Bleach Chapter 612 Review

It is a common technique of Kubo's to open a chapter with an expansion of sorts to the prior chapter's ending, which is what he does right now by showing us the moments preceding Yhwach stabbing the Soul King. Having killed "its" attendants, Yhwach then goes on to call the Soul King an "imperfect" God who cannot even run away as his end draws near. Yhwach then declares that he will "end this long, never-ending disgrace", and states that the Soul King may have already seen this day coming, as the scene at the end of the prior chapter repeats itself.

One thing that interests me about this scene is that Yhwach refers to the Soul King as a "God" - an "imperfect God" in Yhwach's words, but a "God" nonetheless. I find it to be an interesting contrast to Hachigen and Barragan's fight, since Barragan declared himself to be the "God of Hueco Mundo", but Hachigen is the one who said there are no beings in Soul Society who bear the title "God" outside of the Shinigami themselves.

I also recollect Shutara stating that Aizen's goal was to "become God" by killing the Soul King. So while Hachigen states there no being in Soul Society with the title "God" other than Shinigami, it seems that the Soul King is seen by a number of people as a "God". Given how Ichibei described the Soul King, it is not surprising how he would be seen as "God", since he seems to be the one who maintains the existence of all the worlds. The question is whether or not this is truth, since Yhwach seems to have no issues with killing the Soul King...Unless he intends to take the place of the Soul King as "God" of the world.

Another thing that has been clarified from the last chapter is that the Soul King does indeed possess the power to see the future, just as his son does. It makes one wonder if his ability to see into the future could relate to whatever interest he was stated to have in Ichigo.

The Chrysalis of the Soul King

One thing I must bring up is the Soul King's chrysalis. While the chrysalis has a dull colouring through which you can see the Soul King's figure in this chapter, I recall that the chrysalis looked like this in chapter 519:

  Spoiler!

In chapter 519, you could only make out the silhouette of the Soul King and it seemed to be glowing white, and there were starburst shapes around the Soul King's when we got the close-up of his eyes. In that chapter, we saw one of his retainers ask if he had awakened, so it is entirely possible that the chrysalis looked like that because the Soul King was awake, while it has a dull colouring now because he is asleep.

All that said, this scene also shows clearly why the Soul King needs a Royal Guard - perhaps, while he is maintaining the existence of all the worlds, the Soul King is entirely powerless to defend himself. As Yhwach stated, he cannot even move from his chrysalis, so he needs a group of powerful individuals to defend himself from any possible intruders.

I do not think that the Soul King's death is certain at this point, because there are a number a things we do not yet know: 1) what made Aizen want to kill him; 2) his interest in Ichigo; 3) his relationship with Yhwach.

I guess we will just have to see what goes on in the next chapter.

Reunion of Comrades

For now, we cut back down to the Seireitei as we see Rukia and Renji meeting up with Shinji at the place where the 12th Division (and Urahara) is currently sequestered. As Renji comments on Shinji's wounds and the latter brushes them off, Omaeda interrupts them, and goes on a brief rant at Renji and Rukia about how "they" (which means Shinji) were able to fend off Bazz-B's attack with "their" (Shinji's) Zanpakuto power.

It is clear from Omaeda's behaviour during this rant that he's heaping all praise on Shinji for saving his lovely little body from becoming lava-cooked pork and bacon. It is also clear that it was Shinji who saved them all because the drawing effect in the flash-back panels is similar to such an effect seen on Shinji when he used Sakanade against Bambietta, which likely means Bazz-B was under the effects of Sakanade when he attacked but didn't know it.

While Renji takes Omaeda's behaviour in stride, he asks why Omaeda brought his little sister along. At this Omaeda starts off on another angry response, only to be interrupted by Sui Feng, who explains that Mareyo and her wounds have only now just healed thanks to Hinamori, who greets both Rukia and Renji happily, and states they couldn't just leave Mareyo unattended in the midst of the battle. Renji seems quite surprised at how nice Sui Feng seems to be acting, while Rukia retorts that Sui Feng was kind to begin with.

