BURN THE WITCH (one-shot)

BURN THE WITCH (one-shot)
Cover	Noel Niihashi Ninny Spangcole
Pages	198
Release Data
Print (J)	December 9, 2018
ISBN (J)	4-08-792525-8
Chapter List
Shueisha	BURN THE WITCH
Volume Order
Previous Volume	THE DEATH AND THE STRAWBERRY
Next Volume	DON'T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER

This is a special pilot chapter of BURN THE WITCH, Tite Kubo's first manga series since the end of Bleach. It was released in the July 16th, 2018 edition of Shonen Jump.

Accompanying the release of Bleach JET, BURN THE WITCH was compiled in a special, limited-issue volume that was given to those who purchased the artwork collection at launch and contained the one-shot, several sketches of Noel Niihashi and Ninny Spangcole, and data about some of Ichigo Kurosaki's previously-unnamed classmates in addition to concept art of characters and scenes from many different media across the Bleach franchise.

BURN THE WITCH

Summary:

The cover spread of BURN THE WITCH.

As Noel Niihashi walks down the streets of London in her South Braxton school uniform, two young men comment on how attractive it makes her while Noel muses on how she likes uniforms that tell others who she is. Upon coming across Osushi sitting on the ground, Noel prepares to give him a dog treat, only to be accosted by Balgo Parks, who claims that she has fallen into his trap and wishes to see her panties as usual. Kicking Balgo away, Noel notes that he is now able to finish his sentences even after being kicked by her and responds to Balgo praising her for noticing the small details by throwing a pipe at him, which he frantically dodges, before brushing off his claim that it could have hit someone by stating that even an elderly man could have dodged it if Balgo did. Emboldened by her challenge of never being able to best her since she is already holding herself back, Balgo tells her to not underestimate him, only to be swiftly incapacitated by a strike to the jaw. Noel enters a nearby phonebooth and deposits a coin emblazoned with the emblem of Wing Bind before saying that she is clocking into work to the receiver, causing the phonebooth to drop into the ground below and be covered by a steel door emblazoned with WB, much to Balgo's bewilderment.

In Reverse London, standing beneath the partially destroyed gate of the Western Branch, Ninny Spangcole berates the repairmen for not fixing the gate in the week since it was damaged while her latest advertisement plays on a large monitor in the background. When she is told that the installation of the monitor was prioritized, Ninny claims this is just an excuse and, upon being interrupted by the arrival of Noel behind her, demands to know why Noel is late again, leading Noel to state she had to fight off Balgo at the entrance as usual, to Ninny's chagrin. It is revealed that the dragons of ancient fables are not fictitious, but not quite real either: centuries ago, 72% of all deaths in London were caused by dragons, which is why London's coat of arms features dragons on it. The residents of London cannot see dragons, but needed to be protected from them nonetheless; therefore, the residents of Reverse London, hidden under "Front London", took it upon themselves to protect and control the dragons.

As she and Ninny enter the Wing Bind headquarters, Noel points out that Ninny is the one who told the repairmen to prioritize the installation of the monitor, prompting Ninny to defend her actions by claiming everyone wants to see her advertisements. When Ninny reminds her that she asked not to be called be her first name because she is Noel's elder, Noel tells her to call her by her first name, leading Ninny to say "Niiha-chan" is cuter and that Noel is a boy's name, which Noel counters by stating that it is a girl's name in Japan. Billy Banx Jr. walks up and notes that they seem to be having fun as usual before brushing off Ninny's ensuing insult of him being bald. After having them stamp their attendance sheets, Billy walks Noel and Ninny to their Broombuggy mounts before revealing they will be going to Ninebrook Pastures and claiming that it is a fun place. As Ninny reminds him that he claimed the bug-infested location he sent them to prior would also be fun and grows even more frustrated when Billy notes that it would have indeed been fun if she was a frog, Noel states that they should get going because no amount of yelling will change their destination, and the two of them take off on their Broombuggy mounts, Wordsworth and Marshall.

Elsewhere, in London, Balgo sits with his friend Shelby and tearfully states that he wanted to see Noel's panties, prompting Shelby to berate him for being sad about such a thing. When Balgo reminds him that he rejected the story of Noel disappearing into thin air, Shelby confirms this because he considers the idea of people going to Reverse London preposterous, as it is a "fairy tale" like Santa Claus, and laments having raced over after work just to listen to this. Ignoring Shelby's accusations of him being perverted when he tries to change the subject back to Noel's panties, Balgo foists Osushi onto Shelby, who is overwhelmed by his cuteness, and convinces his friend to listen to his woes. Meanwhile, in Ninebrook Pastures, Noel feeds her mount while Ninny complains about the location and her inability to join the Sabres and protect the streets of London, leading Noel to note that she is content where she is with the pastoral landscape and in the Pipers since they are not inferior. Upon being approached by a farmhand, Noel introduces herself and Ninny, prompting the farmhand to praise their cuteness and request that they help him harvest an A-rank crop today. It is revealed that the people of Reverse London rely upon various types of domesticated dragons for their utilities, such as textiles, electricity, and even meat.

