Reviews

Bleach, Vol. 20: End of Hypnosis by Tite Kubo

Only show reviews with written explanations

BRUH, so low key thought Aizen would be backkkkk back back again. BUT WHAT HE DID TO MOMO WTF I DIDNT THINK HE WOULD BE A SOCIOPATH JESUS. He spat some truths, "adoration is the state furthest from understanding", mood, then turned into a super villain. Like just removing the glasses and slicking back the hair he became gigga chad, yaoi yakuza, super villain of the month.

NEVER trust nice appearing, glasses wearing mfs. You can't. I stand by that. That's the one thing Painter of The Night taught me... among other things...

"You colossal boob" has to be one of Bleach's top insults, idk what crack the translators were smoking, but I want some.

"Your will to live exceeds your skills" uhhh gooooot eeeeem, but also can't relate. It's definitely the opposite way round for me. "My skills may be sparse, but they still exceed my will to live" fixed it.

theoryoftheafro's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

hannah29713's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

theautumnalreader's review

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adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

What a thrilling and unexpected twist! Aizen is by far one of the most well-thought-out villains I've ever encountered. He's so multi-layered in his planning and in a few panels Kubo showed us how orchestrated he is from Kaien's death to the hollows that attacked the lieutenants at the academy, to Rukia's execution. He seems to know everything and comes across as omniscient as the "God" he wants to replace at the top. Attempting to kill Momo was a devastating shock, but more so was the shared power that had Aizen seem so untouchable.

I'm really interested in Aizen's interaction with Ukitake as he rises in the Menos beacon and I can't wait to learn more about this conversation. Additionally, I was stricken by the sadness of Gin to Rangikua as it felt like the only genuine emotion I've seen of his drawn thus far.

Finally, I love seeing Byakuya prepare to sacrifice his life for Rukia as it's such a shape 180 from the previous 19 volumes. I hope to see him grow as Rukia's love and yearning for approval of him, even at her execution, was painful to read.

Volume 20 was so, so, good!

joybookish's review

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4.0

This part of the story always shakes me! Great, as always.

dannothedino's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Content Warnings

geofroggatt's review against another edition

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4.0

This volume marks the turning point in this arc and reveals the central antagonist for a large part of the entire series. I was surprised on this first reading how suspicious Aizen seemed from the very start, however I did like how Gin was made to be a red herring along with Aizen’s fake death. I liked the reveals of Gin and Tōsen conspiring with Aizen since the very beginning. I liked how the betrayal and reveal was done here, even if I felt like Aizen’s reveal and betrayal could have been made better had we had more time with him before his fake death. I had a criticism of the anime for making Aizen seem like he orchestrated all the events of the series up until this point, but I feel like this was depicted better and explained better here in the manga than it was in the anime. I like how there were massive amounts of twists and information revealed in this volume without seeming overbearing. The explanations didn’t feel like info dumping and I like how it all converged together in this story. I have criticisms for Aizen as a character and as an antagonist, but this volume did his story well, I just wish his character had been introduced better before his fake death. Despite this, I like how it all unraveled and how the story shifted focus.