Sui Feng then states it is time for them to go inside as Renji asks Shinji if everyone has arrived yet. Shinji does not know, although the order was for all Captains and Vice-Captains to assemble immediately, even if it means abandoning their current battles in order to do so, so he assumes everyone will be coming over shortly.

Status Update

Sui Feng then opens up the door to the 12th Division HQ, but the only people present there are Urahara and Yuushiro, and Byakuya and Nanao. No clue where Ookikiba is if he's not with Nanao - (AIZEN!!! ) - but we do see that Urahara and Yuushiro have set something up.

Yuushiro then jumps down to greet everybody and Sui-Feng is practically gushing (seriously, tears are welling up in her love-stricken eyes and she's blushing like crazy) at the sight of HIM (finally got confirmation of his gender) , with Urahara telling Yuushiro to not abandon her post, Sui-Feng giving Yuushiro pocket change, while Omaeda looks on with a very annoyed face at the scene. It looks like Omaeda just got dumped for Yoruichi's baby brother .

While this is going on, Shinji inquires as to where everybody else is, to which Urahara gives us a much-needed rundown on where everybody is. Urahara explains that the 7th Division will not be joining them at this point in time because they have their own matters to attend to due to Komamura's injuries (LIES!! HE'S A FREAKIN' WOLF NOW! ). Curiously, however, their request for a medical team dispatch was denied, and we see an image of Komamura and Iba facing off with the Soldat.

This just makes the Soldat as a whole more and more suspicious by the minute. Yhwach uses Auswahlen on the Stern Ritter, the elite fighting force of the Vandenreich, but the Soldat have been left completely intact - a number of Soldat even accompanied Yhwach to the Royal Realm. What does this mean for the Soldat? Did they know what would happen to the Stern Ritter not chosen by Yhwach? Who are they? It feels like one big mystery to me. I'm almost certain at this point that these guys are all "Clones" made by a still-unseen Stern Ritter.

Urahara further explains that Kensei and Rose will be moving alongside the 12th Division, and that they will likely be coming with Mayuri eventually, since Urahara states it'd be a problem for Mayuri as well if Soul Society were to disappear. Just "a problem", Urahara? It seems that Shinji is suspicious of what Urahara just said, since it is clear that mention of their deaths and zombification would undoubtedly make Shinji very angry. In the panel showing what Mayuri is doing, I take it those would be the containers which Mayuri is storing Kensei and Rose in. What an ignoble fate.

We are also updated on the status of Zaraki, Ikkaku, Yumichika and Hisagi. All four of them are in intensive care, but it is Zaraki who is in critical condition. Good to see that Gremmy lived up to his reputation and power, since virtually all of Zaraki's major injuries were caused by Gremmy's final onslaught - particularly the ruptured internal organ. Urahara goes on to state that Kyoraku is engaged with the Central 46, but he mentions that there has been no word on Toshiro or Matsumoto.

The explicit mention of their absence means that something is going on with Toshiro and Matsumoto, and I'm now certain that Mayuri tested a different drug on Toshiro and Matsumoto than he did on Kensei and Rose. While Kensei and Rose are now under Mayuri's control, it is clear now that Mayuri did...something else to Toshiro and Matsumoto. Whatever it is, I can only imagine that it is possibly even more irredeemable than what he did to Rose and Kensei. I'm almost certain we're getting a set-up for his demise. It is only a matter of time...

It is interesting to note that Ukitake has not been mentioned yet. This either means that Kyoraku and Ukitake are hiding something, or the lack of mention simply means that Ukitake complied and is already on his way.

The Tenshiheiso, Bestowed Upon The Shihouin Clan by the Gods

With the explanations on the status of everyone out of the way (all except Isane, Yachiru and Mashiro, that is), Urahara then explains why he called them all together: they are going to break into the Soul King Palace, which shocks everyone present. As Shinji asks how that is even possible, he explains that it is possible because of the Tenshiheisou that Yuushiro brought with him, which has been set up on top of Mayuri's pedestal. While not out-right stated, the implication is still there: when all of the Captains' spiritual power is amassed together, it power up the Tenshiheisou enough to allow all the Captains to head to the Royal Realm.

It is nice to see that all the prominent Shinigami (especially Rukia and Renji) will be going up to the Royal Realm shortly as well. I was wondering why they didn't go up with Ichigo and Co earlier (aside from the fact they were in the middle of a fight with Bazz-B), but I am glad to see they will be reuniting with the Nakama as well.

But it does make me wonder what Urahara is expecting to accomplish by sending all the Captains up there. Out of all them, the only ones with even a chance at standing up to the Elite Guard are Zaraki, Kyoraku and Ukitake, Rukia and Renji, and Urahara - and even then that is only a small chance, considering the Elite Stern Ritter took out Squad Zero.

I am also wondering if Ginjo and Co and the Arrancar will be showing up as well.

But I am also thinking that things may not go according to plan...

The Mask of the Monk Slips...?

The chapter ends back in the Royal Realm, with Ichibei saying: "Sorry...Sorry...Humans. Forgive me...But you cannot win against Yhwach."

This is going off the Mangastream scan at this point in time, but it is strange that Ichibei would say this right after entrusting the protection of the Soul King to Ichigo. Given the look on his face as he says this, perhaps Yhwach really did take the Soul King's place, and now the Royal Guard will be forced to serve Yhwach as they once did the Soul King, possibly because the Ouken also binds them to the King.

That is a possibility, but I am also wondering if it has nothing to do with Ichibei's allegiances now shifting to the new "Soul King", but Ichibei's "mask" coming off. In my last review, I talked about how Ichibei's behaviour towards Ichigo was odd when compared to his behaviour when fighting Yhwach, and his statement at the end of the chapter only makes it seem much odder. We know the Soul King has an interest in Ichigo, and we know what Ichigo's true potential can be via the events of "Deicide", so it is making me ponder what Ichibei meant by his words at the end:

1) The idea that the Royal Guard are now bound to serve Yhwach, the new "Soul King". I am not entirely sure about this idea (it kind of reminds me of Tsukishima's "Book of the End"), but it is possible enough for a number of people to have already suggested it.

2) Yhwach took the Soul King's power, and that is why Ichibei said they cannot beat him. If Yhwach did do this, it means that all the power the Soul King turned towards maintaining the world's existence is now in Yhwach's possession, and a force powerful enough to maintain all of creation in Yhwach's hands would make him unbeatable. Of course, this is assuming that Ichibei was able to perceive that Yhwach did take the Soul King's power.

3) Ichibei's "mask" has slipped off, and he is "apologizing" for sending Ichigo into a trap. In regards to keeping the Soul King safe, sending Ichigo down with the Ouken's Clothing, which the Royal Guard knows will leave the barriers open for 6000 seconds, was a bad idea. While the Royal Guard did have a plan in place for trapping Yhwach and Co, we saw that didn't exactly turn out so well at the end of the day.

Then there is Ichigo. We know that the Soul King is interested in him, and one of the things we have yet to figure out right now is how Ichigo is different in regards to why he was taken up to the Royal Realm. While the Soul King is interested in Ichigo, we must also consider just how powerful Ichigo can become. With a perfect balance of "souls" inside him (Shinigami and Quincy, Hollow and Human), Ichigo became powerful enough in "Deicide" to have his power become imperceptible to someone who was already in a higher plane of power than what the Shinigami are capable of sensing.

Now, wouldn't someone like that be seen as a threat to the Soul King's existence? We know the Gotei 13 saw Ginjo as a threat, and had originally intended to use the second Shinigami Representative to lure him out, and then kill both of them. While we know that the Gotei 13 changed from what it once was and gave Ichigo the chance to prove himself, who is to say the Royal Guard is being just as kind? Even if Ichigo cannot beat Yhwach at this point in time, who is to say that they are not using the opportunity to get rid of Ichigo?

But even if this might be one of the less likely of reasons why Ichibei said what he did, I can imagine it coming up eventually if it doesn't come up. After all, the Soul King has a particular interest in Ichigo - perhaps he might want Ichigo to be his successor - so who is to say the gauntlet won't come down when Ichigo refuses to be the Soul King's successor, or if he's deemed to have become too powerful?

But at the end of the day, who knows for certain what Ichibei's final words in this chapter meant. All we know right now is that this will not be the final fight of the arc, since Ichibei's words pretty much spelt it out that Ichigo is going to be defeated at this point in time.