Noel and Ninny climb up the neck of an extremely large, camel-like Dragon as Ninny notes that she actually prefers this domestication of the Dragons to Japan's policy of simply killing them all, though she becomes annoyed at Noel admitting that she does not know anything about Japan in this regard, but does not know why they need to be harvesting grapes from this Dragon. As Noel and Ninny continue climbing and learn that they will need to harvest the grapes from the Dragon's nostrils, which Ninny is disgusted by due to its foul-smelling breath, it is revealed that the only absolute rule regarding Dragons is that ordinary residents of London are forbidden from coming into direct contact with them - the only ones who have the authority to do so are the witches and wizards who have passed the exam to join the Wing Bind agency. This rule is meant to protect both citizens and Dragons, and violating it is punishable by 100 years imprisonment or something else. Back in London, Balgo brings Shelby to the phonebooth Noel disappeared in, where he denies this being related to Noel's panties since Shelby only listened to the part about Noel vanishing. As Balgo inspects the interior of the phone booth and finds nothing out of the ordinary, he wonders what the WB that appeared on the booth meant since Reverse London would be represented by RL. While Shelby places Osushi on Balgo's head and begins to leave so they can get back in time for dinner now that they know this is not related to Reverse London, Osushi suddenly distorts atop a protesting Balgo's head and knocks him down in the process of transforming into an enormous Dark Dragon.

In Ninebrook Pastures, Noel's phone begins ringing with the Dragon Ball recap music, which Ninny mocks her for, and she answers it to receive a request from Billy that the two of them abandon their harvesting in favor of performing an extermination. Though Noel decides to hang up on him, Ninny overhears from the nearby ladder and convinces Noel to go through with it. As they speed through the air on their Broombuggies, Noel and Ninny learn that they were chosen because the Sabres is currently doing field training in the north all day and the Dragon in question is located in South Braxton, where Noel is from, despite Ninny assuming it was because they are the strongest of the Pipers, before musing that Noel has a coin she can use to go there via the phonebooth. Noting that they do not have time to go back to the phone gate, Ninny tells Noel to use her coin so they can open the Coin Gate. As she notes that Ninny seems very happy about this, which Ninny admits to being true because they might get promoted to the Sabres for defending London on their own, Noel tosses her the coin as Ninny opens the Coin Gate, which they go through.

Meanwhile, as they hide from the rampaging Dark Dragon, Balgo and Shelby note that something is definitely in front of them even though they cannot see it, with Balgo promising to protect a limp Osushi. Suddenly, Noel and Ninny burst out of the Coin Gate behind the Dark Dragon. As it is revealed that Dragons become Dark by coming into contact with people and absorbing their negative emotions, which also gives them the power of human speech, the Dark Dragon demands to see Noel's panties, causing her to immediately realize Balgo is nearby and demand that he come out since he faces 100 years in prison or execution, which a smug Ninny takes as proof that she knows exactly what is happening here. Down on the ground, Shelby is astonished that this is the Noel whom Balgo kept talking about while Balgo expresses shock at Noel floating in the air and glaring down at him, only to find her anger to be cute as well. Stopping Noel from attacking Balgo, Ninny points out the limp Osushi in his hands, and when Noel recounts how Balgo adopted the puppy two months ago, Ninny deduces that he is dead and the Dark Dragon is a Disguiser, which take over corpses and have not been prevalent in the city since it started getting cleaned up in the 18th century.

Below, Balgo tries to get Noel's attention, and when Shelby questions this being his reaction to learning that Osushi is dead, Balgo decries the idea since Osushi is just exhausted, but Shelby insists that Osushi is dead because the Dark Dragon ate its way out of his body, to Balgo's confusion. With Ninny asserting that safety comes first and their current priority is to ensure the safety of Balgo and Shelby despite Noel wondering if Balgo will get the death penalty, Shelby starts running away and reminds Balgo that it only makes sense to flee from a monster and two flying women. However, when an annoyed Ninny begins pursuing him and tells Noel to deal with the Dark Dragon, Noel is shocked when her phone displays two Dragons in the vicinity, one moving away from the other, and attempts to warn Ninny just as Shelby's upper body suddenly unfurls and attacks her.

