Bleach Volume 36 - Mobile Edition

Manga
Bleach Volume 36
By Chris Zimmerman
August 17, 2011 - 15:49

Viz Media
Writer(s): Tite Kubo
Penciller(s): Tite Kubo
ISBN: 978-1-4210-3313-1
$9.99 US

For some time now I’ve harped on the shortcomings of Bleach; to the point that I fear my rantingis becoming redundant. The sluggish pacing, drawn out fights, and tell-as-you-go narrative has left the once great series a shell of its former glory. The prior volume, while riddled with these same problems, showed glimpses of the Tite Kubo of old, giving me hope that he might still pull it together and turn the ship around.

Rather than pick up where the previous volume left off, Kubo turns back the clock over one hundred years prior to the story to reveal Kisuke Urahara’s rise to the rank of captain of twelfth company while also revealing the origins behind Aizen’s machinations. Kubo’s character work is one of his stronger traits when he’s not focused on drawing fight scenes, and it really shows here, reintroducing the supporting cast to the audience. The characters are diverse and imaginative and looking back at their youthful personalities presents an interesting contrast to the more wizened batch we’re used to.

Bleach Volume 36 is fun jaunt through the series’ past that proved to be superior to the story taking place in the present. The volume is a call back to its strengths before it stalled out.

Rating: 8.5/10