You really have to appreciate how Kubo is able to set up major reveals or plot-twists with just one line of dialogue, and really set a person's speculation ablaze.
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This chapter not only helped us to catch up on the status of all the characters down in the Seireitei and gave us a little more information about the Soul King, but it also sets up the Shinigami of the Gotei 13 arriving in the Royal Realm to help Ichigo and Co out, and the final line by Ichibei either sets up a major reveal or a plot-twist.

The "Miracles" of the Hogyoku

As it stands, one of the biggest mysteries in the story of Bleach is the nature of the Hogyoku. Even though Hogyoku were created by Urahara and Aizen, we still do not know what the Hogyoku is or how it was made. What we know of the Hogyoku is that it is a substance "that reacts beyond the conventional physics of Soul Society" (Aizen Sousuke, chapter 175), that it possesses a will of its own and its true power is "to manifest into reality the heart's desire" (Chapter 401). In Aizen's description of the Hogyoku's power in chapter 401, he makes an interesting assertion that could explain a number of things behind the events it influenced: Aizen stated that the events "materialized" by the Hogyoku should be called "miracles".

By definition, "miracles" are either events not explicable by natural or scientific laws, or are events that are statistically unlikely yet not contrary to the laws of nature.

While he did state the Hogyoku is more like "a power that guides in the direction of desire", because the Hogyoku cannot manifest the heart's desire if the target essentially lacks the power necessary to beget their desire, it does not take away from his description of the events affecting those around the Hogyoku as miracles.

To start off, let us look at the Visoreds. We know from "Everything But the Rain" that Hollowfication generally results in two things: the Hollowfication turning the Hollow-Shinigami hybrid into a monster without reason, and "Soul Suicide" from the destabilization of the soul and the shattering of the boundary between the soul and the external world. The former was a process that could not be controlled, as it was beyond the technologies that Soul Society possessed when they first undertook the experiments. However, the Hogyoku could not only stabilize and make complete the Hollowfication of the Visoreds, who were already undergoing a virulent form of Hollowfication, but it was also able to make Tousen into a perfect Hollow-Shinigami hybrid capable of using Resurreccion.

In other words, Soul Society's technologies were incapable of perfecting and stabilizing the process of Hollowfication, but the Hogyoku's power was able to both perfect and stabilize the process, even if Hollowfication is already occurring in the target. This was one of the first and most prominent of the Hogyoku's "miracles".

What the Hogyoku could not do, however, was prevent "soul suicide", because the targets in both cases inherently lacked what was necessary to do so - Quincy arrows of light and Human souls to balance out the Shinigami and Hollow side. Urahara had to create the vaccine himself and apply it to the Visoreds to restore balance to their souls.

The second situation Aizen cites is Rukia's giving all her power to Ichigo. Ordinarily, it seems a Shinigami should only be able to give half of their Shinigami power to a Human, but the Hogyoku caused all of Rukia's Shinigami power to be transferred to Ichigo instead of the half she originally intended because she was still carrying the guilt of killing Kaien. More importantly, Rukia said the process was supposed to be "temporary", but Ichigo retained the Shinigami power that Rukia gave him long after that night.

In other words, a process that was only meant to give Ichigo half of Rukia's power of the Shinigami temporarily ended up giving him all of Rukia's power of the Shingiami permanently. This is another "miracle" brought about by the Hogyoku's power.

The third event Aizen described was the awakening of Inoue and Sado's powers. There is much debate over this, as the "Lost Agent Arc" formally introduced the power of Fullbring, and people jumped to separate conclusions for both characters. In Sado's case, he's the only one out of the two considered to be a Fullbringer "because he was the only one who was stated as being one", even though visual evidence, and what we know of Fullbring as a whole, also indicates Inoue is a Fullbringer. While many people prefer to think that we do not know "what" Inoue's power actually is, they are perfectly okay with assuming that Sado's mother was attacked by a Hollow before he was born to explain his power being a Fullbring.

After all, we were told in that same arc that Fullbringers are people whose mothers were attacked by Hollows before they were born, resulting in the remnants of Hollow reiryoku in the mothers being passed onto their children, who developed a power derived from Hollows - Fullbring. We now know this to be possible because Humans are opposite of Hollow, as stated by Urahara in "Everything But the Rain", and the two balance each other out.

