User blog:Xilinoc/Ch. 619 - The Betrayer

Song to listen to while reading this chapter: "Feels Like Forever" by Of Mice & Men

Mangapanda's scan quality for this chapter was garbage, holy hell. Yoruichi looked like fried chicken.

Also, so much for Uryū being supportable.

So first we start off with Yhwach going full Aizen; according to him, all of Ichigo's battles and growth so far have been preparing him for killing the Soul King...which, if I may say, is slightly more believable than "I planned everything you did", as apparently this was due to Ichigo and Yhwach sharing the same blood. Ichigo, of course, aaaaaaain't gonna take this sitting down, so he attacks Yhwach and reaffirms that he's gonna beat him. Then, in a hilariously uncalled for jab, Yhwach says that he really shouldn't be the source of Ichigo's resentment because Ichigo's weakness is what caused Masaki's death. Ouch.

We're then interrupted by Yoruichi being shot in the chest with a rifle in the shoulder with an arrow. Everyone turns to see the attacker is...Uryū. Oh dear. Apparently due to Yoruichi's short lapse in focus, the barrier shatters, sending the top half of the Soul King flying for Yhwach to catch like a baseball. Yoruichi starts throwing these sphere-looking things at him that will apparently destroy him if two make contact in succession, but Yhwach summons Pernida of all people (tentative, that) to take care of her, and it does...by warping her arm. Yikes. After throwing Yoruichi out of the palace, Yhwach rests his hand on the Soul King as he takes a breather, but mean ol' Ichigo tries to attack him, only to be distracted by Uryū firing another arrow at him. Pleased by Uryū somehow being loyal to him, Yhwach rips Mimihagi off the king with a terrifying smile on his face as Ichigo demands to know just what Uryū thinks he's doing.

Decent enough chapter this week. It's nice to see Uryū finally back in the action after...what, 8 straight chapters without an appearance? Apparently he's loyal to Yhwach now, and I dunno why, but with any luck it'll be explained next week, assuming he decides to answer Ichigo's question for once. It was also nice to see at least one of the Elite Guards back, even if it was my least favorite one and for only a couple panels. Are the rest somewhere playing hopscotch or something? Hopefully we'll get some battles set up soon, assuming the Shinigami finally get to the palace. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like Ichigo v. Yhwach in the court of asswhupping's gonna proceed as planned, so we'll have to wait on seeing this final battle for a bit, which is fine by me if it means seeing more characters show off powers and stuff.