With her left arm broken by the attack, Ninny rolls to safety as Shelby reveals himself to be a Disguiser as well and laments being unable to kill the Witches one at a time as he planned. After pointing out to a stunned Balgo that he does not resemble Shelby anymore, though Balgo notes that he is unable to see Shelby right now and can only hear his voice, Shelby admits that he does not want to kill Balgo and declares that he will devour the Witches and become immortal, which Ninny claims is a fairy tale. Countering that the only way to find out is to eat her, Shelby attacks Ninny once more, only for Noel to swoop in and rescue her while responding to Ninny berating her for being late by observing that she had to deal with the other Dark Dragon first. When Ninny muses on having two Disguisers to deal with and questions if Shelby died at some point, Noel reveals that he did so when he was 7 while protecting Balgo from the impact of a train, leading Ninny to comment on the strangeness of a Dark Dragon living among humans for 10 years before Shelby suddenly appears next to them and confirms this while lashing out with his left hand, which sends Ninny crashing into the city below.

When the dust clears to reveal that Ninny landed next to Balgo, who expresses concern for her condition despite Ninny ordering him to run, Shelby lands and tells Balgo to leave so he can devour Ninny prior to promising to leave Noel alone if just eating Ninny renders him immortal and attempting to do so, but Balgo moves in front of Ninny and blocks Shelby's mouth with his arms, which leaves him bleeding heavily but enables him to see Shelby. With Ninny questioning why Balgo is protecting her when he is attracted to Noel, Balgo is amused by her nickname for Noel and claims that it makes his heart pound, though Ninny points out that this is due to his blood loss. As Shelby retracts his mouth and assumes that Balgo has fallen for Ninny in a tragic romance, Balgo reveals that he is doing this for Shelby himself, and when Shelby points out that the real Shelby died at age 7 before the Disguiser took over his corpse, Balgo muses that this means the Disguiser lived as Shelby for longer than the real Shelby did before proclaiming that he cannot just walk away when Shelby starts talking about eating people because he considers the latter to be his best friend who has always been kind.

Despite this, Shelby prepares to devour them both in order to convince Balgo of the reality of the situation, but Noel grabs his unfurling mouth and kicks him hard in the face, sending him crashing into a nearby wall. After addressing Balgo, who snaps to attention, Noel admits that Balgo was cool for a moment there as a damaged Shelby flies out of the rubble, enraged and screaming incoherently. Asserting that she understands Balgo's feelings, Noel draws her Witch Kit and destroys Shelby with Absolute Dragon Shatter, scattering pieces of him all over the area and causing one of his eyes to land near a shocked Balgo, who frantically wonders why Noel did not spare Shelby as he thought she would. In turn, Ninny questions why Balgo assumed this and states that they are done here because Witches are bound by the rules to kill Dark Dragons, and as Ninny praises Noel's performance, Balgo is left to shriek in disbelief.

Some time later, Noel and Ninny learn that Billy has been promoted to the Sabres due to his decision to send them in to handle the Dark Dragon, causing Ninny to kick her feet in the air and scream about how unfair it is that they did not receive such a reward for their service. As he brushes this off as life working in an agency, Billy brings in Balgo, now wearing a collar on a chain, and hands him off to a stunned Noel and Ninny, to whom he explains that Balgo living with a Dark Dragon for 10 years made him a Dragonclad and consequently more Dragon than Human, which means that he is now a protected class and will not be executed for making contact with a Dragon. With an aghast Ninny chasing after Billy to make him change his mind and quickly losing sight of him, Osushi, now returned to his dog form, pops up behind Balgo's head and asks Noel to show him her panties, to her chagrin.

Outside, the last part of the Western Branch gate is hoisted into place, revealing it to be the Soul Society Western Branch, just before Noel blasts a hole in it while pursuing Balgo and Osushi on Wordsworth so she can silence Osushi forever.

Characters in order of appearance:

1. Noel Niihashi
2. Osushi
3. Balgo Parks
4. Ninny Spangcole
5. Billy Banx Jr.
6. Wordsworth
7. Marshall
8. Shelby

Character Data

The compiled volume contains a registry for Ichigo Kurosaki's class at Karakura Town and features sketches of all the students, temporary or otherwise, including several who never appeared in the anime or manga, along with data and information points about each.