However, we cannot forget that Aizen grouped Inoue and Sado's awakening of their unique abilities together with all the other events/"miracles" materialized by the Hogyoku's power, which implies that their awakening unique abilities would not have been an event that occurred naturally without the Hogyoku's involvement.

To explain this, let us look at what we know of both their powers, how they awakened, and how they both relate to the Hogyoku:

1) Urahara stated that Inoue and Sado awakened powers because of Ichigo's reiatsu. At best, this is likely a half-truth, because we know that Keigo developed spiritual awareness after being in close proximity to Ichigo and Uryu's fight with the Menos (where Rukia also was with the Hogyoku) but he has not developed any unique abilities like Inoue and Sado. The same goes for Tatsuki who, although she was attacked by Acidwire and began developing spiritual awareness like Inoue, has not awakened any special abilities.

Urahara's statement likely ties into the effects of powerful reiatsu on Human souls. First off, we know that all Vice-Captain and Captain-level Shinigami have 80% of their power sealed away when they travel to the Human World. This is done in order to avoid having their reiatsu unduly affect the souls of Humans in the living world. As a result, this is likely done because exposure to reiatsu at the level of a Vice-Captain or Captain i.e. around 5x greater than Ichigo's reiatsu at the beginning of the series at minimum, would cause a Human soul to develop spiritual awareness.

In other words, while Ichigo's reiatsu was responsible for them developing spiritual awareness, it was not responsible for them manifesting their unique abilities. After all, how would have Sado developed a power closer to that of Hollow's if the source of his powers awakening was a Shinigami's reiatsu?

This brings us to...

2) Both Inoue and Sado were attacked and severely injured by Hollows. We know that there were heavy traces of reiatsu in Sado's wounds when he was initially attacked by Shrieker, meaning that traces of Shrieker's reiatsu would have remained in Sado's body after those wounds healed. We also know that not only did Inoue have a Hollow bite mark on her leg, but she was also bitten by Acidwire when her soul was outside of her body. That's more than enough exposure to a Hollow to result in remnants of the power remaining in her physical body (and soul). As we know from the "Lost Agent arc", remnants of Hollow reiryoku in a Human body is what begets Fullbring.

"But Humans only have Fullbring if their mothers were attacked by Hollows", some will inevitably say, but I do not think that rule would be written in stone with a power like the Hogyoku involved.

I believe it would be a situation like the Arrancar. While there were "natural Arrancar" in Aizen's army, we know that most of the "natural Arrancar" in the Espada were replaced by Arrancar created via the Hogyoku, or Arrancar whose power was "perfected" by the Hogyoku. The Hogyoku-created Arrancar were "perfect Arrancar", and their power eclipsed that of the Arrancar that came before them - the ones that were referred to as "mock-Arrancar" by various characters.

The situation with Inoue and Sado can arguably be said to be the same: while we know the means by which "natural Fullbringers" are born, Inoue and Sado are Fullbringers whose power was brought about by the Hogyoku. We can even say this is why their respective powers have traits the other Fullbringers do not - Sado's Fullbring being the "skin" of his body rather than an item like his Abuelo's coin, or Inoue's Rikka manifesting as fairies able to communicate with her.

In other words, Inoue and Sado's powers could be said to be Fullbring that were "perfected" by the Hogyoku.

Up and coming is the third point...

3) Both of them have had their powers compared to those related to Hollows. We know that Sado came to the conclusion that his powers were more like those of a Hollow in his fight with Gantenbainne, as his power became unsettled in Hueco Mundo and only settled down as a result of the fight with Gantenbainne.

In Inoue's case, it was not a direct comparison to a Hollow's power but a Visored's Kidou (which in part has led to all the debate surrounding "what" her power is). We know that Hachigen developed his unique Kidou after he attained his Hollow power, meaning that Kidou incorporated Hollow reiryoku into its structure and creation. I believe it is this common Hollow element that is why Hachigen said Inoue's Shun Shun Rikka are similar to his own Kidou - both utilize barrier techniques derived from Hollow reiryoku.

As both Inoue and Sado were attacked by Hollows, it makes sense that the Hogyoku would have used the remnants of Hollow reiryoku in them as a base for them to develop their unique abilities.

To bring this section of the post to a conclusion, I believe that the Hogyoku not only allowed for Inoue, Sado, Tatuski and Keigo to develop spiritual awareness as a result of Ichigo's reiatsu, but also for Inoue and Sado to manifest Fullbring abilities as a result of the Hollow reiryoku left over from when they were attacked. Normally, neither event would have happened - it requires exposure to Captain-level reiatsu for a Human to develop spiritual awareness, and Fullbringers are normally born to mothers who survived Hollow attacks in the past - but the Hogyoku's involvement not only allowed them to awaken spiritual awareness and manifest Fullbring, but the Hogyoku could also have been responsible for their Fullbring being "perfected" in comparison to normal Fullbringers.

That is the third "miracle" created by the Hogyoku, as cited by Aizen.

The reason why I believe the circumstances under which Inoue and Sado manifested Fullbring are possible is because of Aizen's Transcendence.

We know for a fact that Aizen, while immensely powerful, was still a normal Shinigami. By the time of Fake Karakura Town, he had fused his soul with that of the Hogyoku's, and he was in the process of helping along the development of Ichigo's power until he reached a certain point - the point where Ichigo's attained a power "even greater than Hollowfication". As Aizen was explaining this, recall what he was doing - he was examining Ichigo's reiatsu which was left behind in a wound caused by a Masked Ichigo's Getsuga.

Ichigo had commented on his new Mask feeling different when compared to his normal Mask, on top of the pattern of the Hollow Mask being drastically different from what it was before. That was the point where Ichigo's power had evolved into "the power of a Transcendent Being". Aizen sought to attain that power, and Ichigo was the perfect subject to use in that effort because of his heritage and circumstances of birth - the child of a Hollowfied Quincy (Masaki) and a Human-Shinigami (Isshin). In other words, Ichigo was born with a perfect balance of all four soul types comprising his soul, an entirely different entity from the Visoreds who required a Vaccine to balance out their Shinigami and Hollow sides.

In other words, the Getsuga wound now caused traces of Ichigo's Transcendent reiatsu to reside in Aizen's body. Once Aizen was pushed to his limits as a Shinigami, the Hogyoku was able to use the traces of Ichigo's reiatsu in Aizen's body to bring about Aizen's evolution into a Transcendent Being. It is not that different from the concept of Hollowfication - pouring a Hollow soul into a Shinigami soul to sublimate the soul to a higher order - or the birth of a Fullbringer - Hollow reiryoku mixing with a Human soul - but it is on a different level entirely.

With little doubt, no process or technology possessed by the Soul Society (or any faction for that matter) would have been able to replicate those results. In other words, the Hogyoku's "desire materialization" was the only way for Aizen to be able to use Ichigo's reiatsu to attain the power of a Transcendent Being, just as the Hogyoku used the Hollow reiryoku leftover in Inoue and Sado's bodies as a base for them to develop Fullbring.

In other words, Aizen being able to become a Transcendent Being (and the immortality granted to him via fusing with the Hogyoku) is another of the "miracles" brought about by the Hogyoku.

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In conclusion, the Hogyoku's power allows it to materialize events that would otherwise be impossible, so long as the "potential" exists for it to occur. The stabilization of Hollowfication was originally impossible for Soul Society, but the Hogyoku was able to stabilize both the Visoreds and Tousen's Hollowfication (even if it couldn't prevent "Soul Suicide"); Rukia had only intended to give Ichigo half her Shinigami powers temporarily, but the Hogyoku caused all of Rukia's Shinigami power to be transferred to Ichigo permanently (at least until Byakuya took that power away); while Fullbringers are normally born to mothers who were attacked by Hollows in the past, the Hogyoku allowed Inoue and Sado to manifest Fullbring by using the Hollow reiryoku in their bodies as a base, just as Aizen used Ichigo's reiatsu as a base for his Transcendence.

Because all of these occurrence were either events that were normally impossible, all of these can be defined as "miracles" brought about by the Hogyoku.