Name		Height	Weight	Blood Type
01	Keigo Asano	173 cm	61 kg	B0
		The theme song that Kubo chose for Keigo is "Politically Correct" by the band SR-71 on their album Now You See Inside.
02	Shunya Asō	169 cm	58 kg	B0
03	Tatsuki Arisawa	155 cm	41 kg	A0
04	Uryū Ishida	171 cm	55 kg	AB
05	Orihime Inoue	157 cm	45 kg	B
06	Reiichi Ōshima	180 cm	74 kg	0
07	Michiru Ogawa	153 cm	45 kg	A0
		Michiru is considered to be a meeha, or a follower of new fads.
08	Victoria Hitomi Odagiri	173 cm	56 kg	B0
		Victoria is a diligent student who placed 14th in the final exams. She is Conrad's sister and does not like his shyness. Her friends call her Vicky (ヴィッキー, Vikkī).
09	Conrad Tomohiro Odagiri	154 cm	46 kg	0
		Conrad is shy and timid, often avoiding eye contact, and likes polo shirts. Victoria is his younger twin sister. People calls him Connie (コニー, Konī).
10	Aiko Kugihashi	165 cm	54 kg	AB
		Aiko loves tulip hats.
11	Rukia Kuchiki	144 cm	33 kg	-
12	Ryō Kunieda	166 cm	51 kg	BB
13	Ichigo Kurosaki	174 cm	61 kg	A0
14	Mizuiro Kojima	155 cm	45 kg	B0
		Mizuiro is a feminist. The theme song that Kubo chose for Mizuiro is "Heartbeat" by the band Tahiti 80 from their album Puzzle.
15	Shunsuke Kobayakawa	157 cm	46 kg	B0
16	Yasutora Sado	197 cm	112 kg	A0
17	Meguru Serizawa	147 cm	37 kg	0
18	Makoto Senoo	172 cm	57 kg	A0
		Makoto loves buffalo pouches and adjusts his glasses with four fingers. Friends with Yūya. Makoto's parents work at Karakura High School.
19	Keisuke Sorimachi	168 cm	61 kg	A0
		Sorimachi has an older sister named Wakako Sorimachi (反町 和香子) who was 24 when he enrolled at Karakura High School.
20	Terunari Toda	182 cm	74 kg	0
		Toda is a soccer player. His friends call him Teru (テル, Teru).
21	Mikako Tomoshige	154 cm	47 kg	A0
22	Mahana Natsui	169 cm	59 kg	AB
		Mahana likes playing volleyball.
23	Yūya Nitō	168 cm	103 kg	AB
		Yūya is a narcissist.
24	Yūnosuke Nega	165 cm	55 kg	BB
		Nega is a skinhead.
25	Sayaka Nogi	160 cm	51 kg	0
		Sayaka loves bell-bottoms.
26	Nana Baba	158 cm	46 kg	BB
27	Takie Higashi	151 cm	45 kg	A0
		Takie never appeared in the manga or anime.
28	Rinko Himejima	159 cm	45 kg	AB
		Rinko is afraid of frogs. She never appeared in the manga or anime.
29	Shinji Hirako	176 cm	58 kg	AB
		The theme song that Kubo chose for Shinji is "19-2000" by the band Gorillaz from their album Gorillaz.
30	Chizuru Honshō	163 cm	48 kg	B0
31	Fuminobu Miyagawa	116 cm	59 kg	0
		Fuminobu likes wearing Polo Ralph Lauren clothes.
32	Jun Miyamoto	187 cm	80 kg	AA
		Jun plays basketball.
33	Tetsuo Momohara	169 cm	56 kg	0
34	Miho Yokomori	156 cm	70 kg	0
		Miho never appeared in the manga or anime.
35	Kanan Yoshizawa	158 cm	44 kg	0
		Kanan never appeared in the manga or anime.
36	Kaori Wakutsu	155 cm	44 kg	AA

Author's Notes

	Having had a pet dog and being a mangaka, I challenged myself to put my dog in a manga. Still, my desire to draw dogs hasn't disappeared, so I might draw them in some form again. -Tite Kubo

Trivia

"BLEACH" spelled out in the title of BURN THE WITCH.

• The last panel of this one-shot is emblazoned with the name BURN THE WITCH, but has select portions of the words (all of the letters B, E, C, and H, as well as the upper-right portion of the letter T and the middle of the letter W) shaded in, spelling out "BLEACH".
• The title of this one-shot is a reference to the song "Burn the Witch" by the band Radiohead.

Navigation

THE DEATH AND THE STRAWBERRY

BURN THE WITCH

DON'T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER